Using language games to teach english vocabulary to the graders at nghi hung secondary school

MINITRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY

DANG THI THUONG

USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH
VOCABULARY TO THE EIGHTH GRADERS AT
NGHI HUNG SECONDARY SCHOOL

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

NGHE AN, 2015


MINITRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY

DANG THI THUONG

USING LANGUAGE GAMES TO TEACH ENGLISH
VOCABULARY TO THE EIGHTH GRADERS AT
NGHI HUNG SECONDARY SCHOOL

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
Code: 60.14.01.11

MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION

Supervisor: NGO ĐINH PHUONG, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D

Nghe An, 2015

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The study would not have been completed without the invaluable assistances
and encouragements of many people for whom I am grateful.
I especially would like to acknowledge with all my greatest attitude the
support, guidance and invaluable critical feedback which I have received from my
supervisor Mr Ngo Dinh Phuong, Assoc. Prof., Ph.D.
I also would like to thank to Nghi Loc education and training department and
Vinh university for offering me a chance to do this thesis. For it the knowledge and
experience I gained in my study is very helpful.
My sincere thanks goes to all teachers of English and students in Nghi Hung
secondary school as well as teachers of English in Nghi Dong, Nghi My, Nghi Cong
secondary school who have helped me to carry out the surveys for my thesis.
I am really in debt to my beloved family and my friends for their help and
encouragement during the process of writing this thesis.
Although the study has been done with all my attempts, my limitations of
ability and knowledge may cause mistakes in the thesis. Therefore, all comments
and remarks on the thesis be highly appreciated.
Nghe An, 2015
Dang Thi Thuong

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I certify that the minor thesis entitled “Using language games to teach English
vocabulary to the 8th graders at Nghi Hưng secondary school ” is the result of my
own work, and that the minor thesis or any part of the same has not been submitted
to any university or institution.

Nghe An, 2015
Author’s signature

Dang Thi Thuong

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ABSTRACT
Using games in language classroom in general and in learning vocabulary in
particular gives a great deal of benefits for teaching and learning process.
With the aims to help secondary school teachers see the positive effects of
games as well as encourage them to use games

to teach vocabulary to their

students, the investigation was carried out to find out the answers for the two main
issues: the real situation of using games in teaching vocabulary, and the effects of
using games teaching this language element. The results reveal that first, although
most students meet difficulties in learning vocabulary, they are all aware of good
effects of mastering vocabulary. Secondly, games are proved to be very useful and
effective in vocabulary learning and teaching to the students through the
experimental teaching. Hence, games are highly recommended for teaching
vocabulary to secondary school students.
In order to make the study more practical, some suggested games have been
provided for teacher of English to apply in teaching vocabulary in the 8 th form.
Hopefully, this dissertation will be a useful source of reference for teachers of
English in improving vocabulary learning and teaching.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
CAH

:

Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis

CLT

:

Communicative Language Teaching

CAH

:

Contrastive Analysis Hypothesis

EAP

:

English for Academic Purpose

EST

:

English for Science and Technology

EOP

:

English for Occupational Purpose

EAP

:

English for Academic Purpose

FL

:

Foreign language

L1

:

First language

L2

:

Second language

SLA

:

Second language acquisition

FLA

:

First language acquisition

SLL

:

Second language learning

IQ

:

Intelligence quotient

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pages
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..........................................................................................
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.............................................................................
ABSTRACT................................................................................................................
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.....................................................................................
TABLE OF CONTENTS.............................................................................................
LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................................
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................
1.1. Rationale......................................................................................................................1
1.2. Aims and Objectives of the Study...............................................................................2
1.3. Research Questions.....................................................................................................2
1.4. Scope of the Study.......................................................................................................2
1.5. Methods of the Study..................................................................................................3
1.6. Format of the Study.....................................................................................................3

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................
2.1. Foreign and Second Language Learning.....................................................................4

2.1.1. First, Second and Foreign Language Learning..........................................4
2.1.2. Behaviorism, innatism, and interactionist position....................................4
2.2. Reasons for learning a foreign/second language.........................................................7

2.2.1. School curriculum.......................................................................................7
2.2.2. Advancement..............................................................................................7
2.2.3. Target language community.......................................................................8
2.2.4. English for specific purposes......................................................................8
2.2.5. Culture.........................................................................................................9
2.2.6. Miscellaneous..............................................................................................9

2.3. Ability to learn.............................................................................................................9

2.3.1. Cognitive factors.........................................................................................9
2.3.2. Personality.................................................................................................10
2.3.3. Age............................................................................................................10
2.5. English Vocabulary...................................................................................................12

2.5.1. Definition..................................................................................................12

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2.5.2. Type of Vocabulary..................................................................................12
2.5.3. Concrete and Abstract Vocabulary...........................................................13
2.5.4. The Importance of Vocabulary.................................................................13
2.6. Aspects of Vocabulary need to be taught..................................................................14

2.6.1. Form: Pronunciation and Spelling............................................................14
2.6.2. Grammar...................................................................................................14
2.6.3. Collocation................................................................................................14
2.6.4. Meaning: denotation, connotation, appropriateness/ formality...............14
2.6.5. Word formation.........................................................................................15
2.6.6. Word Use..................................................................................................15
2.7. Teaching Vocabulary in Communicative Language Teaching.................................16

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT).......................................................16
2.8. Stages of Teaching Vocabulary in CLT....................................................................19

2.8.1. Presentation...............................................................................................19
2.8.2. Practice......................................................................................................19

2.8.3. Revision.....................................................................................................20
2.9. Factors Affecting the Decision in Choosing Vocabulary Items to teach..................20

2.9.1. Type of lesson...........................................................................................20
2.9.2. Purpose of using words.............................................................................21
2.9.3. Lexical syllabus........................................................................................21
2.10. Games......................................................................................................................21

2.10.1. Definition................................................................................................21
2.10.2. Language games......................................................................................22
2.10.3. Educational games..................................................................................23
2.11. Types of language Games.......................................................................................23
2.12. The Advantages of Games in Teaching Vocabulary...............................................26
2.13. Principles in Using Games......................................................................................32
2.14. When to use games..................................................................................................34
2.15. How to organize a game?........................................................................................35
2.16. Teachers’ preparation..............................................................................................37

Chapter 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY..............................................................
3.1. Background to the study............................................................................................38

3.1.2. Subject of the study...................................................................................38
3.1.3. The textbook.............................................................................................38

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3.2. Research questions....................................................................................................39
3.3. The instruments.........................................................................................................40

3.2.4. Data Collection.........................................................................................40
3.4. Procedures and methods of data collection...............................................................41

3.2.5. Data Analysis............................................................................................42
Chapter 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION..............................................................
4.1. Presentation and analysis of data...............................................................................43

4.1.1. Pre-task questionnaire...............................................................................43
4.1.2. Post-task questionnaire.............................................................................47
4.2. Some samples applied in English 8..........................................................................55

Chapter 5 CONCLUSION..........................................................................................
5.1. Recapitulation............................................................................................................60
5.2. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study.......................................61

REFERENCES...........................................................................................................
APPENDIXES............................................................................................................

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LIST OF TABLES
Pages
Table 4.1 Students’ attitudes towards English learning.............................................
Table 4.2. The most difficult issue to students when learning vocabulary...............
Figure 4.1. Students’ ability of remembering new words after each lesson
(Students’ questionnaire number 5)...........................................................................
.....................................................................................................................................
Figure 4.2. Students’ attitudes towards English vocabulary learning.......................
Figure 4.3. Students’ attitudes toward English vocabulary learning (Students’

questionnaire number 4).............................................................................................
Table 4.3. The most difficult issue to students when playing games in
learning vocabulary....................................................................................................
Table 4.4. Students’ preferences of teachers techniques exploited in teaching
vocabulary...................................................................................................................
Figure 4.4. Students’ attitudes towards playing games.............................................
(Students’ questionnaire number 7)...........................................................................
Table 4.5. Students’ feeling and attitudes towards language games exploited
by the teacher (Question 1,2,3)..................................................................................
Figure 4.5. Students’ attitudes towards English vocabulary learning in “Tieng
Anh 8” textbook (Students’ questionnaire number 7)...............................................
Figure 4.6. The effectiveness of the use of language games (Students’
questionnaire number 8).............................................................................................
Table 4.6. Students’ evaluation of the effectiveness of language games used
to teach vocabulary.....................................................................................................
Figure 4.7. Teachers’ frequency of using games for teaching vocabulary................
Figure 4.8. The ways of organizing class of the teachers when using games...........
Figure 4.9.The effectiveness of the use of language games (Teachers’
questionnaire number 8).............................................................................................

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Table 4.7. The reasons and problems when using games in teaching
vocabulary and the solutions......................................................................................

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Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Nowadays, English has been considered as a compulsory subject for students
at all levels of educational systems at most schools. Students must learn English
from grade 3 to grade 12, for at least 10 years. Most of their parents believe that
learning English is a good investment for the children's future because most jobs
now require the applicants to gain English language at certain levels.Therefore,
educators have tried to find the most effective method in teaching English. Actually,
because English is new language which is different from the mother tongue,
students are very afraid of learning. Especially, students who live in remote and
mountainous areas don’t get a lot of access to English, they hardly learn a lot of
vocabulary by heart. To develop students’ ability to use English appropriately, they
must have some amount of vocabulary. So, vocabulary is very important. The
relationship between the four skills and vocabulary is mutual: The four basic skills reading, writing, speaking and listening - reflect the use of language, vocabulary
items are introduced and mastered through teaching the skills, and the master of
vocabulary helps children develop the four skills better. As in Gower et al. (2005),
vocabulary is considered to be important to students, and more important than
grammar for communication purposes, particularly in the early stages when
students are motivated to learn the basic words they need to get by in the language.
Vocabulary links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading, and writing all
together.
For ages, language games have been used as the inspiration for students to
study. This method has proved its high effectiveness especially in teaching
languages. As games provide learners with an atmosphere of relaxation and joy,
they make the learning process less tense, more comfortable and fun. They help to
make learning feel like playing.

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With games, students will enjoy themselves, be stimulated and get involved in
playing to learn. As a result, they can learn new lexical items faster and remember
better. With so many advantages, games seem to be an effective way in teaching
and learning a foreign language in general.
As a teacher of English at secondary school as well as a student at Vinh
university the author has attempted to conduct the study entitled “Using language
games to teach English vocabulary to the 8th graders at Nghi Hung secondary
school” in the hope of helping teachers maintain the interests of their students and
motivate them in using English vocabulary. This study is based on my knowledge
of English teaching methodology as well as my own experiences gained in the
practicum at a secondary school.
1.2. Aims and Objectives of the Study
The main purposes of the author when conducting the study are:
- To investigate real situation of vocabulary teaching and learning and the use
of games in the eighth grade of the secondary schools.
- To indicate the effectiveness of using games in teaching vocabulary to the
eighth graders.
- To give some suggestions for the improvement of teaching vocabulary to the
eighth graders by using games.
1.3. Research Questions
In order to fully achieve these aims, the study is to answer the following
research questions:
1. What is the reality of the application of using games in teaching vocabulary to
the eighth graders?
2. How effective is the language game in teaching English vocabulary at Nghi
Hung secondary school?
1.4. Scope of the Study
Game is a large topic and teaching vocabulary only accounts for a small part
per a teaching period. Further more, it is too broad to carry out the thesis discussing
all levels of students. Thus, I only investigate using games for the 8th form to teach

vocabulary in Nghi Hung secondary school where I teach English.

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1.5. Methods of the Study
With the aim to learn English vocabulary through games for the 8 th form in the
course of writing this thesis the author has used the quantitative and qualitative with
the following procedures:
- Collecting information about vocabulary and games.
- Conducting a survey on the real situation at secondary schools by using
questionnaires for both the teachers and students .
- Investigating the survey result to suggest suitable games for teaching
vocabulary.
1.6. Format of the Study
The thesis consists of five main chapters:
Chapter 1: Introduction
This chapter provides the information about the reasons for choosing the
study, the aims and objectives, the scope, the methods and the format of the study.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
In this chapter, the author provides the concepts which related to the study,
including theoretical background about vocabulary learning and teaching, games
and others.
Chapter 3: Research methodology
Chapter III on research methodology comes next with the responsibility for
specifying the factors for the researcher to collect and process the study data.
Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion
The data is described and discussed. Some recommendations for using games
in teaching and learning vocabulary are provided in chapter 4. Also, the author
suggests some games as specific examples for some concrete lessons inTiếng Anh 8

for the eighth graders.
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Main points and contents of the study will be summarized based on the results
of the study. The recommendations for further research will be also presented.

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Chapter 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter in turn presents the concepts needed for the background of the study,
namely foreign and second language learning, , vocabulary and games. This part will
also provide description,summary,and critical evaluation of each work quoted.
2.1. Foreign and Second Language Learning
2.1.1. First, Second and Foreign Language Learning
First language is the language that an individual learns first. First language is
also called native language or mother tongue.
Jack C. Richards, John Platt and Heidi Platt (1992) have a brief definition of
the two terms as follows:
A foreign language is a language which is taught as a school subject but which is not
used as a medium of instruction in schools nor as a language of communication within a
country ( e.g. in government, business or industry). English is described as a foreign
language in France, Japan, China, Vietnam, etc.
A second language is a language which is not a native language (or first language L1) in a country but which is widely used as a medium of communication (e.g. in
education and in government) and which is usually used alongside another language
or languages. English is described as a second language in countries such as Fiji,
Singapore, and Nigeria.
According to these three authors, in both Britain and North America, the term
‘second language’ would describe a native language in a country as learned by
people living there who have another first language. English in the UK would be

called the second language of immigrants and people whose first language is Welsh.
In order to explain for how language is learned. Linguists and psychologists
proposed several theories, namely behaviorism, innatism, and interactionist position.
2.1.2. Behaviorism, innatism, and interactionist position
Behaviorism
Behaviorism is considered as the earliest psychological theory in explaining

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first language learning. Behaviorism accounts for second language acquisition
(SLA) with the same theory as for first language acquisition (FLA). Behaviorists
believe that language learning is the result of imitation, practice, feedback on
success and habit formation. They claim that all learning take place and imply to the
same underlying process, in spite of their form verbal and non-verbal. The role of
the speakers is to provide learners with the input so that they can form so-called
“associations or relations” between words, objects or events. By forming these
associations, learners can practice. While experiences are repeated, the associations
become stronger.
Behaviorism in explaining SLA was often associated with Contrastive Analysis
Hypothesis (CAH). The CAH predicts that where there are similarities between the first
language and the target language, the learners will acquire target-language structures
easily, and vice versa. Also, CAH denotes that first language is the main sources of errors
in second language (Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong, 2007).
Innatism
According to Chomsky (1959, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh
Phuong, 2007), children are biologically programmed for language and language
develops in children in just the same way that other biological functions develop.
The availability of people who speak to the child acts as a basic contribution of the
environment and the child’s biological endowment will do the rest. In Chomsky

(1959, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong, 2007), children’s
minds language acquisition device was often described as an imaginary “black box”
which was believed to contain all and only the principles universal to all human
languages. Another term in Chomsky’s writing is Universal Grammar that is
thought to consist of a set of principles that are common to all languages.
The biologist Eric Lenneberg argued that the language acquisition device
works successfully only when it is stimulated at the right time called the “Critical
Period”. The Critical Period Hypothesis refers to the notion that there is a specific
and limited time period for the acquisition of language.

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Additionally, Krashen (1982, cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh
Phuong, 2007) presented five “hypotheses” which constitute what he originally
called the “Monitor Model”, namely the Acquisition-Learing Hypothesis, the
Monitor Hypothesis, the Natural Order Hypothesis, the Input Hypothesis, and the
Affective Filter Hypothesis. The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis claims that there
are two distinctive ways of developing competence in a second or foreign language:
“acquisition” and “learning”. Acquisition is the “natural” way, paralleling first language
development in children. Acquisition refers to an unconscious process that involves the
naturalistic development of language proficiency through understanding language and
through using language for meaningful communication. We acquire as we are exposed to
samples of the second language which we understand. This happens in much the same
way that children pick up their first language-with no conscious attention to the form.
Learning, by contrast, refers to a conscious process of study and attention to form
and rule learning. The result of learning is the explicit knowledge about the form of
a language and the ability to verbalize this knowledge. For Krashen, acquisition is
by far the more important process, and learning cannot turn into acquisition. The
“affective filter” is an imaginary barrier functioning to prevent learners form

acquiring language from the available input. The “affect” refers to such things as
motives, needs, attitudes, and emotional states. The filter is up when a learner who
is stressed, upset, or even unmotivated (a high affective filter), which prevents
acquisition from taking place. The filter is down when the learner is relaxed and
motivated (a low affective filter). Therefore, it is desirable to acquire language with
a low affective filter.
Interactionist Position
According to interactionist position, the complex and intricate interplay
between the uniquely human characteristics of the child and the environment in
which the child develops brings about the development of first language. Jean
Piaget (cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh Phuong, 2007) viewed that
children’s cognitive development partly determines their use of language. Besides,

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Lev Vygotsky had the sociocultural theory of human mental processing which
assumes that language develops entirely from social interaction, and referred to the
child’s zone of proximal development.
Some interactionists have developed their ideas mainly in SLA research itself
(Hatch, 1992; Pica, 1994; Long, 1983; cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh
Phuong, 2007). Interactionists view SLA as the process taking place through
conversational interaction and concern with the necessity of comprehensible input for
language acquisition. Long (1983, cited in cited in Nguyen Thi Van Lam and Ngo Dinh
Phuong, 2007) agrees with Krashen that comprehensible input is necessary for language
acquisition. However, he is more concerned with the question of how input is made
comprehensible. He sees modified interaction as the necessary mechanism for this to
take place. Long infers that modified interaction must be necessary for language
acquisition. This relationship has been summarized as follows: Interactional modification
makes input comprehensible; comprehensible input promotes acquisition. Therefore,

interactional modification promotes acquisition.
Hence, from the above views of the linguists, it seems that researchers and
educators who are hoping for language acquisition theories which give them insight
into language teaching practice are often frustrated by the lack of agreement among
the “experts”. Research which has theory development as its goal has very
important long-term significance for language teaching and learning, but agreement
on a “complete” theory of language acquisition is probably, at best, a long way off.
2.2. Reasons for learning a foreign/second language
People learn a foreign or second language for a number of reasons. Jeremy
Harmer (1991) identifies the following reasons:
2.2.1. School curriculum
Many language students in the world may learn English because it is on the
school curriculum whether they like it or not! For many of these students English is
compulsory in the learning programme and learning it is unavoidable.
2.2.2. Advancement
Thanks to their competence of English or French.Some people want to study
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English or another foreign languages because they think it offers a chance for
advancement in their professional lives. They will get a better job with two
languages than if they only know their mother tongue. In Vietnam at present, many
people can look for a job easily if they have a good command of the English
language; some even get promoted.
2.2.3. Target language community
Some language students find themselves living in a target language
community (either temporarily or permanently). A target language community is
one where the inhabitants speak the language which the student is learning; for
students of English an English - speaking country would be a target language
community. The students would need to learn to survive in that community.

2.2.4. English for specific purposes
The term English for special or specific purpose has been applied to situations
where students have some specific reason for wanting to learn the language. For
example, air traffic controllers need English primarily to guide aircraft through the
skies. They may not use the language at all apart from this. Business executives
need English for international trade. Waiters may need English to serve their
customers. These needs have often been referred to as EOP (English for
Occupational Purpose).
Students who are going to study at a university in the USA, Great Britain,
Australia or Canada, on the other hand, may need English so that thay can write
reports or essays and function in seminars. This is often called EAP (English for
Academic Purpose). Students of medicine or nuclear physics - or other scientific
disciplines - (studying in their own countries) need to be able to read articles and
textbooks about those subjects in English. This is often referred to as EST (or
English for Science and Technology).
What is interesting about all these examples is that the type of English the
students want to learn may be different: waiters may want to talk and listen,
whereas scientists may want to read and write.

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2.2.5. Culture
Some students study a foreign language because they are attracted to the
culture of one of the TLCs (see above). They learn the language because they want
to know more about the people who speak it, the places where it is spoken and (in
some cases) the writings which it has produced.
2.2.6. Miscellaneous
There are of course many other possible reasons for learning a language. Some
people do it just for fun - because they like the activity of going to class. Some

people do it because they want to be tourists in a country where that language is
spoken. Some people do it just because all their friends are learning the language.
2.3. Ability to learn
Ability to learn a foreign language is also a factor that influences how
successful a person is in learning that language. The term ‘ability’ is often restricted
to cognitive aspects of a person’s ability to learn, notably intelligence and a set of
more specific language learning abilities called ‘language aptitude’ (William T.
Littlewood, 1984; 62). The factors that constitute ability to learn, according to Littlewood
(1984), include cognitive factors, personality, age, learning styles and strategies.
2.3.1. Cognitive factors
Language aptitude
There is a link between general intelligence (‘IQ’) and second - language learning ability. Paul Pimsleur (1968) found that a school learner’s average grades
in all school subjects were often a good means of predicting how good he would be
at language learning.
However, it has become clear that success in second language learning is related
not only to general cognitive ability, but also to a more language - specific set of learning
abilities which are usually called ‘language aptitude’.Language aptitude is a phenomenon
whose exact nature is not yet known. It has been investigated most intensively by
researchers attempting to devise tests of students learning potential before they actually
begin a course. One of the best known of the tests, the ‘Morden Language Aptitude Test’
of John Carroll and Stanley Sapon (1959), focuses on the following abilities, in the belief
that they form part of language aptitude:

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- The ability to identify and remember sounds;
- The ability to memorize words;
- The ability to recognize how words function grammatically in sentences;
- The ability to induce grammatical rules from language examples.

Taken together, language aptitude and motivation are the factors which have
predicted success most regularly in the various research studies (Littlewood 1984:63).
2.3.2. Personality
As with cognitive factors, a number of personality characteristics have been
proposed as likely to influence second language learning.
It is often suggested that an extrovert person is especially well suited to second
language learning. A more positive result emerged from a study by Richard Tucker
et al. (1976), who found that success in second language learning seemed to
correlate with learners’ scores on some traits often associated with extroversion,
such as assertiveness and adventurousness.
We might note here that irrespective of actual learning ability, people with an
outgoing personality may enjoy certain advantages. For example, they may become
involved in more social interaction, attract more attention from their teachers, and
be less inhibited when asked to display their proficiency (e,g, in oral interviews).
They may perform more confidently in communication situation, whichever
language that are using.
The introverts seem to prefer academic teaching that emphasizes individual
learning and language knowledge. The extroverts are thought of as quiet and
reserved, with tendencies toward reclusiveness.
2.3.3. Age
For many people, it is almost axiomatic that children can learn a second
language better than adults. They refer especially to immigrant families where
children have learnt the language of their new community with native or learn native proficiency, whereas the adults always show traces of foreignness. Other
studies show that the younger a person is on arrival in the new country, the more
proficient he or she is likely to become in the language.

10


The most common explanation for these observations is that there is a ‘critical

period’, during which the grammatical rules and explanations about language. They
only imitate what they are seeing and hearing.
- They try to make sense of situations by making use of non-verbal brain is
flexible and language learning can occur naturally and easily. Since this period ends
around puberty, adolescents and adults can no longer call upon these natural
learning capacities. The result is that language learning becomes an artificial,
laborious process.
There are explanations for younger learners in acquiring a foreign language more
quickly than older ones. Littlewood (1984:66) gives the following explanations:
1. Children often have more favorable learning conditions. They are often
exposed to the language for longer periods of time and receive more intensive
attention from native speakers of the language, including other children.
2. They are likely to be exposed to simpler language, which is easier to
process and understand, both from adults and from other children.
3. They are less likely to hold negative attitudes towards other speech
communities or to be aware of other factors (e.g. fear of rejection) which may
produce barriers to interaction and learning.
4. The adult’s tendency to analyze and apply conscious thought to the learning
experience may obstruct some of the natural processing mechanisms through which
the new language is internalized.
However, this account has been criticized in recent years, from a number of
standpoints (Littlewood, 1984:65). From a biological standpoint, people have questioned
whether there is any real evidence that puberty is accompanied by changes in the brain
that are so crucial to language learning. Experience shows, too, that many adolescents
and adults do acquire a high level of proficiency in a second language, which would
scarcely be possible if they lacked important learning mechanisms. Many studies in
recent years show that, given more or less qual opportunities, efficiency in second
language learning increases with age, and that younger learners are superior only in
acquiring pronunciation skills (Littlewood, 1984:66).

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2.5. English Vocabulary
2.5.1. Definition
What is vocabulary?
This word is used in schools. It is a list of words in which you are supposed to
known or learn.
As in Ur (1996), vocabulary can be roughly defined as the words taught in a
foreign language. A new item may be either a single word, e.g. book, cat, house,
etc. or more than a single word, e.g. post office, school-yard, etc., which is made up
of two or more words but expresses a single idea. There are also multi-word idioms
such as kick the bucket, where the meaning of the phrase cannot be deduced from an
analysis of the component words.
2.5.2. Type of Vocabulary
There are many way to classify vocabulary. Because of the aims of teaching
vocabulary, some vocabulary will be more important to students than others. In
general, we can distinguish two types of vocabulary:
2.5.2.1. Active Vocabulary
Words which students will need to understand and also use themselves. We
call this active vocabulary. In teaching active vocabulary, it is usually worth
spending time giving examples and asking questions, so that students can really see
how the word is used.
2.5.2.2. Passive Vocabulary
Words which we wants students to understand (e.g. when reading a text), but
which they will not need to use themselves. We call this passive vocabulary. To
save time, it is often best to present it quite quickly, with a simple example. If it
appears as part of a text or dialogue, we can often leave students to guess the word
from the context.
Emphasize that students should understand far more words than they can

produce so we should not try to treat all new words as active vocabulary.

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2.5.3. Concrete and Abstract Vocabulary
Concrete vocabulary denotes things, concepts that can be touched, felt, or seen,
therefore, it is quite easy to introduce a concrete item of vocabulary. For example, a
watch is a concrete word. We can teach this word by showing pupils a watch and
asking them what it is.
Abstract vocabulary denotes things, concepts that can not be touched , felt, or
seen. For example, happy, happiness, imagine, think, thought are abstract words.
These words cannot be introduced by visual aids. They can be only introduced by
the situation, explanation or translation. This also affects the revision process.
2.5.4. The Importance of Vocabulary
In the past, vocabulary teaching and learning were often given little priority in
second language programs, but recently there has been a renewed interest in the
nature of vocabulary and its role in learning and teaching. There is no doubt that
vocabulary plays a very important role in learning languages. There has been much
advice given by methodologists that language learners should be highly aware of
the importance of vocabulary and must have a high-frequent plan for studying new
words as soon as and much as possible.
Until the mid-1980s, vocabulary was considered to be a “neglected aspect” to
second language teaching and learning (Meara, 1981). After this urge in vocabulary
research, there is a renewed interest in lexical acquisition. Lexis is now recognized
as central to any language acquisition process, native, or non-native (Laufer, 1997).
The teaching of vocabulary has gained the important status as a fundamental
perspective of language development (Nunan, 1999). The core role of vocabulary
played in second language communication is being emphasized. According to
Gower et al. (2005), vocabulary is important to students and more important than

grammar for communication purposes, especially to children who are in the early
stages of learning English when they are motivated to learn the basic words they
need to get by in the language. Hatch (1983) states that the lexical level is the most
important because it makes basic communication possible. Moreover, McCarthy
(1990) claims that: “No matter how well the student learns grammar, no matter
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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.” Therefore, both teachers and students are aware of the significance of
vocabulary in second language learning. Teachers regard solid vocabulary
foundation as necessary in every stage of language learning (Laufer, 1997).
2.6. Aspects of Vocabulary need to be taught
2.6.1. Form: Pronunciation and Spelling
The learner has to know what a word sounds like (its pronunciation) and what it
looks like (its spelling). These are fairly obvious characteristics, and one or the other will
be perceived by the learner when encountering the item for the first time. In teaching, we
need to make sure that both these aspects are accurately presented and learned.
2.6.2. Grammar
The grammar of a new item will need to be taught if this is not obviously
covered by general grammatical rules. An item may have an unpredictable change
of form in certain grammatical contexts or may have some idiosyncratic way of
connecting with other words in sentences; it is important to provide learners with
this information at the same time as we teach the base form.
2.6.3. Collocation
The collocation typical of particular items are another factor that makes a
particular combination sound “right” or “wrong” in a given context. So this is another
piece of information about a new item which it may be worth teaching.
Collocations are also often noted in dictionaries, either by providing the whole

collocation under one of the head - words, or by a note in parenthesis.
2.6.4. Meaning: denotation, connotation, appropriateness/ formality
The meaning of a word is primarily what it refers to in the real world, its
denotation; this is often the sort of definition that is given in a dictionary.
A less obvious component of the meaning of an item is its comotation: the
associations, or positive or negative feelings it evokes, which may or may not be
indicated in a dictionary definition.

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