ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES OF BUI HUU NGHIA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

CAN THO UNIVERSITY
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
---------------

ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES OF
BUI HUU NGHIA HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
BA Thesis
Field of study: English Language Teaching

Supervisor: Ngo Thi Trang Thao, M.Ed

Researcher: Ho Thi Kim Thanh
Code: 7062922
Class: NN0652A1

Can Tho, April 2010


Acknowledgements

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research is accomplished with the enthusiastic help of many people. First
and foremost, I would like to express my whole-heart appreciation to my supervisor,
Mrs. Ngo Thi Trang Thao, my supervisor for her helpful guidance and valuable advice
during the time of doing this study. She also gave me professional suggestion in
carrying out this thesis.
Secondly, I also would like to express truthful thanks to my counselor, Mrs.
Bui Minh Chau who encouraged my classmates and me to determine on doing
research. Moreover, she gave me much useful advice for finding and choosing my

research topic.
Also, I would like to thank my friends who gave me a lot of useful advice as
well as encouragement when I met some problems during the time of doing this study.
Finally, I am sincerely thankful to the students at Bui Huu Nghia high school
who provided me with the data for this research.

i


Abstract

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to identify the vocabulary learning strategies
adopted by 216 students at Bui Huu Nghia high school in Cantho city. This study
attempted to examine the main strategies that Bui Huu Nghia High School students
apply to discover new English words' meaning and to consolidate the meaning of
English words once they have been encountered. The subjects of the study consisted of
68 tenth-graders, 82 eleventh-graders and 66 twelfth-graders at Bui Huu Nghia high
school. The main instrument used in this research is a questionnaire consisting of 50
items, based mostly on Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy. The first thirteen items were used
to explore the main strategies that students apply to discover English new words’
meaning. The rest items were used to consolidate English words once they have been
encountered. The results of the study show that social strategies are mainly used for
finding the meaning of the new English words. Furthermore, the use of the strategy
‘asking teacher for an L1 translation’ and the strategy ‘asking classmates for the
meaning of the word’ are mostly used among students to find out the meaning of
unknown English words. Metacognitive strategies are the highest-ranking category
used for remember new English words once they have been encountered. The strategy
‘studying the sound of a word’ and the strategy ‘written repetition’ are the most
popular strategies shared by students to retain new English words. Findings of this

study imply that most students are quite active to employ vocabulary learning
strategies when encountering unfamiliar English words.

ii


Tóm tắt

TÓM TẮT
Mục đích của nghiên cứu này nhằm xác định những chiến lược học từ vựng của
216 học sinh của trường THPT Bùi Hữu Nghĩa tại TP Cần Thơ. Nghiên cứu khảo sát
những chiến lược chủ yếu mà học sinh trường Bùi Hữu Nghĩa thường dùng để tìm
nghĩa từ mới tiếng Anh và để ghi nhớ từ. Đối tượng nghiên cứu gồm có 68 học sinh
lớp 10, 82 học sinh lớp 11 và 66 học sinh lớp 12 tại trường THPT Bùi Hữu Nghĩa.
Công cụ chính dùng trong nghiên cứu là bảng câu hỏi gồm 50 mục, dựa trên cơ sở
phân loại của Schmitt (1997). Mười ba mục đầu trong bảng câu hỏi dùng để tìm hiểu
những chiến lược chính học sinh áp dụng để tìm ra nghĩa từ mới. Những mục còn lại
dùng để tìm hiểu những chiến lược học sinh dùng để ghi nhớ từ vựng. Kết quả nghiên
cứu cho thấy những chiến lược thuộc nhóm có tương tác giữa người với người (Social
strategies) được sử dụng chủ yếu để tìm ra nghĩa từ vựng. Trong đó, chiến lược ‘nhờ
giáo viên dịch sang tiếng Việt’ và ‘hỏi bạn cùng lớp nghĩa của từ’ được dùng nhiều
nhất để tìm ra nghĩa từ tiếng Anh mới. Những chiến lược thuộc nhóm siêu nhận thức
(Metacognitive strategies) dùng để học từ vựng được xếp hạng cao nhất. Trong đó,
chiến lược ‘học cách phát âm’ và ‘viết đi viết lại nhiều lần’ được học sinh sử dụng
phổ biến để ghi nhớ từ vựng. Những kết quả trên cho thấy học sinh khá chủ động
trong việc áp dụng những chiến lược học từ vựng khi gặp từ mới.

iii

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements .................................................................................................. i
Abstract (English) ................................................................................................... ii
Abstract (Vietnamese)............................................................................................ iii
List of Tables .......................................................................................................... v
Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................ 1
Chapter 2 Literature review..................................................................................... 3
1. Vocabulary Learning Strategies ..................................................................... 3
1.1. Definition of the term vocabulary learning strategy........................... 3
1.2. The Role of Vocabulary Learning Strategies in Language Learning .. 3
2. Classification of Vocabulary Learning Strategy ............................................. 4
2.1. Taxonomies of Vocabulary Learning Strategy ................................... 4
2.2. Related Studies of Vocabulary Learning strategies ............................ 5
3. Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 7
Chapter 3 Methodology........................................................................................... 8
1. Research questions......................................................................................... 8
2. Research design ............................................................................................. 8
3. Hypothesis ..................................................................................................... 8
4. Participants .................................................................................................... 8
5. Instrument...................................................................................................... 9
6. Research procedure ...................................................................................... 12
Chapter 4 Results .................................................................................................. 13
1. Descriptive statistics for the whole questionnaire ......................................... 13
2. Descriptive statistics for the vocabulary learning strategies to discover new
English word meaning ..................................................................................... 13
3. Descriptive statistics for the vocabulary learning strategies to consolidate
English words .................................................................................................. 14
4. Conclusion................................................................................................... 15

Chapter 5 Discussion and conclusion .................................................................... 16
1. Discussion.................................................................................................... 16
2. Pedagogical implication ............................................................................... 18
3. Limitations and recommendations for further research ................................. 19
4. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 20
References............................................................................................................. 21
Appendices ........................................................................................................... 23

iv


List of Tables

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Vocabulary learning strategies classified by Schmitt (1997) used in the
questionnaire ............................................................................................................ 10
Table 2. Descriptive statistics for the mean score of the whole questionnaire ........... 13
Table 3. Descriptive statistics of the degree of use of strategies for the discovery of
English new word’s meaning ................................................................................... 14
Table 4. Descriptive statistics of the degree of use of strategies for consolidating
English words .......................................................................................................... 15

v


Chapter 1 Introduction

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION
This chapter introduces the important role of vocabulary and the necessity of
vocabulary learning strategies in learning English language at high school as
rationale of the research purposes. Thesis organization is also presented in this
chapter.
1. General statement of the problems
Nowadays, English becomes one of required subjects in almost all schools,
colleges and universities in Vietnam because of its importance as an international
language. Vocabulary knowledge is essential when we use a foreign language, and
English is not an exception since people are unable to communicate without words.
Furthermore, vocabulary plays an important role as we enter the 21th century
(Soekmen, 1997). Therefore, vocabulary learning is one of the basic parts of language
learning. Learners are usually aware of the importance of words in a language, so they
themselves might usually realize the fact that vocabulary learning strategies can help
them in their vocabulary learning, including discovering the new words’ meaning and
consolidating English word when they have been encountered.
Because vocabulary learning strategies are considered as the useful means of
learning vocabulary, students from elementary schools to universities need strategies
for their vocabulary learning; especially, high school students, they are standing
between elementary level and advanced level boundaries. These students need to
equip themselves with enough vocabulary knowledge when they reach advanced
level. Moreover, all of high school students in Vietnam have to pass a national
examination, so equipping sufficient vocabulary knowledge for them is necessary. The
more necessary vocabulary is, the more important vocabulary learning strategy is. To
which degree students apply their own ways to find out the new words’ meaning and
remember these new words in their mind is an interesting topic for many researchers
who have attempted to study more. Some investigations on vocabulary learning
strategies have focused on Asian students (Fan, 2003; Gu & Johnson, 1996; Schmitt,
1997). However, there are few studies focus on Vietnames students. Furthermore,
most of studies carried out basing on elementary students or university students.

Accordingly, current research tends to focus on intends to examine high school
Vietnamese students’ vocabulary learning strategies.
2. Statement of the aims
This study aims to explore current vocabulary learning strategies situation in
high school, first and foremost, Bui Huu Nghia high school students, because there is
a need to know current situations of students’ use of vocabulary learning strategies in

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Chapter 1 Introduction

high schools. With a better understanding of the current situation of students’ use of
vocabulary learning strategies, teachers can then find ways to help students to become
more autonomous learners with, for example, vocabulary language learning strategy
training since learner autonomy can be enhanced by introducing the learner to
different vocabulary learning strategies which can be used in developing the learning
process (Schmitt, 1997). In addition, learning strategies help students to be more
active and take more responsibility on their own learning. Finally, the understanding
of the students’ vocabulary learning strategies use enables teachers design appropriate
materials and activities to help their students improve their vocabulary learning so as
to enhance their lexical competence.
3. General organization and coverage of the study
The thesis consists of four chapters. In chapter one, Introduction, the important
role of vocabulary, the necessity of vocabulary learning strategies in learning English
language at high school as rationale of the research purposes and thesis organization

are introduced. In chapter two, Literature Review, began with the definition of the
term Vocabulary learning strategies and the role of vocabulary learning strategies in
language learning. Classification of vocabulary learning strategies and some related
studies of vocabulary learning strategies were also reviewed in this chapter. In chapter
three, Methodology, a description of the research design, the research questions,
participants of the study, the research instruments and the procedure will be reported.
The results and findings about the main strategies that Bui Huu Nghia High School
students apply to discover new English words' meaning and to consolidate English
words once they have been encountered will be described in chapter four, Results.
Finally, in chapter five, Discussion and conclusion, a discussion of the results,
limitation of the study and recommendations for further research, and conclusion will
be presented.

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Chapter 2 Literature Review

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter begins with the definition of the term ‘vocabulary learning
strategies’ and the role of vocabulary learning strategies in language learning.
Classification of vocabulary learning strategies and some related studies of
vocabulary learning strategies are also reviewed in this chapter.
1. Vocabulary learning strategies

1.1. Definition of the term Vocabulary learning strategy
Over the recent years a number of studies have been conducted on the topic of
vocabulary learning strategies. Many researchers have attempted to define of clarify
the term Vocabulary learning strategies. Among the definitions, Catalan’s (2003)
seem to be the most appropriate one in language learning situation. Taking into
consideration the ideas of different researchers (Oxford 1990, Rubin 1987, Schmitt,
1997 and Wenden, 1987), Catalan (2003) suggested the following concrete and
detailed definition of vocabulary learning strategies:
Knowledge about the mechanisms (processes, strategies) used in order to learn
vocabulary as well as steps or actions taken by students (a) to find out the meaning of
unknown words, (b) to retain them in long-term memory, (c) to recall them at will, and (d) to
use them in oral or written mode (p.56).

1.2. The role of vocabulary learning strategies in language learning
Words are used to express the meaning of objects, actions and ideas. Without
words, people may not communicate with others successfully. The striking role of
vocabulary knowledge in second or foreign language learning has been recently
recognized by theorists and researchers in the field. Accordingly, many types of
approaches (strategies), techniques, exercises and practice have been introduced into
the field to teach vocabulary (Hatch & Brown, 1995). Because of the important role of
strategies in learning vocabulary, it has been suggested that teaching vocabulary
should not only consist of teaching specific words but also aim at equipping learners
with strategies necessary to expand their vocabulary knowledge (Hulstjin, 1993).
Firstly, vocabulary learning strategies help students increase a large number of
words successfully. Nation (2001) believes that a large amount of vocabulary could be
acquired with the help of vocabulary learning strategies and that the strategies have

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Chapter 2 Literature Review

been proved useful for students of different language levels. Therefore, the time
teachers spend on introducing different ways of vocabulary learning and practicing to
students cannot be considered wasted (Oxford & Nyikos 1989). Moreover, Cameron
(2001) believes that children may not implement vocabulary learning strategies on
their own and they should be trained to use the strategies.
Secondly, vocabulary learning strategies can help students to take more control
of their own learning and have more responsibility for their studies. According Nation
(2001) and Scharle & Szabo (2000), the main benefits gained from all learning
strategies, including strategies for vocabulary learning, is the fact that they enable
learners to take more control of their own learning so that students can take more
responsibility for their studies. Consequently, the strategies encourage “learner
autonomy, independence, and self-direction” (Oxford & Nyikos 1989, p 291).
Finally, vocabulary learning strategies permit educators and curriculum
designers to match teaching and learning so as to develop students’ potentials in EFL
(English as foreign language) learning as well as to assist students become cognizant
of the ways they learn most effectively (Schmitt, 1997).
In conclusion, vocabulary learning strategies considerably contributed in the
process of vocabulary learning and enhancement. Oxford & Scarcella (1994)
implicated the provision of systematic vocabulary instruction to let learner master
specific strategies to acquire words even outside their classes. Accordingly, students
can decide upon how exactly they would like to deal with unknown words if they are
equipped with a range of various vocabulary learning strategies.
2. Classification of vocabulary learning strategy
2.1. Taxonomies of vocabulary learning strategy

There are several different ways to classify L2 vocabulary learning strategies.
Therefore, different taxonomies of vocabulary learning strategies were developed by
several researchers. Among the taxonomies of vocabulary learning strategies,
Schmitt’s taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies is typically discussed in this
thesis since his taxonomy seems to be the most detailed and concrete one.
Schmitt’s taxonomy might be the most elaborate and extensive classification of
vocabulary learning strategies to date. The 56 strategies in his taxonomy have been
organized in the framework of two systems. First, he based his classification on
Oxford’s (1990) work and included four of her categories: social, memory, cognitive
and metacognitive. Second, he used a distinction between discovery and consolidation

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Chapter 2 Literature Review

strategies offered by Cook & Mayer (1983) and Nation (1990). The former helps
students to find out the meaning of a word when encountered for the first time and the
latter aid memorization of the word after it has been introduced. Finally, Schmitt
(1997) classified the strategies have under two main categories, i.e. strategies for the
discovery of a new word's meaning, and strategies for consolidating a word once it
has been encountered and divided these strategies into five sub-categories: Social
strategies

(SOC),

cognitive

strategies

(COG),

memory

strategies

(MEM),

determination strategies (DET), and metacognitive strategies (MET).
The first part, strategies for finding out the meaning of new English words’
meaning consist of two sub-categories: determination strategies and social strategies.
Determination strategies, consisting of nine strategies, include strategies of guessing
from one' structural knowledge of a language, guessing from an L1 cognate, guessing
from context, or using reference materials. Social strategies with five strategies relate
to the strategies of asking a help from someone.
The second part, strategies for consolidating English words consist of four subcategories: social strategies, memory strategies, cognitive strategies and metacognitive
strategies. Social strategies, consiting three strategies, use interation with other people
to remember vocabulary. Memory strategies – mnemonics with twenty-five strategies
involve relating the word to some previous knowledge, linking it to some L2 words
already familiar to the learner, and grouping the words according to some categories.
In addition, word's orthographical of phonological form, word's affixes, roots and
word classes can used as a mnemonic strategy. Cognitive strategies, consisting of nine
strategies, include repetition and mechanical means to study vocabulary.
Metacognitive strategies with five strategies involve a conscious overview of the
learning process and making decisions about planning, monitoring, or evaluating the
best ways to study (see Appendix 1)

2.2. Related studies of Vocabulary learning strategies
There are numerous researches relating to vocabulary learning strategies, and
some of th previous researches about this topic in order to find out the similarities as
well as the differences between researches and the current research.
Ruutmets’ s (2005) research aim to map the current situation as regards young
Estonian students’ preferences in relation to vocabulary learning strategies. For the
purpose, seven interviews were conducted with students of forms three and four and a
64-item questionnaire was compiled and administered to 230 students of fifth-grade

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Chapter 2 Literature Review

and sixth-grade. The results of both the interviews and the questionnaire showed that
the use of various vocabulary learning strategies is not very wide spread among the
students. All in all, 40 strategies were used seldom or never by students.
Yi-Fen (2004) surveyed 625 Taiwan EFL freshmen’s vocabulary learning
strategies at some universities in Taiwan. Schmitt’s (1997) vocabulary learning
strategy questionnaire was adopted in this study. The aim of this research is to
examine to which degree freshmen used vocabulary learning strategies and the
comparison between males and females in their use of vocabulary learning strategies
and between English-majors and non-English-majors in their use of vocabulary
learning strategies. The results showed that female freshmen used more vocabulary
learning strategies than male ones. Also, English-majored students use vocabulary
learning strategies more frequently than non-English majored ones. In addition, the

results reported that electronic dictionary, written repetition, study the sound of the
word, bilingual dictionary (English-Chinese) and verbal repetition are the most
popular strategies among these students.
Lin (2001, cited in Lan & Oxford 2003), using several research instruments
(classroom observation, written records, oral interviews), studied the vocabulary
learning strategies of seven Taiwanese elementary school students. Despite the small
sample size, 73 strategies were identified, which were categorized into metacognitive,
cognitive and social-affective strategies. The research revealed that the subjects relied
mostly on rote memorization of words, did not have good dictionary use and notetaking skills.
Schmitt (1997) conducted a study of vocabulary learning strategies
concentrating on which strategies learners used and which of them learners found the
most helpful and the least helpful. Schmitt collected the data for his study using
questionnaires with a list of 56 strategies and used his taxonomy in the analysis. The
participants of Schmitt’s (1997) study consisted of 600 Japanese learners of English
with four different groups: junior high school students (between 7 to 9 years of age),
high school students (between 10 to 12 years of age), university students and adult
learners. Each participant was provided with a 56-strategy questionnaire and they
were to write down which strategies they use and which of them they found the most
helpful. Schmitt’s (1997) study suggested that using a bilingual dictionary and
guessing from context were especially popular among Japanese learners of English to
find out the meaning of unknown words. Furthermore, verbal repetition, written

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Chapter 2 Literature Review

repetition and study the spelling were rather popular with students to remember
English words.
These above studies investigated vocabulary learning strategies at different
educational levels and led to surprisingly various results. Ruutmets’ (2005) results of
both the interviews and the questionnaire reflected that the use of different vocabulary
learning strategies is not very popular among the students. Yi-Fen’s (2004) research
showed that electronic dictionary, written repetition, study the sound of the word,
bilingual dictionary (English-Chinese) and verbal repetition are the most employed
strategies among these students. Besides, rote memorization of words is mostly used
by elementary students is the findings from Lin’s (2001) study (cited in Lan & Oxford
2003). Schmitt’s (1997) surveys were handed out using a bilingual dictionary, verbal
repetition, written repetition, studying the spelling and guessing from context were
popular strategies to learn vocabulary among Japanese learners of English. The
participants in these studies are varied; however, there are few surveys on vocabulary
learning strategies among high school students (between 16 to 18 years of age).
Especially, there are few studies focusing on strategies for discovering new English
words’ meaning and for consolidating new English words. Therefore, the aim of the
study is to investigate the main vocabulary learning strategies that high school
students use to find out the meaning of new English words and to retain new words.
3. Conclusion
In the chapter, it is clear that vocabulary learning strategies are very essential
for students to find out the meaning of new English words and to consolidate English
words once they have been encountered. These strategies also help students become
more autonomous, independent and self-directed (Oxford & Nyikos 1989). Therefore,
teachers can have some suitable ways to help their students in vocabulary learning if
they have a better understanding of the current situation of students’ use of vocabulary
learning strategies.

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Chapter 3 Methodology

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the research methodology of the study including (1) the
research questions, (2) hypothesis, (3) the research design, (4) the participants, (5)
the instrument and (6) research procedures will be described.
1. Research questions
From the background of the previous chapter, vocabulary learning strategies
have become an interesting topic for many researchers during previous years;
however, there are few studies on high school participants. Moreover, studies focused
on both strategies for discover new English words’ meaning and for consolidate new
English words once they have been encountered are still limited. This is the reason
why the present study aims to examine the vocabulary learning strategy use of high
school students. The present research aims to answer two following questions:
(1) What are the main strategies that Bui Huu Nghia High School students
apply to discover new English words' meaning?
(2) What are the main strategies that Bui Huu Nghia High School students
apply to consolidate English words once they have been encountered?
2. Hypothesis
From the literature review, it is hypothesis that social strategies are mostly used
by Bui Huu Nghia high school students to discover new English words’ meaning and
cognitive strategies are mostly applied by Bui Huu Nghia high school students to

consolidate English words when they have been encountered.
3. Research design
The present study used the descriptive survey method to determine the
vocabulary learning strategies employed by Bui Huu Nghia high school students. This
survey described the natural phenomena without any treatment.
4. Participants
The current thesis is accomplished with the involvement of six classes, totally
216 students, in Bui Huu Nghia high school. Participants include 137 females and 79
males. These participants come from two tenth-grade classes, two eleventh-grade
classes and two twelfth-grade classes that were randomly chosen among 40 classes at
Bui Huu Nghia high school. All the participants are learning seven-year English
program.

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Chapter 3 Methodology

5. Instrument
Schmitt’s (1997) taxonomy of vocabulary learning strategies is focused on the
chapter. The present thesis has been carried out based on Schmitt’s taxonomy of
vocabulary learning strategies because of some reasons. First, among the taxonomies,
Schmitt’s taxonomy is quantitatively detailed enough to study learners’ vocabulary
learning strategies because Schmitt classified vocabulary learning strategies under two
main categories (strategies for the discovery of a new word's meaning, and strategies
for consolidating a word once it has been encountered). Second, Schmitt’s taxonomy

is qualitatively related to the topic of the current study since Schmitt’s taxonomy is
suitable to the purpose of the present thesis. Finally, Schmitt’s taxonomy was taken
form based on both theory and realistic study; therefore, Schmitt’s seem to be the
most appropriate one in language learning situation.
Schmitt’s consisted 56 items; however, the present study just applied 50 items
since the rest which are not suitable to high school students’ level, are too strange,
unnecessary and complicated for students to understand. For example, use semantic
map, configuration, use semantic feature grids and use spaces word practice are more
suitable to English-majors than high school students or check for L1 cognate are
strange and complicated for them. Moreover, both skip or pass new word and continue
to study word over time are used to check students’ degree of studying English words.
Therefore, continue to study word over time – one of them was applied in the
questionnaire.
The five-scale Likert questionnaire was grouped into two groups: (1) the first
thirteen items divided into 2 categories: determination strategies (DET) and social
strategies (SOC1) are used to investigate the main strategies that Bui Huu Nghia high
school students apply to discover new English words’ meaning, and (2) the rest with 4
categories: social strategies (SOC2), memory strategies (MEM), cognitive strategies
(COG) and metacognitive (MET) are used to investigate the main strategies that these
students apply to consolidate English word once they have been encountered. The
detailed strategies included in each category are shown in Table 1.

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Chapter 3 Methodology

Table 1 Vocabulary learning strategies classified by Schmitt (1997) used in the
questionnaire
Item
Part

Categories

Item in the questionnaire
No.

1 – Strategies

Determination

1.

Analyze part of speech

for the

strategies

2.

Analyze affixes and roots

discovery of a

(DET)

3.

Analyze any available pictures or gestures

new words

4.

Guess from textual context

meaning

5.

Bilingual dictionary

6.

Monolingual dictionary

7.

Word lists

8.

Flash cards

Social

9.

Ask teacher for an L1 translation

strategies

10.

Ask teacher for paraphrase or synonym of new word

(SOC1)

11.

Ask teacher for a sentence including the new word

12.

Ask classmates for meaning

13.

Discover meaning through group work activity

2 – Strategies

Social

14.

Study and practice meaning in a group

consolidating a

strategies

15.

Teach check students' flash cards or word lists for

word once it

(SOC2)

has been
encountered

Memory

accuracy
16.

Interact with native speakers

17.

Study a word with a pictorial representation of its

strategies

(MEM)

meaning
18.

Image word’s meaning

19.

Connect word to a personal experience

20.

Associate the word with its coordinates

21.

Connect the word to its synonyms or antonyms

22.

Use ‘scales’ for gradable adjectives

23.

Peg method 1

24.

Loci method 2

25.

Group words together spatially on a page

26.

Use new word in sentences

27.

Group words together within a storyline

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Chapter 3 Methodology

28.

Study the spelling of a word

29.

Study the sound of a word

30.

Say a new word aloud when studying

31.

Image word form

32.

Underline initial letter of the word

33.

Use keyword method

34.

Affixes and roots (remembering)

35.

Part of speech (remembering)

36.

Use cognates in study

37.

Learn the word of an idiom together

38.

Use physical action when learning a word

Cognitive

39.

Verbal repetition

strategies

40.

Written repetition

(COG)

41.

Word lists

42.

Flash cards

43.

Take notes in class

44.

Use vocabulary section in your textbook

45.

Listen to tape of word lists

46.

Put English labels in physical objects

47.

Keep a vocabulary notebook

48.

Use

Metacognitive
strategies
(MET)

English-language

media

(songs,

movies,

newscasts, etc)
49.

Testing oneself with word tests

50.

Continue to study word over time

1

memorizing lists of facts by linking them to familiar words (or numbers) by means of an image

2

remembering words by mentally placing them in specific locations

Each strategy in the questionnaire includes a five-point checklist items never,
seldom, sometimes, usually and always. In total, the questionnaire contained 50 fivepoint scale checklists for students to put a tick on the scale that most appropriate to
themselves (see Appendix 2).
The questionnaire was designed based on Schmitt’ taxonomy so it was original
in English. However, the Vietnamese version was used when delivering to high school
students to assure that students with different proficiency levels could adequately

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Reseacher: Ho Thi Kim Thanh


Chapter 3 Methodology

understand the items in the questionnaire (see Appendix 3). The questionnaire was
piloted for the reliability of the instrument, and the alpha () was computed to be .91
so the questionnaire was reliable to use in the study.
6. Research procedures
This research was carried out during two months. First, in order to collect the
data for the survey, a questionnaire is designed on the background information from
the literature review. Second, the first draft of the English and Vietnamese
questionnaire was designed. Next, the questionnaire was piloted at Bui Huu Nghia
high school with the participation of 120 students. Then, the main data was collected
from 216 students at Bui Huu Nghia high school. The students were given detailed
instructions on how to complete the questionnaire. They were also free to ask for
clarification at any point during the time of filling it in. Finally, the data analysis was
performed with the help of SPSS 11.5 for Windows. Descriptive statistics were
computed to summarize the students' responses to the 50 vocabulary learning
strategies listed in the questionnaire.

Supervisor: Ngo Thi Trang Thao, M.Ed

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Reseacher: Ho Thi Kim Thanh

Chapter 4 Results

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS
The purpose of this chapter was to report the results of the collected data in
this study.
1. Descriptive statistics for the whole questionnaire
After collecting the data from 216 students, a five-point scale was used to
decode students’ responses: ‘always’-5, ‘usually’-4, ‘sometimes’-3, ‘seldom’-2,
‘never’-1. These points were used for SPSS analysis. It might imply that the more
points students got, the higher degree of using strategies students had.
First, the reliability score of the instrument was computed. Next, descriptive
statistics for mean score of the whole questionnaire were analyzed. Then, descriptive
statistics for mean score of each part of the questionnaire were analyzed to identify the
main strategies that students apply to discover the meaning of the new English words
and to retain new English words. Finally, descriptive statistics of each category in
each part was used to illustrate related issues.
Reliability of the questionnaire on English vocabulary learning strategies of Bui
Huu Nghia high school students is very high reliability (=.91).
Descriptive statistics of the mean score of the whole questionnaire in Table 2
show that the whole questionnaire receives an above average mean score (M=3.00,
SD=.47), implying that students ‘sometimes’ used vocabulary learning strategies in
their learning English vocabulary.
Table 2. Descriptive statistics for the mean score of the whole questionnaire
Std.

TOTAL

N

Min

Max

Mean

Deviation

216

1.58

4.22

3.00

.47

2. Descriptive statistics for the vocabulary learning strategies to discover new
English word’s meaning (Research question 1)
Part 1 in the questionnaire consists of strategies for discovering English words’
meaning, includes two categories: determination strategies (DET) and social strategies
(SOC1). Descriptive statistics for the mean score to discover what are the main

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Reseacher: Ho Thi Kim Thanh

Chapter 4 Results

strategies that students use to find out the meaning of new English words were
analyzed. The result is presented in Table 3. The results reported that the mean score
of social strategies (M=3.52, SD=.67) is higher than the mean score of determination
strategies (M=3.01, SD=.59), indicating that SOC1 are used more frequently than
DET.
Table 3. Descriptive statistics of the degree of use of strategies for the
discovery of English new word’s meaning
Std.
N

Min

Max

Mean

Deviation

DET

216

1.00

4.63

3.01

.59

SOC1

216

1.80

5.00

3.52

.67

To gain further insights, the mean score of each strategy is considered (see
Appendix 5). It can be seen that the strategy asking teacher for an L1 translation
(M=3.77, SD=1.12) and the strategy asking classmates for the meaning of the word
(M=3.76, SD=1.10) receive highest mean score. Therefore, these two strategies are
most typically used by students to know the meaning of new English words.
3. Descriptive statistics for the vocabulary learning strategies to consolidate new
English words once they have been encountered (Research question 2)
The strategies of part 2 in the questionnaire include four categories of
vocabulary learning strategies of consolidation English new words. Descriptive
statistics for the mean score to discover what are the main strategies that students use
to remember new English words were analyzed. From Table 4, the mean scores of
four categories of vocabulary learning strategies are from 2.48 to 3.43. It can be
implied that students ‘sometimes’ use these strategies to retain new words. Among
these strategies, social strategies (SOC2) are reported with the lowest mean (M=2.48,

SD=.08), implying that students ‘sometimes’ use social strategies in remembering
new word. In contrast, metacognitive strategies (MET) are reported with the highest
mean (M=3.43, SD=.81) implying that metacognitive strategies are quite ‘usually’
applied by students.

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Reseacher: Ho Thi Kim Thanh


Chapter 4 Results

Table 4. Descriptive statistics of the degree of use of strategies for consolidating English
words
Std.
N

Min

Max

Mean

Deviation

SOC2

216

1.00

4.33

2.48

.80

MEM

216

1.14

4.00

2.73

.51

COG

216

1.56

5.00

3.24

.66

MET

216

1.33

5.00

3.43

.81

For more details, the mean score of each strategy is considered (see Appendix
5). Only the mean score of the strategy written repetition (M= 4.02, SD=.99) and the
strategy studying the sound of the word (M= 4.01, SD=1.04) in the questionnaire can
reach 4 in five-point scale. It can be implied that these two strategies are ‘usually’
used by high school students to remember English words.
4. Conclusion
In this chapter, the results of data analysis for the two issues: (1) the main
strategies that Bui Huu Nghia High School students apply to discover new English
words' meaning, and (2) the main strategies that Bui Huu Nghia High School students
apply to consolidate English words once they have been encountered. The result
suggests that social strategies are used more frequently than determination strategies
by Bui Huu Nghia high school students to find out the meaning of unknown English
words and the strategies asking teachers for an L1 translation and asking classmates
for the meaning of the word are especially popular among these students. Furthermore,
metacognitive strategies (MET) are most frequently applied by the students;

especially, written repetition and studying the sound of the word are quite popular
with students to retain English words.

Supervisor: Ngo Thi Trang Thao, M.Ed

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Reseacher: Ho Thi Kim Thanh


Chapter 5 Discussion and Conclusion

CHAPTER 5

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
This chapter covers four sections. First, the major findings will be discussed in
regards to the two research questions that are put forward in this study. Second,
pedagogical implications will be provided. Third, limitations and recommendations
for further research will be mentioned. Last, conclusion will be made.
1. Discussion
1.1. Discussion on the whole questionnaire
As presented in results chapter, the whole questionnaire receives a above
average mean score (M=3.00, SD=.47) implying that students ‘sometimes’ used
vocabulary learning strategies in their learning English vocabulary.
1.2. The main strategies that students apply to discover new English
words' meaning.
The results show that students at Bui Huu Nghia high school used a variety of
strategies to discover new English words’ meaning. However, the popularity of use of
different strategies categories as well as each individual strategy is not the same.
Between two categories of vocabulary learning strategies, determination strategies and

social strategies to discover the words’ meaning, social strategies (M=3.52, SD=.67)
are more commonly used strategies than the other. These results are the similar to the
hypothesis. This results are different from Schmitt’s (1997) result; his research shows
that most learners preferred to discover the meaning of English vocabulary
individually (determination strategies). It indicates that students ‘sometimes’ seek
other people’ help instead of recourse to other person's expertise when they want to
obtain the meaning of new English words.
Among strategies to discover the meaning of new English words, the strategy
asking teacher for an L1 translation and the strategy asking classmates for the
meaning of the word are the most frequently used strategies applied by students. The
findings are also similar to hypothesis of the current research. The findings can be
inferred that students might not independently obtain the meaning of new words
because they mostly need other people’s help to know new words’ meaning. This
result is different from the result of Schmitt’s (1997) study. His study’s results
reported that using a bilingual dictionary and guessing from context were typically

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Reseacher: Ho Thi Kim Thanh


Chapter 5 Discussion and Conclusion

popular among Japanese learners to find out the meaning of unknown English words;
the strategies used by an individual when faced with discovering a new word's
meaning without recourse to another person's expertise. The findings also are unlike
Yi-Fen’s (2004) results, the participants popularly used the strategies electronic
dictionary and bilingual dictionary (English-Chinese). They might be implied that the

current participant more passive than Schmitt’s (1997) participants or Yi-Fen’s (2004)
participants when they discover the meaning of new English words because they
“sometimes” need the help of other people instead of checking up the meaning of new
English words from dictionary or guessing the meaning of a word from the context.
To sum up, vocabulary learning strategies were employed at various levels by
Bui Huu Nghia high school students to discover the meaning of English new words.
However, the students prefer asking a help from someone in finding out the meaning
of a new word. In other words, it might be inferred that BHN high school students use
social strategies more frequently than determination strategies in finding the meaning
of new English words since the students might prefer applying social strategies to
determination strategies or they might not be introduced to these strategies.
1.3. The main strategies that students apply to consolidate English words
once they have been encountered.
As stated in results chapter, students at Bui Huu Nghia high school also used a
variety of strategies to consolidate English words. The results of the current survey
have both similarity and difference with the survey of Yi-Fen (2004). On one hand,
the findings of both Yi-Fen’s (2004) study and the present study shows that social
strategies are unpopular among subjects in consolidating English words. On the other
hand, metacognitive strategies are the most popularly used among students in the
current survey but are unpopular strategy categories among subjects in Yi-Fen’s
(2004) study. Furthermore, the results of the current research are similar to Schmitt’s
(1997) results in mostly using metacognitve strategies to retain vocabulary. It may
imply that students can control and evaluate their learning vocabulary (Schmitt, 1997).
However, these results are different from the researcher’s hypothesis.
The results reflect that the strategies studying the sound of a word and written
repetition are mostly employed by students to retain English words. Especially, these
two strategies are ‘usually’ used among 37 strategies of consolidation of new English
words. The results also are not the same with the hypothesis. In Schmitt’s (1997)
study, the results also showed that the strategy written repetition is one of the

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Reseacher: Ho Thi Kim Thanh


Chapter 5 Discussion and Conclusion

commonly used strategies. Furthermore, in this study, the mean score the strategy
interacting with native speaker is the lowest one (M=1.79, SD=.80). This result is
similar to both Yi-Fen’s (2004) and Schmitt’s (1997) results because the strategy
interacting with native speaker is one of the least used vocabulary learning strategies
their research. It is inferred that the strategy interacting with native speaker is not
popular with high school students because they may not have time or opportunity or
encouragement to communicate with native speakers.
In general, ‘sometimes’ Bui Huu Nghia high school students apply vocabulary
learning strategies to remember English words. Hence, it implies that students need to
be introduced more about vocabulary learning strategies since learners may be willing
to try new strategies if they are introduced to and instructed in them (Schmitt, 1997)
Also, they need to be trained more about using these strategies. Findings of this study
also imply that local students might not be passive in learning vocabulary.
2. Pedagogical implication for teachers and students
From the results discussed above, some pedagogical implication for teachers
and students can be found.
First, social strategies are mostly used to discover the meaning of new English
words, so it implicates that most students need a help from someone to know the
meaning of vocabulary. This learning trend is not really good for students to develop
their learning vocabulary (Schmitt, 1997). For this reason, students should
individually find out new English words’ meaning. Instead of mostly using social

strategies, students should be attentive to use some of determination strategies.
Therefore, teachers will play a helpful role as instructors leading and introducing
suitable strategies for students to find out the meaning of new English words.
Besides, memory strategies generally involve the kind of elaborative mental
processing that facilitates long-term retention. This takes time, but the time expended
will be well spent if used on important words that really need to be learned, such as
high-frequency vocabulary and technical words essential in a particular learner's field
of study (Schmitt, 1997). However, the findings of the current study show memory
strategies are not popular with students. Therefore, English teachers should pay
attention to help students recognize memory strategies which are suitable to their
students. Not only should strategy written repetition – the most popularly used
vocabulary learning strategies be encouraged to used among students, but also some
other cognitive strategies such as verbal repetition, word list and listening to word list

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Reseacher: Ho Thi Kim Thanh


Chapter 5 Discussion and Conclusion

should be encouraged to use by many students. The reason is that Nation (1990)
affirmed that it requires five to sixteen or more repetitions for a word to be learned.
Finally, metacognitive strategies are the most popularly used categories among
students to consolidate English word when they have encountered. The results of the
current research show that these strategies are ‘sometimes’ used. Since some studies
have shown that the use of metacognitve strategies is very helpful to students’
vocabulary learning (Schmitt, 1997; Nation, 1990), these strategies need to be trained

more for students.
In brief, English language teachers should play an important role in helping the
learners explore effective vocabulary learning strategies and methods so as to develop
autonomous learners in vocabulary learning. The time teachers spend on introducing
different ways of vocabulary learning and practicing to students cannot be considered
as wasted (Oxford & Nyikos 1989). In addition, the best teaching plan may be to
introduce to students a variety of learning strategies, especially vocabulary learning
strategies so that they can decide for themselves the ones they prefer (Schmitt &
Schmitt 1995). Moreover, teachers should train their students to use suitable
vocabulary learning strategies which are useful for them to learn vocabulary.
3. Limitations and recommendations for further research
Although the current research was carried out smoothly and the results are
quite clear, there are some limitations. First, the main instrument of the thesis is
questionnaire while interviews are also necessary to explore more about students’
vocabulary learning strategies (Ruutmets, 2005 and Lin 2001, cited in Lan & Oxford
2003). Next, the current survey just focuses on learner participants, whereas teachers’
perception on students’ vocabulary learning strategies were not examined.
Consequently, a totally current situation about high school students’ vocabulary
learning strategies is still not studied.
For further research aiming to investigate more about learners’ vocabulary
learning strategies, the following suggestion is proposed. Future research can continue
investigating this topic with modifying interview to help clarify teachers’ perception
and deeply research about learners’ vocabulary learning strategies. In short,
researchers can focus both students and teachers when they carry out some thesis
related to vocabulary learning strategies with modifying suitable research instruments.

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Reseacher: Ho Thi Kim Thanh