Improving english vocabulary learning for students of medical english at a medical college in hanoi through games an action research project

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ OANH

IMPROVING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR
STUDENTS OF MEDICAL ENGLISH AT A MEDICAL COLLEGE IN
HA NOI THROUGH GAMES: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT
NÂNG CAO VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH Y CHO
HỌC SINH TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG CẤP Y Ở HÀ NỘI THÔNG QUA
TRÒ CHƠI NGÔN NGỮ: NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG

MINOR THESIS

Major : Methodology of teaching English (1)
Code : 8140231.01

HÀ NỘI- 2019


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ OANH

IMPROVING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR
STUDENTS OF MEDICAL ENGLISH AT A MEDICAL COLLEGE IN
HA NOI THROUGH GAMES: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT
NÂNG CAO VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH Y CHO

HỌC SINH TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG TRUNG CẤP Y Ở HÀ NỘI THÔNG QUA
TRÒ CHƠI NGÔN NGỮ: NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG

MINOR THESIS

Major

: Methodology of teaching English (1)

Code

: 8140231.01

Supervisor : PHẠM LAN ANH.PHD

HÀ NỘI- 2019


CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT
------------***-----------I hereby cetify that this minor thesis entitled

IMPROVING ENGLISH VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR
STUDENTS OF MEDICAL ENGLISH AT A MEDICAL COLLEGE IN
HA NOI THROUGH GAMES: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT
is completely the result of my own work for the Degree of Master at
University of Language and International Studies, Vietnam National
University, Hanoi and that this thesis has not been submitted for any other
university or institution.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
During the course of fulfilling my thesis I have owed my debt to
many people.
First and foremost I would like to express my sincere and deep
gratitude to, Ms Pham Lan Anh, my supervisor for her wholehearted
guidance, valuable suggestion and useful materials during the time of writing
this thesis.
Second, I would like to send my thanks to the colleagues at a Medical
College in Ha Noi who have provided me with the insightful knowledge being
most significant in paving the way for me to carry out the research.
I should be grateful to the librarians, for their constant help thanks to
which I was able to access to all materials needed to accomplish the thesis.
Finally but importantly, my heart-felt gratitude goes to my beloved
family whose support and encouragement has always been the great source of
inspiration for me to complete this thesis.

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ABSTRACT
One of the most challenging tasks facing any language teachers is to
capture students’ interest, and therefore, keep them in high learning spirit.
Meanwhile, vocabulary learning is a hard task which can sometimes be
frustrating especially for teenagers. To realize this situation, the teachers are
supposed to find out teaching approaches corresponsive to students’ needs
and wants. The study, in that light, lays a focus on students’ improvement in
learning medical English vocabulary through language games. The study is
conducted in the form of an action research with the research tools being

teacher’s diary, pre-test, post-test and survey questionnaire to collect data.
Then the data from teacher’s diary and tests were exploited to find out the
improvement in students’ vocabulary. And the data from survey questionnaire
were used to find out students’ attitudes towards language games and provide
factors that should be considered by teachers when using games to teach
medical English vocabulary. Through the results of the teacher’s diary, the
pre-test and post-test, it can be concluded that language games could help
improve students' vocabulary retention. The results collected from the
questionnaires showed that most of the students expressed their positive
attitudes towards the games carried out in teaching medical vocabulary.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT ................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS..................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.........................................................................................iv
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 1
1.1. Background of the study ......................................................................................1
1.2. Identification of problem......................................................................................2
1.3. Research objectives and research questions.........................................................2
1.4. Scope of the study ................................................................................................3
1.5. Significance of the study ......................................................................................3
1.6. Structure of the study ...........................................................................................3
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW .............................................................. 5
2.1. Vocabulary ...........................................................................................................5
2.1.1. Definition ...........................................................................................................5
2.1.1. Vocabulary of medical English .........................................................................6

2.1.2. Techniques in teaching vocabulary of medical English ..................................7
2.2. Teaching vocabulary of medical English using games ........................................8
2.2.1. Definition ..........................................................................................................8
2.2.2. Kinds of games in language teaching and learning .........................................9
2.2.3. Role of games in vocabulary retention of medical English ..........................10
2.2.4. Review of previous studies .............................................................................12
CHAPTER SUMMARY ......................................................................................... 15
CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ............................................... 16
3.1. Research design ..................................................................................................16
3.2. Settings ...............................................................................................................18
3.3. Participants of the study ....................................................................................18
3.4. Research instruments .........................................................................................18

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3.4.1. Teacher’s diary ...............................................................................................19
3.4.2. Pre-test and post-test.......................................................................................19
3.4.3. Questionnaire ..................................................................................................20
3.5. Research procedure ............................................................................................20
3.5.1. Identifying problems........................................................................................20
3.5.2. Planning the action .........................................................................................21
3.5.3. Implementing the action ..................................................................................22
3.5.4. Observing the action .......................................................................................23
3.5.5. Reflecting .........................................................................................................24
3.6. Data collection Procedure ..................................................................................25
3.6.1. Teacher’s diary ...............................................................................................25
3.6.2. Pretest and Post test .......................................................................................25
3.6.3. Questionnaire ..................................................................................................26
3.7. Data analysis procedure .....................................................................................26

3.7.1. Data from teacher’s diary ...............................................................................26
3.7.2. Data from the pre-test and post-test ...............................................................27
3.7.3. Data from the questionnaire ..........................................................................27
CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ................................................. 28
4.1. Answer to the research question 1 .....................................................................28
4.1.1. Results from teacher’s diary ...........................................................................28
4.1.2. Results from the pre-test and post-test ............................................................32
4.2. Answer to the research question 2 .....................................................................34
4.3. Discussion ..........................................................................................................41
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION ........................ 43
5.1. Summary of major findings ...............................................................................43
5.2. Implications ........................................................................................................44
5.3. Limitations .........................................................................................................45
5.4. Suggestions for further research.........................................................................46
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 47

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APPENDIX 1 ............................................................................................................. I
APPENDIX 2 ........................................................................................................... III
APPENDIX 3 ........................................................................................................... V
APPENDIX 4 ......................................................................................................... VII
APPENDIX 5 .......................................................................................................... IX

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: The vocabulary teaching plan ..................................................................22

Table 4.1: Students’participation and students’retention ..........................................29
Table 4.2. The student’s attitudes towards studying medical English ......................34
Table 4.3: Role of medical English for students’ jobs in future ...............................34
Table 4.4: Attitudes of students when learning medical English ..............................35
Table 4.5: Troubles students find the most challenging with medical English
vocabulary? ...............................................................................................................35
Table 4.6: Students’attitudes when the teacher use games in teaching vocabulary of
medical English .........................................................................................................36
Table 4.7: Students’attitudes towards necessity and importance of using games in
teaching vocabulary of medical English ...................................................................36
Table 4.8: Students’attitudes towards games the teacher used in teaching vocabulary
of medical English .....................................................................................................38
Table 4.9: Students’activeness while playing games ................................................39
Table 4.10: Feeling of students after taking part in the game when learning
vocabulary of medical English ..................................................................................39
Table 4.11: Benefits of the games in teaching learning medical English vocabulary ..... 40

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the study
Vocabulary is an essential part in learning a foreign language. One of the
most important issues in second language teaching and learning is vocabulary
learning. And, perhaps, one of the most difficult aspects of learning a second
language is the retention of learning vocabulary (Holden, 1999).
Vocabulary seems to be the foundation of language. It encourages students
to learn the four macro skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking.
Vocabulary is a very crucial element because without vocabulary

students cannot learn other skills as Wilkin (1972) puts it, “Without grammar,
little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed”.
In the context of a medical college under study, (here by called college
X), almost all the students have spent many years neglecting learning English
before their college enrolment. Therefore, they get into trouble of attaining
knowledge in general and vocabulary retention in particular. The students
have difficulties in remembering the writen form and spoken form of English
vocabulary specially the medical vocabulary which belongs to a specialized
professional area. The pronuncation, spelling and function of vocabulary
make them confused in practicing and using them. They cannot remember the
words they have learnt for a long time so they make mistakes each time the
researcher asks them to do exercise.
There are some main reasons that demotivate them in learning English.
They do not use English in their career as well as in their daily life, so they
feel it is useless to learn English. In addition to this, medical terms cause them
difficulties in pronouncing and writing which discourages them to learn
English. Therefore, they do not have motivation to learn English.

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1.2. Identification of problem
The problem of lacking motivation in learning medical English makes
it difficult for the students in acquiring medical vocabulary through English
lessons.
What is the best way to transfer knowledge to students effectively is
becoming a big question for many teachers.
Nguyen and Khuat (2003) believe that students prefer to learn language
in a relaxing environment such as vocabulary games. They believe that in an
interesting and communicative class, learners can learn 80 percent of what

they are exposed to.
According to Freeman (1986), learners enjoy language games as well
as they enjoy communicative involvement in the classroom. He believes that
games can provide a healthy and constructive competition. Games can
encourage learners to discover and involve in the learning process. Games can
also establish a better bonding between teachers and learners. Finally, a good
designed language game can create a real communication context in the
classroom which can help learners to improve their vocabulary.
With the purpose of motivating the students to learn medical English
vocabulary by using language games in lesson, this study was implemented
with the participation of all the students in the class K7C. The methodology
used in the research is action research with a number of tools such as
teacher’s diary, a pre-test, a post-test and questionnaire.
The purpose of using games is making the medical lessons become
more interesting and helping the students remember the lessons easier.
1.3. Research objectives and research questions
The research sets objectives of finding out how vocabulary games help
improve students’ vocabulary retention. Besides, it explores students’
attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games. In order to achieve
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these goals, there is a need to answer the following questions:
1. How do vocabulary games help improve students’ vocabulary retention?
2. What are the students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s use of vocabulary games?
1.4. Scope of the study
When vocabulary is chosen to study, some researchers focus on
vocabulary retention, some others increase vocabulary size and some
researchers improve vocabulary usage. In this research, the researcher
designed the study to improve the students’ vocabulary retention and

change the students’ opinions by encouraging them to interact with each
other through vocabulary games. The study was carried out in five weeks
and the participants of this study were 30 students from class K7C at
college X in Ha Noi.
1.5. Significance of the study
The findings of this study would be significant to the teachers, the
students as well as the researchers. Firstly, for English teachers, this research
may provide more insights on how to improve the students’ vocabulary
retention. Secondly, the study would serve as input for the students at a
medical college in Ha Noi to be aware of medical English vocabulary. They
would be informed on their weaknesses so that they can devise ways to
improve their vocabulary. Third, for other researchers who conduct the same
research, the results of the research would be expected to be a reference and
contribute more information to solve the same problem. In addition, the use of
language games would enable students to improve their vocabulary and to use
vocabulary correctly. Moreover, the students would enjoy English lessons
more and feel comfortable to use English vocabulary. Last but not least, this
study might provide recommendation for English teachers at a medical
college to prepare more effective English lessons so that learners’ English
vocabulary would be improved not only in classrooms but also beyond.
1.6. Structure of the study
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The thesis is divided into five chapter
Chapter 1 introduces the background, the problem, the aims, the scope, the
significance and the structure of the study.
Chapter 2 provides the theoretical framework of the study, including medical
vocabulary, techniques in teaching medical vocabulary, types of games and
roles of games in teaching medical vocabulary. Besides, review of previous

studies and the gap for the study are also stated.
Chapter 3 demonstrates the research methods applied in the study with
details on how and why these methods were implemented in the research.
Besides, this chapter presents the data collected and analyzed from teacher’s
diary, questionnaire as well as from the pre-tests and post-tests.
Chapter 4 demonstrates the results and discussion of the study, which answer
the three research questions.
Chapter 5 summarizes the main issues covered in the paper. It presents the
summary of majors findings, the implications, limitations as well as
suggestions for further research.
References and Appendices are presented in the last part of the thesis.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter aims at providing vocabulary in general, vocabulary of
medical English, techniques in teaching medical English vocabulary, kinds
and roles of games in teaching medical English vocabulary. Then, there
comes a minute account of the previous studies.
2.1. Vocabulary
2.1.1. Definition

In this part the definition of vocabulary is discussed. Actually, learning
vocabulary plays an important role in learning foreign language like Schmitt
(1997, p.40) argues that vocabulary is a basis of the language; it is very
important to be mastered first. People cannot speak well and understand
written materials if people do not master it. He adds that no matter how
successfully the sound of the foreign language is mastered, without words to
express the wider range of meanings, communication is a foreign language

just cannot happen in any meaningful way.
Some experts provide several definitions of vocabulary. Hornby (1995) states
that vocabulary is the total number of words which make a language. It means
that vocabulary is the key to understand a foreign language. When someone
has a large number of vocabulary, he/she can easily express his/her idea in
communication (p.959).
In line with Hornby (1995), Burn (2008) states that vocabulary means
1) all the words in a particular language, 2) all the words that a person knows
or uses, 3) a list of words with their meanings, especially in a book for
learning a foreign language. From the definition, it can be inferred that
vocabulary is a stock of words with their meaning which makes up a language
used by person, class, or profession. As such, vocabulary plays an important
role in learning a language because it helps learners to understand and use
language correctly.

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In the context of education Ur (1998) claims that vocabulary can be roughly
defined as the words people teach in a foreign language. It means that
vocabulary is a written or spoken unit of language, and can be considered as a
symbol of idea in a foreign language introduced to learners. If a teacher
teaches new words in a foreign language, it means the teacher teaches
vocabulary.
The differences between the vocabualary retention and vocabulary learning is:
The vocabulary retention is the definition which focuses on remembering the
pronounciation and the meaning of the vocabulary while vocabulary learning
is the definition which focuses on many other factors of vocabulary as
vocabulary size, vocabulary usage...
In conclusion because of the context of education that vocabulary plays an

important role in learning medical English, the definition of Ur (1998) is
considered to be used in this study.
2.1.1. Vocabulary of medical English
Medical English can be defined in terms of the distinction from other
language variants and general language, as in Lankamp (1989). The
vocabulary of medical English clearly belongs to a specialized professional
area. This means that non-professionals might not have knowledge of medical
vocabulary or at least of the specialized senses of vocabulary items relevant in
a medical professional environment. On the other hand, there is a certain
degree of overlap with general vocabulary. This raises crucial questions about
specialized vocabulary and its relationship to words and terms. It is very
difficult for students to remember how to pronounce and how to use Medical
English so using games to teach medical English is very necessary and
important.

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2.1.2. Techniques in teaching vocabulary of medical English
Teaching medical English vocabulary is like to teach general English
vocabulary. It is necessary to master some important techniques.
From what are mentioned by Lewis and Hill (1992: 102- 103), the
researcher summerizes ten vocabulary teaching techniques.
The first technique is Contrast. For example, a teacher can present the
meaning of the word “sick” by contrasting it with the word “healthy” students
can learn two words instead of one.
The second technique is Synonym. Sometimes it is helpful to provide a
quick synonym explanation. It is helpful if a teacher says “it is similar in
meaning to build up in the students’ mind the idea that language consists of
choices and that words do not mean the same as each other.

The third technique is Enumeration. It deals with general and specific
words. A teacher can explain the meaning of the word “disease” by
enumerating or listing various items as “pneumonia, migraine, kidney
stones...”.
The fourth technique is Explanation. This technique can be better used
with intermediate students. Explaining the meaning of a medical word must
include explaining any fact of word used which is relevant. If a teacher
explains the meaning of “a dull ache”, she has to explain that: A dull ache
means “is steady and not too painful”. This explaination is more often used
for medical area.
The fifth technique is Using a dictionary. Teachers can ask students to
look up the medical word in the dictionary. This way provides students with
practice in important learning skills, dictionary using.
The sixth technique is Translation. It is a quick and easy way to present
the meaning of medical words, but it is not always easy to translate medical
word. However, there are always some medical words that need to be

7


translated and this technique can save a lot of time. If teachers do translate
medical vocabulary, they need to exemplify the medical word in context so
that students will not forget it easily.
The seventh technique is Using vocabulary in context. If a medical
word occurs in a text or passage, the meaning can often be deduced when
other words in the sentence are already known. This deductive process applies
particularly to the use of reading passage in the medical field.
The eighth technique is Creating a context. This is the only way to
teach the meaning of many abstract medical words by creating a context or
situation from which students can then deduce the meaning.

The nineth technique is Eliciting. Once a context is established, the
teacher can ask students what words they would expect to find or what they
would expect someone to say or do in a particular situation.
The tenth technique is Descriptions or definition. The teacher can
describe and define real objects to teach medical vocabulary or teachers can
give definitions of the words which they teach.
In conclusion, there are several ways of teaching medical vocabulary
and these techniques can be developed into word games, which can attract
students to take part in the activities in the lesson as well as motivate students
to learn medical English.
2.2. Teaching vocabulary of medical English using games
2.2.1. Definition
Gibbs (1981) defines games as an activity carried out by cooperating or
competing with decision-makers who want to achieve their objectives
following a set of rules. Games are activities that have a beginning and an end
with a winner who defines the end of the game (Rixon, 1981). When playing
games, learners need to have cooperation and competition against another
team or players. While playing, learners need to use the language and repeat
8


patterns which help in developing and improving their skills. Players can
communicate with words, use body movements and gestures in order to
guarantee fun and unpredictability (Rixon, 1981).
2.2.2. Kinds of games in language teaching and learning
Different writers have different classification of games. Lee (2000, p.
65) classifies games into ten kinds: structure games, vocabulary games,
spelling games, pronunciation games, number games, listen-and-do games,
read-and-do games, games and writing, miming and role-play, and discussion
game. However, Mc Callum (1980, p.74) categorizes games for language

learning into seven kinds: vocabulary games, number games, structure games,
spelling games, conversation games, writing games, role-play and dramatics.
From these two writers’ division, we have five main kinds of games:
vocabulary games, structure games, writing games, reading games, and games
for developing speaking and listening skills. Each kind of game focuses on a
language component or a skill, so when choosing games, one of the factors
that teachers have to consider is the aim of the lesson. As mentioned above,
the language games chosen in this study must serve the purpose of helping the
learners recall medical vocabulary. Vocabulary games were devided into
three types as following:
- Vocabulary games for revision or warm up:
In this part the researcher chose some games like Lucky Numbers,
Memory challenge, Bingo.... With the purpose of reminding students of the
vocabulary they have learnt in previous lessons, these games help students to
memorize the spoken and writen form of medical vocabulary. These games
help students start the new lesson excitedly and effectively.
- Vocabulary games for concept checking

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After presenting new medical vocabulary, it is very necessary to use
games to revise and check the words. Games as Matching, Scrambled letters,
Taboo.... can be good to be used in this part.
- Vocabulary games for practicing
In this part the researcher managed to use games as cloze excercises,
puzzle, scrambled word, taboo, charades.... for practicing. The games were
applied flexibly by teachers not only with the purpose of bringing students
fun

and

relaxation

but

also

with

the

purpose

of

checking

students’understanding about the words they have learnt.
2.2.3. Role of games in vocabulary retention of medical English
Medical English leads to the exploration of medical English as a variety
of English for special purpose – in other words, to theoritical research in
medical discourse focusing on such issues as lexical, linguistic, and textual
investigations into medical text-types and genres, medical translation,
historical and diachronic studies of medical discourse, and so on.
In order to learn and retain new medical words, learners should
participate in different activities in their classroom and such activities also
include vocabulary games which especially focus on helping learners develop
and use words in different contexts by making the lessons enjoyable.
Therefore, it is necessary to explore whether students learn medical

vocabulary effectively through games or not and how they learn it. Many
experts of language teaching methodology agree that playing games is a good
way to learn vocabulary, especially in communicative language teaching
classes. Games have been shown to have advantages and effectiveness in
learning vocabulary in various ways.
Firstly, using games is a good way to increase exposure to medical
vocabulary which enhances students’ medical vocabulary acquisition.
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Learning is a process by which “information is obtained, stored, retrieved, and
used” therefore teachers need to provide initial encoding of new words and
then “subsequent retrieved experiences” (Rubin, 1987, p. 29). Also, Bunch
(2009, para. 1) points out that English language learners will have the benefit
of a variety of activities which aim at increasing exposure to key vocabulary.
In order for the learners to retain medical vocabulary, medical words have to
be recycled numerous times. As games provide another encounter with the
target words, they have the advantage of being fun, competitive, and
consequently memorable (Sökmen, 1997, p. 242). Using some of the games,
teachers can revise a massive amount of medical vocabulary and grammar in
a few minutes. Clearly, students have more chances to be exposed to medical
vocabulary through games. According to Hadfield (1999, p. 91), in order to
retain a medical word, students have to go through three distinct processes:
fixing the meaning of the medical word in their mind, make the medical word
their own and using the medical word to communicate with others. He adds
that games can help learners through these three processes. It can be said that
games are very effective in helping students to increase exposure to medical
vocabulary.
Secondly, games can maintain students’ motivation in medical
vocabulary learning because they are amusing and interesting (Uberman,

1998, p. 18). It is fast and easy for students to remember things in an easy,
relaxing atmosphere (Uberman, 1998, p. 18). Similarly, games bring in
relaxation and fun for students, thus help them learn and retain new medical
words more easily (Nguyen and Khuat, 2003, p. 11). They also add that
games usually involve friendly competition and they keep learners interested
so these create the motivation for learners of English to get involved and
participate actively in the learning activities (p. 11). Games also help learners

11


recall material in a pleasant, entertaining way (Uberman, 1998, p. 20). Using
games helps students relax and it also helps them remember things faster and
better. Furthermore, games can lower anxiety, thus making the acquisition of
input more likely (Richard-Amato, 1988, p. 147). As Nguyen and Khuat
(2003, p. 11) put it, students tend to learn and retain new vocabulary better
when it is applied in a relaxing environment such as playing vocabulary
games. Especially, labeling and displaying pictures depicting new vocabulary
is helpful for beginners. Matching words to pictures is a useful review
exercise (Bunch, 2009).
Third, games can provide students with intensive and meaningful practice
of language (Wright, Betteridge, and Buckby, 2005, p. 11). In fact, most
vocabulary games make learners use the language instead of thinking about
learning the correct forms (Lee, 1995, p. 78). Hadfield (1984, p. 127) shares the
same view that games can provide an opportunity for real communication and
bridge the game between the classroom and the real world. Language games thus
allow the use of meaningful and useful language which is used in real contexts
(Ersoz, 2000, p. 85). Language games are able to provide a chance for students
to use the language that they have learnt as well.
2.2.4. Review of previous studies

In recent years, research focusing on the effectiveness of games has
been conducted and discussed. There are several benefits of games in
teaching English vocabulary

such as promoting learners’ autonomy and

improving their motivation. The findings from those previous studies seem
relevant and useful to the present study in terms of investigating the effects of
games towards learning English vocabulary.
Aghlara and Hadidi- Tamjid (2011) conducted an experimental study in
using a digital computer game to promote vocabulary learning of children in Iran.
The participants in this study were 40 six- to seven-year-old girls with

12


no prior knowledge of English who were divided into two groups of
experimental and control. In the experimental group, they used digital game,
whereas in the control group, English vocabulary was taught via traditional
methods. At the end of the teaching period, they compared the participants’
performances. The results of the study indicated that the mean score of the
children in the experimental group was higher than that of the control group.
This indicated the positive effect of using digital games in teaching English
vocabulary to children therefore, they suggested that “Using games in young
learner’s class smooths their learning because the games capture their
attention and motivate them".
Similarly, Aslanabadi and Rasouli (2013) took a research to analyse the effect
of games on improving EFL vocabulary knowledge in kindergartens. In this
study the author aimed to find out the way to help students retain the target
words. The participants chosen were two kindergartens who belonged to two

groups of experimental group and control group. Online language teaching
games were given to the experimental group whereas the control group were
given regular teaching. The results indicated that using games had two
benefits. The games both increase their participation in English activities and
motivate them to further study at home.
DeHaan, Reed and Kuwada (2010) undertook a research by using a
music video game

on second language vocabulary to demonstrate the

effectiveness of video games on second language vocabulary. In terms of
participants, they were divided into two groups. One group had 20 minutes to
play an English language music video game; one group watched the game
simultaneously on another monitor. After that the researcher performed a
vocabulary recall test, an experience questionnaire, and a two-weekpostponed vocabulary recall test. The results of their study showed that both
the players and the watchers of the video games recalled vocabulary from the
13


games, but the players recalled less vocabulary than the watchers.
After reviewing the previous studies, it can be seen that most of the
researchers spend time researching the role of games in teaching vocabulary
in general English but not in English for special purposes while English for
special purposes is clearly important for those who specialize in a particular
area such as in a medical college.

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Chapter summary

In conclusion, chapter 2 has described the foundation of the present
study. Firstly, medical vocabulary in language learning was discussed. Next,
there was a review of using games in teaching medical English vocabulary.
Finally, previous studies conducted on using games in English learning were
addressed. The review has indicated that language games provides teachers a
substantial flexibility and provides students more motivating activities.
Language game is advantageous to the students because the role of learners is
emphasized in the process of learning. Language games can be seen as the
key to success in acquiring a language. Regarding language games, numerous
researchers advocated the effects of games in their research papers and
pointed out that language games helped develop learner’s ability in learning
language in general and in vocabulary in particular.

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CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter is concerned with the research design, the settings, and the
subjects of the study. Besides, research instruments , research procedure, data
collection procedure and data analysis procedure are also focused on.
3.1. Research design
To improve students’vocabulary of medical English, the researcher
uses classroom action research. With the purpose of classroom action
research, quantative and qualitive methods are used in the study.
Nunan (1992, p.229) states that action research is a form of self-reflective
inquiry carried out by practitioners. Action research aims at solving problems,
improving practice, or enhancing understanding. He also suggests an action
research procedure which includes 7 steps: Initiation, Preliminary
investigation, Hypotheses, Intervention, Evaluation, Dissemination and
Follow-up.

Mills (2000, p.6) states that action research is any systematic inquiry
conducted by teachers, principals, school counselors, or other stake holders in
teaching or learning environment to gather information on how their
particular schools operate, how they teach, and how well their students learn.
He has presented a four-step action research process which he terms “dialectic
action research spiral” which is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Dialectic Action Research Spiral.
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