A study on teaching and learning English vocabulary at Thac Ba High School. M.A Thesis Linguistics: 60 14 10

HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE
DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

LÊ SƠN THỦY

A STUDY ON TEACHING AND LEARNING
ENGLISH VOCABULARY AT THAC BA HIGH
SCHOOL.

NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC DẠY VÀ HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG
ANH CỦA TRƯỜNG THPT THÁC BÀ.

M.A. MINOR THESIS
FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410

SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN HUYỀN MINH, M.A

HANOI- 2010


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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of contents
Acknowledgement
Abstract
List of tables
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale

2. THE SCOPE, OBJECTIVES, SIGNIFICANCE, METHOD OF THE STUDY
2.1. The scope of the study
2.2. Objectives of the study
2.3. Significance of the study
2.4. Methods of the study
2.5. Design of the study
PART B. DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I. LITERATURE REVIEW
I.1. An overview of the teaching and learning of English vocabulary
I.1.1. The status of vocabulary in the curriculum
I.1.2. word list and frequency counts
I.1.3. Vocabulary and context
I.1.4. vocabulary development and second language acquisition
I.1.5. Semantic networks and features
I.1.6. Memory and vocabulary development
I.2. Current points of view of teaching and learning English vocabulary
I.3. Previous studies related to teaching and learning English vocabulary
CHAPTER II. THE STUDY
II.1. The English teaching and learning situations at Thac Ba high school
II.1.1. Description of the students at Thac Ba high school
II.1.2. Description of the teachers at Thac Ba high school
II.1.3. Settings of the study
II.2. Research methodology
II.2.1.Subjects


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II.2.2. Survey instruments
II.2.2.1. Questionnaire for the students

II.2.2.2. Questionnaire for the teachers
II.2.2.3. Interview
CHAPTER III: DATA COLLECTION AND DISCUSSION
III.1. Presentation of statistical results
III.1.1. Questionnaire
III.1.1.1. Questionnaire for the students
III.1.1.1.1. Students' background of English language before entering Thac Ba
high school
III.1.1.1.2: Students' attitude to learning English vocabulary.
III.1.1.1.3: Students' difficulties in learning English vocabulary
III.1.1.1. 4. Students' activities in a vocabulary lesson
III.1.1.1.5 : Students' suggestions for bettering the learning of English
vocabulary
III.1.1.2. Questionnaire for the teachers
III.1.1.2.1: Teachers' ages
III.1.1.2.2: Teachers' teaching experience.
III.1.1.2.3: Teachers' opinions on teaching English vocabulary.
III.1.1.2.4: Difficulties confronted by teachers in teaching English

vocabulary.

III.1.1.2.5: Activities teachers do when teaching English vocabulary.
III.1.1.2.6: Teachers' suggestions for bettering the teaching of English vocabulary
III.2. Interview
CHAPTER IV. FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
IV.1. Findings
IV.1.1. Difficulties faced by the teachers in teaching English vocabulary

and

their own solutions
IV.1.2. Difficulties faced by the students in the learning of English vocabulary and
their expectations
IV.2. Recommendations


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III.2.1. For the students. Changing the students' attitude to learning English
vocabulary
IV.2.2. For the teachers
IV.2.2.1. Retraining teachers
IV.2.2.2. Suggesting activities for teaching English vocabulary at Thac Ba high
school
PART C. CONCLUSION
1. Conclusion
2. Suggestions for further research
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: Questionnaire for the students
APPENDIX B: Questionnaire for the teachers
APPENDIX C: Interview
APPENDIX D: Lesson plan


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LIST OF TABLE
Table 1: Students' background of English before entering Thac ba high school.
Table 2: Students' attitude to learning English vocabulary.

Table 3: Students' difficulties in learning English vocabulary
Table 4 : Students' activities in a vocabulary lesson.
Table 5: Students' suggestions for bettering the learning of English vocabulary.
Table 6: Teachers' ages
Table 7: Teachers' teaching experience.
Table 8: Teachers' opinions on teaching English vocabulary.
Table 9: Difficulties confronted by teachers in teaching English vocabulary.
Table 10: Activities teachers do when teaching English vocabulary.
Table 11: Teachers' suggestions for bettering the teaching of English vocabulary

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Foreign language teaching at secondary school level in Vietnam has been granted
increasing supports from educational authorities, regarding the demand of Vietnam
younger population for better means of communication with the world. The most important
issue in this field, which has presented various complicated problems for generations of
foreign language teachers in Vietnam as well as anywhere in the world is the adoptation of
an appropriate language teaching method.
Having been aware of this necessity, Thac Ba high school as well as others in Yen Bai
province has paid considerable attention to update teaching methodologies and encourage
English language learning, which can be seen from the 1990s to date. Thac Ba high school
has chosen a pilot set of textbooks then. In accordance with the new materials, teaching
methods should also be changed to meet the need of the learning of learners and to better
teaching and learning conditions. The most effective approaches which have been
theoretically applied at high school are learner- centred instruction, task- based language
teaching and communicative language teaching.

As for me English language has been structurally taught and learnt. Students have been
mainly asked to focus on language structures, grammar. Vocabulary teaching and learning
are not much mentioned or are not seriously put into consideration.
There are some sound reasons for me to take the teaching and learning of English
vocabulary into consideration, rather than others. First of all for some time, the teaching
and learning of English vocabulary have been strongly influenced by the traditional
methods. Emphasis has been placed on the mastery of language structures rather than on
how language is used. Students are asked to translate or to analyze the text grammatically.
The teaching of language teachers is seen as a full time- explanation to the passive
listeners. Language teachers do not care much for the teaching of Vocabulary. There are
some teachers who have poor knowledge of the language in general, and of the teaching of
vocabulary in particular. They dot not show their students the importance of adequate
vocabulary. These are some of the serious reasons that discourage the students in the
learning of the language generally and of vocabulary particularly. The students are often
fed up with boring vocabulary lessons. That is perhaps why the students do not feel like
learning vocabulary and do not show their interests of learning the language. The reasons


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here are that the teachers are not qualified enough to teach the language in general and to
teach vocabulary in particular. The teachers of language are known to be traditionally
educated to meet the demand of foreign language teaching, as we all know that there have
been many types of English teachers training courses recently.
Last, but not the least, the new Tieng Anh 10 textbook has been widely used as the
official teaching and learning material. It has 16 units with interesting topics. Every unit
consists of 5 lessons: Reading, speaking, listening, writing and the language focus. This
book was designed with various learning tasks, the purpose of which is to set up chances
for students to practise different language situations. It has been said to be a suitable
material. However, it is the vocabulary that is not clearly presented or not culturally related
and so on. This makes students and teachers find it difficult to teach and to learn

vocabulary.
For all the reasons mentioned above, I would like to devote my time and effort to
investigating the current vocabulary teaching and learning at Thac Ba high school
including teaching methods, difficulties faced by the teachers and the students, their
suggestions for better in the situation,.....then finding out how the teaching and learning of
vocabulary are carried out there at my school. Especially, the study will recommend some
suitable and specific teaching methods for the teachers and the students at my school as
references. It is to improve the teaching and learning at Thac Ba high school, Yen Bai
Province.
2. The scope, objectives, significance, method of the study
2.1. The scope of the study
The study focuses on the teaching and learning of vocabulary at Thac Ba high school.
2.2. Objectives of the study
. To investigate the teaching and learning of vocabulary at Thac Ba high school,
difficulties faced by the teachers and students; activities done by the teachers and the
students; their suggestions for bettering the teaching and learning of English vocabulary
. To investigate teachers' and students' attitude to the teaching and learning of vocabulary.
. To suggest some effective teaching techniques to help learners in the learning of
vocabulary.
2.3. Significance of the study
This study play a crucial role for enhancing vocabulary teaching method to the teachers
and grade 10 students at Thac Ba high school. Its implemented recommendations will


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make the application of vocabulary teaching and learning at my school more successful
and effective.
2.4. Methods of the study
The researcher collects information from all the English teachers who teach at Thac ba
high school. First, questionnaires are delivered to the teachers to investigate their

vocabulary teaching and their attitude to vocabulary teaching, their solutions and
expectations to better the teaching of Vocabulary. Questionnaires are also delivered to the
students to find out their attitude to vocabulary learning, their activities, their expectations
for better in the learning condition. Interviews are carried out to increase the reliability of
the obtained information and provide more information relating to the teachers' method of
teaching vocabulary. The combination of information from questionnaires and interviews
for the teachers and the students can help to draw a general picture about the application of
new techniques and activities in the teaching and learning of vocabulary at Thac Ba high
school.
2.5. Design of the study
The thesis consists of three parts.
Part A is the introduction, which presents the rationale, the scope, the objectives, the
method, significance and the design of the study.
Part B consists of three chapters:
Chapter I deals with an overview of the literature. It starts with the various
methods of teaching and learning English vocabulary, activities need using. The final is the
review of previous studies related to the teaching and learning of English vocabulary.
Chapter II presents the methodology performed in the study. It provides
information about the participants, the instrumentations and data analysis.
Chapter III discusses the data of the study. Chapter IV proposes some
recommendations on teaching and learning of vocabulary to teachers and students at Thac
Ba high school.
Part C is about the conclusion and suggestions for further study.

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
I.1. An overview of the teaching and learning of English vocabulary


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I.1.1. The status of vocabulary in the curriculum
According to David Nunan and some other linguists like H. Douglas Brown. Teaching by
Principles. An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy; Ruth Gairns and Stuart
Redman (1986). Working with Words. A guide to teaching and learning vocabular;
Edward Finegan (2004). Language Its structure and use the principal focus of language
teaching has been on the grammar of the language. Grammar translation approaches to the
teaching language provided a balanced diet of grammar and vocabulary, audio-lingualists
suggested that the emphasis should be strongly on the acquisition of the basic grammatical
patterns of the language. It was believed that if learners were able to internalize these basic
patterns, then building a large vocabulary would come later. This emphasis on grammar
and, to a certain extent, pronunciation, at the expense of vocabulary reflected a traditional
going back to the nineteenth century when the International Phonetic Association
published its six principles of language teaching. These principles, which were later
reflected in audio-lingualism, advocated the inductive teaching of grammar, a focus on the
spoken language of everyday life and an emphasis on the direct teaching of the target
language rather than translation. Some of the most influential structural linguists of the day
went so far as to argue that vocabulary was the easiest aspect of a second language to learn
and that it hardly formal attention in the classroom. However, the status of vocabulary has
been considerably enhanced. This has come about partly as a result of the development of
communicative approaches to language teaching, and through the stimulus of
comprehension-based methods such as the Natural Approach

( Krashen and Terrel

1983). Proponents of these methods point out that in the early stages of learning and using
a second language one is better served by vocabulary than grammar, and that one can, in
effect, "bypass" grammar in going for meaning if one has a reasonable vocabulary base.
Rivers( 1983:125) has also argued that the acquisition of an adequate vocabulary is
essential for successful second language use because, without an extensive vocabulary, we
will be unable to use the structures and functions we may have learned for comprehensible

communication. Also, in contrast with the development of the aspects of a second
language, particularly pronunciation, vocabulary acquisition does not seem to be slowed
down by age. Rivers argued that vocabulary augmentation seems to become easier as one
matures, probably because one has a richer knowledge of the world on which to draw. The
more one's vocabulary develops, the easier it is to add new words. The first ten words are


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probably the most difficult to learn. All is to say that the development of a rich vocabulary
is an important element in the acquisition of a second language.
When teaching and learning vocabulary, teachers and students should always see the
importance of an adequate vocabulary and must follow some certain rules that are clearly
presented (David Nunan ,1991).
I.1.2. Word list and frequency.
Considerable attention has been paid to the issue of the minimum adequate vocabulary
of which aim was to scientifically select and compile some thousand words most
commonly used in English. West(1960) published a list of 1200 words based on a
frequency count of the 2000 most frequent words in English which he argued provided
learners with a minimum adequate speech vocabulary. According to him, these words
would enable learners to express practically any idea they wanted to. Fox (1979) argues
that minimum adequate vocabularies might be adequate for productive purposes, but that
they leave learners seriously unequipped to deal with authentic language. Fox( 1979) says
that reader who possesses West's 2000 words will find the text practically
incomprehensible. If they want to comprehend such material, they should need to have a
much more extensive receptive vocabulary. Receptive words are those which readers
understand but which they do not necessarily use. This is perhaps a serious matter for
linguists to argue because when teaching and learning a second language, one need to
know not only necessary vocabulary but also other words that are contextually related. On
the whole, frequency counts has been still argued by linguists.
I.1.3. Vocabulary and context.

As it has been actually seen that language reflects the contexts in which it is used and
purposes to which it is put. If language is assumed to be best encountered and learned in
context, then this has particular implication for practice. The focus in class will be on
encouraging learners to develop strategies for inferring the meaning of new words from the
context in which they occur, and teaching them to use a range of cues both verbal and
nonverbal to determine meaning. Teaching and learning vocabulary in its context have
been considered to be successful and effective. Here we mention the importance of
contexts in teaching and learning vocabulary. The teaching and learning will be more and
more practical and effective if we can put them into certain contexts to reflect or recycle
the new words we wish to deal with.
I.1.4. Vocabulary development and second language acquisition.


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Research into second language acquisition has confined itself to the areas of
morphology and syntax, and, to a certain extent, phonology. The acquisition of pragmatic,
strategic and lexical competence have been generally overlooked. It is important for
teachers to experiment the linguists' suggestions, in an informed way, with their own
learners in their own teaching situations. It may be that some of the suggestions do lead to
more effective learning outcomes. A major investigation by Johnston (1985) into the
acquisition of syntax and morphology of adult immigrants generated a great deal of data.
In her discussion of second language acquisition, Channell (1988) makes passing reference
to Krashen's acquisition/ learning distinction (1983) suggesting that learning is the process
and acquisition the end result of vocabulary development. She suggests that a new
vocabulary item is acquired when a learner can identify its meaning in and out of context
and it can be used naturally and appropriately. In other words, we can only talk about
acquisition when learners both have productive as well as receptive control of new item. It
is that learners who try their best to step by step develop their vocabulary will obviously
and easily acquire the second language.
I.1.5. Semantic networks and features.

The principle of avoiding items that are semantically related in some ways runs counter
to the notion of using semantic networks on the field in teaching vocabulary. A semantic
network consists of words which share certain semantic features or components. A
componential analysis can show what relates and differentiates members of a particular
semantic network. Tasks such as (spot the odd one out) are designed to develop learners'
sensitivity to semantic network. Such tasks can be carried out collaboratively. They are
often extremely revealing of learners' lexical knowledge. Even a small group of student is
engaged in spotting the odd word out in each group. They are supposed to be working in a
teacherless group.
Example: Spot the odd word out.
Tourist

Visitor Traveller

Student

Discuss the following words. Put a circle around the odd word out and say why it is the
odd word.
Radio

Computer

Investigate

Determine

Video

Television

Explore

Enquire


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Although this is intended basically as a collaborative small group task, the teacher plays an
important role in pushing the students to articulate the underlying semantic relationships
between the words which belong together. Such relationships can be extremely subtle, and
it is not always easy, even for native speakers, to spell them out. From the task, we can see
how much more useful are collaborative discussions based on semantic networks in
sorting out relationships between words, than say, individualised, dictionary-based
memorisation tasks.
I.1.6. Memory and vocabulary development
A great deal has been written about the role of memory in the development of a second
language lexicon and techniques for memorisation and receive relatively generous
treatment compared with its use in other aspects of second language development such as
the acquisition of syntax and morphology. Stevick (1976) summerises some of the classic
research into memory which has been carried out by cognitive psychologists and relates
this to language teaching. This has demonstrated that in order for new items to enter longterm memory, some form of active involvement on the part of learner is desirable. In the
other words, a learner who has activated this knowledge through use will be more likely to
retain it than a learner who has simply heard or read the item and seen a translation. This
also shows that regular revision is very important and that revision which is distributed
over a period of time is more effective than massed practice. In the learning of a list of
vocabulary items, for example, six-10 minute sessions over the course of a week will result
in more effective learning than a single 60-minute session. Now we can see the importance
of memory in the development of vocabulary. Memory can be effectively built up through
the frequent use of the target language by learners with the help and instructions from
teachers.
For a number of years, the teaching and learning of vocabulary were neglected in

language classrooms, despite the importance that learners attach to the task of building and
maintaining an adequate vocabulary. It could be argue that in a second, as opposed to
foreign language context, the initial stages of language learning should be devoted almost
entirely to vocabulary work. Then we should more communicative value for effort in
focusing on developing a survival vocabulary to the comparative neglect of other aspects
of the target language.
The development of communicative approaches to language teaching has done much
more to enhance the status of vocabulary, and some interesting empirical and practical


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work is currently being undertaken in the area. Theoretical and empirical issues being
investigated include work on word lists and frequency counts, the importance of context to
vocabulary acquisition, lexicography and the role of the dictionary, semantic networks and
features, and cognitive processes, particularly lexical research processes and memorization.
On a practical level, an indication of the enhanced status of vocabulary is the recent
publication of a major coursebook based on lexical syllabus. All what needs mentioning
here is that vocabulary teaching and learning regain important places in the language
classroom.
I.2. Current points of views on teaching and learning vocabulary.
As I have been teaching English language for over ten years now, and I have also been
presented with some current techniques and methods of teaching and learning vocabulary
through workshops, seminars or language teaching methodology books donated by
educational administrators, there have come some new points of views on teaching and
learning English vocabulary which are useful and effective to our teaching and into which
we have put remarkable consideration. Here in the study, I would like to talk about an
English language teaching methodology book which was written and compiled by some
college professors. The book's aim was to help teachers throughout the country to better
their teaching methods. Many techniques and methods of teaching language skills and the
other aspects that are related to teaching the target language such as teaching grammar,

teaching vocabulary, are clearly presented.
When teaching and learning vocabulary, what needs to be taught and learnt can be as
follows:
* Form: Pronunciation and spelling.
We should need to teach and learn the form, pronunciation and spelling of the word we
deal with. The learners and teachers have 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 learners when they encounter the item for the
first time. In teaching, teachers should make sure that both these aspects are accurately
presented and learned.
*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 a predictable change of form in certain
grammatical contexts or may have some idiosyncratic way of connecting with other words


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in sentences; it is important to provide learners with this information as the same time we
teach the base form. When teaching a new verb, for example, we might also give its past
form, if this is irregular, and we might note if it is transitive or intransitive. When teaching
a noun, we may wish to present its plural form, if irregular, or draw learners' attention to
the fact that it has no plural at all. We may present other grammatical rules in various ways
so that learners can remember the rules.
* Collocation.
The collocations typical of particular items are another factor that makes a particular
combination sound in a given context. This is another piece of information about a new
item which it may be worth teaching. Collocations are often noted in dictionaries, either by
providing the whole collocation under one of the head-words, or by a note in parenthesis.
*Aspects of meaning (1): 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 connotation: the associations, or positive or negative meaning
it evokes, which may or may not be indicated in a dictionary definition. A more subtle
aspect of meaning that often need s to be taught is whether a particular item is the
appropriate one to use in a certain context or not. Thus it is useful for a learner to know
that a certain word is very common, or relatively rare.
* Aspects of meaning (2): Meaning relationships
How the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others. It is also useful to teach and
to learn. There are various such relationships. Here are some of the main ones.
. Synonyms: Items that mean the same, or nearly the same.
. Antonyms: Items that mean the opposite
. Hyponyms: Items that serve as specific examples of a general concept
. Co-hyponyms or co-ordinates: Other items that are same kind of thing
. Superordinates: General concepts that cover specific items.
. Translation: Words or expressions in the learners' mother tongue that is more or less
equivalent in the meaning to the item being taught.
Besides these, there are other, perhaps looser, ways of associating meaning that are useful
in teaching. All these can be exploited in teaching to clarify the meaning of a new item, or
for practice or test materials.


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* Word formation.
Vocabulary items, whether one-word or multi-word, can often be broken down into their
components “bits". Exactly how these bits are put together is another piece of useful
information. We may wish to know the common prefixes or suffixes. If one who knows
these will be able to guess the meaning of new formed words. Students should, however,
be warned that in many common words the affixes no longer have any obvious connection
with the root meaning. New combination using prefixes are not unusual, and the reader or

hearer would be expected to gather their meaning from an understanding of their
component. Another way vocabulary items are built is by combining two words to make
one item: a single compound word, or two separate, sometimes hyphenated words
When teaching new vocabulary to the students, there are some techniques for eliciting
the new vocabulary. Teachers should use some of the techniques presented as follows:
* Visual: use visual aids to present the word
* Mine: Teachers use miming to present the word
* Realia: Teachers use real things to explain the word
* Situation/ Explaination: Teachers can use real situations or explain the new
vocabulary in a certain context.
* Synonym/ Antonym: Teachers use synonyms or antonyms to present the words.
* Translation: This is sometimes a good way to translate the new vocabulary by
translating into mother tongue.
To help make better teaching and learning vocabulary, one should use certain
techniques that he thinks could be suitable and could bring effectiveness and success to the
teaching and learning.
Here in the study, there are some techniques activities for checking vocabulary that are
designed to help teachers to enhance their vocabulary teaching, and to help learners to best
recycle, use and memorise the vocabulary they have been presented with. The activities
are designed in form of easy games that may help make comfortable learning atmosphere
and bring the learners with encouragement and excitement when learning new vocabulary.
* Bingo
* Guess the picture
* Jumbled words
* Matching
* Networks


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* Noughts and crosses

* Ordering
* Rub out and remember
* Slap the board
* What and where
* Wordsquare
* Wordstorm
All of the games are used to help teachers and students to check the vocabulary they are to
deal with. Here the rules and activities done in the very games are not mentioned because
they have all been demonstrated to be useful activities to the teaching and learning the
target language. If someone who cares for more details to deal with the tasks, there are
good references from the book I have mentioned before.
I would also like to mention the author from China named Ming Wei( 2005). An
Examination of Vocabulary Learning of College-level Learners of English in China .
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater,

who now works at Beijing Foreign Studies

University. Vocabulary teaching and learning now have been drawing growing attention
from ESL researchers. Vocabulary is now a focus in ESL pedagogy and research.
Vocabulary has been increasingly recognized as very necessary to language use. Her study
is based on the perspective that vocabulary learning is a complex construct. It is the
construct of knowing a word. Context is considered to be central to current research on
vocabulary learning which allows us to see that word learning is not simply a matter of
memorization chore. The complexity of knowing a second language word involves not just
the ability to recognize its form or knowing its dictionary meaning, it also entails
knowledge of its specific grammatical properties, and collocations and functions, and the
ability to use the word appropriately for actual interaction. Oxford and Scarcella( 1994)
categorize vocabulary learning activities into three types: Decontextualized, partially
contextualized, and fully contextualized, which provides amore systematic and researchbased approach to vocabulary instruction. Context is perceived by Beheydt(1987) to be of
utmost importance to vocabulary learning. From the perspective that learning words is a

process of " Semantization". If we could take a careful look at the teaching and learning of
vocabulary at some high schools, we would easily see the fact that the teaching and
learning of vocabulary are mainly that the teachers explain the words' forms, grammar, not


12
much for other aspects, students just write and repeat the words, not much for practice or
recycling. All these lead to the frightening current vocabulary teaching and learning.
I.3. Previous studies related to teaching and learning English vocabulary.
Many research works and studies on the teaching and learning of vocabulary have been
known and applied into language teaching and learning such as An Examination of
Vocabulary Learning of College-level Learners of English in China by Ming Wei from
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, USA, Vocabulary Learning Strategies in
an ESP Context: The Case of Para/medical English in Iran by Zahra Akbari and M.H.
Tahririan.
The research has mainly been about the teaching and learning of vocabulary. There in their
studies they show the readers the current teaching and learning vocabulary, teachers' and
students' attitude to the teaching and learning of vocabulary, their suggestions for bettering
the teaching and learning of vocabulary.
Basing on their studies I can have precious knowledge of the teaching and learning of
vocabulary for references of my study. My research intends to investigate the current
teaching and learning vocabulary, teachers' and students' attitude to the teaching and
learning of vocabulary, their suggestions for bettering the teaching and learning of
vocabulary at Thac Ba high school. I do hope with my study, I would help improve the
teaching and learning of vocabulary at my school.

CHAPTER II. THE STUDY
II.1. The English teaching and learning situations at Thac Ba high school.
II.1.1. Description of the 10th grade students.
The 10th grade students at my school are all the local students who come from the 8

villages in the district. Some of them are the Kinh, some are the ethnic. There are now
about 387 10th grade students in the school. All of the 387 students had learnt English
language before they entered the school. None of them had not known anything about
English language before they took the entrance exams to start this school. As asked and to
run my thesis successfully, I teach the three classes of grade 10( 10A1, 10D1, 10D2).
There are 112 students in the three classes. They are mostly from the most remote areas of
the district.


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II.1.2. Description of the English teachers at the school
This is a remote school where all the English teachers are the local teachers, and all
of them graduated from universities in the North of Vietnam. Some were regularly trained.
Some were in-service trained. There were 10 English teachers, but now one of them is not
allowed to teach English language any more as she is clearly known to be an
underqualified teacher . She is now a librarian of the school.
II.1.3. Settings of the study.
Settings refer to classroom arrangements specified or implied in the task of the lesson, and
it also requires consideration of whether the task is to be carried out wholely or partly
outside the classroom.
At Thac Ba high school, instructions; teaching and learning activities are mostly carried
out in the classrooms. It is really hard for English teachers to apply new ideas to language
teaching.
- Class size: There are 35 to 45 students in each class. The numbers of students in the
three classes I teach is lower than in the other classes
- The school has some projectors, no language rooms. There are only 4 cassette
recorders which were bought some 4 years ago.
- Materials available: There are some English books which are donated by the
education department. All of the books are about topics that were written on daily
activities.......There are 2 dictionaries and some newly published books for references in

the library.
- All of the classrooms were designed and built nearly 10 years ago. Each class is
about 50 square metres. There are 40 students in averege in one classroom
II.2. Research methodology.
II. 2.1. Subjects:
- Two questionnaires were designed for the 9 English teachers to get information to
fulfill the aims of the study. All the teachers graduated from colleges of foreign languages.
6 of them graduated from in-service courses. They are aged from 27 to 37. Their
experience of teaching English is from 5 years to 15 years. The students are aged from 16
to 19. The 100 are selected from the three classes as I have mentioned above to answer the
questionnaire. All of them were to answer the questionnaires given by the researcher.
Apart from the questionnaire, interviews for the nine teachers were also carried out.


14
+ The questionnaires for the 9 teachers of English aim at collecting information about
their age, their teaching experience, their opinions on teaching vocabulary, their difficulties
in teaching vocabulary, and their suggestion for bettering the teaching of vocabulary .
+ The questionnaires designed for the students from the three classes are to know the
students' background of English their attitude to learning the learning of English
vocabulary, their activities in a vocabulary lesson, and their expectations for better
vocabulary learning. The difference here is that the questionnaires are written in
Vietnamese for ease of understanding and answering.
II.2.2. Research instruments.
II.2.2.1. Questionnaire for the students.
The Questionnaire for the students includes 5 questions written in Vietnamese. It took
two weeks to deliver and collect all of the copies of the questionnaire from the students.
The questionnaires are about:
-

Students'

background

of

English

language

before

entering

Thac Ba high school
- Students' attitude to learning English vocabulary.
- Students' difficulties in learning English vocabulary
- Students' activities in a vocabulary lesson.
- Student' suggestions for bettering the learning of English vocabulary

II.2.2.2. Questionnaires for the teachers
- Teachers' ages
- Teachers' teaching experience.
- Teachers' opinions on teaching English vocabulary.
- Difficulties confronted by teachers in teaching English

vocabulary.

- Activities teachers do when teaching English vocabulary.
- Teachers' suggestions for bettering the teaching of English vocabulary

All the copies of the questionnaires delivered to the teachers have been responded within
two weeks.
II.2.2.3. The interview.
A long with the survey questionnaires, the interview is a supplementary instrument which
is used to increase the reliability of the obtained information and provide more information


15
relating to teachers' methods of teaching English vocabulary in particular and teaching the
English language in general.


16
CHAPTER III: DATA PRESENTATION & DISCUSSION
III.1. Presentation of statistical results.
III.1.1. Questionnaire.
III.1.1.1. Questionnaire for the students.
The 100 copies of the questionnaires delivered to the students have been responded. The
data are analyzed in this part of the study in the following tables which show the sequences
of the responses for the questions available in the questionnaires.
III.1.1.1.1. The students' background of English language before entering Thac Ba
high school.
Categories

%

Students learned English

100%

Students learned English for 7 years

27%

Students learned English for 4 years

73%

Students learned other languages

0%

Table 1: The students' background of English language before entering Thac Ba
high school.
Question 1 relates to The students' background of English language before entering Thac
Ba high school. The results are presented as follows:
As can be seen in the above table, all of the students had learnt English before they
entered Thac Ba high school accounting for 100% of them had learnt English. Normally
when students are in grade 10, they have been studying English for 7 years. Therefore 27%
of the students have been studying English for 7 years, 73% for 4 years. None of the
students had ever learnt another language before.
III.1.1.1.2. Students' attitude to learning English vocabulary.
The questionnaires deal with Students' attitude to learning English vocabulary. The
following table shows the results

Students' attitude to learning English vocabulary

%

17
Learning English vocabulary is very important

22%

Learning English vocabulary is quite important

35%

Learning English vocabulary is not important

42%

Learning English vocabulary is not difficult

2.5%

Learning English vocabulary is quite difficult

14%

Learning English vocabulary is very difficult

85.5%

Learning English vocabulary is necessary

27%

Learning English vocabulary is not necessary

4%

Learning English vocabulary is quite necessary

69%

Table 2: Students' attitude to learning English vocabulary.
According to the statistics of table 2, 22% of the students say that learning English
vocabulary is very important to their language study. 35% of them think learning English
vocabulary is quite important to them. 42% of the students say that learning English
vocabulary is not important at all. As can be clearly seen from the table, Learning English
vocabulary is not difficult for only 2.5% of the students. 14% of the students think that
learning English vocabulary is quite difficult to them. Most of the students say that
learning English vocabulary is very difficult to them. The percentage is 85.5%. Although
learning English vocabulary is difficult to most of the students, some 27% of the students
think that Learning English vocabulary is necessary for their learning. Only 4% of them
say that it is not necessary to learn English vocabulary. 69% of the students consider
Learning English vocabulary to be quite necessary when learning a second language.
III.1.1.1.3. Students' difficulties in learning English vocabulary.
The questionnaires present us with the difficulties students face in learning English
vocabulary. Here are the results presented in details.
Students' difficulties in learning English vocabulary

%

Too many new words in a lesson

89%

Teachers' explanation of new words is not clear enough

67%

There are not many activities that help you learn vocabulary

73%

Teachers' explanation of new words is only in English

9%

Teachers' explanation of new words is only in Vietnamese

91%

There is not much feedback or recycling for the new words

88%

There is lack of time for learning vocabulary

96%


18
other difficulties
Table 3: Students' difficulties in learning English vocabulary.
The data in table 3 show that there are many serious difficulties faced by the students in
learning English vocabulary. These are perhaps the traditional difficulties they have in

learning a second language. 89% of the students say that there are too many new words in
a lesson. The unclear explanation of teachers over the new words makes 67% of the
students find it difficult to learn vocabulary. 73% of the students think that there are not
many activities that help them learn vocabulary effectively. Teachers' explanation of new
words in English is difficult for 9% of the students, whereas the teachers' explanation of
new words in Vietnamese makes difficulties to the rest of about 91% of them. The very
important aspects of learning vocabulary that seem to be neglected are the feedback and
cycling of the vocabulary. 88% of the students confirm this. An objective difficulty faced
by nearly 96% of the student is lack of time for dealing with the vocabulary they are to
learn in any lessons.
III.1.1.1.4. Students' activities when learning vocabulary.
All of the games are supposed to be the activities done by students in class. The results
are shown in the table below.
Students' activities when learning vocabulary

%

Bingo

2%

Guess the picture

4.5%

Jumbled words

5%

Matching

65%

Networks

24%

Noughts and crosses

3.2%

Ordering

0.8%

Rub out and remember

8.5%

Slap the board

9.2%

Wordstorm

47%

Others
Table 4: Students' activities when learning vocabulary.
The data in table 4 show us more information about activities done by students when they

are asked to deal with in learning vocabulary. There are only the Matching and the
Wordstorm made up over 40%. Matching makes up 65%, Wordstorm 47%. The other


19
activities suggested by the teachers such as Bingo, Ordering, Slap the board,......does not
have much interest from the students. These make up fewer than 10% only. 24% of the
students are interested in Networks though it is a rather complicated activity.
III.1.1.1.5. Students' suggestions for better vocabulary learning.
Follows are the students' suggestions for improving the learning of vocabulary. The results
are presented below.
%

Students' suggestions for better vocabulary learning
There are fewer new words in each lesson

98%

Teachers explanation about new words is clearer

62%

Teachers use more activities to teach new words

100%

Teachers use more techniques to elicit new words

87%

New words are recycled and used frequently

94%

Teachers must be well-qualified

6%

Other suggestions
Table 5: Students' suggestions for better vocabulary learning
Based on the statistics presented in the table, students give some suggestions for enhancing
the learning of vocabulary at the school. 98% of the students say that there should be fewer
new word in a lesson. 62% of them think that the explanation of the teachers about new
word should be clearer for ease of understanding. The use of more activities in a lesson is
totally agreed. It made up to 100%. 87% of the students want the teachers to use more
techniques for eliciting vocabulary. One thing that student suggest is that the vocabulary
should be recycled and used for practice frequently. Only 6% of all the students think that
their teachers must be well-qualified as it is a serious problem to the teaching and learning.

III.1.1.2. Questionnaire for the teachers.
II.3.1.2.1. Teachers' teaching experience.
The question focuses on teachers' ages, their teaching experience. The results are shown in
the following table
Age

%

Years of teaching

%

25- 30

22%

5- 8

44%


20
31- 35

55%

9- 12

44%

36- 40

23%

12- 20

12%

> 45

0%

>20

0%

Table 6: The teachers' ages.

Table 7: Teachers' teaching experience

It can be seen in table 6 that the teachers at Thac Ba high school are not much of different
ages. Teachers aged from 25 to 30 make up 22%. Teachers aged from 31 to 36 are 55%.
23% of the teachers asked are aged from 36 to 40. None of them is over 40. The data show
that the teachers at the school are still young with not much living experience as well as
teaching experience.
According to the data collected in table 7, 44% of the teachers have from 5 to 8 years of
teaching experience. Other 44% of them have experience of teaching from 9 to 12 years.
12% of the teachers have from 13 to 20 years of teaching experience.
III.1.1.2.2. Teachers' opinions on teaching English vocabulary.
This question aims at discovering teachers' opinions on teaching English vocabulary

Teachers' opinions on teaching English vocabulary

%

Teaching vocabulary is very important

22%

Teaching vocabulary is quite important

78%

Teaching vocabulary is not important

0%

Teaching vocabulary is very difficult

89%

Teaching vocabulary is quite difficult

11%

Teaching vocabulary is not difficult

0%