A Study in the Application of Form- Focused and Communicative Language Teaching Approaches to teach Vocabulary to the First Year Non English Major Students at Ha Noi University of Business and Technology

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
----------------------------------------------

NGUYỄN THỊ GIANG

A STUDY IN THE APPLICATION OF FORM- FOCUSED AND
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING APPROACHES TO TEACH
VOCABULARY TO THE FIRST YEAR NON ENGLISH MAJOR
STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND
TECHNOLOGY.
(NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC ÁP DỤNG PHƢƠNG PHÁP KẾT HỢP GIỮA ĐƢƠNG
HƢỚNG GIẢNG DẠY GIAO TIẾP VÀ ĐƢỜNG HƢỚNG LẤY HÌNH THỨC LÀM
NỀN TẢNG VÀO VIỆC DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHO SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN
TIẾNG ANH NĂM NHẤT Ở TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH DOANH VÀ CÔNG
NGHỆ HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 01 11

Hanoi - 2014


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES
----------------------------------------------

NGUYỄN THỊ GIANG

A STUDY IN THE APPLICATION OF FORM- FOCUSED AND
COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING APPROACHES TO TEACH
VOCABULARY TO THE FIRST YEAR NON ENGLISH MAJOR
STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND
TECHNOLOGY.
(NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC ÁP DỤNG PHƢƠNG PHÁP KẾT HỢP GIỮA ĐƢƠNG
HƢỚNG GIẢNG DẠY GIAO TIẾP VÀ ĐƢỜNG HƢỚNG LẤY HÌNH THỨC LÀM
NỀN TẢNG VÀO VIỆC DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHO SINH VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN
TIẾNG ANH NĂM NHẤT Ở TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH DOANH VÀ CÔNG
NGHỆ HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 01 11
Supervisor: Dƣơng Thu Mai , Ph.D

Hanoi - 2014


DECLARATION
I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work. I have provided fully
documented references to the others‟ work. The material in this thesis has not been
submitted for assessment in any other formal course.

I also accept all the

requirements of ULIS relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis
deposited in the library.

Hanoi, September 2014

Nguyễn Thị Giang

i


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to a number of
people, without whose support, this graduation paper would not have been
completed.
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved
supervisor, Duong Thu Mai, Ph.D, for her whole-hearted assistance, useful
corrections, encouragement as well as her profound guidance she gave me while I
was doing my research. It was she who continually reminded me about managing
time despite her busy schedule at school and at home. Her kindly constructive
guidance, suggestions and comments have made it possible for me to finish this study.
Next, I am very grateful to all lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies,
University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University,
Hanoi for their interesting lectures which have inspired me to conduct this thesis.
Moreover, I am obliged to

my colleagues at English Department, Ha Noi

University of Business and Technology who fully supported me in the collection of
the research data, and the first year non- English major students at Faculty of
Information Technology and Tourism at Hanoi University of Business and
Technology who have enthusiastically participated as informants for the study
without their attending questionnaire survey, the methodology section of the study
could not be accomplishedly completed.

Last but not least, I am most thankful to my dear family and friends for their
continual encouragement during the time I conducted the research.. Without their
enormous assistance, I would have faced many difficulties while doing this project.

ii


ABSTRACT
This present study aims at investigating the perception of teaching vocabulary
using the Form- Focused and Communicative Language Teaching approach for the
first year non- English major students. To reach this aim, an action research was
conducted with 3 teachers and 56 students during 6 weeks in the second semester of
the year 2013-2014.
Group interviews, survey, and class observation were used as the data collection
methods. The findings of the research showed that all the respondents had a clear
perception and appreciation of the vocabulary teaching activities using the
combination of Form – Focused and Communicative Language Teaching
approaches. They realized its suitability for the first year non English majors at Ha
Noi University of Business and Technology. However, the teaching approach
experienced some limitation with respect of the student‟s level, students and
teachers‟ preferences and language features, so sometimes it was not interesting
enough to motivate students in vocabulary lessons.
In the light of those findings, the research also suggested several pedagogical
implications for both teachers and students with the hope that teachers should pay
attention to the accuracy as well as fluency when teaching vocabulary in order to
motivate students in their learning help. Likewise, to achieve in their vocabulary
learning, students are advised to explicitly identify their purpose and needs in
learning vocabulary so that teachers as well as students can apply this teaching
method in their teaching and learning more effectively and successfully.

iii


LIST OF FIGURE, TABLES AND CHARTS

HUBT : Ha Noi University of Business and Technology.
CLT : Communicative Language Teaching
FonFs : Focus on Forms
FFI

: Form-Focused Instruction

L2

: Second Language

CBI

: Content-Based Instruction

PPP

: Presentation- Practice- Production

FF

: Form- Focused

iv

LIST OF FIGURE, TABLES AND CHARTS
Figure1.4. Aspects of Word knowledge
Table1.4. What Is Involved in Knowing a Word?
Chart 3.1. Appropriateness to students‟ competence and needs
Chart 3.2. Explicit instruction of new vocabulary
Chart 3.3. Structure Students who have the similar levels of English proficiency
Chart 3.4. Engagement in learning.
Chart3.5.The application of new words
Chart 3.6. Checking activities and explicit feedback
Chart 3.7. The opportunity to practice new words communicatively

v


TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION ........................................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iii
LIST OF FIGURE, TABLES AND CHARTS ...................................................... iv
LIST OF FIGURE, TABLES AND CHARTS ....................................................... v
Part A: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................... 1
1.

Rationale of the study. ....................................................................................... 1

2.

Aims of the study. .............................................................................................. 3

3.

Significance of the Study ................................................................................... 3

4. Research questions. ............................................................................................... 3
5. Scope of the study. ................................................................................................. 4
6. Method of the study .............................................................................................. 4
7. Design of the study. ............................................................................................... 5
Part B: DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................ 6
Chapter I: LITERATURE REVIEW. .................................................................... 6
1.1. Communicative Language Teaching. ............................................................... 6
1.1.1. Definition and features of CLT. ..................................................................... 6
1.1.2. Major principles of teaching English vocabulary in CLT approach. ........ 8
1.1.3. Communicative activities................................................................................ 9
1.1.3.1. Role- play ...................................................................................................... 9
1.1.3.2. Problem- solving tasks ................................................................................. 9
1.1.3.3. Discussion .................................................................................................... 10
1.1.3.4.Information Gap.......................................................................................... 10
1.1. 4. Advantages and disadvantages of CLT in teaching vocabulary. ............. 10
1.1.4.1. Advantages. ................................................................................................. 10
1.1.4.2. Disadvantage. .............................................................................................. 11
1.2. Definition of Form- Focused Instruction and its basic features .................. 11
1.2.1. Form- Focused Instruction Versus Forms- Focused Instruction. ............ 11

vi


1.2.2. Definition of Forms- Focused Instruction and its basic features .............. 12
1.2.2.1. Definition of focus on forms instruction. ................................................. 12
1.2.2.2. Basic features of Focus on Forms instruction. ........................................ 13

1.3. The need to teach vocabulary using FF and CLT approach. ...................... 13
1.3.1. Types of Forms- focused instruction. .......................................................... 14
1.3.1.1. Integrating FF and CLT approach........................................................... 14
1.3.1.2. Isolating FF from CLT approach. ........................................................... 15
1.4. An overview of vocabulary teaching. ............................................................. 15
1.4.1. Definition of vocabulary. .............................................................................. 15
1.4.2.The importance of vocabulary in language teaching and learning. .......... 16
1.4.3. Aspects of word knowledge included in vocabulary teaching .................. 17
1.4.4.

Principles of teaching vocabulary. .......................................................... 19

Chapter II: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................. 21
2.1. Rationale for the use of an action research.................................................... 21
2.2. Action research procedure. ............................................................................. 22
2.3. Background of the study. ................................................................................. 24
2.3.1. Participants. ................................................................................................... 24
2.3.1.1. Teachers. ..................................................................................................... 25
2.3.1.2. Students and their background. ............................................................... 25
2.4. Materials. .......................................................................................................... 26
2.5. Data collection instruments. ............................................................................ 27
2.5.1. Survey questionnaires ................................................................................. 27
2.5.2. Class observation checklists ......................................................................... 28
2.5.3. Group interview. ........................................................................................... 29
2.5.4. Research lesson plan ................................................................................... 30
2.5.4.1. Lessons according to isolated FFI and CLT approach. .......................... 30
2.5.4.2. Lessons according to integrated FFI and CLT approach. ..................... 31
2.6. Data collection procedures. ............................................................................. 31
2.7. Data analysis procedures. ................................................................................ 33

vii


Chapter III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS. .................................................... 35
3.1.Research question 1: ....................................................................................... 35
3.2. Research question 2: How well the students evaluate the activities used to
teach vocabulary using the approach. ................................................................... 36
3.2.1. Findings from students’ questionnaires ...................................................... 36
3.2.1.1. Appropriateness to students’ competence and needs ............................. 36
3.2.1.2. Explicit instruction of new vocabulary .................................................... 37
3.2.1.3. Structure Students who have the similar levels of English proficiency.38
3.2.1.4. Engagement in learning. ............................................................................ 40
3.2.1.5. The application of new words ................................................................... 41
3.2.1.6. Checking activities and explicit feedback ................................................ 42
3.2.1.7. The opportunity to practice new words communicatively ..................... 43
3.2.2. Findings from the class observation. ........................................................... 45
3.3. Research question3: To what extent are the vocabulary teaching activities
using this approach effective from teachers’ perspective? ................................. 47
Part C: CONCLUSION ......................................................................................... 51
1. Summary of the findings and discussion........................................................... 51
2. Implication. ......................................................................................................... 52
3. Limitations of the study. ..................................................................................... 53
4. Recommendations for further studies. .............................................................. 54
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................ 55
APPENDIX ................................................................................................................ I

viii


PART A: INTRODUCTION

This part presents an overview of the study including the rationale, aims and
objectives, research questions, scope, methods, the, and design of the study.
1. Rationale of the study.
Presently, English has become an international language employed in a variety of
fields such as in global commerce, communication, education and so on. English is
considered as a national language in many countries namely the Philippines, Hong
Kong, Singapore, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. In Vietnam, English has also
become a popular language. Because of the important role of English, it is
compulsory to teach English as a core subject in the curricula of schools and
universities in the whole country. In learning English, vocabulary plays a
tremendously important role since it is the tool of thought, self-expression,
translation and communication.Vocabulary is considered a background in
communication,it is necessary for successful and effective communication for
native speaker ( Herbertson, 2003) as well as second and foreign language learners (
Alderson, 2005) since words play an important role in expressing our feelings,
emotions, and ideas to others during the act of communication.
Besides, vocabulary is one of the most vital components in a language, either
spoken or written, as it is what a language is composed of. When teaching English,
it is important to take into account that vocabulary is what compounds a language,
consequently if students efficiently learn a wide range of words, the acquisition of
the new language will become effective. However, when teaching English
vocabulary it can be noticed that only a few words are the ones which learners
remember and use correctly. That might have been the reason why famed
researchers ( Lewis (1994), Moras (2001) and Nation (1974)) provided meaningful
and real activities for implementing in class and also suggestions for efficiently
teaching vocabulary in their studies. According to Lewis (1994), it is very important
for students to learn meaning while learning vocabulary because if students do not

1

know the meaning of words they are learning, they are not going to be able to
participate in real conversations, or even in class.

In order to improve this

participation, fluency becomes significant. In addition, teachers might focus on
form and use in their lessons. For focusing on form Nation ( 1974) states that
following spelling rules, recognizing word parts or building word family tables are
good options. Whatever the activity is, it must be focused on useful words which
learners are going to use in the future. These require a teaching method which either
provides meaning or word forms.
In the context of Ha Noi University of Business and Technology, a private
university, English is being taught as a compulsory subject for non- major students.
However, students have many obstacles preventing them from achieving
communicative competence. As for freshmen who have not been familiar with the
ways of studying at university, English is really a burden for them. After four years
of learning English, the students may cover grammar knowledge well but they
cannot communicate successfully in English .As an English teacher, the researcher
found that one of the major reasons for that is their vocabulary deficiency.
Therefore, it is necessary for every teacher in any language classes to help widen
their students‟ vocabulary size. However, the methods used to teach vocabulary at
HUBT have not been really effective because most of the teachers tend to teach
vocabulary totally communicatively. Consequently, the students usually experience
difficulties in term of pronunciation and grammar errors. In order to help students
use words not only fluency but also accuracy, it is vital to provide them the uses as
well as forms of the words they learn. Applying the Form Focused and
Communicative Language Teaching Approach in teaching vocabulary for the first
year non- English major students may be one of the effective ways.
The aforementioned reasons have encouraged the writer as a teacher of English at

English Department at HuBT to explore this matter so as to find out how effective
the vocabulary teaching activities using this approach are from students and
teachers‟ perspective.

2


2. Aims of the study.
This study is carried out to meet the following aims:
Firstly, the study aims at investigating the the applicable features of Form focused
and Communicative Language teaching approach to teach vocabulary for the first
year non – English major students at HUBT.
Secondly, the research makes attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of

Form

Focused and Communicative language teaching approach on students‟ vocabulary
acquisition and teachers‟ application in teaching vocabulary.
Finally, the minor thesis tries to investigate advantages and disadvantages of
using this method to teach vocabulary to the first year non- English major students
at Ha Noi University of Business and Technology ( HUBT).
The findings of this study are the useful source to provide some recommendations
for effective application in teaching and learning English vocabulary.
3. Significance of the Study
The result of this action research will not only help the researcher to enhance her
assess to vocabulary teaching. Moreover, the outcomes of this paper can be useful
for the students, the language teachers in the same university and the others which
encounter the duplicate issues with the place where the research was conducted.
Finally, it may benefit the researchers who develop an interest in the topic.
4. Research questions.

This study seeks answers for the following questions:
1. What are the applicable features of Form Focused and Communicative
Language Teaching approach in teaching vocabulary for the first year non- English
major students at Ha Noi University of Business and Technology?
2. How well do the students evaluate the vocabulary teaching activities in this
approach?
3. To what extent are the vocabulary teaching activities using this approach
effective from teachers’ perspective?

3


5. Scope of the study.
Vocabulary teaching and learning are wide topics and they cannot be
completely discussed within the framework of this minor thesis. In this manner,
this study attempts to experiment the application of Form- Focused and
Communicative Language Teaching approach in teaching vocabulary for only
the target students.
The subjects of the study include 56 students at the Department of Tourism and
Information Technology at HUBT who are not English majored but English is their
compulsory subject and three English teachers at HUBT. Therefore, the results of
this study may be generalized to all Vietnamese non-English majors.
6. Method of the study
To achieve the aims of the study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are
used and the following instruments are involved:
Eight lesson plans were designed and taught at three classes of freshmen in the
Faculties of Tourism and Information Technology following the features of the
Form focused and Communicative Language teaching Approach so that the
researcher can investigate the effectiveness of vocabulary teaching activities in this
method from the students and teacher‟s evaluation. Then, a quantitative method

techniques were applied as a survey questionnaire was administered for 56
freshmen at HUBT in order to get a more detailed and comprehensive picture about
what is investigated for the research.
The qualitative research method is involved in the constructing and validating of
the questionnaire, which investigates the applicable features of FF and CLT
approach in teaching vocabulary for the first year non- English major students at
HUBT. It is also applied in analyzing the structured interviews for both teachers and
students, and the class observation. Besides, the literature review of the study relies
on thorough document analysis of related theories and research on English
vocabulary teaching. Materials from different sources including journals, books

4


and the Internet are also collected and analyzed, synthesized and evaluated in this
paper.
7. Design of the study.
This study consists of three main parts:
Part A :“INTRODUCTION” presents the statement of the problem and the
rationale for the study, objectives of the study, research questions, and significance
of the study, methods of the study and the design of the study will be clearly stated.
Part B : DEVELOPMENT is organized in three main chapters:
Chapter I is “Literature Review” deals with the review of related literature
and studies, the general overall identification of area of the study.
Chapter II is “Methodology” which mentions the investigation using FormFocused and Communicative Language Teaching approach to teach vocabulary
to the first year non-major students at HUBT. Besides, the background
information of the subject of research, the instruments used to collect data and
procedures of data collection are made clear.
Chapter III is “Finding sand Discussion” which presents, analyzes and
discusses the findings that the researcher found out from the data collected

according to the three research questions.
Part C “CONCLUSION” which summarizes what have been mentioned in the
previous parts, introduces some limitations of the research, pedagogical
implications of using FF and CLT approach to teach vocabulary and provides some
suggestions for further studies as well.
Summary
This introductory chapter provided an overview of this research to give readers
direction about what they expect to read in the following chapters. It introduced a
research‟s rationale, the value of the research, and then aims and research questions
were outlined. In addition, this first part presents the scope of this minor thesis and
the method employed to meet the aim of the study.

In the next chapter, the

literature will be critically reviewed in order to set the background for this research.

5


PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW.
This chapter provides an overview of the literature specifically the background and
a number of studies related to the research topic, creating the solid foundations for
the subsequent development of the thesis. In this chapter, definitions and related
concepts of the terms: Communicative Language Teaching, Form- focused
instruction and vocabulary are provided.
1.1. Communicative Language Teaching.
1.1.1. Definition and features of CLT.
With the globalization of world economy in general, and the rapid social and
economic development in particular, English talents have become extremely

necessary in all aspects of the life. This has greatly promoted English learning as
second or foreign language in many countries all over the world because English is
the key to university education, job promotion, and good employment prospects. In
order to meet this goal, many theories and models of language teaching have been
introduced in and experimented with in the early decades of the 20th century in
which the Communicative Language Teaching ( CLT)approach were shown to be
the most effective and suitable method on developing communicative skills of
learners. The definition CLT has become great concern of numerous linguists and
educators. Some British applied linguists like Henry Widdowson, Halliday,
Brumfit, Johnson and Wilkins (1971) advocated the communicative proficiency and
functions of language over the mastery of structures ( Duman, 1997, p. 22). It can
be seen that these linguistic experts put the emphasis of CLT on concepts like
context, use, effective communication, communication functions, comprehensible
pronunciation, etc. Hymes (1972) added the concept of communicative competence,
which

emphasized

using

language

for

the

meaningful

communication-

Communicative Language Teaching. That is to say, its goal is to make use of reallife situations that necessitate communication. Consequently, the language teacher

6


uses communication as a teaching approach to enhance students‟ communicative
competence
In relation to this, Nunan( 1989, p. 194) also supports that CLT views language as
a system for the expression of meaning. Activities involve oral communication,
carry out meaning tasks and use language, which is meaningful to the learners.
Objectives reflects the needs of the learners; they include functional skills as well as
linguistic objectives. The learners‟ role is as a facilitator of the communication
process. Materials promote communicative language use, they are task- based and
authentic. In other words, in CLT, there is an emphasis on learning to communicate
through interaction in the target language and the introduction of authentic texts in
to learning situations. The learners become the center in the classroom. Moreover,
this approach is the combination between classroom language learning and
language activation outside the classroom. The form of pair

and group work

requiring negotiation, cooperation among learners, fluency- based activities that
encourage students to develop their confidence and role play in which they practice
and improve language functions are taken in to the CLT classrooms
Similarity, Schmitt (1997) pointed that “ the focus is on the message and the
fluency rather than grammatical accuracy. It is taught through problem- solving
activities and tasks that require the students to transact information such as
information gap activities” (p.14)
*CLT in vocabulary teaching.
Those characteristics of CLT also were brought in to vocabulary classes, and Senel

( 2002, p.243) reviewed that, in CLT, new words were presented in the context of
complete sentence, and meaningful situation, not in isolation. This way, the words
acquired meaning when they appeared with a particular definition in a determined
context. Moreover, Thornbury ( 2004, p.14) stated that coursebooks began to
incorporate communicative activities specifically targeting vocabulary since the
meaning- giving role of lexis was recognized in this approach,

7


In conclusion, there are many ways to define CLT approach. Although different
authors stressed different aspects of CLT, all of them share the certain contributions
to language learning and teaching because they all make the common goal which
helps students to improve their communicative competence and use the target
language in the real situation. With regards to this study, the definition of Nunan
(1989) was taken as the basic to design vocabulary teaching activities in the next
section because it drew an overall picture about CLT in the language classes.
1.1.2. Major principles of teaching English vocabulary in CLT approach.
The various pedagogical principles of CLT approach to language teaching in
general and vocabulary in particular are quite clearly presented by researchers.
Hubbard et al (1989) in Nation (2003) present clear and detailed explanations of the
principles of CLT. They summarize the general principles in the following main
points.

Firstly, teachers teach and practice words in their spoken form while

students manage to pronounce the words as they are written. After all, students will
remember new words in better way if they are introduced in a memorable way to
begin with and put to regular practice. Teachers are responsible for checking the
understanding of their students. Secondly, high frequency words are suggested to be

given more teaching time and attention than low frequency words because they are
more useful. Those words should be fluently accessible for both receptive and
productive use and become part of learners‟ active vocabulary. Lastly, learners
should be trained in vocabulary learning strategies (i.e. using word cards, learning
by means of word association, guessing meaning from context, using dictionary,
etc) for effective self- study.
In short, in CLT approach, some elements need to be taken into account: the
communicational principle, the task principle, and the meaningfulness principle. All
the vocabulary teaching tasks in this study would be established in the light of the
principles given by Hubbard et al ( 1989). The reason for that is originated from the
appropriation of their rules when combined with that of the Form Focused
instruction.

8


1.1.3. Communicative activities.
For all those features and principles, CLT often takes the form of pair and group
work requiring negotiation and cooperation between learners, fluency-based
activities that encourage learners to develop their confidence, role-plays in which
students practice and develop language functions, as well as judicious use of
grammar and pronunciation focused activities.Thus, Banciu and Jireghie clearly
stated in their work “ Communicative Language Teaching” ( 2012) some of the
most frequently classroom activities used in communicative language teaching
namely





Role-play
Interviews
Information gap
Games






Language exchanges
Surveys
Pair-work
Learning by teaching

However, not all courses that utilize the Communicative Language approach
exploit these activities at the same time, which activities are employed and how to
apply depend on the objectives of the lesson, the language features and the teachers
and students‟ interest. In relation to this current research, the following activities
were exploited.
1.1.3.1. Role- play
This activity is very important in communicative approach. According to
Littlewood (1980), role-play is the simulation of real-life situations in which pupils
act as different roles in the communicative classroom. It gives pupils an opportunity
to practice communicatively in different social contexts and in different social roles.
Role-play is an excellent technique for communicative practice. It creates a relaxed
atmosphere in the class, in which pupils‟ learning interest and confidence are
motivated greatly.
1.1.3.2. Problem- solving tasks
Problem solving tasks work well in CLT because they usually include the three

features of communication: information gap, choice and feedback. They can be
structured so that students share information or work together to arrive at a solution.
9


In this activities, the class is divided in to groups of about four students and is given
“ problem”. Each group negotiates with each other and then selects a representative
to report in front of the class after working out solution to that problem.
1.1.3.3. Discussion
Discussion is also very effective in CLT because it gives students a practice in
negotiating meaning and chances to express themselves in the target language.
Groups of four or ten students are working on a topic of common interest for about
ten or more minutes and then a representative is chosen to report what they have
discussed.
1.1.3.4.Information Gap.
An information gap task is a technique in language teaching where students are
missing information necessary to complete a task or solve a problem, and must
communicate with their classmates to fill in the gaps. Hence, it is often used in
CLT and task-based language learning. Besides.these activities help move the
students from working in a more structured environment into a more
communicative environment; they are hopefully using lots of the target language,
and in the process discovering where they have gaps.
1.1. 4. Advantages and disadvantages of CLT in teaching vocabulary.
1.1.4.1. Advantages.
Communicative language teaching (CLT) helps learners be more active in real life
situations through means of individual, pair and group word activities. This helps to
enhance learners‟ communicative competence, manage their vocabulary and
develop their communicative skills at the same time as well as develop procedures
for the learning of four language skills.
Furthermore. since “ real life” communication is always implemented in the

language classroom, learners develop not only good comprehension skills but also
fairly high levels of vocabulary knowledge particularly in comprehension-based
programs and greater levels of communicative ability (and communicative

10


confidence) in programs where they have greater opportunities for output-based
practice (Lightbown, Halter, White & Horst, 2002)
To sum up, applying this approach in teaching language help students develop the
great deal.
1.1.4.2. Disadvantage.
In spite of its great benefits, the CLT method has also been observed that learners
in communicative classes usually experience difficulties with grammatical accuracy
in their oral and written production (Lightbown & Spada, 2013; Lyster, 2007). In
other words, some disadvantages of CLT which learners encounter are follows
a. It is felt that there is not enough emphasis on the correction of pronunciation and
grammar error. It is because too much focus on meaning at the expense of form.
b.

CLT approach focuses on fluency but not accuracy in grammar and

pronunciation.
c. The CLT approach is great for intermediate student and advanced students, but
for beginners some controlled practice is needed.
d. The monitoring ability of the teacher must be very good Grammar Teaching
Practices make application of this approach difficult.
e. When classroom second language learning is entirely experiential and meaningfocused (e.g., the immersion program in Canada), some linguistic features do
not ultimately develop to target-like levels.
(Xiaotang, 2000)

Observations like these led to the call for greater attention to forms, meaning and
communication in L2 teaching. The next section of this chapter is going to present
one approach which can compensate for the above mentioned disadvantages of CLT
1.2. Definition of Form- Focused Instruction and its basic features
1.2.1. Form- Focused Instruction Versus Forms- Focused Instruction.
The term "form-focused instruction" (FFI) is defined by Ellis (2001:2) as
"any planned or incidental instructional activity that is intended to induce
language learners to pay attention to linguistic form". It serves as a generic term

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for "analytic teaching", "focus on form", "focus on forms", "corrective
feedback/error correction" and "negotiation of form". The term "form-focused
instruction" is used to describe both approaches to teaching forms based on artificial
syllabi, as well as more communicative approaches, where attention to form arises
out of activities that are primarily meaning-focused (cf. Long and Robinson
1998). FFI comprises two subcategories, namely focus-on-formS and focus-onform instruction. However, to achieve the aims and purpose of this study , only
FonFs instruction is employed by both integrating with and isolating from CLT
approach.
1.2.2. Definition of Forms- Focused Instruction and its basic features
1.2.2.1. Definition of focus on forms instruction.
Focus on Forms ( FonFs) Instruction , in contrast, ( bo vi dab o phan truoc)as
defined by Long ( 1991), involves the pre-selection of specific features based on a
linguistic syllabus and the intensive and systematic treatment of those features. In
other words, FonFs instruction refers to focusing on or teaching discrete lexical
items out of context and isolated from meaning as in structural syllabi ( Long 1991
as cited in Ellis et all . 2003: 149- 150). Therefore, in FonFs instruction, the main
attention is on the form that is being targeted in a particular lesson rather than
meaningful language use; and most of the lesson is devoted to teaching L2 forms of

which both teacher and learners are aware. It means that with FonFs instruction,
vocabulary is taught in the ways separated from communication or content and
followed some kinds of language syllabus. For example, learners‟ attention can be
drawn to words in non- communicative tasks as matching words in column A to
their definition in column B, or gap- filling, etc.
According to Ellis, Bastuekmen and Loewen ( 2002), a good example of FonFs in
action is closely associated with PPP procedure, involving the presentations of a
linguistic feature, followed by first controlled practice, and the free production. In
FonFs instruction, language is treated as an object to be studied and language

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teaching is viewed to be an activity to be practiced systematically. Furthermore,
learners are seen as students rather than users of the language ( Ellis, 2001,p.14)
1.2.2.2. Basic features of Focus on Forms instruction.
From above definitions, the critical features of FonFs can be seen as follows:
a/ The pre- selection of a linguistic target for a lesson .It means that the teachers
can pre- select new words and some specific features to each. For instance, teachers
can pick up a list of the target words in one unit and then give students their
translation and explanations.
b/ Awareness on the part of the teacher and students of what the linguistic target for
the lesson is.

FonFs refers to the teaching of discrete linguistic structures in

separate lessons in a sequence determined by syllabus writer. It occurs when
vocabulary is taught as discrete units in the order of their linguistic complexity. In
this way, vocabulary is taught in accordance with a synthetic syllabus. It involves
language program planning based on the syllabus that the teacher and learner know;

thus, both of them are aware of what to teach and learn.
In short, the primary characteristics of FonFs instruction recommend that teaching
process primarily focuses on forms which are discrete and taught in isolation, and
that forms are pre-selected in the syllabus.
1.3. The need to teach vocabulary using FF and CLT approach.
It is a widely admitted fact that many students have obvious defects in their
knowledge of pronunciation, spelling, grammatical structures, word formation,
syntax, and linguistic semantics although they can speak quite fluently. DAI( 2002)
points out that fluency without appropriateness is more dangerous as it would cause
serious misunderstandings in communication. Finocchiaro and Brumfit (1983)
states that learning words is not learning the linguistic forms only. More important,
second language learners should know how to use the word in communication. That
is to say, a situational context must be taken into consideration in the second
language acquisition because it gives hints to meanings of the new words beyond a

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linguistic system, thus helping students to learn words appropriate to specific
contexts.
Some of the researches conducted to investigate the effect of

form-focused

instruction in second language classes have shown that FFI can play a role in
helping classroom learners in CLT and CBI use their L2 with greater fluency and
accuracy (e.g., Spada & Lightbown, 1993; Lyster,2004) and to use language forms
that represent more advanced developmental levels (e.g., Doughty & Varela, 1998).
Besides, the research in CLT and CBI classrooms demonstrates that the introduction
of FFI has contributed to changes in learners‟ knowledge and use of certain

language features (e.g., Day & Shapson, 1991; Doughty & Varela, 1998; Harley,
1989; White, Spada, Lightbown, & Ranta, 1991; Lyster, 2004; Sheen, 2005).
Moreover, experience with CLT and CBI shows that meaning-based exposure to
the language allows L2 learners to develop comprehension skills, oral fluency, self
confidence, and communicative abilities, but that they continue to have difficulties
with pronunciation as well as with morphological, syntactic, and pragmatic features
of the L2 (see, e.g., Harley & Swain, 1984; Lyster,1987).
Thus, it is essential to combine forms focused instruction and communicative
language teaching approach in teaching vocabulary classes.
1.3.1. Types of Forms- focused instruction.
In vocabulary teaching using FF and CLT approach, instruction can be done in two
ways: Isolated vocabulary instruction and integrated vocabulary instruction.
1.3.1.1. Integrating FF and CLT approach.
In this type of instruction, vocabulary teaching occurs in the context of
communicating meaning. The students‟ attention is drawn to language forms during
communicative activities while their main focus is directed at understanding the
meaning in these activities. As defined by Ellis (2002a) and by Doughty and
Williams (1998), although the form focus occurs within a communicative activity,
the language features in focus may have been anticipated and planned for by the
teacher or they may occur incidentally in the course of ongoing interaction. Besides,

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integrated vocabulary teaching focuses on several aspects of instruction at once and
teachers explain the meaning of the words in relation to the context it appears. It
also focuses on form which can push learners beyond communicatively effective
language toward target-like second language ability; it can speed up natural
acquisition processes (Xiaotang, 2000).
Teachers give the meaning of the word at the same time they apply the meaning in

the communicative context. Thus, students create an immediate connection between
the meaning, form, and use. Moreover, in some way integrated vocabulary is
interpreted as comprehensive aid by the students.
1.3.1.2. Isolating FF from CLT approach.
This type of instruction focuses on the features of a particularly vocabulary item
in isolation. The main focus is on the language forms rather than the meaning.
Attention is given to form in instructional segments separated from communicative
language practice.
In isolated form focused instruction, lower cognitive load required during the
instruction and the focus is only on the word. Vocabulary is taught before
communicative tasks and students only focus on vocabulary that they are taught.
Therefore, they pay no attention to the context. It‟s easy to understand the purpose
of instruction. Intentional learning and explicit instruction may help learners to
focus their attention.
Words are pronounced by the teacher, after meaning is provided , an example
sentence is shown and synonyms, antonyms are given. As a result, additional time
and opportunities for productive use may results in a greater depth of processing of
the target words. In other words, when the students produce new sentences, long
term memory is achieved.
1.4. An overview of vocabulary teaching.
1.4.1. Definition of vocabulary.
Vocabulary has been known as one of three dimensions of language with
grammar and phonology, and it plays a role as the primacy forming the ground for
the development of other skills. It has been paid great attention by researchers,

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