The 11th form non-english majors’ level of satisfaction with their reading comprehension lessons at phan boi chau specialized upper secondary school, nghe an

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PART I : INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Our students are often frustrated with trying to learn new words. We cannot count how many
times the students have come up to us to express their frustration with vocabulary when they
say things like, “I have such a high level of vocabulary in my language, so it is very
frustrating that I can’t express myself as well in English. What can I do? How can I increase
my vocabulary?” or “Why is my use of this word awkward? How can I use new words that I
learn?” or “I need to use my dictionary. How can I read without using my dictionary? - It’s
too hard!” We hope by teaching them the strategies of elaboration it will help them with
learning vocabulary and minimize some of their frustrations.
Vocabulary is an essential constituent of second language acquisition and is of great
significance to language learners. Without words that are the building blocks of a language, a
speaker cannot convey the intended meaning. "Learning the most frequent 2 - 3,000 words
in a language provides a firm basis of about 80 percent of the words likely to be
encountered” (Carter, 1988, p.166). Learning vocabulary is the important basis to gain all
other skills. Vocabulary deficiency leads to poor reading comprehension, poor listening
comprehension, poor writing performance, poor conversational competence and poor
grammatical knowledge. Thus, vocabulary learning is one of the major challenges foreign
language learners face during the process of learning a language. One way to alley the
burden is to assist students in becoming independent learners during the process of L2
vocabulary learning. To do this task, we have to know the strategies that the learners are
using as well as the effectiveness to teach suitable vocabulary learning strategies (VLS)
because learning strategies instruction can help “EFL learners become better learners. In
addition, skill in using learning strategies assists students in becoming independent,
confident learners” (Chamot, 1999, p.1).
Psychologists, linguists, and language teachers have been interested in VLS for a long time.
Numerous studies have been conducted comparing the retention effects of different
vocabulary presentation strategies. In fact, the vocabulary field has been especially
productive in the last two decades. We have seen a number of classic volumes on theories

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(e.g., Carter, 1987; Carter & McCarthy, 1988; Mc Carthy, 1990; Nation, 1990), researches
(e.g., Arnaud & Bejoint, 1992; Gass, 1987; Meara, 1989; Nation & Carter, 1989), and
practical tips (e.g., Gairns & Redman, 1986; McCarthy & O'Dell, 1994). Recent volumes
shed significant light upon different aspects of vocabulary acquisition include Huckin,
Haynes, and Coady (1993), Harley (1995), Hatch and Brown (1995), Coady and Huckin
(1997), Schmitt and Mc Carthy (1997), Atkins (1998), Wesche and Paribakht (1999), Read
(2000), Schmitt (2000), and Nation (2001). These researches solved the present problems.
Hence, based on the significance attributed to VLS in the process of vocabulary learning and
enhancement, this research aims at studying on the effectiveness of Cognitive Strategies
(CS) in learning vocabulary.

2. Aims of the study
The aim of this study is to introduce CS into vocabulary learning syllabus at Nghe An
Continuing Education Center (NACEC) so that we can examine the effectiveness of those
strategies and to elicit students' opinions about the application of CS. From these aims, this
study was an attempt to meet the need of the students at NACEC for an alternative way to
improve their vocabulary learning ability. It was expected that the results of this study would
serve as a useful source of reference for the teachers and administrators at NACEC.
To gain the aims which are mentioned above, this study was designed to test the following
hypothesis:
H1: Students who take part in the application of CS in learning vocabulary will make more
improvement in vocabulary ability than those who do not participate in such a program.
The acceptance of this hypothesis would result in the rejection to the following null
hypothesis or vice versa:
H0: There is no difference in vocabulary proficiency as measured by a proficiency test
between students who take part in the experiment program and those who do not.

In order to draw the conclusion on which hypothesis would be accepted, the answers to the
research questions presented below would be found:
 Is there a significant difference in using CS to learn vocabulary between the control group
(students who do not participate in applying program of CS) and the experimental group
(students who participate in the program)?


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 Do CS make the students' vocabulary learning ability improved?
 What are the students' opinions about CS and their suggestions for future programs?
The first and the second questions are the focal points. The answer to them would yield
empirical evidence for the effectiveness of CS in learning vocabulary. The answer to the last
question would provide invaluable information about students' evaluation of CS necessary
for further application.

3. Scope of the study
Given the time constraint, the study was conducted on the 1st non-English students at
NACEC only. The thesis limited itself to the experimental research of CS in learning
vocabulary to find out their effectiveness. This means the study was not extended to measure
students' common VLS. Therefore, data for analysis were collected from those students in
the researcher's hope of gaining a better understanding of the issue in consideration.

4. Method of the study
The main research method employed in this study to find out the answers to the proposed
research questions within the scope of the study is a quasi-experimental design which
involves the three basic components of experiments as presented by Selinger and Shohamy,
that is, the population (1st students at NACEC), the treatment (CS) and the measurement of
the treatment (t-test) (1989, p.136).
Beside this main method, a questionnaire was also delivered to the students taking part in

applying program of CS as a complementary tool to obtain their feedback on the program
and their suggestions for future programs.

5. Design of the study
The study comprises three main parts:
Part I: Introduction
This part discusses the rationale, aims, scope, an overview of the research method and the
design of the study.
Part II: Development
This part is divided into four chapters:


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Chapter 1: presents a brief theoretical background for the thesis
Chapter 2: presents a detailed discussion of the method used in the study with all of its
components encompassing the justification for using the quasi-experimental design, the
participants, the design of the pretest and posttest.
Chapter 3: is the most important part of the study presenting significant findings and
discussions of the study.
Chapter 4: presents some pedagogical implications derived from the main findings and
some suggested vocabulary practicing activities.
Part III: Conclusion
This part summaries the main findings and points out some limitations of the study that serve
as the basis for the researcher’s suggestions for further study.


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PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Language Learning Strategies
1.1. Background of Language Learning Strategies
There has been a prominent shift within the field of language learning and teaching over the
last twenty years with greater emphasis being put on learners and learning rather than on
teachers and teaching. In parallel to this new shift of interest, how learners process new
information and what kinds of strategies they employ to understand, learn or remember the
information has been the primary concern of the researchers dealing with the area of foreign
language learning. So, language learning strategies (LLS) for foreign language learning and
the teacher's role in strategy training is very important.
Research into LLS began in the 1960s. Particularly, developments in cognitive psychology
influenced much of the research done on LLS. In most of the research on LLS, the primary
concern has been on “identifying what good language learners report they do to learn a
second or foreign language, or, in some cases, are observed doing while learning a second
or foreign language.” (Rubin and Wenden 1987:19). In 1966, Aaron Carton published his
study entitled “The Method of Inference in Foreign Language Study”, which was the first
attempt on learner strategies. After Carton, in 1971, Rubin started doing research focusing on
the strategies of successful learners and stated that, once identified, such strategies could be
made available to less successful learners. Rubin classified strategies in terms of processes
contributing directly or indirectly to language learning. Wong-Fillmore (1976), Tarone
(1977), Naiman et al. (1978), Bialystok (1979), Cohen and Aphek (1981), Wenden (1982),
Chamot and O'Malley (1987), Politzer and Mc Groarty (1985), Conti and Kolsody (1997),
and many others studied strategies used by language learners during the process of foreign
language learning.
1.2. Definition of Language Learning Strategies
The term strategies, in the second-language-learning sense, has come to be applied to the
conscious moves made by second-language speakers intended to be useful in either learning
or using the L2. Strategies can be very different in nature, ranging from planning the

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organization of one's learning (a metacognitive learning strategy) through using mnemonic
devices to learn vocabulary (cognitive learning strategies) and rehearsing what one expects
to say (a performance strategy) to bolstering one's self-confidence for a language task by
means of “self-talk” (an affective strategy).
A learning strategy is a series of actions a learner takes to facilitate the completion of a
learning task. A strategy starts when the learner analyzes the task, the situation, and what is
available in his/her own repertoire. The learner then goes on to select, deploy, monitor, and
evaluate the effectiveness of this action, and decides if he needs to revise the plan and action.
Ever since Naiman et al. (1976) noted that “good” language learners appeared to use a larger
number and range of strategies than “poor” language learners, the implications of
understanding strategy use have seemed increasingly important. However, there are still
many questions to resolve. Does strategy use actually aid language learning, or is it just
something that good learners do? Are some strategies better than others, or is it the number
and range of strategies used that counts? Are there “bad” strategies that actually making
learning or performance worse? Can “poor” language learners benefit from being taught the
strategies that “good” learners use, or do you need to be a good learner already to use some
of the strategies? Does strategy training affect language learning, and if so is the effect
direct, or does such training serve mainly to raise motivation and awareness? If learners are
encouraged to use strategies to organize their own learning, for example, what are the
implications for the role of the classroom teacher? Such issues have already prompted a
considerable volume of research and writing, and directly or indirectly made a significant
impact on language learning, at least in some places. For example, the establishment of selfaccess centers and the encouragement of learner independence are essentially based on the
assumption that students will be able to use viable metacognitive learning strategies. Ellis
(1994) writes: "The study of learning strategies holds considerable promise, both for
language pedagogy and for explaining individual differences in second language learning. It
is probably true to say, however, that it is still in its infancy. For this reason, perhaps,
discussions of learning strategies typically conclude with the problems that have surfaced
and that need to be addressed before progress can be made” (p. 558).

So far, the term LLS has been defined by many researchers. But few seem to agree on what a
language strategy actually is (Bialystok, 1983) because each researcher has defined strategy


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within the context of his or her own study. Learning strategies are defined by O'Malley and
Chamot (1990) as “special thoughts or behaviors that individuals use to comprehend, learn,
or retain new information” (p.1) while Oxford (1994) defines strategies as “actions,
behaviors, steps, or techniques students use, often unconsciously, to improve their progress
in apprehending, internalizing, and using the L2” (p.1). Rubin' s (1987) view of strategies
relates more to how they might contribute directly to L2 development, while Stern (1983),
concerned more with the observability of strategies, describes a strategy as a general
approach to learning by the individual learner and “techniques” as “particular forms of
observable learning behaviors”. Richards and Platt (1992:209) stated that learning strategies
are “intentional behavior and thoughts used by learners during learning so as to better help
them understand, learn, or remember new information”. Faerch Claus and Casper (1983:67)
stress that a learning strategy is “an attempt to develop linguistic and sociolinguistic
competence in the target language”.
All language learners use LLS either consciously or unconsciously when processing new
information and performing tasks in the language classroom. Since language classroom is
like a problem-solving environment in which language learners are likely to face new input
and difficult tasks given by their instructors, learners' attempts to find the quickest or easiest
way to do what is required, that is, using LLS is inescapable.
1.3. Classification of Learning Strategies
In the 1980s and early 90s, research mainly focused on categorizing the strategies found in
the studies of the previous decade. As a result, several taxonomies were proposed to classify
them, including classifications of LLS in general and language sub-skills strategies in
particular.
 One of the most famous to date that proposed by O'Malley and Chamot (1990). Their

hierarchical framework of strategies distinguishes three major strategy types:
 Metacognitive Strategies
 Cognitive Strategies
 Socio-affective Strategies
O'Malley and Chamot's framework of strategies has considerable intuitive appeal and many
practitioners have used this taxonomy in planning their teaching. However, O'Malley and


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Chamot have never examined the construct validity of their taxonomy. As a result, it is
unclear enough to teach students and to train them to use these three separate strategies.
 According to Rubin, there are three types of strategies used by learners that contribute
directly or indirectly to language learning. These are:
 Learning Strategies
 Communication Strategies
 Social Strategies
 According to Stern (1992:262-266), there are five main LLS. These are as follows:
 Management and Planning Strategies
 Cognitive Strategies
 Communicative - Experiential Strategies
 Interpersonal Strategies
 Affective Strategies
 It seems that among numbers of classifications of learning strategies given by researchers,
Oxford’s scheme is the most comprehensive detailed system of six strategies, classified as
direct and indirect. Oxford's (1990:17) taxonomy of LLS is shown as following:
Direct strategies
 Memory strategies
 Cognitive strategies
 Compensation strategies

Indirect strategies
 Metacognitive Strategies
 Affective Strategies
 Social Strategies
It can be seen that much of the recent work in this area has been underpinned by a broad
concept of LLS that goes beyond cognitive processes to include social and communicative
strategies.


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1.4. The importance of Language Learning Strategies in Language Learning and
Teaching
Bridging the gap between students’ learning styles and teachers’ teaching styles will be a
powerful means to guide students towards successful learning. Thus, teaching students
learning strategies should not be neglected. Oxford (1990) describes learning strategies as
“specific actions taken by the learners to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more
self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations” (p.8). Learning
strategies will compensate for the weakness of a learning style and maximize the strengths of
a learning style powerfully.
To emphasize the importance of LLS, Chamot et al. (1999) stated, “Differences between
more effective learners and less effective learners were found in the number and range of
strategies used, in how the strategies were applied to the task, and in whether they were
appropriate for the task” (p.166). Therefore, teaching learning strategies is especially useful
for the latter learners. If they can find effective strategies, they will be able to successfully,
through effective strategy teaching, students will acquire not only vocabulary but also the
way for studying.
The language learner capable of using a wide variety of LLS appropriately can improve his
language skills in a better way. According to Oxford (1990), memory strategies “help
students store and retrieve new information”, cognitive strategies “enable learners to

understand and produce new language by many different means”, compensation strategies
“allow learners to use the language despite their often large gaps in knowledge” (p.37),
metacognitive strategies “allow learners to control their own cognition - that is, to
coordinate the learning process by using functions such as centering, arranging, planning,
and evaluating”, affective strategies “help to regulate emotions, motivations, and attitudes”
and social “help students learn through interaction with other” (p.135). Developing skills in
three areas, such as metacognitive, cognitive, and socio-affective can help the language
learner build up learner independence and autonomy whereby he can take control of his own
learning. Lessard-Clouston (1997:3) states that LLS contribute to the development of the
communicative competence of the students. Being a broad concept, LLS are used to refer to
all strategies foreign language learners use in learning the target language and
communication strategies are one type of LLS. As Oxford (1990:1) stated, LLS “... are


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especially important for language learning because they are tools for active, self-directed
movement, which is essential for developing communicative competence”. Besides
developing the communicative competence of the students, teachers who train students to
use LLS can help them become better language learners. Helping students understand good
LLS and training them to develop and use such good LLS can be considered to be the
appreciated characteristics of a good language teacher. Research into the good LLS revealed
a number of positive strategies so that such strategies could also be used by bad language
learners trying to become more successful in language learning. However, there is always
the possibility that bad language learners can also use the same good LLS while becoming
unsuccessful owing to some other reasons. At this point, it should be strongly stressed that
using the same good LLS does not guarantee that bad learners will also become successful in
language learning since other factors may also play role in success.
1.5. The factors influencing the choice of L2 learning strategies
When a person approaches a relatively challenging task, he adopts certain strategies to solve

the problem. This problem-solving process is constrained by the learning context where the
problem is being tackled. Language learning in general and vocabulary acquisition in
particular are such problem-solving tasks at different levels of complexity. The strategies a
learner uses and the effectiveness of these strategies very much depend on the learner
him/herself (e.g., attitudes, motivation, prior knowledge), the learning task at hand (e.g.,
type, complexity, difficulty, and generality), and the learning environment (e.g., the learning
culture, the richness of input and output opportunities).
Oxford (1990) synthesized existing research on how the following factors influence the
choice of strategies used among students learning a second language:

 Motivation: More motivated students tended to use more strategies than less motivated
students, and the particular reason for studying the language (motivational orientation,
especially as related to career field) was important in the choice of strategies.

 Gender: Females reported greater overall strategy use than males in many studies
(although sometimes males surpassed females in the use of a particular strategy).


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 Cultural background: Rote memorization and other forms of memorization were more
prevalent among some Asian students than among students from other cultural backgrounds.
Certain other cultures also appeared to encourage this strategy among learners.

 Attitudes and beliefs: These were reported to have a profound effect on the strategies
learners choose, with negative attitudes and beliefs often causing poor strategy use or lack of
orchestration of strategies.

 Type of task: The nature of the task helped determine the strategies naturally employed to
carry out the task.

 Age and L2 stage: Students of different ages and stages of L2 learning used different
strategies, with certain strategies often employed by older or more advanced students.

 Learning style: Learning style (general approach to language learning) often determined
the choice of L2 learning strategies. For example, analytic-style students preferred strategies
such as contrastive analysis, rule-learning, and dissecting words and phrases, while global
students used strategies to find meaning (guessing, scanning, predicting) and to converse
without knowing all the words (paraphrasing, gesturing).

 Tolerance of ambiguity: Students who were more tolerant of ambiguity used significantly
different learning strategies in some instances than did students who were less tolerant of
ambiguity.

2. Vocabulary and Vocabulary Learning Strategies
2.1. Definition of Vocabulary
Since we all know what the words mean, why spend time defining them? Every word refers
to a concept, which exists in the memory of the listener's mind. Some concepts are the
product of nonverbal experiences. For instance, when we were very young, we saw several
kinds of animals, which other people called dogs; this formed our concept of “dog”. Since
the particular animals we saw differed from those seen by other people, our concept is
slightly different from the concepts that other people have. On the other hand, certain
concepts are the result of verbal or written explanations by other people. Here the
explanations differed, so again our concept is not identical to that of other people. Any
concept that we have, therefore, consists of other, previously learned, concepts and these


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concepts differ from person to person. So you see, no two people can have exactly the same

concept, as related to a given word.
Thus, so far there have been different definitions of vocabulary. Each linguist gives his own
definition. According to Michael Lewis (1993:89), Vocabulary "...may be individual words,
or full sentences - institutionalized utterances - that convey fixed social or pragmatic
meaning within a given community”. Peny Ur, in her book: “A course in language teaching”
defined vocabulary roughly "as the words we teach in the foreign language. However, a new
item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: a compound of two or three words or
multi-word idioms” (1996, p.60). Pyles and Algeo also give their idea about vocabulary.
They said “when most of us think about language we think first about words. It is true that
the vocabulary is the focus of language. It is in words that we arrange together to make
sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds” (1970, p.96).
In short, vocabulary is an essential part of language, as Wilkins emphasized this with his
saying: "without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be
conveyed” (cited in Hoang Tat Truong 1985:1).
2.2. Vocabulary Learning Strategies
In the literature on LLS, there is no official definition for VLS. Because VLS are considered
as one part of LLS which in turn are part of general learning strategies. LLS encourage
greater overall self-direction for learners. Self-directed learners are independent learners who
are capable of assuming responsibility for their own learning and gradually gaining
confidence, involvement and proficiency. So is the case with VLS.
Oxford (1990:8) gave the working definition of VLS as “...specific behavioural or mental
actions taken by learners to make their vocabulary learning easier, faster, more enjoyable,
more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations”.
It is believed that the characteristics of learning strategies introduced by Oxford are also true
to VLS.
2.3. Classification of Vocabulary Learning Strategies
Word knowledge is an essential component of communicative competence, and it is
important for both production and comprehension in a foreign language. Knowing a word
involves knowing:

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 A great deal about its general frequency of use, syntactic and situational limitations on its
use,
 Its underlying form and the forms that can be derived from it,
 The network of its semantic features and,
 The various meanings associated with the item.
Knowing a word is also defined as knowing its spelling, pronunciation, collocations (i.e.
words it co-occurs with), and appropriateness. Therefore, lexical competence is far more
than the ability to define a given number of words and covers a wide range of knowledge
which in turn requires a variety of strategies to gain the knowledge. Foreign language
learners may then use various strategies to acquire the target language word knowledge.
Taking this into consideration, second and foreign language researchers have made various
attempts to classify VLS employed by foreign and L2 learners. In this thesis, we used the
classification of Oxford as the main theoretical background to study:

STRATEGIES
GROUP

SUB-STRATEGIES GROUP

SPECIFIC STRATEGIES


Memory strategies

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1. Creating mental linkage

2. Applying images and
sounds
3. Reviewing well
4. Employing action

Cognitive strategies

1. Practicing

2. Receiving and sending
messages

3. Analyzing and reasoning

Compensation strategies

4. Creating structure for
input and output
1. Guessing intelligently

2. Overcoming limitations in
speaking and writing

a. Grouping
b. Associating/ Elaborating
c. Placing new words into a context
a. Using imagery
b. Semantic mapping
c. Using keywords

d. Representing sounds in memory
a. Structured reviewing
a. Using physical response or
sensation
b. Using mechanical techniques
a. Repeating
b. Formally practicing with sounds
and writing systems
c. Recognizing and using formulas
and patterns
d. Recombining
e. Practicing naturalistically
a. Getting the idea quickly
b. Using resources for receiving and
sending messages
a. Reasoning deductively
b. Analyzing expressions
c. Analyzing contrastive across
languages
d. Translating
e. Transferring
a. Notes-taking
b. Summarizing
c. Highlighting
a. Using linguistic clues
b. Using other clues
a. Switching to the mother tongue
b. Getting help
c. using mine or gesture
d. Avoiding communication

partially or totally
e. Selecting the topic
f. Adjusting or approximating the
message
g. Coining words
h. Using a circumlocution or
synonym


Metacognitive strategies

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1. Centering your learning

Affective strategies

b. Paying attention
c. Delaying speech
a. Finding out about language
learning
b. Organizing

2. Arranging and planning
your learning

c. Setting goals and objectives
d. Identifying the purpose of a
language task
e. Planning for your task

f. Seeking practice opportunities

3. Evaluating your learning

Social strategies

a. Over viewing and linking with
already known material

1. Lowering your anxiety

a. Self-monitoring
b. Self-evaluating
a. Using progressive relaxation, deep
breathing, or meditation
b. Using music
c. Using laughter

2. Encouraging yourself

3. Taking your emotional
temperature

1. Asking questions

2. Cooperating with others

3. Empathizing with others

a. Making positive statements

b. Taking risks wisely
c. Rewarding yourself
a. Listening to your body
b. Using checklist
c. Writing a language learning diary
d. Discussing your feelings with
someone else
a. Asking for clarification or
verification
b. Asking for correction
a. cooperating with peers
b. Cooperating with proficient users
of the new language
a. Developing cultural understanding
b. Becoming aware of the others'
thoughts and feelings

Table 1: Direct and Indirect learning strategies

(Adapted from Oxford 1990:18-20)
We can see the details of learning strategies from the above table. In this study, we only
chose five specific strategies of CS to apply in the experiment including Formally practicing


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with sounds and writing systems; Notes-taking; Analyzing expressions; Highlighting and
Practicing naturalistically. CS belong to the direct strategies. As the word “direct” conveys,
these strategies are directly involved in learning the target language. Oxford defines CS as
“enabling learners to understand and produce new language by many different means”. The

first letters of these strategies sets create the acronym “PRAC” as a memory aid of the
essence of these strategies “CS are PRACtical for language learning”. (Oxford, 1990:43).

3. Cognitive Strategies
3.1. Definition of Cognitive Strategies
It has long been recognized that the CS that students use when tackling learning task are a
major influence on the quality of the learning outcome. As Paris stated “People rely on CS
to promote learning, remembering and problem solving” (1998, p.299).
According to Kirby and Lavoson (1983), CS are beneficial to learning, they can be identified
and they can be developed. Indeed, CS development has provided positive results to students
of all ages and abilities (Mayo, 1993) regardless of material format and whether strategies are
used publicly or privately (Patterson, Dansereau and Newbern, 1992).
Bouffard and Dunn (1993) claimed that when an appropriate CS is shown to pupils and they
are requested to use it, motor performance usually improves.
So far, many researchers have given the definitions of CS. However, there are difficulties in
defining because there seem to be concerns for how general and incorporating the term
should be.
Some definitions argued that CS must be conscious, planned processes whilst other
definitions related to any activities that streamlined cognitive performance.
According to Perry and Murphy (1986), Lipson and Wixon (1983), CS signify the collection
of mental tactics selected, employed and controlled by an individual in a particular learning
situation to facilitate their acquisition of knowledge or skill, and to achieve their desired
objectives. It has been further claimed that CS can be defined as being deliberate, learnerinitiated and learner-controlled (Palmer and Goetz, 1988). Thus, it is implied that CS will not
be utilized unless a pupil is motivated and deliberately attempts to initiate and control them.


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Derry and Murphy (1986) supposed that CS may be viewed as a continuum from generality
to specificity, from cognitive style and the most generalized of CS to the most task-specific

cognitive tactics.
To sum up, CS are very important to improve students’ ability. Specially, these strategies are
crucial for academic skills.
3.2. Clarifying Oxford's Cognitive Strategies
•

Repeating: This strategy is most often employed by most students. Students read or
write or both read and write a new word over and over again.

•

Formally practicing with sounds and writing systems: Students practice sounds
(pronunciation, intonation, etc) in a variety of ways but not yet in naturalistic
communication practice. Practicing the writing system of English is not a problem
for Vietnamese students because they use Roman scrip as English.

•

Recognizing and using formulas and patterns: Being aware of and/ or using routine
formulas (single, unanalyzed units).

•

Recombining: Students combine known words in new ways to produce a longer
sequence. For instance, they link one phrase with another in a whole sentence.

•

Practicing naturalistically: Students practice using new words in natural realistic
settings, as in participating in a conversation, reading a book, writing diary, etc.

• Reasoning deductively: Students use general rules and apply them to specific cases.
For example, students can use general rules of English affixes to guess the meaning
of new English words or to facilitate their learning new words.
•

Analyzing expressions: students determine the meaning of a new expression by
breaking it down into parts and using the meanings of the parts to understand the
meaning of the whole expression.

•

Analyzing contrastively: Students compare elements (sounds, vocabulary, etc) of
English words with those of Vietnamese to determine the similarities and
differences between them.


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• Translating: Students convert an English expression into Vietnamese (or the other
way round), using one language as the basis for understanding and producing
another.
•

Transferring: Students directly apply knowledge of words from one language to
another in order to understand or produce an expression in the new language.

•

Taking notes: Students take notes of specific points about a word they want to learn.

•

Highlighting: Students use many techniques (underlining, circling, color-coding,
etc) to highlight the words they want to learn.


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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
1. Rationale for using Experimental method
As mentioned in the preceding chapter, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effect
of CS in learning vocabulary and discover students' attitudes towards the application of CS
in learning vocabulary, therefore, the best method chosen for this study was the experimental
research. The fact that this method offers the luxury that others cannot. As Hopkins & Antes
(1990, p.307) said in the strictest sense "An experiment can take place only on a laboratory
setting with the greatest possible control to study the effects of manipulation”. And in the
broadest sense "any interjection of something different into a natural setting could be
considered an experiment” (cited in Vu Thi Thanh Nha, 2006, p.38-39).
An experimental research is an attempt by the researcher to maintain control over all factors
that may affect the result of an experiment. In doing this, the researcher attempts to
determine or predict what may occur. Experimental design enables the researcher to test his
hypothesis by reaching valid conclusions about relationships between independent and
dependent variables. It refers to the conceptual framework within which the experiment is
conducted. To put it in other words, an experiment method, when done correctly, can
provide a tremendous amount of power and control over the understanding of the causal
relationship between variables.
According to Nunan (1992), there are three types of experiments: pre-experiment, quasiexperiment and true-experiment. They are different from one another in terms of the degree
to which they impose control over the variables being studied and the degree of randomness
that enters into the design (Salkind, 2006, p.218).

Basing on the characteristics of different experiments in language research in combination
with the present conditions in which the study would be carried out, we decided to choose
the quasi-experiment design. A quasi-experimenter treats a given situation as an experiment
even though it is not wholly by design. The independent variable may not be manipulated by
the researcher, treatment and control groups may not be randomized or matched. The
researcher is limited in what he or she can say conclusively. Quasi-experimentation in


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educational research is widespread because not only are many researchers also teachers, but
many subjects are also students.
Moreover, the quasi-experimental design has greater external validity (more like real world
conditions) and much more feasible given time and logistical constraints. And since this
design is less intrusive and disruptive than the true-experiment design, it is easier to gain
access to the subject population and that easier to conduct such a research.
In short, the quasi-experimental design is the most practical and feasible for the researcher,
all above factors considered.

2. Participants
2.1. The students
In this study we chose the participants in the two classes in which there are 40 non-English
major students at the age of 19-22 from NACEC, including 12 males and 28 females. They
were divided into 2 groups: experimental group and control group with 20 each. These
participants were not randomly assigned because of the time limitation, expense and
accessibility. We know that it is not always feasible to carry out the study with all the
students in the population individually. Thus, we chose basing on the basis of cluster sampling
that is proved to be convenient, inexpensive and time-saving (Salkind, 2006, p. 92).
The forty students participating in this study are the first year students. Their English level
was Elementary. The most serious difficulties for them are the lack of self-learning method,

LLS and motivation. Most importantly, they emphasized the need for instructions on how to
learn better and to clear away all these problems. Before the experiment they had finished
one term of English. In the first term, the material they used was Lifelines-Elementary (from
Unit 1 to Unit 7) which is an integrated course book intended to develop four basic language
skills: listening, speaking, reading, writing and especially learning vocabulary according to
topics (For example, food and drinks, daily activities, clothes, etc).
The two groups that we chose in this study were arranged in accordance with their level of
English based on the results of their placement test.
To sum up, we tried to select two compatible groups for the experiment. Twenty students in
each group officially became the subjects of the research and all information about them was


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gathered and analyzed in the next chapter. Despite the fact that there might be some
inevitable variables such as intelligence and characteristics which vary from person to
person, the differences between two groups were limited to minimum.
2.2. The teachers
The two instructors were the researcher herself and another teacher at NACEC. They both
have been teaching at NACEC for nearly five years. Before the experiment period, they were
arranged to meet and discuss the methods, contents, outcomes and time allocation for the
experiment.

3. Materials and Data Collection Instruments
3.1. Materials
Course book: The participants taking part in this study used Lifelines-Elementary as the
main course book. This course book is divided into fourteen topic-based units presenting and
practicing vocabulary and grammar, as well as developing the four language skills (Reading,
Writing, Listening and Speaking). After every two units, there is an extension to check the
learnt knowledge.

The interesting feature of this course book is that Vocabulary is learnt according to topics. It
means that there are 14 topics corresponding with 14 units:
- Unit 1: Numbers

- Unit 8: Giving dates

- Unit 2: Classroom language

- Unit 9: Verbs

- Unit 3: Describing people

- Unit 10: Travel

- Unit 4: Time

- Unit 11: Clothes

- Unit 5: Food and drinks

- Unit 12: Parts of the body

- Unit 6: Daily activities

- Unit 13: Phrasal verbs

- Unit 7: Parts of a house

- Unit 14: The world

Because of the time limitation, the researcher only chose two units (Unit 11 and Unit 12) to
do the experiment for this study. Each unit was taught within nine periods.


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Handouts: In the experiment group, handouts were designed by the researcher herself and
delivered to the students as student-training worksheets. Each of the worksheets provided the
students what it meant by the term "Cognitive Strategies”.
Projector: This is a supplementary tool in teaching and learning which help teachers to teach
more successfully. In this study, the researcher used activities on web-sites. So, projector is
really useful and create positive atmosphere and motivation in learning classroom.
3.2. Data Collection Instruments
This study employed both quantitative and qualitative methods including pre-test (at the
beginning of the experiment), post-test (at the end of the experiment) and questionnaire to
collect data with the aims of investigating the effect of CS in learning vocabulary.
3.2.1. Tests
In the researches and in language acquisition, tests are used to check students' vocabulary
ability and knowledge. Thus, in order to know students' results exactly, teachers must design
good tests. The question is: What is a good test? It should have five main characteristics:
validity, reliability, discrimination, practicality and backwash.
To ensure those characteristics of the test, both pre-test and post-test in this study were taken
from Building skills for the TOEFL IBT Beginning by Adam Worcester - Lark Bowereman Eric Williamson and English pronunciation in use by Mark Hancock. This is because these
two books are considered a standardized source. So, they are widely accepted to be highly
valid and reliable in measuring one's language proficiency.
The pre-test and post-test used in this study were in fact two versions of the same test. The
use of the same test before and after the experiment treatment was to measure exactly the
difference that may have been caused by that treatment. However, to minimize the possible
effect of the test familiarity on the students' gains between the two test administrations, some
items of the first version of the pre-test were reordered for the second use (post-test).

3.2.2. Questionnaire
Questionnaires are also the effective instrument for collecting data in this study. According
to Brown (2000) “Questionnaires are any written instruments that present respondents with
a series of questions or statements to which they are to react either by writing out their


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answers of selecting from among existing answers”. This makes questionnaire data
particularly suited for quantitative, statistical analysis. With questionnaires, the experimenter
can employ categories, viewpoints and models that have been precisely defined in advance
then determine the relationship between these categories and to test the research hypotheses
from numerical or directly quantifiable data. However, the data from questionnaires are ideal
because the participants can have some time to think about the answers, which may reflect
reliable facts.
The questionnaire in this study was used at the end of the experiment (post-program
questionnaire). This questionnaire aimed at investigating students' attitudes and comments
towards the application of CS in learning vocabulary. The questionnaire took 15 minutes to
complete. It focused on three parts: (1) the students' opinions about the application of CS in
learning vocabulary including 10 statements in which each statement students could choose
one of the two cases: Y = Yes; N = No; (2) the students' preference towards five specific
strategies (arranged in the order of the level of the students' preference); and (3) the students'
ideas and suggestions to make the application of CS in learning vocabulary more enjoyable
and useful in the next school year (five suggestions were given so that students could choose
Agree or Disagree). The information and results collected from this questionnaire were
valuable. As a result, the researcher had a reliable basis to decide whether or not to go on
applying CS in the future.
3.3. Data collection procedures
The experiment was conducted for eight weeks. During the experiment, the researcher
herself directly taught the experimental group and another teacher taught the control group

(under the researcher’s observation). In order to collect sufficient information about the
students' VLS or techniques through the application of CS as well as their attitudes towards
this, the researcher exploited a pre-test, a post-test and a questionnaire. Here below is the
procedure of the study:
 At the beginning of the experiment, a pre-test was given to both groups. The primary goal
of the pre-test was to measure and compare the two groups in term of the students’ English
vocabulary stock. This pre-test was administered on the same day with the researcher and
another teacher and scored by the teacher-researcher.


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 During the experiment, the experimental group was introduced and explained about CS,
they were also taught the main five specific strategies. In addition, designed activities were
provided in order to help students understand and use the five specific strategies in CS. They
are:

 Formally practicing with sounds and writing systems
 Analyzing expressions
 Practicing naturalistically
 Notes-taking
 Highlighting
Whereas students from the control group received traditional teaching methods. The
traditional method aims at teaching English by giving word-for-word, phrase-for-phrase or
sentence-for-sentence equivalents in the mother tongue for English words, phrases or
sentences and vice versa. This has been the most popular method with the language teacher
as well as with the learners. But the main objection to this method is that it ignores the
activeness of the learners.
 At the end of the experiment period, both of the groups underwent a post-test. This posttest was also administered under the supervision of the two teachers and scored by the
teacher-researcher. After that, the test results were compared to identify the improvement in

students' proficiency of vocabulary.
 Finally, the post-program questionnaire on students' attitudes was distributed to show the
effectiveness and usefulness of the application of CS in learning vocabulary through the
experiment.
3.4. Data analysis
3.4.1. Tests analysis
All test papers after that were collected and marked, the scores from the pre-test and post-test
were calculated to compare and find out Means (M), standard deviation (SD), Degree of
Freedom (df), Statistic value (tstat), Probability (P), Critical Value (tCrit) using the Independent


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t-test which is a commonly used of significance. The t-test is used for differences between
means of two groups to determine whether the treatment caused the experimental group to
score higher than the control. The Independent t-test was done on a computer using the Excel
Spreadsheet Program. This is probably the most widely used statistical test of all time, and
certainly the most widely known. It is simple, straightforward, easy to use, and adaptable to
a broad range of situations. No statistical toolbox should ever be without it.
3.4.2. Questionnaire survey analysis
Questionnaire at the post-experiment stage were calculated and analyzed in order to identify
differences in the students' opinions about the application of CS in learning vocabulary. In
part 1 and part 3, we calculated by percentage (%) and part 2 was calculated to find out and
compare M and SD.
3.5. Summary
This chapter has presented the methodological framework of the study including the
justification for the use of quasi-experimental design in this study, the discussion of all the
participants, materials (pre-test, post-test and questionnaire) used as tools of collecting data.
The next two chapters, which are the most important in this study, will be exhibiting the
findings of the study as well as the pedagogical implications and suggestions for further

studies as the result of the discussion of those findings.

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS