The obstacles encountered by 8th graders of ede ethnicity in studying english at song hinh secondary high school in phu yen province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY
UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

THE OBSTACLES ENCOUNTERED BY 8TH GRADERS
OF EDE ETHNICITY IN STUDYING ENGLISH
AT SONG HINH SECONDARY HIGH SCHOOL
IN PHU YEN PROVINCE

Submitted to the
Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature
in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

By
PHAN QUANG TRUYEN

Supervised by
LE THI THANH, PhD

HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2012


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deepest and sincerest appreciation and gratitude to
my supervisor, Dr. Le Thi Thanh. Her profound knowledge, enthusiastic guidance
and in-time encouragement have been of great value for me. Without her valuable
support and careful review of the draft, I would not have finished my thesis.
I wish to express my warm and sincere thanks to the teaching staff of the
master program for their instructions and dedication.
I am deeply gratitude to the Faculty of Linguistics and Literature, USSH,
HCMC for giving me permission to commence this thesis. I have furthermore to

thank the English Resource Center (ERC) for their support.
I would also like to thank my school administrators and authorities of the
Department of Education and Training of Song Hinh who gave me best conditions
in investigation.
I also want to thank my friends for all their help, support and valuable hints in
my research work.
Last but not least, I wish to send my warmest thanks to all my family whose
love, patience and care enabled me to complete this thesis. Especially, I want to
send my loving thanks to my lovely wife. Without her sympathy, encouragement,
and love; it would have been impossible for me to complete this work.

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CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:
THE OBSTACLES ENCOUNTERED BY 8TH GRADERS OF EDE
ETHNICITY IN STUDYING ENGLISH AT SONG HINH
SECONDARY HIGH SCHOOL IN PHU YEN PROVINCE

in term of Requirements for the Theses in Master’s programs
issued by the Higher Degree Committee.

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma
in any other institution.
Ho Chi Minh City, July, 2012

PHAN QUANG TRUYEN

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RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS
I hereby state that I, PHAN QUANG TRUYEN, being the candidate for the
degree of Master of Arts (TESOL), accept the requirements of the University of
Social Sciences and Humanities relating to the retention and use of Master’s
Theses deposited in the library.
In term of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in
the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance
with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or
reproduction of theses.
Ho Chi Minh City, July, 2012

PHAN QUANG TRUYEN

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THE TABLE OF CONTENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................. i
CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................................... ii
RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ................................................................... iii
THE TABLE OF CONTENT ......................................................................................... iv
THE LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. ix
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................... x
CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1
1.1. Background of the study ........................................................................................... 1
1.2. Statement of the problem …………………………………………………………….1
1.3. Purpose of the study ................................................................................................. 3
1.4. Research questions and research propositions ........................................................... 4

1.4.1. Research questions ................................................................................................ 4
1.4.2. Research propositions ............................................................................................ 4
1.5. Significance of the study........................................................................................... 4
1.6. An overview of the current situation of teaching English in grade 8 at ...................... 5
1.6.1. A description of SHSHS ........................................................................................ 5
1.6.2. A description of the current situation of teaching English for the 8th grade at
SHSHS ................................................................................................................. 5
1.7. Assumptions ............................................................................................................. 6
1.8. Delimitations ............................................................................................................ 7
1.9. Organization of the study .......................................................................................... 7
CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................... 8

2.1. Definitions of terms .................................................................................................. 8
2.1.1. Obstacle................................................................................................................. 9
2.1.2. Weak score ............................................................................................................ 9
2.2. Some aspects of the theory in teaching and learning vocabulary ............................... 9
2.2.1. Definition of vocabulary ........................................................................................ 9
2.2.2. Classification of vocabulary................................................................................... 9
2.2.3. The roles of vocabulary in language learning, communicating, and testing........... 10
2.2.4. On knowing a word ............................................................................................. 11
2.2.5. Techniques for teaching vocabulary ..................................................................... 12
2.2.6.. Factors affecting EFL students’ learning vocabulary ........................................... 13
2.2.7. The obstacles in learning vocabulary in the study................................................. 15
2.3. Motivation and learning achievement ..................................................................... 16
2.3.1. The nature of motivation ...................................................................................... 16

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2.3.1.1. Definition ......................................................................................................... 16
2.3.1.2. Operational definition ....................................................................................... 17
2.3.2. Relationship between learning motivation and learning achievement ................... 19
2.3.3. Students’ learning motivation in ET ..................................................................... 20
2.3.3.1. Four theoretical views of student motivation ..................................................... 20
2.3.3.1.1. The behavioral view ....................................................................................... 20
2.3.3.1.2. The cognitive view......................................................................................... 20
2.3.3.1.3. The Humanistic view ..................................................................................... 20
2.3.3.1.4. Achievement motivation view ........................................................................ 21
2.3.3.2. Factors affecting motivation .............................................................................. 21
2.3.3.3. Principles of learning and motivation ................................................................ 22
2.3.3.4. Teaching techniques and educative ways for learning motivation ...................... 23
2.3.3.5. Fluctuations in learner interest .......................................................................... 24
2.4. Learning background .............................................................................................. 24
2.4.1. Definition ............................................................................................................ 24
2.4.2. Vocabulary resource ............................................................................................ 26
2.4.3. Learning materials ............................................................................................... 26
2.4.4. The relationship between learning background and learning achievement ............ 26
2.4.4.1. The Input Hypothesis ........................................................................................ 27
2.4.4.2. Ausubel’s meaningful learning theory ............................................................... 27
2.4.4.3. Developmental principle ................................................................................... 27
2.4.5. Students’ learning background in the ET.............................................................. 28
2.4.5.1. Real situation .................................................................................................... 28
2.4.5.2. Solutions to the real situation ............................................................................ 28
2.4.5.3. Educative ways teaching techniques for improving learning background .......... 29
2.5. Learning strategies.................................................................................................. 31
2.5.1. Definition ............................................................................................................ 31
2.5.2. Kinds of learning strategies .................................................................................. 33
2.5.3. The relationship between learning strategies and learning achievement ................ 33

2.5.4. Learning-strategy techniques in ET ...................................................................... 33
2.5.5. Ways and strategies for learning vocabulary ........................................................ 35
2.5.5.1. The vocabulary acquisition ............................................................................... 35
2.5.5.2. Ways and strategies for learning vocabulary ..................................................... 35
CHAPTER 3 – METHODOLOGY................................................................................ 39
3.1. Research questions ................................................................................................. 39
3.2. The research setting ................................................................................................ 39

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3.2.1. The research place ............................................................................................... 39
3.2.2. Time for the study................................................................................................ 40
3.2.3. The participants ................................................................................................... 40
3.2.3.1. The Ede in Song Hinh Commune ...................................................................... 40
3.2.3.2. The subjects ...................................................................................................... 41
3.3. Research design ...................................................................................................... 42
3.3.1. Research method ................................................................................................. 42
3.3.2. Instruments .......................................................................................................... 44
3.3.3. Research procedure.............................................................................................. 44
3.3.4. Procedures of data collection and treatment ......................................................... 46
3.3.4.1. The description of research variables ................................................................ 46
3.3.4.2. The order of data collection .............................................................................. 47
3.3.4.3. The methods of data collection.......................................................................... 47
3.3.4.3.1. Interviews ...................................................................................................... 47
3.3.4.3.2. Observations pre- and while-experimental teaching ....................................... 48
3.3.4.3.3. Testing ........................................................................................................... 49
3.3.4.4. Data treatment .................................................................................................. 50
3.3.5. The method of data analysis ................................................................................. 51
3.3.6. The interpretation of analysis results .................................................................... 53

3.4. Experimental teaching (ET) .................................................................................... 53
3.4.1. The teaching in the mainstream class ................................................................... 54
3.4.2. The teaching in the enrichment course for weak students ..................................... 54
3.4.3. Tests .................................................................................................................... 55
3.4.3.1. Designing and administrating tests .................................................................... 55
3.4.3.2. Tests in the mainstream class ............................................................................ 55
CHAPTER 4 – RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................ 57
4.1. Data analysis and findings ...................................................................................... 57
4.1.1. Document and records ......................................................................................... 57
4.1.1.1. The number of absent days................................................................................ 57
4.1.1.2. The learning results in grade 7 .......................................................................... 58
4.1.1.3. The English results in grade 7 ........................................................................... 59
4.1.2. The subjects’ responses to interviews before ET .................................................. 60
4.1.2.1. The subjects’ purposes for learning ................................................................... 60
4.1.2.2. The subjects’ learning abilities and learning resources ...................................... 63
4.1.2.3. The subjects’ current vocabulary learning strategies .......................................... 64
4.1.3.1. The subjects’ enhancement of learning motivation ............................................ 68

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4.1.3.2. The subjects’ improvement of learning background .......................................... 68
4.1.3.3. The subjects’ enrichment of learning strategies ................................................. 69
4.1.4. Observation results before ET .............................................................................. 71
4.1.4.1. The subjects’ learning attitudes and behaviors................................................... 71
4.1.4.2. The subjects’ learning abilities and learning resources ...................................... 73
4.1.4.3. Social strategies in learning new words ............................................................. 75
4.1.5. Observation results after ET................................................................................. 76
4.1.5.1. The subjects’ learning motivation by the end of ET........................................... 76
4.1.5.2. The subjects’ learning abilities and resources by the end of ET ......................... 77

4.1.5.3. The subject’s enrichment of social learning strategies by the end of ET ............ 79
4.1.6. The subjects’ scores for tests................................................................................ 80
4.1.6.1. The subjects’ scores of the diagnostic vocabulary test 2 .................................... 80
4.1.6.2. The subjects’ scores of the achievement vocabulary test ................................... 81
4.1.6.3. The subjects’ scores of tests in mainstream class for the final results ................. 81
4.2. Discussion of the results ......................................................................................... 82
4.2.1. The subjects’ low learning motivation and techniques for enhancing it ................ 83
4.2.2. Their limited learning background and techniques for improving it ...................... 84
4.2.3. The subjects’ lack of learning strategies and techniques for enriching it ............... 85
4.3. Summary of major findings .................................................................................... 86
4.3.1. The subjects’ motivation in learning vocabulary .................................................. 86
4.3.2. The subjects’ learning background in learning vocabulary ................................... 87
4.3.3. The subjects’ learning strategies in learning vocabulary ....................................... 88
4.3.4. Teacher’s techniques and educative ways for lessening the subjects’ obstacles .... 89
CHAPTER 5 – CONCLUSIONS................................................................................... 90
5.1. Conclusions ............................................................................................................ 90
5.2. Limitation of the study............................................................................................ 92
5.3. Recommendations .................................................................................................. 93
5.3.1. Research application ............................................................................................ 93
5.3.2. Further research ................................................................................................... 94
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................ 100

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THE LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
1. L1: First language or mother tongue
2. L2: Second language
3. L3: Third language
4. OL: Official language

5. FL: Foreign language
6. NL: Native language
7. TL: Target language
8. FM: Final mark
9. App.: Appendix
10. ELT: English language teaching
11. EFL: English as a Foreign Language
12. ESL: English as a Second Language
13. ICS: Investigation of Culture Standard
14. SLA: Second Language Acquisition
15. AMFT: Average mark of the first term
16. AMST: Average mark of the second term
17. SHSHS: Song Hinh Secondary High School
18. ET: Experimental teaching

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THE LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1: The description of the number of students in SHSHS ........................... 5
Table 2.1: Educative ways and teaching techniques for enhancing learning
motivation .................................................................................................... 23
Table 2.2: Educative ways and teaching techniques for enhancing learning
background .................................................................................................. 30
Table 2.3: The conceptual framework of the study .............................................. 37
Table 3.1: The population of different peoples in Song Hinh Commune.............. 40
Table 3.2: A general description of Ede people in population and levels of
education in Song Hinh Commune ............................................................... 40
Table 3.3: The Cases' profile …………………………………………………………… 41
Table 3.4: Case study dataset with four cases ………………………………………….. 43

Table 3.5: The description of the research procedure ........................................... 45
Table 3.6: The summary of the data collection by interviews .............................. 48
Table 3.7: The summary of the data collection by observations ........................... 49
Table 3.8: The summary of the data collection by tests........................................ 50
Table 3.9: The analysis framework ...................................................................... 52
Table 4.1: The subjects’ number of absent days in grade 7 .................................. 58
Table 4.2: The subjects’ learning results in grade 7 ............................................. 58
Table 4.3: The subjects’ English results in grade 7 .............................................. 59
Table 4.4: The subjects’ scores of the new school-year entrance test ................... 59
Table 4.5: The subjects’ observation results for their learning motivation ........... 72
Table 4.6: The subjects’ results for learning background signals ......................... 74
Table 4.7: The subjects’ results for learning strategy signals ............................... 75
Table 4.8: The subjects’ learning motivation after ET ......................................... 77
Table 4.9: The subjects’ learning abilities and resources by the end of ET .......... 78
Table 4.10: The subjects’ enrichment of social learning strategies....................... 79
Table 4.11: The subjects’ diagnostic vocabulary test’s result ............................... 80
Table 4.12: The subjects’ final results at English ................................................. 82
Table 4.13: Summary of the subjects’ signals for learning motivation ................. 87
Table 4.14: Summary of the subjects’ signals for learning background ............... 88
Table 4.15: Summary of the subjects’ signals for learning strategies ................... 88

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ABSTRACT
This research aimed at examining some obstacles encountered by the 8 th
graders of Ede ethnicity in learning English vocabulary at Song Hinh secondary
high school who usually got poor results at English. It also aimed at finding
suitable teaching techniques that could improve their learning vocabulary.

The combination of exploratory and analytical types of research was employed
to address the research questions. The study was on a relatively complex
phenomenon with the presence of only four Ede students; therefore, the “Case
Studies” was employed to collect data for the research. Unstructured interviews
and observations were employed for data analysis.
The results of the study indicated that low learning motivation, limited learning
background, and lack of learning strategies were the three real obstacles
encountered by the subjects. With English teachers’ suitable teaching techniques
and educative ways, he could help the students lessen their obstacles so that they
could improve their vocabulary and their learning results to some extent. Based on
the findings, suggestions for better practice were made so that they will be
selectively applied to enhance students’ learning vocabulary in similar schools.
Key words: vocabulary, obstacles, learning motivation, learning background, and
learning strategies.

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CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background of the study
Vocabulary has commonly been recognized as one of the most important
aspects of language learning by second or foreign language researchers (Candlin,
1988; Krashen, 1989; Nation, 1990; Laufer, 1997; Yang, 2002…). Vocabulary is
essential when learning a language, but learning it is not an easy task. Most
language learners view vocabulary-learning as their difficulty (Candlin, 1988) and
feel that their lack of vocabulary causes serious problems and results in a big
obstacle (Krashen, 1989; Nation, 1990). Students’ lack of an adequate vocabulary
is the major obstacle that obstructs them from successfully comprehending English
reading texts which results in low achievement of tests (Yang, 2002). McCarthy
(1990) asserts “No matter how well the students learn grammar, no matter how

successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wider
range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful
way.”
1.2. Statement of the problem
The researcher of study is a secondary-high-school teacher of English and has
been teaching English for nine years at Song Hinh Secondary High School
(SHSHS). He recognizes a rather common phenomenon that when Ede students
get grade 8, they meet a lot of difficulties in understanding new words. They are
always under the pressure of lacking vocabulary and feel frustrated in it. The final
evidences for this are their low scores of all kinds of tests: the oral tests and written
tests. This leads them to give up learning because of facing many challenges. This
is a problem of education in mountainous regions, high rate of students’ quitting
school. There has been a considerable reduction in the number of Ede students in
SHSHS recently.
Ede students have their own language – Ede. They use their native language to
daily communicate within their community. They begin to learn Vietnamese at
primary school as a second language (L2). Vietnamese is used as an official
language (OL) for learning other subjects at school. Thus, their learning is usually
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not easy in general. During 5 years of primary school, they can communicate with
their classmates and teachers in Vietnamese because they can reach their accuracy
and fluency gradually. However, they cannot perform so well. Moreover, they
have to learn English as a foreign language (FL) or a third language (L3) as a
compulsory subject when they are in grade 6. The instructional language for
English is Vietnamese, so there are certain difficulties in their learning the new
language through an L2. When they are in grade 8, they seem to face too many
obstacles in learning English, somewhat due to their poor vocabulary. Limited
source of vocabulary is one of the main reasons for students’ poor test-scores.

Lacking words, students cannot understand lessons and perform well both
receptive and productive skills in tests, for any kinds of tasks.
The correlation between limited source of vocabulary and the students’ poor test
scores in this case was demonstrated by two diagnostic tests. The first was the new
school-year entrance test and the second, the vocabulary test 1.
The first test was designed under a standard matrix whose language contents
were mainly in “Tiếng Anh 7”. In SHSHS, it is annually conducted to all the
students in class 8A after a week of the new-school year, accompanied with Math,
Literature, physics, and Biology, to review the students’ level. Because this test
was used as a regular test, all the students in class 8A did it with great effort in the
location time. For the Ede students (the subjects), it was also used as a diagnostic
test. The subjects’ scores were 2.5; 3.5; 3.75; and 3.0, on the scale of 10,
respectively (See App. 2.).
The vocabulary test 1 was adapted from Nation’s (1990) and Yang’s (2002)
checklist tests. It consisted of 55 items. The chosen items were key words relevant
to the new school-year entrance test’s answers. The test was added with two new
requirements to make the scores reliable. It was used to investigate the correlation
between vocabulary and the test score. Because this test was informed as a regular
test, the subjects also did it with great effort in the location time. Their scores were
10/55; 15/55; 17/55; and, 12/55, respectively, and equivalently to 1.8; 2.7; 3.1; and
2.2 on the scale of 10 (See App. 3.). This test’s scores show that the subjects lack
many key words to do the new school-year entrance test.

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Take a comparison between the second test’s scores and the first test’s scores.
They are 1.8 vs 2.5; 2.7 vs 3.5; 3.1 vs 3.75; and 2.2 vs 3.0, respectively. Here the
gaps between the vocabulary test scores and the new school-year entrance test
scores within each subject are relatively stable (from 0.65 to 0.8), or the deviation

between them is only 0.15 point. It is logical that the new school-year entrance
test’s scores are all higher than the vocabulary test’s scores. Thus, a meaningful
conclusion may be drawn that the subjects’ lack of key words caused their low test
scores. The result meets those of Nation (1990), Laufer (1997), Yang (2002), etc.
It is implied that the key obstacles encountered by the subjects in their learning
vocabulary must be identified.
The situation motivated the researcher’s study on the obstacles encountered by
the 8th graders of Ede ethnicity in learning English vocabulary at SHSHS. He
strongly believed that when the students’ key obstacles were recognized, the
teacher of these students would have appropriate solutions to help them overcome
the problems to some extent so that they could improve their learning
achievement.

1.3. Purpose of the study
One of the most essential tasks a teacher does at the beginning of a teaching
course is to set up possible objectives for the course and find out solutions to reach
them. One of the most important objectives is to minimize the number of weak
students. The real situation where there is a high frequency of Ede students in
SHSHS who are weak at English in grade 8 makes the researcher take into
consideration. Thus, the study aims at looking for the reasons why the English
result of the 8th graders of Ede ethnicity in SHSHS is usually poor from the aspect
of their learning vocabulary, and finding effective ways to help these students
learn vocabulary better. In order to reach these aims, the research process aims at:
(1) Identifying the obstacles encountered by the 8th graders of Ede ethnicity in
learning vocabulary at SHSHS; and
(2) Recommending some solutions that English teachers in case apply to help
students overcome such the obstacles in teaching process.

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1.4. Research questions and research propositions
1.4.1. Research questions
The study aims at looking for the reasons why the English result of the 8 th
graders of Ede ethnicity in SHSHS is usually poor from the aspect of their learning
vocabulary, and recommending some solutions to help students learn vocabulary
better in teaching-learning process. In order to reach these aims, the research
process is guided by the two following questions:
1. What are the obstacles encountered by the 8th graders of Ede ethnicity in
SHSHS in learning vocabulary?
2. What should English teachers do to lessen the students’ obstacles?
1.4.2. Research propositions
To address the first research question, three research propositions were attached
in the analysis process. The propositions were chosen in light of the analysis at
2.2.6.
1. The subjects do not have high motivation in learning vocabulary;
2. Their learning background obstructs their learning vocabulary; and
3. They lack necessary learning strategies.

1.5. Significance of the study
It is hoped that teachers of English can benefit from the study and have more
effective ways to help students learn English vocabulary better. As for students, it
is hoped that they will be equipped with more vocabulary learning strategies to
confidently cope with vocabulary and reinforce their vocabulary learning.
Theoretically, understanding students’ problems is one of the most important
jobs to improve learning quality. Discovery of real obstacles in learning English
vocabulary encountered by the Ede students is a pedagogical task. Moreover,
teaching techniques for particular situations which were experimented in real
classes over a long time and showed certain effectiveness will be applied for
similar situations not only for Ede but also for other ethnicities.

Practically, the study represents two significances of making good the state of
many Ede students with weak scores and lessening their state of dropping out of

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school. Firstly, Ede students take more than a half of weak students in SHSHS
every year. There is a coincidence that all these weak students have weak results at
English. Secondly, there has been a very common phenomenon that many Ede
students stop learning because of their weak results, one of which is English. As a
result, the total number of students in the school decreases considerably.
Therefore, the improvement of the English scores for Ede students may contribute
to resolve the practical matter.

1.6. An overview of the current situation of teaching English in grade 8 at
SHSHS in Phu Yen Province
1.6.1. A description of SHSHS
SHSHS is located in Song Hinh Commune, one of the communes with the
poorest living conditions. It was officially founded in 2005. It is a small school.
The school facilities have initially not been equipped adequately. There is not a
real school-library. In the school year of 2010-2011, there were only six classes
with the total number of 176 students, divided into 4 grades. Ethnic minorities are
more than a half (93/176) in which Ede students occupy 38, as the table 1.1 below.
Table 1.1: The description of the number of students in SHSHS
Total

Total ethnicity

Ede

students

students

students

2

67

31

15

7th grade

2

44

25

11

8th grade

1

27

12

4

9th grade

1

38

25

8

Total

6

176

93

38

Grades

Total classes

6th grade

Source: the school report of student number in the school year of 2010-2011

1.6.2. A description of the current situation of teaching English for the 8th
grade at SHSHS
The English program for each grade at secondary high school is currently
instructed within 37 weeks a school year nationwide. It is divided into two

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semesters. The first one takes 19 weeks and the second, 18 weeks. In a week
students in grade 8 have three periods of English and each period lasts 45 minutes.
“Tiếng Anh 8” (Nguyen, V.L et al., 2010 (6th ed)) is designed in theme-based
direction including 16 units like those of “Tiếng Anh 6” and “Tiếng Anh 7”. The
noticeable difference is that it begins to focus on communicative skills in isolation
in each unit, covering 7 parts of (1) getting started, (2) listen and read, (3) speak,
(4) listen, (5) read, (6) write, and (7) language focus (See App.1). Each unit is
taught and learned in two weeks. The content of each unit is rather long and it has
many difficult words that the students feel hard to acquire. According to the book’s
introduction, it is edited in light of inheritance of “Tiếng Anh 6” and “Tiếng Anh
7” from vocabulary to grammar.

1.7. Assumptions
For the validity and credibility of the research, assumptions about data quality
and real situations are mentioned. The collected data must include seven following
characteristics. First, the subjects could not realize that they were observed and
monitored. Second, their attitudes, behaviors and activities were stable. Third, the
interviewees answered the interview questions accurately. Fourth, the document
and records were accurate and objective. Fifth, tests were designed or adapted for
normal students. They were based on the same matrix model and format and used

to evaluate the whole class. The students did the tests independently, without any
cheat. Sixth, the students’ test answers and answers for oral tests were evaluated
accurately and objectively. And seventh, the final result of English was counted as
the instructions No. 54 from the Ministry of Education and Training.
There are two real situations. First, there are a lot of obstacles encountered by
the 8th graders of Ede ethnicity in SHSHS, and English teachers cannot control all
of them. And second, the four subjects would have worse results if the teacher did
not have suitable remedy for the situation, as a Chinese maxim, “Learning is like
an upriver boat. If it has no progress, then it is regress.”

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1.8. Delimitations
In the scope of the study, three obstacles that seemed to be the most important
were taken into investigation to find whether they caused difficulties to the
students’ vocabulary learning. They were (1) learning motivation, (2) learning
background, and (3) learning strategies. Analysis of key obstacles encountered by
the 8th graders of Ede ethnicity in learning English vocabulary helped English
teachers had suitable solutions for successful teaching tasks. Reducing the key
obstacles for students surely helps them improve their poor results to some extent.

1.9. Organization of the study
This study is divided into six basic parts. Chapter One is the introduction of the
study, which states the study’s background, statement and purpose of the study,
significance, research questions, research propositions, an overview of the current
situation of teaching English in grade 8 at SHSHS, assumptions, delimitation, and
the organization of the study. Chapter Two provides the review of literature, i.e.
summaries of related researches that make the framework for the study, for
example, theories of teaching and learning vocabulary, motivation and learning,

learning background and cognition, and learning strategies. Chapter Three presents
the methodology in which this study has been done. Chapter Four presents the
results of data analysis and the study’s findings. Chapter Five gives the study’s
conclusions and recommendations for further research. And lastly, there are a
collection of appendices, most of which are the instruments of the investigation.

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CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter the theoretical framework of the obstacles of learning English
encountered by Ede students will be discussed. Some aspects of the theory in
teaching and learning vocabulary on the basis of SLA will be summarized.
Research on teaching English for ethnic minorities has been limited and
research on teaching English for Ede students, especially at secondary high school
has been really scarce in Vietnam.
Recently, Krong Ai Huong Lan (2011) has conducted a study at No Trang Long
Ethnic High School – Daklak province. It concentrated on the problems in
teaching and learning speaking skills for the 11th graders of Ede ethnicity. She
concluded students’ knowledge of vocabulary was one of the factors that affect
their speaking skills (Krong, A. H. L. 2011, P. 94).
In the international scale, the most related research was conducted by Yang, J.
(2005) named English as a third language among China’s ethnic minorities which
was available online from June, 2008. The research aims many problems, one of
which is “Chinese-minority language bilingual education in learning English with
Chinese only instruction” which indicates obstacles in slowly developing English
language teaching. The similarity is that ethnic-minority learners begin to study L2

(Chinese/ Vietnamese) as an official language before studying English as the third
language (L3) under L2 instruction. He lists four factors that negatively impact on
ELT in ethnic minority regions: lack of resources, lack of motivation, the
interference of existing bilingual policies, and difficulty in learning a third
language.

2.1. Definitions of terms
For the study’s validity, six terms are lexically and operationally defined.
Lexically, definitions for the terms are given, based on definitions of compatible
entries from Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (1995). Operationally,
examples or evidence are used to illustrate. Two terms of obstacle and weak score
are defined in this section. Four others which are vocabulary and the three
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research variables are defined during the review. Operationally, there are a set of
signals which can be relatively exactly observable and countable.
2.1.1. Obstacle
Obstacle is lexically a thing that blocks one’s way or makes movement,
progress, etc. difficult. Obstacles are operationally problems or difficulties
affecting students’ learning such as low motivation, limited learning background,
lack of learning strategies, etc.
2.1.2. Weak score
Weak score is lexically a score which is not good or adequate, especially in
contrast with what is usual or expected. Operationally, a Weak score is the one
counted from 3.5 to 4.9 on the scale 10.0, according to the evaluating guide of
students’ learning result from the Ministry of Education and Training.

2.2. Some aspects of the theory in teaching and learning vocabulary
2.2.1. Definition of vocabulary

According to Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, the entry of vocabulary is
understood with three meanings: (1) it is the total number of words in a language;
(2) it is all the words known to a person or used in a particular book, subject, etc.
e.g. a wide/ limited vocabulary or active vocabulary or passive vocabulary; and
(3) it is a list of words with their meanings, esp. ones that accompanies a textbook
in a foreign language. The second meaning is the most appropriate in this study.
According to Ur (1996, p. 60), vocabulary is one of the four components of the
“what” in teaching and learning a foreign language which are (1) pronunciation,
(2) vocabulary, (3) grammar, and (4) topics, situations, notions, and functions. He
wrote, “Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign
language. However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: for
example, post office and mother-in-law …”
2.2.2. Classification of vocabulary
As communicative skills go, vocabulary is divided into receptive and productive
vocabulary. The receptive/ productive distinction depends on its resemblance to
the distinction between the “receptive” skills of listening and reading and the

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“productive” skills of speaking and writing. Receptive carries the idea that we
receive language input from other people through listening and reading and try to
comprehend it. Productive refers to the idea that we produce language forms by
speaking and writing to convey message to other people (Nation, 2001, p. 24).

2.2.3. The roles of vocabulary in language learning, communicating, and
testing
Nation (1990) states that the lack of vocabulary is a serious obstacle strongly
related to their language learning frustration. Vocabulary is the main materials to
make sentences or utterances. Lacking necessary words, learners cannot receive or

produce language as expected. Coady (1997) concludes that the central issue in
language teaching is helping learners learn vocabulary well.
Vocabulary plays a crucial role in not only speaking but also other
communicative skills. Lacking productive vocabulary, learners cannot express
their speech or writing completely. On the other hand, lacking receptive
vocabulary, they hardly understand the texts or utterances. McCarthy (1990)
asserts “without words to express a wider range of meanings, communication in an
L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way.” Therefore, learners always feel
difficult to communicate confidently when their source of vocabulary is limited.
According to the instructions to test and evaluate students from the Ministry of
Education and Training, a common test in school is used to test and evaluate
students with three levels of knowledge: (1) recognition, (2) understanding, and (3)
application. These levels must be shown in the test matrix with a fixed ratio of
50% of recognition, from 15% to 20% of application due to students’ ability. For
English, the matrix for a test must include four parts: (1) listening skills (20%), (2)
reading comprehension skills (30%), (3) writing skills with particular writing tasks
(25%), and (4) grammar structures and vocabulary with ten multiple-choice
questions (25%) (See App. 2.). It is recognizable that whatever types of questions
and whatever parts the test includes, the tests consist of many words; therefore,
students will not do the tests well if they lack necessary sources of vocabulary,
such as vocabulary of the topics for listening, reading and writing questions. They

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may not understand requirements or clues of the test, so that they cannot give it
many correct answers. Laufer (1997) asserts that no comprehension would be
possible without understanding the vocabulary.

2.2.4. On knowing a word

What is involved in knowing a word? Usually, learners think that knowing a
word means knowing what the word sounds like or looks like and its meanings.
Actually, knowing a word requires much more. It involves all the receptive and
productive aspects (Nation, 2001).
According to Nation (2001, p. 23), “Words are not isolated units of language,
but fit into many interlocking systems and levels.” There are three main aspects of
a word that teachers should mention in the lesson: (1) form, including spoken
form, written form, and part of speech; (2) meaning, including form and meaning,
concept and referents, association, and (3) usage, including grammatical functions,
collocations, and constraints on use (frequency).
As Tran, V. D. (2008, pp. 29-34) summarized various researches, on knowing a
word, learners should know seven pieces of information relating to that word.
First, they should remember its written form, i.e. what does the word look like?
Second, they can manage its spoken form, i.e. what does it sound like? And how is
it pronounced? Third, they have to know its meanings, i.e. they know not only its
semantic features but its reference or its connotations. Fourth, they have to know
its meaning in context. Fifth, they have to know its parts of speech and
grammatical functions to use it in sentences correctly. Sixth, they can control other
words collocated with to make a sequence of words or a phrase. And lastly, they
have to build their ability to use it effectively in various communication situations.
Ur (1996, pp. 60-62) included these aspects but focused the area of word
meanings more carefully. On knowing word meaning, learners should control
denotation, connotation, appropriateness and meaning relationships.
McCarten (2007, pp. 3-14) suggested using the Corpus to teach vocabulary.
There are six noticing points of a new word: (1) frequency (How often is it used in
communication?); (2) differences in speaking and writing (What style is it used in

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communication?); (3) contexts of use (What situation is it used?); (4) collocation
(Which words are used with it?); (5) grammatical patterns (What patterns is it
used?); and (6) strategic use of vocabulary (Is the word used to organize and
manage discourse?). McCarten (2007, p.18) summarized Richard (1976) and
Nation (2001) teachers must have a list of nine aspects to apply in their teaching
new words in order that students can master the word. The list includes: (1) the
meaning(s) of the word, (2) its spoken and written forms, (3) its “word parts” (e.g.,
prefix, suffix, and “root” form), (4) its grammatical behavior (e.g., its word class,
typical grammatical patterns), (5) its collocation, (6) its register, (7) what
associations it has (e.g., words that are similar or opposite in meaning), (8) what
connotations it has, and (9) its frequency.

2.2.5. Techniques for teaching vocabulary
In light of the Communicative Aproach and Nation (2001, p. 23), these nine
components by McCarten (2007, p.18) above are understood as the three common
terms in presenting a new word: (1) form (spoken and written forms, parts of
speech, and its register); (2) meaning (its meanings, connotations and meaning
associations); and (3) usage (its grammatical behavior, collocation, and
frequency). In practice, teachers usually spend much time helping students realize
and remember the word meanings before they can use it correctly. In addition,
students usually ask “what does it mean?” when they meet a new word, before
“How is it pronounced or used?” Therefore, teachers usually pay much attention to
teaching the word’s meanings by using different techniques. Each one will
strongly suitable for a kind of words. To avoid the monosome, teachers usually
alternate techniques that can work effectively. The most common techniques used
to present word meanings are collected from the works of Doff, A. (1988) and Ur,
P. (1996), etc. as following.
1. Showing meaning visually: According to Doff, A. (1988, pp. 13-14), this
technique includes subtechniques such as using pictures, flashcards, charts, realia,
acting, mime or gestures, drawing, etc. It is very suitable with concrete nouns or

verbs of actions. Each subtechnique has its own advantages and disadvantages.

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For example, drawing is interesting but time-consuming; or realia help students
know meanings quickly and exactly, but they may be trouble in transporting or in
money.
2. Giving examples: According to Doff, A. (1988, pp. 14-15), the meaning can
be shown by simple sentences. A good example should clearly show the meaning
of the word to someone who does not know it already. It is good for showing the
meaning of abstract words.
3. Meaning relationships: According to Ur, P. (1996, pp. 63-64), the two most
common subtechniques are synonyms and antonyms. They help student realize the
meanings of the new word easily in case that students have known its synonym or
antonyms.
4. Elicitation: According to Doff, A. (1988, pp. 159-160), elicitation involves
the class by focusing students’ attention and making them think. It encourages
students to draw on what they already know or partly know. Because of this, it is a
useful technique for mixed ability classes or classes of students from different
learning backgrounds, where different students know different things.
5. Translation: According to Ur (1996, pp. 63-64) and Doff (1988, p. 12), the
meanings of the new word are translated into those of the students’ language so
that they can understand the meanings quickly. However, students easily get the
words passively and don’t know how to use the words.
6. Association: According to Ur, P. (1996, pp. 63-64), this technique is based on
the idea of hyponymous relationship. The meaning of the new word is drawn by
students after they generalize the words given; for example, the teacher says: fish,
birds and cats are different animal, so what is animal?
7. Combining different techniques: According to Doff, A. (1988, pp. 15-16),

some complicated words need the combination of two or three techniques to
present their meanings. For example, the word smile is both verb and noun, so for
the meaning of the verb, we can use drawing or facial expression to illustrate its
meaning, but that of the noun can be illustrated by translation.

2.2.6.. Factors affecting EFL students’ learning vocabulary
Brown (2000, pp. 272-273), in building a theory of SLA, mentioned as many
as eleven factors affecting learners’ learning process. They are age, general

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intelligence, language aptitude, learning strategies, transfer, input, learning
environment, socio-cultural factors, egocentric factors (autonomy), motivation,
and educational background.
Gu, P. Y. (2003, pp. 2-3) summarized various factors affecting learners’
vocabulary learning strategies. They are of two major kinds: person-dependent
and context-dependent factors. For the first kind, he listed the most widely
reported factors including age, sex, language aptitude, intelligence, prior
knowledge, motivation, self-concept/image, personality, and cognitive and
learning style. For the other kind, the learning context can include the teachers, the
peers, the classroom climate or ethos, the family support, the social, cultural
tradition of learning, the curriculum, and the availability of input and output
opportunities.
The matching of Brown’s and Gu’s is relative. By neglecting stable factors such
as age, aptitude, the peers, the family support, and classroom climate, there are as
many as eight following factors that affect EFL students’ learning vocabulary. The
first five factors that are closely related to the students themselves are: (1) learning
motivation, (2) learning background, (3) learning strategies, (4) intelligence, and
(5) autonomy. The last three factors that are likely beyond their control are: (6)

teachers, (7) input, and (8) language transfer. The factors of (1), (2), and (3) will be
discussed in detail as the key variables in this study in the next parts. The five
others are temporarily set aside because of the following reasons.
About intelligence, nobody can negate the role of intelligence in learning. In
learning a language, Ausubel in efficient learning model argued that high
intelligence would no doubt imply a very efficient process of storing items. Brown
(2000, P.101) summarizing Howard Gardner (1983), Robert Sternberg (1985,
1988) and (Goleman 1995), discerned a relationship between traditional
intelligence and FL learning. Nevertheless, if students do not have a right attitude
or high motivation in learning, how can intelligence work? So the intelligence
factor, if it works, lies in learning background (as Ausubel’s view above) and
learning strategies because an intelligent learner will have suitable learning
strategies so as to achieve the best result.

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