SKKN applying web based quizlet application to increase vocabulary retention for EFL 11th graders at a mountainous high school

TEACHING EXPERIENCES
TOPIC:

APPLYING WEB-BASED QUIZLET APPLICATION
TO INCREASE VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR EFL 11TH
GRADERS AT A MOUNTAINOUS HIGH SCHOOL


NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF TRAINING AND EDUCATION
THANH CHUONG 1 UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

TEACHING EXPERIENCES
TOPIC:

APPLYING WEB-BASED QUIZLET APPLICATION
TO INCREASE VOCABULARY RETENTION FOR EFL 11TH
GRADERS AT A MOUNTAINOUS HIGH SCHOOL

Field

: English Teaching Methods

Teacher : Vương Thị Vân
Group

: Văn - Ngoại ngữ

Tel

: 0398123595

Thanh Chuong, 2021


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 1
1.1. Rationale ........................................................................................................ 1
1.2. Objectives of the study .................................................................................. 2
1.3. Subjects of the study ...................................................................................... 2
1.4. Research question .......................................................................................... 2
1.5. Study scope .................................................................................................... 2
1.6. Research methodology ................................................................................... 2
1.7. Significance of the study ............................................................................... 3
1.8. Structure of the study ..................................................................................... 3
CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW.............................................................. 4
2.1. Teaching and Learning vocabulary................................................................ 4
2.1.1. Vocabulary definition ............................................................................. 4
2.1.2. The role of vocabulary in teaching and learning English ....................... 4
2.1.3. Vocabulary teaching approach ............................................................... 5
2.1.4. Learning and teaching English vocabulary as a skill .............................. 6
2.3. Quizlet App as a tool of teaching and learning vocabulary ........................... 7
2.3.1. What is Quizlet app? ............................................................................... 7
2.3.2. The use of mobile-Quizlet to learn and reinforce vocabulary ................ 9
CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY....................................................................... 12
3.1. Research design ........................................................................................... 12
3.1.1. Research method ................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.1.2. Procedures............................................. Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.2. Setting of the study ...................................................................................... 12
3.3. Procedures of Application of Quizlet in teaching and learning English 11
vocabulary........................................................................................................... 13

3.4. Participant instructions ................................................................................ 16
3.5. Data analysis ................................................................................................ 16
CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ................................................. 18
4.1. Findings ....................................................................................................... 18
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4.1.1. Pre-test data .......................................................................................... 18
4.1.2. Questionnaire data ................................................................................ 20
4.1.3. Post-test data ......................................................................................... 21
4.1.4. Pre-test and Post-test data comparison ................................................. 24
4.1.5. Teachers’ interview .............................................................................. 26
4.2. Discussion .................................................................................................... 27
CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION............................................................................. 29
5.1. Recapitulation .............................................................................................. 29
5.2. Limitations ................................................................................................... 30
5.3. Suggestions for further studies .................................................................... 31
5.4. Teaching implications .................................................................................. 31
5.5. Learning implications .................................................................................. 32
REFERENCE ......................................................................................................... 33
APPENDIX A............................................................................................................ I
APPENDIX B ........................................................................................................... II
APPENDIX C ......................................................................................................... III
APPENDIX D......................................................................................................... IV
APPENDIX E ......................................................................................................... VI

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LIST OF TABLES, FIGURE

Table:
Table 4.1: Statistics of the pre-test for the controlled data sample .............................. 18
Table 4.2: Statistics of the pre-test for the uncontrolled data sample ......................... 19
Table 4.3: Statistics on students’ attitude toward English lesson ................................. 20
Table 4.4: Statistics on students’ eagerness to learn EnglishError! Bookmark not defined.
Table 4.5: Statistics on students’ attitude toward Quizlet app 1 ................................... 21
Table 4.6: Statistics on students’ attitude toward Quizlet app 2Error! Bookmark not defined.
Table 4.7: Statistics of the post-test for the controlled data sample ............................ 22
Table 4.8: Statistics of the post-test for the uncontrolled data sample........................ 22
Table 4.9: Statistics of the pre-test and the post-test ....................................................... 24
Figure
Figure 4.1: Pre-test’s average score of 2 groups............................................................... 19
Figure 4.2: Students’ attitude towards English lesson before using Quizlet App ......... 20
Figure 4.3: Students’ attitude towards using Quizlet AppError! Bookmark not defined.
Figure 4.4: Post-test’s average score of two groups ........................................................ 23
Figure 4.5: Result comparison between Pre-test and Post-test ..................................... 24
Figure 4.6: Change of test score range ................................................................................ 25

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
In recent years, integration of technology in education has become the norm.
The trend advocates to promote many familiar flexible learning forms. Meanwhile,
in the second form, the corpus content is loaded directly into the handheld device,
no longer dependent on the sea-changing elements as mentioned above but has a
great focus on improving listening and speaking skills, vocabulary and grammar

explanations, etc., at the same time, aiming at both improving the informal learning
conditions (personalized), personalizing, matching (situated), true (authentic), both
encouraging active learning towards self-management and multi-dimensional
cooperation. From the mentioned reality, in my opinion, the educators need to pay
attention to new innovative tools to improve the effectiveness of the teaching
progress, particularly in the context that children in many rural regions lack access
to education due to poor infrastructures.
Meanwhile, in the midst of the growing economic integration, English is the
communication tool acting as a bridge connecting cultures. In fact, when it comes
to the English language, people immediately think of it as an international
language. The language is now spoken in over 53 countries and territories making
it the third most common spoken language following closely behind Chinese and
Spanish. It is used as the official Lingua franca of the EU and in many events,
conferences, and exhibitions. Thus, for any individual and particularly for Vietnam
and Vietnamese, as an emerging economy, there is no doubt about the importance
and necessity of English. Given its significance, English has been made a
compulsory subject in the Vietnamese education system. Vietnamese students, the
future generation of the growing South-East Asia economy, start learning the
language at primary school level and are all subjected to take English as a
compulsory graduation exam. Contrariwise, after years of education from primary,
secondary to high school, adding extra curriculum, many Vietnamese students, at
university levels and beyond, lack the confidence and the ability to employ the
language in daily lives.
As a teacher of English, I have dealt with many questions relating to vocabulary
learning which are raised by my students or among my colleagues. For example, what
are the effective ways of learning vocabulary? How to retain a new word in the mind?
Personally, I find it necessary to provide them with a successful learning approach to
absorb English words. Therefore, the researcher decided to provide a summary of the
use of Quizlet application in increasing English vocabulary retention for EFL 11th
graders in Thanh Chuong 1 High School, knowing that the integration of technology

can bring many benefits (Ene, 2013). The findings of this paper may aid in helping
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students not only at school included in this paper but also other schools nearby.
Additionally, the study outcomes would reveal recommended strategies for the
teaching staff and potential directions for forthcoming papers. Moreover, the
employment of new effective teaching approaches is crucial for Vietnam projects on
English teaching. The Ministry of Education set 2025 as a goal to universalize the
language at all school levels. The organization urges teachers around the country to
continue to innovate the teaching and learning of foreign languages in regular
educational institutions, diversifying forms of learning to meet learners' demands, and
improving the foreign language proficiency for human resources, the contingent of
officials and employees in state agencies.
1.2. Objectives of the study
In particular, the study focuses on the use of Quizlet in learning as high
schoolers. The study aims to find out the effectiveness and ease of Quizlet in
assisting learning effort and self-study outside the classroom environment.
1.3. Subjects of the study
The topic of the study is “Applying Web-based Quizlet Application to
Increase Vocabulary Retention for EFL 11th Graders at a Mountainous High
School”. The subjects of the study are students’ vocabulary learning progress.
1.4. Research question
The researcher attempts to address the following questions:
● To what extent is the use of Quizlet beneficial to vocabulary retention?
● Does the use of Quizlet increase EFL 11th graders’ motivation in learning
vocabulary? If so, to what extent?
1.5. Study scope
● Scope of research: 127 students and 10 teachers
● Time range: October 2019 - May 2020

● Scope of content: Students’ learning outcomes and their impressions on the
Quizlet app.
Given the scope of the study, the outcome of this research will face the
limitation of limited time and budget.
1.6. Research methodology
In this research, mixed-method research design with utilization of both
quantitative and qualitative approach will be used to identify the benefits and
drawbacks of the employment of Quizlet in teaching vocabulary to 11th graders in a
mountainous high school. Meanwhile, questionnaires and semi-structured
interviews are used as the main tools for data collection. The use of both tools
provides the author with data from different perspectives of the issue.
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1.7. Significance of the study
Needless to say how important the role that vocabulary learning and teaching
plays is to language learners, teachers and linguistics; this research might make be
taken advantage in the following aspects.
In terms of theory, the research would make some certain contribution to the
field of vocabulary teaching and learning as well as information technology
application into language learning. The whole study based on a large number of
theories of knowledge related to vocabulary learning and teaching from renowned
linguistics all over the world and several studies closely related to the field that this
research investigates.
For practical use, the research, if proved effective, will be a good reference to
English learners and teachers in the similar context. Learning vocabulary of a
language has always been considered as one of the hardest parts in learning a new
language, as it is rather boring but time-consuming. Learners are supposed to
memorize a massive number of words to master the language. Therefore, if this
application proves to be an effective way of learning vocabulary, language learners

can make extensive use of. Moreover, although the research is conducted in small
scale classes, once being completed, it may bring advantages to numerous teachers.
Optimistically, the teachers will take this research as a helpful consultant for
teaching English vocabulary to learners.
1.8. Structure of the study
The research is composed of five chapters:
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
This part presents the rationale of the study, aims and objectives, research questions,
the scope, the significance, the research methods and organization of the study.
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter presents the theoretical backgrounds and previous research
related to the topic of the study.
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
This chapter involves the information about the setting of the study, the
participants, instruments for collecting data and data collection and analysis
procedures.
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The findings of the tests and questionnaires are presented in this chapter.
Issues related to the topic are then discussed to help highlight the research findings.
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
This chapter summarized major findings, provides recommendations, shows
limitations of the research, suggests topic for further studies and suggests some
implications for teaching and learning.
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Teaching and Learning vocabulary
2.1.1. Vocabulary definition

According to Wilkins (1972), vocabulary may be understood as a collection
of familiar words used and understood by a person or group of people. Thus, in this
case, English vocabulary may refer to words used in English-speaking countries.
Vocabulary normally increases with age. There are two types of vocabulary: active
and passive. The latter includes words that a person can recognize at reading or
listening, but not using them in spoken or written language such as regional slangs.
Each person's vocabulary is unlimited as it will accumulate over time.
According to a study by Harvard University, there are about 1,022,000 words in
English (Alleyne, 2010). Meanwhile, it is almost impossible to determine how
many words there are in English, mainly because it is impossible to determine
when it can be counted as a single word. Counting borrowed words in medical,
legal, or other professions, the number of words is numerous.
Additionally, new words are being born to describe new phenomenon, new
technology, or concepts like google (the act of typing words into the search engine
google in order to find information about someone or something), photobomb
(random funny faces appearing in the pictures sometimes deliberately), selfie (the
act of taking pictures of selves using technological devices) …etc. Therefore, it is
almost impossible to learn and use all of these English words.
A big part of learning English is learning its vocabulary. Most teachers
claim that it’s very common for students to study all kinds of new vocabulary
words and their definitions. They can pass a multiple-choice test or match the
words to their definitions in an exercise, but when students try to use these
words in sentences, their sentences are confusing or incorrect. That's because a
word is more than just its definition, more than just denotation. Indeed, there are
three very important aspects of a new word that they should be sure to learn:
denotation, connotation, and collocation, namely its form, spelling and
pronunciation.
2.1.2. The role of vocabulary in teaching and learning English
The role of vocabulary is critical for any linguistics including English
(Alqahtani, 2015). In a sense, language can be observed as a collection of

vocabulary. Therefore, it is important for learners to know vocabulary in sentences
to comprehend and learn languages effectively. However, the mastering of the
language requires not only the knowledge on individual vocabulary as an
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independent part of the sentence from another, but also the connection and the
dialectical relationships between words. In fact, Wilkins (1972) stressed that the
extent learners communicate ideas depends largely on their knowledge about
grammar. Yet unless learners have an adequate pool of vocabulary, they would not
be able to express their opinions appropriately.
Nonetheless, the establishment of relationships is dependent on learners’
understanding of vocabulary (Alqahtani, 2015). Consequently, vocabulary, as a
tool, is necessary for learners to communicate successfully. Besides, many other
skills in English learning such as reading comprehension, listening comprehension,
speaking, writing, etc. require vocabulary as a foundation. Hence, the learning and
practice of vocabulary is considered the key factors in communicating and
acquiring a language in general and in English in particular (Alqahtani, 2015).
Most importantly, the main goal of learning English is to communicate. So,
students may also learn by comparing and contrasting the target language with
their mother tongue to know about the context and the relationship between words
better because the deep knowledge about both foreign tongue and the mother
tongue enhance learners’ ability to communicate effectively.
2.1.3. Vocabulary teaching approach
There are many interesting and efficient vocabulary learning methods. But it
seems that many people have not found the most effective one. Students and
teachers, especially in Vietnam, are too dependent on the traditional ways at
schools from elementary to high school. Practicing copying many times, even
dozens of times a word to remember, is one way of learning. It is not possible to
deny its benefits in long-term memorization. But according to the changes in times,

foreign language is not only just a compulsory subject in school, but also a tool to
help integrate into the world. Thus, it is important to identify the effectiveness of
teaching approaches.
In Vietnam, the teaching approach in general and vocabulary teaching approach
in particular depends on regulation and guidance from the Ministry of Education and
Training. Specifically, teachers are required to adapt in accordance to changes in
textbook content appropriately. However, teaching foreign languages needs to be
consistent and longer lasting. Currently, because the main goal of learning vocabulary
is to meet the requirements of the entrance tests or GCSEs, the most widely used
approach in vocabulary teaching in Vietnam is memorizing the meaning of words
directly translated from the native language. Such monotonous methods fail to
stimulate students' interest in learning, which is considered one of the important
factors contributing to the effectiveness of the teaching-learning progress.
Indeed, the current vocabulary teaching approach in Vietnam is basically
inefficient. Vietnamese students often remember a lot of words yet are unable to
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use them appropriately in real situations. In fact, although the PPP method has been
applied popularly in teaching vocabulary for a long time, it needs something more
novel, dynamic and fascinating to draw learners’ attention and increase effectiveness,
especially in the era of Industry 4.0. Given these requirements, other effective tools
and methods to support the vocabulary learning and teaching process are encouraged.
2.1.4. Learning and teaching English vocabulary as a skill
2.1.4.1. Retention of Vocabulary
According to Khabiri and Pakzad (2012), vocabulary retention indicates “the
ability to recall or remember things after an interval of time”. In other words, the
term refers to the capability to recollect what has been taught either grammar or
vocabulary previously. Vocabulary retention is not merely memorizing or
remembering a word or phrase or a collocation temporarily. The retention of

vocabulary, either short-term or long-term, must last for a period of time. Therefore,
it is crucial in second-language learning. Particularly in Vietnam, most learners have
the habit of acquiring knowledge from learning by heart, remembering what
teachers ask without learning more, and do not actively use English in many
situations, particularly real-life ones. Consequently, as time goes by, Vietnamese
students’ vocabulary retention rate mostly lasts till the end of their exams, which is
a factor behind their inability to employ the language in daily lives and have to
learn from the beginning when they turn into adults.
Therefore, the inability to recall or remember vocabulary after an interval of
time would significantly harm the ability to learn of students. In addition, the
number of vocabularies required for fluency also varies depending on requirements
of professions and daily activities. After all, words that are not used frequently
often get forgotten and mostly not useful in most cases. Therefore, the issue is not
how many words a learner has been taught or how many years he or she has
crammed the language dictionary book, the ability to recall the words appropriately
when the situation calls for, or the vocabulary retention rate, is a critical factor.
2.1.4.2. The role of tools in teaching and learning vocabulary
In modern days, technology has integrated into every part of people’s daily lives
and education is not an exception. Options vary from seemingly obsolete technology
like include textbooks with CD-ROMs to up-to-date inventions such as PCs and
laptops with or without Internet connection, cutting-edge mobile phones and tablets
fully equipped with applications. In fact, applications can facilitate parallel learning.
This is especially true for schools or learning institutions with limited resources. It is
very likely to find an available computer lab for language teachers or classes that can
equip teachers' desks with a desktop computer/ laptop connected to a projector.
Particularly, mobile-assisted language learning, or MALL in short, app is fully
capable of delivering focused grammar or vocabulary courses to enhance accuracy of
6

learners (Burston, 2014). Institutes, with the aid of MALL, may also provide online
courses globally to any partner academies from overseas (Ene, 2013).
In reality, a study conducted in China discovered, 85 percent of high-school
students enjoy Quizlet, printed or mobile to study in general, not just English
vocabulary. After all, Quizlet is a multi-purpose language learning tool (Lam,
Wang, & Zhao, 2018; Baptist, 2018). The use of mobile devices in education,
particularly in the application of Quizlet, has been around in many countries from
the US to China to Sweden in the recent decades (Ott, 2017). With this fact, it is
recommended that schools in developing countries such as Vietnam adopt the
learning approach in the curriculum. Using more and more phones in online
learning is the motivation for education institutions to switch to convenient
learning content with mobile devices. In Vietnam, online schools like FUNiX
University are also developing this trend. Students here can learn information
technology on any digital device such as computer, tablet, phone ... and complete
the university program through online connection. These technologies are helping
students access knowledge faster and more conveniently. However, the use of the
mobile devices and Quizlet app has yet spread to high schoolers, unlike the
situation in advanced economies.
2.2. Quizlet App as a tool of teaching and learning vocabulary
2.2.1. What is Quizlet app?
Quizlet app is a free tool to learn vocabulary and concepts, terminology
through flashcards and fun games, helping learners to memorize and remember
longer. Quizlet was born 10 years ago when Andrew Sutherland created a tool for
himself to prepare for the French vocabulary test in high school. He had a perfect
score, so his friends asked permission to use that tool. One person shares with the
other, and Quizlet has grown - relentlessly.
The official website (Quizlet.com) introduces Quizlet's mission: to help
students (and teachers) deepen and understand what they want to learn. Quizlet
organizes many customized activities thanks to contributions from people around
the world. In addition to learning on the computer by going to quizlet.com (Quizlet

supports multiple languages, including Vietnamese), learners, nowadays, can also
download the application on iOS and Android devices.
It should be noted that there are two types of accounts for Quizlet app: Free
and Premium. With free account, learners may access and learn vocabulary
according to available modules and classes shared by Quizlet community. They
can also create their own modules. However, support from the app is limited for
Free account and students would occasionally expose to marketing ads which
disrupt their concentration and study effort.
Whereas, there are 3 types of paid accounts that Quizlet is offering, including:
7


Quizlet Go, Quizlet Plus and Teacher Quizlet.
- Quizlet Go: Removes ads when studying, memo card wallpapers on iOS,
night wallpapers, offline access on apps
- Quizlet Plus: Removes ads when studying, uploads photos for the unit, custom
recording, creates or participates unlimited number of classes, Long-term Learning
feature, advanced diagram making tool, access Offline on app, night wallpaper
- Quizlet Teacher: Remove ads for students with modules users create, track
students' learning activities with Class progress, upload photos for the unit, custom
recording, customizing games Quizlet Live's unlimited number of classes can be
created, advanced diagramming tool, offline access on app, night wallpaper.
In other words, the app supports both the learning and teaching process. Quizlet
was only launched in 2007 but has already spread all around the globe. Aside from
an official website, Quizlet apps were developed for both Android and iOS
applications allowing users to access learning materials, join discussions, and play
learning games. At latest record, the site has attracted learners from more than 130
countries. There have been over 3 billion study sessions completed. The popularity
of Quizlet has been attributed to its simplicity. Such greatest advantages in both
usage and configuration enable the app to triumph over competitors. Moreover,

Quizlet is perceived by users to be extremely useful for self-learning with its’
functions, even with a free account. After all, the differences in features available for
users between premium accounts and free ones include only voice recording,
diagrams and free image selection.
2.2.2. The potential of Quizlet App as a tool to learn and reinforce
vocabulary
Quizlet seems to be a great tool for both learners and teachers to handle
vocabulary teaching and learning processes in which self-study outside classrooms is
highly recommended and appreciated. Firstly, Quizlet App which has seven standard
study modes (flashcards, learn, write, spell, test, match, gravity) helps teachers
differentiate reviews for their students in the way that works best for them. When
creating study sets for students, teachers decide which modes to use based on how
their students learn best. Some study modes, like Flashcards, include text-to-speech
audio prompts that help ELLs and IEPs learn and remember information. They can
also include images and diagrams as needed to provide better context for their
students. With all of these options, they are creating a customized way for their
students to review vocabulary, without them having to do a lot of extra work.
Secondly, Quizlet helps students incorporate collaboration and teamwork skills. It is
not always easy to teach collaboration and teamwork skills, but Quizlet can do it
while helping students review. Ultimately, Quizlet helps students prepare for tests.
Instead of having to look through notes, fill out worksheets, and create paper
8


flashcards, students just only need to download the Quizlet App to their mobile
devices or laptops to review vocabulary anytime, anywhere. That means students will
have more flexibility to study what they want, when they want, and in the way they
want. Overall, Quizlet can demonstrate superiority in teaching and learning
vocabulary.
2.2.3. The use of mobile-Quizlet to learn and reinforce vocabulary

As stated, Quizlet has been applied to the learning process increasingly and
widely in recent years. Quizlet can be used both on computers and phones. This
means students can learn words anywhere, whenever they are free. They can also
create their own word list. Using it, students can divide words into topics or groups
of words with similar meanings but different usage and circumstances. Most
importantly, they will remember the differences in how to use these words and put
them into effective writing. They can set the goal of the number of words to learn
each day and strive for it. Quizlet provides many tools to help students to avoid
boredom (Lam, et al., 2018). In fact, there are many ways of using Quizlet, with
both printed paper and mobile phones, to reinforce vocabulary:
- Flashcards: this section helps students memorize vocabulary on two sides of
the flashcard, flipping back and forth to change between the English section and
Vietnamese interpretation as well as pronunciation.
- Typing: Quizlet requires students to type English words corresponding to
the given Vietnamese meaning with automatic correction and spelling when they
misspell the word.
- Spelling and Listening: Students can just type what they hear about the
words on the Flashcards. They can check the answer immediately afterwards.
- Testing: Quizlet may automatically generate random tests from the
vocabulary that students have created based on the basic forms: written, matching,
multiple choice and True / False.
- Scatter: this is a form of matching game that allows students to drag and
drop words and their corresponding meanings.
One of the most common examples of the use of these strategies is the Quizlet
app. Particularly, Quizlet helps learn vocabulary through Flashcard. Learners
create their own flashcards according to their learning needs and can even share
their flashcard set to others. They can also find themselves suitable flashcards in a
huge database containing hundreds of languages of Quizlet created and shared by
other users, of course for free (Lam, et al., 2018). The way to learn the language
that Quizlet suggests is mainly through games with Flashcard. Learners can learn

by flipping traditional flashcards or playing fun games with vocabulary and
memorizing them from there. Aside from the flashcards, the following functions
are also provided by the tools to enhance learning:
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- Memory card: Learners can use the Memory Card mode to review terms,
definitions, and questions and answers on the Quizlet website and mobile app, just
like regular paper memory cards.
- Learning: When using Learning mode, Quizlet presents learners with different
types of questions: memory cards, choosing the correct answers and writing. Every
time learners answer the correct questions, learners will start to see more difficult
types of questions (writing, memory cards) more often, instead of easy question
types (choosing the right answers).
- Writing: The Writing mode measures the proficiency in terms and
definitions, as well as what learners have missed, so learners can focus on the
content during a session.
- Spelling: The Spelling Mode reads a term or word orally, through Quizlet's
text-to-speech (TTS) feature, then asks learners to retype the content that they hear.
- Test: Test mode gives learners the opportunity to see how learners will
respond to a class test. Learners can ask different types of questions for themselves,
depending on how appropriate you are, or how the teacher works out.
- Match card: When playing Match Card, learners take part in a race against
time to match terms with their respective definitions as quickly as possible. Quizlet
records high scores, so learners can compete with their classmates.
- Gravity: Each correct answer in the Meteor game will take learners one step
closer to the next level. Enter the answer quickly before the meteor hits the planet.
During the game, the meteors will fall at a faster rate.
- Live learning: This is an in-class cooperative feature with the participation from
four or more users connecting to the particular website The

learners would be provided with unique session code to enter the feature following
which will be divided into groups. The members of the groups, then are asked to
answer multiple choice questions that are scattered between them. Thus, the correct
answer depends on the collaboration amongst the members in a group. There is
also a timer to determine the winning group.
A quick look at the list shows that Quizlet provides many more ways to aid
learning compared to suggestions from Lam, Wang & Zhao (2018).
Here are some pictures captured the students’ use of Quizlet App on smart
phones to study vocabulary when they are free:

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CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the author would briefly explain the research design, the
sampling design, data collection and analysis methodology of the paper.
3.1. Research method
In this research, mixed-method research design will be utilized to attempt to
identify the benefits and drawbacks of the employment of Quizlet in teaching
vocabulary to 11th graders in Thanh Chuong 1 high school. Mixed method research
is used in many fields of social sciences, education, health, economics ... in recent
years. The approach collects two types of data i.e. quantitative and qualitative.
Both statistical and non-statistical analysis are also employed in the study. As per
Creswell (2003) suggestion, the use of both quantitative and qualitative data
provides the best understanding of a research problem and in this case the issue is
the benefits and drawbacks of the employment of Quizlet in reinforcing

Vietnamese 11th graders vocabulary. The approach provides more evidence and
more compelling arguments from different perspectives.
Scientific research in the social sciences and humanities often uses a different
set of research methods, in which the questionnaire survey (written investigation)
is a popular method. In this paper, the questionnaire consists of statements, in which
students’ response indicates the degree of agreement with these announcements. The
contents of the statements concern their willingness to study English vocablary,
perceiving the prospect and attitude in dealing with learning vocabulary before and
after using Quizlet App.
Moreover, as a mixed research, semi-structured interviews are also used in the
study. According to Creswell (2003), interviews have three advantages. First,
interviews are useful when interviewees cannot be observed directly. Second,
interviewees can provide useful historical information. Finally, the interviewer can
be proactive in directing the questions. Despite these advantages, interviews also
have four drawbacks. Initially, the information gathered from interviews is
screened through the interviewee's lens. Moreover, the presence of the interviewer
may cause biased responses. Ultimately, not everyone has the same ability to
express and feel.
3.2. Setting of the study
The study involves 127 11th Graders students at Thanh Chuong 1 high school and
10 English teachers. By picking students at the same grade and same school, the similar
background ensures the similarity in mentality, mind-set, backgrounds, and ability of
the students. As the students are all at 11th grade, by Vietnamese standard, excluding a
few exceptions, the participants should be all 17 years old and have learned the
language for around 9 years starting from 3rd grade at 8 years old. Although due to the
12


Vietnamese environment, they lack the opportunity to use English in daily lives and
consequently have little capability to speak the language fluently, their knowledge

about English vocabulary and grammars spread across many topics.
Moreover, the students’ vocabulary and grammar competence are supposed to
be good because when studying in secondary and high schools, the more emphasis
is usually on vocabulary and grammar. In accordance to Vietnamese curriculum,
students involved in this paper were exposed to the content in Primary school and
Secondary school. Of which, in primary school years, Vietnamese curriculum
consists of basic skills in using English as a simple, level-level communication tool
in the form of listening, speaking, reading and writing with topics on self, families,
friends, daily activities, school, and learning activities. Then, in secondary school
years, the program aims to further develop and develop students' English language
ability to achieve the equivalence of content consisting of expressive expressions
used frequently in the immediate areas of everyday life (such as very basic
personal, family, sales, local communities, and jobs).
One more thing to take into consideration is that most vocabulary the students
have learned is of general English and used in everyday conversations. During the
teaching and learning process, the knowledge of English is what the author wants
them to acquire. Talking about the attitude, the research is conducted with students
who are hard-working and self-oriented. They can work well under pressure,
especially under little or even no supervision. This is beneficial to the research
because Quizlet is a self-learning tool by nature.
The students were first asked a few questions about their impressions on the
current approach of teaching and few other related questions on Quizlet. Then,
they were taught how to use the app for 10 lessons, followed by a questionnaire
survey about their recognition ability of a pre-selected vocabulary alongside their
perspective about the methodology. By picking students belonging to the same
classes, the outset of the study ensures the similarity in mind-set, capability, and
backgrounds of the participants.
3.3. Procedures of Application of Quizlet in teaching and learning
English 11 vocabulary.
The methodology in collecting data for students consists of a questionnaire

and a set of pre-test and post-test to observe the effectiveness of the use of Quizlet.
To utilize the App effectively, suggested steps for teachers should be followed
to create their own classes on the App. This means that teachers are advised to
follow the mentioned procedure:
- Buy a fee-paying account from the web quizlet.com.
- Create and log in their own account.
- Set up and name their classes.
13


- Provide students with the link or class’ name.
- Instruct students how to create account to join the class.
- Ask students to use their real name and identification to log in the class.
- Create new lessons before or after each unit in Textbook.
- Supplement the words day by day after each section.
- Ask students to access the App and study the words as frequently as
possible.
Here are some pictures showing the use of Quizlet App in 4 units in English
Textbook 11 (Unit 10: Nature in Danger, Unit 11: Sources of Energy, Unit 12: The
Asian Games, and Unit 13: Hobbies.)

● First, the tests, the pre-one and the post-one, accordingly would focus on
the vocabulary tasks in Unit 10: Nature in Danger, Unit 11: Sources of Energy,
Unit 12: The Asian Games, and Unit 13: Hobbies. These tasks were written and
printed in the standard textbooks for 11th graders as per the Vietnamese regulation.
As one of the main purposes of the study is to measure the achievement and the
effectiveness of using the Quizlet, pre-test and post-test are the first tools to
consider being used. In this study, the data from the test was used as a source to
find out the learners’ progress after using the app to learn vocabulary given by the
teacher. Concretely, both designed gap-filling tests (pre and post) have the same

topic of energy in a certain range of vocabulary. However, their content and
context are different with a view to checking students’ vocabulary retention over a
period of time (10 weeks). Besides, the teacher chooses another group of 45
students at random (who do not learn vocabulary by using Quizlet App) and has
them complete the tests simultaneously. The two tests (Appendix A and Appendix
B) are in the same format and they are designed based on the topic and groups of
14


vocabulary in the textbook. The tests mainly check the vocabulary retention or in
other words, the students’ ability to memorize every single word. The two tests
check the same range of words but they are different in a new context. If the
researcher uses the same test twice, the student may just memorize it instead of
really knowing the words. Through the tests, the author can evaluate how effectively
and how long Quizlet is working in helping learners remember vocabulary. The
teacher is the one to mark the tests. All the questions are equal in grading and 10 is
the highest mark to get. Since these tests have only one single answer for each
question, the objectivity is guaranteed. Even though the tests do not do much about
the students’ active use of the vocabulary, it fulfils their needs of vocabulary tests in
their curriculum. For those reasons, the researcher chose these two tests as an
instrument in this research.
● Second, with an aim to collecting the opinion of the students after using
Quizlet, a questionnaire of a series of questions has been carefully designed to get
the information about students’ attitudes towards using Quizlet App to study
vocabulary and the teacher’s opinions on the effectiveness of Quizlet App in
teaching vocabulary as well as the difficulties they encounter when utilizing it.
The questionnaire emphasizes on the use of Quizlet app and reveals the difference
in psychological aspects before and after applying it. The provided contradiction
between the expectation and reality should show more evidence on the
appropriateness and likelihood of employing this teaching approach at school.

After all, to some extent, parents remain sceptical about the positive impact of
Quizlet. The questions on the questionnaire survey consists of multiple-choice
questions between five options expressing the degree of agreement/ disagreement
with the statements/ question (The details of the questionnaire are provided in the
Appendix C). Approximately, it takes about 10 to 15 minutes to complete the
questionnaire. The questionnaire was divided into four parts, each with its own aim
as follows:
o Part 1 (question 1 - 2) was designed to identify the students’ attitude
towards English vocabulary learning, and teachers’ teaching before they use
Quizlet App. The answer may reflect the attitude of the students towards
vocabulary learning overall.
o Part 2 (question 3), scrutinizes students’ willingness to learn English
vocabulary through Quizlet. The answer may reflect the impression of the students
on the app and their attitude towards the utilization of the App.
● Third and final, from the teachers, the author provides another set of survey
questionnaires concerning the opinion of the lecturers about Quizlet. Its purpose is
to perceive teachers’ opinions about the roles and effectiveness in their long-term
vocabulary teaching. More importantly, their attitudes towards utilizing Quizlet in
teaching vocabulary and their positive responses are revealed. Therefore, the
questionnaire (Appendix D) is developed, including 4 questions divided into 2
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groups; namely the role of teaching vocabulary and the effectiveness of using the
Quizlet App in vocabulary teaching to 11th EFL graders.
3.4. Participant instructions
Before applying the use of Quizlet App in teaching vocabulary to 11th graders,
the author had bought a teacher account whose fee is annually paid. Then, the
author created her own classes and sent the participants the link so that they could
log in the classes created with the teacher’s permission. The participants had to

make sure that they joined the classes by their real name and genuine
identification. When all the participants attended the classes, they would find their
lessons sticking to the topics, units provided by the teacher. These lessons would
be updated day after day when each lesson was finished. After each topic or unit
was taught, the teacher asked students to capture and send the teacher the
screenshot of their test result using Quizlet App. By doing this, the author could
ensure that the participants used Quizlet App to learn vocabulary.
Here is 2 pictures showing the list of students who were supposed to log in
assigned class:

3.5. Data analysis
In order to achieve the aims of the study, the quantitative and qualitative
analysis are used for analysing the data, which are collected from the questionnaire, the
interviews, and the test (pre and post) results.
Quantitative methods are used for confirming theories and testing the
relationships between variables. In this case, to collect data, a pre-test and a posttest were given to students in week 1 and week 10 of the study. The test would be
16


in the same format to check the students’ vocabulary retention after employing
Quizlet to study vocabulary. After marking the tests, the researcher will have a
statistical analysis and make a comparison evaluating the students’ progress in
learning vocabulary before and after using Quizlet based on the test marks, their
variables and validity.
Furthermore, qualitative methods to research provide close analysis of a
single case generating valuable insights. Some of the commonly used qualitative
data collection methods mentioned in Richards’ (2009) review of qualitative
studies in recent years include questionnaires. Therefore, a survey questionnaire
was delivered to students after the post-test in week 10 and another questionnaire
was delivered to the teachers of English in Thanh Chuong 1 high school so that the

researcher can find out the students’ and teachers’ specific opinions after taking
advantage of Quizlet in learning and teaching vocabulary. The questionnaire was
delivered to each student and teacher individually to ensure that they have given
their own ideas and have not been affected by anyone else. The students have also
been given clear instructions for each question so that they can respond
appropriately to each one. Both teachers and students have been encouraged to
answer truly and frankly, focusing on the use of the Quizlet app in teaching and
learning vocabulary.

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CHAPTER 4
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
This chapter is to present and discuss the findings based on the data which
have been collected from the tests and the questionnaire. All in all, the two
research questions should be answered by this result.
4.1. Findings
4.1.1. Pre-test data
In order to evaluate the retention of vocabulary in a topic among several
topics in a textbook which students are supposed to master, a pre-test was given to
them at the beginning of the project. Concerning the pre-test result, the
performance of all 127 students in three classes is graded as in the table below
(Table 4.1). A glance at the final outcome reveals the wide dispersion between
abilities of students in the sample. Out of 127 students, 22.9% of the students were
able to have scores above 8 of which only 1 student obtained the highest score
whereas there was 14.1% of the students getting under average, about 15.7% got
average and 33% completed three quarter of the test successfully. From literature
review and evaluation above, clearly, this result is in line with the suggestion that
the teaching and learning of English vocabulary is quite effective in Vietnam in the

short run despite large classroom size. As a matter of fact, the traditional
vocabulary teaching focuses on grammar and vocabulary memorization. However,
most of the mark retained in the average zone between 5 and 6 points, respectively
20 and 31 students had such scores. Whereas the average score of uncontrolled
group is 6.24 (Table 4.2), which means that the selected students in both groups
have the same knowledge background.
Table 4.1: Statistics of the pre-test for the controlled data sample
Sample
127
Highest test score
10
Lowest test score
3
Average test score
6.29
Score
Number of
Percentage
students
(%)
3
10
7.8
4
8
6.3
5
20
15.7
Test score range

6
31
24.4
7
29
22.8
8
13
10.2
9
15
11.8
10
1
0.9
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Table 4.2: Statistics of the pre-test for the uncontrolled data sample
Sample
45
Highest test score
10
Lowest test score
3
Average test score
6.24
Score
Number of
Percentage

students
(%)
3
1
2.2
4
2
4.4
5
7
15.6
Test score range
6
17
37.8
7
14
31.2
8
2
4.4
9
1
2.2
10
1
2.2

Figure 4.1: Pre-test’s average score of 2 groups
This pointed out the weakness of vocabulary retention in need for the students

despite their long period of time learning English at school before. It is evident
from the result that they need to put in practice some vocabulary learning strategies
to fulfil their target in learning English. After all, previous literature review hint at
the lack of ability in Vietnamese students to imply vocabularies they learn in
different circumstances. Without visualization, just simple memorization of the
vocabulary by the letter would not work. Therefore, for the implication of Quizlet
app into teaching, if the post-test outcome comes out better than the pre-test, it
would indicate the appropriateness of the methodology. Furthermore, by exposing
students to visualization implication of the vocabulary, the teaching approach
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should have certain influence on students’ ability to retain vocabulary and employ
them in real-life in the future.
4.1.2. Questionnaire data
The questionnaire (Appendix C) is a table of several questions given to
students after they use Quizlet to learn vocabulary. The questionnaire was designed
after and it combined the theory of Cowan (1974) and Wood (2001) on evaluating
educational application. It is to collect information about the students’ attitude
towards learning vocabulary on the app. The following table (Table 4.3)
summarizes the results of the questionnaire answers of students. There are around
5 - 17 students who find learning vocabulary and the teachers’ current approach to
teaching either ‘Stimulating’ or ‘A bit exciting’. In other words, about 17.3 percent
of the students are interested in learning vocabulary. The overwhelming portion of
the class find these topics either ‘somewhat interesting’ or ‘No-interesting’ or even
‘Tedious’. In fact, nearly a half of students find vocabulary learning ‘Tedious’ and
‘No-interesting’. In other words, more students find learning English vocabulary
more tedious than teachers’ teaching.
Table 4.3: Statistics on students’ attitude towards learning English
vocabulary before using Quizlet App

To what extent do you
To what extent do
find vocabulary learning
you find teachers’
interesting?
teaching interesting?
Tedious
36
27
No interesting
39
42
Somewhat interesting
30
36
A bit exciting
12
17
Stimulating
10
5
Total
127
127

Figure 4.2: Students’ attitude towards learning English vocabulary before
using Quizlet App
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