An investigation into learning and teaching english vocabulary at cua lo hihg school and some suggested activities to help students learn better

vinh university
foreign Languages department
=== ===

nguyễn thị khánh ly

an investigation into learning and teaching english
vocabulary at cua lo high school and some
suggested activities to help students learn better
(kh¶o sát về việc dạy và học từ vựng tiếng anh
ở trờng thpt cửa lò và một số hoạt động gợi ý
gióp häc sinh häc tèt h¬n)

graduation thesis
Field: English Teaching Methodology


A Study on using Visual Aids to teach Grammar to the 10th form students
at Nghi Loc III high school

Vinh - 2011

Bùi Yến Nhi - 48A English

2

Foreign Languages Department


vinh university
foreign Languages department

===    ===

an investigation into learning and teaching english
vocabulary at cua lo high school and some
suggested activities to help students learn better
(khảo sát về việc dạy và học từ vựng tiếng anh
ở trờng thpt cửa lò và một số hoạt động gợi ý
giúp học sinh học tốt hơn)

graduation thesis
Field: English Teaching Methodology

Supervisor:

cao thị phơng, m.a

Student:

nguyễn thị khánh ly, 48A - English


Vinh - 2011

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to acknowledge my deep indebtedness to Mrs.
Cao Thi Phuong (M.A), my supervisor who has helped me a lot with her

advice, directions, comments, criticism and encouragement for the
accomplishment of the study.
I specially would like to express my deepest thanks to Mrs Nguyen Thi
Van Lam (M.A) and to all my teachers at the Foreign Languages Department,
Vinh University for their tireless support, valuable lectures and guidance from
which I have had such great motivation and benefited a lot in the writing of
this thesis.
I also acknowledge to Mrs Tran Tuan Anh, teacher at Cua Lo high
school for giving me some advice to complete my survey.
Finally, I am grateful to my family as well as my friends for their help,
encouragement and source materials were of great importance and assistance
to me in carrying out this study.
I have made great efforts to complete the study. However, due to my
limited knowledge, my study is far from being perfect

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ABSTRACT

Vocabulary plays an important role in learning all languages in general,
especially English in particular. However, it is not easy for teachers and
students to teach and learn English vocabulary. In this study, the author has a
survey about learning vocabulary at Cua Lo high school. With the aim of
helping students learn vocabulary better, the author also discusses some
problems as well as some ways to learn it better.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS...................................................................................i
ABSTRACT..........................................................................................................ii
TABLE OF CONTENTS.....................................................................................iii
PART 1: INTRODUCTION................................................................................1
1. Reasons for choosing the Study........................................................................1
2. Aims of the Study..............................................................................................2
3. Scope of the Study.............................................................................................2
4. Methods of the Study........................................................................................3
5. Design of the Study...........................................................................................3
PART 2: INVESTIGATION.................................................................................5
Chapter 1
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND......................................................................5
1.1. The importance of Vocabulary in Language Learning..................................5
1.2. Understanding Vocabulary............................................................................6
1.2.1. Definition of Vocabulary............................................................................6
1.2.2. Active and Passive Vocabulary..................................................................6
1.2.3. Words and their meanings..........................................................................7
1.2.4. Words and their forms................................................................................8
1.3. Principles for teaching vocabulary ..............................................................15
1.4. Techniques for presenting the Meanings of Words.....................................18
1.4.1. Showing the Meaning Visually.................................................................18
1.5.2. Showing the Meaning Verbally................................................................20
1.5.3. Combining different Techniques..............................................................21
1.6. Steps for Teaching New Words...................................................................22
1.7. Summary......................................................................................................22
Chapter 2
REAL SITUATION OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY TEACHING
AND LEARNING AT CUA LO HIGH SCHOOL.............................................23

2.1. Overview about real situations of teaching and learning English vocabulary
at Vietnamese high schools................................................................................23
2.2. Survey...........................................................................................................26
2.2.1. Aims of the survey....................................................................................26
2.2.2. Informants of the Survey...........................................................................26
2.2.3. The results of the Survey...........................................................................29
2.2.4. Summary of the investigation...................................................................31
2.3. Summary......................................................................................................36
Chapter 3
THE SOLUTIONS TO THESE PROBLEMS AND SOME SUGGESTED

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ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH
VOCABULARY AT HIGH SCHOOL...............................................................37
3.1. Introduction..................................................................................................37
3.2. Suggested solutions .....................................................................................37
3.3. Some suggested activities to improve teaching and learning English
vocabulary at high school...................................................................................41
3.3.1. Word guessing game.................................................................................41
3.3.2. Word card games......................................................................................42
3.3.3. Confused words.........................................................................................42
3.3.4. Find the Owner.........................................................................................43
3.3.5. Vocabulary Brain Shower.........................................................................44
3.3.6. Vocabulary on Slips..................................................................................44
3.4. Suggested Exercises.....................................................................................45
PART III: CONCLUSION..................................................................................50
3.1. Recapitulation..............................................................................................50
3.2. Suggestions for Further Study......................................................................51

REFERENCES.............................................................................................52

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PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Reasons for choosing the Study
Everyone is now aware of the importance of English, which is the
reason why English is learnt with the great motivation. However, it is not easy
to master and use it effectively because of many reasons such as learning
environment, age, ability and especially mother tongue interference. It is
shown that interference appears in almost aspects of English like grammar,
pronunciation and especially vocabulary, which is very important. If a learner
wants to be good at any skill (listening, speaking, reading and writing), he
needs certain words. According to Wilkins, (1984): “ Not being able to find
the words you need to express yourself is the most frustrating experience in
speaking another language”. It is important for the following reasons.
Firstly, it is vocabulary which appears in every text and reading
comprehension. In every text, if pupils can understand the meanings of words,
they can be easier to take the content. If they only focus on grammar
structures without vocabulary, their communication is very bad. In the texts or
reading comprehensives, it is not easy to guess new words if there are so
many, at least you can understand more than half of the text. And many
students have to face this difficulty, not only Cua Lo students but also most of
the pupils learning English.
Secondly, vocabulary is a mean of making up sentences and expressing
the ideas. It is clear that vocabulary is definitely one of the biggest things that
people notice when we are speaking English. When we meet a native speaker,
he could already know if our English is good or bad through our vocabulary.
It will be very difficult for us to express the opinion clearly if our vocabulary

is so few. Thus, in communication, the first thing that people can understand

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our ideas is vocabulary. In some contexts of communication, you can use
wrong grammar structure but use right vocabulary; hearer can still understand
your ideas. Because non-speakers cannot have perfect pronunciation, we
should learn as many new words as possible.
There are other reasons for choosing the study, but the above reasons
are the main ones that encourage me to choose the thesis: “An investigation
into learning and teaching English vocabulary at Cua Lo high school and
some suggested activities to help students learn better”
2. Aims of the Study
This study aims at helping pupils be aware of the importance of
learning English vocabulary and making them focus on learning English
vocabulary more and finding out good methods for the problems. It have been
mentioned with the hope that they could make a small contribution to the
improvement in learning and teaching English, especially in teaching and
learning English vocabulary in Vietnam.
3. Scope of the Study
In this study, the author wants to mention the way of learning English
vocabulary at Cua Lo high school. The study only focuses on the main
problems which cause difficulties for both teachers and pupils and the real
situation of teaching and learning English vocabulary according to the survey
done in three grades of Cua Lo high school.
Besides, this survey also tried to find the answers for two questions:
• How are the situations of learning and teaching
English vocabulary at Cua Lo high school in particular
and at Vietnamese high schools in general?

• How can the quality of teaching and learning English
vocabulary be improved?
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From this survey, some suggestions and some methods are given in
order to partly improve the quality of teaching and learning English
vocabulary skill at high schools.
4. Methods of the Study
Due to the scope and characteristics of the study, the author follows
the steps:
- Collecting and analyzing the materials
- Statistical method
- Systematic method
- Descriptive method
First, the materials will be collected and analyzed. Then basing on the
theoretical background described and analyzed, the survey will be carried out.
Next, the information from the survey will be analyzed in detail and the results
will be categorized to synthesize. From the results collected, it will come to the
general conclusion and some comments and suggestions will be given.
5. Design of the Study
The study consists of three main parts : the first part is Introduction.
This part provides the information about the reasons for choosing the topic,
the aims of the topics, the scope of the study, the method of the study and the
design of the study. In the second part - Development, there are three chapters
Chapter 1- Theoretical background discusses some main points relating to the
topic: definition of word and its importance, some characteristics of words,
the main principles of teaching vocabulary and the main kinds of vocabulary
activities. This chapter focuses on the theory about the main types of
vocabulary teaching activities. Chapter 2- The real situation of learning

English vocabulary at Cua Lo high school describes the real situations of

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learning English vocabulary of the students in this school through the survey
done in three grades. In chapter 3- Suggested activities to improve vocabulary
learning at high school, some solutions to the problems students have when
learning vocabulary are suggested and some vocabulary learning activities are
given to be applied in teaching and learning this part with the aim to motivate
students into learning vocabulary. The last part is Conclusion. This part
summarizes the main points discussed in the previous parts and offers some
suggestions for further study. The study ends up with references which are the
materials collected to find necessary information for the study.

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PART 2: INVESTIGATION
Chapter 1
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1. The importance of Vocabulary in Language Learning
Nowadays, English has become the international language. More and
more people learn English because of many reasons. Some people learn it
because they think they will be able to get a better job with two languages
than if they only know their mother tongue. Many other learners study
English for special purposes. For example, business executives need English
for international trait. Students of medicine or specialized areas need to be
able to read articles, textbooks and reference materials in English. English is
also learnt because it is added in the curriculum. Vocabulary of a language is

always developing constantly and new words are needed to express new
ideas, new concepts and new wants when the human society develops. In
other words, vocabulary is a mean of transferring the information, opinion
and feelings.
Vocabulary plays an important role in language learning. Because it
always involves in four skills: speaking, reading, writing and listening.
However, many learners neglect it and are not conscious of the importance of
language.
Talking about the importance of vocabulary in comparison with
grammar, Wilkin 1978 says: “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed.
But without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed”. In fact, grammatical
knowledge allows us to generate sentences. At the same time, though, we
must have something to say; we must have meanings that we wish to express,
and we need to have store of words that we can select from when we wish to

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express, and we need to express these meanings. It is said that “If language
structures make up skeleton of language, then it is vocabulary that provides
the vital organs and the flesh”. It is true that the vocabulary is the focus of
language. It is in words that sounds and meanings interlock to allow us to
communicate with one another, and it is a word that we arrange together to
make sentences, conversations and discourse of all kinds”.
1.2. Understanding Vocabulary
1.2.1. Definition of Vocabulary
As in Ur (1995), vocabulary can be roughly defined as the words taught
in a foreign language. A new item may be either a single word, eg. book, pen,
etc. or more than a single word, eg. post -office , mother-in-law, etc., which is
made up of two or more words but express a single idea.

In fact, vocabulary always appears in the texts, a message, a magazine,
newspaper. Vocabulary is a mean of transferring the information, opinion or
ideas. However, learners have to cope with some difficulties because it is not
easy to remember new words and to use them appropriately in suitable
contexts. Vocabulary is always integrated with the other skills in language use.
1.2.2. Active and Passive Vocabulary
Every language student has two kind of vocabulary in their memory:
active and passive vocabulary.
The former refers to vocabulary that students have been learnt or taught
and which they are expected to be able to use while the latter refers to words
which students will recognize when they meet them but which they will
probably not be able to produce. Active vocabulary refers to vocabulary items
that a language student needs to understand and use effectively in
communication. In teaching active vocabulary, it is usually worth spending

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time giving examples and asking questions so that the student can see how the
word is used. Passive vocabulary: vocabulary items that a language student
can recognize and understand when they occur in a context, but cannot
procedure or use effectively in communication.
1.2.3. Words and their meanings
It is said that “Language without meaning is meaningless” to
emphasize the importance of the meaning of language”.
Words can be divided into two 2 types: function words and content
words.
Functions words belong to the closed system which consists of articles
(a, an,

the),

prepositions

(on,

to,…);

conjunctions

(and,

but….);

interjections(wow!); and content words belong to the opened system which
consists of parts of speech such as nouns (pen, ruler, book…),verbs( drive,
run,..) adjectives (tired, ugly..)
The meaning of function words and content words, therefore, are
classified into grammatical meanings and lexical meanings.
1.2.3.1. Grammatical meaning
In order to have a good understanding of what grammatical meaning is,
we should cite the definition of function words of Richards, J.C.Platt,J. and H:
“Function words are words which have little meaning on their own, but
which show grammatical relationships in and between sentences (grammatical
meaning)” (1992: 81)
Examples of these are articles, conjunctions, prepositions, and
pronouns…The grammatical meaning of “beautiful, ugly, fat, short…” is that
they are adjectives. The grammatical meaning of “carelessly, quickly,
slowly…” is that they are adverbs.

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1.2.3.2. Lexical meaning
Lexical meaning can be perceived through the inderstanding of content
words. According to Richarchs, J.C Platt, J and H:
“Content words are words which refer to thing, quality, state or action
and which have meaning (lexical meaning) when the words are used alone”
(1992:81)
Or according to Hoang Tat Truong:
“Lexical meaning is the realization of concept or emotion. When we
hear or see the word ‘table’, for example, our concept is realized and the
picture or image of a ‘table’ occurs to our mind. Therefore, this realization is
called lexical meaning”.
1.2.4. Words and their forms
1.2.4.1. Word Grammar
The grammar of a new item will need to be taught if this is not
obviously covered by general grammatical rules. An item may have an
unpredictable change of form in certain grammatical contexts or may have
some idiosyncratic way of connecting with other words in sentences. It is
important to provide students with this information at the same as we teach
the base form.
When teaching a new verb, for example, we might give also its past
form, if this is irregular (think- thought), and we might note if it is transitive
or intransitive. “Tell” is followed by an object + to + infinitive, for example
(He told her to wake him up at six). But “say” does not work in the same way,
etc… Similarly, when teaching a noun, we may wish to make a distinction
between countable and uncountable nouns. The former can be both singular
and plural. It is very important for learners to note the important points of
grammar as above.

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1.2.4.2. Word formation
In linguistics, word formation is the creation of a new word. Word
formation is sometimes contrasted with semantic change, which is a change in
a single word’s meaning.
i. Affixation:
Is the formation of new words by adding affixes to one base term in
order to change its meaning or part of speech.
If the students know the meaning of sub-, un-, -able, this will help them
guess the meanings of words like substandard, ungrateful, and untranslatable.
New combinations using prefixes are not unusual, and the reader or hearer
would be expected to gather their meaning from an understanding of their
components.
For example: care (noun)
-

care + ful = careful (adjective)

-

careful + ly = sadly

(adverb)

ii, Compounding: (or word - composition)
Is the process of building a new word by combining two or more
separate word. A compound word is therefore a word that consists of at least
two root morphemes.

For example: “racehorse, schoolboy, etc.”.
There are three types of compound words: compound nouns, compound
verbs and compound adjectives.
(iii)

Conversion:

is the process by which a word may be used in different parts of
speech without being added any element and does not change its form.
For example:
Head (v) : to head the ball into the net

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Poor (adj) : the poor (n)
iv, Other types
Besides these three main forms of word formation, in English we can
form a new vocabulary item by several other ways as follow:
- Shortening: is also very productive way of building words in English,
especially in colloquial speech and advertisement. There are many types of
shortenings:
The first is to make a new word from a syllable or two of original word.
The latter may lose its beginning (ex: phone is made from “telephone or
mobile phone”, fence from defense) or its ending (ex: ad from advertisement,
holes from holidays
The second way of shortening is to make a new word from the initial
letters of a word group such as UNESCO from United Nations Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organization, B.B.C from the British Broadcasting
Corporation

- Sound imitation: is the formation of words by imitating different
kinds of sounds that may be produced by animals, birds, insects, human
beings and inanimate objects and so on…
There are also many other ways of word-formation such as
Substantiation, back derivation (back-formation), reduplication…
Understanding word- formation is very essential to learners of foreign
languages.
1.2.4.3. Forms: Pronunciation and Spelling
Pronunciation and spelling are really a big problem to its learners
because there is a big difference between a word spelling and the way we
pronounce it. In communication, the first thing that people can realize is

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pronunciation. To stress the importance of pronunciation in language
learning, Grain and Redman argue:
“Sadly it is not uncommon for learners of a foreign language to find that lexical
knowledge is rendered almost useless by their inability to make themselves intelligible when
they speak. Such painful experiences are not confined to production either, for it is equally
true that unfamiliarity with correct pronunciation can result in the learner failing to
understands words in connected speech that he understands clearly in written English.
Careful attention to pronunciation is , therefore, an essential part of vocabulary teaching if
new lexis is to be used effectively, or understood without difficulty, in spoken English”.
(1992:50).

The teacher has to know what a word sounds like (its pronunciation)
what it looks like (its spelling). These are fairly obvious characteristics, and
one or the other will be perceived by the student when encountering the item
for the first time. In teaching, we need to make sure that both these aspects are

accurate presented and learned.
In our teaching we will want to be sure that the students can make the
various sounds that occur in the English language. We will help them to
differentiate between these sounds, especially where such distinction change
meaning (‘live’ /i/ and ‘leave’ /i:/ for example), and we will also help them to
understand and use certain sound rules - for example the different
pronunciations of the -ed past tense endings. In addition, students need to use
rhythm and stress correctly if they are to be understood. We will make sure
that they are able to say sentences, etc. with appropriate stress and we will
show them how stress can be used to change the meaning of questions,
sentences and phrases.
1.2.4.4. Collocation
Word meaning is also governed by collocation- that is which words go
with each other. We can have a headache, stomachache or earache, but we can

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not have a ‘throatache’ or a ‘legache’. The collocations typical of particular
items are another factor that makes a particular combination sound “right” or
“wrong” in a given context. When introducing words like decision and
conclusion, for example, we may note that you take or make the one, but
usually come to the other; similarly, you throw a ball but toss a coin. We
often use words only in certain social and topical contexts. If you want to tell
someone you are angry you will choose carefully between the neutral
expression of this fact (I’m fact) and the informal version (I’m really pissed
off). The latter would certainly seem rude to listeners in certain contexts. At a
different level we recognize that two doctors talking about an illness will talk
in a different register than one of them who then talks to the patient in
question - who has never studied medicine. They also need to understand

what stylistic and topical contexts words and expressions occur in.
1.2.4.5. Aspects of Meaning
a. Denotation:
is a set of semantic properties which serves to identify the particular
concept associated with a word. It is also the ability of a wide range of things
which share certain characteristic features.
Example: Dog: in the denotative meaning:
-

domestic animal

-

four- footed

-

furry

In a meaning system, denotation meaning may be regarded as the
central or ‘core’ meaning of a lexical item and language learners sometimes
find it difficult to use the appropriate word because there are words that have
the same denotations.

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b. Connotation:
A word may convey certain affective or evaluative associations,
generally referred to as connotation. The connotation meaning can be

considered as an additional meaning to denotation, which shows us how things,
concepts, etc, are indicated (denoted). Connotations arise as words become
associated with certain characteristics of the items to which they refer.
For example: The word “dog” in the connotative meaning is:
- In Arabic culture: negative connotation of dirt and inferiority
- In British culture: positive connotation of friendship and loyalty
c. Appropriateness:
A more subtle aspect of meaning that often needs to be taught is
whether a particular item is appropriate one to use in a certain context or not.
Thus it is useful for a student to know that a certain word is very common, or
relatively rare, or “taboo” in polite conversation, or tends to be used in writing
but not in speech, or is more suitable for formal than informal discourse, or
belongs to a certain dialect.
d. Aspects of Meaning: Meaning Relationships:
How the meaning of one item relates to the meaning of others can also
be useful in teaching. There are various such relationships. Some of main
ones are as follows:
i. Polysemy
Polysemy is certainly not an anomaly. Most English words are
polysemantic.
For instance: the noun board is said to be polysemous because it may
mean:
1, a long thin flat piece of cut wood
2, a flat surface with patterns, used for playing a game on

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3, a flat piece of hard material used for putting food on
4, a flat piece of hard material fastened to the wall in a public place to

pin notices on
5, the cost of meals
6, a committee or association, as of company directors or government
officials, set up for a special responsibility (Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English 1978 : 105)
ii. Homonyms
Homonyms are words which are identical in sound and spelling, or, at
least, in one of these aspects, but different in their meaning.
For example:

- tail - tale
- sea - see

iii. Antonym
We use the term antonyms to indicate words of the same category part
of speech which have contrasting meanings
For example:

- Ugly - pretty
- Mean - generous
- Tidy - messy

A polysemantic word may have an antonym (or several antonyms) for
each of it meanings. So, the adjective dull has the antonyms interesting,
amusing
iii. Synonyms:
Synonyms are the words of the same part of speech, similar in their
denotational meaning, but different in their in their phonetic and graphic
forms, combinability and /or connotational meaning
iv. Co- hyponyms or co-ordinates

Other items that are the “same kind of thing”

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Eg: red, blue, green, brown are coordinates
v .Super - ordinates:
General concepts that cover specific items
Eg: animal is the super - ordinates of dog, cat, and lion.
vi. Translation:
Words or expressions in the students’ mother tongue that is (more or
less) equivalent in meaning to the item being taught
Besides this, there are other, perhaps looser, ways of associating
meaning that are useful in teaching.
1.3. Principles for teaching vocabulary
There are many different ways to teach vocabulary, but some ways are
more effective than others. Forseth et.al. (1996: 23-25) propose eight
principles for teaching vocabulary:
The first principle is to provide a context for new words. Such a
practice may have beneficial results, of course, but it avoids one of the central
features of vocabulary use, namely that words occur in context. If we are
really to teach students what words mean and how they are used, we need to
show them being used, together with other words, in context. Words do not
exist on their own: they live with other words and they depend upon each
other. When students learn words in context they are far more likely to
remember them than if they learn them as single items. If students hear a new
word in isolation, they are likely to misunderstand in meaning. There are
different kinds of contexts such as grammatical, semantic and discourse.
Every word with clear explanation and contexts given will help students
understand the lesson very fast, especially vocabulary. On the other hand,

students can also remember the words in a long time.

15


The second principle is that the teachers do not present too many words
at once because teaching a few words and allow student to practice and use
them a lot. Remembering new words is not easy for students, so if the teacher
gives so many new words at the same time, this will make students feel bored.
Moreover, if there is imbalance between excellent students and bad ones. If
teacher understand the students’ psychology, they will know how to help
them learn vocabulary better. Presentation will help students understand.
Practice will help them remember. If the students forget what has been
presented, it will not be useful to them in the future.
The third principle is that practicing words in context is more
important than memorizing isolated one. Learning new words in context is
easier to remember and help students use the words in right way. We can
learn many new words without being able to use them in communication.
Students may be required to learn the meanings of words but they must also
be given the opportunity to use them productively in speaking and writing.
We know that learning the theory without practicing, it also means students
will have no facts and face many difficulties in communication as well as
learning other skills.
The fourth principle is that teachers should teach students skills for
guessing new words, especially when reading. Another way of helping
students remember the words longer is that the teacher can learn how to guess
the meaning of the words from the reading comprehensions and newspapers
or magazines. The meaning of words can be inferred from the different types
of contexts and from looking at the affixes of the word. Through this way,
students can understand the gist of the texts or reading comprehensions. After

they guess the meaning of the words, they will understand the words more
and the context of that word

16


For example: person who teaches us English at school. Who is teacher?
The fifth principle is to avoid translation as much as possible. If the
students are always having words translated, they are really only
communicating in their own language, not in English. Also, students do not
usually remember vocabulary that has been translated. Only using translation
as a last resort, when it would otherwise takes too long to communicate in
English. English is a complex language because a word can be used in
different contexts, after translating words; many students will face some
problems in communication and feel more difficult to use English.
The sixth principle is to avoid using the dictionary as much as possible.
When reading or listening, students should firstly try guessing or ignoring
new words so that they can continue without stopping. Also, using a
dictionary when speaking or listening often slows down communication. In
writing, using a dictionary can be beneficial. It helps student express
themselves more clearly. This is a situation of many students who learning
language, because they only rely on dictionaries without guessing words
through the context; it will be very difficult for them to remember new words.
Dictionary should only be used when encountering difficult words which they
can not guess or explain.
The seventh principle is that the teachers should remember that not all
words are important. In a sentence, some words are more important than
others. If students know the more important words, they can guess the
meaning of the other words around it and understand the sentence easily.
While reading a newspaper or listening a text, you should note down the

important words or underline the key words. Through this way, teacher will
be easier to make students understand the passage more.

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