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Transcript of The Techniques by Teachers in Presenting the Meaning of New Vocabulary and Their Effectiveness As
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION
NGUYỄN VŨ XUÂN LAN
THE TECHNIQUES BY TEACHERS IN
PRESENTING THE MEANING OF NEW
VOCABULARY AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS AS
PERCEIVED BY STUDENTS OF THE
STRATEGIC MISSION PROGRAM IN VIETNAM
NATIONAL UNIVERSITY.
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS (TEFL)
Hanoi, May 2011
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION
NGUYỄN VŨ XUÂN LAN
THE TECHNIQUES BY TEACHERS IN
PRESENTING THE MEANING OF NEW
VOCABULARY AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS AS
PERCEIVED BY STUDENTS OF THE
STRATEGIC MISSION PROGRAM IN VIETNAM
NATION UNIVERSITY.
SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS (TEFL)
SUPERVISOR: Mr. KHOA ANH VIỆT, M.A.
Hanoi, May 2011
i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Firstly, I would like to express our deep gratitude to my
supervisor - Mr. Khoa Anh Viet for his valuable guidance, helpful
and supportive pieces of advice.
I am also thankful to Ms Nguyen Nhue Giang – my class
mate, who has helped me a lot in gathering the information about
Strategic Mission Program and collecting data.
I greatly appreciate the willingness to take part in our
research of Strategic Mission Program’s students and teachers,
especially three teachers and ten students their meticulous and
truthful sharing in the interview. Without them, this research
cannot be carried out.
ii
ABSTRACT
Strategic Mission is a short name for the project of building and
developing 16 branches, 23 specialties of basic science, high technology,
economy-society with international standard at Vietnam National
University. Students who have not been qualified enough in English to
take courses of their major will take a supplement course on language for
one year. Due to its young age, it is unavoidable for the project as well as
the English course which is applied to encounter numbers of problem and
difficulties that need to be studied and adjusted. This study was carried
out in order to investigate the techniques of presenting the meaning of
new vocabularies by teachers and their effectiveness as perceived by
students of the Strategic Mission Project in VNU. Quantitative methods
with questionnaire and individual interview were applied to find out the
usage of techniques as perceived by both teachers and students, and
measure their effectiveness according to the opinion of students from
three classes.
It was revealed from the study that there is not much difference
between the frequency of using each technique for presenting vocabulary
from the perception of teacher and of students. Both two sides agreed on
the highest frequency of “showing words in context” and “combining
several techniques” and the lowest one of “showing the meaning of words
visually”. Regarding the effectiveness of techniques for presenting the
meaning of vocabulary, most students confirmed that combining different
techniques is the most efficient method, and the least useful one is the
visual technique of using realia. In terms of suggestions to improve the
effectiveness of presenting vocabulary, teachers and students agreed with
each other to enhance the five techniques by Penny Ur, and raise some of
their own ideas such as using games, dictionaries or peer-explanations.
iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements i
Abstract ii
Table of contents iv
List of figures and tables vii
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale of the study
1.2. Aims of the study and research questions
1.3. Scope of the study
1.4. Significance of the study
1.5. Organization of the study
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. An overview of vocabulary
2.1.1. Definition of vocabulary
2.1.2. Roles of vocabulary
2.1.3. Aspects of vocabulary to be taught
2.1.4. Classification of vocabulary
2.2. Presenting vocabulary
2.3. Techniques for presenting new vocabulary
2.3.1. Showing the meaning of words visually
2.3.2. Showing words in context
2.3.3. Using synonyms or/and antonyms
1
2
2
3
3
5
5
6
7
13
17
18
18
19
20
iv
2.3.4. Translation
2.3.5. Combining different techniques
2.4. Vocabulary acquisition
2.5. Related study
2.5.1. In Vietnam
2.5.2. In the world
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1.Settings
3.2. Participants
3.3. Instrument
3.3.1. Questionnaire
3.3.2. Interview
3.4. Sampling
3.5. Procedure
3.5.1. Data collection
3.5.2. Data analysis
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1. Findings
4.1.1. The frequency of using each technique for
presenting new vocabulary as perceived by students
4.1.2. The frequency of using each technique for
presenting new vocabulary as perceived by teachers
4.1.3. The effectiveness of each techniques for
21
22
22
24
24
25
26
27
29
29
30
31
31
31
32
33
33
36
45
v
presenting new vocabulary as perceived by students
4.2. Suggestions to improve the effectiveness of techniques
for presenting new vocabulary
4.2.1. Suggestions by teachers
4.2.2. Suggestions by students
4.3. Conclusion
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
5.1. Summary
5.2. Teaching implications
5.3 Limitation of the study
5.4. Suggestion for further research
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
52
52
55
56
58
59
59
61
vi
LIST OF FIGURES
Figures Page
1. Figure 1: The frequency of using each technique for
presenting new vocabulary as perceived by students
33
2. Figure 2: The frequency of using each sub-technique in
“showing the meaning of words visually” as perceived by
students
34
3. Figure 3: The frequency of using each sub-technique in
“showing the meaning of words in context” as perceived by
students
35
4. Figure 4: The frequency of using each technique in presenting
new vocabulary according to teachers’ lesson plans
37
5. Figure 5: The frequency of using each sub-technique in
"Showing the meaning of words visually" according to lesson
plans
38
6. Figure 6: The frequency of using each sub-technique in
"showing words in context" according to lesson plans
39
7. Figure 7: The frequency of using each technique in presenting
new vocabulary in actual teaching sessions
40
8. Figure 8: The frequency of using each sub-technique in
“showing the meaning of words visually” in actual teaching
sessions
41
vii
9. Figure 9: The frequency of using each sub-technique in
“showing the meaning of words in context” in actual teaching
sessions
43
10. Figure 10: The effectiveness of each technique for presenting
denotational meaning as perceived by students
45
11. Figure 11: The effectiveness of each sub-technique in
"Showing the meaning of words visually" for presenting
denotational meanings as perceived by students
46
12. Figure 12: The effectiveness of each sub-technique in
"showing words in context" for presenting denotational
meanings as perceived by students
48
13. Figure 13: The effectiveness of each technique for presenting
connotational meanings as perceived by students
49
14. Figure 14: The effectiveness of each technique in "Showing
the meaning of words visually" for presenting connotational
meaning as perceived by students
50
15. Figure 15: The effectiveness of each sub-technique in
"Showing words in context" for presenting connotational
meanings as perceived by students
51
1
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Together with grammar, vocabulary is an essential element that
needs to be mastered by any English learners. Allen (1983) once claimed
that “Experienced teachers of English as a second language know very
well how important vocabulary is. They know their students must learn
thousands of words that speakers and writers of English use.” To some
extends, vocabulary is even more highly regarded than grammar as
linguist Wilkin (1972) said: “Without grammar, very little could be
convey, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed.”(p.111). However,
teaching vocabulary used to be neglected for a long time due to a belief
that vocabulary only could be absorbed through experience (Allen, 1983),
which leads to the little necessary of lecturing on vocabulary in class by
teachers. Fortunately, according to Thornbury (2002), the interest in
vocabulary has recovered in recent years, partly because of the expansion
of the “word-centered” approaches in language teaching. This also means
that the importance of vocabulary has been considered more seriously and
its role has been estimated more fairly than in the past.
Strategic Mission is a short name for the project of building and
developing 16 branches, 23 specialties of basic science, high technology,
economy-society with international standard at Vietnam National
University. This is a new project that is first conducted by ULIS, VNU in
2010. One of the criteria for recruiting students is the appropriate level of
English (for example: at least 550 score for TOEFL). Students who have
not been qualified in English will take a supplement course on this
subject for one year. Due to its young age, it is unavoidable for the
project as well as the English course which is applied to encounter
2
numbers of problem and difficulties that need to be studied and adjusted.
Because of the level of students, new vocabularies would be a possible
problem. The techniques of teacher when introducing new words play an
important role in the effectiveness in reception of students. Therefore, the
researcher decided to carry out a study on techniques of presenting new
vocabularies of teachers and their effectiveness as perceived by students
of the Strategic Mission Project in VNU.
1.2. Aims of the study and research questions
As stated in the topic, this research aims at finding out the
techniques of presenting new vocabularies of teachers and their
effectiveness as perceived by students of the Strategic Mission Program
in VNU. The result of the research will serve to revise and improve the
ways teachers carry out the teaching vocabulary activity, which may help
to enforce the effective studying for students of this program. The
questions will be answered after the research finished are:
1) What are the techniques of presenting new vocabulary that are
used by teachers of the Strategic Mission Program?
2) What is the effectiveness of the techniques as perceived by
students of the Strategic Mission Program?
3) What can be some possible solutions to improve the
effectiveness of presenting new vocabulary suggested by teachers and
students?
1.3. Scope of the study
The study focuses on the techniques for presenting new vocabulary
and their effectiveness within the scope of the Strategic Mission Program,
which was carried out by Vietnam Nation University. It does not discuss
3
the effectiveness of techniques for presenting vocabulary in any other
context outside the program.
The effectiveness of the techniques would be explored from the
perception of the students of Strategic Mission Program. The participants
are first year students of the program, who are at Pre-intermediate level.
One more noteworthy point about the scope of this study is that it
focuses on the effectiveness of techniques for presenting the meaning of
new vocabulary rather than the form.
1.4. Significant of the study
As having been clarified in the rationale, vocabulary is inevitable to
learn a new language. As for students at the early stage, the role of
vocabulary in studying procedure is even more important as it is one of
the basic tools for any language learners to attain more difficult
knowledge later on. Therefore, the effective presentation of new
vocabulary is significant.
First and foremost, the research makes a contribution to the storage
of the researches on the issue of vocabulary teaching in the FELTE,
especially on the effectiveness of this activity. It serves as a reference
material for the other researchers who are keen on the topic. Secondly,
based on the findings and suggestions in this research, the quality of
English teaching and learning in Strategic Mission Program in the next
years could be enhanced in terms of its techniques in presenting
vocabulary.
4
1.5. Organization of the study
The paper consists of five main chapters.
Chapter I “INTRODUCTION” states the rationale, the aims, scope,
methods and overview of the study.
Chapter II named “LITERATURE REVIEW” defines the key terms and
reviews some earlier papers surrounding the topic.
Chapter III “METHODOLOGY” clarifies the methods employed
throughout the research.
Chapter IV “RESULTS AND DISCUSSION” includes the results and
analysis.
In the last chapter “CONCLUSION”, findings summary and implications
of the research are provided.
5
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. An overview of vocabulary
2.1.1 Definition of vocabulary
According to Cambridge Dictionary for Advanced Learners, there are
two definitions for vocabularies:
a. All the words known and used by a particular person.
b. All the words which exist in a particular language or subject
Oxford Dictionary for Advanced learners gives one more definition:
“A list of words with their meanings especially in a book or learning a
foreign language”.
In “A Course in language teaching”, Ur, P. (1991) defined:
“Vocabulary can be defined, roughly as the words we teach in a foreign
language” (p.27). However, Penny also claimed that vocabulary items are
not only single words but can also be combined words or multi-word
idioms. Therefore, he suggested the name “items” instead of “words” for
those cases.
In “English, An introduction to language”, Pyles and Algeo (1970)
said:
It is true that 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 words that we arrange together to make sentences, conversations and
discourse of all kinds.
6
There is also methodology concept for vocabulary: “a word is a
basic unit of a language denoting concept, things and phenomena in
society” (GHP, 1998, p.58)
In brief, there are different definitions of vocabulary from different
angles of study. This research focuses on vocabulary as all the words
which exist in a particular language, including single words and items
that contain more than one word.
2.1.2. Roles of vocabulary
Initially, it is undeniable that vocabulary is an inevitable component
of language. Especially, for the learners of second language, vocabulary
is the issue that needs to be studied before all others.
Wu Jiangwen & Wang Binbin of Guangdong College of Finance
said:“A good mastery of vocabulary is essential for ESL/EFL learners,
especially for those who learn for specific purposes or expect to operate
at an advanced level in English.” This emphasizes the necessity of
studying vocabulary for students of non-English-major, in this case,
students of Strategic Mission program.
I. S. P. Nation also supports that: “Giving attention to vocabulary is
unavoidable. Even the most formal of communication-directed
approaches to language teaching must deal with needed vocabulary in one
way or another.”
Some may oppose to the importance of vocabulary teaching and
consider grammar the most essential to be taught. Wilkin, D. (1972) may
answer them: “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed. Without
vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed.” (p.111). Grammar, though
7
necessary, is also illustrated through words; hence, grammar by no means
can surpass vocabulary in the range of importance.
Harmer (1992) agreed with Wilkin and claimed that: “If language
structures make up the skeleton of language, then it is in vocabulary that
provides the vital organ and flesh to make up its perfect body” (p.23).
McCarthy (1990) stated in a more general way: “Without words to
express a wide range of meanings, communication in the second language
cannot happen in any meaningful way.” (p.5).
All four skills in English learning – Writing, Reading, Listening and
Speaking – are involved with vocabulary. Therefore, for English learners,
it is compulsory to gain a certain amount of English words before
practicing the above skills. Moreover, in their learning process, widening
and sharpening their vocabulary are also important as all kinds of
knowledge are expressed by one of the most basic component of
language: words.
In brief, all the statements above lead to a conclusion that
vocabulary is the first and foremost factor that needs to be approach in
order to master a language. Without vocabulary – the most significant
one, every other factor cannot be achieved.
2.1.3. Aspects of vocabulary to be taught
What involved in knowing a word? To answer this question, Penny
Ur (1996) brought out some aspects that should be pay attention to when
teaching vocabulary: meaning, form, grammar, collocation, and word
formation.
2.1.3.1. Meaning
8
2.1.3.1.1. Aspects of meaning
Some aspects of meaning that need to be learned are: denotation,
connotation, appropriateness/ formality.
Denotational meaning (also known as propositional meaning) - is
the literal meaning of a word, the meaning that we can find in the
dictionary. In other words, propositional meaning of a word is what it
refers to in the real world.
Connotation of a word refers to “the associations, or positive or
negative feelings it evokes, which may or may not be indicated in a
dictionary definition” (Ur, 1996). Connotational meaning is an implied
meaning of a word, the suggesting of a meaning by a word apart from the
thing it explicitly names or describes.
Another subtle aspect of meaning need to be taught is the
appropriateness of a particular item in a certain context. Thanks to this,
learners can be aware of when and where to use a word properly. For
examples, "put up with" is an informal word, typically used in speech;
tolerate is the more formal equivalent, common in academic writing
(according to uefap.com).
2.1.3.1.2. Meaning relationships
Meaning relationships is how the meaning of one item relates to the
meaning of the others. There are some main types of meaning
relationships: synonym, antonym, hyponym, co-hyponym, metonym and
translation.
Synonyms:
9
Synonyms are items that have the same or nearly the same meaning.
To be more specific, synonyms are words of the same part of speech
which have similar or identical denotation, but differ in shades of
meaning, connotation or combinability with other words. There are 6
types of synonyms: absolute, semantic, stylistic, semantic stylistic,
phraseological, and euphemism synonyms.
- Absolute synonyms: words that are identical in their meanings
and synonymous in all contexts. For example: begin – start.
- Semantic synonyms: words that are different in denotational
meaning. For example: discuss – debate – argue.
- Stylistic synonyms: words that are different in connotational
meaning. For example: friend – mate
- Semantic stylistic synonyms: words that are different in both
denotational and connotational meaning. For example: compound –
department – dwelling.
- Phraseological synonyms: words that are different in collocation.
For example: do-make, say-tell
- Euphemism synonyms: words that are used to reduce the
unpleasant effect. For example: die – pass away
Antonyms:
Words of the same part of speech that are opposite in meaning.
The three main types of antonym are gradable, complementary and
conversive antonyms.
10
- Gradable antonyms: the name has illustrated their characteristic
which is gradable. They are opposite ends of a continuous scale of
value. For example: rich/ poor, strong/ weak.
- Complementary antonyms: this type includes two items, the
assertion of one is the negation of the other. Complementary synonyms
come in pairs and between them exhausting all relevant possibilities. If
one is applicable, then the other cannot be, and vice versa. For example:
True/false.
- Conversive antonyms: words that denote the same situation but
from different point of view, with a reversal of the order of
participants and their roles. For example: Doctor/ patient.
Hyponyms:
This is the relationship between two words in which the meaning
of one includes the meaning of the other. Items that serve as specific
examples of a general concept are call co-hyponyms.
For examples, daisy, rose, violet are flowers. “Rose” is the
hyponym of “flower”, “flower” is called the super-ordinate. “rose”,
“daisy” and “violet” are co-hyponyms.
Metonyms:
Metonym is the substitution of one word for another with which it
is associated. In other words, instead of the name of one object or
notion, we use the name of another because these objects are associated
and closely related. Metonymy is based on contiguity. For example:
- The Crown had absolute power in the Middle Age.
In this sentence, “the Crown” refers to the King or the Queen.
11
Translation: words or expressions in the learners’ mother tongue
those are more or less equivalent in meaning to the item being taught. For
example: house – nhà.
2.1.3.2. Form
Form of a word includes spoken form and written form.
Spoken form of a word is its pronunciation, which means how it is
said in a particular way (Cambridge Dictionary for advanced learners).
The role of word pronunciation has been asserted by Gairns and Redman
(1986) that even if learners can communicate clearly in written form, they
would not make it in spoken form if there is incorrect pronunciation.
Written form – also known as spelling- is the proper way a word is
written. If in Vietnamese, all literate people can write down a word after
listening to it, the case is different in English. English words’ spelling do
not closely attached with pronunciation. One letter can be pronounced
differently in different words and vice versa, one sound can be
transcribed by more than one letter. For examples, the sound /i:/ can be
written as ee (need), i (sit) or ea (feat). Some students may have the habit
of applying language rules from L1 to assume one of the two above
component when they first approach a new word in L2. For instance,
when he/she hears the sound /ru:m/ , he/she may write it down as “rum”
instead of “room”. Therefore, it is necessary that students should be
provided with both spelling and pronunciation of a new word
simultaneously.
2.1.3.3. Grammar
12
Grammatical rules in English are not applied to every vocabulary
items. There are irregular cases where the form of a word is unpredictably
changed or the combination with other words is distinctive. A typical
example for the unpredictable form changing is irregular verb. Since most
verbs’ past form is created by adding “ed”, a lot of students make mistake
when they apply this rule to irregular verbs such as “goed” or “eated”.
The distinctive combination with other word can be seen clearly when
adjectives or verbs go with prepositions like “interested in” or “fond of”.
2.1.3.4. Collocation
Collocation refers to the restriction on how words can be used
together. McCarthy (1990) said: “the relationship of collocation is
fundamental in the study of vocabulary; it is a marriage contract between
words and some words are more firmly married to each other than
others.” As mentioned in the aspect of grammar, the combination of
adjectives or verbs with preposition is an example. For another instance,
the combination of verbs and nouns or adjectives and nouns is also
restricted. We can say “take/ make a decision” but “come to a
conclusion”, not vice versa; a person is often described as “tall”, not
“high”.
In some special cases like in literature, some untypical collocations
may appear and confuse or mislead the learners. Therefore, collocation is
an important aspect to teach.
2.1.3.5. Word formation
Normally, vocabulary items can be divided into smaller component
“bits”. Word formation is about the way to put these “bits” together.
13
There are two main ways of word formations: using affixes and
combining many words.
Instead of teaching a lot of words like unfriendly, unreal,
uninteresting, unkind, teachers can provide the meaning of prefix “un”, so
that learners can guess the meaning of the above words. Nevertheless, it
should be noted that the affixes in many words do not have their original
meanings such as “subject” or “comfortable”.
Words can be built by combining two or more words; for examples,
bookcase is created from two nouns. Knowing the meaning of each
separated word, learners can predict the meaning of the compound word.
2.1.4. Classification of vocabulary
In his research paper on “Selection, Classification, Strategies of
Developing and Techniques of Teaching Vocabulary” (2010), V.
Harindhar Reddy divided vocabulary into 4 groups, basing on their
functions in a sentence. They are functional words, substitute words,
distributive words and content words.
2.1.4.1. Functional words
Functional words do not have their own meanings. Mainly, they are
used for expressing relationship between words and grammatical patterns,
and connecting the content words. Functional words include the
following categories:
Prepositions: A preposition shows a relationship between noun or
noun substitute and some other words in a sentence. For examples:
with, at, by, to, in, for, from, of, in, betwixt, amidst, underneath, circa,
14
subsequent to, pursuant to, in lieu of, on behalf of, be-hither, anent,
vis-a vis, etc.
Auxiliaries: Do forms, be forms, have forms, can, could, may, might,
shall, should, will, would, must, ought to, need, dare are all
auxiliaries.
Conjunctions: Which, for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so, nevertheless,
unless, that, if, but, and, when, since, whether, therefore, unless, until,
albeit, whereas, while, whilst, etc.,
Articles: English has two articles: the and a/an. „The‟ is used to refer
to specific or particular nouns; a/an is used to modify non-specific or
non-particular nouns.
Demonstrative adjectives: This, these, those, that, etc.
Interrogative Particles: How, what, when, where, which, who, whom,
whose, why, however, whatever, whenever, wherever, whichever,
whoever, whomever, etc.
Degree words: More, most, than, one of the, best, etc.
Miscellaneous: There, it, ever, etc.
2.1.4.2. Substitute words
These are the words that serve as substitutes for other words. For
example:
- Mary does her work as well as you do.
- She finished the course and he did too.
15
Here the words do and did stand for other words. Hereafter they are
called substitute words. Some more examples for substitute words are
given below.
Personal pronouns: I, me, our, us, you, your, he, his, him, she, her,
they, their, them, we, etc.
Indefinite substitutes: everybody, somebody, anybody, someone,
everyone, anyone, everything, anything, etc.
Negative substitutes: nothing, none, nobody, nowhere, none, etc.
Words denoting number of quantity: all, several, much, each, some,
few, once, twice, one, etc.
Flexible substitutes: so, do, as, alike, akin, similar, etc.
2.1.4.3. Distributive words
There are a number of words with affirmation and negative
distribution. Let us consider the following examples:
- He went to the disco and she did too.
- Speech is good; better still is silence.
Here the words too and still are the words affirmation distribution. Here
are two more examples.
- Rita does not like oily food; neither do I.
- I have not any pen.
Here the words neither and any are the words of negative distribution.
Evidently, these words show the absence or the presence of a negative
16
thing. Several other words such as quite, already, yet, more, some etc.
fall under this category.
2.1.4.4. Content words
If functional words are the skeleton of a passage, content words ửok
the flesh and blood of the language. They form the solid substance of a
language. These are the words that stand for things, actions or qualities
and are fragmented into 4 types.
- Concrete words
- Abstract words
- Action words and
- Quality words
a. Concrete words or words for things: These words include common
nouns and the nouns formed out of verbs and adjectives. They are:
Simple forms: table, chair, pencil, kite, light, camera, etc.
Compound forms: chairperson, blackboard, white-house,
spokesperson, sports-car, penknife, etc.
b. Abstract words
Words for actions changes as nouns: approval, invention, departure,
feeling, etc.
Words for qualities changed as nouns: goodness, weakness, strength,
length, conduct, width, sincerity, bravery, breadth, etc.
17
c. Action words
Simple forms: run, jump, rowing, type, google, jig, grimace,
chuckle, etc.
Compound forms: run-over, turn-over, depend upon, cutting
across, break apart, tore off, etc.
Words for qualities changed as nouns: unveil, endanger, imprison,
dethrone, etc.
Words for qualities changed as verbs: weaker, harden, soften,
enable, endear, etc.
Adverbial words: fast, slow, quick, fleetingly, etc.
d. Quality words
These words describe the quality. They include simple adjectives and
adjectives formed out of verbs and nouns.
Simple form: Short, tall, good, bad, happy, nice, rotten, sour,
colossal, mammoth, etc.
Words for things changed into adjectives: boyish, childlike, girlish,
accidental, tom-foolish, etc.
Words for actions changed into qualities: cheerful, smiling, written,
learned, etc.
2.2. Presenting Vocabulary
18
As proposed by Gower (2005) and Thornbury (2002), there are three
stages in teaching vocabulary: Presenting, practicing, and consolidating
and revising. This research focuses only on the techniques for the first
stage which is presenting vocabulary.
Thornbury emphasized on some factors that affect the number words
should be presented:
The learners’ level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced)
Learners’ likely familiarity with the words (learners may have met
the words before even though they are not part of their active
vocabulary)
The difficulty of the items (whether, for example, they express
abstract rather than concrete meaning, or whether they are difficult
to pronounce)
Their “teachability”, which means whether they can be easily
explained or demonstrated within the context of the classroom.
Whether items are being learned for production (in speaking or
writing) or recognition only (as in listening and reading). Since
more time will be needed for the former, the number of items is
likely to be fewer than if the aim is only recognition.
2.3. Techniques for presenting new vocabulary
According to Ur, P. (1996), as adapted in ELT Methodology II course
book (by Vietnam Nation University), four following main techniques are
used for presenting new vocabulary.
19
2.3.1. Showing the meaning of words visually:
Using pictures: Pictures can be used in many ways. They can be
flashcards of separated words, big printed pictures in textbooks or
prepared by teacher, or they can even be pictures drawn by teachers or
students directly on the board. Pictures are useful in catching student’s
attention, raising their interest in the presented subjects and thus,
enhancing their motivation. This instrument offers the chance for students
to make use of their imagination; hence, using pictures help students to
create the link between the meaning of words and real-world image
immediately. This technique is highly recommended for beginners in
English.
Using realia: In this way, real objects are used to illustrate the
meanings of words. The objects may already in the classroom, or brought
to class by teachers. Penny Ur emphasized that “Real objects are better
than pictures whenever we have them in classroom” and it would be “a
waste of excellent opportunities” if teachers only use textbook instead of
exploiting the real objects surrounding. However, there are a few
exceptions when using this instrument. Using real objects is not
recommended when the words relate to clothes or body parts. Pointing at
these objects, especially the ones one someone’s body in class would
create uncomfortable feeling. In these cases, pictures can be used as
substitutes.
Using mime: Teachers use their own action and facial expressions
to illustrate the words. This way is applied mostly for verbs and
adjectives, when pictures and real objects are not available.
In general, the advantages of showing the meaning of words visually
are the directness, attractiveness and quickness. Nevertheless, this way
20
cannot be applied to teach every word but mostly used when illustrating
non-abstract words.
2.3.2. Showing words in context:
As for abstract words, when visually techniques cannot be used,
showing word in context using examples, situations and explanations can
take effect. However, it should be remembered that the examples,
situations or explanations do not have to be too complicated. Simple
sentences like “Houses are building. This school is also building” are
enough to clarify the meaning of “building”. As Penny Ur described, this
is the way teacher “use simple English to show meanings of words”
(1996, p.46). He also emphasized that it is not easy to use simpler English
to describe one English word, even with native speakers. This technique
requires considerable experience in teaching English to speakers of other
languages.
An effective example should be simple but clear enough for the
learners to understand the word meaning. The sentence “He is lazy” itself
cannot show the meaning of “lazy” to someone who does not know it.
The word should be illustrated more by description such as “He wakes up
late. He does nothing all day long”. Ur claimed that example sentences
can be more helpful than definitions, especially when the sentences are
simple and familiar enough.
This technique requires preparation of teachers in order to create
appropriate contexts which are brief and comprehensible enough for
learners.
2.3.3. Using synonyms or/and antonyms
21
If the learners have already known the synonym/ antonym of the
new word, this will be a quick way to explain the meaning. This way can
help learners revise old words and study new words simultaneously.
Moreover, when learners can see a relation in meaning between the new
knowledge and the one that they have known, memorizing the new words
becomes easier. Once learners have been familiarized with some rules to
create antonyms such as using prefixes, they can easily get the meaning
of a new word or can even predict the form of an unknown antonym. For
instances, when learners have known about pairs of words like “happy –
unhappy”, “friendly – unfriendly”, they can guess the meaning of
“uninteresting” or guess that there can be words like “unkind,
unnecessary”. However, this technique is not applicable if the students do
not know the words from which they have to infer the opposite or similar
meaning. One more disadvantage of this technique is that antonym can
hardly be applied with nouns, and not all adjectives, adverbs or verbs
have a true synonym or antonym.
2.3.4. Translation
Translation is the technique of explain the new word by the learner’s
first language. This is considered the simplest and clearest way to show
the meaning of a new word. Moreover, it seems to be a favourable
technique by teachers thanks to its time-saving nature. Several authors
suggest that first language does not play an essential role in foreign
language teaching (Tang, 2002). Whilst Nation (1990), for example,
suggests that the degradation of mother tongue has a harmful
psychological effect on learners. A number of professionals in the field of
second language and foreign language acquisition agree that mother
tongue should be used with students who are not highly proficient in the
target language such as Nation (2002) or Atkinson (1987).This may
22
suggest that mother tongue plays an important role in language teaching,
especially for the low proficiency learners like students of Strategic
Mission Program.
However, only translation technique itself cannot vividly shows how
the word is actually used. Furthermore, there are cases that the
Vietnamese word cannot fully depict all aspects of meaning of the
English counterpart. If students are not active enough to study the
meaning carefully by themselves, they will easily misuse the words.
Therefore, it is recommended that together with translation, teachers
should provide examples to illustrate how the words really work.
2.3.5. Combining different techniques
Because each technique has its own benefit and limitation, the
combination of different techniques is applied frequently in order to
support each other and reinforce the effectiveness of the presentation. The
ways to combine techniques depend on the purpose and the creativeness
of each teacher.
2.4. Vocabulary acquisition
To serve the aim of this study, the researcher did not take “the
number of words a language learner should know” into consideration. In
order to evaluate the effectiveness of techniques for presenting new
vocabulary, the researcher needs to initially answer the question: What
does it mean by “knowing a word”? Richards (1976) brought out eight
assumptions in relation to lexical competence which are listed in Carter
and McCarthy (1989).
23
Knowing a word means knowing the degree of probability of
encountering it and the sorts of words most likely to be found
associated with it (frequency and collocability).
Knowing a word means knowing its limitations of use according to
function and situation (temporal, social, geographical; field, mode,
etc).
Knowing a word means knowing its syntactic behaviour (e.g.
transitivity patterns, cases).
Knowing a word means knowing its underlying forms and
derivations.
Knowing a word means knowing its place in a network of
associations with other words in the language.
Knowing a word means knowing its semantic value (its composition).
Knowing a word means knowing its different meanings (polisemy)
Joanna Channell (1988) stated that an L2 word is considered as
being acquired by a learner when:
a) its meaning can be recognized and understood both in and out of
context
b) it can be used naturally and appropriately to situation.
The limitation of time does not allow this study to investigate
thoroughly into each of the eight assumptions by Richard. The
methodology is also not enough to explore the ability of using new words
naturally and appropriately of students. Consequently, in the scope of this
24
study, the researcher only aim at the vocabulary acquisition at the most
basic level, at which “knowing a word involves knowing its form and its
meaning.” (Thornbury, 2002) Moreover, as most techniques for
presenting vocabulary listed here focus on the meaning of words, the
significant focus of the study is also the meaning of the new vocabulary
presented.
2.5. Related studies
2.5.1. In Vietnam
There have been a number of researches on teaching vocabulary.
The major of them are about techniques in teaching vocabulary for
students in secondary schools, high schools (especially 11th
and 12th
form) or some certain centers. Those studies aim at the techniques to
teach vocabulary in general but do not elaborate in the presenting stage.
Besides, the focus of a lot of those studies is teaching vocabulary through
games and visual aids, or the difficulty when teaching vocabulary. There
haven’t been any study investigates the effectiveness of the techniques.
Moreover, as the Strategic Mission Program is brand new, there has
absolutely been no research on any issue of this program.
2.5.2. In the world
The situation is quite the same in the world. There are numerous of
researches on techniques for teaching vocabulary in various
environments. Alemi, M (2010) conducted the study “Educational game
as a vehicle for teaching vocabulary”, in which she attempted to
investigate the role of using word games in expanding the learner’s
vocabulary. In “An investigation of two ways of presenting vocabulary”
25
(retrieved from eltj.oxfordjournals.org ) by Papathanasiou, E, the author
aimed at examine the two manner of L2 vocabulary presentation which
are presenting words in related fashion and semantically related
vocabulary. Researcher Pyle, D. wrote “Teaching vocabulary
meaningfully with language, image and sound” (2009). This study was an
exploration of how an instructional technique that uses language, image,
and sound - that of a meaningful presentation of language with image by
gradual, step-by-step sequencing - affects vocabulary acquisition.
Nevertheless, the effectiveness of techniques for presenting new
vocabulary has not been studied thoroughly in any specific real case.
26
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1. Settings
Strategic Mission is a short name for the project of building and
developing 16 branches, 23 specialties of basic science, high technology,
economy-society with international standard at Vietnam National
University. This is a new project that is first conducted by ULIS, VNU in
the academic year of 2010-2011. Students come from different
universities of VNU, who have not been qualified enough in English will
take a supplement course on this subject for one year. Their English
course consists of five modules, which will be studied within one year.
They aim at the level of at least 6.0 IELTS after the course. Most of their
first year time í spent on English studying only. The twenty classes of
Strategic Mission Program are divided into 3 main groups according to
students’ level: From QT1 to QT5 plus QT19 are classes at the highest
level, from QT6 to QT18 are middle-leveled classes, and QT20 is a
special class for students at the lowest level. This research focuses only
on the second groups.
Strategic Mission Program’s students have five 50-minute sessions
of English per day, and five days a week. Among the five sessions, the
first four are carried out by teachers. Students work with the course books
which are distinctively assigned for the program depending on each
module. The fifth session is for the tutors who are voluntary students
from English-major faculty to come and helps the students with any
questions they might have regarding the contents of the lessons in
previous sessions.
27
There are some features which should be noted about students of
Strategic Mission Program. Firstly, different from the English-major
course, the four skills (speaking, listening, writing and reading) are not
study separately but combined together in their course book. Only for
module B2 and C1, writing skill is split out with particular textbooks.
Next, from the second year on, they will study course of their majors in
English. Therefore, they need to reach the required English level, which
is also the main target of the English course in the first year.
3.2. Participants
The two targets involving directly in teaching and learning
vocabulary are students and teachers of Strategic Mission Program. These
are two certain participants of the research.
First, an approximately of 70 students from three classes in QT
group are chosen for collecting data. The three classes are picked
randomly from QT6 to QT18. This is the group of middle level. At the
beginning of the course, they are pre-intermediate students. At the last
module (C1), they are supposed to reach Intermediate level. As their
proficiency in English is lower than the other classes (from QT1 to QT5,
plus QT 19), new vocabulary would be more problematic for their
learning.
The following table tells in detail the course books used for this
group during five modules:
28
Modules Course books
A1 New English File – Ele
Pronunciation in Use – Ele
A2 New English File - Pre-intermediate
Pronunciation in Use - Ele
B1 New English File – Intermediate
Interaction 1 – Reading
Interaction 1 – Listening
Natural English - Intermediate
B2 Focus on IELTS Foundation Coursebook
Focus on skills for IELTS Foundation
Paragraph Writing
C1 IELTS Express – Intermediate
Effective Academic Writing 2
The Complete Presentation Skill Handbook
Course books used for this group during five modules
The research is carried out at the beginning of semester 2 so that
students have already had a certain experience through one semester of
the English course. They now can identify their own problem in learning
process and complete the questionnaire.
29
Second, teachers are the one who directly present new knowledge,
which they should be well-prepared for and thoroughly understand.
Consequently, for a study on techniques of presenting new vocabularies,
teachers are certainly an appropriate participant. Ten teachers are also
chosen randomly to do the questionnaire. Due to the fact that the teaching
staff for Strategic Mission Program changed after each module, and one
class might work with up to 10 teachers within one week, it is not
necessary to choose exactly the teachers who are in charge of the chosen
classes.
Another aim of questioning both students and teachers is to ensure
the objectiveness of the data. The students may not be fully aware of the
techniques used by their teachers, or they may not concentrate enough in
order to remember precisely what are taught in class. Therefore, it is
necessary to consider the response of both sides.
3.3. Instruments
As for a quantitative research, questionnaire and interview are
applied together so that the researcher can cover all the angles of the
issue.
3.3.1. Questionnaire
The purpose of questionnaire is to clarify the techniques of
presenting new vocabularies of teachers’ and students’ evaluation for
those techniques. Most questions are close so that the questionnaire will
not be time-consuming for the participants and more convenient for the
researcher to collect and analyze the data.
30
The strong point of questionnaire is the ability of collecting data
from a wide group of participants and it has fairly reliability (Mackey &
Gass, 2005, p29). “The questionnaire is a widely used useful instrument
for collecting survey information, providing structured, often numerical
data, being able to be administered without the presence of the researcher,
and often being comparatively straightforward to analyze” (Wilson &
McLean, 1994, cited in essaycapital.com)
Because of students’ limited English proficiency, Vietnamese
versions of questionnaire are specially designed for students to decrease
the probable difficulty for them.
3.3.2. Interview
As stated above, the data collected from questionnaire are only fairly
reliable. They may not be trustworthy enough due to the unwillingness of
the participants. As a result, interview needs to be carried out in order to
gather more concise information. For more specific details about the
techniques of presenting new vocabularies and their effectiveness,
interview will be applied for 10 students and 3 teachers. The interviewees
are chosen basing on the questionnaires. Another purpose of interviewing
is to check whether students really understand the options in the
questionnaires and if they thought carefully before answering or not.
The interviews are conducted confidentially and in friendly
atmosphere. The interviewees clarify some unclear points in the
questionnaire and elaborate more on some detailed information. The
conversations are recorded and transcribed later on.
31
3.4. Sampling
According to Hatch and Lazaraton (1991), the sample should
include at least 30 people in order to achieve the “normal distribution”.
From the statistical significance’s point of view, the needed number of
participants is around 50 for statistical significance. Moreover, the range
from 1% to 10% of the population is often said to be the “magic sampling
fraction”. Each of the 20 QT classes has an approximately of 25 to 30
students. Therefore, the researcher decided to distribute questionnaire for
three classes. After that, basing on the questionnaire, researcher chose the
targets for interviewing to collect more detailed information.
3.5. Procedure
3.5.1. Data collection
As earlier mentioned, the data collection procedure of this study was
conducted with two instruments: surveys and interviews, both designed
by the researcher.
First of all, the researcher distributes pilot questionnaire randomly to
three students and one teacher. If necessary, adjustment will be applied
afterward to come up with the final questionnaire. The copies of the final
one will be given out for the participants. The soft copies can also be
made used of and sent through email if that way is more convenient for
the participants.
Secondly, basing on the general situation withdrawn from the
answers for questionnaire, the researcher will design interview questions
to look for more details. All interviews will be carried out with informal
32
and friendly atmosphere. All information about interviewees is
guaranteed to be confidential. The content of the interviews will be
recorded by the researcher.
3.5.2. Data analysis
First, for the questionnaire, the data from close-ended questions will
be statistically analyzed to answer the research questions. With the open-
ended questions, synthesis and classification will be employed to analyze
data. After writing the transcripts of the interview recordings, the
researcher will use the same methods as above to analyze the
interviewees’ answers for more specific information.
33
CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1. Findings
4.1.1. The frequency of using each technique in presenting the
meaning of new vocabulary as perceived by students:
Figure 1: The frequency of using each technique for presenting new vocabulary
as perceived by students
Figure 1 shows clearly that out of all techniques for presenting new
vocabulary, the least used one is the group of visual techniques. About
23% students said they never see these techniques used in class. The
majority asserted that they are rarely applied. Nearly two fifths claimed
that they are applied frequently (from often to always). Only 3% ticked
on “always” option for visual techniques group.
According to the data, translation seems not to be a highly
preferable technique. Although 14,8% student chose the option “always”
22,9
3 3 4,5 1,5
38,8
11,4 7,4
25,4
9
19,9
23,444,8
22,4
44,8
15,4
41,3
35,832,9 25,3
3
20,99
14,8 19,4
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Showing the meaning of
words visually
Showing words in context
Using synonyms or/ and
antonyms
Translation Combining different
techniques
Always
Usually
Often
Rarely
Never
34
for it, there another 30% who do not see the usage of this technique
regularly.
The techniques of using context, synonyms/ antonyms and
combining different techniques are exploited with roughly the same
frequency. All three of them receive the agreement of 85% to 90%
students for the categories from often to always. The first and the last one
are both used always in the opinion of one fifth of students.
Investigating the way teachers combine different techniques, the
researcher received fairly similar ideas from some students. Mainly, their
teachers use context together with visual instruments to illustrate the
words.
Figure 2: The frequency of using each sub-technique in “showing the meaning of
words visually” as perceived by students
Taking a closer look at the usage of visual techniques in figure 2, we
can see that realia is not a preferable tool for showing meanings of
13,4
49,3
5,9
59,7
41,8
14,9
25,4
8,9
25,4
1,5 0
44,8
0 09
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Using pictures Using realia Using mime
Always
Usually
Often
Rarely
Never
35
words. A half of students have never been exposed to this technique.
Another 42% said realia are rarely employed. Only 8,9% students often
learn new words through realia. On answering the question “How realia
are used in your class?”, student B claimed that his English teachers did
not use this tool so often and they mainly made use of the objects
available in class. However, objects I class hardly serve the topic in the
course book, hence they do not have much chance to be used.
As can be seen from the figure, the frequency of using pictures is
not high either. More than two thirds of students never or rarely study
new vocabulary through pictures. Among those, 13,4% said pictures are
never used.
Of all three visual sub-techniques, using mime is exploited the
most. This is the only technique that is always used according to 9% of
students. Other 70% confirmed that mime is usually or often employed by
their teachers.
Figure 3: The frequency of using each sub-technique in “showing the meaning of
words in context” as perceived by students
1,5 5,9 1,510,4
19,4
4,5
22,4
29,8
17,9
46,3
37,3
40,3
19,47,6
35,8
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Using examples Using situation Using explanations
Always
Usually
Often
Rarely
Never
36
Figure 3 shows that the frequencies of using each among 3 sub-
techniques in “showing the meaning of words in context” as perceived by
students are not remarkably different. Situation is the least exploited tool
since one fourths of students agreed that their teachers never or rarely use
situation to present new vocabulary. Meanwhile, this rate for the two
other tools is doubled (for using examples) and tripled (for using
explanations).
Remarkably, explanation is the most preferable instrument with the
confirmation of about three fourths of students, among those are 35,8 %
who chose “always” and 40,3% chose “usually”.
Using example technique has nearly the same frequency as using
explanations. But the percentage of students that that ticked on “never” or
“rarely” options of using examples (12%) almost doubles that of using
explanations (6%). The situation is reversed when it comes to the option
“always”. The number of students having chosen this option for using
examples is only more than a half of that for using explanations.
4.1.2. The frequency of using each technique in presenting new
vocabulary as perceived by teachers
4.1.2.1. The frequency of using each technique in presenting new
vocabulary according to teachers’ lesson plans
37
Figure 4: The frequency of using each technique in presenting new vocabulary
according to teachers’ lesson plans
From figure 4, it can be concluded that all techniques for presenting
new vocabulary are not neglected by teachers. More or less, all five
techniques have been put into teachers’ lesson plans. However, the
frequency of tending to use each one varies quite clearly. Outstandingly,
the techniques of showing meaning of words visually and translation
are rarely considered in lesson plans as 63,3% and 40% of teachers
claimed so respectively. On the other hand, the three techniques left seem
to be preferable, especially “showing words in context” with totally 67%
of teachers’ choice for “always” and “usually” options. Teacher A
explained the reason for not putting translation in her lesson plans:
I don’t put translation in lesson plan because it is not necessary to do so. It is
quite an “instinctual” technique. By “instinctual”, I mean when there is no
other way to explain the new words, teachers will automatically do this way.
0 0 0 0 0
63,3
0 0
40
0
30
33,3
50
60
60
6,7
56,7
50
0
30
010
0 010
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Showing the meaning of
words visually
Showing words in context
Using synonyms or/ and
antonyms
Translation Combining different
techniques
Always
Usually
Often
Rarely
Never
38
Figure 5: The frequency of using each sub-technique in "Showing the meaning of
words visually" according to lesson plans
Figure 5 reveals more details about the frequency "Showing the
meaning of words visually" according to lesson plans. All three
instruments for this technique rarely appear in the lesson plans of at least
a half of teachers. The highest rate of “rarely” option belongs to “using
realia” technique with 80%. However, for pictures and realia, there are
still 10% of teachers who usually employ them in their lesson plans.
Mime are tended to be often used by 50% and rarely used by the other
half.
0 0 0
60
80
50
30
10
50
10 1000 0 0
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Using pictures Using realia Using mime
Always
Usually
Often
Rarely
Never
39
Figure 6: The frequency of using each sub-technique in "showing words in
context" according to lesson plans
The technique of showing words in context are fairly favourable as
showed in figure 6. The situation is exactly the same for the technique of
“using examples” and “using explanations” since each one receives two
fifths of ticks for “often” and three fifths for “usually”. It is obvious that
the most utilized instrument in the lesson plans is situation. Up to a half
of teachers usually consider it and 30% always put it into their lesson
plans.
4.1.2.2. The frequency of using each technique in presenting new
vocabulary in actual teaching sessions
0 0 00 0 0
40
20
40
60
50
60
0
30
0
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Using examples Using situation Using explanations
Always
Usually
Often
Rarely
Never
40
Figure 7: The frequency of using each technique in presenting new vocabulary in
actual teaching sessions
Figure 7 illustrates the frequency of using each technique in
presenting new vocabulary in actual teaching sessions as perceived by
teachers.
Among all techniques, visual techniques are exceptionally rarely
exploited by 66,7% of teachers. No one claimed that he/she always uses
this technique, and it is usually used by only 6,6% of teachers. The
second least applied technique is translation. One fifth of teacher rarely
make use of it. Only one other fifth chose the options “always” and
“usually”. Teacher A answered that although translating words directly
into Vietnamese could help to save time, this technique should not be
over-used. She assumes that “if we (teachers) translate all the time, I
think the students cannot understand and remember the word as well as
when they have to analyze the context or examples in English.”
Therefore, she chose to have her students think more through
0 0 0 0 0
66,7
0 0
20
0
26,7
40
80
50
50
6,6
43,3
10 10
50
0
16,710 10
0
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Showing the meaning of
words visually
Showing words in context
Using synonyms or/ and
antonyms
Translation Combining different
techniques
Always
Usually
Often
Rarely
Never
41
explanations in order to help them understand and remember words
better.
For the other three techniques, no teacher said he/she rarely uses
them. Approximately 40% of teachers often employ “showing words in
context” and “combining different techniques”. That percentage for
“using synonyms/ antonyms” is 80%.
Of all five, the most actually applied technique “showing words in
context”, which receives the highest rate for “always” option (16,7%)
and secondly highest one for “usually” option (43,3%). All three teacher
in the interviews agreed that using context is the best way to show the
meanings of new vocabulary, both denotational and connotational ones.
“Combining different techniques” is the second choice because it is
rather complicated and time-consuming to carry out (according to teacher
C).
Figure 8: The frequency of using each sub-technique in “showing the meaning of
words visually” in actual teaching sessions
Visual techniques are generally not frequently used in actual
teaching sessions since at least a half of teachers ticked on “rarely”
0 0 0
7080
50
300
50
0
20
00 0 0
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Using pictures Using realia Using mime
Always
Usually
Often
Rarely
Never
42
options for each instrument, especially up to 80% for realia. However, it
is realia that is the only one employed usually by one fifth of teacher.
None of the teacher chose “usually” or “always” for “Using pictures” and
“using mime”. Each of the two techniques receive 30% and 50% of
“often” respectively.
Describing the way she used realia in class, teacher B said: “Most of
the time, I only use objects that are available around the class. It is
difficult to find and bring things to class.” She also explained that not
many words can be illustrated by real objects, so this technique is not
employed much by her.
Teacher C justified her reason for not using pictures frequently:
“Using picture requires careful preparation and a lot of time.” She needed
time to find the pictures that appropriate, simple and clear enough to
illustrate the word. Although pictures are beneficial for presenting the
denotational meaning of new words, they become impractical in the
context of the classroom. First, it would be costly if teachers prepare and
print pictures for every session. Second, one picture can hardly describe
more than one word. In that way, using pictures frequently is quite a
waste.
Teacher A thought that using mime is challenging for most teachers
if their body language was not flexible enough. This technique requires
good “acting/ performing skill” while not all teachers can master these
skills. “Moreover, if I don’t “act” well enough, the acting will become
awkward and the students still cannot catch the meaning I want to deliver.
In that way, mime turns out to be confusing and too complicated for
students” she explained.
43
Figure 9: The frequency of using each sub-technique in “showing the meaning of
words in context” in actual teaching sessions
Apparently, figure 9 proves that examples are the most highly
appreciate instrument by teacher in actual teaching sessions as three fifths
of teacher “usually” and 30% for “always”. Both of the two percentages
are higher than those of “using situation” and “using explanations”.
There is no percentage of “rarely” or “never” for all three
techniques. The rate of teachers who often apply situation and
explanation are 50% and 60% accordingly. According to teacher B, in
fact, teachers often combine these instruments and apply them at the same
time. “It’s difficult to clearly distinguish these three instruments. The
examples can also be the situations or explanations” she said.
Comparing the frequency of using each technique for presenting
vocabulary according to lesson plans and in actual teaching sessions, we
do not see much difference. The most outstanding dissimilarity is that in
0 0 00 0 010
5060
60
4030
30
10 10
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Using examples Using situation Using explanations
Always
Usually
Often
Rarely
Never
44
actual teaching sessions, the techniques of translation and using
synonyms/ antonyms are utilized more than having been planned.
In conclusion, taking a look at the frequency of using each technique
for presenting vocabulary as perceived by students and by teachers, the
researcher realized that despite the difference in terms of percentage for
the options of frequency, the general ratio among the frequency of 5
techniques are quite the same. According to the data from both sides
(teachers and students), the two most frequently used techniques are
showing words in context and combining several techniques. The
technique which is made used of the least is showing the meaning of
words visually.
45
4.1.3. The effectiveness of techniques for presenting vocabulary as
perceived by students:
Figure 10: The effectiveness of each technique for presenting denotational
meaning as perceived by students
Generally, from figure 10, we can say all five techniques are more or
less equally effective for presenting denotational meanings. The
percentages of students that believe in the effectiveness of these
techniques range from 58% (translation) to 75% (combining different
techniques). The combining of techniques is the most helpful one with
the agreement of about three fourths of students who chose “effective and
“very effective”, and none said it is ineffective.
There is not much difference in the number of students who affirm
the effectiveness of the other four techniques. However, it is noteworthy
that the rate of students considering visual techniques and translation as
“ineffective” and “little effective” are remarkably high comparing to that
8,51 0 1,5 0
10,4
3 613,4
1,5
25,4
25,432,8
28,4
22,4
37,3
45,7
41,822,4
35,8
18,424,9
19,4
34,340,3
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Showing the meaning of
words visually
Showing words in context
Using synonyms or/ and
antonyms
Translation Combining different
techniques
Very effective
Quite effective
Neutral
Little effective
Ineffective
46
of the others. While there is only 1,5% to 6% of students said that
showing word in context, using synonyms/ antonyms and combining
techniques are of little or no effective, this percentage for “showing the
meaning of words visually” and “translation” are 19% and 15%
respectively.
Figure 11: The effectiveness of each sub-technique in "Showing the meaning of
words visually" for presenting denotational meanings as perceived by students
As viewed in figure 11, three instruments in visual techniques group
have approximately similar level of effectiveness. From a half to three
fifths of students agreed that these three sub-techniques are effective.
About one fourths claimed they are neutral in this question.
It is notable that more students do not find using realia effective
comparing to the other two instruments. Up to 14,9% ticked on
“ineffective” and 9% ticked on “little effective” options for using realia.
This percentage for using pictures and using mime and pictures are both
614,9
4,5
13,4
9
9
22,4
25,3
28,4
40,3 28,4 43,3
17,922,4
14,8
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Using pictures Using realia Using mime
Very effectvie
Quite effective
Neutral
Little effective
Ineffective
47
under 20%. Also, only a half of students assert the efficiency of using
realia, which is less than that of nearly 60% of the other tools. Even so,
the number of students who find using realia very effective is the highest
one among the three (22,4%).
Explaining the ineffectiveness of using pictures in presenting new
vocabulary, student D complained that pictures sometimes could confuse
her.
Some pictures in course book or handouts are too small and of poor quality,
hence I cannot figure out the images. Moreover, there may by too many
objects in one picture that distract me from the main object that I need to pay
attention to.
So, it is the choice of pictures that has impact on the effectiveness of
this technique. Unclear and complicated ones would reverse the effect on
students.
48
Figure 12: The effectiveness of each sub-technique in "showing words in
context" for presenting denotational meanings as perceived by students
It can be withdrawn from figure 12 that using explanations is more
effective than using the other two instruments. Almost 80% of students
thought that explanations are useful for them in studying denotational
meanings of new vocabulary. More than one third of those affirm that
using this tool is “very effective”. Only 17,8% do not highly regard the
efficiency of this technique while that of using examples and situation are
31,3% and 26,8% accordingly. The techniques of using examples and
situation are similarly evaluated by three fourths of students as “very
effective” and “quite effective”. It is notable that there are 6% could not
see the efficiency of using situation to present denotational meanings.
0 1,5 1,534,5 1,5
31,3 26,8
17,9
44,841,8
50,7
20,925,4 28,4
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Using examples Using situation Using explanations
Very effective
Quite effective
Neutral
Little effective
Ineffective
49
Figure 13: The effectiveness of each technique for presenting connotational
meanings as perceived by students
When it comes to presenting connotational meaning, there is variety
in the evaluation for level of effectiveness among techniques (see figure
13). Overall, combining different techniques is claimed to be the most
effective one with 35,9% of students’ choice for “very effective”, 29,8%
for “quite effective” and only 1,5% for “little effective”.
Showing words in context, using synonyms/ antonyms are rather
equally helpful for students as more than 60% of them agreed on the
effectiveness of these two techniques.
Translation technique receives a considerable rate of 14,9% for
“little effective” option. However, it is “Showing the meaning of words
visually” that is proved to be the worst technique for presenting
connotational meaning of words. Up to 24% students claimed that they
50 0 0 0
18,9
4,5 7,514,9
1,5
39,3
30,831,3
29,8
32,8
27,3
40,3
47,726,9
29,8
9,5
24,413,5
28,435,9
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Showing the meaning of
words visually
Showing words in context
Using synonyms or/ and antonyms
Translation Combining different
techniques
Very effective
Quite effective
Neutral
Little effective
Ineffective
50
could not learn connotational meanings effectively through visual aids,
and only 35 % approve the effectiveness of them.
Figure 14: The effectiveness of each technique in "Showing the meaning of words
visually" for presenting connotational meaning as perceived by students
Similarly to the result of the whole group, each techniques in
“showing the meaning of word visually” is given not much approval for
the option “very effective” in presenting connotational meaning, only
from 6% (using realia) to 13,4% (using mime). Of all three instruments,
mime seems to be the most appreciated tool with the highest rate for both
“very effective” and “quite effective” option (48% in total ) and the
lowest rate for “little effective” and “ineffective” options (15% in total).
The percentage of students who disapproved the effectiveness of using
realia is noticeably high (more than 30%). Among those, one third said
realia are not effective at all in presenting connotational meaning. To
310,4
1,5
21
22,4
13,4
44,735,8
37,3
22,3 25,4
34,4
9,5 613,4
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Using pictures Using realia Using mime
Very effectvie
Quite effective
Neutral
Little effective
Ineffective
51
answer the question “How can pictures help you to learn the
connotational meaning of new word?” student E said:
Pictures only are not enough to show the connotational meaning. It is
necessary that teachers ass more explanation. And we need no know the
denotational meaning, then we may infer the connotatinal meaning.
Figure 15: The effectiveness of each sub-technique in "Showing words in
context" for presenting connotational meanings as perceived by students
The situation is brighter for “showing words in context” sub-
techniques. Generally, the majority of students (from 59% to 69%)
asserted the effectiveness of these techniques for presenting connotational
meaning of new vocabulary. Only less than 6% did not find these three
sub-techniques effective for them. Using examples is slightly less
effective than the other techniques with the disproportion of nearly 10%
for “very effective” and “quite effective” options.
0 0 03 4,5 6
38,828,4 25,4
38,8
40,3 41,8
19,426,8 26,8
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Using examples Using situation Using explanations
Very effective
Quite effective
Neutral
Little effective
Ineffective
52
Briefly, it can be concluded that the two most effective techniques
for presenting vocabulary as perceived by students are “showing words in
context” and “combining different techniques”. Three sub-techniques of
the former one are equally effective in the opinion of students of Strategic
Mission Program.
4.2. Suggestions to improve the effectiveness of techniques for
presenting new vocabulary:
4.2.1. Suggestions by teachers:
In teacher’s opinion, there are two main kinds of difficulty when
using these five techniques to present new vocabulary. First, it is the
limitation in the characteristics of each technique. For examples, realia is
not frequently employed because they cannot illustrate the abstract nouns.
Second, the difficulties rise in the procedure of carrying out the
techniques. The techniques can be time-consuming to carry out,
demanding in preparation, too complicated for students or not appealing
enough for students. Giving the solutions for these problems, teachers
raise some possible remedies. Teacher B shared her experience in using
context to present new vocabulary:
I myself find using context to explain words effective and clear. However, it
seems that a number of students don’t think so. I guess it is because the
examples and situations are not good enough. They cannot attract students. I
think maybe the teachers need more sense of humour, or creativity to provide
interesting and effective examples or explanations.
For the difficulty when using visual instruments like pictures or
realia, teachers had the same point of view that they should be more
53
practical and flexible when applying this way. Teacher A contributed her
method:
Teacher can make use of the drawing talent of students. For example, once
I conducted a word game, I required one student from each team to
illustrate the words by drawing simple images onto the board. Certainly, the
teams chose their best painters. The activity was eagerly approved and I
could save much time and money on preparing the pictures myself.
The teachers suggested some more techniques that could be useful in
presenting new vocabulary. One method that was raised by most teachers
is using game. Teacher A said:
I think create a competitive vocabulary game is an effective way to increase
students’ motivation, such as some quizzes with marks to decide which
group is the winner, which is the loser, and the loser will have to do
something to “entertain” the whole class.
The game for presenting vocabulary can be diversity, depending on
the creativity and the aim of each teacher. The normal psychology of
students is to prefer playing than studying (according to teacher C);
moreover, four continuous periods for a session is rather long and tiring,
so games become helpful in both comforting students, offering them time
to take off stress and simultaneously drawing their attention. Andrew
Wright (1984) would agree with this opinion as he said language learning
is “hard work’ which requires effort at every moment and must be
maintained over a long period of time. Therefore, games encourage many
learners to “sustain their interest and work”. He also pointed out that one
more advantage of games is to help the teacher to create contexts in
which the language is useful and meaningful. In order to take part in the
games, students must understand and be able to respond to what is
happening. In that way, both the confidence and language acquisition of
them are enhanced.
54
Some teachers think that instead of explaining the words or
translating them for students, teacher can ask somebody in class to
clarify meaning (either explain or translate) for the other ones. “Learning
from classmates is more effective than from teachers to some extends”
said teacher B. The reason is that students in one class normally have the
common background knowledge, interest and general level of English
acquisition. Consequently, one student may understand what his/ her
friends need or how they want the words to be explained better than
teachers do. Moreover, students would be more open with their peers than
with their supervisors. They feel more comfortable to question the
speakers or require more clarification if the provided one has not been
satisfactory enough. The feeling of comfort is also a factor that affects the
efficiency of studying new knowledge.
Another techniques suggested by teachers is using questions.
Teacher C stated that she would use this instrument together with
translation because of the “very low level of English competency of
students”. The questions should be clear, simple and suggestive so that
students can gradually reach the meaning of vocabulary by themselves.
The last technique raised by teachers is having students use
dictionary. Teacher A said:
Sometimes, there are too many new words that teacher cannot handle all, as
in a reading text. In that case, students should figure out the word on their
own. Additionally, using dictionary is a skill that needs to be mastered as
students’ level improves.
There are some certain advantages of using dictionary. First, students
will access to both the meaning and the form (spelling and pronunciation)
of the word. This lessens the chance of misspelling and mispronouncing
55
the words due to the external affection. Second, the definition provided in
the dictionary is precise with examples to illustrate, which helps to avoid
misunderstanding due to ambiguous explanation by teachers. Last,
English learners should know how to read the dictionary properly. By
“properly”, it means that students should know what kind of meaning
they are looking up for, and which one among the provided meanings is
appropriate. However, having students use dictionary, teachers should
still explain more in case the examples in dictionary are too complicated
or not familiar.
4.2.2. Suggestions by students
More than one third of students confirmed that they would like visual
aids, especially pictures to be employed more in class for presenting new
vocabulary. Students A agreed: “I would love to learn new words through
pictures. They are easy to understand and interesting. Looking at pictures
help me feel more comfortable and less boring in class.” Nevertheless, as
mentioned in the findings, pictures used in class should be in good quality
in order to ensure their effectiveness.
One more technique which is approximately as preferred by students
as using pictures is showing words in context. They would like to be
provided with sentences or paragraphs including new words in order to
figure out the meaning by themselves. Students also suggested that
teachers should use simple and familiar explanations. Student A gave an
example:
When teaching about people’s characteristics, instead of giving us general
examples about someone named John or Tom, or some “he” or “she”,
56
teachers can take someone in my class as an illustration. It would be much
more vivid and interesting.
Some students claimed that using synonyms/ antonyms to present
new words is the best way. Student D said: “I like to learn new words by
synonyms and antonyms because this way helps me to understand much
faster and remember better. Furthermore, there are some general rules for
creating antonym like adding prefix. Therefore, if I have known some
rules, I can easily guess the meaning of the antonyms.”
One technique that quite a lot of students raised is providing new
vocabulary in theme/ topic. “We can draw mind maps to study words
better” is the opinion of student A. Studying new words in certain topics
together with mind maps helps students to remember words
systematically. Hence, this is a useful method to present denotational
meaning of vocabulary.
Lastly, using games is also a preferable method for presenting
vocabulary to students. Almost all students interviewed affirmed their
expectation of having more games in class. Especially, when there is a
theme for the lesson, games for new vocabulary is highly recommended
because they will be easier to carry out. Inputting a large amount of new
words is challenging and tiring for students at low level. Games help to
ease the stress and inspire students.
4.3. Conclusion
In general, there is not much difference between the frequency of
using each technique for presenting vocabulary as perceived by teacher
and as perceived by students. Both two targets confirmed the highest
frequency of “Showing words in context” and “Combining several
57
techniques” and the lowest one of “showing the meaning of words
visually”.
In the opinion of students, the two most effective techniques for
presenting vocabulary are “showing words in context” and “combining
different techniques”.
Suggesting ways to improve the effectiveness of presenting new
vocabulary, students stated that the five main techniques by Penny Ur
should be enhanced and employed more in class, especially using
pictures, synonyms/ antonyms and showing words in context. Besides
those techniques in the theory, teachers and students have quite different
ways to improve the effectiveness. Teachers have the tendency to require
students to work more, which explains their choice of techniques like
having students use dictionary or explain words for peers. From the other
side, students wish for more games and some changes in terms of the way
teachers apply techniques.
58
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
5.1. Summary
After analyzing data from questionnaire and interviews, the
researcher found out that there is not much difference between the
frequency of using each technique for presenting vocabulary from the
perception of teacher and of students. Both two sides agreed on the
highest frequency of “showing words in context” and “combining several
techniques” and the lowest one of “showing the meaning of words
visually”. Regarding the instruments for showing words in context,
mimes (actions) is the most preferable one while realia are not applied
frequently due to some limitations of its. On the other hand, the three
instruments in “showing words in context” are equally employed.
In terms of the effectiveness of techniques for presenting
denotational meaning of vocabulary, most students confirmed that
combining different techniques is the most efficient method, and the least
useful one is the visual technique of using realia. For presenting
connotational meaning, once again, combining different techniques is the
most highly estimated method by students, and using realia is still the
worst one in their opinion.
Students and teachers of Strategic Mission Program have different
suggestions in order to improve the effectiveness of presenting new
vocabulary. AS for students, they would like the five main techniques by
Penny Ur should be enhanced and employed more in class, especially
using pictures, synonyms/ antonyms and showing words in context.
Besides those techniques in the theory, teachers and students have
suggested additional ways to improve the effectiveness. Both of them
emphasized the advantages of games for presenting vocabulary, which is
59
said to be able to keep the motivation of students. From one side, most
teachers seem to have the tendency to require students to work mentally
more, for which reasons they preferred techniques like having students
use dictionary or explain words for peers. From the other side, students
wish for more games and some alternations in terms of the way teachers
apply techniques.
5.2. Teaching implications
From the result of the study, the researcher believe that the key
factor affecting the efficiency of presenting new vocabulary is the way
each technique is conducted in the context of classroom. This depends on
how experienced and skillful teachers are. Taking using mime as an
example, we can see that if teachers want to apply this technique
effectually, they need to be creative and competent in order to use body
language smoothly without creating awkwardness and confusion.
It is quite surprising that some techniques are supposed to be useful
turned out to be less effective than expected like using visual aids
(pictures or realia). As a result, teachers should carefully consider the
quality of instruments and the procedure of using them in class.
One more experience can be withdrawn from the result of the
research is that teachers should pay more attention to the needs of
students and their background in general. Students’ interest, level,
difficulty, etc have considerable impact on the effectiveness of the
teaching techniques. Having understood those factors, teachers can have
more reliable criteria to base on so that to prepare and perform better.
5.3. Limitation of the study
60
First, due to the time limitation, the study could not explore
thoroughly all aspects of presenting new vocabulary. It only focuses on
techniques to present the meanings of new vocabulary. Moreover, the
method of the study was not enough to investigate all three aspects of
meaning but had to leave out the “appropriateness of a particular item in
a certain context”. Therefore, the finding of the study is not really
adequate.
Second, there were some technical problem shown up in designing
questionnaire and data analyzing. That led to some changes in literature
review and methodology. This is a disadvantage since the whole
framework is affected and the aim of the study also had to change.
Third, the little experience and knowledge of the researcher is
another limitation which made the study less insightful. Moreover, as the
target of the study (Strategic Mission Program) is brand new, there is
absolutely no previous study for the researcher to base on and to
compare. Consequently, the procedure of analyzing data and discussing is
rather challenging.
Last, options for question 4 in the survey questionnaire for teachers
(“What are the reasons for you NOT to use some techniques?) only serves
the aim of guiding; the researcher did not base on any expert’s opinion to
create the option. However, the researcher found out that somehow the
options had imposition on teachers. Most teachers just ticked on the
option without contributing their own difficulty. Consequently, the
information from this question is less authentic. This slightly decreases
the objectiveness of the study.
61
5.4. Suggestion for further research
Since 2011 is the first year of Strategic Mission, the program cannot
avoid certain problem in terms of syllabus, teaching method, course book
and materials. Accordingly, there is a large number of issue waiting to be
explored, discussed and improved. Researchers in the future have a wide
range of topic to choose. If anyone is interested in technique for
presenting new vocabulary, they can come up with methodology which is
qualified enough to investigate all aspects of meaning of words, or
explore the techniques to teach both the meanings and the forms of
vocabulary.
Researchers should also pay attention to students’ English level
when carrying out studies, especially when designing the questionnaires
and interview questions. Students may not be clear about some
complicated terminologies. If the data from questionnaire is not reliable
enough, guiding questions in interview should make up for it well.
62
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Hatch, E. and Brown, C. (1995) Vocabulary, Semantics and Language
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Reddy, V, H. (2010). Selection, Classification, Strategies of Developing
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65
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Questionnaire for teacher
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS
My name is Nguyen Vu Xuan Lan from group 07.1.E1. I am carrying out
a study on THE TECHNIQUES BY TEACHERS IN PRESENTING NEW
VOCABULARY AND THEIR EFFECTIVENESS AS PERCEIVED BY
STUDENTS OF THE STRATEGIC MISSION PROGRAM IN VIETNAM
NATION UNIVERSITY. This questionnaire is an important part of my
research; therefore I would highly appreciate if you could spend time on
it. Thank you in advance
Personal information:
Name:……………………………………………
Email:……………………………………………..
1. According to your lesson plans, which techniques you often
intend to use for presenting new vocabulary to students? Rank
the following techniques according to the frequency of usage.
1 = Never
2 = Rarely
3 = Often
4 = Usually
5 = Always
66
Techniques Frequency of usage
1 2 3 4 5
1. Showing the meaning of words
visually
Using pictures
Using realia
Using mime
2. Showing words in context
Using examples
Using situation
Using explanations
3. Using synonyms or/and
antonyms
4. Translation
5. Combining different
techniques
67
2. In actual teaching sessions, how often do you use each technique for
presenting new vocabulary to students? Rank the following
techniques according to the frequency of usage.
1 = Never
2 = Rarely
3 = Often
4 = Usually
5 = Always
Techniques Frequency of usage
1 2 3 4 5
1. Showing the meaning of words
visually
Using pictures
Using realia
Using mime
2. Showing words in context
Using examples
Using situation
Using explanations
3. Using synonyms or/and
antonyms
4. Translation
5. Combining different
techniques
68
3. According to your estimation, how effective are each technique in
presenting new vocabulary to students? Rank the following
techniques according to the level of effectiveness.
1 = Not effective at all
2 = Very little effective
3 = Fairly effective
4 = Effective
5 = Very effective
Techniques Range of effectiveness
1 2 3 4 5
1. Showing the meaning of words
visually
Using pictures
Using realia
Using mime
2. Showing words in context
Using examples
Using situation
Using explanations
3. Using synonyms or/and
antonyms
4. Translation
5. Combining different
techniques
69
4. What are the reasons for you NOT to use some techniques? Put a ( )
on your reason.
Techniques Reasons NOT to use
Time -
consuming
to carry
out
Demanding
in
preparation
Too
complicated
for students
Not
appealing
to
students
Other
reasons
1. Showing the
meaning of words
visually
Using pictures
Using realia
Using mime
2. Showing words in
context
Using examples
Using situation
Using
explanations
3. Using synonyms
or/and
antonyms
4. Translation
5. Combining
different
techniques
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For other reasons, please clarify here:
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………
5. Could you suggest some ways to improve the effectiveness of
presenting new vocabulary for students?
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
…
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Appendix 2: Questionnaire for students
BẢN ĐIỀU TRA DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN
Chào các bạn, mình là Nguyễn Vũ Xuân Lan, sinh viên lớp 07.1.E1 trường Đại
Học Ngoại Ngữ, Đại Học Quốc Gia Hà Nội. Mình đang thực hiện khóa luận tốt
nghiệp với đề tài “Phương pháp dạy từ mới của giáo viên và tính hiệu quả qua sự
đánh giả của sinh viên Nhiệm Vụ Chiến Lược, trường đại học Quốc Gia”. Bản
điều tra này là một phần rất quan trọng quyết định sự thành công của đề tài
nghiên cứu, vì vậy mình mong các có thể bỏ chút thời gian để đọc và hoàn thành.
Mọi thông tin cá nhân của bạn sẽ được đảm bảo. Vô cùng cảm ơn sự hợp tác của
các bạn!
Thông tin cá nhân:
Họ và tên:……………………………………………………………
Lớp:……………………………………………………………….
E-mail:……………………………………………………………..
1. Giáo viên Tiếng Anh của bạn thường sử dụng phương pháp nào để
giới thiệu các từ mới trong bài học? Hãy cho điểm mức độ thường
xuyên theo thang điểm sau:
1 = Không bao giờ
2 = Hiếm khi
3 = Thường
4 = Thường xuyên
5 = Luôn luôn
Phương pháp Mức độ thường xuyên
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1 2 3 4 5
1. Giải nghĩa từ bằng hình ảnh
Sử dụng tranh ảnh
Sử dụng đồ vật thật
Sử dụng hành động
2. Giải nghĩa từ dựa vào ngữ
cảnh
Đưa ra câu ví dụ
Đưa ra tình huống
Đưa ra lời giải thích
3. Dùng từ đồng nghĩa/ trái nghĩa
4. Dịch sang tiếng Việt
5. Kết hợp nhiều phương pháp
2. Theo bạn, từng phương pháp dạy từ mới có hiệu quả như thế nào
trong việc giúp bạn nắm được nghĩa đen (denotational meaning) của
một từ? Hãy cho điểm mức độ hiệu quả theo thang điểm sau:
1= Không hiệu quả
2= Ít hiệu quả
3 = Bình thường
4= Khá hiệu quả
5 = Rất hiệu quả
Phương pháp Mức độ hiệu quả
1 2 3 4 5
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1. Giải nghĩa từ bằng hình ảnh
Sử dụng tranh ảnh
Sử dụng đồ vật thật
Sử dụng hành động
2. Giải nghĩa từ dựa vào ngữ
cảnh
Đưa ra câu ví dụ
Đưa ra tình huống
Đưa ra lời giải thích
3. Dùng từ đồng nghĩa/ trái nghĩa
4. Dịch sang tiếng Việt
5. Kết hợp nhiều phương pháp
3. Theo bạn, từng phương pháp dạy từ mới có hiệu quả như thế nào
trong việc giúp bạn nắm được nghĩa mở rộng/ nghĩa bóng
(connotational meaning) của một từ? Hãy cho điểm mức độ hiệu quả
theo thang điểm sau:
1= Không hiệu quả
2= Ít hiệu quả
3 = Bình thường
4= Khá hiệu quả
5 = Rất hiệu quả
Phương pháp Mức độ hiệu quả
1 2 3 4 5
1. Giải nghĩa từ bằng hình ảnh
Sử dụng tranh ảnh
74
Sử dụng đồ vật thật
Sử dụng hành động
2. Giải nghĩa từ dựa vào ngữ
cảnh
Đưa ra câu ví dụ
Đưa ra tình huống
Đưa ra lời giải thích
3. Sử dụng từ đồng nghĩa/ trái
nghĩa
4. Dịch sang tiếng Việt
5. Kết hợp nhiều phương pháp
4. Bạn có ý kiến gì để giúp cải thiện mức độ hiệu quả của việc dạy từ
mới cho sinh viên?
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………
……………
Cảm ơn các bạn đã hợp tác!
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Appendix 3: Guiding questions for interview
A. For teachers:
1. How do you use realia and pictures?
2. Why don’t you use translation frequently?
3. In your opinion, what are the advantages of each technique?
4. What are the difficulties when applying these techniques?
5. What are your solutions?
B. For students:
1. Why do you find each technique is effective/ ineffective?
2. How can visual/ realia be not effective in showing denotational
meaning?
3. How visual show the connotational meaning?
4. What kind of realia do your teachers use?
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Appendix 4: Sample of interview’s transcript
Time: April 18th
2011
Place: French Department
Interviewee: Teacher A
Q: Good morning. Thank you for being here. First, I would like to know
which ones among five techniques here you often use.
A: Among these ones, I prefer using situation and synonyms/ antonyms.
Q: How about visual aids? You don’t use them frequently?
A: I think it’s good to use visual aids. However, it’s time-consuming and
costly to prepare. You know, I will have to spend time searching for the
appropriate pictures and print them. That’s why I don’t use visual aids so
often. I only make use of pictures in textbooks or handouts.
Q: Have you ever used real objects? And how?
A: Yes, I used to, but only twice or three times. I pointed at some objects in
the class like “projector” or “air-conditional” when teaching those words. I
find using real objects is even more complicated than pictures since the
available ones are so limited.
Q: How about mime or actions to illustrate the words?
A: Using mime is challenging for me because my body language is not
flexible enough. This technique requires good “acting/ performing skill”. Not
all teachers can master this skill. Moreover, if I don’t “act” well enough, the
acting will become awkward and the students still cannot catch the meaning I
77
want to deliver. In that way, mime turns out to be confusing and too
complicated for students.
Q: According to your questionnaire, you never put “translation” in your lesson
plans, but still use them in class. Could you explain?
A: Translation in lesson plan: I don’t put translation in lesson plan because it
is not necessary to do so. It is quite an “instinct” technique. By “instinct”, I
mean when there is no other way to explain the new words, teachers will
automatically do this way. Moreover, teacher should avoid translating too
much.
Q: Why do you think so?
A: Normally, English teachers prefer to translate words directly into
Vietnamese to save time. But I think this method should not be over-used.
Translating is too easy-going. If we translate all the time, I think the students
cannot understand and remember the word as well as when they have to
analyze the context or examples in English. If students have to think more, I
think they will understand and remember better.
Q: One of your suggestions to improve the effectiveness of these techniques
is asking students to use dictionaries. I would like some more detail
explanation about this.
A: Yes. Sometimes, there are too many new words that teacher cannot handle
all, as in a reading text. In that case, students should figure out the word on
their own. Additionally, using dictionary is a skill that needs to be mastered as
students’ level improves.
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Q: Just one more question. How do you use game in class and what is the
benefit of game?
A: I think create a competitive vocabulary game is an effective way to
increase students’ motivation, such as some quizzes with marks to decide
which group is the winner, which is the loser, and the loser will have to do
something to “entertain” the whole class.
Q: That’s the end of the interview. Thank you so much for your cooperation.
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Appendix 5: Sample of interview’s transcript
Time: April 20th
2011
Place: French Department
Interviewee: Student A
Q: Chào em. Chúng ta bắt đầu luôn nhé. Chị muốn hỏi lại là trong năm
phương pháp dạy từ mới này, thì thầy cô lớp em sử dụng phương pháp nào
thường xuyên nhất?
A: Em thấy là thầy cô dùng cách giải thích và đưa ví dụ nhiều nhất.
Q: Em có thấy cách này hiệu quả đối với em không?
A: Có ạ. Em thấy cách này khá sinh động. Bằng cách phân tích ví dụ, bọn em
vừa học được nghĩa, vừa học được cách sử dụng từ.
Q: Bản thân em thích học bằng cách nào nhất?
A: Em thích thầy cô sử dụng tranh ảnh, vì như thế dễ hiều và thú vị. Nhìn
tranh ảnh trong giờ học giúp em đỡ thấy buồn chán.
Q: Tức là theo em, tranh ảnh là cách dạy từ mới hiệu quả nhất?
A: Thật ra cũng có lúc không hiệu quả. Thỉnh thoảng sử dụng hình ảnh để giải
nghĩa lại khiến em hiểu nhầm. Chẳng hạn như tranh trong sách hay trong tài
liệu được phát, có những tranh bé và tối nên em không nhìn ra. Hoặc là trong
1 tranh có nhiều thứ quá nên em bị lẫn, không hiểu vật chính mình cần nhìn là
gì. Chẳng hạn có lần bọn em học từ “puddle” (vũng nước), nhưng trong tranh
lại vẽ cả cảnh trời mưa và người đi đường nữa, nên nhìn tranh em không đoán
ra được “puddle” là gì.
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Q: Vậy vấn đề là ở chỗ tranh ảnh không rõ ràng hoặc không phù hợp phải
không?
A: Vâng.
Q: Vậy còn đồ vật thật. Thầy cô lớp em có bao giờ sử dụng không?
A: Hầu như không ạ. Em nghĩ là sử dụng đồ vật thì khá rắc rối, khó chuẩn bị.
Chỉ thỉnh thoảng nếu có thứ gì đấy quanh lớp sử dụng được thì thầy cô mới
dùng nó để giải nghĩa thôi.
Q: Theo bản điều tra, em có chọn mức “bình thường” cho “độ hiệu quả của
việc sử dụng hình ảnh khi giải thích nghĩa bóng của từ mới”. Em có thể giải
thích tại sao hình ảnh giúp giải thích nghĩa bóng thế nào không?
A: Thật ra chỉ có hình ảnh thôi thì không đủ để nêu ra nghĩa bóng. Thầy cô
vẫn phải giải thích thêm. Và từ nghĩa đen bọn em mới suy ra nghĩa bóng
được.
Q: Em nghĩ sao về cách “sử dụng từ đồng nghĩa hoặc trái nghĩa”?
A: Em thấy cách này cũng hay và có hiệu quả. Vì như thế bọn em vừa được
học từ mới vừa ôn lại từ cũ. Ngoài ra, đôi khi em có thể tự đoán nghĩa hoặc
đoán cách viết dựa vào các quy tắc của từ trái nghĩa như thêm “un”, “in”…
Q: Còn về cách “kết hợp nhiều phương pháp khác nhau”, thầy cô em thường
sử dụng thế nào?
A: Thầy cô thương kết hợp đưa ví dụ kèm giải thích, hay là giải thích kèm với
một ít hành động, hoặc tranh ảnh kết hợp với giải thích thêm.
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Q: Ừ. Bây giờ là câu hỏi cuối cùng cho em: Em có đề xuất hay mong muốn gì
để cải thiện độ hiệu quả của việc dạy từ mới không?
A: Có ạ. Em muốn thầy cô thêm một số cách khác như trò chơi chẳng hạn. Vì
thường bọn em học 4 tiết liên tục, nếu có trò chơi thì cả lớp sẽ có hứng và đỡ
mệt hơn. Ngoài ra, khi đưa ví dụ để giải nghĩa từ, em muốn thầy cô dùng
những ví dụ hài hước, đơn giản và gần gũi với bọn em. Như thế thì ví dụ sẽ
hay hơn nhiều.
Q: Ok. Vậy là buổi phỏng vẫn đã xong. Cảm ơn em rất nhiều!