Innovative tactics for helping Bac Son High School grade 11 students to memorize vocabulary effectively

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
BAC SON HIGH SCHOOL
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
INNOVATIVE TACTICS FOR HELPING BAC SON HIGH SCHOOL GRADE 11 STUDENTS TO MEMORIZE VOCABULARY EFFECTIVELY
Writer: Trieu Thi Dao
Position: Teacher
Topic in the field of: English
Thanh hoa, 20th May 2018
INDEX 
CONTENT
Page
A. INTRODUCTION 
3
I. Reasons to choose the theme 
3
II. Aims of the research
3
III. Subjective of the research 
4
IV. Methodology of the research
4
B. CONTENTS 
5
I. Theoretical basis of the study.
5
I.1. Definitions of vocabulary
5
I.2. The Importance of vocabulary in learning a Language
5
I.3. Techniques for memorizing vocabulary
7
II. Reality of the issue 
8
III. The practical basics of the study
8
III.1. Solutions
8
III. 2. Techniques to memorize vovabulary effectively
8
III. 3. Some practical exercises
9
TEST USED FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
11
IV. Experimental results
13
C. CONCLUSION
14
1. Experience lessons
14
2. Proposal 
14
REFERENCE 
15
A. INTRODUCTION	 
 I.Reasons to choose the theme 
 Over the last few years, teaching English has become a heated issue and frequently discussed in seminars of education, on mass media, or even in a sidewalk tea shop ..etc...The hotness of the matter has been pervasive to every part of Bac Son High school where I have been teaching English for six years. In respond to the call of Ministry of Education and Training about renovating English teaching and learning methods with the aim of increasing the quality of teaching and learing English in new period, I myself have been continously innovating different teaching methods so as that my students could gradually improve their English.
 However, in my teaching process, I have discovered that the majority of my students are ethnic minority people. They live in secluded areas, where people's living condition are still very poor and backward.Therefore, they have a lot of difficulties in absorbing a foreign language like English.They find it difficult to talk and write in English because they lack of vocabulary. Vocabulary of a language is just like bricks for constructing a building. Like bricks, they are vital for the building of a language. Language is made up of words. If we want to use language effectively, we must have good stock of vocabulary(Prashant Subhash Mothe, Adarsh Senior College, Omerga Dist.Osmanabad (MS) India). 
 In addition,vocabulary, as one of the knowledge areas in language, plays a great role for learners in acquiring a language (Cameron, 2001). Harmon, Wood, &Keser, (2009) as well as Linse (2005) state that learners’ vocabulary development is an important aspect of their language development. Although it has been neglected for a long time, researchers have increasingly been turning their attention to vocabulary e.g. Carter and McCarthy (1988), Nation (1990), Arnaud and Bejoint (1992), Huckin, Haynes and Coady (1995), Coady and Huckin (1997), Schmitt (1997, 2000) Read (1997).
 With the ambition to help students remember new words positively and actively, I decided to change my teaching method, which started from renovating teaching vocabulary. After a year of applying new teaching method, I have achieved a number of important results. 
 In this research, I would like to share some of my real experiences in teaching vocabulary to 11th- grade students in far-off regions and take Bac Son High School as a significant example. For this reason, I choose the theme "Innovative tactics for helping Bac Son High School grade 11 students to memorize vocabulary effectively"
II. Aims of the research
 Normally, when teaching vocabulary, a teacher often tries to apply different techniques for introducing new words. They, however, does not pay much attention to raise students' vocabulary resources.
 Being aware of my responsibilities when working as an English teacher, I wrote this research for the major purposes:
 - To help students at Bac Son High School to learn vocabulary in effective ways
 - To share some of my opinions on vocabulary revision with my colleagues and help them as well as my students partially diminish the difficulties when teaching and learning related lessons.
III. Subjectives of the research
 The study was carried out on students in two classes: 11A3 and 11A5. The total number of students participating in the research is 61. Among them, there are 27 girls and 34 boys. Most of the students come from far- off region of Ngoc Lac District, Thanh Hoa Province. Many of them have low living standard and poor living condition. In order to have complete statistics in high reliability, I combined the analysis and the comparison of scores which students got in their vocabulary test in class 11A3 and 11A5. Among them, class 11A3 participated in the research while the other did not. 
IV. Methodology of the research
 - Gather information from Internet and books
 - Teach some classes based on new tactics for memorizing new words
 - Gather sudents' result and evaluate
B. CONTENTS
I. Theoretical basis of study
I.1. Definition of vocabulary
 Many authors have similar definitions about vocabulary. According to Hubbard (1983) vocabulary can be defined as a powerful carrier of meaning. Additionally, Diamond & Gutlohn (2006) suggest that vocabulary is the knowledge of words and their meanings. This means that without establishing a strong vocabulary base first, comprehension and use of a language will not be achieved.
 Vocabulary can be defined as '' words we must know to communicate effectively; words in speaking (expressive vocabulary) and words in listening (receptive vocabulary)'' (Neuman&Dwyer, 2009, p. 385). Hornby (1995)defines vocabulary as ''the total number of International Journal of Teaching and Education Vol. III, No. 3 / 2015 24 words in a language; vocabulary is a list of words with their meanings”. While Ur (1998)states: “Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign language. However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than just a single word: for example, post office, and mother-in-law, which are made up of two or three words but express a single idea. A useful convention is to cover all such cases by talking about vocabulary "items"rather than "words."In addition, Burns (1972)defines vocabulary as" the stock of words which is used by a person, class or profession. According to Zimmerman cited in Coady and Huckin (1998)‘vocabulary is central to language and of critical importance to the typical language learning. Furthermore, Diamond and Gutlohn (2006) in www.readingrockets.org/article state that vocabulary is the knowledge of words and word meanings.”
I.2. The importance of learning vocabulary
 Vocabulary knowledge is often viewed as a critical tool for second language learners because a limited vocabulary in a second language impedes successful communication. Underscoring the importance of vocabulary acquisition, Schmitt (2000) emphasizes that “lexical knowledge is central to communicative competence and to the acquisition of a second language” p. 55) 
 Nation (2001) further describes the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and language use as complementary: knowledge of vocabulary enables language use and, conversely, language use leads to an increase in vocabulary knowledge. 
 The importance of vocabulary is demonstrateddaily in and out the school. In classroom, the achieving students possess the most sufficient vocabulary. 
 Researchers such asLaufer and Nation (1999), Maximo (2000), Read (2000), Gu (2003), Marion (2008) and Nation (2011) and others have realised that the acquisition of vocabulary is essential for successful second language use and plays an important role in the formation of complete spoken and written texts. In English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL) learning vocabulary items plays a vital role in all language skills (i.e. listening, speaking, reading, and writing (Nation,2011).Rivers and Nunan (1991), furthermore, argue that the acquisition of an adequate vocabulary is essential for successful second language use because without an extensive vocabulary, we will be unable to use the structures and functions we may have learned for comprehensible communication. 
 Research has shown that second language readers rely heavily on vocabulary knowledge and the lack of that knowledge is the main and the largest obstacle for L2 readers to overcome (Huckin,1995). In production, when we have a meaning or concept that we wish to express, we need to have a store of words from which we can select to express this meaning or concept. ‘‘When students travel, they don’t carry grammar books, they carry dictionaries’’ (Krashen, as cited in Lewis, 1993, p25Many researchers argue that vocabulary is one of the most important-if not the most important- components in learning a foreign language, and foreign language curricula must reflect this. Wilkins (1972) states that: ‘‘There is not much value in being able to produce grammatical sentences if one has not got the vocabulary that is needed to convey what one wishes to say  While without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed’’ p97).Other International Journal of Teaching and Education Vol. III, No. 3 / 2015 22 scholars such as Richards (1980) and Krashen (1989), as cited in Maximo (2000)state many reasons for devoting attention to vocabulary. “First, a large vocabulary is of course essential for mastery of a language. Second language acquirers know this; they carry dictionaries with them, not grammar books, and regularly report that the lack of vocabulary is a major problem’’. 
 On the other hand, vocabulary has been acknowledged as L2 learners’ greatest single source of problems (Meara, 1980). This remark may possibly reflect that the openendedness of a vocabulary system is perceived to be a cause of difficulty by learners. Another possible reason is that, unlike syntax and phonology, vocabulary does not have rulesthe learners may follow to acquire and develop their knowledge. In other words, it is not clear in L2 vocabulary learning what rules apply or which vocabulary items should be learned first. Oxford (1990)also claims that vocabulary is “by far the most sizeable and unmanageable component in the learning of any language, whether a foreign or one’s mother tongue, because of tens of thousands of different meanings” 
 Despite these difficulties that language learners face in L2 vocabulary, they still have to deal with it in their examinations as ‘‘vocabulary has traditionally been one of the language components measured in language tests’’ (Schmitt, 1999, 189). Furthermore, many learners see second language acquisition (SLA) as essentially a matter of learning vocabulary and therefore they spend a great deal of time on memorising lists of L2 words and rely on their bilingual dictionary as a basic communicative resource. As a result, language teachers and applied linguists now generally recognise the importance of vocabulary learning and are exploring ways of promoting it more effectively. Some of this research takes the form of investigation of strategies learners use specifically for vocabulary (VLS), which is our focus of attention. 
I.3. Techniques for Memorizing Vocabulary
 In order to be able to have a rich vocabulary, not only do students need to learn as many words as possible, but they also need to remember them because, in fact, learning is remembering. Unlike grammar learning which is based on a system of rules, vocabulary knowledge implies accumulating individual items. It is a learning process that relies primarily on memory.
 Learners are different in terms of how easily they memorize vocabulary. According to Jeremy Harmer, researchers into the domain of memory distinguish three types of memory: short-term store, working memory, and long-term memory. The short-term store is "the brain's capacity to hold a limited number of information items for periods of time up to a few seconds" (Harmer 23). Thus, it is the kind of memory that does not help students too much in their attempt to learn vocabulary items, because successful vocabulary learning involves something more than just holding words in your memory for some seconds. 
 It has been designed a number of techniques meant to help learners efficiently memorize words and to help teachers make the process of learning easier for their students. Repetition is an important technique in learning vocabulary. In order for the words to be kept as long as possible in the memory, it is necessary that they be repeated at frequent periods of time. However, repetition alone will not be effective. It must be accompanied by the understanding of the meaning of those particular words and by correlation with other similar already learnt words.
 Another important technique is using the newly learn words. In this case, the teachers' role is also valuable. In the classroom, teachers should insist on pracising the news vocabulary by encouraging students to speak as much as possible and by designing vocabulary-centered activities and games. At home, students need to be motivated to individually keep on using the new words until they are stored in the long-term memory.
 Practising vocabulary is strongly connected to applying vocabulary to students' real life events. Learners will acquire vocabulary easily if they practise it by associating words with events from their daily life. Considering that students are presented a new word list related to the topic entitled "travelling." Learners will successfully memorize the word list by creating a real life event, for instance "going to Italy" and then performing a situation in which all the words can be included. This can be done in classroom as well as at home and will certainly entertain students and have positive results.
 Another witty technique to be taken into consideration when both learning and teaching vocabulary is imaging. Students will easily learn new words if they are taught to associate them with their picture. If, for example, students associate "travel agency" with the image of the particular building where we go to ask information about travelling, they are likely to keep that word in their mind for longer time
II. Reality of the issue
 Teaching,in general, is hard work,especially teaching English, a totally unknown language to Vietnamese students. In Bac Son High School, English is often supposed to be a difficult subject by students. According to some short interviews, most of students admitted that they found it difficult to remember new words but it was too easy to forget the words they once remembered. From my point of view, there are several reasons for the problem.
 - Firstly, because they have low living standards and poor living conditions, they can not afford to create good conditions for their learning.
 - Secondly, their families and themselves are not aware of the importance of learning, particularly, English.
 - Last but not least, they know no appropriate ways to memorize new words effectively.
III. The practical basics of the study
 III. 1. Solutions
 Based on the reality of the issue, I would strongly suggest some solution to the problem :
 - For students who have not mastered vocabulary, school leaders or teachers need to increase more periods out of the curriculum in school
 - Teachers need more than an illustration which is accurate, concise and vivid for each new word taught
 - For homework, besides asking students to do exercises in textbooks, teachers should have available amount of tests related to vocabulary.
Here, I would like to introduce some strategies to help students memorize new words effectively.
 III. 2. Techniques to memorize vovabulary effectively
 Type 1: Matching
Because most of my students are those who have relatively limited vocabulary sources, I choose the most simple way to help them review their vocabulary, which is called matching.
 In this type of task, students have to draw a line to match each of the new words in the left column with its equivalent Vietnamese meaning in the right column.
 Type 2: Filling the missing words
 After students have done the task in type 1, I move to the next type of task named filling the missing words
 Teacher gives students a list of about ten words.Among them, some words are in English, the others are in Vietnamese. Students have to fill corresponding words( English or Vietnamese) which are missing.
 Type 3: Filling in the blanks to complete sentences
 When students have remembered the meanings of words through doing task type 1 and 2, teacher asks them to do task type 3 to revise the use of the words they have just gained.
 Teacher provides them with a task consisting of six sentences with each blank for each one. Semultaneously, five words or phrases to fill in those blanks are given. Students choose the most appropreate word or phrase given for each blank.
 III. 3. Some practical exercises
Unit 10- Part A- English 11
Exercise 1: Type 1 
 - After introducing vocabulary, Teacher can help students revise by asking them to match the words/phrases in column A with their meanings in column B.
A
B
1. have influence on...
2. affect (v)
3. destroy (v)
4. result in 
5. consequence (n)
6. pollutant (n)
7. extinct (adj)
8. disappear (v)
9. endangered (adj)
10. prohibit (v)
11. interference (n)
12. decrease (v)
a. cấm, ngăn cấm
b. tuyệt chủng
c. biến mất
d. có ảnh hưởng đến...
e. giảm, giảm xuống
f. ảnh hưởng
g. gây ra hậu quả
h. sự can thiệp
i. phá hủy
j.bị đe dọa
k. hậu quả, kết quả 
l. chất gây ô nhiễm
 - Teacher call 2 students to write their answers on the board, then gives feedback
Suggested answers:
A
B
1. have influence on...
2. affect (v)
3. destroy (v)
4. result in 
5. consequence (n)
6. pollutants(n)
7. extinct (adj)
8. disappear (v)
9. endangered (adj)
10. prohibit (v)
11. interference with
12. decrease (v)
a. phá hủy
b. tuyệt chủng
c. biến mất
d. có ảnh hưởng đến...
e. giảm, giảm xuống
f. ảnh hưởng
g. gây ra hậu quả
h. sự can thiệp
i. cấm, ngăn cấm
j.bị đe dọa
k. hậu quả, kết quả 
l. chất gây ô nhiễm
Exercise 2: Type 2 
 - Teacher asks students to fill in the blanks with the appropriate missing words.
 1. result in ..................................
 2. ................. .... cấm, ngăn cấm
 3. ........................... bị đe dọa
 4. have influence on ....................................
 5. ............................... sự can thiệp
 6. destroy .....................................
 7. ............................... tuyệt chủng
 8. decrease ......................................
 9. destroy 	 .....................................
 10. affect(v) ....................................
 11...................... hậu quả, kết quả
 12. ....................... biến mất 
- Teacher calls some students to do the task on the board, then give feedback.
Suggested answers:
1. result in gây ra hậu quả
 2. prohibit .... cấm, ngăn cấm
 3. endangered bị đe dọa
 4. have influence on có ảnh hưởng đến
 5. interference with sự can thiệp
 6. destroy phá hủy
 7. extinct tuyệt chủng
 8. decrease giảm, giảm xuống
 9. pollutant 	 chất gây ô nhiễm
 10. affect(v) ảnh hưởng
 11. consequence hậu quả, kết quả
 12. disappear biến mất
Exercise 3: Type 3
 - Teacher asks students use the given words/ phrares to fill in the blanks to complete each of the following sentences.
 resulted 	 endangered	destroy	extinct
 prohibit	 influence	affect	decreasing
 interference	 pollutants	disappear	 consequences
 1. The government should introduce law to .................the killing of................animals.
 2. If people continue to ..................the habitats of rare animals, many species will become .....................
 3. The frequent changes of weather ..............the health