An investigation into the effects of external factors on vocabulary leaning of grade 10 students at Phu Binh high school

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

DUONG THAO LINH

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECTS

OF EXTERNAL FACTORS ON VOCABULARY

LEARNING OF GRADE 10 STUDENTS

AT PHU BINH HIGH SCHOOL

M.A THESIS

Field: English Linguistics

Code: 8220201

THAI NGUYEN - 2020

ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN

TRƯỜNG NGOẠI NGỮ

DƯƠNG THẢO LINH

NGHIÊN CỨU NHỮNG ẢNH HƯỞNG

CỦA CÁC YẾU TỐ BÊN NGOÀI ĐẾN VIỆC HỌC

TỪ VỰNG CỦA HỌC SINH KHỐI 10

Ở TRƯỜNG THPT PHÚ BÌNH

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ

Ngành: Ngôn ngữ Anh

Mã số: 8220201

Người hướng dẫn: TS. Nguyễn Thị Diệu Hà

THÁI NGUYÊN - 2020

i

ABSTRACT

Undeniably, vocabulary learning plays an integral part in learning a

second language. There have been numerous studies that aim to find out the

roles of vocabulary learning, approaches to vocabulary and factors that affect

vocabulary teaching and learning. However, there is still lack of insight into

external factors that have influence on students’ learning of vocabulary in the

context of Phu Binh high school. Moreover, it is the fact that vocabulary

learning of grade 10 students at this school is not effective despite both

teachers’ and students’ efforts. Hence, this study was conducted to discover

what external factors have the most and the least impacts on grade 10

students’ vocabulary learning, and suggest some measures to improve the

effectiveness of vocabulary teaching and learning at this high school. This

thesis is a survey study. Questionnaire was used as the instrument to collect

data for this research. A Likert Scale questionnaire was developed on the

basis of items which refer to external factors affecting students’ vocabulary

learning; and SPSS program was used to analyze the data collected. The study

revealed that ‘Teachers” is the most influential factor, which is followed by

Peers, Number of exposures to the new words, Lexical items and English

curriculum. There is not enough evidence to prove that Access to native

speaker has strong impacts on students’ vocabulary learning. It is expected

that the findings of this study will not only benefit teachers and students at

this high school but also evoke further studies.

ii

DECLARATION

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “An investigation into the

effects of external factors on vocabulary learning of grade 10 students at

Phu Binh high school” is my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement

for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post - Graduate Studies, School

of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University.

Thai Nguyen, November, 2020

Approved by supervisor

Nguyen Thi Dieu Ha, Ph.D

Signature

Duong Thao Linh

iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

On completing this thesis, I would like to express my thanks to all

those who contributed their part to the work of this research.

First of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my respectable

supervisor, Nguyen Thi Dieu Ha, Ph. D, for her restless and sympathetic

encouragement, constructive advice as well as patient guidance from the

beginning up to the end of the study. Had it not been for her valuable and timely

feedback, I would have never been able to complete this research paper.

Besides, my sincere thanks also go to my dear colleagues and students

at Phu Binh high school for helping me collect data for this study and for all

their support and encouragement.

Finally, I would also like to give my special thanks to my family and

friends who have been interminably encouraging and facilitating me to

complete this thesis.

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT....................................................................................................... i

DECLARATION ..............................................................................................ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................. iv

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................... vi

LIST OF FIGURES......................................................................................... vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS........................................................................viii

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION................................................................... 1

1. Rationale for the study .................................................................................. 1

2. Research questions........................................................................................ 2

3. Scope of the study ......................................................................................... 3

4. Methodology ................................................................................................. 3

5. Organization of the study.............................................................................. 4

CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................... 5

1. Definition of vocabulary ............................................................................... 5

2. Vocabulary learning ...................................................................................... 6

2.1. Importance of vocabulary learning ........................................................ 6

2.2. Factors affecting vocabulary acquisition ............................................... 7

2.3. External factors affecting vocabulary acquisition ................................. 8

3. Teaching vocabulary techniques................................................................. 13

3.1. Using Pictures and Mimes ................................................................... 13

3.2. Using Description and Definition ........................................................ 13

3.3. Using Real Objects............................................................................... 13

3.4. Guessing from the Context .................................................................. 14

3.5. Giving examples................................................................................... 14

3.6. Using Translation................................................................................. 14

4. Previous studies........................................................................................... 15

v

CHAPTER 3. METHODOLOGY............................................................... 17

1. Context of the study .................................................................................... 17

2. Subjects of the study ................................................................................... 18

3. Method of the study .................................................................................... 18

4. Data collection instrument .......................................................................... 18

5. Data collection............................................................................................. 19

6. Data analytical method................................................................................ 20

CHAPTER 4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ....................................... 21

1. Data analysis ............................................................................................... 21

1.1. Questionnaires for students results ...................................................... 21

1.2. Questionnaires for teachers results ...................................................... 46

2. Discussion ................................................................................................... 48

2.1. Factors affecting students’ vocabulary learning .................................. 48

2.2. Measures to help students learn vocabulary better.............................. 50

CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS................................................................... 52

1. Conclusion................................................................................................... 52

2. Pedagogical implications for teachers......................................................... 53

3. Limitations of the study .............................................................................. 54

4. Recommendations for further research ....................................................... 54

REFERENCES.............................................................................................. 56

APPENDICES ..................................................................................................I

APPENDIX 1:

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (ENGLISH VERSION)..................I

APPENDIX 2.

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS (VIETNAMESE VERSION) .....VII

APPENDIX 3.

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS (ENGLISH VERSION)...........XVII

APPENDIX 4: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS........................................ XIX

vi

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. General information about the participants.................................. 21

Table 2. Reliability Statistics - factor C..................................................... 22

Table 3. Item-Total Statistics - factor C..................................................... 22

Table 4. Reliability Statistics - factor C (2nd test)..................................... 22

Table 5. Item-Total Statistics - factor C (2nd test) .................................... 23

Table 6. Reliability Statistics - factor T ..................................................... 23

Table 7. Item-Total Statistics - factor T..................................................... 23

Table 8. Reliability Statistics - factor T (2nd test)..................................... 24

Table 9. Item-Total Statistics - factor T (2nd test)..................................... 24

Table 10. Reliability Statistics - factor E ..................................................... 25

Table 11. Item-Total Statistics - factor E..................................................... 25

Table 12. Reliability Statistics - factor E (2nd test)..................................... 25

Table 13. Item-Total Statistics - factor E (2nd test)..................................... 26

Table 14. Reliability Statistics - factor P ..................................................... 26

Table 15. Item-Total Statistics - factor P ..................................................... 26

Table 16. Reliability Statistics - factor N..................................................... 27

Table 17. Item-Total Statistics - factor N..................................................... 27

Table 18. Reliability Statistics - factor L ..................................................... 27

Table 19. Item-Total Statistics - factor L..................................................... 28

Table 20. Reliability Statistics - factor L (2nd test)..................................... 28

Table 21. Item-Total Statistics - factor L (2nd test)..................................... 28

Table 22. Reliability Statistics - factor V..................................................... 29

Table 23. Item-Total Statistics - factor V..................................................... 29

Table 24. KMO and Bartlett's Test (independent variables)........................ 30

Table 25. Total Variance Explained............................................................. 31

Table 26. Rotated Component Matrixa (independent variables)................. 33