Effects of using mind mapping on EFL high school students' vocabulary learning = Tác động của sơ đồ tư duy đến việc học từ vựng tiếng Anh của học sinh trung học phổ thông

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

QUY NHON UNIVERSITY

NGUYỄN THỊ LAN PHƢƠNG

EFFECTS OF USING MIND MAPPING ON EFL

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’

VOCABULARY LEARNING

Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching

Code: 8140111

Supervisor: TRƢƠNG VĂN ĐỊNH, Ph.D

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN

NGUYỄN THỊ LAN PHƢƠNG

TÁC ĐỘNG CỦA SƠ ĐỒ TƢ DUY ĐẾN VIỆC HỌC

TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CỦA HỌC SINH TRUNG

HỌC PHỔ THÔNG

Ngành: Lý luận và phƣơng pháp dạy học bộ môn tiếng Anh

Mã số: 8140111

Ngƣời hƣớng dẫn: TS. TRƢƠNG VĂN ĐỊNH

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

The thesis entitled “Effects of Using Mind Mapping on EFL High

School Students’ Vocabulary Learning” is conducted under the supervision

of Dr. Truong Van Dinh, a lecturer working at the School of Foreign

Languages at Quy Nhon University.

I declare that the information reported in this study is the result of my

own work and effort, except where due reference is made. No other person's

work has been used without due acknowledgement in the thesis.

This thesis has not previously been submitted for the award of any

degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution.

Binh Dinh, 2022

NGUYEN THI LAN PHUONG

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all , I am grateful to my thesis supervisor, Dr. Truong Van Dinh,

for his amazing supervision. His outstanding knowledge and profession

teaching-related expertise inspired me greatly during my academic life at Quy

Nhon University, and he opened new horizons for me in the field. I appreciate

his accommodating guidelines and suggestions, great patience, and strong

management skills in helping me resolve the obstacles during the time I

carried out my thesis. I feel fortunate to have had him support for my work.

I also take this opportunity to express gratitude to all the lectures who

took part in the training process of MA course at Quy Nhon University for

their scholarly knowledge and experience as well as their inspirational to me

which incited me to widen my research from various perspectives.

A special thank goes to my dear friends Nguyen Thi Hang and Nguyen

Vo Bich Thuy. They not only encouraged me when I met obstacles during my

thesis, but also guided me how to analyse data by using SPSS software. I am

very lucky to know both of them. Another special gratitude goes to the head

as well as the staff of Ngo May High School for their assistance and

encouragement for me to conduct the study at the facility.

Last, but not least, I am grateful to all the support and encouragement I

received from my beloved parents and my husband and my two children

throughout the process of writing this thesis in particular and my life in

general.

iii

ABSTRACT

Vocabulary is at the heart of developing proficiency and achieving

competency in any language learning skill. However, many students still have

some trouble in lexical learning due to a lack of a suitable learning strategy.

Thus, this study aimed at investigating whether mind mapping had any

significant effects on EFL high school students’ vocabulary.

The research followed a combination of a quasi-experimental method and

a mixed-method with the participation of 80 EFL Grade 10 students at Ngo

May High School, Phu Cat district, in Binh Dinh province. These participants

were divided into 2 groups: the control group and the experimental group.

Data were collected from three sources: (1) the pre-test and post-test to

estimate the students’ vocabulary improvement, (2) the questionnaire to assess

how the changes in their opinions towards vocabulary learning with mind

maps were, and (3) interview with six students in the experimental group to

clarify their opinions.

The findings of the study reveal that mind mapping greatly affects EFL

high school students’ learning of vocabulary. In fact, it not only makes

students feel inspired to learn vocabulary but also helps them remember

words longer. The researcher suggests that further studies in this area should

consider a larger sample size to obtain a better picture of the reality of the

effect of mind mapping on learning vocabulary.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP........................................................................... i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... ii

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................ iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................................ vii

LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ viii

LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................. ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION..............................................................................1

1.1. Rationale..........................................................................................................1

1.2. Aim and Objectives of the Study ...................................................................3

1.2.1. Aim of the Study ........................................................................................3

1.2.2. Objectives of the Study..............................................................................3

1.3. Research Questions.........................................................................................3

1.4. Scope of the Study...........................................................................................3

1.5. Significance of the Study ................................................................................4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL

BACKGROUND............................................................................................... 6

2.1. Vocabulary ......................................................................................................6

2.1.1. Definition of Vocabulary ..........................................................................6

2.1.2. Importance of Vocabulary ........................................................................6

2.1.3. Vocabulary Teaching and Learning .........................................................8

2.1.4. Testing Vocabulary ...................................................................................9

2.2. Definition of Mind Maps ..............................................................................11

2.3. Definition of Mind Mapping.........................................................................12

2.4. Features of Mind Maps .................................................................................13

2.5. Techniques for Making a Mind Map ............................................................14

2.6. Advantages and Disadvantages of Using Mind Maps in Teaching and

Learning Vocabulary ....................................................................................15

2.6.1. Advantages..............................................................................................16

2.6.2. Disadvantages.........................................................................................19

v

2.7. When and Where to Use Mind Mapping ......................................................19

2.8. Related Studies..............................................................................................22

2.9. Chapter Summary..........................................................................................24

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY...........................................................................25

3.1. Overall Approach ..........................................................................................25

3.2. Research Setting............................................................................................25

3.3. Participants....................................................................................................26

3.4.Teaching Material ..........................................................................................28

3.5. Measurement Instruments.............................................................................30

3.5.1. Pre-test .......................................................................................................30

3.5.2. Post-test......................................................................................................31

3.5.3. Questionnaire .............................................................................................32

3.5.4. Interview.....................................................................................................32

3.6. Treatment Procedure .....................................................................................33

3.7. Analytical Framework...................................................................................34

3.7.1. Quantitative Analysis of Pre-test and Post-test .....................................34

3.7.2. Quantitative Analysis of Questionnaire..................................................35

3.7.3. Qualitative Analysis of Interview............................................................35

3.8. Validity and Reliability .................................................................................36

3.9. Summary .......................................................................................................38

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.....................................................39

4.1. Data Analysis ................................................................................................39

4.1.1. Results of Two Tests................................................................................39

4.1.2. Results from Questionnaires...................................................................45

4.1.3. Results from Interview ............................................................................49

4.1.4. Overall Summary ....................................................................................51

4.2. Discussion of Findings..................................................................................52

4.2.1. Students’ Improvement in Vocabulary Learning....................................52

4.2.2. Students’ Positive Opinions on Learning Vocabulary through Mind

Mapping ..................................................................................................54

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4.2.3. Summary .................................................................................................56

4.3. Chapter Summary..........................................................................................56

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..........................57

5.1. Conclusions...................................................................................................57

5.2. Limitations of the Study................................................................................58

5.3. Recommendations.........................................................................................58

5.3.1. Teachers..................................................................................................58

5.3.2. Students...................................................................................................60

5.4. Suggestions for Further Research .................................................................60

APPENDICES

vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

A: Agree

D: Disagree

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

F: Female

GCSE: General Certificate for Secondary Education

M: Mean or Male

N: Number

SA: Strongly agree

SD: Strongly disagree

S.D.: Standard Deviation

SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

viii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1: Participants’ parameters............................................................................27

Table 3.2: Five degrees of grades to classify the students’ ability ..........................32

Table 3.3: Reliability statistics for the questionnaire................................................37

Table 4.1: Group statistics of pre-test results.............................................................42

Table 4.2: Independent samples t-test of the two groups before the treatment......42

Table 4.3: Group statistics of post-test results...........................................................43

Table 4.4: Independent samples t-test of the two groups after the treatment.........44

Table 4.5: Advantages brought about by learning vocabulary with mind maps....45

Table 4.6: Disadvantages resulting from learning vocabulary with mind maps....47

Table 4.7: Students’ future intentions of learning vocabulary with mind maps....48