Sobratha University

College of Arts and Education, Sobratha

English Department

Research Project

*The student’s perception on the impact of vocabulary on 1 st year students’

performance in speaking*

Submitted by:

Ehab al-mabrook aljileedi

Baha-aldeen Mohammed Ammar

Abd-alrahman Ramadan Mohammed

Supervised by:

Enas Aldabashi

2021-2022

A research paper submitted as a partial fulfillment for the requirement of BA

degree in English

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2
 Dedication

This work is dedicated to our great parents who guided us to where we are.
Who sacrificed and made efforts for us to be here today.

Thank you for supporting us throughout our life.

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 Acknowledgment

A successful project can be prepared by the individual effort or

persons assigned to the project, but it also requires the
assistance and tutelage of some knowledgeable person who
actively or passively assists the undersigned in the successful
.completion of the project

It is with pleasure that we express our gratitude to our

supervisor, Professor “Enas Al-Dabbashi”, without her
assistance, this project would not have been completed. She
has given her invaluable suggestions, and constructive
guidance has been indispensable in completing the work of
.this project

We would also like to thank all the staff of the English

Department of the College of Arts and Education, Sobratha.
They have supported us in this endeavour, and have
.appreciated us in our efforts during our project

Last but not least, we would also like to thank our family,
friends, and all respondents, for supporting us directly or
indirectly during the work of our project. Without their help,
this project would not have been possible.

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 Declaration

We hereby clarify that all materials in this project are our original work, and
not have been included or identified in any other work except the identified
.works in the literature review / reference

Signed :

Ehab al-mabrook aljileedi

Baha-aldeen Mohammed Ammar

Abd-alrahman Ramadan Mohammed

Date : May, 28, 2022

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 Abstract

It is already agreed that speaking is very important like

grammar, writing, reading , and listening. This study aims to
discover the difficulties that face the students in speaking
English, and it also to explain the impact of vocabulary on the
students’ performance in speaking.

Content

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Title………………………………………………………………………………..…….I

Dedication……………………………………………………………………….……..II

Acknowledgment………………………………………………………………..……III

Declaration…………………………………………………………………………. IV

Abstract…………………………………………………………………...……….…..V

Table of content………………………………………………………………………VI

Chapter one: introduction

1.1 Introduction.……………………………………………………….…………...…

1.2 The question of the study.………………………………………………….……

1.3 Statement of problem.……………………………………………………….……

1.4 The study significance ….…………………………………………………… ..…

1.5 The aim of the study ……………………………………………………………...

Chapter two : a literature review

2.1 literature review ……………………………………………………………...…

.22 Vocabulary learning strategies ……………………………………………...…

Chapter three: Methodology

3.1 Methodology ……………………………………………………………………...

3. 2 Tools ……………………………………………………………………………….

3.3 Participants ……………………………………………………………………...

3.4 Setting …………………………………………………………………………….

3.5 Limitation of studying ………………………………………………………….

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3.6 Data collection procedure………………………………………………………

3.7 Data analysis …………………………………………………………………..

Chapter four: Analysis and findings

4.1 Interview analysis ………………………………………………………………..

4.2 Findings and discussion ……………………………..………………………………

4.3 Linguistic Difficulties ……………………………………………………………..

.44 Mother Tongue Use ………………………………………………………………..

.45 Inhibition ……………..……………………………………………………………..

.46 Teachers’ Perceptions and implicit Beliefs about teaching speaking……

.47 Teaching Strategies ………………………………………………………………..

Chapter five: Conclusion

5.1 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………….

5.2 Recommendations………………………………………………………………….

5.3 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….

5.4 Appendix……………………………………………………………………………

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The student’s perception on the impact of vocabulary on 1 st year students’
performance in speaking

CHAPTER ONE

1.1 Introduction
Speaking is the most important skill of all the four skills (listening, speaking, reading and

writing) because people who know a language are usually referred to as speakers of that

language. The major goal of all English language teaching should make learners able to

use English effectively, accurately in communication. However, not all language learners,-

after many years studying English-, can communicate fluently and accurately because they

lack the necessary knowledge of vocabulary.

Vocabulary has long been considered as an important component and a good indicator of

second language (L2) performance and proficiency. Therefore, People who have ability in

speaking will be better in sending and receiving information or message to another.

Speaking is the process of building and sharing meaning through the uses of verbal and

non verbal symbols in various contexts by using variety of vocabulary. However, many

language learners find it difficult to express themselves in spoken language in the target

language. Each student has their own problems.

The focus of this study is on the importance of vocabulary to "EFL" oral production. It

investigates the reasons behind EFL students' inability to speak English fluently and

accurately. This Field work research suggests that lack of vocabulary competence affects

extremely speaking skill of students which is essential for language proficiency. Also, there

is a strong agreement among researchers, teachers and students that L2 vocabulary can be

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best learned by training students on the most effective strategies that can be used for

learning vocabulary successfully.

1.2 The question of the study

This study will answer the following questions:

1. What are the main reasons behind EFL students' poor oral communicative competence?

2. How can students improve their speaking through vocabulary learning strategies through

the process of learning?

1.3 Statement of problem or the problem of the study

The problem of this study is the lack of vocabulary and its effect on EFL students’ oral

performance. Most of the students of the first year at the university level do not have

enough vocabulary to have sufficient speaking performance.

1.4 The study significance

The significant of the study is to highlight a very important issue which is the impact of

vocabulary on improving speaking skills; moreover, this study might be a starting point for

future researchers to take inshallah.

1.5 The aim of the study

The aim of this study is to investigate the reasons behind students’ poor oral

communicative competence at Sobratha College.

CHAPTER TWO

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2.1 Literature review

While researchers generally agree with regard to the multi-componential nature of

vocabulary knowledge, various proposals have been put forward regarding what exactly

constitutes vocabulary knowledge ex: (Meara, 2005; Schmitt, 2010). One classification

frequently employed involves the size and depth of vocabulary ex: (Qian supported and

cited in Rie, 2013). Size expresses a quantitative dimension involving knowledge of a word

form and a primary meaning, also described as the form-meaning link. Depth represents a

qualitative dimension, defined as “how well learner knows individual words or how well

words are organized in the learner’s mental lexicon” (Stæhr cited in Rie, 2013, p. 900), and

includes knowledge of partial to precise meaning, word frequency, affix knowledge,

syntactic characteristics, and lexical network. A number of experiential studies have been

conducted to examine the relative importance of size versus depth and speed in terms of

predictive powers of L2 skills. Qian and Schedl (2004) investigated vocabulary knowledge

and reading comprehension among 207 L2 learners of English at intermediate and

advanced levels, and reported that 57% of variance of L2 reading scores was explained by

size, with an additional 4% of variance explained by depth. A similarly large variance

(54%) predicted just by size was indicated by Qian (2002), with an additional 13%

explained by depth (n = 217). Finally, Stæhr (2009) provided further support for these

results, showing that 49% of L2 listening variance was accounted for by size, but just 2%

by depth (n = 115). In sum, previous studies suggest that size can predict much of reading

and listening variance, while depth contributes relatively little.

Rie (2013) concluded that size seems to hold considerable power in predicting L2

proficiency, when it is the first variable entered into the retraction equation, while depth

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and speed contribute limited predictive powers for the rest of the proficiency. However,

when depth or speed is entered into the retraction first, depth tends to exhibit a predictive

power similar to size, whereas speed may have a predictive power less than size. This

indicates the complicated nature of the contribution that these three lexical aspects make

to language proficiency; so far, however, only a limited number of studies have

investigated this issue.

Regarding relationships between L2 vocabulary knowledge and L2 speaking, Rie (2013)

describes three main stages of speech production: conceptualization, formulation, and

articulation. During the first stage, speakers form preverbal messages in the

conceptualization. In the formulation, they search for and retrieve necessary vocabulary

from the mental lexicon, which contains information related to vocabulary and syntactic

structures, in order to produce utterances with syntactic and phonological information. In

the final stage, they produce the speech that they have formulated. In addition to that L1

speakers conduct these processes in parallel and automatically, without using authentic

cognitive resources. However, L2 speakers experience much greater difficulty in executing

such processes to propose an L2 speaking model.

Rie (2013) summarizes that according to both models; vocabulary holds a central position

in formulating an utterance with the appropriate meanings, although other types of

knowledge, including syntactic, morphological, and phonological knowledge, as well as

non-linguistic world knowledge and communication strategies, are also indispensable. The

models indicate further the necessity of size, depth, and processing speed of vocabulary

knowledge in speaking, because speakers use both form-meaning links (i.e., size) and the

syntactic and morphological information associated with each word in the mental lexicon

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(depth), and because automatic, or at least relatively fast, lexical retrieval (speed) is

required for smooth and effective communication.

2.2 Vocabulary learning strategies

Vocabulary learning strategy (VLS) is an approach which facilitates vocabulary learning

and has attracted considerable attention. Vocabulary learning strategies constitute a sub-

class of language learning strategies, which in turn are a sub-class of learning strategies

(Nation, 2001 cited in Seffar, 2015). A learning strategy is a series of actions a learner takes

to facilitate the completion of a learning task. Language learning strategies promote self-

direction for learners. Self-directed learners are independent learners who can assume

responsibility for their own learning and, so, gain confidence, involvement and proficiency.

In outright learning strategy instruction, teachers should decide which strategies (e.g.

vocabulary notebook, keyword method, semantic mapping, etc.) to give attention to

and how much time they need to spend on training. In order to know about the strategies

the learners need and the strategies they are currently using, students should be asked to

draw up a list of strategies they employ to learn English words in small groups. They

illustrate their lists to the class. The students and teacher can then, collaboratively construct

a list of strategies the learners employ. After this brainstorming session, the teacher can

decide what strategies learners lack and need most. The teacher should create or shape the

strategy for the learners. Then the steps in the strategy should be practiced separately.

Learners are asked to apply the strategy in pairs while helping each other. They report back

on the application of the steps. The teacher watches and provides feedback on learners'

control of the strategies. Learners report on the difficulty and success in using the strategy

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outside classroom and they ask for teachers' help and advice on their use of strategy

(Nation, 2001 cited in Seffar, 2015).

The use of English as a second language (ESL) or foreign language (EFL) in oral

communication is, without a doubt, one of the most common but highly complex

activities necessary to be considered when teaching the English language especially

because we “live at a time where the ability to speak English fluently has become an

obligation, especially who want to advance in certain fields of human endeavor” (Al-

Sibai,2004, p.3.)

For language learning to take place, there are four conditions that should exist, and they

are the exposure, opportunities to use the language, motivation, and

instruction.―Learners need chances to say what they think or feel and to experiment in a

supportive atmosphere using language they have heard or seen without feeling threatened,

(Willis, 1996, p.7). According to Ellis (2003), this can be done by involving learners in

performing two types of communicative tasks: focused communicative tasks and

unfocused communicative tasks. Both of these tasks seek to engage learners in using

language practically rather than displaying language. They seek to develop language

proficiency through communication.―Through communication learners can merge

separate structures into a creative system for expressing meaning (Littlewood,1984).

CHAPTER THREE

3.1 Methodology

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The method of this study will be the qualitative method because speaking is a quality. This

method is the best method for the data analysis. And we will see, maybe we find this

problem spread and contagious which will lead us to a quantitative method.

3.2 Tools

We used two tools of data collection:

1. The observation: in which we attended a speaking class during that the researcher

wrote down notes to be analyzed. This tool was chosen because it enabled us to

monitor closely the students’ knowledge of vocabulary.

2. The interview: was chosen to support the results of the observation for the

credibility of the study. The interview was semi-structured interview. There was

an approval form prior to the interview.

3.3 Participants

The participants of this study are students in Sobratha University. They will be 20 first year

students, 15 female students and 5 male students. The participants will be all chosen

randomly for the reliability of the study. Their age is 21-19 years old.

Plus we will make interviews with teachers to collect more information and trying to detect

the causes and the reasons behind this thing.

3.4 Setting

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This study will take place in the University of Sobratha. The study will be held the first

year of the academic year 2021-2022.

3.5 Limitation of studying

This study is limited to the University of Sobratha. Therefore, the results of this study will
apply to the mentioned University.

3.6 Data collection procedures

During the process of data collection, we had to attend two speaking classes in Sobratha

University. Before that, we asked the permission of both the head of department and the

teacher of the speaking class for the purpose of the observation. During the observation the

researcher wrote relevant notes. We held semi structured interviews after the observation

to confirm the data collected from the observation. This was done to change the

assumptions into facts.

3.7 Data analysis

Data obtained from observation, interviews, and curriculum analysis were analyzed

qualitatively following the Holiday (2022) approach as cited in Al-Shabibi (2004). This

approach suggests organizing data using a thematic or objective approach, where data is

taken completely and rearranged under themes according to the questions and the issues

brought by the researcher to the research.

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CHAPTER FOUR

4.1. Interview analysis

During the interview questions, we noticed that the answers of the students are close to

each other but in some questions they were uneven.

The first question which was “lack of vocabularies as reasons behind EFL students’ poor

oral communicative competence”, and the “disagree” answers were 40% and otherwise

“agree” answers were 60%. And the second question which was “improving speaking

through vocabulary learning strategies.”, and also the “disagree” answers were 40% and

otherwise “agree” answers were 60%. And the third question which was “shyness as a

reason of low participation”, and the “disagree” answers were 20% and otherwise “agree”

answers were 80%.

And rest of questions which were about teachers’ role behind this lack of vocabularies,

and the “disagree” answers of them were 10% and otherwise “agree” answers were 90%.

So generally the answers by “agree” were high and “disagree” answers were low. Which

illustrated and showed us that students lack vocabularies which make it hard to them to

speak English easy , on other hand teachers don’t care much about speaking class which

is add more weight on students to speak English easy.

*Main interview questions: (the full chart in Appendix)

• What is the reason of low participation?

• Why students use L1 during speaking in TL?

• Why students expressing their thoughts widely and exaggeratingly?

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 • What is the reason behind poor oral performance?

• What is the reason behind the fearing of participation?

• Why teachers don’t care much about speaking classes?

• Why teachers don’t give much time to improve speaking skills?

4.2 Findings and discussion

The data collected on the issue of poor oral communicative competence revealed that there

are three major speaking difficulties encountered by the students at this level: linguistic

difficulties, mother tongue use, inhibition, and Teachers’ Perceptions and implicit

Beliefs about Teaching Speaking.

4.3 Linguistic Difficulties

Data collected through observation showed that students struggle to find the appropriate

vocabulary item when trying to speak in English, which reflects their insufficient

vocabulary amount or repertoire. Data collected from the student interview supported this

because one of the students reported, “We want to speak, but we don’t know the word.”

That implies that the students’ poor oral communicative competence is because of lack of

vocabulary.

The interviewed students also pointed out that they find it difficult to build sentences when

they try to express their ideas. One of them said, “We do not know how to say it.” Although

teachers spend a long time teaching grammar rules, students still cannot form short

sentences when they try to speak in English.

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4.4 Mother Tongue Use

This problem is strongly related to the previous one, which is a linguistic difficulty. During

the class observation, we noticed that students tend to speak in Arabic when they discuss

the items of different tasks, and when we asked them about the reason for that in the

interview; they explained that by saying, “We do not know how to say it.” They meant how

to discuss their ideas in English, so they convey to Arabic. Therefore, the unsuitable

vocabulary repertoire and weak sentence building skills are the reasons for using the

mother tongue.

4.5 Inhibition

It was noticed during the class observations that students’ participation was very low. This

is because of the previously mentioned reasons to inhibition. Students explained that their

fear of making mistakes in front of their classmates was the reason for not speaking in the

class. They expressed that, saying, “They will laugh at us if we make mistakes . . .” There

are some essential factors that contribute to the existence of these difficulties, and they -as

revealed by the class observation and interviews- are teachers’ perceptions and implicit

beliefs about teaching speaking.

4.6 Teachers’ Perceptions and implicit Beliefs about Teaching Speaking

All the interviewees ”students” emphasized the importance of teaching speaking as it is an

important skill of the English language. Although they think it is very important to learn

speaking, they do not spend enough time doing that, explaining this by not having enough

time to do so. “In a lesson, we have many steps and four or five objectives, and the teachers

have to finish, for example today, we have to finish lesson 2….. Therefore, the teacher

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doesn’t want to be late.” The interview answered this question when one of the

interviewees ”students” said, “The head of department want us to finish all the steps in the

lesson.” This indicates that teachers are only concerned about just finishing the steps, which

means going through them, no matter if learning has taken place or not.

4.7 Teaching Strategies

Data collected through observation showed that teachers focus on teaching grammar points

and vocabulary items rather than teaching speaking. Even when there is an opportunity to

involve students in speaking, teachers just miss it and move on doing other tasks like

reading and writing. Teachers refer or attribute this to the shortage of time and their

willingness to finish the lesson steps. Moreover, it is noticed that teachers tend to use a lot

of L1 during the lesson especially when they explain a grammar point or give the meaning

of some words and sometimes the instruction of a task. They also accept students’

explanation of the meaning of vocabulary items in L1. The interviewees ”students”

explained this by saying that they have no other solution to make sure that the teachers

understood. One of them said, “We do not have another solution” Another one said, “It

will be clear for them, and they will get the right meaning on behalf of the teacher.” This

obviously indicates that some teachers lack the necessary teaching strategies, and so they

use L1 as an alternative. Besides, they are indirectly and unconsciously conveying a

message to students that using English cannot be helpful to clarify the meaning of

instruction or unknown words, and this also might mean that teachers have low

expectations of their students’ understanding ability of English. However, there is no doubt

that using lots of L1 reduces the amount of exposure to English during the lesson.

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CHAPTER FIVE

5.1 Conclusion

This study revealed that the main reasons behind the poor oral communicative competence

of students are linguistic difficulties, mother tongue use, inhibition and Teachers’

Perceptions and implicit Beliefs about Teaching Speaking. Students are unable to speak

in English because they lack the necessary vocabulary items and grammar structures. As

well lack sentence formation skills, which result in using the mother tongue. Students also

think of making mistakes in speaking in front of their classmates very embarrassing, which

results in preferring not to speak to avoid such situations.

There are two main factors that contribute to the existence of these speaking difficulties:

teachers’ perceptions and implicit beliefs of teaching speaking, and teaching strategies.

There are of course some other factors we have not covered through this study. Besides, it

was found that curriculums do not provide students with frequency of opportunities to use

English communicatively; also these curriculums do not include sufficient tasks that are

particularly designed for speaking.

Moreover, the classroom is the only place where most students are exposed to English.

Activities that aim to improve students’ speaking skill are very rare and limited to the

English speaking class, which is conducted once or twice a week.

5.2 Recommendations

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1. The main cause that makes the students poor in English is that the environment does

not support the students to speak English frequently.

2. The solution is for the students themselves. They can have an English conversation

group or club that consists of their own classmates. They can share and talk about

anything in English during that time. In this group or club, they can learn together.

Students can correct each other without feeling embarrassed.

3. Lecturers should create a comfortable environment by strengthening the confidence of

English language learners.

4. Lecturers should not try to correct the ordinary errors of students when they struggle to

get their meanings across. Instructors can also speak to the students privately to eliminate

any embarrassment.

5. Lecturer should not insist on the errors of the student while they are speaking.

6. Lecturer should create a suitable and friendly environment while they are speaking.

7. The lecturers should encourage all students to speak with them in English.

8. The lecturers should concentrate on speaking and gaining new vocabularies rather than

grammar and writing.

9. Students should practice by their own in home and on social media.

10. The lecturers should divide the curriculum very well during the term, to avoid

wasting time in teaching rather than practicing.

5.3 Bibliography

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Al-Abri, K. (2008).Teachers’evaluation of EFL textbooks used in the Omani basic
educationschools (Unpublished master’s thesis). ELT Curriculum and Methodology,
College of Education.Sultan Qaboos University.

Al-Shabibi,A. (2004). EFL teachers’ tacit beliefs about writing instruction in Oman
(Unpublishedmaster’s thesis).ELT Curriculum and Methodology, College of Education.
Sultan Qaboos University.

Chaney, A. (1998). Teaching oral communication in grades k-8. USA.A Viacom company.

Ellis, R. (2003). Task-based language learning and teaching. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.

Haozhang, X. (1997). Tape recorders, role-plays, and turn-taking in large EFL listening
and speaking classes. China, 35(3),33.

Harmer, J. (1982).What is communicative? ELT Journal, 36(3), 164–168.

Littlewood, W. (1981& 1984).Communicative language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

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Meara, P. (2005). Designing vocabulary tests for English, Spanish, and other languages. In
C. S. Butler, M. Á. Gómez-González, & S. M. Doval-Suárez (Eds.), The dynamics of
language use (pp. 271–285). Amsterdam, the Netherlands: John Benjamins.

Nation, P. (2001) Learning Vocabulary in another Language. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Rie, K. (2013). Vocabulary Knowledge and Speaking Proficiency among Second

Language Learners from Novice to Intermediate Levels. Vol. 4, No. 5.

Schmitt, N. (2010). Researching vocabulary. New York: Palgrave MacMillan.

Seffar, S. (2015). The Effect of Vocabulary Knowledge on EFL Oral Competence. ISSN:
2320–737X Vol. 5, Issue 6 Ver. I. Journal of Research & Method in Education.

Stæhr, L. S. (2009). Vocabulary knowledge and advanced listening comprehension in

English as a foreign language. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 31, 577–607.

Qian, D. (2002). Investigating the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and

academic reading performance. Language Learning, 52, 513–536. doi: 10.1111/1467-
9922.00193.
Qian, D., & Schedl, M. (2004). Evaluation of an indepth vocabulary knowledge for
assessing reading performance. Language Testing, 21, 28–52.

Willis, J. (1996). A frame work for task- based learning. Pearson Education Limited.

5.4 Appendix

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 Interview Questions:

Percentage Of Answers

NO. INTERVIEWE QUESTIONS

AGREE DISAGREE

1. The reasons behind EFL students’ poor

oral communicative competence is lack of 60% 40%
vocabularies, and lack of English speakers.

2. Students improve their speaking through 60% 40%

vocabulary learning strategies.
3. The reason of low participation is shyness. 80% 20%

4. Students use L1 during speaking in TL 70% 30%

because they don’t know how to deliver the
meaning.
5. Students expressing their thoughts widely 55% 45%
and exaggeratingly to explain one
meaning.
6. The reason behind poor oral performance 70% 30%
is rare and low using of TL.
7. The reason behind the fearing of 80% 20%
participation is classmates and teachers’
reactions.
8. The teachers care much about speaking 60% 40%
classes.
9. The teachers don’t give much time to 60% 40%
improve speaking skills.

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