BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC HÀ NỘI

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ

CÁC YẾU TỐ ẢNH HƯỞNG ĐẾN VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG

CỦA HỌC SINH KHỐI 11 TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC
PHỔ THÔNG NGUYỄN QUỐC TRINH, HÀ NỘI

FACTORS AFFECTING VOCABULARY LEARNING OF

11TH GRADERS AT NGUYEN QUOC TRINH HIGH
SCHOOL, HANOI

Giảng viên hướng dẫn: Dr. Hoang Thi Hanh

Họ và tên sinh viên: Nguyen Huu Thai
Mã số sinh viên: 2087010020
Chuyên ngành: Ngôn ngữ Anh

Hà Nội, năm 2023

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 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI UNIVERSITY

MASTER THESIS

FACTORS AFFECTING VOCABULARY LEARNING OF

11 GRADERS AT NGUYEN QUOC TRINH HIGH
SCHOOL, HANOI

Supervisor: Dr. Hoang Thi Hanh

Student: Nguyen Huu Thai

Student ID: 2087010020

Major: English Studies

Hanoi, 2023

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The thesis is implemented in partial accomplishment of the requirements for

the degree of Master in English Studies. The researcher would like to express my
deep gratitude and sincere thanks to all who assisted me in completing the
assignment.

First and foremost, I am extremely grateful to the most venerable Dr. Hoang
Thi Hanh, my supervisor, for her entire helpful and important supervision, supportive
guidance, and invaluable feedback during the process of completing this thesis. Her
immense knowledge and plentiful experience have encouraged me in all the time of
my academic research and daily life. The research was effectively accomplished as a
result of her wonderful dedication.

In addition, I also would like to thank all the lecturers in the Post-graduate
Studies Department, Hanoi University for giving valuable lessons which enhance my
knowledge not only about teaching methodology but also research methodology.

Furthermore, I'd like to thank the teachers and students of Nguyen Quoc Trinh
High School for their cooperation and helpful assistance. This thesis would not have
been completed without their help and participation.

Finally, the researcher would like to thank all of the writers, professors and
friends who helped me find information for my thesis and supported the significant
materials. In conclusion, it is clear that I wouldn’t be able to accomplish my thesis
without the assistance of the individuals indicated above.

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 LISTS OF CHARTS AND FIGURES

Table/ Chart

Table 1 : Participants’ general information LISTS OF CHARTS AND

FIGURES

Table/ Chart

Table 1 : Participants’ general information

Table 2 : Students’ vocabulary learning methodologies

Table 3: Factors affecting students’ process of learning English vocabulary

Chart 1: Internal factors that affect students’ vocabulary acquisition process

Chart 2: Students’ interest towards vocabulary learning

Chart 3 : Problems with finding the best vocabulary learning strategies

Chart 4: External factors in students’ English vocabulary learning

Chart 5: Teachers have suitable teaching approaches

Chart 6: Problems with the use of technologies

Chart 7: Effectiveness of students’ vocabulary learning strategies

Chart 8: Effectiveness of teachers’ vocabulary teaching methods

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 ABSTRACT

This cross-sectional study was carried out to explore factors influencing the
grade 11th students' vocabulary acquisition, and recommend some approaches to
improve the efficacy of vocabulary teaching and learning at a high school in Hanoi.
The study employed a mixed methods methodology that combinedtative and
qualitative data in order to tackle the research problem. The researchers used survey
questionnaires as the main instrument for collecting quantitative data and open-
ended interviews for getting in-depth qualitative analysis for the study.

The major method used in the study is the quantitative one, and the instrument
utilized to gather data for this study is a questionnaire. The findings indicated that

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students’ vocabulary learning strategies and teachers are the most influential elements
on the process of learning vocabulary for the 11 graders, followed by motivation,
English curriculum, access to native speakers, number of exposures to new terms, and
peers. By contrast, cognition and native language, inter-lexical factor seemed to have
the least influence on the student as they explained they could easily study those
words if they had enough time and the suitable approach and learning strategies. In
addition, , several significant recommendations concentrating on ways to increase
efficiency of teaching and studying English vocabulary in this study might be taken
into consideration for both EFL teachers and students in English classes in general,
and for EFL students at NQTHS in particular.

PART I: INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides the rationale, goals of the investigation, research questions,
scope and importance of the study, and study’s outline

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1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Learning vocabulary is considered as an essential component of learning a

second language. The more words learners know, the better they understand what
they hear and read, and the better they will be able to express themselves while
speaking or writing. Vocabulary acquisition is a crucial element of learning a foreign
language. It is one of the elements that connects the four abilities of speaking,
listening, reading, and writing for a language learner. Students must learn a sufficient
quantity of words and understand how to use them correctly in order to communicate
effectively in a foreign language. According to Wilkins (1983), little can be stated
without grammar, but nothing can be conveyed without vocabulary. Furthermore,
Folse (2008) shows that vocabulary level is a critical component for English language
learners to increase their second language competency. A lack of vocabulary is a key
barrier for second language learners to acquire the language in both conversation and
academic study. As a result, how to make vocabulary learning more successful is
constantly a concern for both second language teachers and learners.

Because of the importance of English in Vietnam, significant efforts have been

made to teach and study English in schools and outside of schools. English is one of
the main subjects of the government-mandated National Curriculum, which is
followed by state elementary and secondary institutions. Furthermore, English,
together with Mathematics and Literature, is required in the national test taken by
grade 12 students at the end of the academic year. In Vietnam, all formal learning
institutions, in general, and high schools in particular, have to adhere to the national
curriculum and syllabus in terms of studying English. Studying English in middle and
high school involve acquiring the ability to read, speak, listen, write, pronounce, and
use grammar. Because students' vocabulary has a substantial impact on their
acquisition of English as a foreign language, vocabulary teaching and learning is an
important aspect of any English session, regardless of whether the lesson includes
reading, speaking, listening, or writing.

Vocabulary is an important component of learning English. Each day, we

speak hundreds of words. Developing and expanding one's vocabulary is crucial for
effective communication in English. A lack of vocabulary can hinder communication,
expression, comprehension, and instruction. According to Rosyidah and Giyoto

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(2018, p. 1), "Actually, vocabulary is the foundation to learn English, and vocabulary
is one of the components of language, there is no language without vocabulary."
Students' English skills, including speaking, listening, reading, and writing, require a
strong vocabulary. According to Viera (2018, p. 90), "Vocabulary knowledge is
viewed as an essential tool for mastering any language skills; it also contributes to the
understanding of written and spoken texts". Mthethwa (2018) notes that using text,
music, images, video, or animation to teach vocabulary is becoming popular in
teaching vocabulary. This can help children learn language in an enjoyable way.
Therefore, mastering vocabulary is difficult for pupils, especially in Vietnam, where
English is regarded a foreign language. Furthermore, Vietnamese students are
frequently bored during vocabulary lectures since they find it difficult to recall the
spelling, meaning, and grammatical function of the terms.

In fact, Vietnamese teachers frequently spend five to seven minutes teaching

vocabulary in reading, speaking, listening, and writing sessions in high school in
general, and in school where the researcher works in particular. Depending on
whether or not the topic of the lesson is familiar to the students, the time may be
reduced or increased. Each teacher has the unique method of teaching vocabulary and
assessing comprehension. Aside from some teachers who constantly strive to employ
diverse strategies in vocabulary teaching to grab students' attention, others frequently
teach vocabulary by explicitly stating the terms and their meanings. Nevertheless,
many students struggle to retain and apply the words. As a result, if students take a
written test several days after the session, they usually find it difficult to answer
questions about the language they learned previously. In another case, if teachers say
anything that contains previously taught words, learners are unable to understand or
respond to them. Despite the efforts of both teachers and students, students’
vocabulary learning is generally ineffective.

For all of the reasons stated above, it is vital to investigate the challenges in
acquiring vocabulary among students in high school in Hanoi where the researcher
works. The elements that have impact on their vocabulary learning may then be
discovered.

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2. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that affect the learning
English vocabulary of students in 11th grade at Nguyen Quoc Trinh high school
(NQTHS). It was anticipated that the findings of this study would help to find out the
solutions to help students improve their vocabulary sources and then develop their
English. Furthermore, the findings of the study would shed light on the teaching and
learning progress in the school.

3. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

What are the factors affecting the 11th graders’ English vocabulary
learning in Nguyen Quoc Trinh High School?

4. SCOPE AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

To raise students’ interest in learning vocabulary, the investigation into the

factors that affect students’ vocabulary acquisition may help. In fact, this research did
not cover all areas of the need assessments and the objectives of the course. In
addition, the research is restricted to certain factors influencing vocabulary learning
of grade 11 learners at a high school in Hanoi where the researcher has been working
for over six years. The findings should be examined within the context of high school
instruction. The study focuses on the book " English 11- Global success " composed
and published by the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET). Practically, the
findings are expected to be helpful to teachers and students' vocabulary teaching and
learning in high school in general, and in grade 11th students in particular.

It was also anticipated that the findings of this study would help to find out the
solutions to help students improve their vocabulary sources and then develop their
English skills, and would help the teacher to support their students in the learning
progress.

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5. ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS

The thesis is organized into three parts as follow:

The first part, The Introduction, covers the fundamental information such as
the rationale for the study, objectives, research design, scope, overview, and the
significance of the study.

The second part, The Development including:

Chapter 1, Literature Review, discusses the fundamental concepts of vocabulary in

the second language teaching and learning, and factors affecting vocabulary
acquisition, the importance of vocabulary, the advantages of vocabulary in learning
English, and previous studies in the fields.

Chapter 2, The Methodology presents the methodology used in the study including
description, data collection instrument, subjects, procedures, and data analysis.

Chapter 3, The Results and Discussion presents the data analysis results and then
provide the discussion on the results.

The third part, Recommendations and conclusion , summarizes key results,

makes recommendations, identifies limitations, and suggestions for future research.

In addition, the study also includes the sections of REFERENCES which

displays the sources of referenced information and APPENDIXES which presents the
survey questionnaire in detail.

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 PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1. DEFINITION TERMS

1.1. Definition of vocabulary

Learning a new language cannot be separated from vocabulary. It means that

in the process of learning a new language, people have to know its vocabulary.
Vocabulary can be defined in various ways.

According to Richards and Renandya (2006), vocabulary is a core component

of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how learners speak, listen,
read and write. Without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for acquiring new
vocabulary, learners often cannot achieve their potential and may be discouraged from
making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening to the
radio, listening to the native speaker, and using language in different context, reading
or watching television. Hebert and Kamil (2005) define vocabulary is the knowledge
of meanings of words. The term vocabulary has a range of meanings. For example,
some teachers use the term to mean sight-word vocabularies, referring to students‟
immediate recognition of words in print; other teachers refer to words students
understand as their meaning vocabularies. Still other teachers use the term to mean
listening vocabularies, or students’ understanding of words that they hear in the
spoken language. Content teachers use the term academic vocabulary to refer to
content-specific words. Within this section, we use the term vocabulary to refer to
students’ understanding of oral and print words. Vocabularies include conceptual
knowledge of words that goes well beyond a simple dictionary definition. Students’
vocabulary knowledge is a building process that occurs over time as they make
connections to other words, learn examples and non-examples of the word and related
words, and use the word accurately within the context of the sentence. Hatch and
Brown (2005) assume the term of vocabulary refers to a list or set of words for
particular language or a list of words that individual speakers of language use. Since
vocabulary is a list, the only system involved is that alphabetical order. The choice in
vocabulary selection and methods used in teaching vocabulary are important factors.

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In addition, they also state that vocabulary is the only system involved of alphabetical
order. Then, Lubliner and Scott (2008) describe that vocabulary is the total number of
the words (with their meaning and with rules for combining them) making up the
language and Burn and Broman (2007) define that vocabulary is the stock of words
used by a person, class or professional, all having much in common, yet each
distinctly different. The primary thing in learning a language is the acquisition of a
vocabulary. Therefore, success in learning English requires vocabulary acquisition. A
large vocabulary can not guarantee the learner’s competence in learning English but
inadequacy of vocabulary will obstruct their chances to make success in learning
English.

Nisbett & Ross (2009) stated that the process of learning vocabulary in context
to get the exact meaning of words plays a fundamental role in the second language
proficiency because one of the primary goals of language learning is to know the
meanings of the words and apply them in a appropriate way in daily conversation. In
addition, vocabulary is necessary to communicate successfully in a second language.

According to Zhang (2009), vocabulary is considered as the words we teach in

the foreign language. In addition, Nation (2006) views vocabulary items as a boring
list of words that must be defined and memorized by the students, lexical forms are
seen in their central role in contextualized, meaningful language along with a
knowledge of 8,000 to 9,000 word families is required for unassisted comprehension
of simplified written texts. In 2009, Scarcella also views that knowing a word
meaning, the frequency it occurs, the company it keeps, the appropriateness it appears
in different situations is very helpful for students when they are learning a different
language. From the definitions above, it can be concluded that vocabulary mastery is
the the understanding of the words of a language or skill to understand the stock of
words and their meanings of a particular language.

Based on the definitions above, the researcher concludes that vocabulary is the
set of words owned by someone or is a part of particular language that are produced in
communication. Vocabulary is very important for second language learners, only with
sufficient vocabulary, learners can effectively express their ideas both in oral and
written form. Thus, they should have a good idea of how to expand their vocabulary
so that they can improve their interest in leaning the language. Language teachers,

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therefore, should posses considerable knowledge on how to manage an interesting
classroom so that the learners can gain a great success in their vocabulary learning.

With the above definitions, many researchers have established an overview of

the notion for vocabulary which is considered to be very important in language

acquisition. Thus, it is becoming increasingly apparent that teachers must enable

students to learn and acquire a lexical base in order for them to achieve success in

language learning.

1.2. Aspects of vocabulary

According to Harmer (2007), there are four basic aspects that students need to
know to learn new vocabulary items:

a. Word meaning :

Harmer states that one final point should be made about word meaning,
namely that what a word means is not necessarily the same as what it suggests or
rather that words have different connotations, often depending on the context they
occur in. To learn a new word, we must not only learn how that word relates to other
words (the definition information), but also how the word changes in different
contexts. One of the difficulties when learning vocabulary is meaning. One word in
English has several meanings, so it can be difficult to learn English if someone does
not learn the meaning of word accurately. In addition, the same collection of sounds
and letters can have many different meanings. Therefore, to have an accurate meaning
of word, people have to know the context of the word or conversation. So, they would
not have a misunderstanding or misinterpretation. For example: He looks under the
weather because he gets a low score today. “Under the weather ” in this sentence
does not mean a kind of weather, but it means expressing of sickness.

b. The usage of words

Words do not simply have diverse meanings. They are adaptable to many
contexts and applications. They refer to spoken words. The content may include the
speaker's expression and understanding. It expresses the speaker's emotional response

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to an imagined situation. For instance, my mother would water her flowers in the
garden. In this statement, "water" refers to both drinking and pouring or splashing
water. We can understand a statement based on its context.

c. The combination of words

Words can be combined into sentences or multiple item groups. Words in one
language may not be compatible with those in another. This indicates that many
words can be merged in a sentence. For example, firefighter, footballer, businessman,
and others.

d. The grammar structure of words

The last topic is word grammar, which involves using certain grammatical
patterns to distinguish between nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. For example,
“Mr. Thomas is the postal worker. His work is busy from early morning until late
evening. He works very hard to fulfill his assignments everyday before going home.”
In this case, the word “work” in the second sentence is used as a noun ( His work) and
the word “ work” in the third is used as a verb (He works). In different positions of
the sentence, the word “work” plays a different grammatical pattern This illustrates
that in English, one word can exist as both a verb and a noun or an adjective, the
learners have to carefully use and apply correctly in the sentence for the specific
purpose. Furthermore, Thornbury (2002), emphasizes the need of learning numerous
vocabulary components, including:

Word classes

Word classes classify words into diverse functions. That word includes
grammatical or function terms, such as prepositions, conjunctions, determiners, and
pronouns. Another example is content words that convey information, such as noun,
verb, adjective, and adverb.

Word families

A word family includes the original term, inflections, and common

derivatives. A word family consists of a base or root, prefixes, and suffixes. For
instance, "take" is a base or root with prefixes and affixes included.

i. Taker : - er is a suffix

ii. Retake : re - is a prefix

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Word formations

Word formation is the process of creating new words from existing material in
a language using certain structural and semantic patterns and equations. In English,
there are various ways to create new words, including adding an affix (affixation),
removing an affix (back-derivation), and shortening an existing word.

Affixation

is the process of creating new words by combining derivational affixes with

various bases. Affixes are made up of both prefixes and suffixes, making affixation a
two-part process. Prefixes and suffixes can be classified as deverbal (derived from
verbs), denominal (derived from nouns), or deadjectival (derived from adjectivals).

Prefixes:

Denominal: e.g. ex- boyfriend, underground, submarine, uninterested, dislike,

superhero,

preview, post-graduate, illegal, outstanding, overcooked, subtitle,

aforementionedaforemention,

Suffixes:
Denominators include homeless, happily, careful, wooden, woolen, toxic, racism,
kitchenette, heroism, kingdom, authorship, mountaineer, bookish, helpful, childhood,
novelty, and lioness.

According to Richards et al. (1982, p. 72), compounding is the use of many

words to create a single term. A "compound" word is made up of at least two root
morphemes.
For example, schoolboy; red-tapeism; happy-go-lucky; easygoing; wholeheartedly,
etc.
Compounds are classed by parts of speech, including nouns, adjectives, verbs,
adverbs, and prepositions.

Compound Nouns: Compound nouns are fixed expressions that combine

multiple words to operate as nouns. These idioms often combine two nouns, such as
door handle, address book, human being, mother tongue

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 Compound adjectives are made up of two parts and are usually written with a
hyphen. Examples include hot-tempered, well-dressed, never-ending, shocking-
pinkshockingpink, burn-out, duty-free, hand-made, last-minute, world-famous,
record-breaking, second class, time-consuming, top-secret, off-peak, part-time, so-
called, long-standing, interest-free, sugar-free, and easy-going.

Compound verbs typically have the combined meaning of both components,

although some may take on extra meanings that overshadow the original meaning.
Examples of compound verbs include: look over, have finished, set aside, and double-
click.

Compound adverbs:A compound adverb is a composition that combines one

adverb with another (or, in some cases, another component of speech). These words
are combined to modify a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or a whole
sentence. E.g., Henceforth, thereafter, sometimes, henceforward, hereupon,
thereafter, thereupon, whereupon, etc.

Compound prepositions: Compound Prepositions: Compound prepositions

are formed by prefixing the preposition with a noun, adjective, or adverb. E.g.,
amongst, among, above, around, along, across, about, below, under, alongside,
between, beyond, outside, inside, and without.

Multi-Word Units

Groups of words, like "bits and pieces," "do up," and "look for," can operate as
meaningful units with fixed or semi-fixed forms, even if they are not combined to
create compounds. The goal of word unit is to expand one's vocabulary by learning
idiomatic and phrasal verbs.

Example: a plenty of, look forward to, according to, etc.

Based on the aforementioned theories, the writer concludes that Thornbury's

theory of word units and Harmer's theory of word combinations have similar
explanations. However, it is recommended to teach basic learners, and 11th graders in
particularly, about word meaning, usage, grammar, and combination. Nation's theory
suggests that there are both receptive and productive dimensions; Therefore, knowing
these four aspects (grammar, meaning, combination and usage) for each word or

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phrase incorporates a variety of terminology. Therefore, eleventh-grade students can
achieve this since they have not yet learned about word construction, classes, and
families. Harmer's four characteristics are more suited for teaching vocabulary to
eleventh-grade pupils and align with the curriculum.

1.3. Types of vocabulary

Vocabulary has some types that need to be learned. There are types of
vocabulary that are explained by the experts. One of explanation is explained by
Thornburry (2002). He explained that there are at least eight types of vocabulary.
There are noun, verb, adverbs, adjective, pronouns, preposition, conjunctions, and
determiner.

Those can be described as follows:

Noun

The noun is one of the most important part of speech. It may function as the chief or
head of word in many structures of modification. According to Harmer (2001) a noun
is a word or set of words that refers to a person, place, thing, action, quality, or idea. It
can be the subject or object of a verb. It comprises of simple, complicated, and
compound words. Simple words, such as "book," "chair," and "stone," do not have
morphologically analyzed roots. Complex words are created by combining basic
words with prefixes or suffixes, such as teacher, friendly, or national. Compound
words are formed by combining two or more words, such as "membership" and
"whiteboard. In addition, Crystal (1967) assumed that there are six types of noun,
they are: countable noun, uncountable noun, concrete noun, proper noun and
collective noun.

Concrete and Abstract Nouns

A concrete noun is a word for a physical object that can be perceived by

senses we can see, touch, smell the object (flower, girl). Concrete noun

refers to entities which can be observed and measured. Then, an abstract

noun is a word for a concept it is an idea that exist in our minds only

(beauty, justice, mankind). Abstract noun refers to unobservant nations, such as idea,
difficult, certainly, etc.

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Countable and Uncountable Nouns

Countable noun are things we can count, such as books, houses, flowers, for

example: He bought six books of mathematics. It can be know that book is

countable noun. Uncountable noun refers to an undifferentiated mass or

nation, such as butter, wetter, sugar, etc. Uncountable noun also know as

non-count nouns mass nouns. For example: I add some sugar in his milk.

It can be known that sugar is uncountable noun.

Proper and Common Nouns

Proper noun is a noun that is written with capital letter, since the noun
represents the personal name, names of geographical units such as countries, cities,
rivers, etc. The name of nationalities and religions, names of holidays, names of time
units and words use for personifications.

Example:

Mr. Jams Charles (names personal), American (name country), New york (name city),
etc.

Collective Nouns

A collective noun is a word for group of people, animal or objects considered

as a single unit. Example of collective nouns are audience, committee, class, crew,
faculty, family, government, group, majority, national, press, public, team, etc.

From classification of noun above, it can be concluded that there are nine
types of noun. Types of noun based on it can be countable and uncountable, they are;

Countable Noun and Uncountable Noun. Types of noun based on number, they are;
Singular and Plural Noun. Types of noun based on form, they are; Abstract Noun and
Concrete Noun also Possessive Noun that show ownership. In this case, for teaching
basic learners especially students of the eleventh grade, the writer assumed that the
material of nouns taught in the textbook English 11 of MOET are all kinds of nouns
classified above .

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Verb

There are some definitions about verb that proposed by the expert. Frank
(1972) states that verb is the most complex part of speech. Arrangements with nouns
determine the different kinds of sentences statements, questions, commands, and

exclamations. Like the noun, the verb has the grammatical properties of person

and number, properties which require agreement with the subject. While Rudzka
(2008) state that verb is a word that is showed measure and condition of a thing. It
means that verb can be used to show the measure and condition of thing. In addition,
verbs have tenses to indicate the involvement in the concept of time such as the past,
the present and the future. For examples: write in present, wrote in the past or written
if it exists in past participle form .

From the statement before, it can be concluded that verb is a word that the
most complex part of speech and show measure and condition of a thing. Verb has the

grammatical properties of person and number, properties which require agreement

with the subject.

Adverb

There are some definitions of adverb that proposed by the experts. Frank
(2004) states that adverbs are words that describe or modify verbs, adjectives, and
other adverbs. In addition, he notes that "Although an adverb or an adverbial word-
group can occupy the initial position, mid position with the verb, or final position, all
three positions are not always possible for each type of adverb." Adverbs can be
thought of as phrases that convey meaning. Adverbs express how, where, when, and
to what extent something is done or occurs. While most adverbs finish in -ly, there are
plenty of adverbs that do not end with -ly. for example : hard, fast, etc.. Furthermore
Giri (2011) states that adverb is a word that explain about how, where and when a
thing happen. It means that adverb related with the how the process, time and where
the thing happen. Examples: now, tomorrow, certainly, maybe and others.

Adjective

According to Frank (2024), the adjective is a modifier that has the

grammatical property of comparison. It is often identified by special derivation
endings or by special adverbial modifiers that precede it. Furthermore, adjectives

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describe the features of objects, including size, form, color, texture, substance,
condition, and aesthetic aspects. Adjectives are used to modify nouns in English.
They can come before the noun (e.g., "What a lovely day!") or after a linking verb
(e.g., she feels angry ) or tobe (e.g., We are exhausted after the trip). Their surface-
level distribution aligns with their syntactic structure and semantic representation,
distinguishing them from quantificationquantificational phrases like "some" and
"every," as well as number words like "two," which have overlapping distribution.
Furthermore Frank (1983) classifies the type of adjective as follows:

Determiners

consist of a small group of structure word without characteristic form.

a. Articles: the, a, an

b. Demonstrative adjectives: this-plural these, that-plural those

c. Possessive adjective:

c.1. From pronouns: my, your, one‟s, etc.

c.2. From nouns: John‟s., the girl‟s, etc.

d. Numeral adjectives:

d.1. Cardinal: four, twenty-five, one hundred, etc.

d.2. Ordinal: fourth, twenty fifth, one hundredth, etc.

e. Adjectives of indefinite quantity: some, few, all, more, etc.

f. Relative and interrogative adjectives: whose, what, which.

Descriptive adjectives: it usually indicate an inherent quality (beautiful,

intelligent), or a physical state such as age, size, color. Some descriptive

adjective take the form of :

a. Proper adjectives: a Catholic church, a French disk, a Shakespearian

play.

b. Participial adjectives

b.1. Present participle: an interesting book, a disappointing

experience, etc.

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b.2. Past participle: a bored students, a worn tablecloth, etc.

c. Adjective compounds

c.1. With participle : present participle: a good looking girl, a heart breaking story,
etc.

c.2 . With-ed added to nouns functioning as the second element of a compound. The
first element is usually a short adjective: absentminded, ill-tempered, tear-stained, far-
sighted etc.

Pronoun

The definition of a pronoun as "a word that takes the place of a noun" applies
to certain types of pronouns but not others. Actual substitution pronouns may refer not
just to a previous noun (its antecedent), but also to a greater portion of the speech that
follows. Pronouns that are not replacements may contain indefinite references or
convey indeterminate quantities.

Preposition

The preposition is considered a component of speech in classical grammar.

Prepositions can have a variety of meanings, including specific semantic concepts like
time and location, as well as structural implications based on the subject-verb-
complement connection.

Conjunction

The coordinating conjunction unites structural components that are

linguistically equivalent. This phrase can be confusing in grammar since it refers to
both independent grammatical elements united by a coordinate conjunction (e.g., men
and women) and word groupings integrated into a single lexical unit. The term
"compound" can also apply to phrasal prepositions, conduction, or verb phrases.

Determiner

There are two articles: the and a. The can be used with either a singular or
plural noun, but it is most commonly used with a singular countable noun. The
articles shift before words with vowel sounds. According to the definition above, the
student should acquire a variety of vocabulary, including adverbs, adjectives, nouns,
verbs, pronouns, prepositions, conjunctions, and determiners (articles). The writer

21
conducted research to assess students' comprehension of vocabulary relevant to the
curriculum, including adverbs, adjectives, nouns, and verbs.

1.4. The importance of vocabulary

Vocabulary is a linguistic component that helps determine a learner's language

competency. It is fundamental to language because it is seen as the "basic building
block of language, the unit of meaning from which larger structures such as sentences,
paragraphs, and whole texts are formed" (Read, 2000, p. 1). It is crucial for typical
language learners since many of them have encountered lexical gaps, which are words
or concepts that they read but do not grasp or articulate as well as they could in their
native language. As a result, many students view second language (SL) acquisition as
primarily a matter of acquiring vocabulary, devoting a significant amount of time to
remembering lists of new words and relying on their bilingual dictionary as a core
communication resource.

For methodologists, vocabulary is regarded as a solid foundation upon which

learners may construct their communicative castles. Wilkin (1972, p. 110) believes
that vocabulary is one of the three aspects of language. Without grammar, little can be
expressed, and without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed. This is true for learning
a foreign language. A student with a diverse vocabulary can better comprehend
himself and others. However, if his vocabulary is restricted, he will undoubtedly
struggle with this task, as well as English acquisition. Therefore, vocabulary is a
"must" for all language learners.The importance of vocabulary knowledge in second
language acquisition is increasingly acknowledged. Among the three linguistic
elements, vocabulary is widely regarded as the most significant. McCarthy (1990)
remarked that "the largest component of any language course is vocabulary." He said,
"No matter how well the student learns grammar, no matter how successfully the
sounds of second language are mastered, without words to express a wide range of
meanings, communication in a second language just cannot happen in any meaningful
way." According to Nation (2015, p. 201), "Vocabulary is not an end in itself". A
large vocabulary facilitates the abilities of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
As a result, no one can acquire a language without first acquiring vocabulary, and no
one can be a proficient language user without having a decently extensive vocabulary.
All of this demonstrates that a student's success in becoming fluent in any language is

22
dependent in part on the size and richness of his or her vocabulary, hence vocabulary
instruction should be included in the curriculum and taught on a well-planned and
frequent basis.

1.5. The nature of vocabulary learning

L2 vocabulary learning differs from the L1 vocabulary learning in that L2

learners must create a new conceptual system and mental lexicon in their minds
(Thornbury, 2002). A young learner already has his or her own L1 vocabulary
network and its relevant conceptual framework. For example, a Vietnamese student
may recognize both the term hoa (English: flower) and the image. When introduced to
the English word, he or she must create a new vocabulary system to retain the word
flower for subsequent usage. Furthermore, Barcroft (2016) identified three settings for
vocabulary learning: (1) part of L1/L2 acquisition, (2) inadvertently or consciously,
and (3) naturalistic or educated.
These three situations can help students learn language more easily. In terms of
L1/L2 acquisition, learners may create various vocabulary networks in their brains,
including parallels and contrasts between these two mental lexicons. Learning
vocabulary can happen by chance when a word or lexical phrase is learned implicitly
from contexts. Learning vocabulary may also be deliberate, such as learning a word or
lexical phrase on purpose. Vocabulary acquisition can occur organically when one is
often exposed to the target language. It may also be taught in educational settings
where students learn vocabulary through teacher-led language classes.

The process of vocabulary acquisition then follows a standard sequence

(Barcroft, 2016): exposure to language inputs (vocabulary in use), lexical input
processing, executing various tasks, and learners' word retention or acquisition.
Lexical input might appear in individual items or contexts. Word segmentation, or the
capacity to isolate a single word or lexical phrase from a string of words in a text
(inputs), is particularly important for learners' vocabulary acquisition. Furthermore,
the more frequently a word or lexical phrase appears in a language input, the better
one's capacity to learn and retain it. Lexical inputs are an excellent source of language
for learners to learn vocabulary; nevertheless, they are not the only way to learn
vocabulary. One can complete various sorts of exercises that demand specific
language, which helps with acquisition. Such theoretical assumptions discussed in

23
Barcroft (2016) appear to be consistent with Nation and Meara (2020). There are three
basic tendencies in vocabulary acquisition: (1) learning from meaning-focused input
(hearing and reading abilities) - explicit learning; (2) learning from meaning-focused
output (speaking and writing skills) - implicit learning, and (3) purposeful vocabulary
development. Nation and Meara (2020) emphasized the importance of purposeful
vocabulary learning in any language program since it may generate the optimal
circumstances for acquisition. Deliberate vocabulary acquisition can help learners
enhance their explicit and implicit vocabulary knowledge, resulting in fluency growth.

2. FACTORS AFFECTING VOCABULARY LEARNING

2.1. Internal factors

According to Felix (1977), as described in Leontiev and James (1981, p. 133),

"Students are the most important factor in learning an English vocabulary". Internal
influences are those that a language student contributes to the learning circumstance.
In other words, they are internal issues for the pupils. Lightbown and Spada (1999)
identified internal characteristics such as age, linguistic ability, IQ,
attitude/motivation, and personality. Similarly, Rubin and Thomson (1994) suggest
that characteristics such as age, aptitude, personality, learning style, and prior
experiences may influence learning outcomes.

2.1.1. Age

Ellis (1994) found that learners who begin studying a second language at a
young age tend to have more native-like accents than those who start later. Younger
learners acquire phonology quickly but struggle with grammar. Older learners who
are motivated can succeed, but may struggle with native-speaker-equivalent
pronunciation and intonation

2.1.2. Personality

Learners' emotional moods significantly impact their conduct and performance

in the classroom and other learning environments. Various theories suggest that

24
personality traits are significant indicators of success in second language learning.
Personality qualities including extroversion, introversion, risk-taking, independence,
and empathy have fueled debates on this issue (Ellis 1986). Empathy is valued by
theorists like Guiora, Brannon, and Dull (1972), whereas Krashen (1981) suggests
that an outgoing personality helps with language learning (Ellis, 1986). According to
Krashen's (1981) research, introverts excel academically, whereas extroverts prefer
social settings for second language acquisition (Coleman & Klapper, 2005). Research
does not precisely characterize the impact of these ideas on second language learning.
Rather, we all have distinctive and distinct personalities, and each personality
attribute might influence our second language acquisition in different ways (Ellis
1986).

In short, extroverted learners excel at learning a second language, whereas

introverted or apprehensive learners struggle more. Introverts tend to make slower
development, particularly in developing speech abilities. This is because they are
afraid of making errors and hence shun speaking chances. As a result, a lack of
practice will reduce their chances of fully acquiring the second language vocabulary.

Extroverted learners, on the other hand, understand that errors are

unavoidable, thus they are constantly eager to talk without fear of making them.
These learners are willing to take risks, thus they have a lot more experience than
introverted learners.

2.1.3. Intrinsic Mmotivationotivation (Intrinsic)

Motivation is a key component for success in second language acquisition,

according to research. A motivated student is someone who: "expends effort, is
persistent and attentive to the tasks at hand, has goals, desires and aspirations, enjoys
the activity, makes attributions concerning success or failure, is aroused, and uses
strategies to aid in achieving goals" (Dornyei 2003, p. 173). It is obvious that those
who are driven to acquire a second language would learn more quickly and
thoroughly than those who are not. This is corroborated by Reece and Walker (1997).
They emphasize that a less ability student who is very motivated can outperform a
more brilliant student who is not motivated. It is extremely difficult to teach a second
language in a learning setting if the student lacks the motivation to learn the language.

25
Intrinsic motivation is described as the desire to learn a language for its own reason,
free of external pressure. Noels (2000) identified three categories of intrinsic
motivation: knowledge, accomplishment, and stimulation. Intrinsic motivation is
thought to have a substantial correlation with academic ability. Intrinsic motivation
helps learners develop linguistic proficiency. Students who love language study and
are pleased of their achievement tend to do better than those who do not. Medford and
McGeown (2012) found that new language learners are extremely motivated and
enjoy their first few classes/lessons.

2.1.4. Experiences

Lightbown and Spada (2013) suggest that having broad knowledge and
experience makes it simpler to learn a new language. For example, if a learner has
already lived in two or more countries and has been exposed to numerous languages
and cultures, he or she will have a significant advantage in learning another language
as compared to a student who has no experience with a second language or culture.

2.1.5. Cognition

Students with higher intelligence tend to learn more quickly and easily,
especially when learning a second language. Scholars have suggested that certain
students have a greater intrinsic capacity to acquire languages than others.

2.1.6. Language learning strategies

Learning approach is a key consideration. A learning strategy is a set of

behaviors that a student uses to achieve a learning assignment. A strategy begins with
the learner analyzing the job, the situation, and what is available in his or her own
repertoire. The learner then selects, deploys, monitors, and evaluates the success of
this action before deciding whether to alter the plan and action.

O'Malley and Chamot (1990) suggest that learning techniques are essential for
building L2 communication skills through active, self-directed engagement. Research
has shown that stronger language learners tend to adopt better and more effective
learning techniques than poorer language learners. Furthermore, Rubin states that a

26
good language learner is a willing and accurate guesser; has a strong persevering
drive to communicate and is willing to make mistakes in order to learn or
communicate; focuses on form by looking for patterns; takes advantage of all practice
opportunities; monitors his or her own and others' speech; and pays attention to
meaning. Oxford (1990) divides language learning processes into six categories:
memory, cognition, comprehension, metacognitive, emotional, and social. The first
three categories directly include the subject matter (the target language to be taught),
hence they are referred to as "direct" techniques. The latter three types are known as
"indirect" techniques since they do not directly engage the topic matter yet are critical
to language learning. According to Chamot and Kupper (1989), effective learners
choose methods that operate well together in a highly coordinated manner, tailored to
meet the requirements of the language job. These learners can readily describe their
techniques and why they utilize them (O'Malley & Chamot, 1990).

2.1.7. Native language

Students will benefit greatly from learning a second language that belongs to
the same language family as their first language. For example, a Chinese learner will
learn Japanese more quickly and readily than an English student. Furthermore, if
learners understand the similarities and contrasts between their mother tongue and the
target language, they will be better able to adopt successful learning and production
techniques, according to Schmitt and McCarthy (1997).

2.2 External factors

External factors are outside influences on students' learning. External factors

refer to specific language learning situations. The learning context may include
teachers, classmates, the classroom atmosphere, family support, the social and cultural
traditions of learning, the curriculum, and the availability of input and output options.
In addition, teaching methods, quality of materials, reward system, peer group,
teacher - student relationship, classroom atmosphere, and homework assignment, are
considers as a learning environment and it can affect the learners‟ choice of
vocabulary learning strategies (Kaylani, 1996).

27
2.2.1. Second language curriculum

In terms of curriculum, Nation and Macalister (2010) underline the relevance

of curriculum needs analysis, course material sequencing, assessment, structure, and
presentation. It is clear that resources play an important role in second language
acquisition in general, and second language vocabulary development in particular.
Flavell (1979), Wenden (1987), and Williams and Burden (1997) describe a learning
task as not just the information being taught but also the aim that learners hope to
attain by employing these elements. As a result, tasks should be planned in
accordance with the instructional goals. Second language vocabulary activities aim to
acquire and expand knowledge of words, including their meanings and forms. Payant
and Reagan (2018) defines tasks as unique language learning activities that can
provide ideal circumstances for foreign language learning.

Nunan (1989) defines a task as a real-world or pedagogical action that

involves the exchange of knowledge. Different task materials with varying levels of
difficulty might impact vocabulary development for second language learners.
Learning a term from a list is not the same as learning it from a text. Simply retaining
a word's definition does not guarantee its practical use. As a result, the goal of
vocabulary development should be to retain words while also being able to apply
them instinctively in a variety of linguistic settings as necessary (McCarthy, 1984).

2.2.2. Teachers

Teachers can play a variety of roles that can help improve learners' ESL
performance, including motivators, assessors, subject content planners, activity and
teaching material developers, creators of a positive learning environment, and
engaging learners in extramural activities. In addition, teachers are regarded
as architects who create thorough lesson plans based on a specific instructional aim,
the sorts of activities that will fulfill those objectives, the sequencing of those
activities, the resources required, how long each activity may take, and how students
should be organized. Teachers’ proficiency in teaching ESL may be affected by
several factors. Firstly, personal characteristics of teachers may influence
the students' performance and their outcomes. Secondly, the teacher's age may also be
a significant effect. Furthermore, teaching experience correlates with efficiency in

28
language learning, classroom activity, openness to new methods, enthusiasm, and
willingness to improve conditions. The teacher's socioeconomic class, ideology, and
views might influence their conduct and performance in class, impacting learners'
acquisition. For example, some progressive teachers identify with certain techniques
linked with the progressive teaching movement. Other teachers hold more
conventional views and teaching approaches, or they blend progressive and traditional
practices, taking diverse places along the continuum (Bennet, 1976). According to
Madrid (1993), the teacher's personality qualities and behavior in class can also
impact students' attitudes and motivation in language acquisition.

2.2.3. Learning tasks

According to Flavell (1979), Wenden (1987), and Williams and Burden (1997), the
learning task includes both the materials being learned (such as the genre of a piece of
reading) and the goal the learner hopes to achieve by using these materials (such as
remembering, comprehending, or using language). According to Crookes (1986), a
task is a piece of labor or activity that is generally completed with a specific goal,
either as part of an educational course or at employment. In practice, it appears to
relate to a variety of activities aimed to engage the learner in communicative or
reflective language use in order to achieve a goal other than learning a specific
element of the L2. Nunan (1989) states that a task can be either real-world or
pedagogical, as long as the process of completion aligns with discourse and
information exchange. According to (Fluente, 2006), the second language learners,
especially those who aimed to develop their second language proficiency in order to
function better in the society, curricular that are designed bottom up, taking needs-
based language use situations and tasks in relevant domains. Learning tasks should be
given to SL learners to enhance their SL acquisition. Therefore, language-learning
tasks can help provide optimal circumstances for second language acquisition of the
learners . Tasks should be organized in relation to desirable goals. The purpose of L2
vocabulary exercises should be to acquire and expand word knowledge, including
meaning and form.

Fluente (2006) concludes in his study on the impact of pedagogical tasks and
form-focused instruction that Presentation, Practice, and Production lessons are less
successful than task-based lessons. The study also found that a task-based lesson with

29
an explicit focus-on-forms component is more successful than a task-based session
without this component in terms of improving word morphological learning. The
findings also suggest that the explicit attention on forms component may be more
successful when presented near the conclusion of the class, after meaning has been
gained. Task materials, purposes, and difficulty levels affect learners' vocabulary
learning differently. Learning words from a list is not the same as learning them from
a text or speech. Furthermore, memorizing the meaning of a term is not the same as
learning to utilize it in real-life situations.

2.2.4. Peers

According to Lantolf and Thorne (2004), peers have a role in the development
of learning through cultural, linguistic, and pre-existing environments like family and
peer groups. According to Shah (1999), other characteristics that influence second
language use include inappropriateness, hate, boastfulness, and formality (p.107).

According to her, these issues might lead to learners lacking oral communication
skills or practicing a second language. Seng (2006) found that language learners
benefit from peer sharing of inspiration and knowledge, as well as explanations from
classmates.

2.2.5. Extrinsic motivation

Students that get consistent and adequate motivation from their parents or
teachers to learn may have better performance than those who do not receive it.
Furthermore, Gardner (1985) uses the notion of student orientation to explain why
students should acquire a second language. As a result, the primary motives are to get
a decent career, travel throughout the world, connect with foreigners, and receive a
higher education. As a result, second language learners, particularly young learners,
face a great deal of societal pressure these days. Such pressure is termed extrinsic
motivation, which increases pupils' willingness to learn the language. Environmental
variables, including parents' education level, usage of English at home, linguistic
input, and L2 competency, have been linked to vocabulary acquisition and academic
accomplishment (Oller & Eilers 2002).

30
2.2.6. Access to native speakers

Felix (1977), referenced in Leontiev and James (1981), suggests that learners'
frequency of language encounter is a significant factor influencing vocabulary
learning. It would be extremely beneficial if second language learners had
opportunities to communicate with native speakers both within and outside of the
classroom. Interacting with native speakers allows learners to obtain appropriate
feedback and make faster progress, particularly in the oral/aural parts of language
acquisition. Learners who can comprehend and respond to native speakers
demonstrate a particular level of vocabulary and ability to employ it.

2.2.7. Inter lexical factors

Inter-lexical factors relate to how new words relate to terms learned in one's
first or second language. The link between the first and second languages includes
similarities in form and meaning between words.

Intra-lexical factors

Laufer (1997) argues that intra-lexical elements stem from the inherent
features of words. He also claims that intralexical elements influencing the
learnability of lexical items include pronunciation ability and multiple word meaning.
According to Gairns and Redman (1998. p.50), foreign learners struggle to understand
English due to the intricate link between sound and spelling. There are some terms
that have similar pronunciation but distinct forms or spelling, whereas many more
have similar forms but differ in pronunciation.

Multiple meaning words

Different versions of a word might communicate the same meaning. This is

one of the most challenging aspects for students to learn new vocabulary and how to
use them in real-life scenarios.

Length

Schmitt and McCarthy (1997) found that vocabulary learning is influenced by

intra - lexical elements such as word length. Longer words appear to be more difficult

31
to learn than shorter ones. It is also obvious that one-syllable words are easier to learn
than two- and three-syllable terms.

Morphology

Features such as irregular plurals, gender of inanimate nouns, and noun cases,
increases the learning load due to the multitude of forms. The learning context refers
to the sociolinguistics, cultural, and political setting in which learning occurs. The
teachers, peers, classroom environment, and overall classroom interaction can all be
considered part of the learning context. Ellis 1994, p.606) concluded that
opportunities to negotiate meaning may aid in the acquisition of L2 vocabulary;
teacher-controlled pedagogic discourse may contribute to the acquisition of formal
language skills, whereas learner-controlled natural discourse may aid in the
development of oral language skills; and learners require access to well-formed input
that is tailored to their own level of understanding. This may be accomplished through
teacher-directed courses with a clearly defined framework and well-adjusted teacher
discourse." All of this lends credence to the concept that good L2 learning is
achievable in a positive classroom environment. The learning context may involve the
availability of input and output opportunities.

2.2.8. Home factors

Biemiller and Slonim (2001), CoboLewis, Pearson, Eilers, and Umbel (2002),
Lara-Cinisomo et al., (2004), and Neuman (2008) all show that socioeconomic class
affects cognitive and academic performance for both native English speakers and
English language learners. To be more specific, children from low-income families do
worse than their more economically advantaged counterparts. Furthermore, social
class differences provide higher-income children with greater access to language-
related literacy experiences, such as book ownership and other reading materials (Raz
& Bryant, 1990), book availability through public libraries (Neuman, 2006), shared
reading frequency (Adams, 1990; Neuman, Caperelli, & Kee, 1998), and
opportunities to engage in experiences that build conceptual knowledge required for
text comprehension (Neuman 2008). Research suggests that family language choices
influence children's literacy development in their first or second language (Duursma
et al., 2007).

32
2.3. Related previous studies

Several research studies on “difficulties in learning English vocabulary” have

been conducted by many researchers in Vietnam and other countries in recent years.

Research conducted by Musdalifah, a student of Teacher Training and Education

Faculty Sebelas Maret University in 2006, on the vocabulary learning of the fifth
grade students found that two factors were causing vocabulary-learning difficulties
that were the internal factor, which came from the students, and the external one
which included the family environment and the aspects of school such as the teacher,
teaching techniques, the materials, and instructional media. In detail, many students
had limited sources, and a lack of readiness in their vocabulary learning. In addition,
difficulties also came from the English teacher who employed simple techniques and
limited media in the process of vocabulary teaching. Fu’s (2003) study revealed that
inherent interest motivation positively correlated with students’ vocabulary learning.
Besides motivation, the language learning environment is considered a factor that
affects learners' vocabulary learning.

In Vietnam, some research studies on “difficulties in learning English

vocabulary” were done by the students of Vietnam National University, Hanoi
University of Language and International Studies. Mai (2011) investigated teaching
and learning vocabulary in the textbook “English for Food Production Staff” for the
second-year students of the pre- intermediate level at Hanoi Tourism College to find
out their difficulties in vocabulary teaching and learning and give some solutions. The
study used a survey questionnaire for the students and an interview with English
teachers. The findings of the research showed that the students did not have the right
English learning strategies or good motivation in vocabulary learning while the
teachers had a shortage of specialized knowledge, teaching techniques or teaching
aids, and reference materials were poor. Another study conducted by Le (2011) on
100 students at State Commercial No5 school, investigating their difficulties in
learning ESP vocabulary. The results showed that students often encounter difficulties
from their personal factors, that are their background knowledge as well as the intra-
lexical factors. Moreover, parts of students’ difficulties are due to the lack of
vocabulary learning strategies and teaching techniques of their teacher. Therefore,
they have lots of troubles in acquiring a second language.

33
Dao (2017) conducted a study on 216 sixth students and 6 English teachers, at two
secondary schools in Hanoi, to look into the factors affecting their vocabulary
teaching and learning progress. The results revealed that students’ perception of the
role of vocabulary and their interest in learning are the two vital elements that greatly
influence their vocabulary learning progress. In addition, the factors of means and
equipment for students' English learning activities are also factors that affect students'
vocabulary learning results

2.5. Gaps in previous studies

Many research in the field of finding out factors affecting vocabulary learning
to support the process of teaching and studying English have been conducted with
various types of learners to find out the ways to improve students’ vocabulary ability
and the extra solutions should be employed for them in the process of learning a
second language. However, all the aforementioned studies focused on English major
students with rather high English proficiency, or secondary school students with the
pr-intermediate level. Furthermore, most research were conducted in foreign countries
with the different social economic background compared to Vietnam in terms of
schooling and politic systems. Therefore, the researcher decided to carry out this
research with the aims of exploring the factors influencing vocabulary learning and
give some suitable solutions to help them overcome those problems for the non-
major English learners in Vietnam in general, and high school students in particular.

34
 CHAPTER 2: THE METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology that is employed to collect data for this Cross
sectional survey study. Firstly, an overview of the research method - involving
definition, rationale of the method, and benefits and limitations of the method – is
stated. Secondly, the subjects of the study are clarified. Next, the data collection
procedure will be illustrated. Besides, how the questionnaire was designed is also
included in this chapter. Finally, details of how the data collected from the
questionnaire was analyzed will be presented.

1. CROSS- SECTIONAL RESEARCH

The use of cross-sectional study in language instruction is growing in

popularity. According to (Levin, 2006), a cross-sectional study design is a sort of
observational study or descriptive research that examines data about a population at a
single point in time. This approach assesses the prevalence of a certain outcome of
interest in a given population. It gives a snapshot of the population's characteristics at
a certain point in time. It may be used to identify the prevalence of outcomes and
exposures, as well as to create hypotheses regarding causal linkages between
components that will be investigated in experimental designs.

, Some of the critical characteristics of this study are:

 Researchers can conduct a cross-sectional study with the same set of variables over a
set period.
 Relatively quick to conduct

 Similar research may look at the same variable of interest, but each study observes a
new set of subjects.

 The cross-sectional analysis assesses topics during a single instance with a defined
start and stopping point, unlike longitudinal studies, where variables can change
during extensive research.

35
 Cross-sectional studies allow the researcher to look at one independent variable as the
focus of the cross-sectional study and one or more dependent variables.

Based on the research context and population, the researcher decided to

conduct this research with the design of a cross-sectional study because of its benefits.
In this study, cross-sectional research will be used for the following reasons. Firstly,
the researcher can relatively quickly conduct the study and be able to collect all
variables at one time. Secondly, due to the population being quite large, a cross-
sectional study will help to get multiple outcomes that can be researched at once.
Furthermore, a cross-sectional study is inexpensive to conduct, meanwhile still collect
the necessary information from the population.

2. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF THE RESEARCH

2.1. Strengths

Cross- sectional research is capable of obtaining information from large

samples of the population. Moreover, it is also well suited to gathering demographic
data that describe the composition of the sample (McIntyre, 1999). Cross-sectional
inclusive in the types and number of variables that can be studied, require minimal
investment to develop and administer, and are relatively easy for making
generalizations (Bell, 1996). Cross- sectional research can also elicit information
about attitudes that are otherwise difficult to measure using observational techniques
(McIntyre, 1999).

2.2. Limitations

According to Pinsonneault and Kraemer (1993), surveys are often

inappropriate for determining the historical background of occurrences. In addition,
Bell (1996) finds that biases might develop in the absence of replies from intended
participants or in the form and quality of the responses that are received. Other
sources of mistake include respondents' purposeful misreporting of actions in order to
distort survey findings or hide improper activity. Respondents may struggle to
appraise their own behavior or recollect relevant situations.

36
3. INSTRUMENTS FOR DATA COLLECTION

3.1. Questionnaires

According to Richards (1990, p. 23), questionnaire is an efficient technique of

getting information about various elements of learners "such as beliefs, attitudes,
motivation, and preferences". Questionnaires were adopted for this study because they
are straightforward and easy to complete. Firstly, students can quickly read the
information and chose the answers that are the most suitable for them. Secondly, the
researcher does not have to spend much time or money on them, and the researcher
can easily swiftly analyse the data from survey questionnaires. In addition,
questionnaires may be used to collect attitudes of the students.

To collect necessary data and information for the study, the survey
questionnaire will be chosen as the main instrument for data collection. The
questionnaire will be constructed based on the literature on vocabulary learning and
the discussion between the supervisor and the writer. The items will be written in both
Vietnamese and English to make sure that the participants could fully understand the
questions before giving their answers. The obtained results will be the basis for the
researcher to suggest other ways to solve the problem, helping students learn
vocabulary better to develop their English ability.

The questionnaire was distributed to the students in 14 classes to analyze the

factors affecting students’ vocabulary learning and then collected after 30 minutes by
the researcher.

Details of the questionnaire

The questionnaire for the students was designed with both close-ended and
open-ended questions. It consistss of two main parts as follow:

Part I: The participants’ general information

This part was designed to collect information regarding students’ general

information. Data collected from this section included details about students’ age,
gender, and the time they had been studying English as well as their average scores in
English subject in the last semester.

The questions in this part were in the form of check list items.

37
 Part II: Factors affecting students’ vocabulary learning

This part included sixix closed-questions about factors that hadve impacts on
students’ vocabulary learning including both internal and external factors such as
their age, vocabulary strategies, motivation, teachers, peers, and their expectation for
better effects in the LS2 vocabulary acquisition. In addition, one opened-question
about students’ suggestions for their better vocabulary learning was given out at the
end of the questionnaire.

The questionnaire was designed and then it was improved by the advisor and
was tested with some students in advanced. Then it was adjusted and rewritten. To
make sure that it was is clear for students to understand, all questions in the
questionnaire were written in both Vietnamese and English. (see appendix)

The questionnaire was then delivered to 650the students by the researcher in

14 classes one by one in two consecutive weeks while they were in their classroom in
the first class hour. They were asked to answer the questions honestly. Before each
question, clear instruction was given to all students to make sure they all understood
and gave out the answers correctly. After students finished their handouts, the
researcher collected the data for analysis.

In particular, there were seven primary questions as follows:

1. What are important internal factors in your English vocabulary learning?

2. Do you find it interesting to study more vocabulary in English?

3. Do you have any problems with finding the best vocabulary learning strategies?

4. What are important external factors in your English vocabulary learning?

5. Does your English teacher have suitable teaching approaches to help you?

6. Do you have any problems with the use of technologies for vocabulary learning?

7. What do you think can improve your vocabulary learning process?

3.2 Interviews

In addition to the questionnaire, a short semi-structured interviews with open-

ended questions will bewerewas conducted in person separately to collect further

38
ideas of the participants about their problems with vocabulary learning process. The
researchers randomly selected 20 students out of 650 to participate in individual
interviews. The interview questions aimed to gather deeper information about the
respondents' ways of studying new vocabulary, the efficiency and factors that affect
their learning vocabulary process as well as their further recommendations that could
help them study more effectively based on their social-economic backgrounds . To
provide trustworthy data, researchers recorded and then transcribed respondent
responses within three day after the interviews were conducted.

The questions for the interview were designed, improved by the advisor and

then tested with some students in advanced. Each interview lasted for 1 hour to make

sure the students had enough time to take all the questions into consideration carefully

before giving out their answers.

In particular, there wereare five primary questions as follows:

1. How do you learn vocabulary in English?

2. Do you find it effective when you learn English vocabulary ?

3. What are the factors affecting your process of learning English vocabulary ?

4. Does your English teacher have suitable teaching approaches to help you?

5. What do you think can improve your vocabulary learning process?

3.2. Techniques of data analysis

The purpose of the survey isis to find out the factors that haveve the most
important influences on the vocabulary learning acquisition of the 11 th graders at
NQTHS.

Part I: The questionnaire part 1 includess questions about students’ personal

information including the gender, age, years of studying English as well as their
English average scores in the last semester. The collected data for the first part of the
questionnaire was collected, analyzed and then displayed by percentage. The statistic

39
is shown in the tablesprovides information about the participants and then shown by
table in chapter 2 .

Part II: The questionnaire part 2 includes the categories of both internal and
external factors. The questions in the questionnaire part 2 will be collected, analyzed
one by one by counting the percentage. The results of the data collection are presented
by charts in the nextt chapter.

Part III: The open-ended short interviews with 20 random 11th graders
includes questions about students’ existing ways to learn their vocabulary, the
effectiveness of their vocabulary process, the teachers’ appropriate teaching
vocabulary strategiesy as well as their vocabulary desired approaches is areis
recorded, collected, analyzed and then described in form of description, tables and
charts in the next chapter

4. THE SETTING AND THE PARTICIPANTS

4.1. The setting of the study

The researcher is currently working at Nguyen Quoc Trinh High School which
is a public school under the Ministry of Education and Training. The English teaching
staff at NQT High School consists of 09 official teachers at the age from 26 to 50. The
majority of them is female and graduated from various universities in Vietnam. Three
of them have the master in English study already. Because the number of teachers is
limited, these teachers are responsible for teaching all of the students from grade 10 th
to grade 12th. Therefore, they have to face up to many difficulties in the teaching
context, in which the lack of appropriate time and specific knowledge as well as the
choice for proper teaching methodology may be a big concern. From the small talks to
teachers and students, NQTHS teachers apply traditional methods in teaching
vocabulary. In classes, the teachers frequently write down the new words of each unit
in the textbook and then write down Vietnamese meanings and read out loud in front
of the whole class.

40
 The students there are from the age of 16 and 17. There are 40 classes in the
school, in which, the number of students in 11th grade is divided into 14 classes, and
on average there are about 50 students in each class. All students have learned English
since the 3rd grade. English is a compulsory subject for all students at school. The
textbook used to teach at NQTHS school for 11th graders is an English 11 composed
and published by Vietnam Education Publishing House Limited Company.

Based on the researcher's assessment and observations through teaching

experience, 11th grade students at NQTHS still have a rather limited vocabulary. In
fact, many students share that they have difficulty in learning and applying new words
properly. In addition, many of them even struggle in reading and understanding texts
or even a sentence due to the lack of vocabulary. Despite spending time learning
English for many years, most students are still confused in choosing the right
vocabulary to express their meaning in writing or speaking activities.

4.2. The participants of the study

The researcher conducted this cross-sectional study with all of the nearly 650
11th graders in all 14 classes. All students have completed the 10 th-grade program.
They are at the levels from upper A1 to A2 and currently use the English textbook 11
Global Success composed and published by Vietnam Education Publishing House
Limited Company under the guidance of Ministry of Education and Training
(MOET).

The personal information of the participants involved in the research in more

details as below:

41
Categories Gender Age Time of Scores of English subjects
studying
English

Strategies Male Female 16 17 > = 9 < 9 <5 5.25 7.0 - 8.25 -

Description years years years years - 8.25 10.0
6.75

GenderPerc 48.9 51 % 97% 3% 98% 2% 5.6 54. 24 15.6

entages % % 6% % %S

Age 97% 3%

Years of 98% 2%
studying
English

Scores of 5.6 54. 24 15.6

English % 6% % %S
subject

Table 1: General information about the participants of the study

As can be seen from the table above, it is obvious that the female students
outnumbered the male students with 51% for female and 49% for male. In addition,
the participants were grade 11 students, therefore, the majority of them were at the
age of 16 (97% of the total), and just 13 students (accounting for 3%) were at the age
of 17. This is because these 17 year-old students started their elementary education at
the age of seven instead of six. In addition, the majority of students who had learned
English for nine or more years accounted for 98%, while only 2% had studied for less
than nine years in public school. Furthermore, in terms of the English scores of
students in the last final test which is considered as an assessment test before the
students go on with the second semester of the academic year at the end of the first
term, the amount number of students with marks below 5 was the smallest amount,
made up for 6% (37 students). However, the students with marks from 5.25 to 6.75
were 355 students (55%) and was considered the largest proportion of the total
number. Besides, the number of the students who had the English marks from 7.0 to
8.25 was 24% (156 students). In addition, those who had the highest score was only

42
15.6% (102 students). These results meant that the English scores of students were at
the average level in English.

CHAPTER 3: THE RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter reports the results of the study and present discussion of the
major

findings. In the first part, the researcheris chapter deals with the data received
from the questionnaires. In the second part, the researcher examines the interview
findings, starting with the response rate of participants and progressing to developing
themes from their responses to all of the interview questions. Themes are described
mostly through participants' voices.

3.1 In the second part, the results of open-ended interview will be described .Findings
from the questionnaire

3.1.1 Internal factors

Question 1. What are important internal factors in your English vocabulary learning?

43
 Chart 1: Internal factors that affect students’ vocabulary acquisition process

The first question in part II looked at the students' ideas regarding the internal
factors that may prevent their vocabulary learning ability. The majority of the students
(42%) considered the most important internal factor to them was the vocabulary
learning strategies. 31% of the students reported that intrinsic motivation was also a
big challenge to them when they wanted to study English. Only 12% of the students
thought that age had effect on their second language acquisition, while cognition and
native language had a slight effect on them with 8% and 7%, respectively. It is clear
that vocabulary learning strategies and intrinsic motivation were the most significant
internal factors affecting students’ vocabulary learning process.

3.1.2 students’ attitude towards learning vocabulary

Question 2: Do you find it interesting to study more vocabularies in English?

44
 Chart 2: Students’ interest towards vocabulary learning

As can be seen from the chart, 72% students accepted that they did have an
interest in studying vocabulary because this helped them broaden their horizon and
boosted their other skills in English. However, the rest of the students (28%) admitted
that they felt quite bored and hard to remember the new words because of lacking
suitable ability.

From the data above, it is clear that most of the students wanted to learn and
improve their vocabulary source if they weree iven the suitable study approach and
materials.

3.1.3 Students’ problems in vocabulary learning strategies

Question 3: Do you have any problems with finding the best vocabulary learning
strategies?

45
 Chart 3 : Problems with finding the best vocabulary learning strategies

Question 3 asked students if they had problems with their learning strategies in
the L2 language acquisition. 84% of them stated that they had problems when
studying new words and could not find the most proper ways to learn and apply the
newly studied words in the daily conversation or written texts. Only 16 % of the total
students did not have any trouble while studying because these students were good at
English as well as they had the chance to study more outside schools.

3.1.4. External factors

The researcher went on administering part II of the questionnaire to gather

information about the students' ideas towards external factors affecting their
vocabulary learning process

The results of questions are as follows:

Question 4: What are important external factors in your process of English

vocabulary learning?

46
 Chart 4: External factors in students’ English vocabulary learning

Looking at the chart we can see that there are several external factors
mentioned in the questionnaire and students are optional to choose factors that most
influenced their process of learning vocabulary. According to the data, the majority of
students all agreed that teachers and the L2 curriculum were the most important
external factors affecting their vocabulary acquisition (65%) for the teachers’
methodology and the L2 curriculum ( accounted for 59%). Another main factor that
also heavily influenced students’ learning new words was the chance to expose with
the native speakers in reality (accounted for 45%). These students claimed that if they
had the opportunity to communicate with those who officially spoke English, their
ability in memorizing new words would be improved considerably. Two other
elements that also put a strain on students’ ability of learning vocabulary were
extrinsic motivation and learning tasks with 30% and 35% of the total number,
respectively. The same appropriate percent was seen for the peer and the home
factors. These factors only slightly affected these students when acquiring the new
words. Lastly, inter-lexical factor seemed to have the least influence on the student
(only 12%) as they explained they could easily study them words if they had enough
time and the suitable approach and learning strategies.

3.1.5 Teachers’ suitable teaching methods

Question 5: Does your English teacher have suitable teaching approaches to help you?

47
 Chart 5: Teachers have suitable teaching approaches

The chart shows that many students agreed that they were pleased with their
teachers’ teaching methodology (63%) because the teachers gave and explained every
new word encountered in the textbook, so they understood the words and could use
these new words in the textbook to do their home works and assignments. However,
37% of them claimed that they did not find the way of teaching was suitable for them
since they easily forget the words right after they were taught at school. This can
come to conclusion that teachers may not have a proper teaching approach to their
students in transferring the words.

3.1.6 . Students’ problems with the use of technologies for vocabulary learning

Question 6: Do you have any problems with the use of technologies for vocabulary
learning?

48
 Chart 6: Problems with the use of technologies

As can be seen clearly from the chart that more than half of the students (52%)
admitted they did not find it difficult to apply technology and modern devices in
studying English in general, and English vocabulary in particular. They might be
familiar with the usage of technology because they were instructed and had a habit of
using these tech- devices daily. However, the rest of the students (48%) opposed the
aforementioned ideas. They stated that it was hard for them to catch up with the newly
devices and used them in studying vocabulary as well.

3.2 Finding from the interviews

3.2.1. Participation and response rate in interviews

The interview was conducted face-to-face to gain an overall understanding of

students’ vocabulary learning strategies and their learning experiences in the second
language acquisition process.

The response percentage for interviews with individuals was very positive.
Within the school, the proposed number of participants was almost achieved with the

49
exception that lots of students were found willing and available to be interviewed than
expected. These students were not only interested in the recording process, they were
also eager to give out their personal thoughts on the other related things. This was
because all teachers in NQTHS were so enthusiastic to let their students participate in
the study. In addition, they insisted and provided me lot of support to interview as
many of their students as possible, mainly the whole classes, and I managed to
interview all of these students without hesitance or unwillingness. This was such a
helpful support because the various interviewees came from different classes in the
school as well as their family backgrounds and they practised somewhat different
modes of class-based learning.

Access to the respondents at the permitted sites met with varied responses.
Generally the head teachers at all the 11 th classes gave me a warm welcome and
provided me with all the support I needed. Moreover, while I was conducting the
interview at the class in the break time, some teachers also indicated English levels of
their students in advanced. Furthermore, they also expressed their uncertainty about
the way to deal with some existing problems in terms of teaching vocabulary with me
for the sake that this study could help them handle with the English vocabulary
learning situation at NQTHS.

3.2.2 Interview data: emerging themes

3.2.2.1 Students’ vocabulary learning methodologies

The results from the recorded interview data (20 interviews with 20 separate
students) showed that students used a variety of ways to learn the new words. Most
students had their own ways to deal with the strange words that they had to study in
the textbooks. However, the most popular way for almost these students was repeating
the words out loud by following their teachers in the English periods and then
rewriting these words at home for memorizing (80% of the total respondents, 18 out
of 20 students). The data from the interviews also indicated that this kind of method
played an important role in these students’ daily learning new vocabulary process
since it was considered as a traditional learning vocabulary method for those who
studied in the suburbans or countrysides among Vietnam. Besides repeating and

50
rewriting the new words, the students also mentioned the second favored way for
them to learn a new word was using bilingual dictionaries both paper and digital
versions (accounted for 65 % of the respondents). The students assumed that this way
was less time-consuming and more convenient for them because whenever they
encountered a strange word in the reading passages or homework, they just looked up
for the meanings on their smart phones or computers. In addition, when being asked
for ways to learn and remember the words well, the students (60%) revealed that
they used memory strategies to keep the words in their mind, that meant studying the
spelling of a word, studying the sound of the word and saying the new word aloud.
Moreover, they wrote a full sentence including that new word to learn by heart when
studying alone at home without the support of their teachers or peers. For example,
when studying the new word “vocational course” that they withdrew from the
textbook, unit 7 with the topic “Higher Education”, these respondents admitted that
they wrote a full sentence like “I want to pursue higher education after graduating
from high school”. By this way, they could memorize the spelling as well as meaning
of the word for a long time.

Because this is open-ended question, students’ opinions were diverse. Most of

the students studied vocabulary with the above ways, but about 30% to 55% students
offered some other interesting learning ways thich are summarized as follows:

Beside all of the aforementioned favorite vocabulary learning methods, the

students also gave out some other ways to study vocabulary for them at both school
and home such as listing the new word by word formations (28%). For example:
family - noun, familiar- adjective; care - verb, careful - adjective, carefully- adverb.
Another less popular way was using recreational means in studying new English
words also applied by some students (16%). There are several forms of entertainment
available, including books, periodicals, and films. Learners could utilize these media
to meet their learning objectives for new words, such as exercising reading
comprehension and writing abilities by reading newspapers, tales, magazines, novels,
and literary works in English to find out new words in specific contexts that might
help them remember more easily and longer. They also experienced new words on
their listening, speaking, and pronunciation abilities by listening to English music and
singing along, as well as viewing foreign movies with English subtitles. Additionally,
for a small number of the students who were more advanced in English than their

51
classmates revealed that they also listened to and watched English news on radio and
television in their spare time to build up their advanced vocabulary. In addition, to
increase the efficacy of learning vocabulary by the forms of entertainment, students
combined word guessing with dictionary lookup to get a thorough understanding of
the words that they encountered.

Only 20% of students routinely learned vocabulary from reading bilingual

stories. They first read the English sections, try to comprehend the narrative, and then
read it again in Vietnamese to double-check their understanding. Learners considered
this strategy beneficial since it allowed them to quickly determine the meaning of a
word in Vietnamese. Furthermore, in a narrative, certain words are repeated several
times, which can strengthen the meaning of a newly found term and help you
remember it for longer. Participants suggested group study sessions, extracurricular
activities, and English contests as effective strategies to increase their knowledge.
This method of learning assisted students in remembering new terms for an extended
period of time since learners came into frequent contact with those items.

Categories Repeating Using Using Listing the Reading Using

and bilingual memory new word bilingual recreational
rewriting dictionaries strategy by word stories means
the words formations

Percentage 80% 65% 60% 28% 20% 16%

Table 21 : Sudents’ vocabulary learning methodologies

3.2.2 Effectiveness of students’ vocabulary learning strategies

In the interviews, most students said their English level at all of four skills
including speaking, listening, reading and writing were not really good because of

52
their low vocabulary ability. In fact, these students couldn’t communicate with
foreigners fluently whenever they had chances to meet the native speakers in person.
In addition, they were very nervous to speak and expressed their ideas with the
foreigners even though they had been learning English for almost nine years. Besides
speaking, all the interviewed respondents reported that they also had problems in
understanding the written English texts included in the textbooks or the reading
passages in the tests in the midterm exams or final exams at the end of the academic
year. Furthermore, listening and writing were also big struggles for those who did not
have a large number of vocabulary since they could not keep up with the speakers and
comprehend what the speakers were saying. Therefore, it is easy for us to understand
that the students’ vocabulary strategies were not really effective.

Chart 7: Effectiveness of students’ vocabulary learning strategies

From the collected interview question responsesAs can be seen from the chart above,
there were about 52% students reporting that they did find their English vocabulary
strategies effective because they could use their vocabulary capacity to do the written
tests in the curriculum or understood the contents of units in their textbook. However,
the rest of the students (42%) admitted that they felt quite bored and hard to
remember the new words because of lacking suitable ability.
process of learning English vocabulary

53
 In order to make clearer about the factors that have the most influence on
students’ vocabulary learning, the question was again raised in the students’
interviews. The third question in the interviews collected the students' ideas regarding
the factors that may prevent their vocabulary learning ability. The responses obtained
were similar in most of the cases.

About two third of them (14 students out of 20, accounted for 70%)
considered the most important factors to them were the vocabulary learning strategies,
followed by the EFL teachers (65%) and L2 curriculum (60%). In addition, half of the
students (55%) reported that motivation was also a big challenge to them when they
wanted to study English, especially vocabulary because they couldn’t get the targeted
goals if they didn’t totally focus on what they were studying. Therefore, they did need
high motivation to overcome their hesitance or disruption of the surrounding
environment. Only 20 % of the interviewed students (43students) thought that age
had effect on their second language acquisition, while cognition and native language
had a slight effect (only 10%) on them. It is clear that vocabulary learning strategies,
teachers and L2 curriculum were the most significant factors affecting students’
vocabulary learning process.

Categories Vocabulary EFL L2 Motivatio Age Cognition Native

learning teachers curriculum n language
strategies

Percentage 70% 65% 60% 55% 20% 10% 10%

Table 3: Factors affecting students’ process of learning English vocabulary

3.2.4 Students’ teachers’ vocabulary teaching methods

The interview revealed that the English teachers at NQTHS utilized a number
of ways to teach vocabulary to their students. Teachers often created and planned the

54
learning materials in accordance with aspects contained in the previously created
lesson plans. Because English teachers used these strategies to achieve the learning
objectives outlined in the lesson plans, teachers must also adapt to aspects or skills
contained in the curriculum, which include speaking, listening, reading, and writing.
Furthermore, as a result of the interview, the students stated that the teachers' strategy
must be consistent with the learning materials, student characteristics, and abilities,
with the goal of assisting students in understanding the message and information
submitted by the teachers. When being asked for the methods related to the English
teacher's technique for teaching English vocabulary at NQTHS, over 80 % of the
respondents (16 students) revealed that their English teachers applied different
methods includeid slistingthe words on the black board according to the topic of each
lesson mentioned in the textbook, then asking students to guess the meanings based
on that topic, translating the meaning of each new word into Vietnamese, and then
asking the students to write all of the new words in the notebooks, and rewriting many
times at home to remember the new words in the textbook. The students stated that
their teachers’ strategy for teaching English vocabulary might be useful to encourage
students to be more hard working and patient in English vocabulary learning,
however, these kinds of techniques seemed to be less effective and less suitable for
students to remember the words for a long time since they often had a tendency to
forget right after being learned at school.

3.2.5. Effectiveness of teachers’ vocabulary teaching method

55
 Chart 8: Effectiveness of teachers’ vocabulary teaching method

In the next interview question, the researchers asked the students about the
effectiveness of their English teachers by the question “Are your English teachers’
methods in teaching vocabulary effective with you?”, half of the students (54%)
assumed that the teachers’ methods were somehow are suitable for them because
many students struggle to understand the text in English, so the translation into
Vietnamese at the beginning of each lesson help them, comprehend the texts better
and dictating the new words in the notebook could help them self-study at home
without looking back the meaning of the word in the dictionary or google translate.
The other students also agreed that applying the translation of their English teachers
in teaching new words was good because the students could understand the text and
did their assignments after being translated and explained the meaning by their
teachers. However, there was still about 46% of the total students declared that the
vocabulary teaching method of their teachers did not fit them well since they found it
difficult to remember all of the words at the same time if these words were not put in
full sentences or practice in daily conversations with their teachers or peers.
Moreover, limited time in each English period did not allow them to repeat and apply
the new words as much as they wanted.

56
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 APPENDIX

APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH

This study aims to identify factors influencing the acquisition of vocabulary. Please
respond to the questions as accurately and honestly as possible. All information you
submit is used purely for the purpose of the study, and the information you provide is
kept strictly confidential.

Part I: Please mark X in the suitable box.

Gender: Male £ Female £

Age: 16 £ 17 £

Number of years of learning English:

62
 Less than 9 years £

More than 9 years £

Score of English subject in the first semester:

< 5.0 £ 5.25 – 6.75 £

7.0 – 8.25 £ 8.25 - 10.0

£

Part II: Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the

following statements by marking X in the suitable box.

Questionnaire 1

5. What are important internal factors in your English vocabulary learning?

a. Age £

b. Intrinsic Motivation £

c. Vocabulary learning strategies £

d. Cognition £

e. Native language £

6. Do you find it interesting to study more vocabulary in English?

a. Yes £

b. No £

7. Do you have any problems with finding the best vocabulary learning strategies?

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a. Yes £

b. No £

Questionnaire 2

1. What are important external factors in your English vocabulary learning?

a. Second language curriculum £

b. Teachers £

c. Learning tasks £

d. Peers £

e. Motivation (extrinsic) £

f. Access to native speakers £

g. Inter lexical factors £

h. Home factors £

2. Does your English teacher have suitable teaching approaches to help you?

a. Yes £

b. No £

3. Do you have any problems with the use of technologies for vocabulary learning?

a. Yes £

b. No £

Questionnaire 3

1. What do you think can improve your vocabulary learning process?

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Thanks for your cooperation!

APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE WRITTEN IN VIETNAMESE

PHIẾU CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT

Mục đích của phiếu câu hỏi khảo sát này là để thu thập thông tin về các yếu tố ảnh
hưởng đến việc học từ vựng của các em. Các em vui lòng hoàn thành các câu hỏi một
cách trung thực và nghiêm túc nhất có thể. Những thông tin thu thập được chỉ phục vụ
mục đích nghiên cứu. Thông tin cá nhân của các em được đảm bảo hoàn toàn bí mật.

Phần I: Em hãy đánh dấu X vào ô trống thích hợp:

Giới tính:

Nam £ Nữ £

Tuổi: 16 £ 17 £

Đã học tiếng Anh: Dưới 9 năm £ Trên 9 năm £

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Điểm trung bình môn Anh kì 1:

< 5.0 £ 5.25 – 6.75 £

7.0 – 8.25 £ 8.25 - 10.0 £

Phần II: vui lòng đánh dấu V vào ô trống phù hợp nếu em đồng ý với mỗi câu hỏi
dưới đây

Câu hỏi khảo sát 1:

1. Những nhân tố bên trong nào theo bạn là quan trọng đối với việc học từ vựng

Tiếng Anh?

a. Độ tuổi £

b. Động lực học (bản thân bạn) £

c. Các chiến lược học từ vựng £

d. Nhận thức £

e. Ngôn ngữ bản địa £

2. Bạn có thấy thú vị khi học thêm nhiều từ vựng tiếng Anh hay không?

a. Có £

b. Không £

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3. Bạn có gặp vấn đề trong việc tìm ra phương pháp tốt nhất để học tiếng Ang hiệu
quả cho bản thân bạn không?

a. Có £

b. Không £

Câu hỏi khảo sát 2:

1. Nhân tố bên ngoài nào quan trọng ảnh hưởng đến quá trình học từ vựng Tiếng Anh
của bạn?

a. Chương trình học £

b. Giáo viên £

c. Nhiệm vụ được yêu cầu £

d. Bạn học cùng £

e. Động lực học ( từ bên ngoài) £

f. Tiếp cận người bản xứ £

g. Các nhân tố từ vựn học £

h. Yếu tố gia đình £

2. Bạn có nghĩ giáo viên Tiếng Anh của bạn có phương pháp giảng dạy thích hợp cho
các bạn?

a. Có £

c. Không £

3. Bạn có gặp khó khăn trong việc sử dụng công nghệ cho việc học từ vựng của bạn?

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a. Có £

c. Không £

Câu hỏi khảo sát 3

Bạn nghĩ rằng điều gì có thể cải thiện việc dạy và học từ vựng Tiếng Anh trên lớp của
bạn có hiệu quả hơn ?

….
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Chân thành cảm ơn sự hợp tác của các bạn!

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 APPENDIX 3: BẢNG CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN BẰNG TIẾNG VIỆT

Mục đích của các câu hỏi phỏng vấn này là để thu thập thông tin về các yếu tố ảnh
hưởng đến việc học từ vựng của các em. Những thông tin thu thập được chỉ phục vụ
mục đích nghiên cứu. Thông tin cá nhân của các em được đảm bảo hoàn toàn bí mật.

Câu hỏi 1. Bạn học từ vựng bằng cách nào?

….
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….……………………………………………………………………………………..

Câu hỏi 2. Việc học từ vựng của bạn có hiệu quả không?

….
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Câu hỏi 3. Các yếu tố nào sau đây ảnh hưởng đến việc học từ vựng của bạn?

(Độ tuổi, động lực học, các chiến lược học từ vựng, ngôn ngữ tiếng mẹ đẻ, nhận thức,
chương trình học, giáo viên, các nhiệm vụ được giao, bạn học cùng, cơ hội tiếp cận
với người bản xứ, các nhân tố từ vựng học, thời gian học và yếu tố gia đình, các yếu
tố khác ( nếu có).

….
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Câu hỏi 4. Giáo viên của bạn đã dạy bạn học từ vựng bằng những cách nào?

….
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Câu hỏi 5. Các phương pháp dạy từ vựng của giáo viên có hiệu quả đối với bạn
không? Nếu không hiệu quả, theo bạn giáo viên cần làm gì ?

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Chân thành cảm ơn sự hợp tác của các bạn!

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