Tài liệu A study on the effectiveness of using task based approach in teaching vocabulary in esp to the second year students at construction school n04

VIETNAMNATIONALUNIVERSITY – HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HÀ A STUDY ON THE EFECTIVENESS OF USING TASK-BASED APPROACH IN TEACHING VOCABULARY IN ESP TO THE SECOND YEAR STUDENTS AT CONSTRUCTION SCHOOL N04 (NGHIÊN CỨU TÍNH TÍCH CỰC CỦA VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHƢƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC DỰA TRÊN NHIỆM VỤ VÀO VIỆC DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI TRƢỜNG TRUNG CẤP XÂY DỰNG SỐ 4) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Language Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 HANOI, 2013 VIETNAMNATIONALUNIVERSITY – HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HÀ A STUDY ON THE EFECTIVENESS OF USING TASK-BASED APPROACH IN TEACHING VOCABULARY IN ESP TO THE SECOND YEAR STUDENTS AT CONSTRUCTION SCHOOL N04 (NGHIÊN CỨU TÍNH TÍCH CỰC CỦA VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHƢƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC DỰA TRÊN NHIỆM VỤ VÀO VIỆC DẠY TỪ VỰNG CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI TRƢỜNG TRUNG CẤP XÂY DỰNG SỐ 4) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Language Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor : Dr. Phạm Thị Thanh Thủy HANOI, 2013 DECLARATION This paper is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at Department of Post Graduate studies – University of Languages and International Studies-Vietnam National University. I certify that this thesis is the result of my own research, and it has not been submitted for any other degrees. Hanoi, November 2013 Student‟s signature Nguyễn Thị Hà i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to all the people who have helped me with this research study. My thanks to: My supervisor - Dr. Pham Thi Thanh Thuy, whose expert help and guidance has been invaluable to me throughout the writing of this thesis. The teachers of the Postgraduate Department - College of Foreign Languages - Vietnam National University for the knowledge they have provided. The three teachers of English and 50- second-year students at Construction School N04 for their assistance and participation in my experimental research. Lastly, my thanks go to my family members, friends and other colleagues at Construction School N04 for their love and support to me, which are very significant for me to finish this research study. ii ABSTRACT This thesis is devoted to examining the comparative effectiveness of task-based approach in teaching ESP vocabulary to second year non-major students at Construction School N04. In order to achieve this objective, a theoretical and practical research is carried out. In the Theoretical Background, the background of vocabulary and relevance to teaching vocabulary is summarized. An overview on task-based approach that has been employing in foreign language teaching, especially in teaching ESP vocabulary is also introduced in this part. After that, a brief background setting to the quasi-experiment relating to teaching and learning ESP vocabulary at Construction School N04 is highlighted. Subsequently, the quasi-experimental study is given to evaluate the effectiveness of task-based approach. And the results we will get based on data analysis are in the third chapter. Finally, some recommendations for ESP vocabulary teaching/learning effectively are suggested. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ESP: English for Specific Purpose EGP: English for General English CG: Control group EG: Experimental group iv LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The results of the post-tests of EGP part Table 2: The results of the post-tests of ESP part Table 3: The results of vocabulary-checking tests v LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: Below-average Chart 2: Average Chart 3: Good Chart 4: Excellent Chart 5: Below-average Chart 6: Average Chart 7: Good Chart 8: Excellent vi TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .............................................................................................................. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ........................................................................................ iv LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... v LIST OF CHARTS ......................................................................................................... vi PART I: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………… ........ 1 1. Rationale ………………………………………………………………… ................. 1 2. Aims of the study………………………………………………………… ................ 1 3. Significance of the study…………………………………………………. ................ 2 4. Scope of the study………………………………………………………... ................ 2 5. Research Questions………………………………………………………. ................ 3 6. Methods of the study…………………………………………………….. ................. 3 7. Design of the study………………………………………………………. ................. 4 PART II: DEVELOPMENT……………………………………………………... ........ 5 CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND……………………… ..................... 5 1.1. An overview of vocabulary……………………………………………. ................. 5 1.1.1. Definition……………………………………………………... ........................... 5 1.1.2. The importance of vocabulary………………………………... ............................ 5 1.2. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and vocabulary in ESP…………. ................. 6 1.2.1. English for Specific Purposes (ESP)…………………………. 1.2.2. Vocabulary in ESP ................................................................................................ 7 1.3. Teaching vocabulary…………………………………………………… ................ 8 1.3.1. Purposes for teaching vocabulary…………………………….. ........................... 8 1.3.2. Principles of teaching vocabulary…………………………….. ........................... 9 1.3.3. Stages in teaching vocabulary………………………………… ........................... 9 1.3.4. Techniques in teaching vocabulary…………………………… ......................... 10 1.3.5. Teaching vocabulary in ESP………………………………….. ......................... 12 1.4. Task-based language teaching…………………………………………. ............... 13 1.4.1. Task-based language teaching………………………………... .......................... 13 vii 1.4.2. Task-based language teaching in ESP context………………... ......................... 17 CHAPTER 2: THE QUASI-EXPERIMENT……………………………. ................... 19 2.1. Background to the study……………………………………………….. ............... 19 2.1.1. The teachers…………………………………………………... .......................... 19 2.1.2. The students…………………………………………………... .......................... 19 2.1.3. The textbooks…………………………………………………. ......................... 19 2.1.4. The attitudes of teachers and students at Construction School N04 about the importance of ESP vocablary teaching.......................................................................... 20 2.1.5. The real situation of teaching vocabulary in ESP at Construction School N04 .. 21 2.2. The quasi-experiment………………………………………………….. ............... 21 2.2.1. Subjects and process of vocabulary teaching…………………. ......................... 21 2.2.2. Main testing instruments: Pre-test and post-tests…………….. .......................... 22 2.2.3. Supplementary testing instruments…………………………… ......................... 22 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, RESUTLS AND DISCUSSIONS….. .. 24 3.1. Class observation result………………………………………………... ............... 24 3.2. Teacher‟s self-assessment result……………………………………….. .............. 25 3.3. The post-tests result……………………………………………………. ............... 25 3.4. Vocabulary-checking test result……………………………………….. ............... 29 PART III: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 33 REFERENCES .............................................................................................................. 34 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................. I viii PART I: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Teaching vocabulary especially in ESP courses is becoming a challenge for English Language Teachers. As far as we know, vocabulary is an inseparable part of any teaching syllabus and vocabulary should be taught in a well-planned and regular basis. It‟s essential to carefully decide what vocabulary will be selected for teaching, and what approach or activities will be used to teach it to the students. Although English teachers in Vietnam are now being trained in using modern methods of English teaching and attend local and international conferences, it is the fact that most teachers at Construction School N04 still use grammar-translation method to teach vocabulary. That is, when the students begin a lesson, the teacher will first have the students say the new words once, and then pay attention to the meaning of the words in their native language. Following this, the students will go through the conversation or reading passage while their teacher points out in the students‟ native language the meaning of the passage as well as grammatical patterns that the students must know. This type of teaching method is called the grammar-translation method which is not an effective and suitable method in teaching vocabulary nowadays. Meanwhile, task-based approach which has been strongly advocated and promoted by many world-leading linguists (Prabhu 1987, Nunan 1989, Willis 1996, Skehan 1998) since early 1980s is commonly used in language instruction to provide a meaningful learning process for learners. It‟s closed affiliation with Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) method provides a production focus in a more structural framework in language learning process. Using task-based approach, each student can get the same opportunity to experience the learning process by putting him/her in a situation in which she/he can decide alone; mainly, the way of expressing and accepting experience of using the target language. Hence, in this study the researcher wants to explore whether task-based approach is effective or not in teaching vocabulary in ESP to the second year students at Construction School N04. 2. Aims of the study As such, the study is aimed to: firstly, explore the attitudes of teachers and students at Construction School N04 about the importance of ESP vocabulary teaching; secondly, study the real situation of teaching vocabulary in ESP and thirdly, test 1 whether task-based approach is effective or not in teaching vocabulary in ESP at Construction School N04 and finally give some suggestions for teaching vocabulary in ESP. 3. Significance of the study Because of the importance of vocabulary in ESP, it is necessary to find out effective ways to teach vocabulary to the students. While modern methods has been supported and promoted, a lot of teachers still use tradition ways, which make the lessons boring. The study, thus, tries to test the effectiveness of task-based approach in teaching vocabulary in ESP and suggest some recommendations for teaching vocabulary in ESP more effectively. With this study, the writer hopes to make a small contribution to teaching/learning vocabulary in ESP effectively, which may help the students retain vocabulary and the teachers find the most appropriate way in teaching ESP. 4. Scope of the study Due to the limit of a minor thesis, the study just lasted 11- week exploration basing on the three units (Unit 1, 2 and 3) of the textbook English for construction – an in-house material used to teach at Construction School N04. The participants in this study are 50 students aging from 18-25 not randomly selected from K40-TXD1 and K40-TXD2 at Construction School N04 in Xuan Hoa town, Phuc Yen district, Vinh Phuc province. To ensure the relative equality of English knowledge level between two classes, the researcher asked one teacher of English who has taken part in teaching these two classes at school for help to choose students in each class with the following criteria: - 12 students getting good mark in the two latest semesters (from 7.0 to 8.0 mark) in English for General Purposes (EGP) - 13 students getting average mark in the two latest semesters (from 5.0 – 6.9 mark) in EGP These two classes were assigned randomly to two groups, namely a control group (CG) and an experimental group (EG). Another teacher of English also took part in the study with the role of preparing the lesson plan and teaching two groups experimental and control ones. The researcher herself could not teach the students, because she has to work as an observer in the study. 2 5. Research Questions For this study, four research questions are addressed: 1. What are attitudes of teachers and students at Construction School N04 about the importance of ESP vocabulary teaching? 2. What is the real situation of teaching vocabulary in ESP at Construction School N04? 3. How is task-based approach used in teaching vocabulary in ESP at Construction School N04? 4. What are some suggestions in teaching vocabulary in ESP for students of Construction School N0 4? 6. Methods of the study First of all, the Theoretical Background relating to the research was conducted by collecting materials, internet sources. In the Development, the researcher took a brief look at the reality of teaching vocabulary in ESP at Construction School N04 including the descriptions of the teachers, students, textbook and method of teaching vocabulary as the background setting to the study. With an attempt to find out the effectiveness of task-based approach in teaching vocabulary in ESP to second year students at Construction School N04, a quasiexperiment was carried out. 50 students from K40-TXD1 and K40-TXD2 were not randomly selected. One class was randomly assigned as the experiment group and the other as the control group. Another teacher of English took part in the study with the role of preparing lesson plan and teaching both groups. The quasi-experiment lasted 11 weeks with three first units of the textbook - English for construction. The pre-test was administered to the students of both classes at the beginning of the experiment in order to check students‟ vocabulary knowledge. After finishing one unit, a post-test, whose content was based on the knowledge of that unit was delivered to students of both classes. However, the content of the last post-test included the knowledge of all three units. Apart from the post-tests, class observation, teacher‟s self-assessment and vocabulary-checking tests were used as supplementary testing instruments to confirm the post-test results. The data obtained were thoroughly analyzed by statistical descriptions. By these ways, we can test whether task-based approach was really effective in teaching vocabulary in ESP. 3 7. Design of the study The research includes three parts. The first part is Introduction, in which the rationale, aims, scope, methods, research questions and design are identified. The second one is Development which consists of three chapters. Chapter 1 Theoretical Background gives an overview of the theories relating to teaching vocabulary in ESP. In the chapter 2 - The Quasi-Experiment, the researcher describes the background to the study; how to carry out and the process of conducting the quasi-experiment. The last chapter - chapter 3 - Data analysis, results and discussion prescribed the results of the quasi-experiment. The part 3 – Conclusion, gives the summary of the study, the suggestions for teaching/learning more effectively and the recommendations for further study. 4 PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1. An overview of vocabulary 1.1.1. Definition Hornby (1995) defines vocabulary is the total number of words in a language. Yet vocabulary is much more than just single words. Recent vocabulary studies draw on an understanding of lexis, the Greek for word, which in English “refers to all the words in a language, the entire vocabulary of a language” (Barcroft, Sunderman, & Schmitt, 2011, p. 571). So it will probably not surprise you to learn that vocabulary also includes lexical chunks, phrases of two or more words, such as Good morning and Nice to meet you, which research suggests children and adults learn as single lexical units. Phrases like these involve more than one word but have a clear, formulaic usage and make up a significant portion of spoken or written English language usage. Also called formulaic sequences (Alali & Schmitt, 2012), they are central to English vocabulary learning and therefore worth teachers‟ attention as they teach vocabulary (Lewis, 1993). Therefore, vocabulary can be defined as the words of a language, including single items and phrases or chunks of several words which covey a particular meaning, the way individual words do. 1.1.2. The importance of vocabulary Regarding the important roles of vocabulary in language learning and teaching, Wilkins (1972, p.111) stressed that “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed”. According to Richards and Renandya (2002), "vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how well learners speak, listen, read, and write" (Richards & Renandya, 2002, p. 255). As such, by having many stocks of words learners will be able to comprehend the reading materials, catch other talking, give response, speak fluently and write some kind of topics. On the contrary, if the learners do not recognize the meanings of words used by those who address them, they will be unable to participate in conversations, unable to express some ideas, or unable to ask for information. Obviously, vocabulary is considered an important aspect of learning and 5 teaching a foreign language that researchers, teachers, and learners have paid a lot attention to. To emphasize this, Chanier and Selva also states that vocabulary knowledge is a key factor in reading comprehension (1998: 489, as cited in Constantinescu, 2007). As what Thornbury states in the book titled How to teach vocabulary, grammar is a collection of rules while vocabulary is a collection of items and “one rule can generate a great many sentences”, which to some extents implicates that “vocabulary learning never stops, even long after grammar system is firmly in place, new words are being coined daily and old words is assuming new meaning” or in other words, the grammar learning could be mastered at some level whereas mastering vocabulary seem to take more time than that. 1.2. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and vocabulary in ESP 1.2.1. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) The study of Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) has a long and valid history (Streven, 1977; cited in Johns & Dudly-Evans, 1998). Especially today since the focus of research is upon English, English for specific purposes has gained ascendency in different fields (Johns & Dudley-Evans, 1998). "ESP has been referred to as applied ELT as the content and aim of any course is determined by needs of a specific group of learners" (Dudly-Evans, 1998). Howatt (1984) introduces ESP as an innovative activity in the domain of language teaching. Strevans (1988; cited in Dudly-Evans and St John, 1998, p. 3) defines ESP in terms of four absolute characteristics and two variable characteristics. The absolute characteristics are that ESP consists of English Language Teaching which is  designed to meet the specified needs of the learner;  related in content ( that is in its themes and topics) to particular disciplines, occupations and activities;  centered on language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis, discourse, semantic and so on, and analysis of the discourse;  in contrast with 'general English'. And the variable characteristics are that ESP  may be restricted as to the learning skills to be learned (for example reading only);  may not be taught according to any pre-ordained methodology Later Dudly-Evans and St John (1998, p. 4) modified Strevens‟s definition in the following way: 6 Absolute characteristics:  ESP is designed to meet specific the needs of the learners;  ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves;  ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar, lexis, register, study skills, discourse and genre. Variable characteristics:  ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines;  ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of General English;  ESP is likely to be designed for intermediate or advanced students;  Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems. Robinson (1991) believes that ESP is a major activity around the world today. Huchinson and Waters (1987), make the point clear: ESP is not a matter of teaching specialized varieties of English, nor is just matter of science words and grammar for scientists. It is also not different in kind from any other form of language teaching as far as principles of effective and efficient learning are concerned (p. 18). 1.2.2. Vocabulary in ESP In terms of vocabulary in ESP, it is most important to make a distinction between two types of vocabulary: technical and semi-technical because they are of great importance to the learners studying English for specific and academic purposes. Dudley-Evans and St John (1998, p. 83) suggest two broad areas related to technical vocabulary. (a) Vocabulary that is used in general language but has a higher frequency of occurrence in specific and technical description and discussion; (b) Vocabulary that has specialized and restricted meanings in certain disciplines and which may vary in meaning across disciplines. It is quite clear that the first area would be referred to as semi-technical and the second area would be referred to as technical vocabulary. According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), ESP should be seen as an approach to language teaching which is directed by specific and apparent reasons for learning. Their specific and apparent reasons for learning English is for academic purposes and their academic study will involve specialized areas across different discipline in physical sciences as well as in social sciences. The aim of their 7 vocabulary acquisition is surely academic vocabulary. A rationale behind this is that learners who will do academic study in English must focus on academic vocabulary which is variously known as a general useful scientific vocabulary and semi-technical vocabulary. It is because they need to exhibit a wide range of academic skills like reading about research papers in their own fields, listening to teachers speak about their work, writing academic papers and presenting oral or written evaluations of methods or results in many cases (Farrell, 1990). 1.3. Teaching vocabulary 1.3.1. Purposes for teaching vocabulary One reason teachers are concerned about teaching vocabulary is to facilitate the comprehension of a text that students will be assigned to read. If students do not know the meaning of many of the words that they will encounter in a text, their comprehension of that selection is likely to be compromised. When the purpose of vocabulary instruction is to facilitate the comprehension of a selection, it is obvious that this instruction must take place as an introduction before the reading of the selection. As a rule, new words in narrative selections are not as critical to the overall understanding of the selection as new words in informational selections. Before guiding students‟ reading of a particular narrative, teacher should determine if there are any new words that represent concepts that are critical to understanding the selection and which are not adequately defined in context. If there are, then these words should be presented and discussed before the students read. The exploration of these prerequisite terms and concepts will establish a strong foundation for subsequent learning. A second major reason for teaching the meaning of words is to increase the number of words that students know and can use in a variety of educational, social, and eventually work-related areas. To increase the number of words the students learn, it is often helpful to teach these words in morphological or semantic clusters. A very effective way to present semantically related words is to build word webs around some central concepts. According to Thornbury (2002) “the acquisition of new words is the process which never stops”. To build a good storage of vocabulary is the first and one of the 8 most important steps when starting to learn a new language. Therefore, it is essential to teach students vocabulary. 1.3.2. Principles of teaching vocabulary Kieran A. File has shared with English language teaching staff at the University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City six principles when they plan a direct vocabulary teaching and learning program. The six principles are:  Choose useful words;  Let the learners do the work;  Focus on different aspects of a word;  Provide meaningful learning opportunities;  Implement a regular testing schedule;  Be patient with their learners. According to Kieran A. File, these six principles are not the only principles for vocabulary teaching and learning, but they offer teachers a good starting point for decisions about the vocabulary they plan to spend time on in their classrooms. In another study conducted by Erin Lowry (2009), he also gave six principles which have some similar to those by Kieran A. File. These are:  Keep teaching simple and clear. No complicated explanations;  Relate present teaching to past knowledge by showing a pattern;  Use both oral and written presentation – write it on the board and explain;  Give most attention to words that are already partly known;  Tell the learners if it is a high frequency word that they should remember;  Don‟t bring in other unknown or little-known related words (like synonyms or opposites). Each researcher or scientist gives his/her own ideas of principles of teaching vocabulary. By combining, following all these principles and putting them into practice the teacher of language will have good and effective lessons of teaching vocabulary. 1.3.3. Stages in teaching vocabulary Basically as proposed by Gower (2005) and Thornbury (2002) there are three stages in teaching vocabulary namely Presenting, Practicing and Revising. Presenting vocabulary refers to pre-planned lesson stages in which learners are taught pre-selected vocabulary items (Thornbury, 2002). To present new items it is 9 important to show the meaning of the words as well as the form in which it is used. There are several ways to present new items, such as using translation, which is the most direct route to a world‟s meaning, illustrate meaning using pictures, mime or realia, appropriate to teach beginners; contextualizing, defining, giving synonyms, opposites and giving detailed descriptions which are suitable for advanced learners. After presenting the words, practicing of the words is necessary. To do that, many different kinds of tasks could be implemented in order to move the words into long term memory, the one a learner has to activate in order to retrieve the words when necessary (Thornbury, 2002). Among these classroom activities teacher can use some decision making ones like identifying, selecting, matching, sorting, ranking and sequencing. And also production tasks, for instance, completion of sentences and texts and creation of sentences and texts. The last stage is related to the production stage with the aim of helping students to incorporate the new items into the lexicon. This can be done by using communicative activities in which the learners have to retrieve the vocabulary already learnt and practiced. 1.3.4. Techniques in teaching vocabulary Techniques in presenting vocabulary The main aim of presenting vocabulary is to insert the meaning, the correct form and appropriate usage of the new word into the student‟s memory. There are quite lots of methods and techniques how to present the form and meaning of new lexical items. It depends on teachers, which form of presentation is the most suitable for the particular topic. According to Gairns and Redman (1986), there are some traditional methods and techniques used to present new vocabulary: Visual techniques:  Visuals – photographs, flashcards, blackboard drawings, pictures, videos, wall-charts, pictograms and real objects; they are useful for teaching concrete words.  Demonstrating: mime/facial expression and gesture – useful for teaching action verbs. Verbal techniques:  Illustrative situations (oral or written) – this technique is helpful when the words are more abstract.  Synonyms and antonyms – using the words students have already known to teach them similar words. 10