VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  LÊ THỊ VIỆT HÀ AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECT OF MATCHING EXERCISES ON THE 10TH FORM STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY IMPROVEMENTS AT DINH TIEN HOANG HIGH SCHOOL IN NINH BINH CITY Nghiên cứu Hiệu dạng tập nối cải thiện từ vựng học sinh lớp 10, trường THPT Đinh Tiên Hồng, Tp Ninh Bình M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI - 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  LÊ THỊ VIỆT HÀ AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE EFFECT OF MATCHING EXERCISES ON THE 10TH FORM STUDENTS’ VOCABULARY IMPROVEMENTS AT DINH TIEN HOANG HIGH SCHOOL IN NINH BINH CITY Nghiên cứu Hiệu dạng tập nối cải thiện từ vựng học sinh lớp 10, trường THPT Đinh Tiên Hoàng, Tp Ninh Bình M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Dương Thi Nu ̣ ̣ HANOI - 2015 DECLARATION Title: An Investigation into the Effect of Matching Exercises on the 10th form students’ Vocabulary Improvements at Dinh Tien Hoang High School in Ninh Binh City I certify that the thesis is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution Date submitted: Hanoi, 30 / 10 / 2015 Student Lê Thị Việt Hà ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This research has been accomplished with the help and encouragement of many people to whom I would like hereafter to express my deep appreciation First and foremost, I would like to express my great attitude to my supervisor, Dr Dương Thị Nụ for her invaluable inspiration, assistance and guidance during the time I tried to complete this paper I am thankful to all lecturers and staff of the Post-Graduate Department of University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University for their scientific knowledge, guidance and enthusiasm during my course My sincere thanks go to my teachers and grade 10 students at Dinh Tien Hoang high school, Ninh Binh City for their support and participation in my research And my heartfelt thanks are due to my dear family members who are always beside me to support and encourage me to fulfill my study ABSTRACT This research was conducted to investigate the effect of matching exercises on grade 10 students’ vocabulary improvements Two grade 10th classes majoring in natural sciences were selected and divided into control and experimental groups This is a quasi-experimental study which aimed at establishing the positive impacts of matching exercises on students’ vocabulary improvements in comparison with the conventional teaching and learning of vocabulary at most high schools in Ninh Binh at present In this experimental study, 43 grade 10 students applied matching exercises for a period of months in school year 2014-2015 while 43 other students belonging to the control group followed the conventional teaching and learning The subjects’ vocabulary gains were measured by a vocabulary test on lexical aspects such as word meaning, vocabulary recognition and production in different contexts Both pretest and posttest were administered in chronologic order, before and after the experimental program T-test which was employed to make a comparison between pretest and posttest scores gained by two groups demonstrated that the experimental group had made more improvements in the English vocabulary than the control group Moreover, the participants’ responses to the questionnaire also showed that most students who used matching exercises regularly found them very effective This result supported the empirical findings mentioned above and reemphasized the outstanding benefits of matching exercises to the learning and teaching L2 vocabulary at high schools in the future PART A INTRODUCTION Rationale Vocabulary knowledge has an important role in almost all areas of language learning According to Nation (2001), “vocabulary learning is not a goal in itself; it is done to help learners listen, speak, read, or write more effectively” (p.362) Therefore, learning a language depends on learning its vocabulary Stoller and Grabe (1993) stated that development of vocabulary knowledge is highly necessary for both native and nonnative speakers Hulstijn et al (2005) believed that “If one does not know the meaning of the words occurring in a text, understanding is severely hampered” (p.54) Hence, learners should pay attention to the words as a part of a message and individual words as well (Nation, 2001) Reality shows that many students have fairly good knowledge of grammar but are hardly able to express themselves properly because of their vocabulary deficiency Vocabulary learning, therefore, becomes the central to language acquisition and interest in its role in second language learning has grown rapidly in recent years Scholars and teachers now emphasize the need of systematic and principled approach to vocabulary by both the teacher and the learner (Decarrico, 2001; Nation, 1990) One of the concerns in vocabulary is how to help students acquire their English vocabulary However, at senior secondary schools, the teaching and learning of English language in general, English vocabulary in particular are still far from satisfaction as students’ final results in most English examinations remain unchanged at low levels In fact, most secondary school students have not paid enough attention to vocabulary learning as they mainly receive basic lessons of grammar together with four skills from their teachers and textbooks Many grade 10 students’ English vocabulary is still limited even though they have learned English for four years at the lower secondary school It is their limited vocabulary that explains their poor performance in using English and in their test performance It is common knowledge that there are various techniques of learning vocabulary, mastering and using it in different contexts and one of the effective techniques to help students to reinforce vocabulary is giving them appropriate vocabulary exercises, namely, matching exercises This type of vocabulary exercises typically consists of two sets of items to be matched with each other for a specified attribute With the hope of helping the 10th form students to learn vocabulary better, since then develop their English competence, I have decided to conduct this quasi-experimental research on the topic given, namely “An Investigation into the Effect of Matching Exercises on the 10th form students’ Vocabulary Improvements at Dinh Tien Hoang High School in Ninh Binh City.” Aims and Objectives of the Study The main aim of this study is to experiment matching exercises in helping grade 10 students acquire their English vocabulary The main objectives of the study are set as follows:  To conduct a research on matching exercises’ effects on grade 10 students’ English vocabulary improvements  To investigate the students’ attitudes towards matching exercises, i.e how effective they think doing matching exercises is towards their English vocabulary learning  To propose some suggestions to help the 10th form students learn English vocabulary better Research Questions In order to achieve the aims and objectives, the study addressed the two following research questions: (1) What effect matching exercises have on students’ English vocabulary improvements? (2) What are the students’ attitudes towards matching exercises after the research period? Scope of the Study The experiment was conducted to examine the impact of one type of vocabulary exercises, i.e., matching exercises on students’ vocabulary improvements The sample was a small group of grade 10 students who were non5 randomly assigned to a control class and an experimental class Method of the Study Because the purpose of the study is to test out the impact of matching exercises on students’ vocabulary improvements, a quasi-experiment with a pre-test and post-test design was selected in this study In addition, a post-experiment questionnaire was also used as the supplementary instrument to elicit the students’ evaluative attitudes towards matching exercises after the research period Significance of the Study Despite these limitations, the researcher strongly believes that the research is successful to some extent Though this is just a small-scaled study on the issue, it may provide some helpful suggestions for high school teachers of English in teaching English vocabulary in general and in helping students acquire English vocabulary in particular If learning English is in comparison with building a house, vocabulary is considered as good bricks Hence, we ourselves have to pick up new words and structures everyday to perform smoothly and confidently Similarly, source of language is like a pocket Therefore, we are needed to pick up assiduously vocabulary to put into our pocket until we feel that it is full enough However, for further studies, maybe there should be some research in a longer period of time and on a larger scale Besides, matching exercises can be used to teach grammatical structures and other language skills Design of the Study This study is organized in three parts Part A: Introduction presents the rationale for the research topic which is followed by aims, research questions, scope, methods and significance of the study Part B: Development consists of four chapters  Chapter 1: Literature review focuses on theoretical background to teaching and learning vocabulary in a second language including vocabulary’s definition, its role in second language learning, the vocabulary techniques, vocabulary exercises and the relationship between matching exercises and vocabulary improvements REFERENCES Allen, E & Valette, R (1972) Modern Language Classroom Techniques: A Handbook, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Inc Ben Clay (2001) A Short Guide to Writing Effective Test Questions Kansas Curriculum Center Borbás Tibor, Simon Péter (2011) International Business Communication: Background Knowledge and Practice Brown, J.D (1983) “A closer look at the cloze: Validity and Reliability” In J.W Oller, Jr (Ed.) 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