vinh university foreign Languages department ===    === nguyễn thị khánh ly an investigation into learning and teaching english vocabulary at cua lo high school and some suggested activities to help students learn better (khảo sát việc dạy học từ vựng tiếng anh trờng thpt cửa lò số hoạt động gợi ý giúp häc sinh häc tèt h¬n) graduation thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology A Study on using Visual Aids to teach Grammar to the 10th form students at Nghi Loc III high school Vinh - 2011 Bùi Yến Nhi - 48A English Foreign Languages Department vinh university foreign Languages department ===    === an investigation into learning and teaching english vocabulary at cua lo high school and some suggested activities to help students learn better (khảo sát việc dạy học từ vựng tiếng anh trờng thpt cửa lò số hoạt động gợi ý giúp häc sinh häc tèt h¬n) graduation thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Supervisor: cao thị phơng, m.a Student: nguyễn thị khánh ly, 48A - English Vinh - 2011 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to acknowledge my deep indebtedness to Mrs Cao Thi Phuong (M.A), my supervisor who has helped me a lot with her advice, directions, comments, criticism and encouragement for the accomplishment of the study I specially would like to express my deepest thanks to Mrs Nguyen Thi Van Lam (M.A) and to all my teachers at the Foreign Languages Department, Vinh University for their tireless support, valuable lectures and guidance from which I have had such great motivation and benefited a lot in the writing of this thesis I also acknowledge to Mrs Tran Tuan Anh, teacher at Cua Lo high school for giving me some advice to complete my survey Finally, I am grateful to my family as well as my friends for their help, encouragement and source materials were of great importance and assistance to me in carrying out this study I have made great efforts to complete the study However, due to my limited knowledge, my study is far from being perfect i ABSTRACT Vocabulary plays an important role in learning all languages in general, especially English in particular However, it is not easy for teachers and students to teach and learn English vocabulary In this study, the author has a survey about learning vocabulary at Cua Lo high school With the aim of helping students learn vocabulary better, the author also discusses some problems as well as some ways to learn it better ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii TABLE OF CONTENTS iii PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Reasons for choosing the Study Aims of the Study Scope of the Study Methods of the Study Design of the Study PART 2: INVESTIGATION .5 Chapter THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 The importance of Vocabulary in Language Learning 1.2 Understanding Vocabulary 1.2.1 Definition of Vocabulary 1.2.2 Active and Passive Vocabulary 1.2.3 Words and their meanings 1.2.4 Words and their forms 1.3 Principles for teaching vocabulary 15 1.4 Techniques for presenting the Meanings of Words 18 1.4.1 Showing the Meaning Visually .18 1.5.2 Showing the Meaning Verbally 20 1.5.3 Combining different Techniques 21 1.6 Steps for Teaching New Words 22 1.7 Summary 22 Chapter REAL SITUATION OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY TEACHING AND LEARNING AT CUA LO HIGH SCHOOL 23 2.1 Overview about real situations of teaching and learning English vocabulary at Vietnamese high schools 23 2.2 Survey 26 2.2.1 Aims of the survey 26 2.2.2 Informants of the Survey 26 2.2.3 The results of the Survey 29 2.2.4 Summary of the investigation 31 2.3 Summary 36 Chapter THE SOLUTIONS TO THESE PROBLEMS AND SOME SUGGESTED iii ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY AT HIGH SCHOOL .37 3.1 Introduction 37 3.2 Suggested solutions .37 3.3 Some suggested activities to improve teaching and learning English vocabulary at high school 41 3.3.1 Word guessing game .41 3.3.2 Word card games 42 3.3.3 Confused words .42 3.3.4 Find the Owner .43 3.3.5 Vocabulary Brain Shower .44 3.3.6 Vocabulary on Slips 44 3.4 Suggested Exercises 45 PART III: CONCLUSION 50 3.1 Recapitulation 50 3.2 Suggestions for Further Study 51 REFERENCES 52 iv PART 1: INTRODUCTION Reasons for choosing the Study Everyone is now aware of the importance of English, which is the reason why English is learnt with the great motivation However, it is not easy to master and use it effectively because of many reasons such as learning environment, age, ability and especially mother tongue interference It is shown that interference appears in almost aspects of English like grammar, pronunciation and especially vocabulary, which is very important If a learner wants to be good at any skill (listening, speaking, reading and writing), he needs certain words According to Wilkins, (1984): “ Not being able to find the words you need to express yourself is the most frustrating experience in speaking another language” It is important for the following reasons Firstly, it is vocabulary which appears in every text and reading comprehension In every text, if pupils can understand the meanings of words, they can be easier to take the content If they only focus on grammar structures without vocabulary, their communication is very bad In the texts or reading comprehensives, it is not easy to guess new words if there are so many, at least you can understand more than half of the text And many students have to face this difficulty, not only Cua Lo students but also most of the pupils learning English Secondly, vocabulary is a mean of making up sentences and expressing the ideas It is clear that vocabulary is definitely one of the biggest things that people notice when we are speaking English When we meet a native speaker, he could already know if our English is good or bad through our vocabulary It will be very difficult for us to express the opinion clearly if our vocabulary is so few Thus, in communication, the first thing that people can understand our ideas is vocabulary In some contexts of communication, you can use wrong grammar structure but use right vocabulary; hearer can still understand your ideas Because non-speakers cannot have perfect pronunciation, we should learn as many new words as possible There are other reasons for choosing the study, but the above reasons are the main ones that encourage me to choose the thesis: “An investigation into learning and teaching English vocabulary at Cua Lo high school and some suggested activities to help students learn better” Aims of the Study This study aims at helping pupils be aware of the importance of learning English vocabulary and making them focus on learning English vocabulary more and finding out good methods for the problems It have been mentioned with the hope that they could make a small contribution to the improvement in learning and teaching English, especially in teaching and learning English vocabulary in Vietnam Scope of the Study In this study, the author wants to mention the way of learning English vocabulary at Cua Lo high school The study only focuses on the main problems which cause difficulties for both teachers and pupils and the real situation of teaching and learning English vocabulary according to the survey done in three grades of Cua Lo high school Besides, this survey also tried to find the answers for two questions: • How are the situations of learning and teaching English vocabulary at Cua Lo high school in particular and at Vietnamese high schools in general? • How can the quality of teaching and learning English vocabulary be improved? ... ones that encourage me to choose the thesis: ? ?An investigation into learning and teaching English vocabulary at Cua Lo high school and some suggested activities to help students learn better? ??... === an investigation into learning and teaching english vocabulary at cua lo high school and some suggested activities to help students learn better (khảo sát việc dạy vµ häc tõ vùng tiÕng anh... situations of learning and teaching English vocabulary at Cua Lo high school in particular and at Vietnamese high schools in general? • How can the quality of teaching and learning English vocabulary