1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ LAN CHÂU TEACHING VOCABULARY IN READING COMPREHENSION LESSONS TO THE 10th FORM STUDENTS AT THANH HA UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL: PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS (Dạy từ vựng đọc hiểu cho học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Thanh Hà: Khó khăn số giải pháp khả dĩ) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Hanoi, 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ LAN CHÂU TEACHING VOCABULARY IN READING COMPREHENSION LESSONS TO THE 10th FORM STUDENTS AT THANH HA UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL: PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS (Dạy từ vựng đọc hiểu cho học sinh lớp 10 trường THPT Thanh Hà: Khó khăn số giải pháp khả dĩ) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: PROF DR HOÀNG VĂN VÂN Hanoi, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Candidate’s declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations and tables vii PART 1: INTRODUCTION I Rationale of the study II Aim and objectives of the study III Research questions IV Scope of the study V Significance of the study VI Methods of the study VII Organization of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Vocabulary in EFL teaching and learning 1.1.1 The notion of vocabulary 1.1.2 Classification of vocabulary 1.1.2.1 According to meaning 1.1.2.2 According to teaching methodology 1.1.2.3 According to sequence of use 1.1.3 The place of vocabulary in EFL teaching and learning 1.1.4 The place of vocabulary in EFL learners' reading comprehension 1.2 Principles in teaching and leaning vocabulary 1.2.1 Selection of vocabulary items for learners 1.2.2 Aspects of vocabulary that should be taught 10 1.2.2.1 Word form: Pronunciation and spelling 11 1.2.2.2 Grammar 11 1.2.2.3 Collocation 11 1.2.2.4 Aspects of meaning 12 1.2.2.5 Word formation 13 1.2.3 What makes words difficult? 14 1.2.4 Current approaches to teaching and learning vocabulary 16 1.3 Summary 17 th CHAPTER 2: PROBLEMS FACING THE 10 FORM STUDENTS AT THUSS IN LEARNING VOCABULARY IN RC LESSONS 18 2.1 The setting of the study 18 2.1.1 Subjects of the study 18 2.1.1.1 Students' background 19 2.1.1.2 The teaching staff and their teaching situations 19 2.1.2 English language teaching and learning program for the 10th form students at TH-USS 20 2.1.3 The objectives of the 10th form course of English 20 2.2 Data collection instruments and procedure 21 2.2.1 The questionnaire for the students 21 2.2.2 The interview with the teachers of English 22 2.3 Data collection and analysis 22 2.3.1 Results from the questionnaires for the students 22 2.3.1.1 Personal information (Questions 1, 2, 3, 4) 22 2.3.1.2 Students' perception about the importance of vocabulary in RC lessons (Question 5, 6, 7) 23 2.3.1.3 Students' ideas about the reality of teaching vocabulary in RC lessons to the 10th form students at TH-USS (Question 8, 9) 23 2.3.1.4 Students' ideas about the solutions to bettering the current situations of teaching vocabulary in RC lessons to the 10th form students (Question 10, 11) 24 2.3.2 Results from the interviews with the teachers of English 25 2.4 Problems facing the 10th students at TH-USS in learning vocabulary in RC lessons 26 2.4.1 Rigid, insufficient and ineffective ways of teaching vocabulary 26 2.4.2 Unfavorable vocabulary teaching environment 26 2.4.3 Students' poor background knowledge and limited vocabulary size 27 2.4.4 Bad habits and ineffective ways of learning 27 2.4.5 Students' passiveness and shyness in learning 28 2.4.6 Lack of favorable vocabulary learning environment 28 2.5 Summary 28 CHAPTER 3: POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS TO IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ENGLISH VOCABULARY IN RC LESSONS FOR THE 10th FORM STUDENTS AT TH-USS 29 3.1 Need for the teachers to change their teaching vocabulary approaches 29 3.1.1 Aspects of vocabulary that should be taught 29 3.1.2 Categories of vocabulary issues 29 3.2 Providing effective strategy training for all students 32 3.3 Stimulating students' interest and motivation in learning vocabulary through various techniques of presenting new word items 33 3.4 Improving students’ English proficiency and reading skills to activate students' vocabulary and enhance their RC 34 3.5 Adapting the textbook 35 3.6 Creating a favorable teaching and learning environment 36 3.7 Summary 36 PART 3: CONCLUSION 37 I Summary of the study 37 II Limitations of the study 38 III Conclusion 38 IV Suggestions for further research 39 REFERENCES 40 APPENDICES I LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English Foreign Language RC: Reading Comprehension TH - USS: Thanh Ha Upper Secondary School LIST OF TABLES (In Appendix 3) Page Table 1: Students' perceptions about the role of vocabulary in students' RC (Questions 5, 6, 7) IX Table 2: Students' observation about the current state of learning vocabulary in RC lessons (Question 8) X Table 3: Students' observation about the current state of teaching vocabulary in RC lessons (Question 9) XI Table 4: Students' ideas about the solutions to bettering the current situation of teaching vocabulary in RC lessons to the 10th form students (Question 10) XII Table 5: Students' ideas about the solutions to bettering the current situation of learning vocabulary in RC lessons of the 10th form students (Question 11) XIII 10 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION I Rationale of the study In EFL teaching and learning program for high school students, there are no proper periods for teaching vocabulary It means vocabulary is integrated in all other language lessons, especially RC lessons, the first period of any language unit The purpose of reading lessons is not only to develop students‟ reading skills but also to equip them with important language input for the lessons that follow, such as: listening, speaking and writing And vocabulary seems to be one of the most effective tools to improve students‟ RC Obviously, knowing vocabulary of a language is a minimum self-requirement of those who want to learn a foreign language such as English The reason is that „vocabulary is central to language and of critical importance to the typical language learner‟ (Zimmerman 1997:5) Lack of vocabulary knowledge will result in lack of meaningful communication Thus, a language learner who has no vocabulary of a language could not use that language for reading comprehension, listening, speaking and writing And in fact, the main difficulties of understanding English, not only written and spoken, but also listened and read English for people studying English is the limit of vocabulary they process Yet, a great many words are learnt from reading, mostly extensive reading program Therefore, improving students‟ vocabulary size is essential in any language classes, especially in the author‟s own teaching context at TH-USS, where many students, mostly students in 10th form class, the new comers to a high school with very low vocabulary size, always prove worried, passive in RC lessons and teachers‟ routine ways of teaching vocabulary have demotivated students to acquire new language items The factual state has urged the author to take into account an investigation into the reality of teaching vocabulary in RC lessons to the 10th form students at her school with the hope to find out feasible solutions to problems facing the students, and lastly to light up their vocabulary size then enhance their comprehension II Aim and objectives of the study The study aims at solving the problems facing the 10th form students at TH-USS when learning English vocabulary in RC lessons To achieve this aim, the following objectives are set for exploration: 11 Investigating the current state of teaching vocabulary in RC lessons to the 10 th form students at TH-USS Obviously, it is impossible to capture a real classroom experience on paper, the goal is to get a sense of the life of the classroom and of the problems facing the 10th form students in learning vocabulary in RC lessons Proposing a number of feasible solutions to promoting the teaching of English vocabulary, and lastly to enhance the effectiveness of learning English to the 10th form students at the author‟s school With these above aims, the study is carried out in an attempt to provide a beneficial reference to the researcher herself, to the teachers of English at her school and to anyone who is interested in vocabulary teaching in RC lessons III Research questions In order to achieve the aim and the objectives above, the following research questions are raised for exploration: What are the problems facing the 10th form students at TH-USS in learning vocabulary in RC lessons? What are the feasible solutions to the problems facing the 10th form students at TH-USS when dealing with vocabulary in RC lessons? IV Scope of the study This minor thesis does not cover all the broad matter of four language skills, it only focuses on giving an insight into the teaching of vocabulary in RC lessons to the 10 th form students at TH-USS It deals with background knowledge of vocabulary teaching, provides investigated and analyzed data of the current state of teaching vocabulary in RC lessons to the 10th form students at the author‟s school, and proposes possible solutions to promote the quality of the teaching and learning of vocabulary Within the scope of the study, the samples of the study were restricted to 100 students at 10th form, the grade is undertaking the currents English 10 textbook and six teachers of the English teaching staff This number of participants is sufficient to provide valid and reliable information, the contributions of which are vital to the success of this modest research V Significance of the study The present research would serve as the initial study on vocabulary teaching in RC lessons to the 10th form students at TH-USS Once feasible solutions to the problems facing the 12 10th form students when dealing with vocabulary in RC lessons are found, the study might contribute to building up and enriching the 10th form students‟ vocabulary, improving their communicative competence to fulfill the general objectives of the textbook It is also hoped that the study would bring theoretical as well as practical benefits to the researcher herself, the teachers of English at her school and for anyone who is interested in vocabulary teaching in RC process VI Method of the study The study utilizes both qualitative and quantitative methods These methods have played an important role in TESOL for a long time Qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or to interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them (Denzin 2000) It involves an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter and gives priority to what the data contribute to important research questions or existing information Whereas, quantitative research is the systematic scientific investigation of quantitative properties and phenomena and their relationships Quantitative methods explain the data collected and their statistical treatment as well as all relevant results in relation to your research questions (Nunan 1992: 5) In carrying out these research methods, two instruments are used The first instrument is questionnaire and the second instrument is the semi-structure interview * Survey questionnaire for the 10th students: According to Brown (2001: 6), questionnaires are any written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or statements to which they are to react either by writing out their answers or selecting from among existing answers In this study, survey questions were designed and distributed to the students to get information on actual situation of teaching and learning vocabulary in RC lessons in ten language classes of grade 10 Questionnaire focused on the problems facing the students in learning vocabulary in RC lessons and suggested solutions to better the current state * Interviewing the teachers of English teaching staff: Interview is one kind of questionnaire but it is the vocal questionnaire Interviews have been used widely by second language acquisition researchers seeking data on stages and processes of acquisition (Johnston 1985), and also by language testers, who use the oral interview as means of assessing proficiency (Ingram 1984) 13 According to Wisker (2001: 167-168), there are three main kinds of interviews such as highly structured interview, semi-structured interview and unstructured interview among which semi-structured interview is chosen as the second research instrument of this study This kind of interview addresses both the need for comparable responses, that is, there are the same questions being asked of each interviewee and the need for the interview to be developed by the conversation between interviewer and interviewee which is often very rich and rewarding By interviewing, the researcher could observe the responses of the subject and questions may be clarified if they are misunderstood Interviews help the interviewer pursue the in-depth information around the topic and ensure the reliability of the written survey questionnaires * Particularly, during the process of carrying out the study, searching reference books is inevitable and the consultation with the researcher‟ supervisor is of great contribution to the fulfillment of this dissertation VII Organization of the study The study consists of three main parts: the introduction, the development and the conclusion The „Introduction‟ presents the general background of the study, the reason for choosing the thesis, the aims, the research questions, the scope, the significance, the methods and the organization of the study The „Development‟, the focus of the study is sub-divided into three chapters Chapter presents „theoretical background‟ It is concerned with general knowledge about vocabulary and vocabulary teaching and learning Chapter provides research design and methodology of the study which consists of the setting of the study, the procedures of the data collection and the data analysis From these bases, the major problems facing the 10th form students at TH-USS in learning vocabulary in RC lessons are drawn out Chapter is concerned with the solutions to solving the identified problems then improving the quality of teaching and learning English vocabulary for the 10 th form students at TH-USS The „Conclusion‟ summarizes the main issues touched upon so far in the study, presents the limitations of the study and makes suggestions for further research 52 undersea: đáy biển world: giới d animal: động vật sea: biển ghi cách đọc từ bên cạnh từ cho dễ đọc, theo kiểu: undersea (ăn đờ xi) animal (en ni mồ) world (guôn đờ)  sea (xi) e tham khảo từ mà bạn em tra  f cho nghĩa từ định việc hiểu nghĩa đọc hiểu  g bỏ qua đọc có nhiều từ em Đáp án tập đọc  hiểu có sẵn "Để học tốt Tiếng Anh 10" h nghe cô giáo giảng, quan sát từ cô ghi bảng chép vào  i có hội phát biểu lớp em q đơng  j ngại nói tiếng Anh vốn từ em hạn chế sợ phát âm sai  k khó nhớ từ học ngữ cụm động từ  l ngại hỏi giáo sợ làm ngắt lời cô giảng  m Các cách học khác em: Khi dạy từ vựng đọc hiểu sách "Tiếng Anh 10", cô giáo/ thầy giáo em thường: a khơng có phương tiện giảng dạy khác sách giáo khoa "Tiếng Anh  10" b bám sát nội dung tiến trình học sách giáo khoa c giới thiệu chủ đề nội dung thông qua tranh sách  giáo khoa d giới thiệu khoảng 10 từ xuất học cách viết từ  lên bảng đánh dấu trọng âm ghi nghĩa tiếng Việt chúng Ví dụ (Unit p 94-95) ocean (n): đại dương in'vestigate (v): nghiên cứu, điều tra gulf (n): vịnh seabed (n): đáy biển earth 'surface (n): mặt đất 'organism (n): sinh vật, thực vật 'challenge (n): thách thức 'jellyfish (n): sứa subma'rine (n): tàu ngầm  biodi'versity (n): đa dạng sinh học e khơng có đủ thời gian để giới thiệu từ loại, cấu tạo từ cách sử dụng từ f đợi cho học sinh chép xong từ vào vở, giáo viên đọc mẫu sau đó, cho học   53 sinh lớp đọc đồng từ vài lần g dịch nghĩa tất tiêu đề Task trước yêu cầu học sinh làm  h yêu cầu học sinh làm việc theo cặp theo nhóm  i vịng quanh cặp, nhóm quan sát học sinh làm cung cấp nghĩa  tiếng Việt tất từ mà học sinh hỏi j viết đáp án task lên bảng sau chữa k khơng có đủ thời gian để tiến hành hết tất yêu cầu sách giáo  khoa l yêu cầu học sinh nhà làm nốt phần không kịp tiến hành lớp, học  thuộc lòng từ vựng vừa học  m cách dạy khác: III Hãy lựa chọn giải pháp gợi ý cho việc khai thác từ vựng đọc hiểu, giúp em nâng cao vốn từ học đọc hiểu hiệu 10 Theo em, cô giáo/ thày giáo em nên: a thay đổi cách giới thiệu từ vựng đơn điệu, rập khn b có phương tiện trợ giảng phù hợp, hấp dẫn vật thật, tranh ảnh, sơ đồ,  bảng biểu, băng hình thu hút học sinh c có cử minh họa từ vựng phong phú d kích hoạt kiến thức liên quan đến học, giúp học sinh hiểu nội  dung đọc mà không cần dạy hết từ e giúp học sinh hiểu chủ đề đại ý đọc trước giới thiệu từ  f dạy hết tất từ để học sinh hiểu đọc g lựa chọn dạy từ quan trọng cho việc hiểu nghĩa đọc trước  yêu cầu học sinh đọc h giới thiệu từ ngữ cảnh i giúp học sinh biết cách phát âm, hiểu cấu tạo từ cách sử dụng  từ pham vi phù hợp j giúp học sinh biết cách đoán nghĩa từ đọc học  sinh đọc làm tập k dịch đọc tiếng Việt để giúp học sinh hiểu đọc  l giúp học sinh biết cách sử dụng từ điển hợp lý  m có tập phù hợp giúp học sinh củng cố mở rộng từ học      54 n thiết kế giảng hợp lý, có điều chỉnh nội dung yêu cầu học cho  phù hợp với trình độ học sinh o khuyến khích học sinh nói tiếng Anh lớp, vận dụng từ vừa học p Các giải pháp khác:  11 Bản thân em nên: a đọc tiêu đề quan sát tranh giới thiệu đọc để đoán nội dung  tổng quát b nghiên cứu câu hỏi trước đọc khoá để đoán nội dung đọc,  nắm mục đích đọc tìm từ quan trọng cần tra cứu c đọc từ, câu để hiểu nội dung đọc d vận dụng kiến thức liên quan đến học để hiểu nội dung tồn  mà khơng cần biết hết từ e đoán nghĩa từ thông qua ngữ cảnh đọc  f giải tập đọc hiểu hết tất từ  g tra nghĩa tất từ đọc  h dừng đọc để hỏi hoăc tra từ  i sử dụng từ điển hợp lý, không tra tràn lan tất từ em gặp  j tìm hiểu cách đọc từ, từ loại cách sử dụng từ ngữ cảnh,  k tích cực giao tiếp tiếng Anh học nhằm phát huy vốn từ vựng  có tiếp thu từ l mạnh dạn chia sẻ ý kiến với bạn hỏi ý kiến giáo viên gặp khó khăn  từ vựng  m làm tập củng cố mở rộng vốn từ học sách giáo khoa  sách tập n có thời gian biểu hợp lý, chuẩn bị trước đến lớp o cách học khác: END OF QUESTIONNAIRE Chân thành cám ơn cộng tác em!  55 APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS Dear teachers! The purpose of this interview is to obtain necessary data for my study on "Teaching vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons to the 10th form students at Thanh Ha Upper Secondary School - Problems and Possible Solutions." I really appreciate your taking the time to help me All responses to this interview will be treated with the utmost confidentiality and used for research purposes only Thank you very much for your cooperation! QUESTION 1: What are the major challenges facing you when teaching vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons to the 10th form students? When learning vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons, your students often: a read word by word, underline every unknown word then ask the teacher for help b lack background knowledge concerning the reading comprehension lessons check the unknown word in the Glossary of the textbook or in "Để học tốt tiếng Anh 10", then c write in the notebook the way as (worl: giới, sea: biển) add the pronunciation ways beside the unknown word in the textbook: d e f Animal (en ni mồ), sea (xi) copy their friends' preparation think that word meaning decide the comprehension of the reading text, not the part of speech, word formation or word usage g not concern with the texts with a lot of unknown words, just copy the answers of the reading tasks in "Để học tốt tiếng Anh 10" h observe the teacher then note down what he/she writes on the board i get very few chances to give opinions due to the large class size hardly speak English in class because of their limited vocabulary size and fear of making j mistakes in pronouncing cannot remember the big number of unknown words of the reading text, especially collocations k l and multi-word verbs hardly consult the teacher for fear of interrupting his/her lecture 56 m Your own ideas ( please specify): QUESTION 2: What you often when teaching vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons to the 10th form students? follow exactly the textbook's procedure and not have any other teaching facility except the a textbook "Tiếng Anh 10" and a radio of bad quality introduce the subject and general content of the reading lessons through the pictures in the b textbook present around 10 new word items which will appear in the reading text the way as: c (Unit p 94-95): d 'seabed (n): đáy biển in'vestigate (v): nghiên cứu, điều tra lack time to present word formation or word usage wait until students copy all the presented items, read aloud one time then ask students to read in e chorus several times f translate the requirement of the reading tasks for students g organize pair work or group work h go around the class and help students to know meaning of any new word i write the correct answers on the board after checking g have shortage of time to complete all the reading tasks in the textbook k tell students to finish the rest at home, learn the new words of the lesson by heart l Your own ideas ( please specify): QUESTION 3: What should be done to improve the current state of teaching and learning vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons for the 10th form students at THUSS? When teaching vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons, teachers should: a vary the ways to explain new vocabulary items use suitable teaching aids as real objects, pictures, charts, CD, etc, which helps facilitate b vocabulary teaching c have appropriate gestures in certain cases of vocabulary teaching 57 stimulate background knowledge which enable students to grasp the gist of the reading text d without teaching every new vocabulary item e introduce the subject and general idea of the reading lesson before teaching vocabulary items f present every new word item to your students g select key words to teach before students read the text h give new word items in context i supply students with word spelling, word formation and word usage to reasonable extents provide students with strategies for guessing meaning of the new word items in the reading text j while dealing with reading tasks k translate the reading text into Vietnamese to facilitate students' comprehension l help students use dictionaries appropriately give students suitable exercises for consolidating and expanding the vocabulary items students m have learnt recently n design suitable lesson plans to the target language of the lesson and students' ability o encourage students to speak English in class, stimulating the word items which they have learnt p Your own ideas ( please specify): When learning vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons, students should: a guess general ideas of the reading text through out the title and the picture of the lesson guess the content of the reading text through out the questions of the reading tasks, then pick out b key words of the text before reading c read word by word to understand the text make use of their background knowledge to understand the reading text, ignoring new word items d of the text e guess word meaning through the context of the reading lesson f deal with reading tasks ignoring new words of the reading text g check meaning of every new word item 58 h interrupt reading process to check new word items i know how to use dictionaries appropriately j concern with word spelling, word formation and word usage to reasonable extents k try to speak English in class, stimulating the word items which they have learnt l share ideas with their friends or consult the teacher about the unknown word items m exercises to consolidate and expand the word items they have learnt recently n built a reasonable timetable, prepare the lessons before going to school o Your own ideas ( please specify): Thank you very much for your cooperation! 59 APPENDIX COLLECTED DATA From questionnaires for the 10th form students * Personal information (questions 1, 2, 3, 4)  10th form students at Thanh Ha Upper Secondary School Total number: 100 Gender: 57 girls 43 boys Age: 65 students: 16 years old 35 students: 17 years old Learning facility at school: 59 students: Textbook + radio 32 students: Textbook + "Để học tốt tiếng Anh 10" + radio students: Textbook Learning facility at home: 18 students: Textbook 80 students: Textbook + "Để học tốt tiếng Anh 10" + radio student: Textbook + radio student: Textbook + Exercise book Table 1: Students' perceptions about the role of vocabulary in students' reading comprehension (Questions 5, 6, 7) Order Option Students' ideas Number of informants Vocabulary plays a very important role in students' reading % 96 96% 67 67% 85 85% comprehension Students need to know every new word in the reading text to understand the text The number of new vocabulary items in reading comprehension lessons is much bigger than the students' vocabulary size 60 Table 2: Students' observation about the current state of learning vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons (Question 8) Order Option Students' ideas Number of informants % When learning reading comprehension lessons, 10th form students often: a read word by word, underline every unknown word then ask the 58 58% 72 72% 69% 69% 31 31% 46 46% 70 70% 36 36% teacher for help lack background knowledge concerning the reading comprehension b lessons check the unknown word in the Glossary of the textbook or in "Để c học tốt tiếng Anh 10", then write in the notebook the way as (world: giới, sea: biển) add the pronunciation ways beside the unknown word in the d e textbook: Animal (en ni mồ), sea (xi) copy their friends' preparation think that word meaning decide the comprehension of the reading f g text, not the part of speech, word formation or word usage not concern with the texts with a lot of unknown words, just copy the answers of the reading tasks in "Để học tốt tiếng Anh 10" h observe the teacher then note down what he/she writes on the board 76 76% i get very few chances to give opinion due to the large class size 72 72% 85 85% 87 87% 62 62% j hardly speak English in class because of their limited vocabulary size and fear of making mistakes in pronouncing cannot remember the big number of unknown words of the reading k text, especially collocations and multi-word verbs l hardly consult the teacher for fear of interrupting his/her lecture m The informant's own ideas: No ideas 61 Table 3: Students' observation about the current state of teaching vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons (Question 9) Order Option Students' ideas Number of informants % When teaching vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons, teachers often: a not have any other teaching facility except the textbook "Tiếng 45 45% 89 89% 77 77% 95 95% 73 73% 90 90% Anh 10" and a radio of bad quality b follow exactly the textbook's procedure introduce the subject and general content of the reading lessons c through the pictures in the textbook present around 10 new word items which will appear in the reading d text the way as: (Unit p 94-95): 'seabed (n): đáy biển in'vestigate (v): nghiên cứu, điều tra e f lack time to present word formation or word usage wait until students copy all the presented items, read aloud one time then ask students to read in chorus several times g translate the requirement of the reading tasks for students 66 66% h organize pair work or group work 93 93% 55 50% 85 85% 68 68% 91 91% go around the class and help students to know meaning of any new i j word write the correct answers on the board after checking have shortage of time to complete all the reading tasks in the k l textbook tell students to finish the rest at home, learn the new words of the lesson by heart m The informant's own ideas: No ideas 62 Table 4: Students' ideas about the solutions to bettering the current situation of teaching vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons to the 10th form students (Question 10) Order Option Students' ideas Number of informants % 10 When teaching vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons, teachers should: a vary the ways to explain new vocabulary items 74 74% 88 88% 73 73% 75 75% 80 80% use suitable teaching aids as real objects, pictures, charts, CD, etc, b c which helps facilitate vocabulary teaching have appropriate gestures in certain cases of vocabulary teaching stimulate background knowledge which enable students to grasp the d gist of the reading text without teaching every new vocabulary item introduce the subject and general idea of the reading lesson before e teaching vocabulary items f present every new word item to your students 38 38% g select key words to teach before students read the text 75 75% h give new word items in context 69 69% 81 81% 71 71% 66 66% 72 72% 76 76% 77 77% 77 77% supply students with word spelling, word formation and word usage i to reasonable extents provide students with strategies for guessing meaning of the new j word items in the reading text while dealing with reading tasks translate the reading text into Vietnamese to facilitate students' k l comprehension help students use dictionaries appropriately give students suitable exercises for consolidating and expanding the m n vocabulary items students have learnt recently design suitable lesson plans to the language target of the lesson and students' ability o encourage students to speak English in class, stimulating the word items which they have learnt p The informant's own ideas: No ideas 63 Table 5: Students' ideas about the solutions to bettering the current situation of learning vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons of the 10th form students (Question 11) Order Option Students' ideas Number of informants % 11 When learning vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons, students should: a guess general ideas of the reading text through out the title and the 85 85% 70 70% 55 55% 65 65% picture of the lesson guess the content of the reading text through out the questions of the b c reading tasks, then pick out key words of the text before reading read word by word to understand the text make use of their background knowledge to understand the reading d text, ignoring new word items of the text e guess word meaning through the context of the reading lesson 80 80% f deal with reading tasks ignoring new words of the reading text 37 37% g check meaning of every new word item 60 60% h interrupt reading process to check new word items 51 51% i know how to use dictionaries appropriately 72 72% 62 62% 68 68% 68 68% 66 66% 76 76% concern with word spelling, word formation and word usage to j reasonable extents try to speak English in class, stimulating the word items which they k have learnt share ideas with their friends or consult the teacher about the l unknown word items exercises to consolidate and expand the word items they have m n learnt recently built a reasonable timetable, prepare the lessons before going to school o The informant's own ideas: 64 APPENDIX INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT Interviews with the teachers of English QUESTION 1: What are the major challenges facing you when teaching vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons to the 10th form students? Teacher 1: Well, I have to work with students of different levels in very large class size My students' vocabulary is quite limited They always ask me meaning of new words along the lecture I often lack time to present word formation and usage to students I only translate the word my students consult me Besides, students cannot remember the big number of unknown words of the reading text, especially collocations and multi-word verbs Teacher 2: My students not concern with the text with many new words They write straightly the answers copying from "Để học tốt Tiếng Anh 10" into the textbook At school, they observe the teacher then note down what he/she writes on the board Teacher 3: The teaching facility is very poor I not have any other teaching facility except the textbook "Tiếng Anh 10" and a radio of bad quality Besides, students' English is so limited They sometime check two page long of new words they meet in a short reading text, and then add Vietnamese pronunciation beside them Teacher 4: The students lack background knowledge concerning the reading comprehension lessons They read word by word, underline every unknown word then ask their partner or the teacher for help Teacher 5: My students almost never study English at home They cannot remember even the word they have just been presented They hardly speak English for fear of making mistakes Teacher 6: My students just sit in silence and wait for the teacher to provide everything for them Teaching vocabulary takes me a lot of time QUESTION 2: What you often when teaching vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons to the 10th form students? Teacher 1: I often introduce the subject and general content of the reading lesson through the pictures in the textbook Then I present around 10 new word items which will appear in the reading text the way as: 65 ocean (n): đại dương in'vestigate (v): nghiên cứu, điều tra Teacher 2: I follow exactly the textbook's procedure I not have any other teaching facility except the textbook "Tiếng Anh 10" and a radio of bad quality Teacher 3: Me? I usually translate the requirement of the reading tasks for students Then I present about 10 to 15 new word items which will appear in the reading text Teacher 4: I only translate new words into Vietnamese, then I have to wait until students copy all the presented items, read aloud one time then ask students to read in chorus several times I often lack time to present word formation or word usage Teacher 5: I often organize pair work or group work and go around the class and help students to know meaning of any new word I write the correct answers on the board after checking Teacher 6: I respect the textbook' procedure I usually have shortage of time to complete all the reading tasks in the textbook, so I tell students to finish the rest at home, learn the new words of the lesson by heart QUESTION 3: What should be done to improve the current state of teaching and learning vocabular in reading comprehension lessons for the 10th form students? Teacher 1: I think I should prepare lesson plans carefully, vary the ways of presenting new words Particularly, it's helpful to use suitable teaching aids as real objects, pictures, charts, CD, etc, which helps facilitate vocabulary teaching Then my students should guess general ideas of the reading text through out the title and the picture of the lesson guess the content of the reading text through out the questions of the reading tasks, then pick out key words of the text before reading share ideas with their friends or consult the teacher about the unknown word items try to speak English in class, stimulating the word items which they have learnt Teacher 2: For me, I think I should redesign some reading task in necessary cases, help students to guess meaning of the new words, have appropriate gestures in certain cases of vocabulary teaching I should try to stimulate background knowledge which enable students to grasp the gist of the reading text without teaching every new vocabulary item Then my students should concern with word spelling, word formation and word usage to reasonable extents and know how to use dictionaries appropriately 66 Teacher 3: In my opinion, our school should invest more for English teaching, buying radios of good quality, English references for teachers and students And me, I should introduce the subject and general idea of the reading lesson before teaching vocabulary items, supply students with word spelling, word formation and word usage to reasonable extents Teacher 4: I should prepare the lessons more carefully, stimulating students' background knowledge It's important for me to give new word items in context, provide students with strategies for guessing meaning of the new word items in the reading text while dealing with reading tasks And mu students should make use of their background knowledge to understand the reading text, ignoring new word items of the text and deal with reading tasks ignoring new words of the reading text Teacher 5: I'll give my students suitable vocabulary exercise to consolidate the words they've learnt In addition, I should help students use dictionaries appropriately, give students suitable exercises for consolidating and expanding the vocabulary items students have learnt recently and design suitable lesson plans to the language target of the lesson and students' ability Teacher 6: I should use many tactics to attract students' attention to vocabulary learning, encourage students to speak English in class, guess word meaning through the context of the reading lesson, stimulating the word items which they have learnt, encourage them to prepare the lessons at home Moreover, my students should build a reasonable timetable, prepare the lessons before going to school  ... learning manner The fact has urged the author to take into account an investigation into the reality of teaching vocabulary in RC lessons to the 10th students, the new comers to upper secondary school. .. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE STUDENTS On teaching vocabulary in reading comprehension lessons to the 10th form students at Thanh Ha Upper Secondary School - Problems and Possible Solutions Các em học sinh lớp... learning of English at the school 2.1.2 English teaching program for the 10th form students at Thanh Ha Upper Secondary School The English program for the 10th form students at TH-USS is the same