VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES PHẠM THỊ HẠNH USING SEMANTIC MAPPING TO TEACH ESP VOCABULARY TO FINAL-YEAR STUDENTS OF FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING AT HANOI TOURISM COLLEGE (Sử dụng sơ đồ ngữ nghĩa để dạy từ vựng tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cho sinh viên năm cuối, chuyên ngành tài kế toán, trường Cao đẳng Du lịch Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.14.10 HANOI – 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declaration i Acknowledgements .ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations vii List of tables vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Aims and objectives of the study Scope of the study Research questions Significance of the study The method of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 What is vocabulary? 1.2 The role of vocabulary in second language learning 1.3 What is involved in teaching L2 vocabulary 1.4 Challenges of L2 vocabulary learning iv 1.5 The nature of ESP vocabulary 1.6 Challenges of ESP vocabulary learning 11 1.7 What should be taught in ESP vocabulary teaching 12 1.7.1 Word form 12 1.7.2 Word formation 12 1.7.3 Word relations 13 1.7.4 Collocation 14 1.8 Characteristics of financial & accounting English vocabulary 14 1.8.1 The morphological characteristics 14 1.8.2 The semantic characteristics 15 1.9 Vocabulary retention 16 1.10 Semantic mapping as a vocabulary instruction strategy 16 1.10.1 Definitions of semantic mapping 16 1.10.2 Procedures to construct a semantic map 17 1.10.3 Previous studies of the impact of semantic mapping on students‟ vocabulary learning 19 Benefits of semantic mapping 19 Limitations of semantic mapping 23 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 2.1 The context of the study 25 2.1.1 Research setting 25 2.1.2 Teaching materials 26 v 2.2 Research participants 26 2.3 Data collection instruments 27 2.3.1 Tests 27 2.3.2 Questionnaire 28 2.4 Treatment procedures 29 2.5 Procedures of data collection 31 2.6 Data analysis 31 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Findings 32 3.1.1 The effectiveness of semantic mapping on students‟ word retention 32 3.1.2 Students perceptions of the benefits of semantic mapping to their word retention 34 3.2 Discussion 36 PART C: CONCLUSION Summary of the study 38 Limitation of the study and suggestions for further study 40 REFERENCES APPENDICES vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS GE: General English ESP: English for specific purpose HTC: Hanoi Tourism College L2: The second language LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1 Students‟ test scores in three progress tests 33 Table 3.2.: Students‟ perceptions of the benefits of semantic mapping to 34 their ESP vocabulary learning vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study In recent years, the demand for learning English for specific purpose (ESP) has been spread nationwide Due to the social needs, ESP is taught in almost universities, colleges and vocational schools Most of English departments offer courses in ESP after General English (GE) during the basic years Hanoi Tourism College (HTC) is a typical example of the training institutions that combines ESP within its current English teaching situation in response to the demand for specific language learning target In Hanoi Tourism College, teachers are required to teach English to students from various fields such as Restaurant, Hotel, Travel agency, Tour guiding, Finance and accounting, and food production One of the concerns about the ESP program at the College is how to help students learn the ESP vocabulary better This is really critical given the role of vocabulary in second language learning either for General Purposes or for Specific Purposes Many scholars have considered vocabulary acquisition as being fundamental and crucial component to any foreign language learners Wilkins (1972, p.11) emphasizes the importance of vocabulary as “without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed” For ESP, Robinson (1991), pointed out that for many people, vocabulary, particularly specialist vocabulary (or terminology), is the key element of ESP At HTC, despite teachers‟ efforts to try experimenting various vocabulary techniques, the result is far from satisfaction Students still have serious difficulties memorizing, recalling and using specialist vocabulary, i.e., vocabulary related to their field of finance and accounting The desire to help students address these difficulties motivate me to carry out this study, which is aimed at exploring the possibility of using the semantic mapping strategy to teach ESP vocabulary This teaching technique has not been used at HTC to the best of my knowledge Aims and Objectives of the Study The aim of the study is to explore the possibility of teaching ESP vocabulary through semantic mapping with reference to the students‟ attitudes to, and opinions of, this instructional strategy as well as their retention of ESP vocabulary Because it is just a stepping stone to the extensive application of the semantic mapping strategy to teach ESP vocabulary, it is confined to two following objectives: - To investigate students‟ perceived benefits of learning ESP vocabulary through semantic mapping? - To examine the impact of employing semantic mapping on students‟ ESP vocabulary retention Scope of the study Firstly, the study limits itself to the investigation of the students‟ perceptions of the usefulness of semantic mapping to their ESP vocabulary learning as well as their retention of ESP vocabulary as measured by the questionnaire responses and progress tests Secondly, this study is similar to a small-scale action research project in the sense that its primary purpose is to help the researcher to improve her teaching Therefore, the study was conducted with the final-year participant students of three year-training program who were real students in the researcher‟s class Finally, the study used the the textbook named “English for finance and accounting” which was compiled by teachers from HTC and is in use at the college as instructional material Research questions In order to achieve the aim and objectives of the study, the following research questions are formulated: What are students’ perceived benefits of learning ESP vocabulary through semantic mapping? To what extent does semantic mapping help students learn ESP vocabulary better as measured by their retention of vocabulary ? Significance of the study Although semantic mapping has been researched extensively in the context of second language vocabulary learning, little research has been done in ESP Although this study focuses only on the students‟ perceived benefits of semantic mapping to their ESP vocabulary and the impact of this vocabulary technique on their ESP vocabulary retention, the findings of this study will shed more light on the possibility of using semantic mapping to teach ESP vocabulary These findings can also lay the foundation for a more extensive study on the impact of this vocabulary strategy upon students‟ ESP vocabulary acquisition in the context where ESP is taught as a minor subject Methods of the study Since the purpose of the study is to test the impact of semantic mapping on students‟ ESP vocabulary aquisition, a quasi- experimental design is appropriate The study is quasi-experimental in two ways Firstly, no randomized sampling was used; instead an intact group of students were used in this study Second, the study design did not use the pretest-posttest design (Nunan, 1992) Instead, the impact of the treatment was measured through progress tests and a final test In addition to these tests, a student questionnaire was also employed In order to obtain information for the two research questions stated in Section above, two main instruments of data collection were used: the student questionnaire and the progress tests Because the first research question is to find out students perceptions of the treatment, the student questionnaire was designed and administered to the students at the end of the treatment to obtain their responses to the treatment Regarding to the second research question, two progress tests and a final test, which was administered at the end of the treatment, were used to measure the students‟ retention of the taught vocabulary under the influence of the treatment Design of the study The thesis is composed of three parts Part A – the Introduction – introduces the rationale, the aims and objectives, the scope, the research questions, the significance, the method, and the design of the study are presented Part B - the Development – consists of three chapters, and is the backbone of the thesis Chapter provides the theoretical framework for the study This framework provides the guidelines for conducting this research and for the discussion of the data Chapter provides the information about the context in which the study was conducted, the research participants, and the research procedures including experiment, the methods of data collection and data analysis The findings of the study are presented and discussed in Chapter Part C: Conclusion -the major findings are summarised with reference to the research questions mentioned in section of the Part A Also in this Part are the acknowledgement of the limitations of the study, the implications for teaching ESP vocabulary using the semantic mapping and suggestions for further study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, the literature on vocabulary teaching and learning, and the use of semantic mapping as a technique of teaching vocabulary will be reviewed The chapter starts with a definition of vocabulary and the importance of vocabulary in second or foreign language learning in general and in learning English for specific purposes (ESP) in particular Then, a review of what is involved in teaching foreign language vocabulary as well as the challenges of learning vocabulary will be presented This provides a background for the next sections which focus on the linguistic features distinctive of ESP vocabulary and what makes teaching and learning ESP vocabulary challenging In addition to ENGLISH TEST 03 Time: 35 minutes Choose the best answer by circling A, B or C Underreporting income and overstating deductions is one of means of ………… A tax increase B raised C developed Which of the following is not an asset? A Loan from K Harris C tax evasion Do not buy a house this year- the property taxes are being…………next March A abolished B tax expenditure B Debtors C Cash balance and buildings The Kuwait government asked local companies to cut back manufacturing luxury items, on which……………………….is imposed A property tax B excise tax C inheritance tax ………………is money that a company will have to pay to someone else- bills, debts, interest, tax, etc A Liquidation B Expenditure C Liability The government encourage domestic and international corporations to invest or manufacture items being in need by offering them………………… A tax break B tax increase C tax growth The …………year is any 12-month period used by a company or government as an accounting period A economic B monetary VII C fiscal ………………… is calculated based on the amount of the wages that a employer pays to his employees A Income tax C Financial services B Accounting C Auditing For the tax purpose, a fixed asset has to be………………….over its useful life A written off 12 B Financial structures ………………….is checking and evaluating financial records A Editing 11 C Excise tax ………………….are formal reports showing financial health of a company A Financial statements 10 C Payroll tax B written up C written down One of the most important things for people who want to start a business is ………………… A capital 13 B economy C interest …………………depreciation expense on fixed assets in the process of production is called method of straight line A Accelerating 14 B Accelerated C Acceleration A………………….is a statement showing what the company has and what it owes at the end of the year A balance sheet 15 C statement of earnings He get a big profit from investment in ……………………… A Securities 16 B income statement B Safety C Safeness When assessing the asset of a company which has good reputation or famous trademark, its………………….should be taken into account VIII A Liabilities 17 B Expenditure C Intangible asset When you go to an auction and you want to buy a particular item, you can simply make a ……… ……….for it A try 18 B bid C test …………………… is a portion of a company‟s profit paid to its shareholders who hold shares of stock in the company A Dividend 19 B Stock C Share The larger company does not want to join with smaller one because it is more interested in the …………………… A take-over 20 B take-off C take-up ……………is always expressed as value of common stocks owned by stockholders A Capital 21 B Asset C Equity My accountant advised me that it would be more………… to use this approach because it helps me reduce the expense A expensive 22 B Financial documents C Financial certificates My………………….advised me to buy IT company‟ stocks A broker 24 C lucrative ………………………….shows that the Trisutsi company is suffering losses A Financial records 23 B adverse B breaker C brokerage If you want to know which sources your cash comes from and how cash is used for trading, you can look at a statement of ………………… IX A cash flow 25 B capital flow C income flow …………………………… refers to a period of time when many stocks rise in value A Bull market 26 B Ball market C Bell market ………………………is long-lived property ( e.g: land, buildings, equipment, patents) which is used by a firm in the production of its income A Equity 27 B swings C switches The …………………………is the decrease in value of assets due to use A depreciation 29 C Capital Price…………………….are fluctuations in the price of a stock A level 28 B Fixed asset B reduction C deduction There was …………………… trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange this week A record-taking 30 B record- destroying C record- breaking ……………… is a tax form on which a taxpayer makes a statement of personal income used by the government tax office to calculate the amount of tax one must pay A Tax return 31 B Tax file C Tax document There has been the instance of change in the price of stocks recently so he made a record of price …………………… X A fluctuation 32 B fluctuate C fluctuant ……………………….is a bank account for day-to-day use which you can earn a little interest and have a quick access A Profit account 33 B loan C loaner If you‟d like to buy a house, you will probably have to take out a…………… A statement 35 C Current account The money you borrow from the bank is called…………… A Lone 34 B Credit account B mortgage C marriage What is the………………….on my account? It is $ 450 ( there is $ 450 in your account) A balance 36 B loan C currency The …………… happens when you take out more money than it is available in your account A overdraft 37 B over-drawer C overdue A document which shows all your withdrawals and deposits ( usually for one month) is called a bank……………… A stapler 38 B statement C bill If you want to compete against Apple, you have to build a long…………….strategy A date 39 B life C term Remember the deadline for the amount of tax you have to pay, otherwise you will be……………… XI A fined 40 B fainted C feinted …………… date for your loan from Wall bank is March 19, 2013, remember to pay it on time A Completion 41 Do you want B Finish to have C Maturity your deposit with fixed interest or…………………interest? A floating 42 B outstanding C raising The broker helped Thomas and Jenny to sell their expensive villa and he received the ……………… of $ 1,000 from them A commission 43 B fee C charge Thanks to your hard work, we have seen some positive changes in sales……………… A level 44 B approach C volume At the moment we are experiencing some cash……………….problems because little money is coming in A fly 45 B stream C flow The IRS is a government organization responsible for…………taxes in the USA A collecting B receiving C gathering XII Appendix N0 02 QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire is designed for my research entitled “ Using semantic mapping to teach ESP vocabulary to the final- year students of Finance and Accounting at Hanoi Tourism College”, which aims at exploring the possibility of teaching ESP vocabulary through semantic mapping Therefore, your sincere opinions of this technique will be highly appreciated and very valuable for my research above I commit that your opinion is used for my research purpose only, so you need not show your name here I hope that you will complete this questionnaire and return it to me after 10 minutes without reference to any opinion from your classmates Thank you! Give your opinion (Yes, No or No idea) by putting a tick () in one of squares () for each of the following statements Semantic mapping helps me recall known words  Yes  No  No idea Semantic mapping motivates me in learning ESP vocabulary  Yes  No idea Semantic mapping helps me understand ESP words and retain them better  Yes  No  No  No idea Semantic mapping helps me learn ESP vocabulary more efficiently  Yes  No  No idea XIII Appendix N0 03 UNIT 08 TAX ACCOUNTING Objectives: When students have studied this unit, they should be able to: - Know the types of tax - Use the English terms in tax accounting - Develop their vocabulary as well as their skills in reading, writing, speaking and listening VOCABULARY 1 There are some types of tax in the boxes below, but some letters are missing Can you complete the words? inc _ m _ s _ l _ s c _ rp _ r _ te pr _ p _ rty _ xc _ s _ XIV inh _ rit _ nc _ v _ l _ _ _ dd _ d Pa_r_ll Match these expressions with tax to their definitions tax avoidance a someone who lives in another country for tax reasons tax bracket b to introduce a new tax on something tax evasion c to make the tax go up tax exemption d when you don‟t have to pay tax on certain income tax exile e to cancel a tax to abolish tax f tells you what amount of tax to pay based on income to impose tax g trying not to pay tax (legal) to increase tax h trying not to pay tax (illegal) LESSON PLAN Teaching content: Some target words related to “ tax” Aim: Help students learn some key new words related to tax through their association with words they have learned previously through semantic mapping Objective: - Students will brainstorm words related to “ tax” - Students will demonstrate their understanding of and use of target words Material: Vocabulary in unit 08: Tax accounting, course book: English for Finance and Accounting XV Preparation: - Preview the Vocabulary part to identify semi-technical or technical words or challenging words to be believed not familiar with students Target word list - Make a list of target words and a brief definition for each - Indentify overarching words: “ Tax” - Excise tax : impose on specific items, especially luxury ones - Payroll tax : impose on the wages a employer pays to his employees - Tax evasion : not to pay tax or reduce tax amount that must be paid illegally - Tax break : the reduction of tax to encourage a particular type of commercial activity - To abolish tax : to cancel a tax Teaching At the beginning of the lesson, the teacher explains the purpose of the lesson: to learn new words and tell students procedures for semantic mapping Time Stages (45 Teacher’s activities Students’ activities mins) Introduction of the topic 04 - Talking and asking things mins related to the topic of the lesson in a relaxing way to XVI - Answering questions motivate students and lead to the new target lesson - Choosing the word “ Tax” - Writing the word “ Tax” and write it on the middle of down on the middle of their the board with a circle paper outside - Telling students that as - Listening they brainstorm words for topics, some target words marked with a star above each are introduced by teacher Brainstorming 06 - Asking students to - Discussing in groups of five mins brainstorm or think of words people, listing their group‟s related to the “ tax” by words on the right of their giving them some suggested paper, then giving those questions words to the teacher - Writing down all - Writing responses selected appropriate students‟ by the teacher on the left of responses on the right of the their paper board XVII Presentation of 10 target words ms - Asking questions to lead - Answering students to say some target words if possible - Adding some target words - Reading the definitions of unknown to students to the the unfamiliar words to list and give a brief understand their meanings definition for each - Giving a star above each - Adding starred words to the target word left of their papers - Pronouncing these words - Pronouncing the words and asking students to repeat Categorization 08 - Reading through the list of - Reading these words in ms brainstormed words silence - Modeling how to group the - Observing and answering words into a category by thinking aloud and raising questions - Asking students - Discussing in groups and similarly to the remaining finding out words that would categories fit into categories left XVIII - Checking through with - Checking and putting words students into the right categories - Asking students to label - Discussing in groups and the categories giving titles to categories - Generating one or more - Brainstorming some more category titles in case some words for added categories target words does not fit into any existing category - Writing each category title - Observing and doing the in a rectangle and connect it same with maps in their to the overarching word as “ papers tax” Personalization 05 - Asking students to add - Discussing in groups of or mins words or categories to the and putting more words or map categories to their maps - Having students share their - Showing words or groups‟ words or categories categories added by their and add them to the map on groups the board - Discussing and selecting - Copying the added words or the appropriate words or categories to their maps XIX categories to put in the map on the board Review of target words 12 - Asking students to - Pronouncing target words pronounce the target words again - Checking and clarifying - Giving definition meanings of target words by paraphrasing, of, finding getting students give full synonyms or antonyms or definition of or paraphrase subordinates for target words or find synonyms or antonyms or subordinates for target words - Having students practice - Answering questions and using target words by asking making questions sentences using (try to relate target words in written form, words in one category to then say them aloud to the those in another) that cause class them to apply the target words or getting them to make a sentence using target words A semantic map for the topic “ tax” can be the following, target words were starred and in bold and italic XX Verbs used in tax calculation People give advice for tax Activities related to tax policy Subtract Tax specialist Increase tax Add Tax adviser Reduce tax Divide Tax consultant Abolish tax* Impose tax Multiply Collect tax Tax favour Not paying tax Tax Tax break* Tax exile Tax exemption Tax avoidance Tax reduction Kinds of tax to be paid Tax evasion* Common expressions with tax People have to pay tax Income tax Tax payer Individual Value added tax Tax collector Corporation Sale tax Tax authorities Company Property tax Tax payment Investor Payroll tax* Tax return Customer Excise tax* Tax invoice Client Inheritance tax Tax receipt Organization Import/export tax XXI cl ... conducted at Hanoi Tourism 38 college with 38 participants as the final- year students of finance and accounting at college level It started with the definitions of vocabulary, role and challenges of. .. of ESP vocabulary and what makes teaching and learning ESP vocabulary challenging In addition to these, some other basic issues related to ESP vocabulary teaching and learning are presented and. .. possibility of using the semantic mapping strategy to teach ESP vocabulary This teaching technique has not been used at HTC to the best of my knowledge Aims and Objectives of the Study The aim of the