A Study On Using Visual Aids in Teaching and Learning English Vocabulary

COLLEGE OF SCIENES
DEPARTMENT OF BASIC SCIENCES
-----COLLEGE OF SCIENES
DEPARTMENT OF BASIC SCIENCES
------
DINH THI HOA
A STUDY ON USING VISUAL AIDS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH
MAJOR STUDENTS AT COLLEGE OF SCIENCES
A STUDY ON USING VISUAL AIDS IN TEACHING AND

LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR FIRST YEAR
NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT COLLEGE OF
B.A
THESIS
SCIENCES
MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

NGHIN CU V VIC S DNG CC GIO C TRC QUAN TRONG VIC
DY V HC T VNG TING ANH I VI SINH VIN NM TH NHT
KHNG CHUYN NGNH TING ANH TI TRNG I HC KHOA HC
Student: Dinh Thi Hoa
Class: English Major B. Course: No 5
Instructor: Phan Thi Hoa (M.A)
Thai Nguyen, April 2011

ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to a number of
people, without whose support, this graduation paper would not have been
completed.
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincerest and deepest gratitude
towards my supervisor, Ms. Phan Thi Hoa for her dedicatedly invaluable help and
useful corrections. It was she who continually reminded me about managing time
despite her busy schedule at school and at home. Her kindly constructive guidance,
suggestions and comments have made it possible for me to finish this study.
Next, I am very grateful to the teachers of Department of Basic Sciences, who
have enthusiastically participated as informants for the study without their attending
questionnaire survey, the methodology section of the study could not be
accomplishedly completed.
Moreover, I want to show my special attitude to the first year non- English
major students in College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University who help me finish
the survey questionnaire of this research.
Last but not least, I am truly grateful to my family and friends for their
continual encouragement during the time I conducted the research.
ABSTRACT
The acquisition of vocabulary has long been left to be a crucial component of
learning a foreign language. Therefore, techniques for teaching and learning
vocabulary become the matter of concern in many studies. There are a lot of
different techniques for teachers to help their students improve their vocabulary.
However, the current teachers methods of teaching vocabulary do not satisfy with
their students expectation. Students are not interested in learning English

vocabulary.
The application of visual aids is considered one of the effective ways to teach
English vocabulary to students. So, it is necessary to get teachers and students
familiarized with this relaxing but useful and effective technique. This research
intends to examine the use of visual aids to teach English vocabulary to the first
year non- English major students at College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University.
More specifically, the researcher strived to investigate the current situation of
teaching and learning vocabulary of first year non- English major students at
College of Sciences, TNU, the specific use of visual aids and propose some
recommendations for teaching vocabulary at this College.
The researcher has conducted a survey with the participation of seven teachers
and 100 first year non- English major students at College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen
University. The data on participants using visual aids in teaching and learning
English vocabulary was collected through questionnaires.
The result of this study indicated that all teachers and students were fully aware
of the importance of teaching and learning vocabulary. However, the quality of
teaching and learning vocabulary was not really good. Besides, teachers used
different techniques to teach vocabulary and they also used visual aids as an
effective aid when teaching vocabulary. Furthermore, each technique still has some
limitations so this study also provides some suggestions for teachers to partly deal
with them.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Table of contents
List of figures in the study
List of tables in the study
PART A: INTRODUCTION...........................................................................1
1.
Statement of the problem and rationale for the study...........................1
2.
Objectives of the study............................................................................4
3.
Significance of the study..........................................................................4
4.
Methods of the study...............................................................................5
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5.
Scope of the study....................................................................................5
6.
Research questions...................................................................................5
7.
Design of the study...................................................................................6
PART B: DEVELOPMENT.............................................................................7
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................7
1.1. An overview of vocabulary........................................................................7
1.1.1 Definitions of vocabulary.........................................................................7
1.1.2 Roles of vocabulary..................................................................................8
1.1.3 Classifications of vocabulary.................................................................10
1.1.4. Aspects to be taught when teaching vocabulary..................................11
1.1.4.1 Aspects of meaning..............................................................................11
1.1.4.2. Forms of a word.................................................................................12
1.1.4.2.1 Pronunciation and Spelling.............................................................12
1.1.4.2.2 Grammar..........................................................................................13
1.1.4.3 Use of a word.......................................................................................14
1.1.5 How to teach a new word.......................................................................15
1.1.5.1 Presenting a new word........................................................................15
1.1.5.2 Practicing the use of word..................................................................16
1.2 An overview of visual aids........................................................................17
1.2.1 Definitions of visual aids........................................................................17
1.2.2 Kinds of visual aids................................................................................19
1.2.2.1 Boards..................................................................................................19
1.2.2.2 Pictures................................................................................................21
1.2.2.3 Drawings..............................................................................................24
1.2.2.4 Realias..................................................................................................26
1.2.2.5 Action and performance.....................................................................27
1.2.3 Some considerations in planning visual aids........................................28
1.2.4 Summary.................................................................................................29
CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY................................................................30
2.1 Participants:..............................................................................................30
2.2 Data collection instruments......................................................................30
2.3 Procedure of data collection.....................................................................32
2.3.1 Phase 1:...................................................................................................32
2.3.2 Phase 2:..................................................................................................32
2.4 Procedure of data analysis........................................................................33
2.5 Summary...................................................................................................33
CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION...........................................34
3.1 Research question 1: Current situations of teaching and learning
vocabulary for first year non- English major students at College Of Sciences,
Thai Nguyen University..........................................................................................34
3.1.1 Data collection and analysis of the findings from student survey.......34
3.1.1.1 Students attitudes towards vocabulary............................................34
3.1.1.2 Students assessment on their own vocabulary.................................37
3.1.1.3 Students perception of Teachers current vocabulary teaching
methods..................................................................................................................39
3.1.1.4 Students preference techniques of teaching vocabulary..................40
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3.1.2 Data collection and analysis of the findings from teacher survey.......41
3.1.2.1 Teachers attitudes towards vocabulary and teaching vocabulary. .41
3.1.2.2 Teachers assessment on their students vocabulary.........................44
3.1.2.3 Teachers current vocabulary teaching methods..............................45
3.2 Research question 2: The use of visual aids in teaching vocabulary and
its benefits...............................................................................................................46
3.2.1.1 The exposure of students towards visual aids...................................46
3.2.1.2 Students perceptions on kinds of visual aids used in vocabulary
teaching..................................................................................................................47
3.2.1.3 The necessity of learning vocabulary through visual aids................49
3.2.1.4 The frequency of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary..............49
3.2.1.5 Students opinion about benefits of using visual aids in teaching
vocabulary.............................................................................................................. 50
3.2.1.6 The effect of using visual aids on the class atmosphere through
students point of views.........................................................................................51
3.2.1.7 Students perception of the effects of using visual aids on their
vocabulary.............................................................................................................. 52
3.2.1.8 The attitude of students towards visual aids.....................................53
3.2.2.1 The attitude of teacher towards using visual aids in teaching
vocabulary.............................................................................................................. 54
3.2.2.2 The purpose of using visual aids in teaching process.......................56
3.2.2.3 Kinds of visual aids that teachers often used in their teaching........57
3.2.2.4 The frequency of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary..............57
3.2.2.5 The effectiveness of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary..........58
3.2.2.6 The importance of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary...........61
3.2.2.7 The advantages of using visual aids in lessons..................................62
3.3 Research question 3: Difficulties in using visual aids to teach English
vocabulary............................................................................................................... 63
3.4 Summary...................................................................................................65
PART C: CONCLUSION...............................................................................66
1. Major findings of the research...................................................................66
2. Suggestions for English teachers at College of Sciences when using
visual aids to teach vocabulary.............................................................................67
3. Limitations of the researcher.....................................................................69
4. Recommendations for further studies.......................................................69
REFERENCES................................................................................................70
WEBSITES VISISTED..................................................................................73
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS.........................................................74
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE FIRST YEAR-NON ENGLISH................78
MAJOR STUDENTS......................................................................................78
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PHIU IU TRA.........................................................................................82
LIST OF FIGURES IN THE STUDY

Figures
Title
Page
3.1
Time for learning vocabulary
35
3.2
Students vocabulary
37
3.3
Teachers opinion about the importance of teaching vocabulary
42
3.4
The amount of time for teachers spent on teaching vocabulary
43
3.5
Teachers assessment on their students vocabulary
44
3.6
Teachers current vocabulary teaching methods
45
3.7
Use of visual aids in learning vocabulary
3.8
Types of visual aids used in teaching vocabulary (as
46
47
perceived by students)
3.9
Types of visual aids that students like best
48
3.10
Students opinions on the necessity of learning vocabulary
49
through visual aids

3.11
The frequency of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary
50
(as perceived by the students)

3.12
The effect of using visual aids on the class atmosphere basing
51
on students point of views

3.13
Students perception of the effects of using visual aids on their
52
vocabulary
3.14
Attitude of students towards visual aids
53
3.15
Teachers opinion about the usefulness of visual aids
55
3.16
Teachers preference for teaching vocabulary through visual
55
aids
3.17
Purposes of using visual aids in teaching English vocabulary
56
3.18
Kinds of visual aids used in teaching vocabulary (as
57
perceived by the teacher)

3.19
The frequency of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary
58
3.20
Teachers perception on the effectiveness of using visual aids in
59
teaching vocabulary
3.21
The effect of using visual aids on the class atmosphere (as
60
perceived by the teachers)

3.22
The effects of using visual aids on teaching vocabulary
61
3.23
The advantages of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary
62
vi
3.24
The difficulties in using visual aids in class
64
LIST OF TABLES IN THE STUDY

Table
Title
Page
3.1
Students opinion on the importance of learning vocabulary
35
3.2
Students having difficulties in learning vocabulary
36
3.3
Students ability to use their vocabulary
38
3.4
Students perception
of
teachers current
vocabulary
39
techniques
3.5
Students preference on teaching vocabulary techniques
40
3.6
Students opinion about the benefit of using visual aids
51
3.7
Students opinions about the frequency of visual aids used by
54
teachers
3.8
The importance of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary
61
3.9
Students opinion about their teachers failure to use visual
63
aids
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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Statement of the problem and rationale for the study.
Each nation has its own language to help people who live there to communicate
with each other. So, how can people in this country communicate with the other
ones? It is necessary for people to know other languages apart from their mother
tongue. People can learn many foreign languages but the most popular and
important language for every people to interact and communicate with people
around the world is English. Although it is difficult to learn and master English, it is
worthwhile to study the language because it has a very important role in most all
fields of life such as communication, commerce, economy, politics, education,
science, technology, and so on. English is an international language. Today, it is
important to master English in global era. In Vietnam, English has also become a
popular language. Because of the important role of English, it is compulsory to
teach English as a core subject in the curricula of schools and universities in the
whole country. In learning language as well as learning English, vocabulary plays a
tremendously important role. Vocabulary is the tool of thought, self-expression,
translation and communication. The famous linguist Wilkins (cited in Thornbury,
2002) said that without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary
nothing can be conveyed. It means that people could describe few things without
grammar, but they could not express anything without vocabulary. Della H and
Hocking D, Innovations, LTP, also pointed out that if you spend most of your time
studying grammar, your English will not improve very much. You will see most
improvement if you learn more words and expressions. You can say very little with
grammar, but you can say almost anything with words! In addition, August, Carlo,
Dressler and Snow (2005) found that English learners who experienced slow
vocabulary development were less able to comprehend texts at grade level than their
peers were. Widdowson thought that the native English speaker can understand
those language material with correct vocabulary but not so proper in grammar rules
rather than those with correct grammar rules but not so proper in vocabulary use.
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For many years, however, teaching vocabulary was considered an add-on to

teaching grammar or simply a by-product of language teaching and communicative
functions (Meara, 1980). The reasons were: firstly, too many words in one sentence
were believed to break its grammar structure and spoil children in learning
systematic grammar, secondly, it was thought that vocabulary could be learnt
through experience only and therefore, there was little need for the teachers to focus
much on teaching their students vocabulary; and thirdly, they put the emphasis of
teaching grammar on priority to vocabulary were already taken too much of any
lesson in the classroom (Allen, 1983).
English teachers usually prioritize syntax or morphology as central to linguistic
theory and more critical to language pedagogy. They do not think that vocabulary is
central to language and words are of critical importance to the typical language
learners. However, there has been increased focus on teaching vocabulary recently,
partly as a result of the development of new approaches to language teaching,
which are much more word-centered. (Thornbury 2004: vi). The core concept of
how important teaching vocabulary in class was not recognized until late 1970s and
1980s when people realized the necessity of vocabulary in reading comprehension
(Allen, 1983, p5).
With those points mentioned above, it is undeniable that vocabulary plays a
very important role in language acquisition as well as in learning English.
Therefore, teachers and students should spend much more time finding the most
useful and suitable methods in teaching and learning English vocabulary. The
teacher should look for an effective technique to make learning vocabulary easier,
more pleasant and enjoyable. Techniques are tools of a teacher. An effective teacher
has a multitude of technique and must be able to select the ones which will be the
most efficient in leading the learners to the desired terminal behavior. There are
many ways to teach and learn vocabulary, in which using visual aids are considered
one of the most useful and effective way to teach and to learn English vocabulary.
By using visual aids, the students should find vocabulary learning both stimulating
and enjoyable. In addition, by using visual aids as means of teaching vocabulary,
students will be interested and more enthusiastic in learning vocabulary.
2
The teaching that uses visual material will almost certainly be better and will
not properly be easier because understanding and ideas are more easily discovered
by the students. (Howard, 1968:143). Lynne Cameron also said that vocabulary is
best learned when meaning of words is illustrated, for example by a picture, an
action or real object.
Using visual aids could make students draw attention to the lesson, arouse their
interest in it and create the good learning atmosphere during the lesson. In addition,
through visual aids, learners can enjoy themselves, release stress and have an open
mind to learn and perceive the words.
Unfortunately, vocabulary has often been taught through mother tongue
translation in Vietnam. As it is an unplanned way, it seems to be the most common
and easiest technique for many teachers of English as a foreign language. However,
this technique, which has derived from grammar translation method, is not the best
one. To give a translation equivalent of an unknown word is not to teach its meaning
but helping the students to understand the new word in that particular context. So
translation should not be used too much. Students of Vietnamese universities in
general have problems in mastering the vocabulary items they learnt, for example
the students mastery of vocabulary is still poor such as on describing the meaning.
Many students gradually lose their interest and motivation on learning vocabulary
during the year. Because of the fact that the teachers techniques do not appeal the
students learning style, they are generally bored with the same type of vocabulary
exercises and activities. So, the teachers should present the vocabulary in a
motivating way in order to keep the students willing to learn. In addition, the
students memorize new vocabulary and forget them at once because new words are
often introduced with traditional techniques. It means that planned vocabulary
teaching has been neglected. So, it causes poor or inefficient vocabulary learning.
Sometimes, vocabulary totally ignored due to the heavy loaded grammar-based
curriculum.
In College of Sciences (COS), Thai Nguyen University (TNU), when being
asked about their vocabulary in a small talk, many students claimed that they were
very disappointed with their vocabulary ability. Although they were fully aware of
3
the role of vocabulary in learning English, they did not spend much time on learning
them. Besides, they also admitted that they often learned vocabulary by translating
in to Vietnamese. Many of them said that they have never used other techniques as
well as visual aids to learn English vocabulary. Other students said that they
sometimes were taught vocabulary through visual aids but not much.
All the reasons mentioned above urged the researcher to conduct the study A
study on using visual aids in teaching and learning English vocabulary for first
year non-English major students at College of Sciences. As a result, in this study, a
need has been to use visual aids as an aid which will both have a value of teaching
and make vocabulary learning motivating since using visual aids is a good way to
help students comprehension and to activate them to practice what they have learnt.
2. Objectives of the study
This study aims at raising teachers and students awareness of the importance of
vocabulary in English teaching and learning and the need of using visual aids to
teach English vocabulary. In addition, the purpose of this study is also to investigate
the current vocabulary teaching situation to the first year non- English major at
College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University. Moreover, this paper also provides
some recommendations for effective application in teaching and learning English
vocabulary.
3. Significance of the study
This study is important in that using visual aids may be one of the useful aids
to solve the problems in vocabulary teaching. Visual aids may provide students a
meaningful authentic context by means of which they can learn more vocabulary
easily. Therefore, it will analyze the effects of visual aids on vocabulary recognition
and retention.
This study is also significant in that it may have a contribution toward
vocabulary teaching offered at College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University, and it
may lead to research on other skills. In addition, by analyzing the result of teaching
English at COS, TN University, the writer hopes to get good knowledge in teaching
vocabulary, especially for the first year non-major students. Then, completing this
study, its findings will help to improve student vocabulary. Finally, the writer hopes
that this paper will be a beneficial reference for not only teachers and students but
also for those who have the same problem with teaching vocabulary.
4. Methods of the study
In order to collect appropriate data throughout process of carrying out this research,
some suitable methodologies are used:
Firstly, the researcher consults the information from many documents, books and
materials, etc. which provide plenty of information related to the topic, and several
websites and materials from the internet which are relevant to the topic of using
visual aids to teach English vocabulary for students.
Secondly, the researcher conducts a survey with questionnaires for both teachers
and the first year non-major students at College of Sciences. Finally, all the
collected data was analyzed and to discover the problems that teachers and students
encounter when using visual aids to teach and learn English vocabulary.
5. Scope of the study
The study only focuses on dealing with using visual aids in teaching and learning
vocabulary, not any other stimulating activities. Within the limitation of a
graduation paper, this study focuses only on investigating the recent situation of
teaching English vocabulary in a small range, just among the first year non Englishmajor students at College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University.
6. Research questions
This study is conducted in order to seek answers for the following questions will
be sought:
a. What is the current situation of teaching and learning vocabulary for
first year non English-major students at College of Sciences, Thai
Nguyen University?
b. What are the benefits of using visual aids in teaching and learning
English vocabulary to first year English-major students at COS, Thai
Nguyen University?
c. What are difficulties of using visual aids in teaching and learning
English vocabulary to first year English-major students at COS, Thai
Nguyen University?
7. Design of the study

5
This study consists of three main parts:

Part A is the introduction in which the statement of the problem and the rationale
for the study, objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study,
methods of the study and the design of the study will be clearly stated.
Part B is Development which includes three main chapters:
Chapter I is literature review deals with the review of related literature and
studies, the general overall identification of area of the study.

Chapter II is methodology which mentions the investigation the current
situation use of using visual aids to the first year non-major students at
College of Sciences. Besides, the background information of the subject of
research, the instruments used to collect data and procedures of data
collection are made clear.

Chapter III is result and discussion which presents, analyzes and discusses
the findings that the researcher found out from the data collected according
to the three research questions.
Part C is conclusion which summarizes what have been mentioned in the
previous parts, introduces some limitations of the research, pedagogical
implications of using visual aids to teach vocabulary and provides some suggestions
for further studies as well.
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. An overview of vocabulary
1.1.1 Definitions of vocabulary
One of the general components which have to be mastered well by students
in learning English is vocabulary. If the students lack of vocabulary, they will have
difficulties in using English. To know what is vocabulary the writer would like to
present several definitions. Up till now, there has not been only one but a wide
variety of definitions of vocabulary. In order to find the best and easiest-to6
understand definition is such an unfeasible task. Each linguist or scholar, in his

specialized field, with his own set of criteria has found out for his own a way to
define vocabulary. However, in the most popular way, Cambridge Advanced
Learner's Dictionary Online has applied a meaning for vocabulary as all the words
which exist in a particular language or subject. This definition covers
vocabularys meaning on the whole. Nevertheless, it does not show vocabulary in a
deep understanding. More precisely, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
(1995) presents six meanings of the word Vocabulary as follow:
1. All the words that someone knows, learns or uses.
2. The words that are typically used when talking about a particular subject.
3. All the words in a particular language.
4. The word failure/ compromises, etc. is not in somebodys vocabulary used
to say that someone never thinks of accepting failures, etc
5. A list of words with explanations of their meaning in a book for learning
foreign languages.
6. A list of the codes or terms used in a computer system.
A clear explanation of vocabulary is cited as follows:
In his book A course in language teaching Penny Ur defined vocabulary
roughly as the words we teach in the foreign language which the teacher has to
introduce and explain to students. However, a new item of vocabulary may be more
than a single word: for example, post office and mother-in law, which are made up
of two or three words but express a single idea. There are also multi-word idioms
such as call it a day, where the meaning of the phrase cannot be deduced from an
analysis of the component words. A useful convention is to cover all such cases by
talking items rather than words (Ur, 1996, p. 60). In this definition, it also
suggests that vocabulary is bigger than just the meaning of words. It covers a huge
aspect of language and is the medium to express ideas.. Pyles and Algeo (1970)
said, it is true that vocabulary is the focus of language with its sound and meaning,
which interlock to allow us to communicate with one another. In our opinion, it is
logical to say that the vocabulary of a language is all its words, compounds and
idioms used to convey and receive information in oral and written communication.
The teacher needs to present the vocabulary in a way that students can easily
understand how to use the new words. In addition to that, the learners individual
strategies for learning and using vocabulary need to be taken into consideration.
1.1.2 Roles of vocabulary
A good mastery of vocabulary helps the learners to express their ideas
precisely. By having many stocks of word 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 meaning of the
words used by those who address them, they will be unable to participate in
conversation, unable to express some ideas, or unable to ask for information.
Vocabulary plays an essential role in creating understanding of language
through what a student hears and reads in school. Hence, vocabulary becomes all
the more important than grammar, as it is this vocabulary that helps the student to
communicate successfully with people within and outside his circle. Thus, for this
reason, it becomes vital to build up a large store of words. Studies indicate that
possessing an extensive vocabulary has strong links with achieving school and
college success.
You need words to think and to express those thoughts, you again need
words. To prove this idiom, try solving a problem without coming up with words.
You cant, as it is just plain impossible. Thus, language is the key tool that helps our
mind to think, plan, solve problems, and finally succeed. Therefore, the more words
you know, the more ways you can use to think about things and more tools can be
utilized to plan and solve problems. All in all, a better vocabulary improves your
ability to think and express yourself.
Accept it or not, every time you open your mouth to speak, it is not the
language that people are judging, but the words and expressions you emphasis on,
thereby figuring out how competent, successful, or smart you are. Research shows
that people with a good vocabulary are more likely to be judged as competent and
proficient.
As you learn and understand the meaning of more words, you will be able to
use better descriptive words to communicate your thoughts clearly and fluently.
Further, this can reduce your chances of making eliminating noises, such as umm,
uhh, you see, you know, and I mean, while indulging in face to face
conversation. It is only after learning colorful and interesting words and
8
strengthening your vocabulary that you will be able to project a more intelligent
image in public and personal grounds.
A low vocabulary serves to a serious handicap for any individual with poor
communication skills. Though ambitious and energetic people are able to push their
ways to reach heights, they settle at a limited plateau only because of their low
vocabulary. As a result, they never advance. Believe it or not, the world expects us
to display our knowledge rather than our possibilities to achieve our goals. The
aptitudes are left far behind as the company pays us for our knowledge. Thus,
vocabulary, unintentionally, plays an important role in the resume of a professional
to get a good career.
(Source:
http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/importance-of-vocabulary11438.html)
In the context of learning English as a Foreign Language, the vital role of
vocabulary is inevitable. This has been claimed by many linguists and experts in the
field. Wilkins (cited in Thornbury, 2002) clearly stated that without grammar, very
little can be conveyed; without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed (page
13).Dellar. H and Hocking.D indicated that progress made from learning grammar
most of the time would be much less than that from learning vocabulary. To be short
and concise, when comparing the importance of grammar and vocabulary, both
mentioned statement above show that most of learners improvement was created
when learner himself/herself learned more words and expressions. It was also
emphasized when it came to communicate that you can say very little with
grammar, but you can say almost anything with words (Thornbury, p.13). Pyles
and Algeo also supported this idea with when we first think about language, we
think first about words. It is words that we arrange together to make sentences,
conversation and discourse of all kinds. These statements are enough to conclude
that vocabulary is the decisive element in language communication. This is all true
in learning a foreign language. If a learner has a wide vocabulary of English, he can
get himself understood and understand others easily; on the contrary, if his
vocabulary is limited he will surely have difficulty in doing so and in English
learning. Therefore, vocabulary is a must for all language learners to acquire by
all means.
9
1.1.3 Classifications of vocabulary

In general, vocabulary can be classified in different ways. Semantically, it is
divided into Notational words and Functional words. The notational words, whose
meanings are lexical, form a great mass of the speakers vocabulary. The name
objects, actions, qualities and have meanings in themselves. They are nouns, verbs,
adjectives, adverbs and so on. The functional words, whose meanings are
grammatical, only have their meanings in relation to the other words with which
they are used. They are particles, articles, prepositions, etc. grammatically,
vocabulary is divided into different parts of speech such as nouns, verbs, adverbs,
etc. Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2002, page 35-36)
However, methodologically, Finocchiaro explains that students vocabulary
can be divided into two kinds, they are active and passive vocabulary (1974: 73).
Active vocabulary consists of words which students understand, can pronounce
correctly and use constructively in speaking and writing. While passive vocabulary
consists of words those students recognize and understand when they occur in a
context and they never use them in communication. They understand them when
they hear or read them, but they dont use them in speaking or writing.
Nevertheless, some methodologists of the Communicative Language Teaching
approach classify the learners vocabulary in more encouraging terms such as
productive and receptive vocabularies. The productive vocabulary is the words
which he can use effectively to pronounce information in speaking and writing
while the receptive vocabulary is the words for him to receive and understand
information in listing and reading. Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2002, page
35-36)
A foreign language teacher should know these classifications, but most
important thing for him to do is to help his learners widen their vocabulary with
more active or productive words.
1.1.4. Aspects to be taught when teaching vocabulary
In general, when the teacher teaches a new English word, he should, by all
means, provide his learners with meaning, forms and use simultaneously. Among
these three areas, the use is the most important, but it cannot be achieved if the
meaning and forms of the word are not firmly understood and grasped by the
10
learners. There are three aspects that English teachers should teach for his students
when teaching a vocabulary: aspects of meaning, forms of a word and use of a
word. Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2002)
1.1.4.1 Aspects of meaning
At the most basic level, knowing of a word means knowing of its meaning
and its form (Thornbury, 2002). Many words have several different meanings and it
is important to know them because they can be expressed differently in another
language. We have to know in what situation to use which expression.
We can divide words on the basis of relations between their meanings into
groups:
- Synonyms words with the same or nearly the same meaning: small X
little
Antonyms words with opposite meanings: short X long
- hypernymy words with more general or superordinate meaning to other
words: colour is a hypernym of black, yellow, green etc.
Hyponymy words which are subordinate to word with more general
meaning: rose, lily, tulip are hyponymy of flowers.
- meronymy words which are semantically part of something: nose, eyes,
lips are meronymy of a face
holonymy words which are wholes that other words are parts of: body is
a holonym of arm, leg, waist etc.
- Homonyms words with the same spelling (called homographs) or
pronunciation (called homophones) but with a different
meaning: short small distance X short not patient
to X two X too
- polysemes words with multiple different but closely related meanings:
fair = reasonable (person, idea or amount), pleasant (person),
pale (hair or skin), beautiful, average, quite good, quite large
etc. (Thornbury,2002, p.8-9)
branch = of a tree, a family, a river, a bank, science etc.
(Gairns & Redman, 1986, p. 14,190)
The knowing of vocabulary does not mean only knowing of word in
isolation. It also means to know the words that tend to co-occur, which is another
type of relation between vocabulary items, called collocation (Celce-Murcia, 2001).
This is defined as a word or phrase which is frequently used with another word or
phrase; the combination is often difficult to guess (Cambridge Advanced Learners
Dictionary). Using collocations helps to sound English naturally and improves style
of written and spoken language.
11
1.1.4.2. Forms of a word

1.1.4.2.1 Pronunciation and Spelling
Each English word has its spelling and pronunciation. Normally, its spelling
does not affect its pronunciation. Learners have to know all the spelling,
pronunciation and irregularities of they are learning. The spelling and pronunciation
of individual words is important in terms of avoiding ambiguity and possible
confusion in meaning. Incorrect spelling may often give the reader the impression
that the writer is careless and lacks education. One should also consider the
differences between American spelling and British spelling.
The server en.wikipedia.org defines proper spelling as the writing of word
or words with all necessary letters and diacritics present in an accepted standard
order. It is important to know the right spelling because it is a representation of the
spoken word and it remains unchanged for a long time. The pronunciation refers to
the spoken language; it is the way in which a word is spoken. There are many
dialects in English and the number of speech sounds varies from one to another.
Three following are accepted as standard accents: Received Pronunciation (RP)
for the UK, General American (GA) for the USA and General Australian (AuE)
for Australia. Each of them has a bit different number of sounds that are transcribed
by the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). The vowels are more important for
distinguishing between the regional accents and therefore each of them has their
own list of vowels while the consonants are common for all three standard accents.
Contrary to Vietnamese language, most of English words are not pronounced
as they are written, which is mostly the stumbling-block for the beginners in
learning of English vocabulary. Moreover, I met many students who even did not
try to learn the correct spelling or pronunciation. It is enough for them to learn the
spelling for the written test and a kind of pronunciation for oral testing because
teachers are often satisfied when students learn at least the meaning of words.
This is clearly wrong attitude of both sides- the teachers and students- and it is
needed to be change.
Wrong spelling or pronunciation can cause misunderstanding (e.g. affect /
fekt/ = to influence, to pretend X effect /Ifekt/ = the result, the use, to achieve; or
to be unable /neIbl/ = not to be able X to enable /I neIbl/ = to make able).
(Source: http://celta.wikispaces.com/file/view/BA+Macounov%C3%A1.pdf)
12
1.1.4.2.2 Grammar
The grammar of a new word should also be taught to the learners. They need
to know the grammatical function, the unpredictable change of form in certain
grammatical contexts, the regularity and irregularity, the singular and plural forms
of the new word so that they can use it correctly. Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba
Ngoc (2002)
A key middle ground where words and phrases on the one hand and grammar
on the other meet up is through the operation of words classes or parts of speech,
such as noun or adjective. When we say a word is a noun we then know how it can
operate in a sentence. The same is true for such word classes as verbs or determiners
or prepositions. When we know a words part of speech we know what other words
it can occur with a phrase or sentence or where it can be put syntactically. Harmer
(2003:21).
When looking at individual lexical items, you may consider how these individual
words interact with each other (grammar or syntax). This may prompt you to think
about what part of speech the lexical item is that you wish to present to your
students (present, past, future or continuous tense?) Is it possible that other parts of
speech may be formed from it and do students know these (e.g. adding -ing to walk
to form the continuous form -walking)? Is the item irregular in any way (e.g. in the
past, plural)? Have you considered whether the item is a countable (apple + s apples) or an uncountable (money - money) noun? Can a prefix or suffix be used
with the lexical item (happy + un - unhappy or create + tion - creation)?
(Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?Teaching-Vocabulary&id=4425654)
1.1.4.3 Use of a word
Words do not just have different meanings, however. They can also be stretched
and twisted to fit different contexts and different uses. Harmer (1993)
The most important thing for learners to learn a new word is to know how to use it
appropriately and effectively in different oral and written contexts or else it may
become a dead or forgettable word. To use a new word well, they need to know how
to collate it with other words correctly, for example:
To make a cake, tea, decision
But To do the work, exercises
13
They also want to choose the right meaning of the word or the right word from its
synonyms, antonyms for a certain context with the right person in communication.
This is the case of metaphor. They must be able to use it in the right sentence
patterns as well. The best way for the learners to learn use of a new word is to learn
it in sentence or paragraph contexts, not to learn it separately, and then keep using it
constantly. Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2002)
In the first place, the teacher should consider the learners needs. Allen (1983)
pointed out that it is useful to provide the learner with words for classroom
language just at the early stages of the course. She continues that it is important for
the teacher to predict what words the student needs to know for talking about
everyday life, people and things surrounding them. When such words are learnt,
the new language can immediately be put to use. (Allen 1983: 108)
One of the criteria affecting the teachers choice is the frequency in which
the particular item is used in common language. In general, The words which are
most commonly used are the ones we should teach first. (Harmer 1993: 154)
However, most frequent words do not usually convey much information, being socalled empty words (i.e. grammar words) and to be able to communicate, learners
need considerable amount of words bearing some meaning. (McCarthy 1992: 82)
1.1.5 How to teach a new word
1.1.5.1 Presenting a new word
Before presenting a new word in class, it is helpful for teachers to remember
the following:
- Whenever possible, teach the new words in spoken form first, and only
when your learners can pronounce it well, introduce the written form.
Otherwise, they will always try and pronounce English words as if they
were written in Vietnamese and it will be difficult for you to get rid of
-
this habit of your learners.

Try to present new words in meaningful contexts, never separately in a
bilingual word list.

Revision is essential. Blend the words you have presented into later
practice till learners can use them appropriately.

To teach a new word, there are two steps:
14
First, we show meaning of a new word. In general, there are four

main ways to show the meaning of a new word:
- Using visual aids.
- Using situations.
- Using verbal means.
- Combining different techniques at the same time.
Depending on the feature of the word to be taught-concrete or abstract, its
grammatical function-noun, verb, adjective or adverb, etc and the learners level,
the teacher can choose or develop suitable subways from these main ones to show
its meaning.
Then we show the forms of a new word: In fact, when showing the
meaning of a new word orally, the teacher has already presented its
pronuciation, the following will suggest an order of some techniques
for presenting a new word in which its spelling is introduced.

Draw a picture on the board to show what the word means.
Say one or two sentences in which the word appears clearly.
Get the class to repeat the word then the whole sentence in chorus two or
three times.
Write the word or the sentence if necessary on the board.
Ask learners to translate into Vietnamese.
Give more examples to show and consolidate how the word is used.
Ask questions using the word to force out their full answers with the
word.
- Ask learners to copy the word in their notebooks.
1.1.5.2 Practicing the use of word
Learners will be able to use a new word appropriately if they are given enough
practice in different contexts. The practice is often gradually done in three stagescontrolled, guided, free-of which the length depends on the effect of the
presentation stage and the learners motivation and effort. Naturally, there is no
clear-cut division among these practice stages but they are all aimed at giving the
learners the ability to use the word effectively. They give us some techniques for
these stages.
a. Controlled practice
Controlled practice is aimed at helping learners be able to reproduce the forms
and consolidate the use of the recently-present word. It is often done in some
activities, such as: matching, odd-man-out, grouping, arrangement, blank-filling,
substitution.
15
b. Guided practice
Guided practice is aimed at giving learners chances to use the new word in less
and less controlled contexts. At the end of this stage, they can use it appropriately in
speaking and writing. There are a lot of activities for this stage; they only give some
common ones: replacement, longer gap filling or sentence/paragraph completion, re
expression/paraphrase, sentence making, story, text, news retelling or summarizing,
translation, guided description.
c. Free practice
In this stage, learners are free to use the new words to express their ideas in
communication. They can talk, interview, argue, discuss, exchange opinions with
each other in pairs or groups or they can express their own ideas in an essay or a
speech. This is the final stage of teaching a new word.
(Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2002))
1.2 An overview of visual aids
1.2.1 Definitions of visual aids
According to Peter Wingard in Teaching English as an International LanguageA practical guide- teaching aids are anything from a detailed syllabus, a textbook to
audio, visual and audiovisual equipment that is used to facilitate and better the
result of teachers teaching and learners learning. They are regarded as the useful
servants not masters of the language teaching and learning process. They appear
because of the need of this process. Teaching aids can be grouped into three main
kinds: Audio aids, visual aids and audio-visual aids. And in this study, the author
would like to study on one of those kinds: visual aids.
A visual aid is an object to relate classroom teaching to real life, such as food,
clothing,
photograph,
an
item
from
school
or
daily
life
(www.oise.utoronto.ca/eslinfusion/Home/Background_information/Glossary.html).
Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc, (2001:56), however, made it more specific
by starting that visual aids are anything visible to learners, which the teacher uses
for different teaching purpose in the class.
Accordingly, this type of aids can include photographs, flashcards, pictures, cutouts, drawings, charts, and maps, real objects which are available or brought into
the classroom by the teacher or learners themselves. They are rich in forms, cheap
to make, easy to find, convenient and effective to use in language class.
16
Brown says visual aids are things that help the teacher implant the idea of
what is presented in the main of the students. (1983: 7)
Using visual aids is obviously beneficial for language teaching and learning,
it is helpful for teaching and learning vocabulary as well. Ur (1996) suggested that
it is important for learners to have plenty of contextualized examples of the
structure and to understand them. Visual materials can also contribute to
understanding. It is undeniable that the teacher can present a vocabulary item
more easily by showing the contexts in which that item occurs and visual materials
can help provide such contexts and situations. Learning to use the language in real
communication is necessary for learners, and visuals provide learners with a chance
of exposing to the reality. It is visuals that make language teaching closer to real life
by offering authentic topics and real situations using the target language items,
which of course helps students absorb the points faster and memorize them longer.
The teacher can present a vocabulary item simply and clearly by showing it
directly using things the students can see: objects, the classroom, yourself
(teacher), the students themselves, pictures (Doff, 1998, p 23).
Thus visuals allow the teacher to talk less and encourage students
participation in language teaching and learning, which matches with the current
approach of teaching which is learner is centered (Le, 2001).
1.2.2 Kinds of visual aids
In this part, the author only mentions some common kinds of visual aids such
as: board, pictures, drawings, realia and action and performance.
1.2.2.1 Boards
The most versatile piece of teaching equipment is the board-whether this is of
the more traditional chalk-dust variety or the whiteboard, written on with maker
pens. Boards provide a motivating focal during whole-class grouping. (Harmer
1991:137)
The board, black or white, is one of the most useful of all visual aids already
available in the classroom and can be used for various purposes without special
preparation (e.g. presenting new words, structures, showing spelling, giving a model
for handwriting, prompt for practice, drawing pictures, charts, etc.). It may be
difficult for the teacher and learners to work if there is not any board in the
17
classroom. Teachers use the board to make things clearer to the class and help to
focus their attention. So in order to use it effectively, they need to develop good
basic techniques of writing on the board and organizing the layout of what they
write. (Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc. 2001)
Blackboards are found in most classrooms, and some major advantages of using
them are:
-
Noiseless
No power dependence
Cheap
Can be used anywhere
No maintenance costs
Can be used on the spot-build your visual as per requirement
Can be used at your pace, allows note-taking. Students can be called to
write on it.
Mistakes can be corrected instantly
Cut-outs can be placed and charts can be hung.
(Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/11631190/6-Effective-Use-of-
Audio-Visual-Aids)
When writing on the board, the teacher should follow the following basic
principles:
-
Write clearly. The writing should be large enough to read from
the black of the class.

Write in straight line neither uphill or downhill.
Stand in a way that does not hide the board. He can stand
sideways, half facing the board and half facing the class with his arm
fully extended; In this way he can control the learners and the learners
can see what he is writing.
Talk as you write. He can say aloud what he is writing so that
the learners can hear and see the writing at the same time.
Write only the necessities neatly on the board after they are
orally presented and understood by the learners.
(Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc :2001)
We can use the board in many ways in the classroom, not just for writing up
new vocabulary. You can use your board for giving instructions, reinforcing oral
instructions. For example, just writing up the page number and the exercise on the
board in a large class saves a lot of repetition! When doing group work or project
18
work use the board to organize your class - write up a list of who is doing what in
each group.
You can write up messages, exercises, short texts or items for correction from
oral activities. Colored chalks or pens are very useful for writing up dialogue parts.
Use your board to provide records of new words, structures, how a word is
used. Or brainstorm new vocabulary with the class in a spider gram. With more
advanced classes you can provide a record of a class discussion, or give help with
planning for writing e.g. for exam tasks.
Board is also the place to express other kinds of visual aids, such as pictures,
drawings etc.
1.2.2.2 Pictures
Pictures are kinds of visual instruction materials might be used more
effectively to develop and sustain motivation in producing positive attitudes
towards English and to teach or reinforce language skills.
The word picture is defined as the painting, drawing, etc. that shows a
scene, a person or thing, a photograph or a description that gives you an idea in
your mind of what something is like (Oxford learners pocket dictionary, 3rd
edition, p 73).
Jean L. Mckenchnie defines picture in Webster dictionary that picture is an
image, or likeness of an object, person, or scene produce on a flat surface,
especially by painting, drawing or photography.
Meanwhile according to Andrew Wright, Picture is not just an aspect of
method but through its representation of place, object, and people, it is essential
part of the overall experiences.
Vernon S Gerlach stated: Pictures are a two dimension visual representation of
person, places, or things. Photograph prints are most common, but sketches,
cartoons, murals, cut outs, charts, graphs and maps are widely used....A picture
may not only be worth a thousand words it is may also be worth a thousand years or
a thousand miles. Through pictures, learner can see people, place and things from
areas for outside their own picture can also represent image from ancient times or
portray the future.
The kinds and numbers of pictures that the teacher should take with him to
carry out the activities in class can be taken from magazines, articles, or others and
19
should be interactive and interesting to capture the students attention the purpose of
using pictures for the students is to give them an opportunity to practices the
language in real context or in situations in which they can make it to communicate
their ideas.
The use of pictures are more efficient and practice than words, they are easier to
recall and to remember than words, further more they expose real life situation
although it happened a long time ago. As it has been explained by Vernon,
S.Gerlach and Donald p. Elly, Picture may not only be worth a thousand miles.
Through pictures, Learner can be shown people, places and things, from areas far
outside their own experiences. Pictures can represent images from ancient times or
portray the future.
According to Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman, Pictures can be formed such:
wall charts, commercially- produced flashcards, hand drawn pictures, and of
course illustration from course books and supplementary books.
Pictures can bring images of reality into the unnatural world of the
language classroom. (Hill 1990: 1) Pictures bring not only images of reality, but
can also function as a fun element in the class. Sometimes it is surprising, how
pictures may change a lesson, even if only employed in additional exercises or just
to create the atmosphere. Pictures meet with a wide range of use not only in
acquiring vocabulary, but also in many other aspects of foreign language teaching.
Wright (1990: 4-6) demonstrated this fact on an example, where he used one
compiled picture and illustrated the possibility of use in five very different language
areas. His example shows employing pictures in teaching structure, vocabulary,
functions, situations and all four skills.
Furthermore he pointed out that potential of pictures is so great that only a
taste of their full potential can be given in his book. (Wright 1990: 6) To be more
specific, beside lessons where pictures are in the main focus, they might be used
just as a stimulus for writing and discussion, as an illustration of something being
read or talked about, as background to a topic and so on (Hill 1990: 2)
Thornbury (2002, p 25) also suggested that best of all were subjects who
were given the task of silently visualizing a mental picture to go with a new word.
Other tests have shown that easily visualized words are more memorable than
20
words that dont immediately evoke a picture. This suggests that-even for abstract
words-it might help if learners associate them with some mental image.
Each picture may suggest a lot of language content for learners to practice. It
may be for the practice of prepositions, verb tenses, pattern drills, direct/indirect
speech, a dialogue or short oral/written passage. The teacher should make full use of
it to elicit as many language contributions from the learners as possible. (Nguyen
Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc:2001).
According to Betty Morgan Bowen, there are some types of pictures as their
shapes:
a. Wall charts
b. Wall pictures: is simply a large illustration of scenes or events. It is
usually to be used with the whole of class.
c. Sequence Picture is a series of pictures of a single subject it is function
is tell a story or a sequence of events.
d. Flash cards
Word Flash cards; card with printed words on it can help
up rapidly; the cards can be used to demonstrate exactly
what the teacher wishes.
Picture Flash cards; useful for the representation of a
single concept, such as an object or in action.
There are some activities using flashcards:
- The teacher shows cards one at a time and either elicits or says the
word it presents. As a rule of thumb, about ten unfamiliar words are probably
sufficient. Periodically the teacher backtracks and changes the other. Finally, stick
all the cards on to the board, and write the words alongside (or ask learners to come
up and write them).
- stick a collection of picture cards (e.g. clothes) on the board and
number them. (If you are working round a large table, place the cards face up on the
table). Invite learners to ask you about the words they are unfamiliar with. For
example: whats number 6? Check to see if someone else knows before giving the
answer. When students are sufficiently familiar go through them all, asking, whats
number 8? Etc. As a check, turn the cards around, one at a time, so that they cant be
seen, and again ask whats number 8?
Finally, write the words on the board alongside each picture.
21
- Stick a selection of cards on the board and allow learners to use

bilingual dictionaries to find the words they represent. They can the write the words
adjacent to the pictures.
- Give pairs or groups of three a selection of cards each. They can use
bilingual dictionaries to find out the word for each picture. Then, representatives
from each group can teach the rest of the class they have discovered, using the
visual aids.
- Show the class a wall chart or a large picture containing many different
items (e.g. a street scene or an airport) for a short period of time, say ten seconds.
Individually or in pairs, the learners then have to invite down as many words-in
English-as they can remember having seen represented in the picture. Allow them to
use dictionaries. Show the picture again for another few seconds, to let them extend
their lists of words. Reveal the picture for the checking stage: the individual or pair
with the most correct words is the winner.
(Scott Thornbury 2002: 80-81)
e. Work cards
Includes visual as well as text magazine pictures drawing maps and diagrams
can be important part or work cards at all levels used for vanity of purposes.
Scott Thornbury (2002:145) said that Apart from the keyword technique, there
is probably no vocabulary learning technique more rewarding than the use of word
cards.
1.2.2.3 Drawings
Drawing finds huge potential in teaching languages. I must agree with Wright
(1990: 203) that in the first place, simple drawings can possibly substitute other
forms of pictures.
Although some teachers may not be exactly proficient in drawing, they are
eventually bound to find a way of drawing simple pictures for classroom use.
Wright (1990) stated that drawings provide an immediately available source of
pictorial material for the activities. Students and teachers drawings also have a
special quality, which lies in their immediacy and their individuality. (Wright
1990: 203)
The element of individuality might have a significant impact on remembering,
whether it is a unique expression of the teacher or even better, the expression of
students when creating the pictures themselves.
22
The activity of drawing within the classroom could be perhaps divided into two
categories: Drawing on the board carried out by the teacher for example to illustrate
the meaning of new language in presentation and drawing as an activity of students
in various, usually listening or reading, exercises.
Drawing on the board
It is highly flexible during presentation and therefore bears several advantages,
as Wright and Haleem (1996) listed among their board characteristics: Texts and
pictures can grow in front of the class. can be erased, added to or substituted
quickly. (Wright and Haleem 1996: 5)
This feature widens the teachers options how to present or review language in
a meaningful way. This is true for teaching structures as well as vocabulary. E.g. in
reviewing, the teacher draws only a piece of a picture on the board and invites
students to guess what he or she is drawing. This makes students curious, they
desire to know what the answer actually is and it makes them speculate and reason
their opinions and so on. (Wright and Haleem 1996: 6)
Drawing as students activities
Drawing as an activity might serve a lot of goals (these often combined
together) in learning languages. It is often used to support developing particular
language skills, mostly (but not only) listening and speaking. Furthermore it meets
with a great benefit and usefulness in practicing or learning vocabulary, especially
when talking about elementary English, since a lot of essential vocabulary here are
concrete and easy-todraw.
Scott and Ytreberg (1993) specify that this type of activity is particularly
useful for checking object vocabulary, prepositions, colors and numbers. It is not so
useful for actions, since drawing people doing things is quite difficult for most of
us. (Scott and Ytreberg 1993: 24) They furthermore pointed out that drawing
exercises might often be time-consuming and so they advise to keep the picture
simple. (Scott and Ytreberg 1993: 23) However, the teacher can control this into
some extent by setting an exact time limit or by telling pupils not to concentrate too
much on the artistic quality.
Moreover, he or she can choose things easy to draw. To sum it up, if used in the
right way, drawing is not wasted time at all, as it is often considered to be by some
teachers.
23
Drawings are suitable as illustrations for personal expression. (Wright

1990:203) That is yet another reason why to use drawing in language teaching - the
fact that it gives students the opportunity to express themselves. Every piece of
drawing is unique, projecting a piece of personality of its author as well as instant
mood or state of mind.
This fact personalizes the learning subject and makes these pictures highly
memorable along with the language connected with them.
1.2.2.4 Realias
Realia can be understood as any real objects which are introduced into the
classroom for teaching purposes ( Thornbury, 1999, p23). Thus, realias are the
things that students can see in the classroom, and they can be simple objects such as
books, pens, desks, tables or complicated ones like modern machines, units of
foreign currency.
Realias can be already available in the classroom or brought to the class by the
teacher or students. It is already known that realias can be beneficial to foreign
language teaching and learning. Doff (1995) stated realias (real objects) are in many
ways the easiest kind of visual aids to use in class, as they need no special
preparation or materials. Simple objects can be used not only for teaching
vocabulary but also prompts to practice structures and develop situations (p83).
Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2001) also stated realia are all real objects,
furniture, people available inside or outside the classroom or brought in by the
teacher and learners for the sake of language teaching, learning. For example, the
window, desk, board, learners, teachers, toys, etc. can be used to present and
practice the meaning, use of new words, structure or to create contexts for dialogues
between learners in pairs, groups. Realia have the same value as pictures, drawings
in a language class. However, some realia already available in the classroom may be
easy to use but some to be brought in need consideration from the teacher in
advance.
In the book how to teach vocabulary, Scott Thornbury(2002) stated that an
alternative to translation- and an obvious choice if presenting a set of concrete
objects such as clothes items- is to somehow illustrate or demonstrate them. This
can be done either by using real objects (called realia) or pictures or mime. The use
of realia, pictures and demonstration was defining technique of Direct Method. He
24
gave an example as advice for teachers from a popular Direct Method course of the
1940s:
1.2.2.5 Action and performance

Another common but very useful visual aids in a language class is the teacher
and his learners action, performance. For example, the teacher can walk slowly in
front of the class, trying to attract their attention, and introduce the meaning of the
verb walk. (Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc: 2001, page 65).
Actions and performances by the teacher and learners in the class are always
useful illustrations, cues, contexts for teaching, practicing new language item:
sounds, words, structures The teacher needs some preparation for the effective
use of them in advance if not the class may be noisy with the learners argument for
or against the action in use. (Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc, 2001, page 6566).
1.2.3 Some considerations in planning visual aids
Kreidler (1971) suggested that the teachers should always be careful when planning
visual aids. His recommendations can be summarized as follows:
Firstly, we, as the teachers, should check for ambiguity. When we
choose realistic, conversational forms of language for our students to
speak, we should choose realistic, unambiguous pictures for our
students to use. For instance, in the classroom situation the answer to
Whats this? cannot be this is a(A), or That is a ..(B).., or Its a
25
(C) In addition, we should never illustrate or practice continuous

action by performing an action, completing it, and then saying the
sentence in the present continuous form. For example, we close the
door asking What am I doing? And when it is closed, we expect the
student to answer You are closing the door. Similarly, an accident
between a car and a truck is an ambiguous illustration of a car
accident; rather, it should be called simply an accident. Then, if we
want to illustrate a car accident, a picture of two cars or a car and a
-
tree should be used.

Secondly, we do not clutter pictures with nonessential details, because
a picture with too many details will look like a mass of color or lines
to a student, thus, he will have trouble deciding what it is that the
teacher wants him to see. If the idea behind the picture is to provide
the context for language use, irrelevant material must be omitted and
only the bare necessities included.

Thirdly, it is necessary for the teacher to make sure his/her visual aid
is culturally recognizable. This advice seems to be more useful for
those working in specific areas overseas; however, it should be a
consideration for the teacher who wants to exploit extra aids for
supplementary work in his/her classes.
1.2.4 Summary
This chapter has dealt with the theoretical background of the study with the basic
but necessary knowledge of English vocabulary and using visual aids for teaching
vocabulary. In order to find out the current situation of teaching vocabulary as well
as the application of visual aids for teaching vocabulary at College of Sciences, Thai
Nguyen University, a survey was conducted; which could be reported in the chapter
3.
26
CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY

The literature on the research topic was briefly reviewed for the theoretical
basis of the study. To continue, this chapter presents the practical side of this study,
the authors research on how visual aids are used and how useful they are for
English vocabulary teaching at College Of Sciences. This chapter will be discussing
in detail the participants, the instrument as well as the procedure of data collection
and analysis methods of the study.
2.1 Participants:
27
In order to undertake this study, the author conducted the survey to both
teachers of English and first year non English-major students at COS, TNU.
The first group includes 8 teachers of the Department of Basis Sciences,
College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University. All of these teachers have
experienced teaching English for non English major students. The teacher survey
was carried out in the form of questionnaires according their experience in teaching
English. Most of them were female with at least 4 year-experience in teaching
English for the first year non- English major.
The second group consists of 100 first year non- English major students at
College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University. They range from 18 to 24 in age, with
the majority in their age of 19-20. They were both male and female; 70% of
students were female and the rest was male (30%). The study was conducted among
students of different levels, English learning experience. They have been learning
English for at least 7 years now.
2.2 Data collection instruments
In this research, the author used questionnaire to obtain a sufficient collection of
reliable and valid data.
Questionnaire is a relatively popular means of collecting data (Nunan, 1992,
p.143) which is unprecedented efficient in terms of researcher time, researcher
effort, and financial resources (Nguyen et al., 2007). This tool was popularly used
in primary research. Wilson and Mc Lean (1994, as cited in Cohen, Manion and
Morrison, 2000:245) appreciated questionnaire for its outstanding merits including
providing structured, numerical data, being able to be administered without the
presence of the researcher and often straightforward to be analyzed. Also, from
reality, the researcher found it time and effort saving to conduct questionnaire
survey among a large number of first year non- English major students. Using
questionnaire is an effective and quick way to obtain a huge amount of information
especially to a large number of respondents in a short time. Moreover, if the
questionnaire is well conducted, the data can be easily collected and analyzed. Two
questionnaires were used, one for the teachers and another for first year nonEnglish major students. The questionnaires were done to collect data answering for
3 research questions. In the questionnaires, both open-ended and close-ended
28
questions were made under a variety of forms such as multiple choices, putting a
tick, etc. The content of questionnaire takes the basis of what has been discussed in
this papers Literature Review and contained factual, behavioral, and attitudinal
questions.
The teacher survey was carried out with the help of 8 teachers of English at
Department of Basis Sciences, College of Sciences, TNU. It aimed to investigate
the reality of using visual aids in their language teaching process. In addition,
through the survey, more information about the attitude of the first year nonEnglish major students towards visual aids can be obtained. 16 questions were
designed for the teacher group, which helped to give the answers to the three
research questions mentioned above.
The student survey was design with 20 questions in Vietnamese for the first
year non- English major students at College of Sciences to make it easy for them to
answer and to avoid possible misunderstandings as well as the inaccuracy of the
outcomes.
In order to get sincere opinions and objective assessment, the questionnaire was
carefully designed: it began with a brief overview of the research title, the purpose
of conducting questionnaire survey and a desire for cooperation from respondents.
The researcher also emphasized the confidentially of shared information.
2.3 Procedure of data collection
The process of data collection could be put in two major phases as follows.
2.3.1 Phase 1:
In this stage, two questionnaires were prepared; the questionnaire of 16 questions
was designed for the teachers and the questionnaire of 18 questions was designed
for the first year non- English major students at College of Sciences. In general, all
the personal information related to the respondents will be kept strictly confidential.
Besides, there were not too many questions in the questionnaires so that the
participants would not be discouraged to complete. In the questionnaire, the
participants were asked to choose the best answers. Most of the questions were
multiple choices, so they would not take respondents much time to complete. After
the first draft of the questionnaire was made, it was sent to the supervisor to be
commented and edited. At the end of the first stage, the questionnaire was revised
29
for the second time with the suggestions and corrections from the supervisor.
Thanks to the invaluable supervision from my supervisor and friends, the survey
questionnaires were much improved and carefully designed.
2.3.2 Phase 2:
Firstly, 100 handouts have been delivered to 100 first year non- English major
students at College of Sciences, TNU. In order to collect enough handouts and to
get participants concentration in answering the questions, the researcher decided to
deliver the handouts during 2 first year students class time. That is, the researcher
asked the teacher in charge of that period for permission to require students to
complete the handouts. Before completing the questionnaire, students were briefly
explained about the research topic and the reason why the information was being
collected. Also, to make sure that there was no misunderstanding of the questions,
the researcher should be helpful and ready to answer any questions raised in the
process. The respondents of this study belonged to two different classes.
Secondly, 8 handouts have been delivered to 8 English teachers at COS, TNU. After
asking for the permission of them, the researcher sent questionnaires for them
directly or by email. Then, the teachers were asked to spend their time reading the
questions and filling in the questionnaire. The teachers were carried out
individually. The researcher should explain why the information was being
collected and how it would be used to the teachers and their questions were fully
answered. Some additional information on visual aids as well as the reality of using
them in their classes was also shared with us.
2.4 Procedure of data analysis
The data from the questionnaire was classified and analyzed to answer the three
research questions.
The data received from the close-ended questions in the questionnaires was
quantified, calculated and transferred into numerical form. In order to see the
overall evaluation, the participants choices and rating were synthesized and
analyzed to gain a composite score.
The data from open-ended questions allowed the researcher to gain insight into the
participants perceptions, attitude, motivations and suggestions. All the same ideas
would be grouped together to be compared.
30
As mentioned from the beginning, the survey questionnaire was conducted on the
purpose of finding answers to the research questions. After all the data was
collected, it was transformed and classified according to the three research
questions. From the data analysis, a large amount of statistics obtained from the
questionnaire was transformed into tables and charts, which reassured the clear-cut
format and facilitate the analytical task as well as help readers understand
comparison and synthesis.
2.5 Summary
This chapter has represented the methodology applied in this research. The two
groups of participants involved in the process of data collection were the teachers
and first year non- English major students at College of Sciences, TNU. Next, the
instrument, the two phases of data collection and data analysis were also justified in
this chapter. These justifications would be helpful for the analysis of the collected
data in the next chapter.
CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The previous chapter has discussed the methodology applied in this study,
which has been clarified with descriptions and justifications of the choice of
participants, the instruments and the procedures of data collection and analysis. As
mentioned beforehand, in this chapter, all the data, after being collected from the
questionnaires will be analyzed and interpreted to answer the three research
questions. The findings would be presented following the research questions.
3.1 Research question 1: Current situations of teaching and learning vocabulary
for first year non- English major students at College Of Sciences, Thai Nguyen
University.
The current situations of teaching and learning vocabulary at College Of
Sciences, Thai Nguyen University could be categorized into four main
categories as follows:
The attitude of the students and teachers towards vocabulary
Students assessments on their own vocabulary and teachers assessments
on their students vocabulary
31
Teachers current vocabulary teaching methods

Students preference techniques of teaching vocabulary
3.1.1 Data collection and analysis of the findings from student survey
3.1.1.1 Students attitudes towards vocabulary
Students attitudes towards vocabulary could be revealed in the tables and the
pie chart below including their opinions on the importance of learning vocabulary,
how much time they spend on learning vocabulary and the difficulties they have
when learning it.
The question 1 was designed to know students opinion on the importance of
learning vocabulary:
Question 1: What do you think about learning English vocabulary?
Very important
Not very
important
important
Not
important
at all
Students
69%
1%
30%
0%
(percentage)
Table 3.1: Students opinion on the importance of learning vocabulary
As can be seen from the table, students are all aware of the importance of learning
vocabulary, 69% of students think that learning vocabulary plays an important part
in learning the language, 30% of them find it very important and one of them find it
not very important, and no one consider it unimportant at all. From the table, it is
clear that students all know the importance of vocabulary as well as learning
vocabulary.
They all know the important of learning English vocabulary, so how much time
they often spend on learning vocabulary every day. The question 3 was designed to
get this information:
Question 3: How much time do you spend on learning vocabulary every
day?
32
Figure 3.1: Time for learning vocabulary
As can be seen from the pie chart above, majority of the students (80%) only
spent less than one hour learning vocabulary, less than one fifth of students (19%)
spent between one hour to two hours studying vocabulary and only one student
spent more than two hours learning vocabulary.
From this chart we find that students are still not hard-working enough in
learning vocabulary. Besides, some of them still had some difficulties in learning
vocabulary. With the data collections from question 2 in the questionnaire, the
research drew the table below with some figures showing they had difficulties in
learning vocabulary or not.
Question 2: Have you had any difficulties in learning vocabulary?
Students (percentage)
Never
Sometimes
Usually
0%
18%
82%
Table 3.2: Students having difficulties in learning vocabulary

The table indicates that 82% of students usually have difficulties in learning
vocabulary. Besides, about 18% of them sometimes have difficulties and none of
them are confident to claim that they have no difficulties.
When being asked to specify their difficulties, each student felt free to show
their idea about this issue. They all had their own ideas which could be summarized
33
into some main ones. All in all, most of students found that it was so difficult to
remember all the words with both pronunciation and spelling or writing. Some
students specified that there were so many words learnt but they had not many
chances to use them, hence they forgot them easily. Others supposed that in English,
with only one word, it has so many meanings, forms, and it could be used in
different situations, different contexts.
In addition, they could not distinguish this word with others so they
misunderstood or were confused when using their vocabularies. Furthermore,
minority of them said that it was really difficult for them to learn some words in
their unlike fields. Students difficulties in learning vocabulary are so various.
In brief, a large proportion of the surveyed students have awareness of the
importance of learning vocabulary in learning a foreign language as well as the
necessity of learning vocabulary. However they have to cope with many difficulties
to get a good command of vocabulary and their time for learning vocabulary is not
much.
3.1.1.2 Students assessment on their own vocabulary
Although, all the students understand the importance of vocabulary as well as
learning vocabulary, they do not spend much time on it and they still have so many
troubles in learning. With these disadvantages things, how excellent the students
vocabulary is put into account. The chart below would summarize the results from
the question 4:
Question 4: How is your English vocabulary now?
34
Students' vocabulary
1%
33%
good
66%
poor
excellent
fair
0%
Figure 3.2: Students vocabulary

For question 4, the large number (66%) of the students said that their English
vocabulary was poor. Smaller percentage (33%) claimed that their vocabulary was
fair. The number of the students who had good knowledge of vocabulary is only one
student (1%). No one said that their English vocabulary was excellent. It means that
the vocabulary of students was not good enough. Majority of students supposed that
their own vocabulary was not good. With their limited vocabulary, how students
used their knowledge of vocabulary should be taken into consideration. The
question 5 was designed to know how students used their knowledge of vocabulary:
Question 5: Can you often use your vocabulary?
Never
Sometimes but
Yes, competently
only about some

Students
fields
95%
5%
(percentage)
35
0%
Table 3.3: Students ability to use their vocabulary

The table shows that most of the students (95%) sometimes used their vocabulary
but they only discussed with their friends about some fields, some subjects or topics
that they like or they are easy and familiar for them to talk about. The smaller
percentage (5%) said that they were unconfident to talk or discuss with their friends
in English, it seemed that they never used what they have learnt. There is no one
said that they could use their vocabulary competently. They are not confident with
their knowledge, so they were shy to speak or discuss with others in English. They
did not want their friends know how bad their knowledge was.
In brief, most of the students did not feel satisfied with their own vocabulary,
which could prevent them from communicating with other in English. All the
students were aware of this problem and they wanted to enrich their vocabulary.
They hoped that the interesting vocabulary lessons would help them.
3.1.1.3 Students perception of Teachers current vocabulary teaching methods.
Question 6: Which techniques do your teachers use to teach vocabulary?
This question was designed to get the information from students about which
techniques their teachers often use to teach vocabulary.
The usual vocabulary teaching techniques will be summarized in the following
table:
Techniques
Percentage
Translating into Vietnamese
90%
Explaining in English
77%
Giving examples to illustrate

words meaning
Presenting words meaning in
context
Using visual aids (pictures,
flashcards or real objects)
Using movies and videos
35%
Other
4%
30%
60%
14%
36
Table 3.4: Students perception of teachers current vocabulary

teaching methods
From the table above, we can see that the choices for question 6 are quite
different among students. It is clear that the main techniques their teachers of
English use to teach vocabulary are Vietnamese translation with 90% and English
explanation in the simple way with smaller percentage (77%). There was 60% of
students said that their teachers often used visual aids to teach vocabulary, for
example they often used pictures or real objects. The forth-biggest number of the
students (35%) admitted that their teachers gave more examples to illustrate the
words meaning. Besides, 30% of the surveyed students revealed that their teachers
presented the meaning of the English words in contexts. Movies and videos, which
are believed to be less easily available, prove to be unfamiliar to the students with
only 14%. When being asked about any other teaching techniques their teacher
used, two students agreed that their teacher could use some games to introduce the
new vocabulary and sometimes the new vocabulary could be presented by being
given their synonyms and antonyms. Other two students said that, their teachers
also applied the combination of these techniques to teach vocabulary.
3.1.1.4 Students preference techniques of teaching vocabulary
As mentioned above, teachers at College Of Sciences applied different
techniques of teaching vocabulary. In order to help students learn effectively, the
techniques of teaching should meet their demand. Hence, students assessment on
these techniques and their preference techniques should be considered.
The question 7 was designed to know students preference on techniques of
teaching vocabulary:
Question 7: What kinds of techniques do you like most when learning
English vocabulary?
Techniques
percentage
Translating into Vietnamese
30%
37
Explaining in English
80%
Giving examples to illustrate

words meaning
Presenting words meaning in
context
Using visual aids (pictures, real
objects)
Using movies and videos
55%
Others
5%
50%
66%
78%
Table 3.5: Students preference on teaching vocabulary

techniques
The table above indicates that the current popular teaching technique-translating
new word into Vietnamese is represented by nearly smallest number of students
(30%). Whereas, the largest proportion (80%) of the students agreed that using
English to define the meaning of the words or explaining new vocabulary in English
interest them most. Besides, the technique-using movies and videos that is not
commonly used gained the slightly lower percentage (78%). Besides, 66% of
students admitted that they were interested in using visual aids for example pictures,
flashcards or real objects to learn English vocabulary. Most of the students claimed
that using visual aids would make their lessons more interesting and motivating;
they could learn the words more easily. There was 5% of the students also suggested
some other preferable techniques such as using games or the combination of all the
techniques.
In short, all the students want an English environment, in which they have chance to
perceive and practice English as much as possible instead of only jotting down the
words as well as their meanings. Hence, a change in teaching vocabulary techniques
is highly appreciated to meet students demands. Moreover, as can be seen from the
table, using visual aids to teach vocabulary is also an interesting suggestion for
teacher to have a motivating and effective vocabulary lesson.
3.1.2 Data collection and analysis of the findings from teacher survey
3.1.2.1 Teachers attitudes towards vocabulary and teaching vocabulary
38
Attitudes of teachers towards teaching and learning vocabulary would be answer in

question 1:
Question 1: What do you think about teaching English vocabulary?
Figure 3.3: Teachers opinion about the importance of teaching

vocabulary
The findings from the chart 4.3 above show that all of the surveyed teachers
recognized the important role of vocabulary as well as teaching vocabulary in a
language lesson. Moreover, the majority (62.5 %) of the teachers considered
vocabulary very important. The rest (37.5%) agreed that vocabulary is important in
learning English. Hence, they all agreed that teaching vocabulary was necessary to
help students in their language learning.
All the teachers supposed that teaching vocabulary played an important part in the
teaching process. The question 2 was designed to know how much time they spent
on teaching vocabulary:
Question 3: How much time of a lesson do you spend on teaching
vocabulary?
39
Figure 3.4: The amount of time for teachers spent on teaching

vocabulary
For this question, the majority (75%) of teachers spent about 10 minutes teaching
vocabulary accounting for about more than 20% of the class hour. Only 25% of
teachers claimed that the time for teaching vocabulary was about 15 minutes. None
of them spent more than 15 minutes for this section of the lesson.
For the question 2 in the questionnaire Have you had any difficulties in teaching
vocabulary?, 100% of teachers said that sometimes they had some difficulties in
teaching vocabulary. When being asked to specify their difficulties, there are some
different ideas which could be summarized into some main ones. In general, most of
teachers suggested that the problem belonged to their students. For example, their
students were too lazy; they did not spend much time on learning vocabulary; the
quality of the students was too low; students were not willing to join teachinglearning activities, etc. Other teacher said that sometimes they had some other
problems that belonged to them. For example, some words are so abstract so it is so
difficult to define them and explain them clearly for students to understand or what
words to be used? it is not easy.
40
To conclude, all teachers regard teaching vocabulary as a vital part in teaching but
the time for this is still limited and they still have to encounter some difficulties.
3.1.2.2 Teachers assessment on their students vocabulary
Question 4: How is your students English vocabulary now?
Figure 3.5: Teachers assessment on their students vocabulary

The chart above indicates clearly that most of the teachers (71.4%) admitted that in
general, their students vocabulary was not good enough. They could not use their
vocabulary for discussing in their speaking lessons. They could not understand what
the teachers said in English. Therefore, the teachers had to make everything clear in
Vietnamese equivalent. The rest of the teachers (28.6%) said that their students
vocabulary was fair. For instance, they could practice their English when working in
groups or in pairs with their friends in the speaking lessons. There was no teacher
claimed that their students had a good or excellent command of vocabulary. It is
clear that, the students vocabulary cannot fully come up to the teachers
expectation.
3.1.2.3 Teachers current vocabulary teaching methods
Question 5: What kinds of techniques do you often use to teach English
vocabulary?
41
The results from the teachers questionnaires could be summarized in the following
chart:
Figure 3.6: Teachers current vocabulary teaching methods

From the chart above, we can see that the choices for question 5 are quite
different among teachers. 71.4 % of the teachers often presented words meaning in
contexts when teaching vocabulary for students. 57.1 % of the teachers considered
using visual aids such as pictures, flashcards or real objects as a good way to teach
vocabulary. Other teachers (42.8%) said that they often taught vocabulary by giving
examples to illustrate words meaning. Only one teacher chose translating words
into Vietnamese to teach English vocabulary. Other teachers (28.6%) suggested that
they could use some other techniques to teach vocabulary such as using some
games, giving synonyms and antonyms or using the combination of all the
techniques.
All in all, this part has revealed the current situation of teaching and learning
vocabulary at COS, TNU. All the students and teachers have been awareness of the
importance of teaching and learning vocabulary in the process of teaching a foreign
language. However, the teaching techniques were not fully made use of to achieve
effective learning lessons as well as to help students enrich their vocabulary.
3.2 Research question 2: The use of visual aids in teaching vocabulary and its
benefits
42
3.2.1.1 The exposure of students towards visual aids

Question 8: Have you ever learnt vocabulary through visual aids?
This question was designed to know whether students have ever learnt
vocabulary through visual aids or not.
Figure 3.7: Use of visual aids in learning vocabulary

As the result referred from the question 8, there was 70% of the students said
that they have ever used visual aids to learn English vocabulary. The rest of them
(30%) had never used this kind of technique in learning. The result collected in the
part of the exposure of the students towards visual aids play an important role in
investigating some next questions.
3.2.1.2 Students perceptions on kinds of visual aids used in vocabulary
teaching
Question 9: What kinds of visual aids does your teacher use?
As noted in the Literature Review, visual aids are classified into four main
kinds. The following chart would help the readers clearly see what types of visual
aids have been included to teach English vocabulary to the first year non- English
major at COS, TNU.
43
Figure 3.8: Types of visual aids used in teaching vocabulary (as perceived
by students)
As can be seen in the chart, the type of visual aid used frequently most was
pictures with 88%. Most of the teachers used pictures to teach English vocabulary.
65% of the surveyed students said that their teachers often used boards to teach
vocabulary. The third-biggest number of the students (55%) admitted that their
teachers used their action and performance to present words meaning. There was
only 25% of the students said that their teacher used realia to teach vocabulary.
However, unfortunately, there was still two students said that their teachers did not
use anything when teaching vocabulary. Some other students (5%) suggested that
teachers could use other types of visual aids to teach vocabulary such as handouts,
projectors or teacher could use the combination of some types to present words
meaning. There were different ideas about the types of visual aids that teachers used
in teaching English vocabulary. However, what types of those students like best
should be considered. The question 10 was designed to get the information about
what types of visual aids students like best.
Question 10: What kinds of visual aids do you like best?
44
Figure 3.9: Types of visual aids that students like best

According to the chart above, we can see that using pictures was a type of
visual aids that students like best, accounting for 85% of the students. Then, the
second favorite type of visual aids was their teachers action and performance,
which held 40%. The rest of students liked other types of visual aids but the rate of
disparity was not much. There were two students did not like any kind of visual
aids. Other students (6%) suggested that they would like to be taught by using
projectors or handouts.
By looking two figures above, we can see that the type of visual aids that
teacher used to teach vocabulary was very suitable with the type that students like
best. That is a hopeful sign to help students improve their English vocabulary.
3.2.1.3 The necessity of learning vocabulary through visual aids
Question 11: How necessary do you think visual aids are in learning English
vocabulary?
With regard to the necessity of using visual aids in teaching and learning new
vocabulary, the students opinion could be summarized on the following chart with
the four-point scale.
45
Figure 3.10: Students opinions on the necessity of learning

vocabulary through visual aids
It is clear that majority of the students (57%) agreed that using visual aids is
necessary for their learning vocabulary. The smaller proportion (37%) claimed that
it was very essential to use this technique in teaching and learning vocabulary.
Whereas, only the small number of students (4%) considered that this technique was
not necessary for their learning. Besides, some students (2%) still wondered about
the necessity of using this technique, they said they had not used this technique
before so they could not find it necessary or not.
3.2.1.4 The frequency of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary
Question 12: How often are you taught vocabulary through visual aids?
46
Figure 3.11: The frequency of using visual aids in teaching

vocabulary (as perceived by the students)
According to this pie chart, it can be seen that the frequency of being taught
vocabulary through visual aids in lessons varies from students to students. About
61% of the students confirmed that their teacher sometimes used visual aids to teach
their vocabulary. 23% of the students suggested that this technique was usually used
and 8% of the students agreed that their teacher rarely applied this technique in
teaching vocabulary. 6 % of the students admitted that they always were taught
vocabulary through this technique. Only 2% of them affirmed that their teachers had
never exploited this technique. So, we can conclude that all of the teachers at
College of Sciences have used visual aids in their lessons, the amount if using them
is different.
3.2.1.5 Students opinion about benefits of using visual aids in teaching
vocabulary
It is obvious from these questions above that most of the students were in favor
of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary lessons and agreed that it was necessary
to learning vocabulary through visual aids. It is significant to exploit the effect of
this technique on their learning as well as their classroom atmosphere.
47
Question 13: In your opinion, can using visual aids give you any learning
benefits?
Percentage
Yes
No
No idea
83%
2%
15%
Table 3.6: Students opinion about the benefit of using visual aids
The table shows that in terms of the advantages of using visual aids to students
learning, majority of them (83%) supposed that it could give them much advantage
on their learning. Only 2% of them thought that it would give them no benefit on
their learning. The rest (15%) of the students had no idea about this because they
had never experienced this technique before, it was really hard for them to decide it
was advantageous or not.
3.2.1.6 The effect of using visual aids on the class atmosphere through
students point of views
Question 15: From your point of view, how interesting and motivating is
your class when your teacher uses visual aids?
Figure 3.12: The effect of using visual aids on the class atmosphere basing
on students point of views
As indicated from the above pie chart about the effect of this technique on the
classroom atmosphere, 80% of the students informed that their classroom
48
atmosphere would be much more interesting and motivating. The smaller number of
the students (19%) suggested that this technique could make their learning
atmosphere interesting and motivating. Only 1% of them affirmed that it could only
make a little change in their classroom atmosphere. It was so glad that none of them
said it would not have any influence on their learning atmosphere in class.
3.2.1.7 Students perception of the effects of using visual aids on their
vocabulary
Question 16: What effects do visual aids have on your vocabulary learning?
Figure 3.13: Students perception of the effects of using visual aids on their
vocabulary
As can be seen from the chart above, quite a large proportion of the students
affirmed that using visual aids positively affected their motivation in learning
49
vocabulary. About 65% of the students thought that visual aids would help increase
their interest in vocabulary learning while about 37% said that they could remember
the words more easily and longer because they left much impression on them.
Smaller percentage (32%) confirmed that visual aids could help them remember the
words for a long time. 25% of the students said that visual aids assisted them to
pronounce the new vocabulary more precisely. The smallest proportion (5%) said
that they were not aware of these effects on their learning.
To make it short, although visual aids have some weak points, their advantages
overweigh their disadvantages. Most students reported positive effects in terms of
better memory and greater motivation. Furthermore, visual aids give students
chances to get involved in the lesson and have better pronunciation.
3.2.1.8 The attitude of students towards visual aids
Question 14: Do you like to use visual aids in learning vocabulary?
Figure 3.14: Attitude of students towards visual aids

As can be seen from the chart of question 14, there was a great number of the
students who liked to use visual aids in learning English vocabulary. Actually, 62%
of the students said that they liked visual aids very much, 36% of them also liked
but not much. There was still 2% left supposing that visual aids had no attraction to
them. In general, students all knew the importance of visual aids in learning
vocabulary and they also expressed their feelings and their attitude about using
50
visual aids in classroom. It was so necessary to know their expectation about using
visual aids in their vocabulary lessons. The question 18 was designed to help us
know this issue.
Question 18: In your opinion, should teachers use visual aids in teaching
activities?
The frequent use of visual aids
Yes
No
Sometimes
Percentage
86%
0%
14%
Table 3.7: Students opinions about the frequency of visual aids used
by teachers
According to the results from question 18 in questionnaire presented in the table
above, most of the students (86%) said that they wanted their teachers to use this
technique usually. The rest of them (14%) suggested that their teachers should
sometimes use visual aids to teach them English vocabulary. Fortunately, no one
said that they did not want to be taught vocabulary by visual aids.
3.2.2.1 The attitude of teacher towards using visual aids in teaching vocabulary
Question 6: Do you think visual aids are useful techniques that should be
used when you teach English vocabulary?
51
Figure 3.15: Teachers opinion about the usefulness of visual aids
Question 7: Do you like using visual aids in teaching vocabulary?
Figure 3.16: Teachers preference for teaching vocabulary through

visual aids
From these two questions (6 and 7) and two charts above, it is undeniable that
all the teachers when asked said that visual aids are useful techniques in teaching
vocabulary. They admitted that they really like using visual aids in their teaching
English, especially when teaching vocabulary. The rate of 100% expressed the
reality of teachers interest towards visual aids as well as their good points in
improving vocabulary of students. This was a common opinion of all English
teachers at College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University about the use of visual aids
to help students have a better knowledge of vocabulary.
3.2.2.2 The purpose of using visual aids in teaching process
Question 8: What are the purposes of using visual aids in teaching process?
52
Figure 3.17: Purposes of using visual aids in teaching English

vocabulary
The result from the question 8 confirms that one more time opinions among
teachers are the same. All of them (100%) also wanted to use visual aids for both
relaxing and learning. None of them wanted to use learning or entertaining purpose
separately. This proves that all the teachers used visual aids with a clear purpose.
They wanted to create the most suitable learning atmosphere for their students in
which learning and relaxing are combined to reduce students stress and to get better
understanding for students. And none of them used visual aids as time-filling
activities. No one had other ideas.
3.2.2.3 Kinds of visual aids that teachers often used in their teaching
Question 11: What kinds of visual aids do you use?
53
Figure 3.18: Kinds of visual aids used in teaching vocabulary (as

perceived by the teacher)
The result above indicates that all of the teachers (100%) admitted that they
often used pictures as visual aids to teach English vocabulary to their students. The
second favorite type of visual aids that teachers liked to use was their action and
performance. Next, 42.8 % of the teachers suggested that they liked to use board
when teaching vocabulary. Only 28.6 of them affirmed that using realia was their
favorite type when they taught to their students. No one said that they did not use
any type of visual aids to teach vocabulary. There was 28.6 % of them said that they
could use other types of visual aids when presenting words meaning such as using
projectors or they could combine all of these types to make words meaning easier
and clearer to understand.
3.2.2.4 The frequency of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary
Question 9: How often do you use visual aids?
54
Figure 3.19: The frequency of using visual aids in teaching

vocabulary
According to this pie chart, it can be seen that the frequency of using visual aids
in lessons varies from teacher to teacher. However, in general, all of the teachers
have ever used visual aids to teach vocabulary. 57 % of them informed that they
usually taught vocabulary to their students through visual aids. The rest of teachers
said that they sometimes used this technique to teach their students when teaching
vocabulary. No one always used as well as no one has rarely or never used this
technique of teaching vocabulary methods. So, we can come to a conclusion that all
of the teachers at College of Sciences have used visual aids in their lessons and they
used them very frequently.
3.2.2.5 The effectiveness of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary
Question 12: What do you think about the use of visual aids in teaching
vocabulary?
55
Figure 3.20: Teachers perception on the effectiveness of using visual

aids in teaching vocabulary
For the question 12, approximately 86% of teachers remarked visual aids as an
effective way to teach English vocabulary. As a result shown in the pie chart above,
most of the teachers realized the efficiency of visual aids in their vocabulary
teaching process. The rest of them (14%) thought that using visual aids was very
effective. None of these teachers have ever found visual aids ineffective. No one
kept a neutral idea for the effect of visual aids in teaching English vocabulary. It can
be referred that the effects of visual aids in teaching vocabulary are quite clear. We
can clearly see the effects of using visual aids in these questions below.
Question 10: How interesting and motivating do you think your class is when
you use visual aids to teach vocabulary to them?
As indicated in the question 9, visual aids have been used frequently, most of
the teachers agreed that these materials would have much influence on their
classroom atmosphere as well as advantage on their teaching vocabulary. The
results from the question 10 of the questionnaire will help us have more information
about this as presented in the following pie chart:
56
Figure 3.21: The effect of using visual aids on the class atmosphere (as
perceived by the teachers)
According the pie chart above, we can see that most of the teachers (86%)
asserted that the class atmosphere would change. It would be interesting and
motivating because visual aids attract students attention, lift their eyes from the
books and they would participate more in the lesson. The rest of them (14%)
affirmed that the class atmosphere would have much more changes. It would be
very interesting and motivating when teachers used visual aids to present words
meaning in their lesson. There was no one who chose other choices.
Question 14: What effects do visual aids have on your vocabulary teaching?
The effects of using visual aids on the teachers vocabulary teaching were
demonstrated by the following chart:
57
Figure 3.22: The effects of using visual aids on teaching vocabulary

The chart indicates that all of the teachers (100%) in the survey remarked that
using visual aids in English would help their lessons more interesting and
motivating while 71.4% of them said thought that their students could catch the
meaning and form of the words faster and more easily. Smaller proportion (42.8%)
of them supposed that visual aids help them introduce their word easily. The rest of
them (14.3%) said that their students could learn how to pronounce the words more
precisely when they used visual aids to teach them. There was no one thought that
using visual aids would waste them a lot of time or would make their students
distract from the lesson.
3.2.2.6 The importance of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary
Question 13: How important is it to use visual aids in the process of teaching
vocabulary?
Percentage
Very important
Important
Unimportant
Neutral
Others
14.3%
71.4%
0%
14.3%
0%
Table 3.8: The importance of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary

58
According to the table, most of the teachers were aware of the importance of
using visual aids in teaching English vocabulary at College of Sciences, Thai
Nguyen University. In fact, from the result of question 13, 71.4% of them agreed
that visual aids play an important part in their vocabulary teaching; smaller
proportion (14.3%) suggested that visual aids were very important when teaching
vocabulary. There was 14.3 % of them were not sure about whether visual aids were
important or not. That neutral opinion stated that they found visual aids in two
sides. No one had other ideas.
3.2.2.7 The advantages of using visual aids in lessons
Question 15: In your opinion, what are the advantages when you use visual
aids to teach vocabulary?
Figure 3.23: The advantages of using visual aids in teaching

vocabulary
As can be seen in the chart above, there is broad and almost absolute consensus
among teachers. All of the teachers (100%) agreed that visual aids were very
convenient and effective to use in class. Other teachers (28.6%) thought that they
used visual aids because they were easy to find. They had not to spend a lot of time
on finding them; they could easily find some of visual aids around them. There was
the same number of teachers affirmed that they used visual aids in their teaching
because they were very rich in forms and they were cheap to make. We can see that
59
the advantages of visual aids were very various. Each teacher had their own ideas
about the advantages of using visual aids in teaching English vocabulary.
All in all, visual aids were used in teaching and learning English vocabulary
quite frequently because both teachers and students all were aware of the
importance, effectiveness as well as advantage of them. The majority of the
questioned teachers and their students agreed that visual aids have a positive impact
on their vocabulary teaching and learning. The reasons are clear and critical enough
for us to support to use of visual aids in teaching and learning English vocabulary.
This finding from both teachers and students suggests that educators and teachers at
College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University should take more advantage of visual
aids to achieve effective vocabulary lessons.
3.3 Research question 3: Difficulties in using visual aids to teach English
vocabulary
As analyzed in the previous part, visual aids had a lot of positive effects on
teaching and learning vocabulary. The researcher still wondered whether teachers
could fail to use visual aids. The question 17 in the students questionnaire helps
give response to this matter.
Question 17: Do you think that your teacher may fail to use visual aids to
teach vocabulary?
Percentage
Yes
No
10%
90%
Table 3.9: Students opinion about their teachers failure to use visual
aids
According to the table above, we can say that most of the students (90%)
thought that their teachers would be successful in using this technique when
teaching vocabulary. They believed on the benefit and effectiveness of visual aids
on teachers presenting new words. Only 10% of them said that their teachers might
not succeed in using visual aids to teach vocabulary. In fact, there were still some
difficulties in using visual aids to teach vocabulary. The causes of the teachers
failure or the difficulties the teachers have to cope with were shown in result of the
question 16 in teachers questionnaire.
60
Question 16: In your opinion, what are your difficulties when using visual
aids to teach vocabulary?
Figure 3.24: The difficulties in using visual aids in class

The aim of asking question 17 takes an important role in this study. Finding out
carefully the difficulties in using visual aids helps us to solve the problem partly.
Clearly, based on some suggested difficulties, the greatest obstacles to the success
of using visual aids in class was due to mixed-ability of students. There was 14% of
teachers claimed that it was sometimes so difficult for them to make choice of the
suitable visual aids for their lessons. Other teachers (14%) said that too many
students in a class prevented them from using visual aids to teach vocabulary. No
one thought that much noise in the class made them find difficult when using visual
aids to teach vocabulary. No other different difficulties were added after finishing
the teacher group survey.
3.4 Summary
In conclusion, this chapter has successively provided answers to each of the
research questions via a thorough analysis and discussion basing on the collected
data. Major findings as detailed above would be summarized in the conclusion as
the final chapter of this research paper.
61
PART C: CONCLUSION
The previous chapters have introduced the introduction, provided the literature
reviews, justified the methods, discussed the findings of the study as well as
provided the teachers with several activities for teaching vocabulary with the use of
visual aids. Finally, this part will cover summaries of major findings, limitations,
pedagogical suggestions as well as recommendations for further studies.
1. Major findings of the research
In an attempt to find the answers for the three mentioned research questions,
data gathered from questionnaires were involved to draw the conclusion.
Initially, the study confirms that both teachers and students had positive
attitudes towards vocabulary as well as vocabulary teaching and learning. The
majority of them agreed that vocabulary played an important or even very important
role in teaching and learning a foreign language.
Secondly, in order to achieve successful lesson, technique of teaching
vocabulary should be paid much attention to. The collected data show that teachers
at College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University have applied different vocabulary
teaching techniques; however, these techniques seemed far from being satisfactory.
Students knowledge of vocabulary in general was not good, which could not satisfy
both teachers and students. Most of students (66%) said that their English
62
vocabulary was poor. However, they spent very little time on learning vocabulary.
Most of them spent only less than one hour learning vocabulary.
Moreover, the study indicates some techniques of teaching and learning
vocabulary. Also, there exists a big contrast between the techniques of teaching
vocabulary as perceived by the teachers and those by their students. Most teachers
used traditional technique-translation directly or indirectly though it was not highly
appreciated by the students. Students did not like this technique so they were bored
with learning vocabulary. They learn vocabulary passive and they had few
opportunities to use the new words they have learnt so they would easily and
quickly forget them. It is necessary for teachers to make some changes in the
methods of teaching vocabulary.
Furthermore, the researcher also got down finding the students most preferable
techniques and visual aids appeared to be the good choice for teaching and learning
English vocabulary. Findings from the questionnaires helped the researcher draw
that visual aids could be used to some extent. In the first place, students would find
more interested and motivated because they would be attracted to interesting
pictures, objects or their teachers action and performance. Besides, their long-term
memory of learning through this technique are undeniable because students could
remind the scene in which the words presented as well as the situation they were
utilized. Students also could remember the words easily and they could learn how to
pronounce them precisely.
Next, the research has exploited the frequency of the teachers using visual aids
in their vocabulary classes. According to the gathered data, the majority of the
teachers, as answered to the questionnaires, said that they just sometimes used such
aids in their lessons.
In addition, the teachers and students evaluation of effectiveness of visual aids
on their learning and teaching vocabulary has been clearly discussed. The collected
data showed that most of the students and teachers agreed on the high effectiveness
of visual aids on the students vocabulary.
In brief, using visual aids is suggested to be a useful technique, which could
meet students need. Within the limitations of this research, it is recommended that
63
teachers should take fully advantages of using visual aids in order to attract students
in learning English vocabulary
2. Suggestions for English teachers at College of Sciences when using visual
aids to teach vocabulary
First of all, the researcher would like to acknowledge all the pedagogical
suggestions put forward by teachers at College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University
for a more exhaustive exploitation of visual aids in their vocabulary teaching. That
is, they should pay much attention to vocabulary teaching, which offers the teacher
a chance a slow down their speed of teaching vocabulary and apply some kind of
visual aids in their lessons. Teaching vocabulary through visual aids can be taken
into consideration to be good way of improving current situation of teaching
vocabulary. Also, because of students great interest on their teachers use of visual
aids in class, the teacher should be well-prepared with extra aids together with
communicative activities so that vocabulary lessons would become a fun but still an
effective way of vocabulary learning. This, hopefully, may help students obtain the
language items more easily and they can recall them in tests and exams more
exactly.
In addition to such precious contribution, the researcher would like to offer
several recommendations basing on the literature on the research topic.
First, we, as the teachers, should always check for ambiguity when planning
any type of visual aids. The visual aid prepared should never be misunderstood by
any student in terms of its name, meaning or benefits.
Second, the teacher should be aware of the level of his/her class, which can
decide the visual aids level of difficulty she/he intends to use. This is an important
factor to bear in mind, because if we, as the teachers, do not know in what levels the
majority of students are, we may use the visual aids which can be too easy or too
difficult in comparison with the levels of the students. Thus, of course, discourages
students from actively participating in the lessons, though they are covered with
visual aids carefully prepared by their teachers.
What is more, before starting the lesson with the use of visual aids, make clear
the purpose of the visual aids to the students. As been mentioned, many students
will not be motivated to learn if they do not know the reason why their teachers are
using such visual aids. Or they can treat such visual aids just as for fun and do not
64
pay attention to the lessons. Such things can make the use of such visual aids
useless, though they can bring a new sense to the lessons.
Lastly, using visual aids needs careful preparation in terms of time and cost. If
the visual aid is too expensive, try to think of other simple and affordable ways.
And, because visual aids may cost the teacher a little money, he/she should make
full use of the visual aids. That is, with one particular visual aid, the teacher should
use it in different situations, in the explanation of various language items.
3. Limitations of the researcher
To be honest, it is unavoidable that the researcher encountered some difficulties
during the process of conducting this study, which entailed some pitiful limitations
for the research. Because of the limitation of time, scope as well as knowledge, the
findings of this research are therefore very limited to certain degree. The method of
this study is only based on the data collection through questionnaires and if it has
chance to develop in the future it should be carried out by interviews and class
observation so that the results would be more interesting and convincing.
Furthermore, the investigation focused only on the first year non- English major
students who are studying in College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University. In
addition, if time allowed, interviews and class observation should have been
selected to collect data in a larger scope. In addition, in this paper, the scope of
study is limited only in the College of Sciences, TNU. The research is restricted to
only a small number of objects and the researcher can only look at the situation of
using visual aids to teach English vocabulary for the first year non- English major
students. Hence, the results cannot be generalized to all colleges. In short, these
limitations should be taken into consideration when further are conducted in the
future.
4. Recommendations for further studies
Under the light of limitations exposed, some recommendations for further
research could be made as follows.
This study only focuses on using visual aids in teaching and learning English
vocabulary for the first year non- English major students at College of Sciences,
Thai Nguyen University. Thus, for further studying of the same kind of discourse,
65
the author recommends developing the study on a large scope in order to make it
more reliable and convincing. We can develop this study by conducting a research
on the effectiveness of visual aids in teaching and learning vocabulary. We also can
study the using of visual aids in teaching other skills such as speaking, grammar, so
on.
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techniques in English as a second or foreign language. New York: Oxford

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Research & Practice, 20(1), 50-57. (2005).
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4. Brown, Gillian and Yule, George: Discourse Analysis. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. (1983)
5. Cambridge Advance Learners Dictionary. Third edition, Cambridge:
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6. Celce-Murcia, M. Language teaching approaches: An overview. In M. Celce-
Murcia (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (3rd ed.).

Boston: Heinle & Heinle. (2001).
7. Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K. Research methods in education.
London: Routledgefalmer. (2000)

8. Dellar, H. and Hocking, D. Innovations. Hove: LTP. (2000)
9. Doff, A, Teach English: A training Course for Teachers. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. (1998)
10. Finocchiaro, M. English as a second Language: from theory to practice, 2nd
ed. New York: Regents Publishing Company. (1974)
11. Harmer, Jeremy. The practice of English Language Teaching. Essex:
Longman Group UK limited. (1993)
12. Harmer, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching.3rd edition. Longman.
(2003)
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13. Harmer, J, The practice of English Language Teaching. New edition. Essex:
Longman Group UK limited. (1991)

14. HILL, David A. Visual Impact: Creative language learning through pictures.
Essex: Longman Group UK Limited,. ISBN 0-582-03765-4. (1990)

15. Howard, B. e al. eds. Individualizing Foreign Language Instruction.
Cambridge, Mass.: Newbury. (1968)

16. Jean L. Mckenchnie. Webster New Twentieth Century Dictionary Unabridge.
William Collins Publisher. (1980)

17. Kreidler, CJ. Effective use of visual aids in ESOL classroom. Teachers of
English to speakers of other language, Inc, 5(1). (1991, march)

18. Le, HTH. A study on how to use visual aids in teaching grammar to upper-
secondary school students in Hanoi. Vietnam national University, Hanoi.

University of Languages and International Studies (Bachelor Dissertation).
(2001, may)
19. Longman. Longman Dictionary Contemporary English- LDOC. ISBN
9780582237506. (1995)
20. Lynne Cameron. Language Teaching Research 6,2 pp. 145-173, Measuring
vocabulary size in English as an additional language. (2002)

21. McCARTHY, Michael. Vocabulary. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 019-437136-0. (1992)
22. Meara, P, Vocabulary acquisition: a neglected aspect of language learning.
(1980).
Retrieved
on
the
20th
March
2011
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23. Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc. A course in TEFL: Theory and Practice
II. Vietnam national University, Hanoi College of Foreign Languages,

English Department. (2001)
24. Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc. A course in TEFL: Theory and Practice
III. Vietnam national University, Hanoi College of Foreign Languages,

English Department. (2002)
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25. Nguyen, T.T.M., Pham, M.T., & Luong, Q.T. Research methodology: Course
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26. Nunan, D. Research methods in language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge
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27. Oxford University Press. 3rd edition: Oxford Learners Pocket Dictionary.
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28. Peter Wingard. The teaching of English as an International language: A
practical guide. London: Collins. (1981)

29. Pyles, Th. and Algeo, J. English. An Introduction to Language. Harcourt,
Brace & World, Inc. (1970).

30. Ruth Gairns and Stuart Redman. Working with words: A guide to teaching
and learning vocabulary. USA: Cambridge University Press. (1986)

31. Scott, Vendy A. Ytreberg, Lisbeth H. Teaching English to children. Essex:
Longman Group UK limited. ISBN: 058274606X.(1993)

32. Thorbury, Scott. How to Teach Vocabulary. Essex: Pearson Education
Limited. ISBN 0582-429668. (2004)

33. Thornbury, S. How to teach vocabulary, Essex, England: Pearson education
limited,(2002),
34. Ur, Penny. A Course in Language Teaching. Practice and Theory. Cambridge
University Press. (1996).
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36. Wilson, N. McLean, S. Questionnaire Design: a Practical Introduction.
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WEBSITES VISISTED
1. http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/importance-of-vocabulary11438.html)
2. http://celta.wikispaces.com/file/view/BA+Macounov%C3%A1.pdf
(Lenka Macounov (2007): Teaching of vocabulary)
3. http://ezinearticles.com/?Teaching-Vocabulary&id=4425654
Jason
Geyser :Teaching vocabulary

4. http://www.scribd.com/doc/11631190/6-Effective-Use-of-Audio-VisualAids)
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelling
Appendix I
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS
My name is Dinh Thi Hoa. I am an English major student of the College of
Sciences, Thai Nguyen University. I am conducting this survey in order to collect
data for my graduation thesis entitled A study on using visual aids in teaching and
learning English vocabulary for first year non-English major students at College of
69
Sciences, Thai Nguyen University. I would be grateful if you could spend your
precious time completing this questionnaire. When you take part in this study, your
confidentiality is assured in any circumstances. Please give your answers sincerely
as only this will guarantee the success of the investigation. Thank you very much
for your help.
Part 1: Personal information:
1.Your gender: Male..
: Female ..
2.You have been teaching English for...........years
3. You have been teaching English for the first year non- English major
students for.........years
Part 2: Answer the following questions:
1. What do you think about teaching English vocabulary?
a. Very important
b. Important
c. Not important at all
2. Have you had any difficulties in teaching vocabulary?
a. Never
b. sometimes
Please specify difficulties:
c. yes
3. How much time of a lesson do you spend on teaching vocabulary?

a. 10 minutes
b. 15 minutes
c. More than 15 minutes
4. How is your students English vocabulary now?
a. Poor
b. fair
c. good
d. excellent
5. What kinds of techniques do you often use to teach English vocabulary?

a. Translating all the words into Vietnamese
b. Explaining the words in English
c. Giving examples to illustrate meaning
d. Using movies and videos
e. Putting the words in contexts
f. Using visual aids (pictures, flashcards, real objects, etc).
g. Others: (please specify):................................
6. Do you think visual aids are the useful techniques should be used when you
teach English vocabulary?
70
a. Yes
b. no
c.
others.
7. Do you like using visual aids in teaching vocabulary?
a. Very much
b. much
c. not much
d. no
8. What are the purposes of using visual aids in your teaching process?
a. Relaxing
b. Learning
c. Relaxing and learning
d. Time filling in
e. Others:
.
9. How often do you use visual aids?
a. Always
b. usually
c. Sometimes
d. Rarely
e. Never
10. How interesting and motivating do you think your class is when you use visual
aids to teach vocabulary to them?
a. Interesting and motivating
b. Very interesting and motivating
c. Not very interesting and motivating
d. Not interesting and motivating at all
e. Others
11. What kind of visual aids do you use?

a. Boards
b. Realia
c. Pictures
d. Action and performance
e. Nothing
f. Others:
.
12. What do you think about the use of visual aids in teaching vocabulary?
a. Very effective
b. Effective
c. Ineffective
d. Neutral
e. Others..
13. How important is it to use visual aids in the process of teaching vocabulary?
a. Very important
b. Important
c. Unimportant
71
d. Neutral
e. Others
14. What effects do visual aids have on your vocabulary teaching?
a. You can introduce the words easily
b. Your lessons are more interesting and motivating
c. Your students can catch the meaning of the word faster and more easily
d. Your students can learn how to pronounce the words more precisely
e. Your students can be distracted from the lesson
f. You waste a lot of time
g. Others.
15. In your opinion, what are the advantages when you use visual aids to teach
vocabulary?
a. Rich in forms
b. Cheap to make
c. Easy to find
d. Convenient and effective to use in class.
e. Others (please specify):.................................................................................
16. In your opinion, what are your difficulties when using visual aids to teach
vocabulary?
a. Difficult to choose the suitable visual aids
b. Too many students
c. Much noise
d. Mixed-ability of students
e. Others ( please specify)
Thank you for your cooperation!
Appendix II
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE FIRST YEAR-NON ENGLISH
MAJOR STUDENTS
72
This survey is designed on the purpose of getting necessary data for the study
A study on using visual aids in teaching and learning English vocabulary for
first year non-English major students at College of Sciences. Your personal
information will be kept strictly confidential, please give your answers truthfully for
a guaranteed success of the research.
Thank you so much for your participation.
A. Personal information
You are ..?
a. Male
b. female
Your age is
You have studied English foryears.
B. Answer the following questions:
1. What do you think about learning English vocabulary?

a. Very important
c. not very important
b. Important
d. not important at all
2. Have you had any difficulties in learning vocabulary?

a. Never
b. sometimes
c. Usually
3. How much time do you spend on learning vocabulary every day?
a. Less than one hour
b. From 1 hour to 2 hours
c. More than 2 hours
4. How is your English vocabulary now?
a. Poor
c. Good
b. Fair
d. Excellent
5. Can you often use your vocabulary?
a. Never
b. Sometimes but only about some fields
c. Yes, competently
6. Which techniques do your teachers use to teach vocabulary?
g. Others: (please specify):...........................
73
7. What kind of techniques do you like most when learning English

vocabulary?
g. Others: (please specify):..........................
8. Have you ever learnt vocabulary through visual aids?
a. Yes
b. No
9. What kinds of visual aids does your teacher use?
a. Boards
b. Realia
c. Pictures
d. Action and performance
e. Nothing
f. Others:
10. What kinds of visual aids do you like best?
g. Boards
h. Realia
i. Pictures
j. Action and performance
k. Nothing
l. Others:
11. How necessary do you think visual aids are in learning English
vocabulary?
a. Very necessary
c. Not necessary at all
b. Necessary
d. No idea
12. How often are you taught vocabulary through visual aids?
a. Always
c. sometimes
b. Usually
d. rarely
f. Never
13. In your opinion, can using visual aids give you any learning benefits?
a. Yes
b. no
c. No idea
14. Do you like to use visual aids to learn vocabulary?
a. Yes, very much
b. yes, but not much
c. No, not at
all
15. From your point of view, how interesting and motivating is your class when
your teacher uses visual aids?
a. Very interesting and motivating
b. Interesting and motivating
c. Not very interesting and motivating
74
d. Not interesting and motivating at all

e. Others.
16. What effects do visual aids have on your vocabulary learning?
a. You can remember the words easily
b. You can remember the words for a long time
c. You are interested in learning vocabulary
d. You can learn how to pronounce the words more precisely
e. Other (please specify)
17. Do you think that your teacher may fail to use visual aids to teach
vocabulary?
a. Yes
b. No
18. In your opinion, should teachers use visual aids in teaching activities?
a. Yes
b. No
c. Sometimes
Thank you for your enthusiastic participation!
Appendix III
PHIU IU TRA
Bn ngh th no v vic s dng gio c trc quan (tranh, nh, vt tht)
dy t vng
75
Phiu iu tra ny c son nhm mc ch phc v cho ti kha lun v

vic dy t vng thng qua cc gio c trc quan.
Rt mong nhn c s gip ca cc bn bng vic tr li nhng cu hi
di y mt cch xc thc, ti xin m bo ni dung cu tr li s c m bo
v ch c phc v cho mc ch nghin cu. Mi thng tin v ngi tham gia s
khng c tit l di bt k hnh thc no.
Xin chn thnh cm n.
A. Thng tin c nhn

1. Bn l.?
a, nam
b, n
2. Bn .. tui.
3. Bn hc Ting Anh trong. nm.
B. Tr li cc cu hi di y:
Hng dn: Hy khoanh trn la chn ca cc bn ( c nhng cu hi
bn c th la chn nhiu hn mt cu tr li).
1. Bn ngh vic hc t vng Ting Anh c quan trng khng?
a. Rt quan trng
b. Khng qu quan trng
c. Quan trng
d. Khng quan trng
2. Cc bn c gp kh khn khi hc t vng khng?
a. Hon ton khng
b. Thnh thong
c. ng nhin l c
Nhng kh khn l:
..
3. Mi ngy bn dnh bao nhiu thi gian hc t vng?
a. Cha n 1 gi
b. T 1 gi n 2 gi
c. Nhiu hn 2 gi
4. Bn nhn thy vn t vng ca bn hin nay nh th no?
a. Khng tt
b. Tt
c. Bnh thng
d. Rt tt, rt t tin
5. Bn c th s dng vn t vng bn hc khng?
a. Khng bao gi
b. Thnh thong, nhng ch v mt s lnh vc no .
76
c. S dng thnh tho

6. Thy c gio bn thng dy t vng bng cch no?
a. Dch t mi sang Ting Vit
b. Gii thch t bng Ting Anh
c. a v d minh ha
d. S dng phim nh v video
e. Gii thiu t thng qua vn cnh
f. S dng nhng gio c trc quan (tranh nh, vt c th)
g. Cc hnh thc khc:
7. Cc bn thch hc t vng theo cch no nht?

a. Dch t mi sang Ting Vit
b. Gii thch t bng Ting Anh
c. a v d minh ha
d. S dng phim nh v video
e. Gii thiu t thng qua vn cnh
f. S dng nhng gio c trc quan (tranh nh, vt c th)
g. Cc hnh thc khc:
8. Bn bao gi hc t vng thng qua cc gio c trc quan cha?

a. C
b. cha bao gi
9. Gio vin ca bn thng s dng nhng loi gio c trc quan no?
a. Bng
b. Cc vt tht
c. Tranh, nh
d. Cc hnh ng, ng tc ca gio vin
e. Khng c g
f. Cc hnh thc khc:
10. Bn thch s dng loi gio c trc quan no nht?

a. Bng
b. Cc vt tht
c. Tranh, nh
d. Cc hnh ng, ng tc ca gio vin
e. Khng c g
f. Cc hnh thc khc:
11. Bn thy vic hc t mi thng qua cc gio c trc quan c cn thit

khng?
a. Rt cn thit
b. Cn thit
77
c. Khng cn thit
d. kin khc:
..
12. Thy c gio bn c thng xuyn s dng gio c trc quan dy t
vng khng?
a. Lun lun
b. Thng xuyn
c. Thnh thong
d. Him khi
e. Khng bao gi
13. Theo bn, s dng gio c trc quan c mang li li ch hc tp no
khng?
a. C
b. khng
c. ty trng hp
14. Bn c thch s dng gio c trc quan hc t vng khng?
a. C, rt nhiu
b.c nhng khng nhiu
c. khng
15. Theo bn, khng kh lp bn c si ni v th v hn khi thy c s dng
gio c trc quan khng?
a. ng nhin si ni th v hn nhiu
b. Cng ch thay i i cht thi
c. Khng, vn th
d. kin khc;
16. S dng gio c trc quan dy t vng nh hng n vn t vng

ca bn nh th no?
a. Nh t d dng v nhanh hn
b. Nh t mi trong thi gian di
c. Hng th hc t vng
d. Hc c cch pht m chnh xc hn
e. kin khc:
..
17. Theo bn, thy c gio c th tht bi khi s dng gio c trc quan
dy t vng khng?
a. C
b. khng
18. Theo bn, gio vin c nn s dng cc gio c trc quan trong cc
hot ng dy hc khng?
a. C
b. khng
c. thnh thong
CM N S NG H V THAM GIA NHIT TNH CA CC BN.
78
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A Study On Using Visual Aids in Teaching and Learning English Vocabulary

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A Study On Using Visual Aids in Teaching and Learning English Vocabulary

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COLLEGE OF SCIENES

DEPARTMENT OF BASIC SCIENCES

DINH THI HOA

A STUDY ON USING VISUAL AIDS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

A STUDY ON USING VISUAL AIDS IN TEACHING AND

MAJOR: ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

Student: Dinh Thi Hoa

Class: English Major B. Course: No 5

Instructor: Phan Thi Hoa (M.A)

Thai Nguyen, April 2011

Thai Nguyen, April 2011

Thai Nguyen, April 2011

Thai Nguyen, April 2011

Thai Nguyen, April 2011

their students expectation. Students are not interested in learning English

LIST OF FIGURES IN THE STUDY

Time for learning vocabulary

Teachers opinion about the importance of teaching vocabulary

The amount of time for teachers spent on teaching vocabulary

Teachers assessment on their students vocabulary

Teachers current vocabulary teaching methods

Use of visual aids in learning vocabulary

Types of visual aids used in teaching vocabulary (as

Types of visual aids that students like best

Students opinions on the necessity of learning vocabulary

through visual aids

The frequency of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary

(as perceived by the students)

The effect of using visual aids on the class atmosphere basing

on students point of views

Students perception of the effects of using visual aids on their

Attitude of students towards visual aids

Teachers opinion about the usefulness of visual aids

Teachers preference for teaching vocabulary through visual

Purposes of using visual aids in teaching English vocabulary

Kinds of visual aids used in teaching vocabulary (as

perceived by the teacher)

The frequency of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary

Teachers perception on the effectiveness of using visual aids in

The effect of using visual aids on the class atmosphere (as

perceived by the teachers)

The effects of using visual aids on teaching vocabulary

The advantages of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary

The difficulties in using visual aids in class

LIST OF TABLES IN THE STUDY

Students opinion on the importance of learning vocabulary

Students having difficulties in learning vocabulary

Students ability to use their vocabulary

Students preference on teaching vocabulary techniques

Students opinion about the benefit of using visual aids

Students opinions about the frequency of visual aids used by

The importance of using visual aids in teaching vocabulary

Students opinion about their teachers failure to use visual

For many years, however, teaching vocabulary was considered an add-on to

7. Design of the study

This study consists of three main parts:

studies, the general overall identification of area of the study.

collection are made clear.

understand definition is such an unfeasible task. Each linguist or scholar, in his

1.1.3 Classifications of vocabulary

1.1.4.2. Forms of a word

this habit of your learners.

bilingual word list.