Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

I.1. Rationale
In our modern and fast-moving world, when the trend of globalization has been
profoundly influencing all aspects of life, a great importance is directly
attached to foreign language learning. As an indispensable communicative tool
in establishing and improving foreign interactions and relationships, English
undoubtedly has been playing an increasingly important role in recent years.
Nowadays, it is undeniable to say that almost everyone is eager to learn
English, though their purposes vary greatly.
However, learning a different language is a complicated set of work proceeding
through a wide range of adjustments, from minor to major ones (Gardner, 2010).
To be capable of using English fluently as the second language requires learners to
learn a wide range of theories and skills, including the four main language skills:
listening, speaking, reading, writing, and the three basic language elements:
pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Out of these factors, vocabulary has
assumed to play a more important role, and even, as some argue, the central role
in learning second language (Lewis, 1993). With this shift in emphasis, much
attention has been placed on finding how to teach and how to learn English
vocabulary by many researchers, linguistics and English teachers.
According to Alhaysony (2012), even though language teachers tend to try to
teach all the needed vocabulary for their students, they rarely have enough time.
Therefore, it is impossible for students to learn all the vocabulary they need in
classroom. (Sokmen, 1997, p.225) As a result, self-studying is essentially
employed to improve the vocabulary knowledge. In order to learn vocabulary
effectively, students are required to make plans, decide learning strategies and take
actions on their own. Ways of learning are various and are differently selected. As
Alhaysony (2012) pointed out, individual differences between language students

play indispensible role in deciding which vocabulary should be chosen and how
vocabulary should be learnt. Hence, it can be concluded that to master English
vocabulary, it is advisable for students to be of independence and of flexibility in
determining what their most suitable and appropriate learning strategies are.
As a senior student in the faculty of English (F.O.E), Hanoi National University of
Education (HNUE), who has experienced vocabulary learning for several years,
the researcher is strongly aware of the importance of learning vocabulary in
enhancing English proficiency as well as some problems students normally
encounter when learning new words. As a future English teacher, the researcher
understands that helping learners to develop their learning strategies is a vital
responsibility for every language teacher. Vocabulary, like other aspects of
language, needs to be accumulated overtime and via appropriate approaches. At
F.O.E, HNUE, vocabulary learning strategies are variously applied by students.
However, the effectiveness of these strategies varies considerably. With the aim to
investigate how vocabulary is learnt by freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE, which
strategies freshmen have used and to suggest new methods to help learners master
their English vocabulary, the researcher would like to conduct a research on the
field of vocabulary learning strategies. Regarding journal keeping as an efficient
learning tool that can assist students to settle a wide range of problems in
vocabulary learning, she has decided to conduct a study on the topic: An
investigation into the current situation of using journal keeping as a vocabulary
learning strategy among freshmen at Faculty of English, Hanoi National
University of Education.
I.2. Aims of the study
This study is conducted to achieve the main following aims:
Firstly, the study aims to investigate more deeply the current situation of
vocabulary learning at F.O.E, HNUE.

Secondly, the study aims to investigate the current situation of using journal
keeping strategy in freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE.
Thirdly, the study aims to investigate teachers and students attitudes towards the
use of journal keeping strategy in English vocabulary learning.
Finally, the researcher would like to recommend some suggestions for the use of
notebook keeping strategy in vocabulary learning for freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE.
The study is hoped to be of contribution to the development of new methods in
learning English in general and learning vocabulary in particular.
To fulfill the purposes mentioned above, this paper seeks answers to the following
questions:
Q1.
Q2. How is journal keeping strategy used in English vocabulary learning by
freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE?
Q3. What are teachers and students attitudes towards the use of journal
keeping strategy in English vocabulary learning?
Q4. What are some recommendations for the use of notebook keeping as
vocabulary learning strategies among freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE?
I.3. Scope of the study
To begin with, the researcher herself, as a student at F.O.E, HNUE, from her own
experience, is well aware that vocabulary is one of the most notable components
of a language. This is agreed by many researchers and commentators (Allen, 1983;
Laufer, 1987, Nation, 1990) who regarded vocabulary as a striking factor in the
development of second language acquisition. Considering that the ways of
learning vocabulary is being paid much attention nowadays, the researcher is
willing to have a full look at the field of vocabulary learning strategies. However,

the term of vocabulary learning strategy, which is made up of various categories, is

still too great to be discussed within the scope of this study; hence, this paper only
focuses on the current situation of journal keeping as a strategy in learning English
vocabulary.
The population of the study is limited to the 70 freshmen in the Faculty of English,
and the six teachers who have been teaching freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE.
Furthermore, direct class observations, followed by notebook collection are in the
scope this study.
I.4. Overview of the study
This thesis is divided into six chapters as follows:
Chapter I: Introduction offers an overview of rationale, aims of the study,
research questions and the scope of the study.
Chapter II: Literature Review presents theoretical background providing the
background knowledge of vocabulary, vocabulary learning strategy and notebook
keeping. Some related researches conducted by former scholars and professionals
are also illustrated.
Chapter III: Methodology describes in detail the participants,

research

instrument employed and the procedure of collecting and analyzing the data.
Chapter IV: Findings and discussion analyzes gathered data by research
instruments, present the findings.
Chapter V: Implications recommends some suggestions for using notebook
keeping to learn vocabulary effectively.
Chapter VI: Conclusion reviews the research outcome, its limitations and
suggestion for further study

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the theoretical background of vocabulary, vocabulary learning

strategies and notebook keeping will be discussed. The chapter consists of three
main sections. Section I presents an overview of vocabulary, including the
definition, classification, vocabulary knowledge and the importance of vocabulary
learning to second language learning. Section II demonstrates an overview of
vocabulary learning strategies in terms of the definition and classifications.
Section III provides theoretical backgrounds related to journal keeping and
vocabulary journal keeping strategy.
II.1 An overview of vocabulary
II.1.1. Definition of vocabulary
Vocabulary is an extremely significant concept in second language researchers
which have been defined by many linguistics and researchers (Miller, 1999; Ur,
1996).
According to a definition in Collins Cobuild Advanced Learners Dictionary
(2006), vocabulary is the total number of words that you know in a particular
language (p.1164). Similarly, in Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary
Online, vocabulary is described as all the words existing in a particular language
or subject. Also, vocabulary is specifically explained by Ur (1996), who said:
Vocabulary can be defined, roughly, as the words we teach in the foreign
language. However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: for
example, post office or 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 (p.60)

In general, it can be said that vocabulary is a lists of words that belongs to a

branch of knowledge or known by an individuals. It can be made up of a single
word or more than a word, which is used to express a single idea or sets or ideas.

II.1.2. Classification of vocabulary

Vocabulary is extensively used to express ideas or thought of individuals;
therefore, it varies depending on the situations or contexts. In different cases, it is
advisable for the users to apply different types of vocabulary. To gain a clear look
and have an appropriate of vocabulary, it is not impossible to offer a vocabulary
distinction.
II.1.2.1. According to the communicative area of use
Cummins (1999) classifies vocabulary into four different types as follow:
The first type is reading vocabulary, which refers to the all words an individual can
recognize when reading a text.
Listening vocabulary comprises all the words an individual can recognize listening
Another type is writing vocabulary which includes all the words an individual can
employ in writing.
Last but not least, speaking vocabulary refers to all the words an individual can
used in speech.
II.1.2.2 According to the way people get and create the language
Nations (2001) points out two concepts to classify vocabulary according to the
way people get and create the language. From his view, vocabulary consists of two
types: receptive vocabulary and productive vocabulary. Receptive vocabulary
refers to the way people acquire the word (input); it includes reading and listening.
He suggests that the student can learn different words in different contexts.
However, it does not mean that when the student finds the word in different
context, he can understand the different meanings which that word could have. On
the contrary, the term productive vocabulary refers to how a person can produce a
word through speaking or writing.
II.1.2.3. According to the frequency of use

In second language learning, some words are useful than others (Nations, 2001,
p.9). In other words, the frequency of second language words is divergent. Basing
on the frequency level, Cater (1987) categorizes vocabulary into four kinds: highfrequency words, academic words, technical frequency words, and low-frequency
words. He also emphasizes the importance of high-frequency words, as Nations
(2001) did. A small of high-frequency words may cover a very large proportion of
the running words in spoken and written texts with up to 80 percent of encounters
that can be seen (Cater, 1987). On the other hand, low-frequency words, or rare
words, occur very infrequently and take more time to recognize than highfrequency ones. Technical vocabulary consists of words and phrases that are
primarily used in specific lines of work or profession; in contrast, academic
vocabulary is critical to understanding the concepts of the content taught in
schools.
II.1.3. Vocabulary knowledge
II.1.3.1. Aspects of vocabulary to be learnt
Vocabulary is a multi-faceted aspect of language, so language acquisition is not
simple as some people believe. Lewis (1997) indicates that language consists of
not traditional grammar and vocabulary but often of multiword prefabricated
chunks. He specifies that chunks include collocations, fixed and semi-fixed
expressions and idioms occupy a crucial role in facilitating language production
being the key to fluency. Schmitt (2000) believes that at the most basic level,
meaning [of a word] consists of the relationship between the word and its referent
(the person, the thing, action and condition) (p. 22). As a result, language should
not be learnt in isolation.
Richards (1976) was considered the first author who offered a list of different
types of vocabulary knowledge. Schmitt (2000) also itemizes vocabulary
knowledge. He proposes that knowing a word includes knowing the meaning, the
written, the spoken form, the grammatical behavior, the collocation of the word.

Furthermore, the learners should increase their understanding of the register, the
associations and the frequency of the word so that they could use the word
appropriately in different situations.
The list of aspects of vocabulary to be learnt made by Gairns (1986) is favorable
in this paper, which is illustrated as follow:
II.1.3.1.1.Form (spelling and pronunciation)
According to Ur (1996), when learning aspects of vocabulary, the prerequisite
thing that students have to learn the word form, including the spelling and the
pronunciation. It is necessary for students to recognize what a word looks like and
what a word sounds like.
II.1.3.1.2. Grammar
The grammar of the new word should be learnt, as an item could change its form
unpredictably in certain grammatical contexts or idiosyncratically connect with
other words in sentences (Le and Thai, 2007). When learning the verb, for
example, students are advised to know the past form of the verb, if this is regular
(play, played) or irregular (go, went). Besides, students need to note whether the
verb is a transitive or intransitive. Similarly, learning a noun is expected to know
the plural form, if irregular (tooth, teeth) or it has no plural at all (love,
homework).
II.1.3.1.3. Collocation
Collocation is a term used to refer to a groups of words that belong together,
either because they commonly occur together like take a chance or because the
meaning of the group is not obvious from the parts, for example, by the way or
take someone in. (Nations, 2001, p.317) Language consists of a wide range of
familiar combinations; therefore, collocation may be worth learning because it
could make a particular combination sound right or wrong in a given context.

Learning collocation, as Hill (as cited in Lewis) states, facilitates learners

thinking, leading more fluidity when communicating in spoken and written
language (p54-55).
II.1.3.1.4. Meaning
II.1.3.1.4.1. Denotation
Denotation is primarily what the word refers to in the real life. It is also the
definition given in a dictionary (Ur, 1999)
II.1.3.1.4.2. Connotation
Connotation is considered a less obvious component meaning of a new item which
is understood the association, or positive or negative feeling of what it evokes,
which may, or may not be indicated in a dictionary definition. (Le and Thai, 2007)
II.1.3.1.4.3. Formality/ Appropriateness
It is also necessary for the learners to know whether a certain word is more
suitably used in formal or informal discourse, in writing or in speech. This requires
them to have understanding of the formality of the word.
II.1.3.1.4.4. Meaning relationships
Another aspect of meaning of the word refers to meaning relationships which
indicate how the word relates to the meaning of others. There are various
relationships in which synonyms, antonyms, hyponyms, super-ordinates and
translation equivalents can be mentioned as the main ones (Le and Thai, 2007).
Synonyms are items that mean the same or nearly the same while antonyms refer
items that mean the opposite. For example, love, adore, be fond of something are
the synonyms of like while hate, dislike are the antonyms of the word.
Hyponyms are items that serve as specific examples of a general concept; by
contrast, super-ordinates are general concepts that cover specific items. Chicken,

dog and buffalo are hyponyms of animal; by contrast, animal is the super-ordinate
of chicken, dog and buffalo.
Translation equivalents are the words and expressions in the learners mother
tongue that has (more or less) equivalent in meaning to the item being learnt.
II.1.3.1.5. Word formation
Last but not least, knowing how the word is formed is certainly useful information
for English learners. There are various kinds of word formation namely prefixes,
suffixes, clipping, conversion, compounding, blending and acronyms.
II.1.3.2. Stages to acquire vocabulary knowledge
As discussed above, vocabulary knowledge is a complex concept and there are
many cases that a word has different forms and meanings. Consequently, the
knowledge of vocabulary cannot be acquired in a certain short time, but be learnt
gradually over a long period of time. Mastering aspects of vocabulary of a
language is a challenging task and has to be taken in different stages. The extent of
knowledge about individual words, which a person can possess, ranges from a
little to a lot, as the description of five stages Dale (1989, as cited in Mukoroli,
2011).
At first, the student has no knowledge about the word. He has no idea of what the
word looks like or how the word is pronounced.
After that, the student has a general sense of the word. He learns its spelling, its
pronunciation and its meaning, for instance.
Next, the student has a narrow, context-bound knowledge about the word. He has
the first understanding of how the word can be used in some situations. For
example, he can use the word to make a sentence.
The student has a basic knowledge of the word and is able to use it in many
appropriate situations. In other words, the student understands aspects of the word

more deeply and can be able to use it appropriately for many communicative
purposes.
Finally, the student has a rich, de-contextualized knowledge of the word and can
use it in various appropriate situations.
In conclusion, knowing a word is not an all or nothing situation. Vocabulary
knowledge consists of different factors and rises to much challenge of leaning.
Nevertheless, problems of vocabulary learning may be totally dealt with if
effective teaching and learning strategies are applied.
II.1.3. Importance of vocabulary in language learning
Firstly, vocabulary exerts a great influence on the constructing and performing of
other aspects of language. According to Cook (1991, as cited in Tezi, 2006),
grammar provides the overall patterns, but vocabulary is the materials put in these
patterns; therefore, without words, grammatical items are meaningless (Tezi,
2006, p.52). In addition, without some vocabulary knowledge, neither language
production nor comprehension would be possible (Mukoroli, 2011, p.8). When we
think of language as a building, the words are the stones that will make the
building.
Furthermore, the importance of vocabulary is greatly stressed in using language
for communicative purposes. Tezi (2006) claims that lexicon is a source of
communication, so without sufficient vocabulary knowledge, communication is
difficult. Widdowson (1987) thinks that native speakers can understand 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 (as cited in
Xia, 2010). Accordingly, Wilkins (1997) states that without grammar, very little
can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be convey (p.111). It can be
inferred from Wilkinss statement that vocabulary is greater of significance than
grammar to a considerable extent and this corresponds with Gowers perspective
in Teaching Practice: vocabulary is important to students it is more important
than grammar for communication purposes. Similarly, McCarthy (1990) believes

that No matter how well students learns grammar, no how successfully the
sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wide range of meanings,
communication in a L2 just cannot happen in an meaningful way (p.1). He
exemplified his idea by a very clear example of the situation when a foreigner
would like to find the way to go to the post office. The foreigner is supposed to ask
I post office where? It is believed that the communication would still be
recognized in this case even though his question lacks grammar.
In general, to start learning a new language, building up of a good vocabulary is
certainly the first and most important step. Lexical competence is essential to
language achievement (Gu, 2003), the superior filed of language learning
(Thornbury, as cited in Nguyen, 2010) and the heart of communicative
competence (Shen, 2003).
II.2. An overview of vocabulary learning strategies
According to Lord (1983), vocabulary is by far the most sizeable and
unmanageable component in the learning of any language. (p.83) Vocabulary
learning never stops because new words are being coined daily and old words are
assuming new meanings. To develop vocabulary competence, many learners
attempt to seek for appropriate and helpful strategies for their vocabulary learning.
Prior to investigating vocabulary learning strategies used by freshmen in F.O.E,
HNUE, it is vital to have a general look at the term of vocabulary learning
strategies.
II.2.1. Definition of learning strategies
Learning strategies are simply understood by some people as intended plans,
behaviors and steps that learners used to achieve their purposes in learning. In
terms of perspectives of scholars, in Mayers study, learning strategies were
defined as behaviors of a learner that are intended to influence how the learner
processes information (as cited in Lessard-Clouston, 1997). In a foreign language

learning in general and vocabulary learning in particular, a learning strategy is

thought to be the key to open the door of comprehending, memorizing and using
new words.
II.2.2. Definition of vocabulary learning strategies
Actually, many researchers have placed big concern on vocabulary since the late
1980s (Nations, 1990). Via studies conducted on different leaner subjects,
researchers realizes that second language learners face many difficulties, both
receptive and productive, in mastering sufficient vocabulary. Vocabulary is one of
the main parts of any language; consequently, it can be said that vocabulary
learning strategies is consider a subcategory in the framework of language
strategies.
A general definition is given by Cameron (2001), which defines vocabulary
learning strategies as actions that learners take to help themselves understand and
remember vocabulary.
Brown and Payne (1994) identifies five steps in the process of learning vocabulary
in a foreign language: (1) having sources for encountering new words, (2) getting
a clear image, either visual or auditory or both, of the forms of the new words, (3)
learning the meaning of the words, (4) making a strong memory connection
between the forms and the meaning of the words and (5) using the words (as cited
in Hamzah et al, 2009).
Hamzah et al (2009) proposes a view of vocabulary learning strategies from three
different angles. First, a vocabulary learning strategy, very broadly speaking,
refers to any action taken by the learner to aid the learning process of new
vocabulary. Second, a vocabulary learning strategy could be related to only such
actions which improve the efficiency of vocabulary learning. Hence, it can be
accepted that some of learning strategies employed by poor learners do not
extremely benefit their learning process. Last but not least, a vocabulary learning

strategy might be connected to conscious (as opposed to unconscious) actions

taken by the learner in order to study new words.
Furthermore, Hamzah et al (2009) states that vocabulary learning strategies are
various. A strategy that works well for one student may completely fail with
another and sometimes, a strategy may demonstrate different effectiveness in
concrete learning situations. Hence, it is necessary for learners to build up an
intensive awareness of good and efficient strategies so that they could select the
most suitable learning strategies.
II.2.3. Classification of vocabulary learning strategies
Although vocabulary learning strategies are a relatively new area of second
language study, many researchers have tried to propose a detailed description of
strategy distinction. Via empirical research, a wide range of classifications of
vocabulary learning strategies have been noted.
II.2.3.1. Gu and Johnsons (1996) classification
Gu and Johnson (1996) report that second language vocabulary learning strategies
are made up of four categories: metacognitive, cognitive, memory and activation
strategies. Metacognitive strategies include selective attention and self-initiation
strategies, which are used to identify important words for the adequate
comprehension of a passage and make vocabulary items clear. Cognitive strategies
consist of three sub-categories: guessing, use of dictionaries and note-taking
strategies. Memory strategies are divided into rehearsal strategies and encoding
strategies while activation strategies refer to the use of new words in different
contexts.
II.2.3.2. Nations (2001) classification
Nations (2001) suggests a taxonomy of various vocabulary learning strategies.
Basing on the theory, three broad categories of vocabulary learning strategies

namely planning, sources, and processes, are purely adopted without any research
result. Each of these categories is divided into a subset of key strategies, which is
illustrated as follow:
Figure 1: TAXONOMY OF VOCABULARY LEARNING STRATEGIES BY
NATIONS (2001)
General Class of Strategies
Planning: choosing what to focus on
When to focus on it

Types of Strategies
Choosing words
Choosing the aspects of word knowledge
Choosing strategies
Planning repetition

Sources: finding information about words

Analyzing the word

Using context
Consulting a reference source in L1 and L2
Using parallels in L1 and L2

Processes: establishing knowledge

Noticing
Retrieving
Generating

II.2.3.3. Schmitts (1997) classification

The most applicable classification of vocabulary learning is the taxonomy
proposed by Schmitt (1997), which is widely used as the basis for different
studies. Schmitts list of vocabulary learning strategies is represented in the table
below. is represented in the table below.

There are two dimensions of second language vocabulary learning strategies can
be derived from this taxonomy: discovery and consolidation strategies which
distinguish the strategies that learners use to determine the meaning of new words
when they first encounter them from the ones they use to consolidate meanings
when they encounter the words again (as cited in Hamzal et al, 2009). It can be
easily seen that Schmitt adopted four categories (Metacognitive, Cognitive,
Memory and Social) from Oxfords (1990) six language learning strategies and
simultaneously add Determination as a new category in his study. These five
categories are generalized by Asgari and Mustapha (2011) in English Language
Teaching.

The first category is determination strategies which are considered individual

learning strategies used for discovery of a new words meaning.
Social strategies are used to learn new words through interactions with others.
Memory strategies include ones that whereby learners link their learning of new
words to mental processing by associating their existing or background knowledge
with the new words
Cognitive strategies do not engage learners in mental processing but is more
mechanical means.
Metacognitive strategies belong to the last category which consists of strategies
related to processes involved in monitoring, decision-making, and evaluation of
ones progress.
Involving in these five categories are 58 strategies used for discovering,
consolidating, memorizing, using the word. The number of strategies which
belongs to the memory category accounts for the largest.
II.3. An overview of vocabulary journal keeping strategy
Graves (2006) claims that building a basic vocabulary of the most frequent
English words is one of the most critical skills for English language learners.
Mukoroli (2011) declares that recording the words that they learn or encounter is
of great importance, for once the target vocabulary is documented, it is more easily
leant and remembered. A vocabulary record could serves as a useful reference
source that can be used in or out of the classroom, so keeping a record is highly
recommended for every learner. In Schmitts Taxonomy of Vocabulary Learning
Strategies (2000), keeping a vocabulary notebook is regarded as one of the
cognitive learning strategies that help to repeat and use mechanical means to learn
vocabulary.
II.3.1. Definition of a journal

The word journal has been derived from the French word jour, which means
day in English. Thus, journal means daily.
In Oxford Advanced Leaners Dictionary Online, a journal is defined as:
(1) A newspaper or magazine that deals with a particular subject or professional
activity.
(2) A daily record of news and events of a personal nature; a diary.
Moreover, Jon Klug (2002) provided a vivid and interesting description of a
journal. He said:
A journal is also a tool for self-discovery, an aid to concentration, a mirror for
the soul, a place to generate and capture ideas, a safety valve for the emotions, a training
ground for the writer, and a good friend and confidant. (p.1)

In term of the physical form, journal presents different types. A journal could be
bound notebook, a ring binder full of papers, a collection of electrical particles on
computer disk or an audio tape.
In short, it can be summarized that a journal is a personal daily book that records
the thoughts, observations and experiences of the writer. People use journals in
different ways and for different purposes. In journaling, there are no rules, no
rights or wrongs. Writing a journal just means that you are reflecting and sharing
what you think, what you feel and what you experience from your real life.
III.1.2. Comparison of a vocabulary journal and vocabulary notebook
In Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, journal is defined as a written record
of the things you do, see, etc. while the term notebook refers to a small book of
plain papers for writing notes in.

According to Fowle (2002), a vocabulary notebook is a notebook kept by each

learner specifically for the purpose of recording new and useful lexical items
(p.380-381). This definition is specified by Walters & Bozkurt (2009), who
define vocabulary notebook as a kind of personal dictionary that learners use to
record the words they encounter, along with their meanings and any other aspects
of the word deemed important, such as part of speech, other word forms,
collocates, synonyms, antonyms, and perhaps a context sentence. (p.404)
Regarding the form, Schmitt and Schmitt (1995) suggest that vocabulary notebook
should be arranged in a loose-leaf binder, an index card binder, or on cards.
Rosado and Lazaro (2012) propose three kinds of material to make a vocabulary
notebook which are sheets of paper, index cards and electronic documents.
Comparing with the definition of journal discussed above, it can be concluded that
a vocabulary journal and a vocabulary notebook are similar to a large extent. First,
there is a little room for doubt that both a vocabulary notebook and vocabulary
journal are forms of note-taking that students carry out with elements of word.
Students use them as means of recording and consolidating in order to improve
their understanding of new and useful vocabulary items. As regards the form, both
vocabulary journal and notebook can be a ring binder of papers, cards or electronic
documents. In this paper, the term vocabulary journal and vocabulary
notebook can be used interchangeably.
II.3.3. Format of a vocabulary journal
II.3.3.1. Materials to make a vocabulary journal
A vocabulary journal is generally understood as a small book of plain paper for
writing vocabulary new words in. However, the form of journal could vary due to
the use of the learner.
Schmitt and Schmitt (1995) propose a format of a vocabulary notebook.
First of all, they suggest that the vocabulary notebook should be arranged in a
loose-leaf binder, an index card binder, or on cards which are kept in a box.

Indeed, notebooks do not need to be big and heavy. Notebooks can be designed
with cards or binders, so this may help learners to add new words, or get rid of
them. According to Schmitt and Schmitt (1995), these formats are advantageous
over traditional bound notebooks because the pages can be taken out and moved
around to facilitate expanding rehearsal; pages with better-known words can be
put further back in the binder, and lesser known words put towards the front.
(p.137) Rosado and Lazaro (2012) add electronic documents as another favorable
material to make vocabulary notebooks. He argues that this material is commonly
chosen by some of students because they appear to feel more comfortable
compiling their vocabulary electronically with colors and technological resources.
II.3.3.2. Format of a vocabulary journal entry
Schmitt and Schmitt (1995) mentions possible information that could be included
in a vocabulary journal entry such as: an L1 translation, an L2 definition ,
collocations, keyword illustration, stylistic note, part of speech, pronunciation,
example sentence, derivative information, semantic map. Thus, Schmitt and
Schmitt (1995) suggest that students should cover aspects of word in a vocabulary
journal entry. They also propose some possible ways to define and explain new
words, namely making sentences and making semantic maps.
Additionally, a vocabulary journal worksheet can be found in Childs (1999),
which is illustrated as follows:

Figure 2: A format vocabulary journal entry suggested by Childs (1999)

II.3.4. Effectiveness of notebook keeping in vocabulary learning
The effectiveness of notebook keeping strategy has been highlighted by many
researchers (Schmitt and Schmitt, 1995; Fowle, 2002, Rosado and Lazaro).
Schmitt and Schmitt (1995) claim that journal keeping strategy plays an important
role in enhancing vocabulary learning. They state that new words need to be
recycled regularly to be learnt and one method to do this is to have students go
back and fill the above kinds of information on a scheduled basis. (p.8)

Vocabulary notebooks were seen as one way of helping students to engage more
meaningfully with the new words that they were being exposed to in their
language learning experiences. The more energy a person expends when
manipulating and thinking about a word, the more likely it is that they will be able
to recall and use it later (Fowle, 2002, p381).
Fowle (2002) has conducted a study on the implementation and outcomes of
vocabulary notebooks in a language center in Thailand and the results reveals that
using vocabulary notebooks encourages learners to use different learning
strategies. His study shows that in spite of the fact that keeping a vocabulary
notebook is listed as a single vocabulary learning strategy in Schmitts (1997)
taxonomy, the very act of keeping a vocabulary notebook will involve the practice
of a variety of different vocabulary learning strategies because students use
multiple determination strategies to discover meaning and other aspects of
unknown words. To be more specific, they may use monolingual or bilingual
dictionaries, guess from context, or seek the help of teachers or classmates.
Consolidation strategies, such as using dictionaries, inferring meaning from
context, asking teacher for clarifications, are also used when adding to the
information in the notebook, and when studying new words in the notebook, as
students could return to the notebook to retrieve words, use the words in classroom
activities, and share their words with their classmates. The memory strategies
utilized include connecting the word to synonyms and antonyms, using semantic
maps, grouping words together, using new words in a sentence, studying the
spelling of a word, studying parts of speech, and paraphrasing them. As a result,
vocabulary notebooks offer learners the chance to expand their use of vocabulary
learning strategies, and they have the potential to enhance vocabulary learning.
Furthermore, the findings of Fowles (2002) study indicate that vocabulary journal
keeping can act as an effective tool to promote learner independence. Students are
responsible for selecting the vocabulary recorded, and deciding the organization,
the ways to define and explains words as well as how much effort they put into

their own learning. Correspondingly, students become autonomous because they

have to worry about the word they want to learn.
II.3.5. Related studies on vocabulary notebook keeping strategy.
.

Chapter III: METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides a detailed description of the methodology, which is divided

into three sections. Section I begins with a description of the participants,
including the teachers and students. Section II follows with the description of
research instruments employed to collect the data for the study.

Section III

presents the data collection procedure of the study.

III.1. Participants
III.1.1. Students
Seventy freshmen, including 64 females and 6 males, in class 62A, 62B and 62C
at F.O.E, HNUE are chosen to be the participants of the study. The vast majority of
these students have learnt English for at least 8 years. Nearly almost students in
class 62A and 62B are believed at the Pre-intermediate level in English
proficiency while those in class 62C appear to be at the Elementary level. The
reason why the researcher chooses these students as the target population of the
paper is that they are the first-year students, who mostly have learnt English for at
least seven years. Thus, they have acquired certain background knowledge of
vocabulary as well as considerable experience in learning vocabulary.
Furthermore, these students have the first semester to undergo new vocabulary
teaching and learning methods at F.O.E, which is different from those at their high
schools to a large extent. The difference in the learning environments and
requirements is believed a crucial factor to force these freshmen to explore and try
out different methods of learning vocabulary and this is hoped to support the
purpose of the study.
II.1.2. Teachers
In addition to collecting the responses from freshmen, the opinions of the teachers
on vocabulary learning are also highly appreciated. Six teachers who are currently
teaching freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE are selected to take part in the interviews of
the research. Half of these teachers have received the Masters degree of Art in

English while the others will be finishing their masters course by the end of this
year. The first three teachers have taught freshmen in F.O.E, HNUE for over four
years while the rest teachers have teaching experience of two years. With such
English teaching qualifications and experiences, these teachers are believed to give
the researcher reliable responses.
III.2. Data collection instruments
Questionnaires, interviews, and classroom observations, followed by notebook
collection, are considered effective and practical tools for the researchers to find
out the answers for the research questions. Using survey questionnaires, interviews
and observations may bring a combination of quantitative and qualitative in this
research, which give the researcher reliable results.
III.2.1. Survey questionnaire
III.2.1.1. Reasons for using questionnaire
It can be said that questionnaires is the most common instrument used to in
gathering data for a research because of its low cost, its flexibility and its
feasibility. In this case, questionnaire is a good choice because they allow the
researchers to economically assemble information from a variety of people in
variety of situation targeting a variety of topics (Dornyei, 2003, p.8). As a result,
the researchers will take just about several minutes of class time but possibly
collect a wide range of information from a large group of students.
III.2.1.2. Description of survey questionnaire
The survey questionnaire used in the thesis includes 18 closed-questions which are
divided in to three parts:
Part 1 consists of the first questions used to gather information about students
experience in learning English in general.

Part 2 includes the next four questions that are about to investigate the students
opinion on the importance of vocabulary learning, what vocabulary they learn and
how they learn it.
Part 3 comprises the last ten questions which are intended to explore students
opinions on using notebook keeping in their vocabulary learning. In this category,
the question number 6 is a Yes-No question which is used to investigate whether
students have used journal keeping in their learning vocabulary. For those choose
the answer Yes, they are required to answer the questions from number 7 to 14
about experiences and attitudes in using vocabulary journals. For those who have
not used vocabulary journal keeping strategy yet, they are required to answer the
question number 15 to indicate their reasons why they do not use it.
III.2.2. Interviews
III.2.2.1. Reasons for using interviews
Interviews, as one of methodological tools of qualitative research, are adopted in
this paper to seek in depth and to clarify some vague information provided from
survey questionnaires. Moreover, interviews are appropriate for investigate
phenomena which cannot be directly observed (Gass & Mackey, 2005). In the
same time, because the interviews are interactive, they enable the researcher to
elicit data if initial answers are vague, incomplete, off-topic, or not specific
enough (Gass & Mackey, 2005, p.173), or to clarify terms that are unclear for
interviewees to receive expected information. Teachers, who are well-qualified
and enthusiastic, will be willing to provide real materials for the study.
III.2.2.2. Description of interviews
The interview totally consists of 12 questions which is used to gather teachers
opinions on their experiences and their attitudes towards using journal keeping in
learning vocabulary, which are also divided into 3 parts:

Part 1 includes seven questions to interview all the six teachers participating in the
study.
Part 2 is made up of three questions to interview the teachers who have used
journal keeping in their vocabulary teaching.
Part 3 is the two questions used to interview teachers who have not used
vocabulary journal before.
III.2.3. Classroom observations
III.2.3.1. Reasons for using class observations
It is said that seeing means believing. Hence, on this paper, direct class
observation is significantly regarded because it can help the researcher
continuously capture what students actually do in their vocabulary lessons at class.
Thanks to that, the researcher could directly record vocabulary strategies used and
check whether vocabulary journal keeping strategy is employed by freshmen at
class.
III.2.3.2. Description of class observation sheet
The class observation sheet is designed to investigate the frequency of aspects of
vocabulary is learnt and the frequency of vocabulary learning strategies are
commonly used at class by freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE.
III.4. Data collection procedure
During the first week of the semester 2, survey questionnaires are delivered to all
freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE. The instruction will be also given to assist the
respondents in giving their answers objectively. Students will circle one or more
appropriate options or tick (v) the appropriate boxes for 15 closed-questions. They
will be encouraged to answer entire questions in order that the researchers may
achieve expected information. Then, all survey questionnaires will be gathered

carefully for analyzing data later. Besides, direct class observations will be
conducted during the ten weeks. The researcher observes how vocabulary is learnt
at class by freshmen, which strategies are applied and the frequency of those
strategies. Simultaneously, the six teachers will be invited to take part in the
interviews on different occasions in the first two weeks. Each teacher will be
asked to answer from nine to ten interview questions, which are designed to
explore the teachers attitudes and experiences towards learning English
vocabulary and applying journal keeping strategy in English vocabulary learning.
Opened-ended questions that allow teachers to elaborate on the technique and
clarify the process of instruction will be used. All the teachers statements will be
recorded during the interview. The time and date of the interview will be also
recorded. In the development stage, the researchers will control the content of the
interview and explain more specifically about the questions to receive needed
answers. Finally, at the end of the tenth weeks, all vocabulary journals made by
students from the three classes will be collected. These vocabulary journals are
esteemed as the strong evidence for the responses the researcher receive through
questionnaires, and interviews.
III.5. Summary
To sum up, this chapter has given a description of the subjects of the study, the
data collection instruments employed, and the data collection procedure of the
research. Although each data collection instrument has its own strengths as
weakness, their combination would help to attain the objective and reliable data.

Chapter IV: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter presents an analysis of the findings of the study, followed by the
interpretations and recommendations for using journal keeping strategy in
vocabulary learning.

IV.1. Findings
IV.1.1. Current situation of vocabulary learning among freshmen at F.O.E,
HNUE
IV.1.1.1. Students and teachers opinions on the importance of vocabulary
learning

100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree

Figure 6a: Students opinions on the importance of vocabulary learning

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10

Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neutral
Agree
Strongly agree

Figure 6b: Teachers opinions on the importance of vocabulary learning

Figure 6a shows that students attitudes towards the importance of vocabulary
learning are rather positive. Much more than half of students surveyed agree that
vocabulary learning plays a very important role in their English learning while
nearly four-fifths of them strongly agree that vocabulary learning is of importance.
There are a small number of students, accounting for 7%, who hold on the opinion
that vocabulary learning is quite important and none of them consider it
unimportant at all.
As regards the pie chart figure 6b, it is clearly seen that the teachers share the same
opinions with the majority of students. One-third of teachers interviewed strongly
agree that vocabulary is of great importance. The majority of these teachers claim
that vocabulary plays an important role and unsurprisingly, all of them disagree
that vocabulary learning is quite important or unimportant at all.

To sum up, it can be concluded that vocabulary is highly appreciated by nearly

almost students and teachers at F.O.E, HNUE. Interviewed about the reasons,
students share that vocabulary learning provides a great help in improving their
English skills, especially speaking and writing. These students suppose that having
a wide range of vocabulary can make English learning easier and more effective.
Similarly, teachers declare that vocabulary plays a crucial role in learning success.
They compare vocabulary words to the materials in writing and speaking as well
as the clues in reading and listening.
IV.1.1.2. Students opinions on time consumption in vocabulary learning per
day

Students' opinions on time consumption in vocabulary learning per day

17%

7%
27%

49%

Less than 15 minutes

15 minutes - 30 minutes
30 minutes - 1 hour
More than 1 hour

Figure 7: Students opinions on time consumption in vocabulary learning per

day
The pie chart indicates the students opinions on the amount of time they spend on
learning vocabulary each day.
According to the chart, there is a difference in the time consumption in vocabulary
learning among students surveyed. Evidently, nearly half of participants spend
from thirty minutes to an hour learning vocabulary. More than a quarter of them

devote from fifteen minutes to thirty minutes to deal with new words. Nearly onefifth of students learn vocabulary for more than an hour, while the number of
students who less than fifteen minutes accounts for the least.
Comparing with the results analyzed from the figure 1a and 1b, it can be said that
vocabulary is highly appreciated by teachers and students at F.O.E, HNUE;
however, the amount of time spent vocabulary learning is not extremely high. The
possible reason for this case may be that vocabulary learning is not now taught
independently, but in the integration with other skills such as listening, speaking,
reading and writing. Accordingly, students do not have much time to concentrate
on vocabulary at class. Instead, they have to spent time to review it at home.
Furthermore, learning English is not merely learning vocabulary at all; therefore,
students have to invest time in other English components, such as pronunciation
and grammar and skills namely listening, speaking, reading and writing. Besides,
it cannot be denied that some students, as they share in the interviews, are not
interested in learning vocabulary even though they are aware of the significance of
vocabulary to their English learning.
IV.1.1.3 Students opinions on the frequency of aspects of vocabulary to be
learnt at home
Frequency (%)
Aspects of vocabulary
1. Form

3a. Denotation
3b. Connotation
3c. Formality/

28.6
44.3
17.1
20.0
0.0
0.0

37.1
24.3
32.9
45.7
4.3
2.9

17.1
14.3
22.9
18.6
14.3
14.3

12.9
10.0
17.1
11.4
31.4
27.1

4.3
5.7
10.0
4.3
41.4
50

0.0
1.4
0.0
0.0
8.6
7.1

Appropriateness
3d. Meaning

4.3

20.0

31.4

35.7

8.6

0.0

1a. Spelling
1b. Pronunciation

2. Grammar

3. Meaning

relationships
4. Collocation
5. Word
5.Affixes
6. Others
formation

11.4
10.0
2.9

22.9
21.4
11.4

30.0
34.3
17.1

20.0
20.0
34.3

10.0
14.3
30.0

1.4
0.0
2.9

Table 2: Students opinions on the frequency of aspects of vocabulary to be

learnt at home
(1) Always

(4) Sometimes

(2) Usually

(5) Rarely

(3) Often

(6) Never

As the table reveals, there was a big difference in the frequency of learning aspects
of vocabulary in freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE.
Obviously illustrated from the table above, the form of words (spelling and
pronunciation) and grammatical patterns are the more popular choices to be learnt
by the first-year students at F.O.E, HNUE. Among the 70 freshmen responding to
the survey questionnaire, nearly half of them reply that they always learn
pronunciation and approximately a quarter usually learn it. More than three-fifths
of students are interested in learning the grammar frequently and the same
situation happens to collocation. Noticeably, there is an enormous variation in the
frequency of learning aspects of word meaning and word formation. In learning
the meaning of the word; for example, denotation is the aspect attracting students
attention largely while connotation and formality are not greatly focused on. To be
specific, one fifth of students always and nearly half of them usually learn
denotation while connotation and formality are rarely learnt by nearly half of
students surveyed. In word formation, it is obvious that learning affixes of words
is much more favorable than the others namely compounding, clipping and
blending.

The differences in the frequency of aspects of vocabulary to be learnt may be

explained by the students characteristics and learning situations. It is clearly seen
that freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE have just graduated from high schools where the
grammar-translation teaching approach is widely-used. In this teaching method,
the form and the meaning of the word is greatly paid attention to while the use of
the word is likely neglected. As a result, these freshmen, with only a semester to
learn at the university, could not be familiar with new learning approaches which
stress on the use of a word such as collocation, formality and meaning
relationships. Moreover, the reason for the high frequency of learning
pronunciation of word may be pronunciation practice and plus speaking are new
main subjects at the university in the first semester; therefore, students tend to
learn how to pronounce the word frequently in order to improve their English
learning success
IV.1.1.4. Students and teachers opinions on the most frequently used
strategies in vocabulary
120
100Asking the teacher for L1 translation

Using dictionaries

80

Guesing from contexts

Analyzing words (parts of speech, affixes,etc)

60
40Using learning techniques

Keeping a vocabulary notebook

20

Others
0

Students

Teachers

Figure 8: Students and teachers opinions on the most frequently used

strategies in vocabulary learning
Students opinions on using different strategies for learning vocabulary items vary
quite a lot in the chart.
As can be clearly seen, students and teachers have nearly the same opinions on the
most frequently used strategies in vocabulary learning. The majority of students
involved in the research claim to use dictionaries as the most popular strategy.
This idea is totally approved by 100% of teachers in the interview. The strategy of
keeping a vocabulary notebook belongs to the second place when nearly half of
students and more than five of six teachers polled agree to use it frequently.
Guessing from context appears to be frequently used by approximately two-fifths
of students and the same situation happens to the strategy of asking the teacher for
the L1 translation. On being asked about the reasons why asking teachers for L1
translation, some students participating in the research reveal that they, as new
students at FOE, are hesitant to ask teachers for the Vietnamese meaning of the
word because they are still shy and not confident enough to raise their voice at
class. Unsurprisingly, using vocabulary techniques, such as newspapers,
magazines, flashcards, etc. is not really appealing to students. These students
confirm that although using techniques could bring about positive outcomes in
vocabulary learning, they do not have chance to apply this strategy because of the
lack of techniques. The least commonly used strategy falls on analyzing words
(24% of students and 17% of teachers) because students do not have enough
understanding of word formation. Additionally, some other strategies are also paid
attention to, namely making sentences or dialogues and listening to English media.
IV.1.2. Current situation of using vocabulary journal keeping strategy among
freshmen at FOE, HNUE

IV.1.2.1. Students opinions on the experience in using vocabulary journal

keeping strategy

Students' opinions on the experience in using vocabulary notebook keeping strategy

24%

Students who Have Ever Used

Students who Have Never Used

76%

Figure 9: Students opinions on the experience in using vocabulary journal

keeping strategy
The data collected from survey questionnaires reveal that out of 70 students
involved in the research, three-quarters say that they have ever kept a journal in
their vocabulary learning. Meanwhile, the rest a quarter have never used this kind
of learning strategy before.
From interviewing these students, it can be explained that students, who are
interested in learning English, tend to have a small journal to record everything
new they encounter in their learning, including new words. Furthermore, when
they were in the first semester at F.O.E, HNUE, some of them, especially those
from class 62A and 62B, were required to make a glossary, which is another type
of a vocabulary journal, by their teachers. On the other hand, some students in
C62C are still quite unfamiliar with the term vocabulary journal.
The current situation of using vocabulary journal keeping strategy in freshmen at
F.O.E, HNUE is apparently illustrated by the following results.

IV.1.2.2. Students opinions on the frequency of using vocabulary journal

keeping strategy

Students' opinions on the frequency of using vocabulary journal keeping strategy

8%

8%
15%

Always

Usually
42%

Often

Sometimes

Rarely

28%

Figure 10: Students opinion on the frequency of using vocabulary journal

keeping strategy
The pie chart describes how frequently vocabulary journals are kept by freshmen
at FOE, HNUE.
The result from surveying students who have ever used vocabulary journal
keeping strategy shows that this kind of strategy is always often used by about a
very small number of students (with 8%). These students say that they always take
their journals with them for every English lesson so that they could pick up and
note down the newly learned lexical items. More than one-fourth of students
(28%) claim that they, not always and usually, but often use vocabulary journal
keeping strategy for their learning. By contrast, up to about half of freshmen say
that they do not want to bring their own journal keeping every time or often. They
confess that they generally forget to edit their notebooks at home and only do it
when their teachers requires. There are a very small proportion of students (8%)
who rarely use a journal in their vocabulary learning.

In conclusion, it can be said that vocabulary journal keeping is quite widely used
by freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE. However, the frequency of using this strategy is not
really high in general.
IV.1.2.3. Students opinions on time consumption in editing vocabulary
journals

Students' opinions on time consumption editing vocabulary journals

Less than 15 minutes

11%
17%
15
minutes - 30
minutes

30 minutes - 1 hour
26%

More than 1 hour

45%

Figure 11: Students opinions on time consumption in editing their vocabulary

journals
The pie chart presents the students opinions on time consumption in editing
vocabulary journals among freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE.
Generally, it is clearly shown that the majority of students spent over thirty
minutes editing their vocabulary journals, with more than three-fifths of students.
To be more specific, while the majority of students, which accounts for 45%,

devote from thirty minutes to an hour to their journals. There are about nearly onefifth of students editing vocabulary journals for more than an hour. The percentage
of students who spent less than fifteen minutes working with journals accounts for
the least, with only 8% in total.
To summarize, it can be concluded that the time spent on editing vocabulary
journals varies considerably among students surveyed. This may be due to the fact
that students interests, attitudes and devotion to their vocabulary journals are
different.
IV.1.2.4. Students opinions on aspects of vocabulary involved in their
vocabulary journals
Frequency (%)
Aspects of vocabulary
1. Form
2. Grammar
3. Meaning

3a. Denotation
3b. Connotation
3c. Formality/

77.4
50.9
3.8
26.4
0.0
0.0

22.6
30.2
18.9
50.9
7.5
0.0

0.0
15.1
26.4
17.0
13.2
5.7

0.0
3.8
34
5.7
32.1
20.8

0.0
0.0
11.3
0.0
32.1
52.8

0.0
0.0
5.7
0.0
15.1
20.8

Appropriateness
3d. Meaning

9.4

22.6

26.4

20.8

13.2

1.9

9.4
3.8
0.0

22.6
18.9
0.0

39.6
34.0
7.5

17.0
22.6
20.8

7.5
17.0
52.8

3.8
0.0
18.9

1a. Spelling
1b. Pronunciation

relationships
4. Collocation
5.Word
formation

5a. Affixes
5b. Others

Figure 12: Students opinions on aspects of vocabulary involved in their

vocabulary journals
(1) Always

(4) Sometimes

(2) Usually

(5) Rarely

(3) Often

(6) Never

Following the aspects of vocabulary learnt, this bar chart describes what aspects of
vocabulary are paid attention to in students vocabulary journals.
From the data illustrated in the table, it can be easily seen that the frequency of the
aspects of word recorded in students vocabulary journals is nearly the same with
that to be learnt in vocabulary learning in general. This is understandable that the
most- frequently-learnt aspects of vocabulary in vocabulary journals are the form
(spelling and pronunciation), grammar and the denotation of word. Analyzing the
data collected from survey questionnaire and journal collection, the results present
that all students responding to the study tend to record the spelling of word in their
journals while around fourth-fifths frequently put the word pronunciation and
denotation in. This is explained these students in the interviews that they appear to
note the definition of a new word next to its spelling. Most of students write the
pronunciation down while some of them learn them orally. Collocation is also
another aspect attached a great deal of importance because students are willing to
learn how to use exactly the word in speaking and writing. In addition, the
relationships between words are also noticed to learn by nearly half of students
and the same situation happens to the affixes of word. Unsurprisingly, the
formality of lexical items is the least frequently focused one in vocabulary
journals, following with its frequency as mentioned in the table 2.
In short, it can be concluded that students have tendency to record what they want
to know about a word to support their English learning in their vocabulary
notebooks, the form and the use, for example.
IV.1.2.5. Students opinions on the most frequently used sources to find words
for vocabulary notebooks

100
90
80

Textbooks

Hand-outs

Internet websites

Books, newspapers, magazines

70
60
50
40

Films and video clips

30

Others

20
10
0

Figure 12: Students opinions on the most frequently used sources to find words
for vocabulary notebooks
The bar chart shows some kinds of sources that students often use to find words
for their vocabulary journals.
Clearly, textbook is the most favorable vocabulary source which is followed by
handouts delivered by the teachers. All students surveyed say that they often find
words from the text and more than four-fifths of them claim to use handouts.
Nearly half of freshmen prefer to collect words from Internet websites and the
least frequently used source falls on films and video clips. Some other sources
may include songs, novels and poems.
On being asked about the reason why students tend to prefer textbooks and
handouts to others, some of them share that they do not have chance to access
different learning materials. There are a small number of students who have
computers to access Internet websites and selecting reliable reference books to
collect vocabulary words causes considerable difficulties.

IV.1.2.6. Students opinions on the frequency of some common ways to define

and explain words in their vocabulary journals
Frequency (%)
Activities
1

1. Using L1 translation
2. Using L2 definitions
3. Making sentences
4. Illustrating words by pictures or

5.7
13.2
7.5
3.8

18.9
37.7
20.8
13.2

22.6
24.5
30.2
26.4

30.2
15.1
20.8
41.5

15.1
9.4
15.1
9.4

7.5
0.0
5.7
5.7

drawings
5. Making semantic maps
6. Writing a composition
7. Others

0.0
0.0
0.0

0.0
0.0
7.5

13.2
0.0
18.9

22.6
7.5
41.5

49.1
13.2
28.3

15.1
79.2
3.8

Table 3: Students opinions on the frequency of some common ways to define

and explain words in their vocabulary journals
The table gives the information about the frequency of different ways that
freshmen at FOE, HNUE apply to define and explain new words in their
vocabulary journals.
Obviously, there is an extreme contrast in the frequency of strategies namely using
L1 translation, using L2 definitions, making sentences, illustrating words by
pictures and the ones of making semantic maps and writing a composition. To be
more specific, it is clearly shown that giving the L2 definition of a new word is the
most outstanding activity used to record words in journals by nearly fourth-fifths
of freshmen surveyed. Comparing with the L2 definitions, using L1 translation is
less favorable. This result is supported by those collected from the journal
collection. Following this, making sentences containing the word attracts the
attention and interest of nearly three-quarters of students. There are nearly half of
students who sometimes illustrate the meaning of words by pictures or drawings in

their vocabulary journals. On the contrary, students seem not to be in favor of

semantic mapping and composition writing. Nearly almost students rarely or do
not apply these activities at all. Specifically, nearly half of students sometimes use
semantic mapping while up to fourth-fifths never employ composition writing.
From the data analyzed above, it can be said that freshmen at FOE, HNUE tend to
apply the common activities, namely defining by L2, sentence making and
picturing when editing their vocabulary journals. The low frequency of such
activities as semantic mapping, and composition writing may attribute to the
following reasons. To begin with, it is evident that these activities are quite new to
freshmen, who have just had a semester studying at the university. Besides, a
semantic and a composition are considered to take time to edit.
IV.1.2.7. Students and teachers opinions on the difficulties in using
vocabulary journal keeping strategy
90
80
70

Lack of time
Lack of sources
Lack of ideas
Lack of tecniques
Lack of interest
Others

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Students

Teachers

Figure 12: Students and teachers opinions on difficulties in using vocabulary

journal keeping strategy

Through survey questionnaires and interviews, students and teachers at F.O.E,

HNUE share their views on the main difficulties that students often encounter
when they write and keep a vocabulary journal.
As can be seen from the chart, the students opinions are quite different from their
teachers. While the majority of students think that lack of ideas and lack of
sources are the biggest difficulties in keeping a vocabulary journal, most teachers
propose that vocabulary journal is time-consuming and seems to be unappealing to
students. Specifically, more than one-third of students share that they find it hard
to search for and select reliable vocabulary sources that containing valuable words
for their learning. As well, many of them reply to have problems in explaining and
illustrating the word clearly and creatively. By contrast, more than four-fifths of
teachers claim that it is difficult for students to balance the time spent on editing
vocabulary journals. Approximately a quarter of students and more than threefifths of teachers agree that the lack of techniques also significantly influence on
the success of writing and keeping a vocabulary journal.
IV.1.3. Teachers and students attitudes towards the use of vocabulary
journal keeping strategy
IV.1.3.1 Students and teachers opinions on the usefulness of using
vocabulary journal keeping strategy

100
80
60

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly agree

40
20
0

Very useful

Useful

Quite useful

Not useful

Figure 13a: Students opinions on the usefulness of using vocabulary journal

keeping strategy

100
90
80
70
60
Strongly disagree
50
40
30
20
10
0

Very useful

Disagree

Useful

Neutral

Agree

Quite useful

Strongly agree

Not useful

Figure 13b: Teachers opinions on the usefulness of using vocabulary journal

keeping strategy
Among the 51 students who have used vocabulary journal keeping strategy, much
more than half of them agree that journal keeping strategy is very useful for
improving their vocabulary learning. Similarly, 4 of 6 teachers suggest that
vocabulary journal keeping is a greatly useful way to learn and store new words

because they think that writing things down may lead to even deeper
understanding of words; as a result, remember it better. In addition, nearly twofifths of students propose that this kind of learning strategy is useful to a large
extent and less than 10% find it moderately useful. None of teachers and students
says that journal keeping strategy is not useful for vocabulary learning at all.
IV.1.3.2 Students opinions on the effectiveness of journal keeping strategy in
vocabulary learning
Effectiveness
SA
1. It helps me learn a larger number 17%

A
N
D
SD
32.1% 30.2% 13.2% 7.5%

of words
2. It helps me memorize words more 20.8% 37.7% 17%

17%

7.5%

easily
3. It helps me learn aspects of words, 24.5% 47.2% 17%

9.4%

0%

0%

0%

such as pronunciation, collocation,

etc. better.
4. It helps me check and recall words 60.4% 20.8% 7.5%
whenever I forget
5. It helps me enhance my

15.1% 30.2% 28.3% 18.9% 7.5%

vocabulary learning autonomy

6. Others

17%

32.1% 30.2% 13.2% 7.5%

Table 4: Students opinions on the effectiveness of journal keeping strategy in

vocabulary learning
SA: Strongly agree

D: Disagree

A: Agree

SD: Strongly disagree

N: Neutral
The bar chart gives specific information about the way that journal keeping
strategy supports freshmens English vocabulary learning.

Obviously illustrated from the chart, the highest percentage of students, with
around 60%, strongly agree that vocabulary journal keeping strategy that the great
efficiency in checking and recalling forgotten words. It is the fact that students can
check the form or the use of the word they record any time if they bring with them
a vocabulary journal. Nearly three-fourths of freshmen surveyed fall on the
opinion vocabulary journal keeping enables them to learn well aspects of words
such as spelling, pronunciation, meaning, collocation, etc. Actually, when
recording new words in their journals; as discussed above, students have a
tendency to mention the aspects of word; correspondingly, these aspects may be
learnt better. More than half of students agree that they can memorize the words
more easily and effectively if they keep a vocabulary journal. There are about 30%
of students who regard vocabulary journal keeping as a good way to enhance their
vocabulary learning autonomy. Generally, when students encounter a new word
they themselves pick word up and then note it down in their vocabulary journals.
The habit of documenting new lexical items may empower students to become
more autonomous in their vocabulary learning. Furthermore, as the table
demonstrates, learning a larger number of vocabulary words attracts the smallest
attention and regard of freshmen at F.O.E, HNUE. Less than a quarter of students
surveyed think that they could learn more words through using vocabulary journal
keeping strategy. The others propose that it is impossible for them to cover all the
words written down in their vocabulary journals in a short time.
Overall, it is obviously seen that vocabulary journal keeping strategy considerably
benefit freshmens learning but the way this strategy support learning success
varies greatly
IV.1.3.3. Students opinion on the reasons for not using vocabulary journal
keeping strategy

90
80

I find it waste a lot of time

I find it waste a lot of money

I find it waste a lot of effort

It find it hard to be kept everyday

I find it ineffective

I find it unintereting and unmotivating

70
60
50
40
30
20
10

Others

Figure 14: Students reasons for not using vocabulary journal keeping strategy
As mentioned in the pie chart figure 9, there are nearly a quarter of students
involved in the research having no experience in using vocabulary notebook
keeping strategy and their reasons for this matter may vary.
More than three-quarters of these students say that they are not fond of keeping a
vocabulary journal because they find it hard to be kept every day. Studying at class
and doing the tasks assigned by the teachers require them a large amount of time
each day; therefore, writing down all new words they learnt every day is quite
challenging. Moreover, these students share that it is difficult for them to bring
their vocabulary journal all the time when they go to class.
Nearly half of students mentioned above agree that editing a vocabulary
journal is time-consuming and more than one-third find it take them much effort.
Nearly one-fifth of students say that journal keeping is uninteresting and
motivating, and none of them consider this strategy an ineffective strategy.

In conclusion, the data reported in findings have made it clear that vocabulary
journal keeping strategy is quite well-known and widely used by freshmen at
F.O.E, HNUE. However, it cannot be denied that students encounter many
difficulties, both subjective and objective, in keeping their own vocabulary
journals namely the lack of time, sources, techniques and interest. These problems,
to a large extent, exert negative influences on the success of the strategy. Below
are some recommendations made by the researcher with the hope to help freshmen
deal with difficulties in using vocabulary journal keeping strategy.
IV.2. Suggestions
IV.2.1 Some recommendations for using vocabulary journal keeping strategy
IV.2.1.1. Managing the time spent on editing vocabulary journal
One of the main problems arising in the process of keeping a vocabulary journal is
that students do not have enough time to edit and design their journals as they
expected. Many students say that journal editing is time-consuming because they
have to follow different steps and activities such as searching for vocabulary
items, look the dictionaries up for the pronunciation and meaning, making
examples sentences, investigating aspects of the word, illustrating by pictures, etc.
It is the fact that journal keeping takes time, but the learners are extremely likely
to deal with the problem of lacking time if they know how to arrange and manage
the time they spent on their vocabulary journals appropriately and reasonably.
Actually, students in FOE, HNUE make a vocabulary journal as required by theirs
teachers every week. As a result, they tend to write and edit their journals in a
certain time. Even some of them share that they usually spend nearly the whole
night before the checking day to finish their journals. This leads to the fact that the
time spent on searching, selecting, analyzing and illustrating new vocabulary new

words is limited and their vocabulary journals cannot meet the criteria and
requirements given at the beginning of the learning course.
With the situation discussed above, it is highly recommended that students should
balance the time properly by keeping their vocabulary journals every day. No
much time is required, but just about thirty minutes each day is reasonable. The
number of words to be recorded is advised to range from five to ten so that the
students could make a careful investigation and a clear illustration of each word.
Moreover, students could pick up the words right from the listening, speaking,
reading and writing tasks and then write them down in their vocabulary journals.
By doing that, the time to review and edit could be saved. It is firmly believed that
recording vocabulary words day by day, step by step, could help the learners to
memorize the words better and better.
2. Selecting valuable and reliable vocabulary sources
It is obvious that second language vocabulary resources are now available
and various which can provide learners with a variety of choices. Therefore,
searching for and selecting valuable and reliable vocabulary sources is also a big
challenge that students have to overcome if they are willing to achieve a successful
learning outcomes. Prior to making vocabulary journals, some recommended
sources are hoped to be helpful.
2.1. Dictionaries
It can be claimed that a vocabulary English learner could not be successful
without the help of a dictionary. Different kinds of dictionaries are published
nowadays; however, to serve the purpose of making a vocabulary journal, these
following ones are considered the most reliable and satisfying:
Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 8th Edition, published by Oxford
University Press in 2010

Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary, 3rd Edition, published by Cambridge

University Press in 2008
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English published by Longman
In addition, students may easily look up synonyms, antonyms or collocations at
these dictionaries below:
Oxford Learners Pocket Thesaurus published by Oxford University Press in 2010
Oxford Collocations Dictionary for students of English, 2nd Edition, published by
Oxford University Press in 2009.
Moreover, online dictionaries, such as Oxford Online Dictionary, Cambridge
Online Dictionary, are well-known and widely chosen.
2. Websites
Learning vocabulary on the Internet is also a great choice for almost every English
learner. Actually, www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish is a valuable website that
students could use to collect a wide range of vocabulary words every day.
Furthermore, www.vocabulary.co.il/ and www.tienganh123.com are other helpful
suggestions.
IV.2.2 Some recommendations for editing a vocabulary journal
IV.2.2.1. Aspects of vocabulary to be recorded
As a component of language, vocabulary knowledge does not involve only
knowing the meaning and the form (spelling and pronunciation), but requires
various kinds of lexical knowledge. Thus, it is advisable for students to cover
substantially aspects of word which are suggested by (Gairns, 1986). These
aspects include the form of word (spelling and pronunciation), grammar, aspects

of meaning (denotation, connotation, formality and meaning relationships),

collocation and word formation (etymology).
IV.2.2.2 Format of a vocabulary journal
The materials for making a vocabulary journal may be various. Students can use
sheets of paper, or card blinders, or a collection of electrical particles on computer
disk or an audio tape.
The format of vocabulary journal entry could follow the Childs (1999) introduced
above and here is an example:

VOCABULARY WORK SHEET

WORD: IMPECCABLE, Impeccable

Date Entered: March 1st, 2013

SOURCE: People magazine..Sept 2000, page 47

SAMPLE USE: Liza was always known for her impeccable manners.
DICTIONARY DIFINITION: not capable
of sinning or liable to sin free from fault or
blame flawless

Synonyms: innocence, faultless,

flawless
Root Word: pecc - sin

ETYMOLOGY: 1531 from Latin

impeccabilis: in + peccare - to sin

Prefix: im - not
Suffix: able (adjective)

MNEMONIC:

PRACTICE SENTENCES:
- His suit was impeccably pressed before he went to the job interview.
- His impeccable arguments were very believable
DATE MASTERED: March 6th, 2013
(Adapted from Childs, p.28)
Moreover, students could use the vocabulary journal entry suggested by Gail
Gibbons as follows:
Figure 5: Students entry in vocabulary journal for Tornadoes by Gail
Gibbons

(From http://www.uk.sagepub.com/upm-data/40627_4.pdf)
IV.2.2.3. Suggested ways to define and explain new words in a vocabulary
journal
IV.2.1.3.1 Illustrating words by pictures or drawings

Obviously, students will not find vocabulary learning enjoyable and satisfying if
they often have to look at a list of words and their long definitions. Especially, for
an abstract word, the definition certainly cannot make it clear enough for students
to gain a deep understanding. Thus, it is believed that vocabulary items will be
learned and remembered much better if they are visualized by pictures. Pictures
not only bring images of reality, but also act as a fun motivating students to deal
with the word. People in general have love of drawing. Drawing a picture to
illustrate the word means that students are not only showing their understanding
about the word but also expressing themselves. The picture drawn can be said to
be a mirror that reflects the personality and individuality, even the mood and state
of mind, of the author; hence, it is highly memorable along with word connected
with it. Moreover, sticking a picture or photo on the journal is also highly regarded
to clarify the meaning of a new vocabulary word.
As the findings in the survey questionnaires and journal collection present,
students seem to be very in favor of illustrating new words by pictures or photos in
their vocabulary journals. There are some ways they could link a word with a
picture.
First of all, students can use picturing to clarify the meaning of abstract words,
such as love, angry, time and so forth in their vocabulary journals. Take the word
angry for example:
Angry /'gri/: having strong feelings about something that you dislike very much
or about an unfair situation

Second, pictures can be used to clarify the difference between two words
describing the two things with the similar characteristics but not the same. For
example, they could compare the difference between a crossroad and a roundabout
by illustrating them by images as follows:

Pronunciation

Crossroads

Roundabout

/'krsrudz/

/ 'raundbaut/

A place where two roads A place where two or more roads

Meaning

meet and cross each other.

meet, forming a circle that all

traffic must go around in the same
direction

Illustration

Example

At the next crossroads, turn At the roundabout, take the

sentence

right.

second exit.

Last but not least, more than one word could be recorded with just a picture.
Students could draw or stick a picture on the center of a page and then pick up the
word from the picture. For example, when students record the words related to the
topic Winter clothes, they can be make it as follows:

Glove /glu:v/ - a covering

for the hand, made of wool
or leather, etc. with
separate parts of each
finger and the thumb.

Coat /ku:t/: a piece of

outdoor clothing that is
worn over other to keep
warm and dry.
4.2 Semantic mapping

Scarf /ska:f/ - a piece of cloth

that is worn around the neck.

Boot /bu:t/ - a strong shoe that

cover the foot and ankle and often
the lower part of the leg.

IV.2.1.3.2. Making semantic maps

A word in English is not an independent item but has strong relationships with
other ones. Semantic mapping is considered ideal to make these relationships
explicit and useful for storing the new lexical items. When vocabulary words are
organized systematically, they are believed to be learnt and memorized better and
better.
Nevertheless, it is surprising that semantic mapping is not widely used by
freshmen at FOE, HNUE. Maybe, these students are not familiar with this kind of
vocabulary learning strategy.
Here are some recommendations for using semantic mapping to make a
vocabulary journal more successful.
To start with, students could use semantic mapping to reflect the relationships of
the words related to the same topic. In this kind of semantic map, the central of the

map is the topic or the subject. Key words radiate from the central one as main
branches and finally, related words are linked to the key ones to make a organized
structure. This is the illustration of this semantic map
Related
word

Related
word

Related
word
Key
word

Key
word

Related
word

Topic

Related
word

Key
word

Related
word

(Adapted from Antonacu & Catherines, 2011, p.21)

For example, a semantic map of the topic House could be made as follows:
Sofa

Video

Saucepans
Kettle

Loungee

Coffee
table

Kitchen
HOUSE

Sheet
Bedroom

Washbasin
Bathroom
Towel

Alarm
clock
Chest of
drawers

Sink
Shower

(Adapted from McCarthys, 1990, p.96)

Semantic mapping is also use to describe the aspects of a word such as spelling,
meaning, synonyms, antonyms, etc. Here is an example:

(Adapted from Antonacu & Catherines, 2011, p.21)

This may be an example:
The process of making air, water, soil,
etc., dirty; the state of being dirty
Dirtiness,
Contamination

Pollution

Cleaniness,
Purification

Pollution is damaging our planet and its life.

4.3 Writing a composition
It is generally accepted that students could gain significant improvements in
vocabulary learning if they encounter the vocabulary words frequently. There is a
tendency that students nowadays learn vocabulary by topics. For each topic, they
tend to make a list of vocabulary words with their pronunciation, meaning,
collocation, etc. in their journals. It is evident that storing and memorizing this list
of words arises serious difficulties if students just look at their vocabulary

journals, then read and read. In this case, writing things down is advised to deal
with the problem. One of the best choices is to write a composition because it is
believed to enable students to practice the words in sentences. It is a good way for
students to reflect what they understand about the words they have recorded in
terms of the usage, not the form. A word could appear more than once; therefore, it
can be remembered better. Additionally, when writing a composition, students
have chance to share their ideas on some topics freely. The opportunity to express
the individuality could be useful to make learning words more interesting and
motivating.
Even though composition writing is thought to be an important means of
vocabulary learning by many researchers, the first-year students at F.O.E, HNUE
seem to get bored of doing it when they edit their vocabulary journals. It is likely
that they are still unaccustomed to this kind of strategy at all. Some of students
think that a composition is a big and professional writing and they are not
proficient enough to make it. Actually, a composition could be understood as a
short piece of writing that the author shares his/ her ideas or simply tell a story
about himself.
For example, when students make a record of words related to the topic Job,
they could be write a composition to share their ideas like below:
Which job will I apply for after graduating? is always a big question to
every student who is studying at the university. I am now a student and it is exactly
the question I am wondering. Getting a well-paid job and having a high position
have been my dream since I was at the primary school. I want to become a rich
and successful businessman like my idol, Bill Gates. I know that is not easy and I
now have to study hard to make my dream come true.

It can be clearly seen that in the composition above, students have chance to
practice with some vocabulary words and their structures, such as: apply for a job,
get a job, a well-paid job, a high position, businessman, successful, etc.
IV.2.3. Other suggestions
Following are some reference books and websites that students could use for
editing their vocabulary journals.
My vocabulary notebook, written by James Venema in 2012, may be considered as
a great book which could give students useful guidelines in selecting, explaining
and organizing words in a vocabulary journal. The author also recommends some
ways to improve learners vocabulary through using vocabulary journals.
Moreover, Vocabulary notebook sample packet, edited by Garrett and Vocabulary
Strategies Listing Interactive Notebooks, compiled by Creel could provide students
with some formats of vocabulary journal entry. Both of these books could be
downloaded from the Internet.

Chapter V: CONCLUSION

In this chapter, a brief summary of the findings is presented. Besides, the

limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are also figured out.
V.1. Major findings.
First and foremost, by gathering data through survey questionnaire, interviews and
class observations, the current situation of vocabulary learning among freshmen at
F.O.E, HNUE was clearly reflected. It can be concluded that both teachers and
students in the faculty highly regard the importance of vocabulary learning.
Students tend to spend time learning vocabulary every day and pay attention to
learn not only the form, but also the meaning and the usage of the word. Different
learning strategies are employed in order to achieve great improvements in
vocabulary competence.
In the second place, the results present that this strategy is favored by a large
number of students at FOE, HNUE. All the students and teachers involving in the
research have positive ideas on implementing this strategy for the purpose of
improving and enhancing vocabulary competence. Keeping a vocabulary journal is
considered to be of great help in learning, memorizing and revising new words.
Difficulties in using journal keeping strategy in vocabulary learning are also
discussed. Participants of the study reveal that they often have problems with
balancing the time spent on editing their vocabulary journals and keeping every
day is an absolutely demanding job.
tudents tend to record aspects of words in their vocabulary journals. Different
strategies are used to define and explain new words in vocabulary journals. Using
L2 definitions, making sentences and illustrating words by pictures and drawings
are the most popular activities that students use to edit their vocabulary journals.
Meanwhile, semantic mapping and composition writing are not frequently
implemented. Some main difficulties in keeping a journal vocabulary are also

figured out, in which lack of time, vocabulary sources and interest are considered
the major ones.
Basing on the findings , this research proposes some recommendations that may
be helpful for students to use vocabulary journal keeping strategy more effectively.
V.2. Limitations of the study
In the paper, the researchers made a great effort to investigate the current situation
of vocabulary learning in general and the use of vocabulary journal keeping
strategy in particular in the first-year students at FOE, HUNE. However, due to the
researcher lack of time, experience, and technique equipment, together with other
objective factors, limitations of the study cannot avoided. To begin with, the study
only concentrates on a certain number of students, just the freshmen, but not all
students in the faculty. The number of interviews is also another shortcoming of
the research when only six teachers participate in the interviews, not ten teachers
as expected. In addition, the study only focuses on some outstanding obstacles in
the use of journal keeping strategy in vocabulary learning and recommends some
activities to edit vocabulary journals for students. Last but not least, the lack of
experience in doing research partly contributes to the certain limitations of the
study.
3. Suggestions for the further studies
Due to the limitations of the study, necessary changes for further studies should be
recommended. First and foremost, vocabulary journal keeping strategy, as stated
above, is widely-used by students at FOE, HNUE. Therefore, further studies could
be conducted on the same issue, yet on a larger scale and in a longer span of time
for more reliable results. Secondly, the way to foster students interest on using
vocabulary journals keeping strategy can be a good suggestion.