Vocabulary learning strategies instruction: a case study of teachers’ practices and perceptions

Abstract

Vocabulary Learning Strategies (VLS) are widely acknowledged to be effective in facilitating learners’ vocabulary acquisition and explicit instruction of VLS is required for learning to take place. Past studies indicated that Vietnamese EFL learners do employ various strategies to learn vocabulary, however, VLS instruction has not been as widely researched. Thus, a qualitative case study was employed with the aim of exploring the teachers’ practices and perceptions regarding VLS instruction. Four teachers were selected by maximal variation sampling. Twelve non-participant observations and four semi-structured interviews with four teachers were used to collect data. Findings revealed that the teachers had positive perceptions regarding VLS and VLS instruction. Furthermore, it was discovered that they had mixed opinions concerning the necessity of explicit instruction of VLS. Half of the teachers agreed that VLS instruction is necessary; however, they did not explicitly teach VLS. The other half argued against explicit instruction of VLS and merely employed VLS as a technique to explain the meaning of new words. This study thus concluded that there was a mismatch between the practices and perceptions of teachers, and from this, implications about the necessity of teaching VLS, vocabulary teaching practices, and teacher training were made.

INTRODUCTION

Background to the study

Vocabulary is considered “the heart of language comprehension and use” (Hunt & Beglar, 2005, p. 24) 1 , reflected in a famous remark by Wilkins (1972): “Without grammar, very little can be conveyed. Without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed” (as cited in Schmitt, 2010, p. 3) 2 . Indeed, the importance of vocabulary has also been proven in various studies (Horwitz, 1988; Hunt & Beglar, 2005; Schmitt, 2010) 3 , 2 , 1 , leading to increasing interest in its learning, retention, and instruction.

Among these, vocabulary instruction has received special attention. Systematic vocabulary learning is beneficial for retaining and producing vocabulary (Min, 2013) 4 . Vocabulary can be learned implicitly or explicitly (Hunt & Beglar, 2005; Schmitt, 2000) 1 , 5 , but explicit learning is considered more effective and leads to better retention and production (Hunt & Beglar, 2005; Nation, 2002; Schmitt, 2008) 1 , 6 , 7 . Consequently, explicit vocabulary learning and instruction are recommended in the vocabulary acquisition process.

Vocabulary learning can be assisted by Vocabulary Learning strategies (VLS), a sub-category of language learning strategies (Nation, 2013) 8 . Learners must know a wide range of strategies and choose appropriately (Nation, 2013) 8 because their usability depends on multiple factors (Griffiths & Parr, 2001; Oxford, 1986) 9 , 10 . Using VLS systematically and independently entails an awareness of the possible strategies through teachers’ instruction, which means VLS can be taught to learners (Griffiths & Parr, 2001; Le, 2018; Nation, 2013; Oxford, 1986; Singh, 2017) 9 , 10 , 8 , 11 .

Despite their importance, VLS are largely under-researched in the Vietnamese EFL context. Local empirical studies established that Vietnamese EFL learners do employ strategies in their vocabulary learning (Do & Nguyen, 2014; Le, 2018; Nguyen, 2013; Nguyen, 2016) 12 , 13 . However, in general, issues related to teachers, such as their strategy instruction, have not received as much attention (Griffiths, 2007; Nguyen, Le, & Ngo, 2021) 14 , 15 . Strategy instruction helps students be aware of effective strategies and use them appropriately (Nguyen, Le, & Ngo, 2021) 15 , and teachers’ perceptions and practices are of utmost importance as they can potentially affect the effectiveness of the teaching and learning processes (Griffiths, 2007) 14 . Given this importance, there exists a need for more empirical studies on VLS from teachers’ perspectives.

Aims of the study

Considering the importance of teachers’ instruction on VLS and the gap in the literature, this case study, conducted at an English language center in Ho Chi Minh City, aims to investigate how they perceive and carry out VLS instruction in their teaching context. The findings can help provide some pedagogical implications which are potentially beneficial for the explicit VLS instruction at the research site.

To achieve those aims, the study attempts to answer the following questions:

1. How do teachers teach Vocabulary Learning strategies?

2. What are the teachers’ perceptions of Vocabulary Learning strategies instruction?

LITERATURE REVIEW

Aspects of vocabulary knowledge

It is assumed that knowing a word simply entails knowing its meaning, and to a certain extent, this is true (Henriksen, 1999; Schmitt, 2010) 16 , 2 . Knowing a word, however, involves more than knowing its meaning (Nagy & Scott, 2000) 17 . Instead, vocabulary knowledge is conceptualized as consisting of multiple separate but interrelated aspects. Different frameworks of vocabulary knowledge have been proposed but perhaps the most comprehensive is that of Nation (2013) 8 , which proposed that at the most general level, knowing a word includes knowing its form, meaning, and use. Knowledge of form includes knowledge of both spoken and written forms of the word and knowledge of word parts. For meaning, the form-meaning connection is understandably the first component to master. Additionally, a knowledge of concepts and referents is also required. Finally, knowledge of vocabulary use entails knowledge of the word’s grammatical function, its collocations, and lastly, its constraints on use. This framework is further divided into receptive and productive mastery, and the end result is a list of 18 different aspects of word knowledge ( Figure 1 ).

Figure 1 . Aspects of vocabulary knowledge (Nation, 2013, p. 49) 8

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Vocabulary Learning strategies (VLS)

Vocabulary Learning strategies (VLS) are part of language learning strategies, which are, in turn, part of more general learning strategies (Nation, 2013) 8 . Their exact definition remains a subject of debate but generally, VLS are the conscious behaviors, steps, or techniques employed by learners to enhance their vocabulary learning (O’Malley & Chamot, 1985; Oxford et al., 1989; Rigney, 1978) 18 , 19 , 20 . Oxford (1986) 10 identified three main reasons why VLS are important for language learning. First, VLS are important because they are directly linked to learners’ performance. Successful learners often employ VLS more frequently and effectively compared to their less successful counterparts (Altmisdort, 2016; Simsek & Balaban, 2010) 21 , 22 . Second, VLS help improve learners’ autonomy, enabling learners to take responsibility for their own learning, thus shifting the focus from the teachers to the learners (Oxford, 1986) 10 . Lastly, VLS are of great import because unlike other individual factors such as motivation, learning styles, attitude, or aptitude, learning strategies are teachable. Indeed, Mizumoto and Takeuchi (2009) 23 found that explicit instruction of VLS resulted in an increase of strategy use among learners with low and moderate levels of VLS use.

Teachers’ perceptions and practices of VLS instruction

Teachers’ perceptions and practices of VLS instruction

Teachers’ perceptions and practices of VLS instruction

METHODOLOGY

Research design

This study was conducted to seek an in-depth analysis of teachers’ perceptions and practices of teaching VLS; therefore, qualitative research was chosen. According to Creswell (2012) 34 , qualitative research allows researchers to explore a problem and develop a detailed understanding of a central phenomenon. Case study was adopted as the research design as it offers the opportunity to investigate a phenomenon within a real-world setting and can build a realistic picture of the issues under investigation (Bassey, 1999) 35 . Additionally, it is also appropriate as the small number of individuals involved will be easier to recruit and have permission to obtain information (Duff, 2011) 36 .

Participants

The study was conducted at a language center in Ho Chi Minh City. The students at this site are mainly at the age of 12 to 15 at pre-intermediate, intermediate and upper-intermediate level and the teachers can be responsible for teaching students at different levels. Four teachers were selected with purposeful sampling, specifically maximal variation sampling, to get multiple perspectives of individuals and have a diverse and thorough understanding of the perceptions and practices of teaching VLS in the classroom for students at different levels: pre-intermediate, intermediate, and upper-intermediate.

Research instruments

This study employed observations and semi-structured interviews. The alignment between the research questions and methods of data collection is presented in Table 1 .

Table 1 Alignment between research questions and methods of data collection

Research instruments

This study employed observations and semi-structured interviews. The alignment between the research questions and methods of data collection is presented in Table 1 .

Table 1 Alignment between research questions and methods of data collection

Research instruments

This study employed observations and semi-structured interviews. The alignment between the research questions and methods of data collection is presented in Table 1 .

Table 1 Alignment between research questions and methods of data collection

Data collection and analysis procedure

Data collection and analysis procedure

Data collection and analysis procedure

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Findings

Findings

Findings

Discussion

Discussion

Discussion

CONCLUSION

The findings have provided insight into teachers’ practices and perceptions of VLS instruction. Some VLS were employed by the participants when teaching vocabulary but were not explicitly taught to the students. Regarding perceptions, not all of the participants thought VLS should be taught explicitly but should only be recommended to their learners. Overall, there is a discrepancy, to a certain extent, between their perceptions and practices regarding VLS instruction.

There are some implications for teachers and teacher trainers. Considering the acknowledged benefits of VLS, teachers should emphasize the necessity of using VLS and instruct students to effectively employ certain strategies appropriate for their level and learning styles. There should be demonstration, practice, and evaluation of strategy use in VLS instruction. Teachers can combine different VLS to maximize their effect and experiment with certain VLS to evaluate their suitability. The findings also illustrate that teachers often focus on enhancing students’ receptive vocabulary knowledge rather than their ability to produce vocabulary. This highlights the need for more training on vocabulary production and use, such as teaching collocations, registers, and word usage. In other words, once students have mastered the form and meaning of words, teachers should focus on expanding their vocabulary knowledge in usage for productive skills. It is also essential that VLS instruction be introduced to teachers in regular workshops and training sessions. Moreover, teachers and teacher trainers should discuss how to incorporate VLS instruction into their daily lessons with the use of games and activities for students’ independent learning.

Regarding the limitations, this case study involved a small number of participants due to their availability and time constraints. It is recommended that a larger sample be obtained in various teaching contexts to provide a richer description of teachers' perceptions and practices of teaching VLS. Further studies might also include students’ perceptions of teachers’ VLS to investigate the usefulness of these strategies and their difficulties when using VLS.

APPENDIX A: Guiding questions for observation

1. How were new vocabulary taught?

• The steps to teach/ introduce new vocabulary and duration of each step

• Use of materials, teaching aids, tools, or realia (if any)

• Language of instruction: L1, L2, or both?

• Use of concept-checking questions (to check students’ understanding of the concept) and instruction-checking questions (to check students’ understanding of the instruction provided)

2. How were VLS taught?

3. Are there any unexpected incidents/ occurrences during the lesson?

APPENDIX B: Interview questions

• What are the levels of the students that you are currently teaching?

• Do you think the vocabulary learning strategies you are currently using are appropriate for the level of the students in your class?

• In your opinion, should teachers explicitly teach vocabulary learning strategies to their students? Why (not)?

Biodata

All of the four authors are studying the Master’s program in TESOL at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. They all share the same interest in the studies of English linguistics and language learning strategies.

Acknowledgments

None.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.