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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ PHƯƠNG THẢO
IMPROVING LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY
THROUGH GAMES: AN ACTION RESEARCH

NÂNG CAO VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH THÔNG QUA CÁC
TRÒ CHƠI NGÔN NGỮ: NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG M.A THESIS



IMPROVING LEARNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY
THROUGH GAMES: AN ACTION RESEARCH

NÂNG CAO VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH THÔNG QUA CÁC
TRÒ CHƠI NGÔN NGỮ: NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG

M.A THESIS FIELD: METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60 14 10
SUPERVISOR: PHẠM MINH TÂM, M.Ed HANOI – 2011
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CANDIDATE‟S STATEMENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

2
2
4
4
4
5
6
7
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8
8
8
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2.2.2 Types of Language Games
2.2.3 Perspectives on Exploiting Games in ELT…… …………
2.2.4 Reasons to Use Games in EFL Classroom …………………… ………… ….
2.3 Relationship between Games and Language Teaching ………………………… …
2.4 Common Games in Teaching Vocabulary…………………………………………….
CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Context …… ………………………………………… …
3.2 Research Questions …… …………………………………………………… …
3.3 Research Approach …………………………… …………………………….…
3.4 Participants ………………………… ……………………………………… …
3.5 Research Instruments …………………………… ……………………………….
3.5.1 Pre-test and Post test…………………….……… ……………………… …
3.5.2 Vocabulary Games …………………………………………………………….
3.5.2.1 Vocabulary Games for Checking ………………………………………….
3.5.2.2 Vocabulary Games for Practice ……………………………………………

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CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.………………….…………… ……… ….
4.1 Findings …… …………………………………………………………………… …
4.1.1 Research question 1…………… …………………………………… ……
4.1.1.1 Results …… ……………………… …………………………………….
4.1.1.2 Discussion ………………………… …………………………………
4.1.2 Research question 2 …………………………… ……………………………
4.1.3 Research question 3 ………………………………… ………………………
4.2 Implications ………………………………… ………………………………………
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION
5.1 Summary of the study…………………………………………………………………
5.2 Limitations…………………………………………………………………………….
5.3 Suggestions for further studies ……………………………………………… ………
REFERENCES
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Games exploited for teaching vocabulary ……… …………………………
Appendix 2: Pre-tests and post-tests…………………………………………………………
Appendix 3: Questionnaires…………………………………………………………………

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Table 5: Improvement in Hai‟s vocabulary
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Table 6: Improvement in Quynh‟s vocabulary
34
Table 7: Improvement in Chi‟s learning vocabulary
34
Table 8: Improvement in Trang‟s vocabulary
34
Table 9: Improvement in Huy‟s vocabulary
35
Table 10: Improvement in Trung‟s vocabulary
35
Table 11: Improvement in Long‟s vocabulary
36
Table 12: Improvement in Hoang Anh‟s vocabulary
36
Table 13: Improvement in Thai‟s vocabulary
36
Table 14: Improvement in Linh‟s vocabulary
37
Table 15: Percentage of improvement
37
Table 16: Data collected from questions 4 and 5 of the questionnaire
38
Table 17: Data collected from questions 1, 2, 3 and 6 of the questionnaire
39
Figure 1: The students‟ attitudes towards language games
40
Figure 2: Students‟ participation in language games
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale for the Study and Research Problem Statement

In learning a foreign language, vocabulary plays an important role. It is one element
that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all together. In
order to communicate well in foreign language, students should acquire an adequate
number of words and should know how to use them accurately. Vocabulary is,
obviously, vital for successful communication.

As a teacher of English, I recognize that, although the issue of vocabulary teaching
and learning is currently receiving attention of teachers and learners at our school, it
is still far from how vocabulary items can best be taught and learnt. A vast amount
of teaching time in a vocabulary lesson is used by explanation, definition, students
compile page upon page of word lists that they rarely have opportunity to practice.
Obviously, vocabulary arises in the classroom regardless of the chosen activity, and
in spite of any conscious design on the teacher‟s part. As the result, students only
think of vocabulary learning as knowing the primary meaning of new words. In
addition, the students‟ ability to use English for communication is still limited,
especially for secondary students. They can have a fairly good knowledge of
grammar but hardly express themselves properly because of shortage of vocabulary
and communicative competence. That is why, for most students, learning
vocabulary in language lesson is a time of failure and disappointment in which they
gradually feel boring and gradual rejection of the work that the teacher is doing for
them.

Motivated by the idea of finding stimulating activities to help students to learn
vocabulary, with the goal to create a context for vocabulary acquisition in the
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classroom, the writer has chosen that games may be of some help for learning and

participants for four or five days before the beginning of the unit and after finishing
the unit to see the differences. Furthermore, a questionnaire was also used to get the
participants‟ attitudes towards the language games and the answer of the last
question - the essential features of using language games that can help improve the
students‟ vocabulary as perceived by the students.
1.5 Design of the Study

The thesis is divided into five main chapters:
Chapter 1 introduces the rationale, the aims, the scope, the methodology and the
design of the study.
Chapter 2 provides the background of the study, including the definitions and
features of some terms such as vocabulary, principles of teaching vocabulary and
types of language games.
Chapter 3 demonstrates the research methods applied in the study with details on
how and why these methods were implemented in the research. Besides, this
chapter presents the data collected from pretests and post tests as well as from the
questionnaire.
Chapter 4 demonstrates the results and discussion of the study, which answer the
three research questions and then suggests the implication of the results in reality.
Chapter 5 summarizes the main issues covered in the paper. It presents the
limitations of the study and some suggestions for further studies in the research
area.
References and Appendices are presented in the last pages of the study. - 14 -
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Overview of Vocabulary Teaching
2.1.1 The Definitions of Vocabulary

The core meaning that refers the
word to the real world
Nightfall: The close of the
day
6. Connotation
The additional meaning that shows
people‟s emotions and attitudes
towards what the word refers to
Excuse in She made an
excuse for being late has a
negative meaning.
7. Formality
Whether a word is appropriate to use
in certain contexts
Thank you – Thanks
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8. Synonym
Words that mean the same or nearly
the same
bright, clever, smart
9. Antonym
Words that mean the opposite
Rich vs. Poor
10. Hyponym
Words that serve as specific
examples of a general concept
Bus, car, lorry, van
11. Word building
How a word is created
Sink – sinkable - unsinkable

vocabulary. For people beginning to learn a language, a way of quickly developing
fluency is learning groups of words as units. Lastly, learners should be trained in
vocabulary learning strategies (using word cards, learning by means of word
association, guessing meaning from context, using dictionary, etc.) for effective
self-study.
Obviously, all of them affirmed that revision is essential in teaching vocabulary. If
what students learned in the last lesson is not recycled, it will be easy for them to
forget it. In addition to, communication is vital because it enriches both spoken and
written language. And, practice is indispensable. It helps learned to be trained for
effective self-study.
2.1.3 Techniques in Teaching Vocabulary
Vocabulary is an important part of nearly any subject. Students need to develop
their vocabulary base to fully communicate and comprehend a topic. As they learn
how to use more vocabulary properly, you will see an improvement in their writing
and speaking. Unfortunately, new vocabulary is not always fun to learn. Worksheets
and home school worksheets will only go so far, and many students find them to be
tedious and boring. The default way of explaining vocabulary is to give a definition,
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but this does not always work efficiently because of the lack of context clues.
Therefore, using techniques in teaching vocabulary is very important
2.1.3.1 Techniques for Presenting New Vocabulary
Gairns and Redman (1986:73) showed the most common ways in which meaning of
new items are conveyed in a normal teaching situation.
2.1.3.1.1 Visual Techniques
Visual includes flashcards, photographs, blackboard drawing, wallcharts, and realia.
They are extensively used for conveying meaning and are particularly useful for
teaching concrete items of vocabulary such as food or furniture, and certain areas of
vocabulary such as places, descriptions of people, actions and activities to practice
activities involving student interaction.
Mine and gesture are often used to supplement other ways of conveying meaning.

Using a dictionary: If the student has no teacher or peer to ask, he can still solve a
number of problems by using dictionary. This could be a dictionary specially
written for foreign students or a bilingual dictionary.
Contextual guesswork: This involves making use of the context in which the word
appears to derive an idea of its meanings or in some cases to guess from the word
itself.
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In the next part, background knowledge on games is introduced to build up an
generalization of framework for further investigation.
2.1.3.2 Techniques for Consolidating and Checking Vocabulary
Techniques for this part are mostly games which encourage, entertain, teach, and
promote fluency. There is also a large variety of word games that are “useful for
practising and revising vocabulary after it has been introduced” (Haycraft 1987).
Numerous puzzles, word squares, crosswords, jigsaw tasks, picture-describing,
orderings are useful especially for pair or group work. More clearly, games
provide a situation in which they provide a setting in which communication is
essential and therefore will become stimulating and interesting way to help students
acquire the target language without even realizing it. That is the reason why the
writer decided to choose games in teaching English vocabulary.
2.2 Overview of Language Games
2.2.1 Definitions of Language Games
According to Toth (1995), a game is an activity with rules, a goal and an element of
fun. Games are often thought that they mean fun and enjoyable. Some people may
get confused by the two notions „game‟ and „play‟. Actually, they do not really refer
to the same thing but that a game consists of play governed by rules. In short, games
are activities with certain goals or objectives, rules and contest either between
players or between players and goal. Moreover, games also bring fun. And that is
games in general. What about language games?
In general, language games mean games related to language. If games help to
improve different aspects such as intellectual ability, patience, then language games

is really a new idea and they have no clue of whether using language games in
teaching is useful for their students or not. For those who have used or heard of
language games, they belong to two groups: one for and one against using games.
According to the first group, all learning should be serious and solemn in nature and
that if one is having fun and there is hilarity and laughter, then it is not really
learning. So many teachers strongly hold this opinion. Hence, they do not want to
sue any games in the classroom particularly in the language class. They think it to
be the wastage of time in the class, or if they use games because they need them as
time-filling activities.
In fact, language learning is a hard task which can sometimes be frustrating.
Constant effort is required to understand, produce and manipulate the target
language. Therefore, language games, if used appropriately, are a very useful tool in
teaching English. Many teachers have used games successfully, and they belong to
the second group including those who approve of using games. Hadfield (1987)
opined „Games should be regarded as an integral part of the language syllabus, not
as an amusing activity for Friday afternoon or for the end of term. They provide, in
many cases, as much concentrated practice as a traditional drill and, more
importantly, they provide an opportunity for real communication, albeit within
artificially defined limits, and this constitute a bridge between the classroom and the
real world.‟ This suggests that when some teachers do not succeed in using games
in their lessons, perhaps it is because the game they choose is not really suitable for
their lessons, or the lesson, or perhaps the teacher is not clear about how to use or
run the game.
To sum up, I approve the application of games in language teaching and stand for
those people using language games in class. The following part will mainly focus
on the advantages of games when used in teaching process or the possible reasons
for incorporating games in English teaching.
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2.2.4 Reasons to Use Games in EFL Classroom
Many writers have proved the usefulness of incorporating games in teaching

classroom has been well demonstrated as benefiting students in a variety of ways.
2.3 Relationship between Games and Teaching Vocabulary
Games play a role in the classroom. They familiarize students with a language.
They give students a chance to feel comfortable using it, and make lessons more
enjoyable. Then how games can, with all their connotations of “fun” and “play”, be
put to serious pedagogic use in the language classroom?
To begin with, we must be clear what we mean when we use the word “games”. Is it
a “fun” activity intended to bring a bit variety to the class and change of pace of
learning but little else? Alternatively, do games also have a more serious application
in the classroom? Hadfield (1987) has given out the relationship between games and
language teaching as follows:
“Games should be regarded as an integral part of the language syllabus, not as an
amusing activity for Friday afternoon or for the end of term. They provide, in many
cases, as much concentrated practice as a traditional drill and, more importantly,
they provide an opportunity for real communication, albeit within artificial defined
limits, and thus constitute a bridge between the classroom and the real world”.
(Hadfield, 1987:5)
This suggests that the most useful place for games is the free stage of the traditional
progression from presentation and practice to free communication: to be used as a
culmination of the lesson, as a chance for students to use the language they have
learnt freely and as a means to an end rather than an end itself. They can also serve
a diagnostic tool for the teacher, who can note areas of difficulties and take
appropriate remedial action.
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“Games also help the teacher to create contexts in which the language is useful and
meaningful”(Wright, 1992:1). The need for meaningfulness in language teaching
has been accepted for some years. Games are a convenient, effective environment in
order to provide intense and meaningful practice of language. Then they must be
regarded as central to “a teacher‟s repertoire”. They are thus not “for use solely on
wet days and at the end of term” (Wright, 1992:1)

two groups. The teacher sticks on the board with
cards numbered on one side from 1 to 10, other
side written with symbols such as a storm, a x2
or :2, a star and other bonus marks.
For each of the number, students have one
question. If they answer the questions in cards
numbered 2, 5, 7, 10, they will get points on the
cards. If they cannot answer the question after
two times guessing, they lost their chance and
change all turns to other group. If they choose
number 6 and can answer the question, their total
mark would be multiple. And it was the same
with number 8, their mark would be divided.
However, numbers 1, 4 are lucky numbers. For
each of these numbers, they will not have to
answer the question but still get the points. At the
end of the game, the group with the higher score
is the winner. Most of the questions are like:
“This word is a noun/ verb… it means: …….
What is it?”. The teacher adds a rule that if
students do not pronounce the words correctly,
they will lose 10 points. Therefore, they try their
best to avoid pronunciation mistakes. The game
is really fascinating and motivating.
It brings the class a
joyful and nervous
atmosphere. It helps
remember the meaning
of the words. However,
it takes time.

question and if they can answer the question
correctly, they will put their group‟s name (X or
O) in that square. The first group with their
names in three aligned squares (either vertically
ore horizontally or diagonally) is the winner of
the game. The answer is only one word which
they study in the previous lesson.
After the game, ss can
remember the meaning
of the words and
pronounce them. But
the game takes a quite
short time, so ss feel
that it is not enough
and not ready to start a
new lesson.
Rub out
and
Remembe
r

After presenting or eliciting the new vocabularies
and building up a list on the bb, the teacher gives
each word put the Vietnamese translation and got
ss to copy into their notebooks and then asks
them to close their notebooks. The teacher rubs
out the new words one at a time. Each time the
teacher rubs out a word in English, point to the
Ss understand the
meaning of the words.

Telephone game keeps
class in an exciting
atmosphere at the
beginning of the
lesson. Through the
game, ss can practice
their listening,
speaking and writing.
Stepping -
stone

This type of task is exploited for vocabulary
revision. It is designed according to task created
by W.R.Lee, in the book Language Teaching
Games, second revised edition. It could be used
during vocabulary revision or warm-up stage for
pair work and group work, but preferably not for
individual work. In this task, a river (said: with
full of crocodiles or other dangerous creatures) is
drawn on the board and the task is to cross it by
The game is strange for
ss. Thus it makes ss
excited. It helps ss
revise their
pronunciation of the
words. But, its
disadvantage is the
rule. If the teacher‟s
instruction is not clear
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The teacher elicits the new words to the students
but not write them in a list. The teacher writes
each of word on the bb inside a circle. When all
the words are on the bb, the teacher rubs out one
of the words but does not rub out the circle. Ss
are asked to repeat the word including the
rubbed-out word by pointing at the empty circles.
This task is continued until all the circles are
empty. At the moment, ss have to remember all
the words. The teacher divides class into groups
It stimulates students‟
memory. Furthermore,
ss can practice their
pronunciation when
being asked to repeat
the words. But ss will
not remember exactly
how to write the words.