VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*********************

NGUYỄN THỊ XUÂN THU USING SEMANTIC MAPPING TO IMPROVE
ESP VOCABULARY RETENTION OF STUDENTS
AT THÁI NGUYÊN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Sử dụng sơ đồ ngữ nghĩa để cải thiện khả năng ghi nhớ
từ vựng tiếng Anh chuyên ngành của sinh viên trường
Đại học Kĩ thuật Công nghiệp Thái Nguyên M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*********************

AT THÁI NGUYÊN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
is completely the result of my own word for the Degree of Master at University of
Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that
this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or
institution. Signature Nguyễn Thị Xuân Thu

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis could not have been accomplished without the help,
encouragement and support of many people who all deserve my sincerest gratitude
and appreciation.
First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my
supervisor, Dr Ngô Hữu Hoàng, for his priceless support, wholehearted guidance
and encouragement during the time I conducted this research.
I would like to send my thanks to my colleagues who help me a lot in with
their experiences during my thesis.
My special thanks also go to the students from class K41M at Thainguyen
University of Technology for their willingness to join my treatment, taking part in
the tests and answering my questionnaire. Without their help, this study could not
be finished.
Finally, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my beloved family – my mother,
my husband, my children, whose support and encouragement helped me a lot to
overcome all problems to complete this thesis.

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LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES
FIGURES Page
Figure 1: A sample semantic map 8
Figure 2: The data collection procedures 15
Figure 3: Individuals’ result from progress test 1 20
Figure 4: Percentage of the whole class’s scores in the progress test 1 21
Figure 5: The whole class’s performance in progress test 1 and progress test 2 22
Figure 6: Percentage of each score in progress test 1, 2 and final test 27
Figure 7: The whole class’s performance in the progress test 1, 2, and final test 27
Figure 8: Importance of semantic mapping 30
Figure 9: Effectiveness of semantic mapping 30
Figure 10: Pleasure when using semantic mapping 31
TABLES
Table 1: Result from group interview 18
Table 2: Mean score gained by the whole class in the progress test 1 20
Table 3: Result of the whole class in the progress test 1 and progress test 2 22
Table 4: Mean scores gained by individuals in progress test 1 and progress test 2 24
Table 5: Result from progress test 1 and 2 25
Table 6: Result from progress test 2 and final test 25
Table 7: The whole class’s results from the two progress tests and the final test 26
Table 8: Mean scores gained by individuals in progress test 1, 2 and final test 28
Table 9: Students’ suggestions about vocabulary learning 30


2.1.4 Features of mechanical engineering English 11

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2.2 Implementation of the action research 11
2.3 Data collection instruments 12
2.3.1 Interview 12
2.3.2 Vocabulary Knowledge Scale tests 13
2.3.3 Questionnaire 14
2.4 Data collection procedures 15
2.5 Data analysis method 17
Chapter 3: The study 18
3.1 Result from the interview 18
3.2 Results from the tests 19
3.2.1 Results from the first progress test 19
3.2.2 Results from the second progress test 21
3.2.3 Result from the final test 25
3.3 Results from the questionnaire 29
3.3.1 Students’ attitudes towards semantic mapping 29
3.3.2 Students’ suggestions 32
Part C: Conclusion 34
1.Conclusion remarks 34
2.Limitations of the study 35
3.Recommendations and suggestions for further study 35
REFERENCES 37
APPENDICES I
what I want to find out after the study is finished. All the above-mentioned reasons
inspired me to conduct an action research titled “Using semantic mapping to

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improve ESP vocabulary retention of students at Thái Nguyên University of
Technology”.

2. Objectives and research questions of the study
The objectives of the study are to explore the impact of semantic mapping in
improving students’ ESP vocabulary retention; and to find out the attitude of
students towards semantic mapping as a vocabulary learning technique. To achieve
those objectives, the study needs to answer two research questions:
1. Does semantic mapping help students improve their ESP vocabulary
retention?
2. What are the students’ attitudes towards semantic mapping and their
suggestions of semantic mapping as a vocabulary learning technique?

3. Scope of the study
The study firstly aims at finding out the influences of semantic mapping on
improving students’ ESP vocabulary learning as well as their vocabulary retention.
Students’ perception of semantic mapping is measured by questionnaire responses
and progress tests are used to clarify its impact on their vocabulary retention.
Secondly, this study is an action research project in a small scale since its first and
foremost purpose is to improve the researcher’s teaching. The study is conducted
with 22 third year students majored in mechanical engineering who are students in
the researcher’s class. Finally, the material used in this study is Oxford English for
Electrical and Mechanical engineering course book compiled by Eric
H.Glendinning and Norman Glendinning.

4. Significance of the study

the study is conducted, the participants, the research methods, the research
procedures including the treatment, methods of data collection and analysis. And
the last chapter deals with the study’s findings and discussions.

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- Part C – Conclusion – summarizes the major findings with reference to the research
questions mentioned in Part A. This part includes the limitations of the study and
provides some recommendations and suggestions for further study.


researchers. Mackay and Mountford (1978) indicated that the term ESP is
generally used to refer to the teaching of English for a clear utilitarian purpose. El-
Minyawi (1984) pinpointed that ESP courses are based solidly upon the need to
express the facts and ideas of some special subjects after which the student should
be able to read the specialized subjects confidently and speak about them fluently.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) defined it as an approach to language teaching in

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which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for
learning, they added also that the term ESP implies that, it is English which is
somehow peculiar to the range of principles and procedures which define that
particular profession.
It is necessary to distinguish two types of ESP vocabulary:
- Technical vocabulary means lexis which is only used in the specialism.
- Sub-technical vocabulary means general lexis that has a higher frequency in
the specialism, sometimes with a specific or changed meaning.
Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) also suggested two broad areas:
- Vocabulary that is used in general language but has a higher frequency of
occurrence in a specific and technical description and discussion.
- Vocabulary that has specialized and restricted meanings in certain disciplines
and which may vary in meaning across disciplines.
It can be seen clearly that the first area would be referred to semi-technical
and the second would be regarded as technical vocabulary. For such
characteristics, ESP vocabulary is not easy for learners to remember and recall.
Vocabulary can cause many difficulties for students in understanding of
technical texts. As English words often have more than one meaning, students
would feel confused if they find some general words in a technical text but they do
not understand their meanings. “Examples of such words are cycle (cf. its use in the
carbon cycle or a cycle of electricity), conductor (in electricity), and resistance (in
an electrical circuit)”, according to Kennedy and Bolitho (1984:58)).

introduction of the topic, brainstorming activities, presentation of target words,
categorization, personalization, review of target words. Following is an example of
a semantic map:

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Figure 1: A sample semantic map (Duffy)

1.3.3 Advantages of semantic mapping in teaching vocabulary
Duffy (2009) stated that semantic mapping is one way to explain how to
categorize word meanings. It remains essential to identify key attributes
distinguishing one word from another. But semantic maps provide the additional
benefit of helping students visualize how word meanings can be categorized.
The major purpose of the semantic map is to allow students to organize their
prior knowledge into these formal relations and thus to provide themselves a basis
for understanding what they are about to read and study. Comprehension can be
thought of as the elaboration and refinement of prior knowledge. What the semantic
map provides is a graphic structure of that knowledge to be used as the basis for
organizing new ideas as they are understood.
Semantic mapping is a good vehicle for students to share their work with the
class, thus becoming the teachers themselves. Teaching a concept to others will
increase student retention of information greatly. By discussing them as well as
writing them down, teachers are catering to different learning styles, and ensuring
that all students are increasing their knowledge of vocabulary.

1.4 Previous related studies about semantic mapping in teaching vocabulary
Semantic mapping has appeared in many studies, which means that it receives
much attention for its advantages. Some of recent studies are summarized as
follows:



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CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1. The background of the study
2.1.1. The study setting
The study was conducted at Thái Nguyên Universtity of Technology (TNUT)
in Thái Nguyên City, Vietnam. The English courses at TNUT includes General
English (GE) for the first and second year students and English for specific
purposes (ESP) for third year students who are majored in specific technical fields.
Students are obligatory to finish GE courses before attending ESP course.
English for mechanical engineering is one of ESP courses at TNUT. It is
designed for mechanical students. This course provides some basic knowledge
about mechanical engineering through technical texts and focuses mainly on
reading and writing skills. Thus vocabulary plays an important role in helping the
students fulfill the demand of the course.

2.1.2. Participants
The subjects of this study were twenty-two students aging from twenty to
twenty three, twenty boys and two girls. They all finish GE courses and most of
them are third year students.
The researcher in this study was also the teacher of this class, who has been
working as an English lecturer at TNUT for six years so far. In this action research,
she was the practitioner and the researcher at the same time. She was responsible for
the design and implementation of the semantic mapping in teaching ESP
vocabulary, and later collecting and analyzing the data.

2.1.3. Materials
All the vocabulary being taught in this course was taken from the book titled:
“Oxford English for Electrical and Mechanical Engineering” by Eric H.
Glendinning and Norman Glendinning (Oxford University Press). Each unit in the

Firstly, action research is situational, which means specific solutions can be
given to specific problems in each context. In this study, the researcher (also the

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teacher) recognizes that her students have troubles in remembering ESP vocabulary
so she decides to find the solution to improve the situation. The advantages here
include time, students’ natural performance, direct treatment and observation.
Secondly, it is a good chance for researcher to evaluate the treatment to find
out the rising problem and give timely decision for changing. In this study, the
treatment is carried out twice, as the results from the first progress test is not very
good as expected. The researcher after analyzing the data decides to do the
treatment in another phase to collect data, which leads to better results.
Despite the advantages, the study still had some limitations. The treatment
may work well in one class but may not be applied to other classes in different
contexts. If the same study is carried out in another class, the results obtained may
not be as effective as expected. Briefly, action research lacks generalization.

2.3. Data collection instruments
This study used an interview, three tests in the format of VKS tests which
served as two progress tests, a final test, and a questionnaire to collect data.
2.3.1 Interview
Semi -structured interviews are in-depth interviews. A semi-structured
interview will involve many open-ended questions, although they may also contain
some closed questions. A semi- structured interview was also chosen because it was
considered a feasible way to identify the problem in conducting an action research
like this.
The semi- structured interview was carried out within the group. As Michael J.
Wallace stated in his book “Action Research for Language Teacher” (1998) that
“most interviews are one- to- one, but it is also possible to have an “interview”
with a group, which could take the form of a kind of structured discussion”. In this

measuring how well students know the word. This VKS test included 50 words
taken intentionally from the topics which students already learned. Progress test 2

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was delivered at the final week of the course, which also include 50 words from the
topics in the course book.
Final test was delivered two weeks after the course. This is also a VKS test,
including 25 words from progress test 1 and 25 words from progress test 2. This test
is also called a delayed test, “Results from this delayed recall after two weeks is
normally referred to long-term retention” according to Yongqi (2003, cited in
Nemalt, 2009).

2.3.3. Questionnaire
Questionnaire was also another instrument for collecting data in this study.
In the words of Brown (2000, cited in Dörnyei (2003)), questionnaires are “any
written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or statements
to which they are to react either by writing out their answers of selecting from
among existing answers”.
The questionnaire in this study was used in order to investigate students’
attitudes towards the application of semantic mapping in learning ESP vocabulary.
It was delivered to the students immediately after they finish the final test. There
were two main parts in the questionnaire, namely: (1) the students’ attitudes towards
semantic mapping in vocabulary learning, and (2) the students’ suggestions about
the application of semantic mapping in the future.
In the first part, students were expected to complete three questions to express
their attitudes in terms of the importance, the effectiveness and the pleasure of the
treatment. These questions were designed under the format of a Likert-scale (see
Appendix 5). In second part, the suggestions were given under the form of four
statements; the students would share their ideas by ticking in the suitable categories.
There are five levels of agreements: strongly agree, agree, not sure, disagree and

Phase 1: This phase is the problem identification step. The very first task in
this phase was to investigate the problems that students often encounter when they

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deal with vocabulary. To fulfill this task, a semi- structured group interview was
carried out.
In order to create a comfortable atmosphere in the classroom, the group
interview was delivered at the beginning of the second session in week 1. Together
with the two main questions to keep students on the right track, follow- up
questions and some prompts were provided in order to orientate the interviewees
and prevent them from presenting irrelevant information. Students had a chance to
discuss and share their own problems, and teacher took time to ask detailed
questions and take notes. It took about 30 minutes for the group interview to be
completed.
Phase 2: After the results from this interview were analyzed, the study came
to phase 2 – intervention. From week 2 to week 6, the researcher planned and
conducted the treatment in which the students were introduced and explained about
semantic mapping during their lessons. Before learning a new topic, students were
asked to brainstorm about words relevant to the topic. The teacher then summarized
and constructed a sample semantic map for the topic. After the lesson, students
would have to revise all the new words given in the lesson in their own ways by
using semantic mapping. In the review session, the teacher then called some of her
students to stand up and describe how they had learnt the required word. This kind
of checking was also used as one good way to help asserting the result of the
research. Sample semantic maps used in the treatment could be seen in Appendix 1.
After four weeks, the first progress test was delivered to check student’s short-term
memory. This test included 50 words from unit 1 to unit 5 in the course book
(Appendix 2).
Phase 3: After collecting data from progress test 1, the teacher brought the
study to phase 3. From week 7 to week 12, the procedure was the same with phase

conclusion of ideas and opinions perceived by the students.