Analysis of Difficulties in Vocabulary Acquisition: Article
Analysis of Difficulties in Vocabulary Acquisition: Article
Analysis of Difficulties in Vocabulary Acquisition: Article
net/publication/344126939
CITATIONS READS
0 1,549
2 authors, including:
SEE PROFILE
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
The manual “English for Law Students” has been written at the Department of Language training of Tashkent State Law University for practical training on module
“Foreign Language for Lawyers». The manual is compiled for law students to use in their English classes during the third year of study for academic purposes on the
specialty “Jurisprudence” It is based on a communicative language learning approach. The manual is designed not only for law students, but students studying law in
English. View project
All content following this page was uploaded by Sardor Egamovich Surmanov on 05 September 2020.
ABSTRACT
Vocabulary acquisition and retention is considered one of the most influential factors of
language learning. However, there are some factors that prevents language learners from
better vocabulary acquisition and retention. Vocabulary is considered as an essential part of
developing good fluency, and lexical ability plays important role in language learning. This
research analysis possible obstacles faced by five ninth grade school pupils in one of the public
schools in Sirdarya region. This study aims to examine what kind of difficulties five school
pupils facing in vocabulary learning.
INTRODUCTION
In this case study the author intended to find the out the challenges in the process of
vocabulary learning faced by five ninth grade school pupils in one of the public schools in
Sirdarya region.
In any language, vocabulary plays an important role in developing good fluency. That’s
why lexical competence is considered as the central part of language learning. Furthermore,
vocabulary is important factor for language learning because inadequate vocabulary knowledge
leads the learners to encounter difficulties in language learning. By developing ability to use
vocabulary learning strategies learners can significantly increase their general English level.
The objective of the case study is to examine what kind of difficulties five school pupils facing
in vocabulary learning. The participants were given a list of one thousand words in English
along with their translation in the Russian language. The words were selected “English
Unlimited” that was published the Cambridge University Press. The participants were asked to
learn the vocabulary by heart in the given period. Some of the pupils have completed learning
the given vocabulary, but some of the have not finished learning the given task. When the
deadline come I checked how well they learned the vocabulary, and then I took questionnaire
from every participant.
To obtain data, the researcher used the interview and questionnaire. All data was
analyzed descriptively. The results showed that students still face problems or difficulties in
learning vocabulary. The kinds of difficulties that students face in learning vocabulary were
different. The kinds of difficulties faced by students were almost all students who had
difficulties with pronouncing words, writing and spells, a different grammatical form of the
word, known as exaggerations, was one of the reasons for the students' difficulty in learning
vocabulary. In addition, students have found difficulty in choosing the appropriate meaning of
words, and also still confuse the use of words based on context. Last, students are also still
confused when they found words or expressions that were idiomatic.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Knowledge of the vocabulary is often considered an important tool for second language
learners, because limited vocabulary in a second language impedes successful communication.
Acquisition of vocabulary is important for the successful use of a second language and
plays an important role in the formation of complete oral and written texts. In English as a
second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language (EFL), vocabulary subjects play a
vital role in all language skills (for example, when listening, speaking, reading, and writing).
In addition, the acquisition of an adequate vocabulary is essential for the successful use of a
second language, because without an extensive vocabulary we cannot use the structures and
functions that we may have learned for comprehensible communication.
language; they carry dictionaries, not grammar books, and regularly report that lack of
vocabulary is a serious problem. ”
On the other hand, vocabulary was recognized as the best source of problems for L2
students. This remark may perhaps reflect the fact that the openness of the vocabulary system
is perceived by students as the cause of difficulties. Another possible reason is that, unlike
syntax and phonology, the dictionary does not have rules that students can follow to acquire
and develop their knowledge. In other words, in L2 it is not clear which rules apply or which
vocabulary items should be studied first. Oxford (1990) also claims that vocabulary "is the
most significant and unmanageable component in learning any language, be it foreign or native,
due to tens of thousands of different meanings." Despite these difficulties faced by people
learning the L2 language they still have to deal with this in exams, since “the dictionary has
traditionally been one of the components of a language measured in language tests” (Schmitt,
1999, 189). In addition, many learners consider the acquisition of a second language (SLA) as
a matter of fact, the question of learning vocabulary, and therefore they spend a lot of time
memorizing the lists of L2 words and rely on their bilingual vocabulary as the main
communication resource. As a result, language teachers and applied linguists now generally
recognize the importance of vocabulary learning and exploring ways to promote it more
effectively. Some of these studies take the form of research strategies that students use
specifically for vocabulary (VLS), which is our focus.
b. Grammar
Also problematic is the grammar associated with the word, especially if this differs
from that of its L1 equivalent. Remembering whether a verb like enjoy, love, or hope is
followed by an infinitive (to swim) or an -ing form (swimming) can add to its difficulty.
c. Meaning
When two words overlap in meaning, learners are likely to confuse them. Make and do
are a case in point: you make breakfast and make an appointment, but you do the housework
and do a questionnaire.
PARTICIPANTS PROFILE
Subjects of this case study are five school pupils in the Syrdarya region. All of them
had previously classes from the fifth grade, and they have been learning English for the last
four years. Two of them were female students, and other ones were males. The level of the
pupils was more or less pre-intermediate.
The first student (Student A) is 15 years old schoolgirl, she had an extra classes on
English Grammar in the last year. Student A has learned more vocabulary items than the rest
of the group.
The second student (Student B) is also 15 years old schoolgirl, but she had only English
classes in the school. The third student (Student S) ( the letter out of alphabetical order which
he wanted to choose as initial letter of his name is “S”) is 14 years old schoolboy, and also she
had only English classes in the public school. The next pupil (Student D) is 15 years old
schoolboy, and he had only English classes in the public school.
Finally, the last student (Student E) is also the same age as their classmates and also he
had English classes in the same school with his peers.
RESEARCH DESIGN
In order to investigate the students’ difficulties in learning vocabulary I gave them a list
of one thousand wordlist from the course book “English Unlimited” The book is very suitable
to intermediate level students; this was the level of some participants. Every word has its
translation in Russian, but they do not have transcription of an example sentence using in
context.
I gave the participants more than one month in order to learn the new vocabulary.
Hovever, Student A and Student D have not finished learning all of the given vocabulary items.
I made special table in order to record what kind of mistakes is the most common in vocabulary
learning. The table based on Thornbury’s view in difficulties of vocabulary learning. Some of
these difficulties mentioned in Literature review section. This is how table was organized, and
I marked each mistake when I questioned the participants.
Pronunciation
Length
Complexity
Meaning
Connotation
Idiomaticity
Every time when participants made mistake I marked the mistakes on this table. For
example, if a student mispronounce the word I marked that as a pronunciation mistake
according to the table. The other types of the mistakes marked according to this table.
The data collecting technique used in this case study were individual interview.
Interview was done to know kinds and factors students’ difficulties in learning vocabulary.
Five participants were asked to come interview after one month passed. I questioned them
individually in order to record all the mistakes they have made in the vocabulary learning. I
randomly choose the word that I was asking. Sometimes I asked only English word, demanding
students to say translation, and sometimes I have asked Russian translation of the word. This
is because my mistakes evaluation table has various mistake types. Furthermore, I have not
asked all 1000 words from the participants. Each participant was asked more or less 200 of the
given words
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Student A Student B Student S Student D Student E Average
The next most common mistake was on words meaning. Sometimes the participants
confused the word to the similar word in the English, and sometimes they said totally different
meaning. On average nearly 40 word were confused by the participants.
80
70
60
50 Student A
Student B
40 Student S
Student D
30 Student E
Average
20
10
0
Pronunciation length complexity meaning connatation idiomaticity
The next type of mistakes is the length and complexity of the word. Usually participants
find a little bit difficult to remember longer and complex words than shorter and simple one or
two syllable words. For example, “continue”, “different” was a bit harder than learning “keep”
or “same”.
CONCLUSION
Based on the theories, the findings and the analysis, the present study arrives at the
conclusions. This study revealed that problems or difficulties faced by the students in
vocabulary learning were various. The difficulties that students face were almost all students
who found it difficult to pronounce words, the different grammatical form of the word, known
as exaggerations, was one of the reasons for the students' difficulty in learning vocabulary. In
addition, students have found difficulty in choosing the appropriate meaning of words, and also
still confuse the use of words based on context. Lastly, students are also still confused when
they find words or expressions that are idiomatic.
A lack of vocabulary can be the cause of poor reading skills and makes learning every
subject challenging. Luckily this is easy to improve. Students can quickly understand a wide
range of words and get better grades with a great vocabulary. Vocabulary learning can be fun,
easy and fast with a software computer vocabulary program. A good vocabulary makes a better
writer and communicator.
REFERENCES
1. Lewis, M. (1993). The Lexical Approach. Language Teaching Publications.
2. Maximo, R. (2000). Effects if rote, context, keyword, and context/ keyword
method on retention of vocabulary in EFL classroom, Language Learning, 50, 2, 385-412.