Towards teaching English vocabulary to Vietnamese tertiary students

Abstract

The English language is now widely used in Vietnam. Consequently, the teaching and learning of English has become more significant, but, on the other hand, teaching methodologies, in Vietnam, still reflect those used in the past to teach other foreign languages. Vietnamese English teachers also experience difficulty coping with the many new problems which they now face. One of these difficulties is the teaching of English vocabulary. In order to develop an understanding of how best English vocabulary might be taught in the Vietnamese setting, this study identifies a particular group of students: Vietnamese tertiary students attending the Hanoi Foreign Languages Teachers’ College, and then explores ways how teachers might introduce the teaching of English vocabulary, both to these students, and to the subjects the students will finally teach themselves. In order to prepare for an outline of how to carry out this teaching role, the study investigates the various problems associated with defining: the word; the types of meaning conveyed by the word; the relationship of phonology, syntax and semantics to the word, and other related matters. The study also looks at the problems which Vietnamese ( ii ) students have with learning English vocabulary. In this context a comparison is made of English and Vietnamese lexical and related systems. Subsequently, the study considers the different types of foreign language methods which have and are being used, with particular reference to how they were used to teach vocabulary. Finally, the study considers questions of the need to select appropriate vocabulary for the targeted students and details how teachers might effectively teach vocabulary.

Date of Award	1985
Original language	English