A case study on vocabulary teaching at Quang Oai upper-secondary school, Hanoi

Abstract

The present qualitative case study is aimed at finding out the perceptions of vocabulary teaching held by a group of upper-secondary school teachers working in Quang Oai upper-secondary school in Hanoi and the connection between their beliefs and practices. The study was conducted from February through May of the 2010 - 2011 academic year, and the data were analyzed qualitatively. The study involves 8 teachers of English working with their teaching experience ranging from 1 to 31 years. 8 pre-observation interviews, 16 observations and 8 post-observation interviews were conducted to seek the answers for the following research questions 1) What are teachers’ opinions of the role of vocabulary in foreign language teaching? 2) What do they think of the opportunities for and constraints on vocabulary teaching in their school? 3) To what extent do their self-reports of vocabulary teaching diverge from their actual classroom teaching? 4) What are the common vocabulary exercises they use in the classroom?. The overall findings of the survey show that the majority of respondents have understanding about the significance of vocabulary in English acquisition and English teaching, but that there exist some negative views on implementing the techniques in vocabulary teaching with regard to its classroom practice. Additionally, some useful implications are proposed based on research findings in order to help teachers to construct and implement techniques in vocabulary teaching more effectively.