STRATEGIES USED BY ESL LEARNERS TO DERIVE MEANING OF

VOCABULARY IN A SHORT STORY

TENGKU NAZUIN BINTI TENGKU NAZUDIN

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

PSZ 19:16 (Pind. 1/07)

DECLARATION OF THESIS / UNDERGRADUATE PROJECT PAPER AND COPYRIGHT

Author’s full name : TENGKU NAZUIN BINTI TENGKU NAZUDIN Date of birth : 3rd JANUARY 1984 Title : STRATEGIES USED BY ESL LEARNERS TO DERIVE MEANING OF VOCABULARY

IN A SHORT STORY

Academic Session : 2008/2009 I declare that this thesis is classified as : I acknowledged that Universiti Teknologi Malaysia reserves the right as follows :

1. The thesis is the property of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. 2. The Library of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has the right to make copies for the purpose

of research only. 3. The Library has the right to make copies of the thesis for academic exchange.

Certified by :

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR 840103-05-5162 PUAN MARZILAH BINTI A. AZIZ

(NEW IC NO. /PASSPORT NO.) NAME OF SUPERVISOR Date : 30th APRIL 2009 Date : 30th APRIL 2009

NOTES : * If the thesis is CONFIDENTIAL or RESTRICTED, please attach with the letter from the organisation with period and reasons for confidentiality or restriction.

UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

√

CONFIDENTIAL (Contains confidential information under the Official Secret Act 1972)*

RESTRICTED (Contains restricted information as specified by the organisation where research was done)*

OPEN ACCESS I agree that my thesis to be published as online open access (full text)

“I hereby declare that I have read this thesis and in my opinion this thesis is sufficient

in terms of scope and quality for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Science with Education (TESL)”

Signature :

Name of Supervisor: Puan Marzilah Binti A. Aziz

Date : 30th APRIL 2009

STRATEGIES USED BY ESL LEARNERS TO DERIVE MEANING

OF VOCABULARY IN A SHORT STORY

TENGKU NAZUIN BINTI TENGKU NAZUDIN

A report submitted in partial fulfillment of the

requirements for the award of the degree of

Bachelor of Science with Education (TESL)

Faculty of Education

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

APRIL 2009

ii

I declare that this thesis entitled “Strategies Used by ESL Learners to Derive Meaning of

Vocabulary in a Short Story” is the result of my own research except as cited in the

references. The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently

submitted in candidature of any other degree.

Signature :

Name : Tengku Nazuin Binti Tengku Nazudin

Date : 30th April 2009

iii

To my beloved mother and father,

Hawiyah binti Maatan and Tengku Nazudin bin Tengku Mohd. Nor

You are my inspiration.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In The Name of ALLAH The Most Gracious and Most Merciful

Praise be to Allah for His blessings and guidance in my journey of completing this

research.

First and foremost, I would like to thank my respected supervisor, Puan Marzilah binti

A. Aziz. Thank you very much for guiding and helping me throughout the completion of this

research. You have been such a nice supervisor to me. I really had a great time being your

supervisee all this while.

I would also like to thank Puan Zaliza and Madam Hoh Siew Lan for their help; to

EPRD of Ministry of Education and Johore State of Educational Department for the consent; to

the principal, teachers and students of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Munshi Abdullah, Kulai

for the cooperation given in conducting this research.

Not forgetting my gratitude goes out to all my friends who have helped me throughout

this research, especially Harpah binti Bohri, Siti Fairuz binti Ismail, Nur Haslinda binti

Burhanuddin and Nur ‘Atikah binti Rahman. Thank you for being there for me. I really

appreciate it.

Last but not least, to my beloved and inspiring parents, Tengku Nazudin bin Tengku

Mohd. Nor and Hawiyah binti Maatan, my dear sister Tengku Zarina, my brothers and the rest of

my family, thank you very much for believing in me. I really cherish your love and support.

Lots of love.

.

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ABSTRACT

This study aims at identifying the strategies used by learners to derive meaning

of vocabulary in one of the KBSM literature component, which is short story. The

effectiveness of the strategies identified is also being looked at. Besides that, it is also to

find out if the ESL learners use the five common strategies to derive meaning of words.

A total of 70 Form Two students in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Munshi Abdullah,

Kulai, Johor participated in this study. The research instruments used for this study were

questionnaires and a rated vocabulary exercise on a short story. The questionnaires were

distributed to each respondent with the purpose of finding out the strategies used to

derive meaning of words, in general readings as well as in a short story. In addition, the

rated vocabulary exercise was given to them to see whether the strategies used in

deriving meaning of vocabulary in a short story have been effective or otherwise. This

was done by comparing the exercise scores and the strategies used. Result from the

findings indicate the following: 1) The learners do use the five common strategies

mentioned by most researchers in the field, 2) In deriving the meaning of vocabulary in

a short story, most of the high, average and low achievers referred to the dictionary, 3)

The effectiveness of the strategies used depended on the learners’ language proficiency

and their ability to fit in the meanings of the unknown words with the context in which

these words occurred. Finally, the pedagogical implications of the findings and

suggestions for future research are put forward.

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ABSTRAK

Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenalpasti strategi-strategi yang digunakan oleh

pelajar untuk mendapatkan maksud perkataan di dalam salah satu daripada komponen

kesusasteraan terkandung di dalam KBSM, iaitu cerita pendek. Keberkesanan strategi-

strategi tersebut juga dilihat. Selain itu, kajian ini juga adalah untuk mengetahui jika

pelajar-pelajar Bahasa Inggeris sebagai Bahasa Kedua menggunakan lima strategi yang

kebiasaannya digunakan dalam mendapatkan maksud perkataan. Seramai 70 orang

pelajar Tingkatan Dua Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Munshi Abdullah, Kulai, Johor

telah menjadi responden untuk kajian ini. Instrumen kajian yang digunakan adalah soal

selidik dan latihan perbendaharaan kata mengenai cerita pendek. Soalselidik tersebut

telah diedarkan kepada setiap responden dengan tujuan untuk mengenalpasti strategi-

strategi yang digunakan untuk mendapatkan maksud perkataan dalam pembacaan umum

dan juga dalam cerita pendek. Selain itu, latihan perbendaharaan kata yang telah

diberikan kepada mereka adalah untuk melihat sama ada strategi yang digunakan

berkesan ataupun tidak. Ini dilakukan dengan membandingkan markah yang diperolehi

untuk latihan tersebut dengan strategi yang digunakan. Dapatan kajian menunjukkan:

1) Pelajar-pelajar tersebut menggunakan lima strategi yang dinyatakan oleh para

penyelidik di dalam bidang tersebut, 2) Dalam mendapatkan maksud perkataan di dalam

cerita pendek, kebanyakan pelajar yang memperolehi pencapaian tinggi, sederhana dan

rendah merujuk kamus, 3)Keberkesanan strategi yang digunakan bergantung kepada

penguasaan bahasa pelajar dan keupayaan mereka untuk menyesuaikan maksud

perkataan yang tidak diketahui dengan konteks di mana terdapatnya perkataan tersebut.

Akhir sekali, implikasi pedagogi tentang keputusan yang diperolehi dan cadangan untuk

kajian akan datang dikemukakan.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

THESIS STATUS DECLARATION

SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION

TITLE

DECLARATION ii

DEDICATION` iii

ACKNOWLEDEGMENTS iv

ABSTRACT v

ABSTRAK vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES xi

LIST OF FIGURES xii

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Statement of problem 2

1.3 Purposes of the study 2

1.4 Objectives of the study 3

1.5 Research questions 4

viii

1.6 Significance of the study 4

1.7 Scope of the study 5

1.8 Definition of terms 5

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction 7

2.2 Vocabulary and word learning 9

2.3 Vocabulary teaching 10

2.4 Learners’ strategies to derive

word meanings 12

2.4.1 Analysing affixes 13

2.4.2 Guessing using contextual

clues 14

2.4.3 Sense relation 15

2.4.4 Dictionary use 16

2.4.5 Translation 18

2.5 Conclusion 19

3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction 20

3.2 Research procedure 20

3.3 Research instrument 21

3.4 Research framework 23

3.5 Respondents of the study 26

3.6 Pilot study 26

3.7 Translation of questionnaires 27

3.8 Summary 27

ix

4 RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Introduction 28

4.2 Demographic data collected

through questionnaire 29

4.3 Findings and discussion 31

4.3.1 Respondents’ rated

vocabulary exercise score 32

4.3.2 Strategies used by ESL

learners to derive meaning

of vocabulary in general readings 32

4.3.3 Summary of the strategies

used by the respondents to

derive meaning of vocabulary

in general readings 39

4.3.4 Strategies used by ESL

learners to derive meaning

of vocabulary in a

short story 40

4.3.5 Summary of the strategies

used by the respondents to

derive meaning of vocabulary

in a short story and their

effectiveness 47

4.3.6 Respondent’s English Language

background 51

4.4 Conclusion 53

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5 CONCLUSION

5.1 Overview 54

5.2 Restatement of objectives 55

5.3 Review of the findings 55

5.4 Limitations 56

5.5 Pedagogical implications 56

5.6 Conclusions 61

5.7 Recommendations 62

REFERENCES 64

APPENDICES 67

APPENDIX A Letter of Permission from EPRD 68

APPENDIX B Letter of Permission from Johore State

Educational Department 69

APPENDIX C Questionnaire 70

APPENDIX D Soal Selidik 75

APPENDIX E Rated Vocabulary Exercise 81

APPENDIX F Tables of Findings and Analysis 85

xi

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE

3.1 Vocabulary exercise score range 25

3.2 Findings analysis 25

4.1 Respondents’ age 29

4.2 Respondents’ UPSR English result 30

4.3 Respondents’ rated vocabulary exercise score 32

4.4 English Language background of the respondents

categorised based on the rated vocabulary exercise

achievement 51

xii

LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURE NO. TITLE PAGE

3.1 Research framework 24

4.1 Strategies used by high achievers to derive

meaning of vocabulary in general readings 33

4.2 Strategies used by average achievers to derive

meaning of vocabulary in general readings 35

4.3 Strategies used by low achievers to derive meaning

of vocabulary in general readings 37

4.4 The most and least used strategies to derive

meaning of vocabulary in general readings among

the high, average and low achievers 39

4.5 Strategies used by high achievers to derive meaning

of vocabulary in a short story 41

4.6 Strategies used by average achievers to derive meaning

of vocabulary in a short story 43

xiii

4.7 Strategies used by low achievers to derive meaning

of vocabulary in short story 45

4.8 The most and least used strategies among

the high, average and low achievers to derive

meaning of vocabulary in a short story 47

xiv

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX TITLE

A Letter from EPRD

B Letter from State Educational Department

C Questionnaire

D Soal selidik

E Rated vocabulary exercise

F Tables of findings and analysis

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Since literature component has been introduced in English KBSM syllabus,

many learners have found it difficult. Some of the literature component such as poem

and short stories are not that easy to be understood especially when learners have limited

vocabulary.

Vocabulary is actually one of the important aspects in English Language

Learning and can be defined as words understood and applied by a person. Research

shows that

"Vocabulary is the glue that holds stories, ideas, and content together and that it

facilitates making comprehension accessible for children"

(Donohue, R.L: Rupley, Logan, & Nichols, 1999, p. 5)

2

If vocabulary is not given much attention in English Language classroom, it can

lead to learners having difficulty to master the content of what being read. Therefore,

teachers should not expect learners to learn the words indirectly and independently.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

As mentioned in the literature component of Secondary Schools Integrated

Curriculum (KBSM), learners’ vocabulary is indeed important. This is because

sufficient vocabulary is needed to aid learners’ comprehension. In addition, it helps

learners in answering respective questions in their English Language examination paper.

Given the situation, it is crucial that learners apply practical and effective

strategies in order to gain adequate vocabulary. Learners should be able to make use

ways that suit them in getting the meaning of words that they encounter so that they will

be able to understand the whole literary work.

1.3 Purpose of the study

Learners may have found that it is difficult to understand a literary work due to

unfamiliar and foreign words that they come across. If left untreated, this might

demotivate them to read the poems or short stories. Besides that, there is a possibility

that learners’ disability to comprehend the words leads to the decrease of learners’

performance in English Language examination. Understanding words is very much

3

crucial in literature reading but learners may have not applied the appropriate strategies

to understand the words used.

Having said that, this study aims at finding out what are the strategies that

learners use to derive meaning of words that they encounter in a literary work,

specifically looking into a short story.

1.4 Objectives of the Study

The objectives of this study are:

1.4.1 to find out do the ESL learners use the five common strategies to derive

meaning of words in general readings.

1.4.2 to identify the strategies used by ESL learners to derive meaning of

vocabulary in a short story.

1.4.3 to examine the effectiveness of the strategies identified to derive meaning

of vocabulary in a short story.

4

1.5 Research Questions

The specific questions to be answered in this study are as follows:

1.5.1 Do the ESL learners use the five common strategies to derive meaning of

words in general readings?

1.5.2 What are the strategies used by ESL learners to derive meaning of

vocabulary in a short story?

1.5.3 How effective are the strategies identified in aiding learners to derive

meaning of vocabulary in a short story?

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study hopes to discover a range of strategies applied by ESL learners while

they are deriving the meaning of vocabulary found in a short story. Their understanding

of words would help teachers to plan the teaching techniques according to the

appropriate strategies.

Moreover, it is hoped that this study provides evidence on how effective are the

strategies that the learners used. Possible recommendations of using the effective

strategies are made to motivate learners in literature reading and to assist them in

comprehension of literary works.

5

1.7 Scope of the Study

This study involved ESL learners of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Munshi

Abdullah, Kulai. The reason for choosing these respondents was that this subject

consisted of high, average and low achievers of English Language in general. Thus, the

study intended to find out their achievement in a given vocabulary exercise and what

strategies that they use so that the correlation of both could be obtained. Moreover,

comparisons were made to see whether the strategies were effective or otherwise. The

data was collected via a rated vocabulary exercise as well as questionnaire.

1.8 Definition Of Terms

1.8.1 Strategies

The Oxford Quick Reference Dictionary (1998) defines strategy as “long term

plan”

In this study, strategy can be considered as way or method practised by language

learners.

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1.8.2 Derive meaning

The Oxford Quick Reference Dictionary (1998) defines derive as “get or trace

from a source”. Thus, derive meaning can be regarded as get or construct what is

meant by something.

1.8.3 Vocabulary

“Words used by a particular language, book, branch of science, or author” (The

Oxford Quick Reference Dictionary ,1998)

1.8.4 Short Story

Prescribed literary work for Malaysian Secondary School students, dealt with in

Forms One and Four. (Suthagar Narasuman, 2007)