The Effects of Semantic Mapping on Vocabulary Memorizing

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semantic mapping, (2) students’ attitudes towards the benefits <strong>of</strong> semantic mapping on vocabulary memorizing, and (3) students’ attitudes towards the feasibility <strong>of</strong> semantic mapping. <strong>The</strong> clusters <strong>of</strong> the items are shown in Table 4 below. Table 4. Three Clusters <strong>of</strong> Items in the Questionnaire Clusters Items 1. Students’ interest in memorizing 1, 2, 18, 20, 21 vocabulary with semantic mapping 2. Students’ attitudes towards the benefits 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17 <strong>of</strong> semantic mapping on vocabulary memorizing 3. Students’ attitudes towards the 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 22 feasibility <strong>of</strong> semantic mapping As Day and Bamford (2004, cited in Nguyen, 2007) explained, “using the students’ first language also means that the information you receive has more chance <strong>of</strong> being accurate and complete”. For the sake <strong>of</strong> the study, the questionnaire in a Vietnamese version was given to the students so that misunderstanding would be avoided. To ensure reliability, the researcher gave careful explanations about semantic mapping before the students began to answer the prequestionnaire. Piloting the questionnaire Before <strong>of</strong>ficially used in the research, the questionnaire was piloted with forty-one students with the similar background and level <strong>of</strong> English pr<strong>of</strong>iciency to test the reliability <strong>of</strong> the instrument. <strong>The</strong> reliability <strong>of</strong> the piloted questionnaire was Cronbach’s alpha (α) =0.84. <strong>The</strong> results showed that the questionnaire on the students’ attitude towards semantic mapping was reliable and could be used for collecting data for the study. 5.3 Interview on the students’ attitude towards semantic mapping It was stated above that the questionnaire was used to collect more in-depth information on the students’ attitudes and interests that could not be directly observable. However, using only the questionnaire could not help the researcher explore complex data for numerous questions. <strong>The</strong>refore, an interview was considered for this study. <strong>The</strong> interview was one <strong>of</strong> the most important data gathering tools in qualitative research. Interview could allow researchers to investigate phenomena that were not directly observable, such as learners’ self-reported perceptions or attitudes (Gass & Mackey, 2000). Thanks to the interview, the researcher could achieve data from particular individuals by face-to-face meeting, which could assist the students by clarifying the questions or clearly define the students’ responses. <strong>The</strong> interview was designed to explore the students’ attitudes towards semantic mapping technique as well as explain more comprehensive understanding <strong>of</strong> the results; therefore, it was given only to the students in the experimental condition after the treatment. Basing on the 643
questionnaire’s result, the research chose nine students whose score was worse, unchanged and better after the experiment. <strong>The</strong> nine students were asked the six following questions: 1. In what way were you usually introduced to new words in English lessons? 2. Besides learning vocabulary in class, how do you memorize vocabulary at home? 3. Have you ever been taught vocabulary using the semantic mapping? 4. Do you think it is effective or ineffective to use the semantic mapping to memorize vocabulary? 5. Why do you think it is effective/ineffective to use the semantic mapping to memorize vocabulary? 6. Could you <strong>of</strong>fer some suggestions on using the semantic mapping to memorize vocabulary more effectively? <strong>The</strong> first three questions mentioned the frequency <strong>of</strong> using the semantic mapping to memorize vocabulary. <strong>The</strong> last three questions were for the students’ attitudes towards the semantic mapping. 6 Data collection procedures This section presents the procedures <strong>of</strong> the experimental research including (1) the procedure <strong>of</strong> implementing semantic mapping and (2) the procedure <strong>of</strong> data collection. <strong>The</strong> following Table 5 summarizes the procedures <strong>of</strong> the research. Table 5. Procedures <strong>of</strong> the Research Time Research activities Group(s) Week 1 - Administering the selection vocabulary test - 2 groups - Instruction <strong>of</strong> the semantic mapping technique - 2 groups Week 2 - Administering the pre-test <strong>of</strong> vocabulary knowledge - 2 groups - Delivering the questionnaire before the experiment - Exp. Group Week 3-7 - Implementing the semantic mapping in the stage <strong>of</strong> teaching vocabulary - Exp. Group Week 14 - Administering the post-test <strong>of</strong> vocabulary knowledge - 2 groups - Delivering the questionnaire after the - Exp. Group experiment - Conducting the interview - Exp. Group 6.1. Procedure <strong>of</strong> semantic mapping intervention As shown in Table 5, the semantic mapping technique was applied only in the experimental group. During the five week experiment, each group had three forty-five minute periods every week. Both groups were taught vocabulary in each lesson. However, the experimental group was taught vocabulary with the semantic mapping while the control one was taught vocabulary without semantic mapping. 6.2. Procedure <strong>of</strong> data collection 644
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