TABLE OF CONTENTS
Cover Page i
Title Page ii
Declaration iii
Certification iv
Dedication v
Acknowledgements vi
Table of Contents vii
List of Tables x
Abstract xi
Operational Definition of Terms xii
CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem 3
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study 4
1.4 Research Questions 4
1.5 Research Hypotheses 5
1.6 Significance of the Study 5
1.7 Scope of the Study 6
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.1 Active and Passive Vocabulary 7
2.2 Vocabulary Load 11
2.3 Conceptual Framework 13
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2.3.1 Theory of Identifying Vocabulary in Context 13
2.3.2 Model of Identifying the Meaning Words in Context 15
2.3.3 Process Model of Deriving the Meaning 19
2.4 Context Clues and Vocabulary Development 22
2.4.1 Types of Context Clues 24
2.4.1.1 Internal Context Clues 25
2.4.1.2 External Context Clues 28
2.4.2 Steps in Using Context Clues During Vocabulary Development 32
2.5 Roles of Contexts and Context Clues in Vocabulary Development 38
2.6 Previous Studies 41
2.7 Gains from Review of Literature 50
2.8 Theoretical Framework 55
CHAPTER THREE – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research Design 56
3.2 Population of the Study 56
3.3 Sample and Sampling Procedure 57
3.4 Instrumentation 58
3.5 Pilot Study 59
3.6 Validity of the Research Instruments 59
3.7 Reliability of the Research Instruments 59
3.8 Data Collection Procedures 60
3.9 Data Analytical Technique 61
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CHAPTER FOUR – PRESENTATION AND ANALYSES OF DATA
4.1 Answering the Research Questions 63
4.2 Evaluating the Research Hypotheses 66
4.3 Summary of Research Findings 70
4.4 Discussion of Research Findings 70
CHAPTER FIVE – SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary 77
5.2 Implication of the Study 78
5.3 Conclusion 78
5.4 Recommendations 80
5.5 Suggestions for Further Studies 81
References 82
Appendices 93
LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1: Summary of Authors Reviewed and Aspects Gained 51 3.1: Population of the Study 57 3.2: Sample of the Study 58 4.1: Distribution of Pretest and Post Test of the Control Group/Experimental Group 62 4.2: Descriptive statistics on difference between the students exposed to contextual clues and those not exposed to it, in their development of vocabulary in an appropriate context at J.S II 63 4.3: Descriptive statistics on difference between before and after exposure to contextual clues in their development of vocabulary in an appropriate context at J.S II 64 4.4: Frequency and percentage of the difference in various types of context clues on vocabulary development of students in an appropriate context at J.S II 65 4.5: Independent t test statistics on difference between the students exposed to contextual clues and those not exposed to it, in their development of vocabulary in an appropriate context at J.S II 67 4.6: Paired sample t test statistics on difference between before and after exposure to contextual clues in their development of vocabulary in an appropriate context at J.S II 68 4.7: Distribution statistics on difference in various types of contextual clues on vocabulary development of students in an appropriate context at J.S II 69 xi ABSTRACT An area that brings problem continuously to second language (L2) learners of English is vocabulary development. Exposing words to students in isolation or in wrong context(s) causes L2 learners of English to lack working vocabularies. This study investigated the effects of exposure to context clues on vocabulary development of Junior Secondary II students in Zaria Education Zone, Kaduna State. Most students at this level merely memorise vocabularies in isolation without knowing how to put them in proper contexts .
This necessitates addressing the problem. Some of the questions the study answered were, to what extent does the exposure to context clues support students in vocabulary development in an appropriate context at J.S II. What types of context clues will be appropriate in developing student’s vocabulary in an appropriate context at J.S. II? The research employed quasi-experimental design. Cluster sampling was applied in the sampling. Vocabulary achievement test was the instrument used in collecting the data. Ttest was applied in testing the hypotheses. The study found that students taught with context clues have significant higher performance than those taught with traditional method in vocabulary development. Then significant differences exist in various types of context clues where visual context clue was ranked first while summary context clue was less effective than others on vocabulary development in context. The study recommended that, in vocabulary development, words should be presented not in isolation but in context. Secondly, teachers should provide various learning contexts since a single word can generate different meanings, depending on the context of its use .
xii OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS Automatic Decoding Skill: Using context and contextual clues by students themselves to understand meaning of new words without explanation by teacher or checking a dictionary .
Context Clue(s): Anything that can assist vocabulary learners in understanding the meaning of new words in relation to the place (context) where the word is found .
Context: Any place where a word (new) appears, in a written or spoken expression, accompanied by other words .
Non-characteristics: Features or characteristics that cannot be attributed to the unfamiliar word .
Non-examples: Words that cannot stand as examples of the new words, sometimes they are apposite of the new words .
Struggling Readers: Readers who cannot read alone and understand texts, without total reliance on teachers or always checking meaning from dictionary .
Unlock the Meaning: Understand the meaning of unknown word(s) .
1 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the Study Vocabulary development has been one of the important areas of language study that continuously poses problems to second language (L2) learners of English, for over three decades (1987– 2017). English as a Second Language learners at Junior Secondary (JS II)do not have adequate vocabulary to make expression in the right context. This is because the words that are exposed to them are in isolation and or in wrong context (National Reading Panel, 2000) .
Therefore, this study is titled Effects of Exposure to Context Clues on Vocabulary Development of Students at Junior Secondary II in Zaria Educational Zone, Kaduna State. According to National Reading Panel (2000), Vocabulary development is an important aspect in language learning that contributes to comprehension and fluency in expression .
Wallace, (2008) opines that learners who know the meaning of many words understand more than those who do not. They also use the understanding in acquiring new vocabulary. One way to support “struggling readers”, i.e English L2 learners with insufficient vocabulary is to develop strategy (ies) for deriving the meaning of unknown words (U.W). This can be achieved through one of the techniques of vocabulary development known as context clue. Unfortunately, most L2 learners of English, particularly at J.S II, do not have techniques for identification of meanings of vocabulary in context (Bishop, Reyes & Pflaum, 2006). English as L2 can make learners lose interest in reading when they lack what Goerss (2018) calls “automatic decoding skill” to unlock meanings of difficult words. The scholar states that, for learners to understand the meaning of vocabulary in context, that context must be made available to the learners. The 2 learners must be allowed to read the words within that context and or interact with the speaker by putting those words into the right context .
Thus, context clues can help students to interact with a text and derive the meaning of unknown words. Context clues assist readers to identify words quickly and effortlessly, relate what they read to their experience, predict and skim the text for main ideas (Bishop, et – al, 2006). Therefore, this study tried to investigate how effective the exposure to context clues would be, as a technique in developing students’ vocabulary, particularly at JS II. Most of the techniques for vocabulary development at J. S II, in the present decade (2007 – 2017) expose words in isolation to students (National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2018). This results in the teacher’s inability to produce students with required vocabulary of about 3000 words at this level (J.S II) as suggested by Nation (2011). Therefore the study would come up with updated techniques such as context clues for vocabulary development in context. Olaofe (2013) believes that the approach that is not only learner – centred but also learning facilitative is the best. The vocabulary teaching technique must be appropriate to the learners’ current needs. The approach must be appropriate to the level, age, background, period of learning and the learning goals. The technique should meet context needs of the vocabulary learning situation .
Locally, vocabulary instruction must be supported with relevant techniques to help English language teachers within the classroom to teach vocabulary in context. Nationally, English in Nigeria is dominantly taught as second language. The teaching of vocabulary in English as an L2 must be supported with a study of this nature. This is justified by Olaofe (2013) that the approach or technique should agree with the multilingual and multi – cultural settings in which the language is taught. This facilitates vocabulary development in context for teachers and students. Internationally, when professional teachers are trained effectively in this field of 3 vocabulary development in context from every country, they will be accepted worldwide. The inspirations for the study are: a. Whenever the learners (at J.S II) come across unfamiliar words many times in reading, they feel discouraged and lose interest in that reading .
b. Students rely heavily on their teachers to explain the meaning of unfamiliar words for them .
c. Most teachers lack strategies for teaching vocabulary in context, thus, end up teaching the items in isolation .
d. Many students can not generate more than one meaning out of a word, when used in different contexts, because the words are exposed to students out of context. The challenge for teachers and learners was not only how to develop vocabulary, but also how to develop the vocabulary in context. The positive outcome obtained from the study would assist teachers to teach vocabulary in context. It will also assist learners to identify and use vocabulary in the right context without too much domination of teaching and learning process by the teacher .
1.2 Statement of the Problem Vocabulary development is an important aspect that helps in language learning especially when the required numbers of words are presented to students in the right context. Ebbers (2005) suggests that learners need enough words in context to develop vocabulary, at least 3000 words in a year (J. S II), but they don’t know enough words to read well. Unfortunately, most students at J. S. II don’t have sufficient vocabulary, they merely memorise words in isolation, without knowing how to put words in proper context. Most teachers of English as L2 do not have appropriate techniques for teaching vocabulary in a way that students can learn the items in the 4 right context. The teachers teach the vocabulary items in isolation from the context, and the learners on their part memorise the words in isolation. This makes students passive recipients, unable to understand the various polysemous contexts a single word can appear. The students also struggle with reading because they can not figure out the meaning of unknown words without too much relying on their teachers. Also, when students fail to derive meaning through dictionary and verbal explanation from their teachers, they finally lose interest in vocabulary development. At the end, the students do not graduate with required number of words of about 4000 in a year as suggested by Flanigan & Greenwood (2007).This calls for academic research in this area to address the issue properly .
1.3 Aim and Objectives of the Study Every research must have aims and objectives as its solid bedrock for directions. The major aim of the study was to find out the effect of contextclues on vocabulary development of J.S. II students. The objectives this study tried to achieve were to: 1. determinethe extent to which exposure to context cluessupports students in vocabulary development in an appropriate context at J.S II .
2. determine theextent to which exposure to context clues assists students in applying the meaning of a new word in an appropriate context at J.S II .
3. identify the types of context clues which has more effect on developing students’ vocabulary in an appropriate context at J.S II .
1.4 Research Questions In every research proposal, there should be research question.The questions this study tried to answer were: 5 1. To what extent does the exposure to context clues support students in vocabulary development in an appropriate context atJ.S II? 2. To what extent does the exposure to context clues assists students in applying the meaning of new word in an appropriate context at J.S II 3. What types of context clues will be more effective on developing students’ vocabulary in appropriate context at J.S II? 1.5 Research Hypotheses The study was based on the following hypotheses: HO1 There is no significant difference between the exposure to context clues and nonexposure of students on how they develop vocabulary in an appropriate context atJ.S II .
HO2 There is no significant difference between the exposure to context clues and nonexposure of students in the application of the meanings of new words in appropriate contexts at J.S II HO3 There is no significant effect in various types of context clues on vocabulary development of students in appropriate context at J.S II .
1.6 Significance of the Study Thestudy would be very significant to students especially at Junior Secondary II. The work would assist in addressing the problems of teaching vocabulary in the right context. Junior Secondary II students would find the work useful, because they need to be equipped with techniques of learning vocabulary in context. Those techniques wouldassist them to develop and apply vocabulary in context without always looking for dictionary or too much reliance on teachers for word meaning. Again, most English L2 teachers in Nigeria lack adequate techniques of teaching vocabulary in context (National Reading Panel, 2000). As a result, teachers end up 6 teaching words through word – list, force learners to memorize words in isolation, which students fail to remember after a while. The teachers, therefore, woulduse this research result to enhance their pedagogical skills as professional .
English language curriculum planners, by using this research, can develop vocabulary teaching curriculum that is context – based, modernize the existing techniques that are already available. English language textbook authors will be assisted on writing textbooks with context clues that help students to develop their vocabulary easily. Linking vocabulary with context clues in text books can simplify the text and the task of reading. The students can read the English language text books without writers clarification, and for this, the writing can achieve wider audience. Educational test and measurement experts will ensure that the test is constructed in a way the vocabulary teaching is carried out in context. This research is capable of guiding Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council to identify techniques that are in line with current English L2 teaching and learning situations. The study will benefit the general public because it was carried out in line with the Nigerian Sociolinguistic background.This is by considering distinct vocabulary features of English that can be understood in our social setting .
1.7 Scope and Delimitation The study was limited to the students of public J.S II in Zaria Educational Zone, Kaduna State. Senior Secondary Schools were excluded because the 1070 students selected were from J.S. II. The variables coveredwere the use of context clues and vocabulary development of J.S II students, so that the topic under study would be deeply investigated .
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