CHAPTER 3 : METHODOLOGY

3.0 Chapter Overview ……………………………………………………….…...1

3.1 Research Approach………………….………………….……..…………….1

3.2 Research Design……………………………………………………………..3

3.3 Context of the study…………...……………………………………..……..4

3.2.1 Sampling ………………...………………………………….4

3.2.2 Participants………………………………………………….4

3.4 Research Instrument………………………………………………………...5

3.4.1 Observation ……………………………………….………..5

3.4.2 Interview ….…………………………………….…….…....7

3.4.2.1 Interview procedure…………….………..…..……..7

3.4.3 Survey method……………………………………………...9

3.4.3.1 Designing the questionnaire . …...………..….……12

3.4.3.2 Data collection procedures…..……………….……12

3.4.3.3 Pretesting the questionnaire……………….…….…12

3.3.4.4 Distributing the questionnaires…………….……....12

3.5 Data Analysis………………..……………………………………………..13

3.5.1 Observation…………………………………...……13

3.5.2 Interview……………………………………..…….13

3.5.3 Survey method…………………………..…………14

3.6 Triangulation ………………………………………………………….......17

3.7 Summary…………………………………………………………………..18
 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.0 Chapter Overview

This chapter begins with the overview of this study in addressing the research aims and objectives.
The context of the study is provided which consists of detailed information about the research site
and participants. Next, the overview of case study method is presented. Then, data collection
procedures and data analysis of each method are explained. The chapter ends with the description
on the triangulation process.

3.1 Research Approach

The aim of the current study is to investigate Malaysian primary schools vocabulary teaching and
learning. In particular, the objectives of the present study are:

i. To investigate Malaysian teachers’ vocabulary teaching practices.

ii. To determine Malaysian primary school students’ strategies in vocabulary learning.

In addition, two research problems have been identified. First, from the study by Maizatullah
Muhammad and Kiely (2018) mentioned that teachers tend to teach based on their experiences.
Second, the lack of studies conducted to determine primary school learners’ learning strategies have
prompted the researcher to investigate Malaysian primary schools vocabulary teaching and learning.

From the research problems, it shows that the researcher is interested in exploring the vocabulary
learning and teaching in Malaysian primary schools, the exploration is necessary due to the limited
studies exists in this topic. Hence, qualitative research is the suitable approach to explore and
understand Malaysian primary schools vocabulary teaching and learning. First, this study will seek
to understand the research problems from the perspectives of the teachers and students. Second, this
study will provide detailed description of the participants’ feelings, opinions, and experience on
vocabulary teaching and learning. During the data collections, the researcher gathers data from the
informants directly such as their teaching experience, perceptions on vocabulary teaching and
methods as well as the reasons behind their vocabulary teaching practices. Since vocabulary
teaching practices affect learners’ strategies use in vocabulary learning, researcher also aims to find
out primary school learners’ strategies preference in vocabulary learning. That is, detailed

1
information will be obtained from the teachers and students in order to investigate vocabulary
teaching and learning in primary schools of Malaysia. Then, theories will be generated based on the
participants’ perspectives. In short, qualitative research is employed as a framework for planning,
conducting and evaluating this study.

Qualitative researchers collect extensive data to explore a phenomenon. For example, Maizatulla
Muhammad and Kiely (2018) investigated two secondary school teachers’ vocabulary teaching
practices through observations and semi structured interviews. The observations were video
recorded and the interviews were audio recorded, the data were then transcribed. Saroya Yahya,
Melor Md Yunus and Hasnah Toran (2013) utilised qualitative approach with case study method to
explore teachers’ vocabulary teaching practices in autistic classroom. Field notes on classroom
observations and interviews were used as data collection.

Elsewhere, Rahman, Singh and Pandian (2018) also conducted a case study research to find out and
compare teachers’ beliefs with their classroom practices relating to Communicative Language
Teaching (CLT). The study was conducted for two weeks. The researchers used semi-structured
interview and classroom observation to collect data.

Referring to the previous studies, it shows that the studies are exploratory in nature. That is,
qualitative research approach was used to understand teachers’ teaching practices. Second, different
instruments were utilised for data collection. This implies that the researchers employed different
formats to report their studies in order to convince the readers that the studies are accurate. Hence,
the present study will employ observations and interviews to investigate vocabulary teaching and
learning in Malaysian primary schools.

However, there are also limitations in qualitative research. First, the interpretation of qualitative
research data depends more on the researcher’s background and knowledge (Patton, 1990). That is,
the findings may subject to bias and thoughts. Second, due to the smaller sample size, the results
can only be generalised to the larger population in a limited way (Thomson, 2011). On the contrary,
quantitative findings can be generalised to a larger population and the approach is unbiased
(Creswell, 2002). In sum, the strength of quantitative research will be used to minimize the
weaknesses of qualitative research in this study.

Therefore, the present study will combine both qualitative and quantitative research approach.
Qualitative and quantitative research can be synchronized for better result (Best & Kahn, 2003).
Qualitative research approach is used to investigate teachers’ vocabulary teaching practices,
whereas, quantitative research approach is employed to determine Malaysian primary school
2
students’ strategies in vocabulary. This study utilizes case study as research design. The following
sections will move on to discuss about the details of this study.

3.2 Research design

The case study design is deemed to appropriate to obtain insights to the vocabulary teaching and
learning in Malaysian primary schools. Case study allows “an investigation to retain the holistic and
meaningful characteristic of real-life events” (Yin, 1994 p.3). By studying how teachers teach
vocabulary and learners’ strategies in vocabulary learning, it is possible to find effective strategies
that can be used in vocabulary learning. This also implies that the “cases” in this study are the
teachers and the primary school students.

To obtain good understanding in vocabulary teaching practices, observations with field notes and
semi structured interviews are used to collect the data. To determine primary school learners’
strategies in vocabulary learning, questionnaires will be used to collect data from the learners.
According to Yin (2003) case study is not itself a research method, but researchers choose methods
of data collection and analysis that will cover the logic of the design.

To maintain the rigour of this study, the procedures of data collection are kept consistent to show
the reliability. Consistency in data analysis procedures are maintained by referring closely to
different theories. The findings from observations, interviews and interviews will be validated using
triangulation. Interpretation of the results is made with reference to the specific context of the
research site where the study is conducted. The case study will be carried out within these
parameters. That is, the results can be generalized to only primary school settings.

For this study, the researcher conducts the research by relating to Yin’s (1989) three principles of
data collection in case study. First, there are different sources of evidence such as, interview and
observation. Second, the dataset (observation, interview and questionnaire) will be kept as separated
materials. Third, it is crucial to keep a chain of evidence. For instance, researcher in this study
gather facts and evidence, evaluate the relevance to the study, and then connect the facts with the
objectives of the present study. In short, logical steps in the research development are important in
case study. As such, the details of data collection procedures for present study are explained in the
following sections.

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3.3 Context of the study

3.3.1 Sampling

The researcher adopts purposive sampling since the researcher has chosen year 5 English teachers
and their year 5 students from the two national type Chinese schools (SJKC) to participate in the
study. Year 5 students are chosen due to their knowledge and proficiency level in English
vocabulary. Referring to the word lists in the Curriculum Specification (2015), year 5 students are
expected to have enough vocabulary knowledge to comprehend the words and sentences in the
questionnaires.

3.2.3 Participants

The participants for this study consist of two groups which are the teachers and the students. There
will be four English teachers and 120 year 5 students of two National-type schools (SJKC). The age
group of the students range between 10-11 years old. As for the teachers, they are teachers that
teach Primary 5 classes. Their age and education background will not be included in this study but
their teaching experiences will be mentioned in the interviews. Participants include all ethnics and
gender.

Due to ethical consideration, the two schools involved will be coded as school A and school B.
Teachers from school A are teacher A1 and teacher A2 whereas, teachers from school B are teacher
B1 and teacher B2. They will be observed and interviewed. The classes of each teacher will be
named as class A1, class A2, class B1 as well as class B2. The students from the four classes will
be the respondents for the questionnaires. The group type and code of the participants are explained
in Table 1.

Table 1: Group type and code

Participants that will be observed and Participants will be interviewed

interviewed

School A Teacher A1 Class A1

Teacher A2 Class A2

School B Teacher B1 Class B1

Teacher B2 Class B2

4
3.4 Research instrument

This section describes the instruments that are employed to ensure the reliability of the data and to
provide a better understanding to the phenomenon that is being studied.

3.4.1 Observation

As cited in Meriam (1998), observation provides a direct interpretation of the situation based on
researcher’s own knowledge and expertise. In short, observation means the recording of the
samples. Researchers observe and witness a situation in order to get information on what they think
about an issue. This implies that observation does not rely on people’s willingness to provide
information. However, according to Creswell (2002), the researcher might feel unaccustomed to the
research site and face difficulty in creating rapport with the participants.

For the observation to be more objective, it is necessary for the researcher to acknowledge their role
in the observations. The observer may become a full participant, partial participant, full observer or
a partial observer (Gold, 1969). As for the present study, data will be collected through non
participant observation. The researcher will observe and record each lesson without disrupting the
classroom environment.

Best and Kahn (2003) listed seven characteristics of a good observation, one of them involved the
researcher to observe first interpret later. As such, the recording and the interpretation for this study
will not happen simultaneously, recordings will be on going throughout the lesson and data will be
interpreted later based on the objective of the research.

Other than that, Best and Kahn (2003) also mentioned that “observations are to be collected in such
a way as to make sure they are valid and reliable” (p. 300). Hence, it is necessary to understand the
procedure to collect data using field notes. The field notes will be recorded based on a few guiding
principles from Schwandt (2015), which are listed as follows:

(1) Accurate

Researchers will practice taking notes in settings that are similar to the research site.

(2) Organized

This implies that it is necessary to have a plan, objective on the documentation of the study
prior to the observation.

5
 (3) Descriptive

The researcher will use descriptive words to document their observations in order to get
more evidence for the studies.

(4) Focus on the research problem

It is crucial to focus on the research aim to avoid distracted by the irrelevant information.

(5) Record the thoughts and insights

Researcher should be alert with the underlying meanings, thoughts and ideas. These will be
recorded accordingly. The researcher will seek clarification from participants after the
observation and the comments from participants will be included in a separate part of the
field notes.

For this study, each of the teachers will be observed for at least 30 minutes. Eight non-participant
classroom observations were conducted in two different schools; it included four observations for
Teacher A1 and four observations for Teacher B1. All eight lessons will be recorded in field notes.
The observations start from the moment the teachers entered the class and ended when they leave
the classrooms. Each recorded classroom interaction will be recorded in the field notes and they will
be shown to the teachers for verification purposes.

Observation protocol for this study is adopted from Creswell (2002). An observation protocol
allows the researcher to record the information observed from the research site (Creswell, 2002).
The researcher will first go the research site with the observation protocol, find a place in the
classroom and observe for about 10 minutes. The researcher will start with the recording of the
descriptive fieldnotes. Then, record the reflective fieldnotes during the observation. The sample of
observation protocol can be referred to Appendix 1.

As mentioned previously, the purpose of the study is to investigate primary school teachers’
vocabulary teaching practices. Even though the lessons are 60 minutes, only the episodes on
vocabulary will be emphasized on. This method was employed by Kiely and Davies (as cited in
Maizatulliza Muhammad & Kiely, 2018), episodes on vocabulary means the periods of time where
teachers and learners involved in activities or discussions primarily on vocabulary. There were two
characteristics involved: (1) “boundaries - every episode has a clear start and finish. (2) theme -
each sections focus on a specific vocabulary” (p. 40).

6
3.4.2 Interview

Baker (1994) mentioned that there is a need to gather more than one type of evidence from different
sources using different data collection method. Therefore, the researcher also employs in-depth
interview method to gather evidence in order to understand more about the complexity of human
behavior.

Bogden and Biklen (1998) defined interview as, “... interview is used to gather descriptive data in
the subjects’ own words so that the researcher can develop insights on how subjects interpret some
piece of the world” (p.94).

The researcher will conduct in-depth interview with the teachers. Interview method enables the
researcher to concentrate on the issue that cannot be observed from the observations, which means
the information will be more detailed. In addition, the researcher also has more control over the
types of information received. Nonetheless, the interviewees may provide false information to the
researcher, the presence of the researcher may affect the responses (Creswell, 2002). As such, the
interview will be conducted in two schools with four teachers in order to obtain diverse perspective
on the views of vocabulary teaching and learning.

The approach to interviewing for this study is face-to-face interview. Face-to-face interview
provides more flexibility as compared to other data collection methods. Interviewers can explain
their questions, avoid misunderstandings, prompts and probe responses as well as follow up with
new ideas (Fox, 2009).

3.4.2.1 Interview procedure

Semi-structured interview is considered to be a flexible technique for small scale research (Drever,
1995). As cited in Fox (2009, p.6), in semi-structured interview “the open-ended nature of the
question defines the topic under investigation, but also provides opportunities for the interviewer
and interviewee to discuss some topics in more detail.” In short, for semi- structured interview,
questions that are too specific should be avoided so that it gives more freedom for the researcher to
explore the issues.

Hence, semi- structured interviews can start with questions that are relevant to the participants’
backgrounds such as experience and expertise (Patton, 2002). Seidman (1998) mentioned that there
are three phases involved in an in-depth interview:

(1) Focused life history

7
 Similar with Patton’s (2002) view, interviewer begins the interview with asking questions
that are relevant to participants’ experiences.

(2) Details of the experience

At this phase, interviewers need to obtain a detailed record of the experiences of the
participants.

(3) Reflecting on the experience

By identifying the background of the participants, interviewer can proceed to elicit the
meanings of the experiences from the respondent, such as “You mentioned … as something
that often happens, how do you feel about that?”

It can be concluded that based on Seidman’s (1998) three phases of in- depth interview, interviewer
begins with relating the questions to participants’ background, get the detailed record of their
experiences and then get to more in depth questions that are related to the context of the study. This
can be seen from the interview questions from the study by Maizatulliza Muhammad and Kiely
(2018), it starts with general questions on the importance of vocabulary and then relate and reflect
on the teachers’ vocabulary teaching practices.

a) How do you view the importance of vocabulary in language teaching and learning?

b) What is the best way to learn vocabulary?

c) How did you learn vocabulary as learners/teachers?

d) How do you normally teach vocabulary?

e) Which aspects of vocabulary do you normally focus on?

Therefore, the interview questions from Maizatullah Muhammad and Kiely (2018) will be adopted
as guiding questions for present study. However, it is subject to change. Regardless how extensive
the preparation of the interview guide is, it is subject to change, adjustments will be made based on
the respondents’ feedbacks (Galletta, 2013). For example, for in this study, researcher could relate
the feedbacks of question (d) to the methods or strategies that they use to teach vocabulary,
researcher can ask question like “If there were a student who couldn’t understand the word ‘sight’,
what kind of methods/strategies do you use to him/her to understand?”, “How frequent do you use
this strategy?” This implies that it is not compulsory for the researcher to follow the questions from
Maizatullah Muhammad and Kiely exactly, instead, the five interview questions might be modified,
8
simplified or paraphrased according to the situations. “Decisions on modifying the interview guide
in the field are necessary judgment calls” (Adams, 2015 p.499).

During the interview, the researcher will audio record the interviews. Audio recording enables the
researcher to focus on the conversation and it is easier for the researcher to obtain the details of the
actual words (Brenner, 2006). To augment the audio-tape, the researcher will also take notes during
the interviews; the questions from Maizatullah Muhammad and Kiely (2018) are included in the
interview protocol. The interview protocol is “a form designed by the researcher that contains the
instruction for the process of the interview, the questions to be asked, and space to take notes on the
responses from the interviewer” (Creswell, 2002 p.212). The sample on the interview protocol can
be referred to Appendix 2.

For this study, the interviews will be carried out after the observations. The objective of the
interviews is to obtain some understanding on the perceptions of the teachers in vocabulary teaching
and learning. Their rationale, beliefs, knowledge and experience on vocabulary teaching and
learning will be discussed during the interviews. The transcripts will be shown to the teachers for
verification purposes. The interview data will be analyzed with content analysis.

3.4.3 Survey Method

As cited in Creswell (2002), observation and interview data may not be reliable; the participants
may provide perspectives that they want the researcher to know. Hence, survey method is employed
to determine primary school students’ strategies in vocabulary learning strategies. 120 students will
be selected to answer the questionnaires.

The rationale in employing questionnaire is because it can be administered in short period of time,
which means it will not disrupt the lessons. In addition, the responses from the participants will not
be influenced by the researcher. The questionnaire consists of 38 questions and it is adapted from
Thékes (2015).

Studies have shown that questionnaires can be used to determine primary school learners’
vocabulary learning strategies. A study by Griva, Kamaroudis and Geladari (2009) was conducted
to find out young learners’ vocabulary learning. The study involved 238 Greek speaking students,
aged 12. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods, self-report questionnaires were
used to gather information about the participants’ strategy use and their difficulties. Furthermore,
verbal reports (think-aloud process) and semi- structured interviews were utilized to obtain more
understanding on the vocabulary learning process. The questionnaire consisted of 40 items.
Frequency scales and difficulty scales were used for the learners to rank the 40 items.
9
Baldoumi (2016) conducted a study to determine how the two independent variables, gender and
grade, affect on the employment of vocabulary learning strategies. The study was carried out on 455
young Greek EFL learners aged between 10 to 12 years old. Similarly, the researcher also used
questionnaire as the instrument. There were 31 items in the questionnaires. Frequency scales
consists of five options: “always‟, “usually‟, “sometimes‟, “rarely‟ and “never‟ were employed.
The researcher used three ways to avoid comprehension problems: First, face emoticons were
placed beside the five options. Second, the questionnaires were written in Greek. Third, the
wordings were simplified.

Elsewhere, Thékes (2015) also developed a vocabulary learning strategies instrument for young
learners. The researcher adapted his questionnaire based on Stoffer’s (1995), Schmitt’s (1997) and
Pavičič’s (2008) questionnaire items from Oxford’s SILL (1991). The 52 items in the
questionnaires were tested and amended according to the responses of 86 Hungarian fifth and six
graders. Consequently, 38 questions new questionnaire was developed.

Referring to the studies above, it can be identified that learners from the age of 10 to 12 are capable
to answer questionnaires that consist of 30 items and above, although English is considered as a
foreign language in those countries. Nonetheless, the wordings of the items were carefully adapted
and assistance was provided so that the learners could comprehend the questions. Therefore, it
justifies the purpose of this study to conduct a survey research with 38 items questionnaire on
primary five students in Malaysian primary schools.

3.4.3.1 Designing the questionnaire

The questionnaire from Thékes (2015) will be adapted for the purpose of this study. It is the most
relevant vocabulary learning strategies instrument based on the objective of the study. The
questionnaire compromised of five factors: cognitive, memory, metacognitive, determination and
social. 1) Cognitive strategies engage learners with the mechanical means instead of mental
processing, 2) memory strategies are strategies that link the new information with learners’ prior
knowledge, 3) metacognitive strategies are strategies that learners use to monitor and review the
cognitive processes, 4) determination strategies are strategies that employed by the learners to deal
with the obstacles of discovering the meaning of a new word, 5) social strategies involve learners’
interaction with their surroundings. The questionnaire consists of 10 memory strategies, 15
metacognitive strategies, five determination strategies, four cognitive strategies as well as four
social strategies. The classification of the strategies can be referred to Appendix 3.

10
The researcher simplified the language of the items so that the respondents can comprehend the
questions. Based on the word list in Curriculum Specification (2015), year 5 students have yet to
learn words such as “link”, “infer”, “synonymous”. In addition, to suit the context of this study, the
word “Hungarian” will be changed to “Chinese”. The vocabulary learning strategies questionnaire
for the present study will be adapted accordingly by including the amendments. The adaptation of
the items can be identified in the following table.

Table 2: Examples of adaption for the questionnaire

Original questionnaire items Adaptation Justification

2.I make English-Hungarian I make English-Chinese word Question is phrased so that it is

word cards. cards. suitable for the respondents.

11. I link new word to one with I connect new word to one The question uses overly
synonymous meaning. with same meaning. technical language.

16. I link new word to one I connect new word to one The question uses overly
already known. already known. technical language.

19. I infer the meaning of the I guess the meaning of the new The question uses overly
new words from spoken words from spoken English. technical language.
English.

20.I try to remember the I try to remember the Chinese Question is phrased so that it is
Hungarian equivalent of the equivalent of the new English suitable for the respondents
new English word. word.

22.I watch English movies with I watch English movies with Question is phrased so that it is
Hungarian subtitles. Chinese subtitles. suitable for the respondents

28. I infer the meaning of the I guess the meaning of the new The question uses overly
new word from context when word from context when technical language.
reading. reading.

35. I infer the meaning of the I guess the meaning of the new The question uses overly
new words from spoken words from spoken English. technical language.
English.

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The respondents are required to rate their frequency of use which is measured by 4- value frequency
scale: ‘never’, ‘once a month’, ‘once a week’, ‘always.’ Children aged between 10 and above tend
to opt for the mid-scale ‘‘Uncertain’’ response option on the word-based scales more frequent as
compared to the younger learners (Chambers & Craig, 1998; Chambers & Johnstone, 2002; von
Baeyer, et al., 1997). Similarly, Thékes (2015) also mentioned that the purpose of using 4-value
frequency scale in this questionnaire is to encourage the students not to opt for a neutral answer.
The questionnaire can be referred to the Appendix 4.

This section provides detailed information on the first draft of the relevant data collection
instrument. The following subsections explain the pretest that will be conducted to test the
feasibility of the questionnaire.

3.4.3.2 Data collection procedures

The procedure for collecting data is divided into several procedures. They are as follows: (i) obtain
permission from the headmaster to carry out this research with the specified sample of students; (ii)
adapt the questionnaire; (iii) pretesting the questionnaire; (iv) analyse the responses and modified
when necessary (v) distribute questionnaires to the students; (vi) questionnaires will be collected
and analysed. The details of the data collection procedures are explained in the subsections as
follows.

3.4.3.3 Pretesting the questionnaire

Based on the guidelines from Baker (1994) and Singleton, Straits and Straits (1993), the researcher
will search for the following types of responses: 1) questions that many students skipped; 2) the
matrix type of questions that the respondents seem to circle the answers without reading the items.
In addition, the researcher will also identify the completion rate of the questionnaire and the level of
language whether it suits the learners’ language proficiency. The information from the pretest will
be used for further revision effort.

3.4.3.4 Distributing the questionnaires

The questionnaires will be distributed to the 120 year 5 students, which the English teachers are
interviewed and observed. The questionnaires are given out by the researcher accompanied by a
brief explanation of the instructions. The participants will be informed that the information
collected is private and confidential; it is used solely for research purpose. The researcher will be

12
present with the participants as they answer the questionnaires in order to provide assistance or
clarification if needed.

3.5 Data analysis

3.5.1 Observation

Data analysis includes “systematically looking for patterns in recorded observations and
formulating ideas that account for those ideas” (Bernard, 1988 p. 317). According to Singleton,
Straits and Straits (1993), data analysis consists of three tasks: (1) organizing information (2)
developing ideas; (3) drawing conclusion. For this study, the research will use coding method to
organize the information from the field notes. While reviewing the observations, researchers will
write down the analysis. Loftland and Loftland (1984) suggested that researcher can use memos to
retain the emergent ideas. Finally, the researcher will draw conclusions by relating to the theoretical
framework. For instance, questions like “What are the teachers’ practices on vocabulary teaching?”
“What strategies do they apply?”, “Are they relevant to CALLA model of strategy instruction?”
will be asked while analysing and drawing conclusions on the data from the recordings and field
notes.

3.5.2 Interview

Based on the explanation of Singleton, Straits and Straits (1993), content analysis involves the
reduction of the overall content of a communication (the words) into categories that constitute to the
research interest. Sutton and Austin (2015) listed five stages involve in analysing data which are
decoding data; transcribing and checking; read between lines; coding; and theming.

The interview data for present study will be analyzed based on the guidelines by Erlingsson and
Brysiewicz (2017). First, the researcher transcribes the audio-recording from the interviews to
sentences. Erlingsson and Brysiewicz (2017) proposed that researcher starts with gaining a general
view from the response of the participants. The researcher continues with dividing the text into
meaning units. Then, condense the sentences but retain the core meaning.

Second, the researcher transcribes the transcript. Smith (1996) proposed a qualitative research
method known as interpretative phenomenological analysis. Larkin, Watts and Clifton (2006)
indicated that interpretative phenomenological analysis should not limit to only describing what
participants say. Instead, it is about finding out what the person means by comprehending the
information from that person’s perspective, which means transcribing is about seeking and
understanding different views. This also implies that researcher needs to also interpret the
information through the teachers’ standpoints.
13
Third is the process known as coding. The researcher will label condensed meaning units by
formulating codes. The codes will be grouped into categories (Erlingsson & Brysiewicz, 2017). For
this study, the codes will be grouped into types of vocabulary teaching strategies. The final stage is
theming.

In short, the steps in analyzing the data are: (1) the researcher collects the data through interview.
(2) After selecting the data, the researcher transcribed the data into sentences. (3) The researcher
interpreted the transcripts. (4) The researcher sorted the information using coding method (5) The
researcher drew together the codes by relating to the research question. The data from the
interviews will be crossed examined with the data from the observation. For example, the teachers
agree that vocabulary is important, they mention that memory strategies like making word cards are
effective in assisting learners’ to understand vocabulary. However, the observation data shows that
memory strategies is not applied in the actual classroom. The cross examination of the interview
and observation data is to identify the similarities between teachers’ knowledge and teachers’
teaching practices.

3.5.3 Questionnaire

The data obtained from the questionnaire will be coded for statistical analysis to answer the
research question “What are the primary school students’ strategies in vocabulary learning?” The
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 25.0) will be used for statistical analysis.
Descriptive statistics will be applied to identify the how frequent Malaysian primary school students
apply strategies in their vocabulary learning and to determine the most and least frequent used
categories of vocabulary learning strategies. Data obtained will be analysed by comparing the
central tendencies; means and standard deviation. The data obtained will also be conceptualized in
the form of tables and the results of the study will be noted qualitatively.

It can be concluded that the present study uses different methods to collect and analyse the data.
Observation with field notes and semi-structured interview will be conducted to answer the research
question “What are the teachers’ practices on vocabulary teaching in primary school?” Meanwhile,
Survey method with questionnaire is used to answer the research question “What are the primary
school students’ strategies in vocabulary learning?” Qualitative process of data analysis is employed
to analyse data from observations and interviews. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS,
version 25.0) is used to analyse the data from the questionnaires. Table 2 and Figure 3.1 present the data
collection methods, instruments and data analysis for each research questions.

14
Table 3: Data collection methods, instruments and data analysis

Research question Data Instrument Data analysis

collection
method

1. What are the Observation Field notes Based on Singleton, Straits

teachers’ and Straits (1993)
practices on guidelines:
vocabulary
1. Organize the
teaching in
information with
primary school?
coding method
2. Develop ideas
3. Drawing conclusion

Audio- recording Content analysis in relating

Semi- to guidelines from
structured Erlingsson and Brysiewicz
interview (2017):

1. Transcribe the
audio recordings.
2. Interpret the
transcript.
3. Coding
4. Theming

2. What are the Survey Questionnaire Statistical Package for the

primary school Social Sciences (SPSS,
students’ version 25.0)
strategies in
vocabulary
learning?

15
Figure 3.1 : General overview of data collection procedure

Overview of data
collection
procedure

Classroom Semi- Survey

observations structured method
interviews

Field notes Audio Questionnaires

recordings

Qualitative process of data analysis Statistical

analysis

What are the primary

What are teachers’ practices school students’
on vocabulary teaching in strategies in vocabulary
primary schools? learning?

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3.6 Triangulation

Triangulation can be used to cast out the diversity of the evidence in order to address the study
question at hand (Baker, 1994). Triangulation is employed in this study to validate the accuracy of
the findings. As cited in Altrichter, Posch and Somekh. (1996), triangulation provides a detailed and
balanced picture of a phenomenon.

Triangulation is the process of combining the evidence from the teachers and the students through
observational field notes, interviews and questionnaires in description of themes in qualitative
research. The researcher evaluates the source of information and search for evidence to support a
theme. Therefore, the study will be more accurate as the evidence does not base on a single source
(Creswell, 2002). For instance, teachers agree that making word cards is an effective strategy.
Through the observation data, it is revealed that the teachers apply this strategy in the vocabulary
teaching. Then, the researcher searches for the similarities from the results of the questionnaires and
determines that learners also often apply word card strategy in their vocabulary learning. Finally,
the findings will be summarised into charts or tables.

Figure 3.2: Triangulation of data

Classroom observations

Investigate vocabulary teaching

Interviews and learning in Malaysian
with primary schools. Survey method
English
teachers

17
3.7 Summary

This section presented the methodology of present study. It explains the reason that each method is
chosen and the implications for later stages of the research, such as the questionnaires, interviews
and observation. Explanation on the construction and validity of the methods is provided in the data
collection procedures. The next chapter discusses on the findings and the results of this study.

18
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Appendix 1

Observation protocol

Setting/ individual observed:

Observer:
Role of the observer (Participant, non participant, other ____):

Time:
Place:
Length of Observation:

Descriptive notes Reflective notes

(Notes that describe what occurred at the site) (Notes about observer
experiences, hunches, insights,
themes)

A description of what observed in chronological

order:
(e.g., write about portraits of individuals, the physical
setting, events, and activities)

(possibly draw the sketch of the site)

Source : Creswell (2002)

22
Appendix 2

Interview protocol

Aim of the research:

Time of interview:
Date:
Place:
Interviewee:
Position of interviewee:

(Inform the teacher about the (a) the objective and aim of the research (b) individuals and
sources of data being collected, (c) what will be done to the data to protect the confidentiality
of the interviewee, (d) how long the interview will take.)

(Have the teacher to read and sign the consent form.)

(Turn on the recorder.)

Questions:

a) How do you view the importance of vocabulary in language teaching and learning?

b) What is the best way to learn vocabulary?

c) How did you learn vocabulary as learners/teachers?

d) How do you normally teach vocabulary?

e) Which aspects of vocabulary do you normally focus on?

(Thank the teacher for their cooperation. Assure them of the confidentiality of the responses.)

23
Appendix 3

Classification of the strategies

1. I make a word list to remember the words Memory

2. I make English-Chinese word cards. Memory

3. I underline the important words. Memory

4. I circle the word that is important Memory

5. I read English newspapers to learn words. Metacognitive

6. I remember the page where I have seen the new word. Determination

7. I use the newly-learned word in speaking to remember it. Cognitive

8. I use new word in a sentence. Metacognitive

9. I use Facebook to learn English words. Social

10 I play with word games Cognitive

11 I connect new word to one with same meaning. Memory

12 I look up the word in an electronic dictionary. Determination

13 I look up the new word in a monolingual dictionary. Determination

14 I ask my classmate in class what the new word means. Social

15 I use skype to learn English words. Social

16 I connect new word to one already known. Memory

17 I evaluate if I have really learned the word. Memory

18 I analyze parts of the word in order to find out its meaning. Metacognitive

19 I connect the meaning of the new words from spoken English. Metacognitive

20 I try to remember the Chinese equivalent of the new English Determination

24
 word.

21 I learn new words to communicate better. Metacognitive

22 I watch English films with Chinese subtitles. Metacognitive

23 I listen to English music in order to learn new words. Metacognitive

24 I watch English films without subtitles Metacognitive

25 I read English books. Metacognitive

26 I play English video games. Metacognitive

27 I read English labels on all kinds of products to learn new words. Metacognitive

28 I connect the meaning of the new word from context when Metacognitive
reading.

29 I look for English speaking friends in the social media. Social

30 I use the newly-learned word in writing. Cognitive

31 I take notes of the words when watching/listening to English Metacognitive

programs.

32 I use a new word in speaking so as to remember it. Metacognitive

33 I make picture word cards. Memory

34 I repeat the word to myself. Memory

35 I guess the meaning of the new words from spoken English. Metacognitive

36 I look up the meaning of the new words in a bilingual dictionary. Determination

37 I learn new words from my own vocabulary. Memory

38 I rote-learn the words Cognitive

25
Appendix 4

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

Vocabulary learning strategies employed by the Malaysian primary school students

Dear respondent,

This survey is carried out to examine vocabulary learning strategies of Malaysian

primary school students. Your kind co-operation in responding to this questionnaire is
very much appreciated. All the information given will be kept confidential.

Rate the following vocabulary learning strategies that you use to learn new words according to the
frequency scales below.

Circle the number in the box for your choice.

No Vocabulary learning strategies How often do you do these activities to

learn words?

1- never

2- once a month

3- once a week

4- always

1. I make a word list to remember the words. 1 2 3 4

2. I make English- Chinese word cards. 1 2 3 4

3. I underline the important words. 1 2 3 4

4. I circle the word that is important 1 2 3 4

5. I read English newspapers to learn words. 1 2 3 4

6. I remember the page where I have seen the 1 2 3 4

new word.

26
7. I use the newly-learned word in speaking to 1 2 3 4
remember it.

8. I use new word in a sentence. 1 2 3 4

9. I use Facebook to learn English words. 1 2 3 4

10 I play with word games 1 2 3 4

11 I connect new word to one with same 1 2 3 4

meaning.

12 I look up the word in an electronic 1 2 3 4

dictionary.

13 I look up the new word in a monolingual 1 2 3 4

dictionary.

14 I ask my classmate in class what the new 1 2 3 4

word means.

15 I use skype to learn English words. 1 2 3 4

16 I connect new word to one already known. 1 2 3 4

17 I evaluate if I have really learned the word. 1 2 3 4

18 I analyze parts of the word in order to find 1 2 3 4

out its meaning.

19 I guess the meaning of the new words from 1 2 3 4

spoken English.

20 I try to remember the Chinese equivalent of 1 2 3 4

the new English word.

21 I learn new words to communicate better. 1 2 3 4

22 I watch English films with Chinese 1 2 3 4

subtitles.

27
23 I listen to English music in order to learn 1 2 3 4
new words.

24 I watch English films without subtitles 1 2 3 4

25 I read English books. 1 2 3 4

26 I play English video games. 1 2 3 4

27 I read English labels on all kinds of 1 2 3 4

products to learn new words.

28 I guess the meaning of the new word from 1 2 3 4

context when reading.

29 I look for English speaking friends in the 1 2 3 4

social media.

30 I use the newly-learned word in writing. 1 2 3 4

31 I take notes of the words when 1 2 3 4

watching/listening to English programs.

32 I use a new word in speaking so as to 1 2 3 4

remember it.

33 I make picture word cards. 1 2 3 4

34 I repeat the word to myself. 1 2 3 4

35 I guess the meaning of the new words from 1 2 3 4

spoken English.

36 I look up the meaning of the new words in 1 2 3 4

a bilingual dictionary.

37 I learn new words from my own 1 2 3 4

vocabulary.

38 I rote-learn the words 1 2 3 4

28
29