the influence of age on vocabulary acquisition in students of english as a foreign language

149 Pages·2017·3.28 MB·Spanish

THE INFLUENCE OF AGE ON
VOCABULARY ACQUISITION IN
STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AS A
FOREIGN LANGUAGE

César Orosco-Rojas
Piura, mayo de 2017

FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
Maestría en Educación con Mención en Enseñanza de Inglés como Lengua
Extranjera

Orosco, C. (2017). The influence of age on vocabulary acquisition in students of English
as a foreign language (Tesis de maestría en Educación con Mención en Enseñanza de
Inglés como Lengua Extranjera). Universidad de Piura. Facultad de Ciencias de la
Educación. Piura, Perú.
THE INFLUENCE OF AGE ON VOCABULARY ACQUISITION IN STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AS A
FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Esta obra está bajo una licencia
Creative Commons Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivar 4.0 Internacional
Repositorio institucional PIRHUA – Universidad de Piura
CESAR AUGUSTO OROSCO ROJAS

THE INFLUENCE OF AGE ON VOCABULARY ACQUISITION IN
STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

UNIVERSIDAD DE PIURA
FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA EDUCACIÓN
MAESTRÍA EN EDUCACIÓN
MENCIÓN EN ENSEÑANZA DE INGLÉS COMO
LENGUA EXTRANJERA

2017

APPROVAL

The thesis titled THE INFLUENCE OF AGE ON
VOCABULARY ACQUISITION IN STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AS
A FOREIGN LANGUAGE presented by Mr. César Augusto Orosco
Rojas, in accordance with the requirements of being awarded the Degree
of Master in Education with Mention in Teaching English as a Foreign
Language, was approved by the thesis director: Dr. Majid Safadaran
Mosazadeh and defended on ……………………. 2017 before a Jury
with the following members:

________________ _______________
President Secretary

_______________
Informant

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

To Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and Saint John Bosco, for
enlightening our hearts and beingthe perfect model of teaching.

To César Augusto Orosco Guerrero who alwaysguides me with his
love and support from wherever he is.

To Antonia, Maura, Julian, and Viviana for their exceptional love
and support.

To my supervisors, Majid Safarandan and Maria Esther Linares for
all their encouragement, advices, good teaching, and lots of good ideas. I
would have been lost without them.

I am very grateful to all the teachers and students who actively
participated in this study and shared with me unforgettable pedagogical
moments.

I wish to record a special note of thanks to those who inspired me
to pursue my dream of becoming a teacher.

INDEX

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1

CHAPTER I: INVESTIGATION OUTLINE....................................... 5
1.1. Formulation of the Problem ............................................................. 5
1.2. Hypothesis ........................................................................................ 6
1.2.1. General Hypothesis ................................................................ 6
1.2.2. Specific Hypotheses ............................................................... 6
1.3. Delimitation of the Objectives ......................................................... 7
1.3.1. General Objective .................................................................. 7
1.3.2. Specific Objectives ................................................................ 7
1.4. Justification of the Investigation ...................................................... 7
1.5. Limitations of the Investigation ....................................................... 8
1.6. Antecedents of the Investigation ...................................................... 9

CHAPTER II: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK............................. 19
2.1. Vocabulary: Definitions ................................................................. 19
2.2. Age and vocabulary acquisition – The Critical Period
Hypothesis ...................................................................................... 21
2.3. Age and time of exposure in second / foreign language
acquisition ...................................................................................... 23
2.4. Age and Second language vocabulary acquisition ......................... 27
CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY OF THE INVESTIGATION ...31
3.1. Investigation type ...........................................................................31
3.2. Design of the Investigation .............................................................31
3.2.1. The field notes ......................................................................32
3.2.2. Tests – Movers examinations ...............................................33
3.2.3. Class readings .......................................................................33
3.2.4. Interviews .............................................................................34
3.3. Population and Study Sample .........................................................34
3.3.1. General Institution Descriptions ...........................................34
3.3.2. Study sample.........................................................................35
3.4. Variables .........................................................................................36
3.5. Techniques and Instruments for gathering Data .............................36

CHAPTER IV: DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS .........................39
4.1. Data Analysis ..................................................................................39
4.1.1. Analysis of Incidental Events through the field notes ..........39
4.1.1.1. Field Notes – School A ............................................40
4.1.1.2. Field Notes – School B ............................................43
4.1.2. Analysis of the diagnostic tests ............................................46
4.1.2.1. Analysis of Movers Results – School A ..................46
4.1.2.2. Analysis of Movers Results – School B ...................50
4.1.3. Analysis of the post tests ......................................................54
4.1.3.1. Analysis of the Movers Results –School A .............55
4.1.3.2. Analysis of the Movers Results – School B .....58
4.1.4. Analysis of the classroom reader’s exercises .......................63
4.1.5. Analysis of the interviews ....................................................63
4.1.5.1. Analysis of interviews in school A ...........................64
4.1.5.2. Analysis of interviews in school B ...........................65

CHAPTER V: DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS ............................67
5.1. Discussions........................................................................................67

CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................73

RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................77

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES ...............................................79