A STUDY ON USING THE GOLDEN HOUR STUDY OF THE BRAIN TO
ENHANCE ENGLISH VOCABULARY FOR STUDENTS AT DNTU
TRỊNH THỊ A1, TRẦN THỊ B2
1
Sinh viên, khoa Ngoại ngữ, trường Đại học
2
Giảng viên, khoa Ngoại ngữ, trường Đại học
Abstract
English vocabulary is always a concerned with students but it is not easy to put them into the brain memory
permanently. This study was conducted helps students to get awareness about using the golden hour study of
brain for applying to learn English vocabulary. It also helped to contribute in learning and enriching English
vocabulary which coming to be as a reference in difficulties that face students in learning English words. The
results were very useful and convenient to help students, teachers, educators, and university instructors by
pointing out some new methods which are able to make English vocabulary learning efficiently and easily.
Keywords: brain memory, enhance vocabulary, golden hour learning,
1. Introduction
There are many, many reasons why learning a
new language is a good and conscious idea. It
allows people to communicate with new
others. Especially, language helps people to
see things from a different perspective or have
got a deeper understanding of another culture
diversity. Besides, it helps others to become a
better listener. It even has health benefits,
simply because studies have shown that people
who speak two or more languages have more
active minds in the future in their life. Those
are all reasons that people ought to learn
any language if possible, however, do you
know that there are 6,500 languages spoken
over the world today? With such an enormous
number to choose from, why do they pick
English?
English, the worldwide communication tool,
also is universal language after their mothertongue. And it is an official and important
language in many countries. Then in learning
process, it is really paid attention very much
and it is estimated that the huge number of
people over the world who use English with
the aim to communicate on a regular basis is
two billion. And 400 million people around
the world speak English as their first language.
However, the problem that people have cannot
communicate fluently and naturally. It is told
precisely that do not have enough the amount
of vocabularies to apply in reality, in other
words, all of vocabulary in the memory brain
of human will be faded out by the time.
1.1 Background of the study
Nowadays, in Vietnam, English is the
dominant position in all aspects. In fact,
students learnt English when they are in grade
3 in 2006. At the present, almost students have
to learn English from grade 1 and the first step
of it that build a wide vocabulary by learning
new words. When people have the stable
number of words, speaking skill as well as
listening skill are improved automatically. Of
course, it is known that vocabulary is the key
of the beginning of learning English in
particular and other languages in general.
However, it is quite difficult to remember all
of words that learnt today. The problem is that
after 24 hours, the vocabularies make up only
35,7% and even if on the day after tomorrow,
the brain will be empty if these vocabularies
do not review again (Ebbinghaus, Memory,
1913). Therefore, the amount of English
vocabulary is still limited when applied into
Writing, Speaking, Listening, and Reading. In
due to fact that vocabularies are not reviewed
constantly. At present, in fact, the benefits of
using English language are immense with
Vietnamese. So, vocabulary is considered as
the most noticeable problem to study English
throughout Vietnam in general and over the
world in particular. Outstandingly, the golden
hour study of brain human is influence on
remembering more or less.
Among the difficulties of learning English,
vocabulary is considered as the first important
part to start to approach 4 main skills are
Listening, Writing, Reading and Speaking
skills. For most people mastering English
language, English vocabulary enhancing is an
essential part, an indispensable aspect.
However, it is not easy for some people to
learn English vocabulary and especially
remember these words in usage for a long
time. It is also a concerned goal for everyone.
There is a study relating to this problem that
learning English vocabulary strategies by
using excellent English learners (Zhou,
2017) .That does not give clear and consistent
concepts about learning English. Because the
study only used the excellent students. It
should be aimed at all of students.
Alternatively, there is an another key advance
to learning English vocabulary in the study of
the golden hour study of brain was a German
psychologist - Hermann Ebbinghaus who
determines the content relating to experimental
study of memory and the forgetting curve
when learning something (Ebbinghaus,
Hermann Ebbinghaus, 1885). The research
tested in himself and the use of role-play in
learning English vocabulary had mixed
success. The golden hour of memory brain is
influenced very much on studying new words
and levels of eternal vocabulary memory.
1.2 Statement of the problem
The problem is that students have a poor
amount of English vocabulary in order to
applied into 4 main skills: Writing, Speaking,
Listening, and Reading at the university –
Dong Nai Technology University, the issue of
the way to learn English vocabulary is
acquired only in the lesson class and after
school as long it is interested to learn. And
especially learning English vocabulary at the
time that the brain does not active best.
In addition, it is influenced by the forgetting
curve which is demonstrated in the Hermann’s
study (Ebbinghaus, A Contribution to
Experimental Psychology, 1885). According
to Hermann, near 80% of information will be
“evaporated” after 24 hours if not review
again. And it is given a prove the brain periods
that work actively best that are able to called
“the golden hour study”. It means that the
brain of human has golden hour to study
English vocabularies best as well as
forgettable hour to practice and review these
English vocabularies again.
1.3 Objectives of the study
As noted above, the problem lies in that the
students have the meager vocabulary as well
as enrich vocabulary without success in while
it is essential things in learning English. There
is very little research on effective vocabulary
learning. But only Mr. Hermann’s research is
the most concentrated. Since then, the
objectives of this study, the researcher wants
to find a method to use the golden hour study
of the brain to memorize vocabulary a long
term and in which combines with the other
method of Spaced Repetitions increases
efficiency of enhancing English vocabulary
maximally.
1.4 Research Questions
Because of the strange method, firstly, the
questions will be related to the awareness of
DNTU students, then, it will be asked the
feeling and problems of students in learning
English vocabulary by this way.
Focused on the problem above at DNTU, it
may be formulated as follows:
1. How do awareness that students get in
using golden hour study of brain to enhance
English vocabulary at DNTU?
2. To what extend does the brain memory of
human influence on learning English
vocabulary for students at DNTU?
2. Literature review
2.1 Definition of terms
2.2.1 Definition of vocabulary
Vocabulary is acquired incidentally
through indirect exposure to words
intentionally through explicit instruction in
specific words and word-learning strategies.
Richards and Renandya state that vocabulary
is a core component of language proficiency
and provides much of the basic for how well
learners speak, listen, read and write. Richard
states that vocabulary is one of the first things
applied linguistics turned their attention to.
(C.Richards, 2002)
On the other hand, vocabulary is a list or
collection of words or of words and phrases
usually alphabetically arranged and explained
or defined: LEXICON. Merriam also said that
vocabulary is a sum or stock of words
employed by a language, group, individual, or
work in field of knowledge and a list or
collection of terms or codes available for use
(as in an indexing system) (Webster,
Vocabulary, 1828)
2.2.2. The golden study hour of the brain
“The golden study hour of the brain” is
considered as the best time that the brain acts
most productively. Most of us already seem to
know the time when our brain is supposedly
most active and alert. It has to be morning,
right? From religious texts, to medical
treatises, have all been ranting since times
immemorial that morning is the best time to do
the toughest tasks as your brain is most active
then. But being active is different than being
productive. Maybe the first few hours right
after you get up are when you get the best
ideas and are most creative. But the time your
brain is most productive is not morning. It is at
night. Yes, you heard it right. Do you feel tired
right after you get up as if your mind has been
juggling all night? If yes, here’s your answer.
Your brain is most active when you are asleep.
It’s even a proven fact that the ATP chemicals
that provide energy to the cells increase at
night. (TNN, 2018)
They have found that the time of day
influences your brain’s ability to learn and the
human brain learns more effectively in the
evening. And by identifying at what point in
the day the brain is best able to operate,
rehabilitation therapy can be targeted to that
time, when recovery is maximized. “Our
research has several future applications,” Mr.
Sale says. “If the brains of stroke patients can
be artificially stimulated to improve learning,
they may be able to recover better and faster.”
The researchers used a magnetic coil over the
head to stimulate nerve activity in the brain,
and linked it to an electrical stimulus of the
hand.
When
you
use
your brain on
perpetual overdrive, you're bound to hit
productivity slumps where it feels like you're
fresh out of new ideas. While there's no
shortage of tricks and tips to hack your way to
more innovative thinking, timing is
everything, says sleep doctor Dr. Micheal
Breus, author of The Power of When. He
believes working in sync with our body's
natural clock is the key to unlocking success to
produce our best, most creative work.
(Wilding, 2017)
The science of "good timing" -called chronobiology -reveals
peak
performance is hardwired into our DNA. "An
inner clock embedded inside your brain has
been ticking away, keeping perfect time, since
you were a baby," writes Breus, "This
precisely engineered timekeeper is called your
circadian pacemaker, or biological clock."
So, the next time you're feeling mentally
sluggish, try tapping into chronobiology to
perform at your best in these areas:
The Best Time to Learn Something New
Learning is most effective when the brain is in
acquisition mode, generally between 10:00 am
to 2:00 p.m. and then again from 4:00 p.m. to
10:00 p.m.
Night owls beware: think twice before pulling
an all-nighter. The lowest learning valley
occurs between 4:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m.
The Best Time To Brainstorm
Ironically, research has found that people are
at their least creative when it's demanded the
most: at the heart of the workday, between
11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Breus suggests leaning into "moments of
groggy greatness" when we're slightly tired
and easily distracted. During these times, right
and left brain communicate, which can trigger
new and novel connections -- and
spark innovative ideas (Wilding, 2017)
2.2 Methods of enhancing English
vocabulary
2.2.1 Using the golden hour study of
the brain
If you are a student, studying is always an
essential part and parcel in your life. It takes
patience and lots of time to establish the best
time for you to study. Mornings are better in
studying for some people, while for others,
evening or night time enables to focus more
easily on their studies.
According to the science of “good timing”,
also known as a chronobiology, peak
performance is hardwired into our DNA. Our
biological clock, which is an inner clock
embedded inside our brain since young,
actually helps us decide when is our perfect
timing for studying. Although new discoveries
prove that timing may not be everything, it is
important if you want to create and perform at
your best consistently.
That said, science has indicated that learning is
most effective between 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
and from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm, when the brain
is in an acquisition mode. On the other hand,
the least effective learning time is between
4:00 am and 7:00 am. While there is really no
one best time of the day to study, let’s take a
look at the benefits of studying in the morning
versus the other times of the day.
Studying in the Morning
Most people would think that morning is the
best time to study, as our brains tend to be the
sharpest in the morning after a refreshing
night’s sleep and breakfast. The natural light
available is also good for your eyes and keep
you alert. This period is great for opening a
textbook to learn a new theory, or just
reviewing your lecturer’s notes from the
previous day because mornings generally give
you a better recollection ability.
Studying in the Afternoon
In the afternoon, students’ brains are good at
integrating new information with what they
already know. During this time of day,
students are able to create connections and
make the information they have learned more
meaningful.
Mornings and afternoons are better for
studying also because if you get stuck midway
through your study, you can always call your
peers or teachers to clarify quickly, as it is the
time when people are most active, or even visit
the library for more information.
Studying at Night
For some students, they have more energy
later in the day. Hence, the evening or night
time is a more effective time for them to read
and study. Studying at this time also helps to
improve your concentration and creativity as
there are fewer distractions, and with everyone
in bed, there is definitely peace and quiet.
Sleeping after studying is also said to
consolidate information and improve recall.
One thing to note though, do make sure you
are still getting an average of 8 to 9 hours of
sleep nightly.
Interestingly, some research has suggested that
studying at your most tired time can help your
brain retain higher concentrations of new
skills, such as speaking a foreign language.
This apparently even has a name to it: sleeplearning. Because during slow-wave sleep, the
memory-consolidation process does its best
work and your brain could be receiving the
restoration and reactivation that it needs
during its time of rest. This means that
studying before bedtime can help your brain
learn new things, even in your sleep.
How to find your best time to study?
That said, different timings work for different
students and you can find your best time of the
day to study if you consider the following
factors.
Firstly, when are you most alert? Think about
that, but different qualities of memories and
alertness seem to be better at different times of
the day for different people. For example, you
can have a better visual memory in the
morning, but your critical thinking ability
peaks in the afternoon. Secondly, if your
optimal time is prone to distractions, such as
dinner time, which might disrupt your routine,
it is best to find another timing. Lastly, make
sure you select a time that you can stick to
consistently, at least for a few days every week
because consistency helps ensure you study
daily and improves the quality of your study
time.
Just like each student has a unique learning
style, different students may learn better at
different times of the day. But if you study at
the same time every day, you will condition
your mind and body gradually and soon, you
will be in your best frame of mind for study.
Once you know what works best for yourself,
you can start your studying routine more
effectively and efficiently. (Academy, 2020)
Based on study above, students’ brains tend to
be sharpest in the morning, after a refreshing
night’s sleep and full of energy provided from
breakfast (10:00 am – 2:00 pm). This makes it
a good time to open a book to learn something
new as well as vocabulary, or review notes
from the previous day. With a more alert
brain, students have a better ability to recall
details like names, places, dates and facts.
In the afternoon and evening, exactly it is from
4:00 pm to 10:00 pm, brains of students are
good at integrating new information with what
they already know. During this time of day,
students are able to create special connections
and make the information they have learned
more meaningful and eternally.
2.2.2 Spaced Repetition
Spaced repetition is a centuries-old
psychological
technique
for
efficient
memorization & practice of skills where
instead of attempting to memorize by
‘cramming’, memorization can be done far
more efficiently by instead spacing out each
review, with increasing durations as one learns
the item, with the scheduling done by
software. Because of the greater efficiency of
its slow but steady approach, spaced repetition
can scale to memorizing hundreds of
thousands of items (while crammed items are
almost immediately forgotten) and is
especially useful for foreign languages &
medical studies. (Haskell, 2009)
The SRS (Spaced Repetition System) is a
presentation method that gives you the
information before you would forget it and
makes sure that it stays constantly fresh in
your mind. So, you might see a word a few
minutes after the first time, then a
few days later, then a few weeks later etc.
always at the time you need to see it most to
make sure it is constantly fresh in your mind.
It's
a
more
complex
version
of
the flashcard system where you have a word
on one side of a card and its translation on the
other. You look at the word, test yourself to
see if you know it and turn over the card to see
the translation. You couldn't get more low-tech
than that even if you tried, but SRS uses 21st
century technology to make this possible while
considering the time dimension.
So how would a person like me who dislikes
studying indoors, is not usually a fan of
flashcards and already has a pretty good
learning strategy, be interested in software for
improving recall of vocabulary?
Finding the time to study
There are ways to make time
it back from the time spent waiting.
–
get
You wait for the bus/metro/train to arrive, you
wait in it while going to work/school or home,
you wait in the supermarket queue/line, you
wait in a traffic jam in your car, you wait when
ordering coffee in the morning, you wait for
your water to boil if you prepare it yourself,
you wait for your friend to arrive, you wait at
the doctor's/dentist's, you even wait for a
minute or two in lifts, elevators, at traffic
lights, when waiting for something to load on
your computer, for someone to answer the
door after you knock etc.
In most of these situations you may be alone –
so if you can't talk to someone, what do you
do? Stare into space? Read advertisements
around you? Twiddle your thumbs? Press the
pedestrian cross or lift button again in
frustration that nothing has happened yet?
These little segments of our day fly by
unutilized and actually add up to a huge
amount of time wasted. You can't avoid these
situations – they are natural parts of your day.
I actually don't mind when these occasions
arise! Seriously – if someone is arriving a little
late, or if I just missed the bus and the next
one won't come for 15 minutes, or the Internet
goes down and I can't work – rather than
cursing at my “bad luck”, and adding stress to
my life by being angry during this time, I think
to myself – great! Another chance to study
some vocabulary.
Improving on the old-school method
For several years, in these situations I would
take out my phrasebook, or pocket vocabulary
book for these moments, open it up to
a random page and learn whatever I saw.
Sometimes I'd see a word I never did before
and sometimes I'd see something I needed to
review and had already long forgotten and
need to relearn rather than just remind myself.
It did the job but to be honest, in retrospect it
was inefficient and sloppy. (Although, if you
learn by listening, these moments are good
times to take out your MP3 player and press
play!)
Randomly or even systematically going
through vocabulary in order like this means
that you might not review the hardest words
when you need to, or you'll keep seeing the
easy words too often, or you'll forget words
because you didn't review them for a very long
time.
SRS answers all of these issues by letting you
decide when you should see a word again
based
on
certain
criteria
(usually,
how hard you felt it was). So, the easy words
are pushed way off into the future, the hard
ones keep constantly reappearing until you are
finally happy with them, and the middledifficulty ones will reappear just when you
need them most, to refresh your memory.
Deciding when to study a word again when
you see it in a printed list is too hard, but that's
where technology comes in! (Lewis)
3. Research Methodology
3.1 The Context of the study
This study was conducted at Dong Nai
Technology University which is located in
Bien Hoa City of Dong Nai Province. DNTU
was established on the basic of upgrading of
Dong Nai Technical College in 2011. The
university teaches diversity of majors with 15
majors at undergraduate level and 1 major at
postgraduate level. Until now, it has more than
7000 students. All of majors have to have
English certification at B2 level except for
English Language. To reach the level, students
must learn from the basic English 1-2-3 to the
advanced English 1-2-3. So, English is
essential for English non-majored students as
well as English-majored students. And English
vocabulary is always a concerned with
students but it is not easy to put them into the
brain memory permanently.
3.2 Research Design
The study is designed to examine the
possibility of using the golden study hour of
the brain when learning English vocabulary.
The aim of the research is found out if how to
enhance English vocabulary efficiently for
students at DNTU by using the golden study
hour of the brain, how students apply daily the
way to remember all of the words that was
learnt before, and do the study help them
keeping the learnt vocabularies into the brain
memory permanently. Simply because almost
students who learn English vocabulary will not
remember all without practicing again.
The data collection procedure is carried out by
a questionnaire and a vocabulary test because
the participants are all students at DNTU that
have majored-language students and especially
non-majored-language students, researchers
cannot allow them to answer complex and
long questions like interview or do the things
students do not want to. Moreover, in order to
avoid wasting students’ time, questionnaire is
the most suitable way. On the other hand,
researchers would like to give students an
English vocabulary. It takes them a lot of time
to make the test but researcher only takes
students that accepted to join. So, it is OK.
3.3 Participants
The study is carried out with students at Dong
Nai Technology University. The sample is
twenty-five students from different faculties of
school such as Accounting, Business
Administration, Finance and Banking…. and
mostly are students from Faculty of English
Language. Primarily, the participants of the
sample are freshmen, sophomores, juniors and
seniors from Dong Nai Technology
University.
Because the study is carried out by 2 ways, the
participants would be divided into 2 tables.
The total of contributors is who say “yes” to
join the mini test for the vocabulary test and
the remaining people for the questionnaire on
Google form. They join to evaluate electronic
form and chose their answers.
3.4 Research tools
In order to examine the detected English
vocabulary learning among students whose
major is Accounting, Business Administration,
Finance and Banking, etc. and Faculty of
English Language are mainly used in this
study. This study provides opportunities for
students to experience the new way to
enhancing English vocabulary and expand the
knowledge about the golden study hour of the
brain.
There are two main research tools consist of
questionnaire and testing vocabulary.
3.4.1 Questionnaire
This tool plays an essential role in this
research. It is surely used for the research
study. It was carried out a survey on google
form. The questionnaire consisted of 15
questions. Questionnaire have 3 parts:
Part 1: General background
information of the respondents
Part 2: Questions about the ways
DNTU students learn English vocabulary
Part 3: Questions about the awareness
of the golden study hour of the brain
3.4.2 Testing vocabulary
Giving participants 9 new words and required
them to learn all of these words until they
remember all at the particular time that the
brain can absorb information fastest. After 2
hours, testing those 9 students how many
vocabularies they remember. 9 vocabularies
are classified 3 levels:
Level 1: 3 words with little number of letters
- Liquor (n) rượu
- Jealous (adj) ganh tỵ
- Clinic (n) phòng khám chữa bệnh
Level 2: 3 words with medium number of
letters
- Judicious (adj) có đầu óc sáng suốt
- Bumblebee (n) ong nghệ
- Humidity (n) Sự ẩm ướt
Level 3: 3 words with multiple number of
letters.
- Discombobulate (v) làm cho lúng túng
- Comprehension (n) Sự nhận thức, sự lĩnh hội
- Unadventurous (adj) không liều lĩnh, không
mạo hiểm
In the part of testing vocabulary, the test will
be designed according to the golden study
hour of the brain and the forgetting curve.
3.5 Data collection procedure
With the aim of giving the new way to learn
English vocabulary by using the golden study
hour of the brain for students and if they can
apply daily the method into reality to
enhancing English vocabulary to develop 4
main skills: Listening, Reading, Writing and
Speaking, would help students keeping all of
learned vocabularies in the memory brain
permanently to use them into English.
The questionnaire is carried out at Dong Nai
Technology University (DNTU) on google
form. The link was commented in a general
status of DNTU’s page. All data is presented
as pie charts by Google Form. The researcher
continuously updates evaluation data of
students. The whole of the questionnaire
would be completed in 1 week including make
questions as well as create the questionnaire
within 2 hours, and starts to post for take
evaluation within 1week for summing up the
result. The figures are listed in the Appendix
enclosed with the questions in the
questionnaire.
On the other hand, the vocabulary test is done
with a stable number of participants well. The
researcher will not force to learn immediately
in order that participants would feel they are
comfortable and quiet to learn 9 English
vocabularies. And the test is taken by the
participants at the golden time to be listed. It
takes about thirty to forty minutes for them to
learn ten English vocabularies given before.
After learning all of words by heart, they are
required that had to come back for the memory
test of those English vocabularies after 5 hours
(that is at 3:00 pm) by choosing. Obviously, it
is not sure for exactly 5 hours, there could be a
difference but the test is done well with
students’ voluntary and help.
3.6 Data analysis procedure
In this study, quantitative data are collected
through questionnaire and a vocabulary test.
Both are conducts with all the participant who
are studying at DNTU. The questionnaire
conducts in English language. All data is
presented as pie charts by Google Form. And
Google Form continuously updates evaluation
data of students.
About the vocabulary test, the participants are
invited accidentally in DNTU’s yard and of
course, only choosing people who volunteer to
take part in the test. Fortunately, there are 52
students agreed out of 62. They have an ask to
learn 9 vocabularies by heart and after 5 hours,
they come back the place at first to test the
memory of those vocabularies. All data is
automatically analyzed all of figures that the
researcher entered into.
4. Results and Discussion
4.1. Analysis of results
General information of the demographics
The gender distributions of the participants are
24 males (38,7%), 34 females (54,8%) and 4
others (6,5%) in the questionnaire (Table 1).
The gender distributions of the participants
are 52 students (84,2%) out of 62 students
totally in the questionnaire to join the
vocabulary testing (Table 2).
Table 1. Demographic Gender Distribution in the Questionnaire
Frequency
Percent (%)
Male
24
38,7
Female
34
54,8
Others
4
6,5
Total
62
100
Table 2. Demographic Gender Distribution in the Vocabulary Testing
Frequency
Percent (%)
Say “Yes”
52
84,2
Say “No”
10
15,8
Total
62
100
Accordingly, it mainly shows the information
of the level at DNTU, referring to the students
those who are freshmen, sophomores, juniors
and seniors. About level of students, there are
all 62 students of DNTU. It can be seen each
pie having quietly same size. But senior holds
the highest percentage with 30,6% are 19
students. The second position is lower than 1
person is junior. There are 18 students with
29%. Sophomore has 14 students with 22,6%.
And 17,7% is the proportion with 11 students.
It can explain clearly in the Figure 1.
Figure 1. Participants’ level
The most of students’ major, it mainly
illustrates the amount of DNTU students with
many different majors such as Finance and
Banking,
Business
Administration,
Accountant,
Mechanical
Engineering,
Information Technology (IT), English
Language and Engineering Industry, etc.
English language holds the highest proportion
with 23 students (40,4%). There are 9 students
who study Finance and Banking with 15,8%. 8
students study Business Administration with
14%. The remaining amount are Accountants
with 7%, 4 Mechanical Engineering with
7,1%, 5 Information Technology with 8,9%,
and small proportions are Land Management,
Engineering Industry with 3% and 3,8%
respectively. It can be seen clearly in the
Figure 2.
Figure 2. Participants’ major
When comparing the students’ time periods of
English instruction with their level as well as
considered their age, which range 4 - 6
experience years with 41,9% (26 students). At
the of 18 students have been studying between
7 - 9 years with 29% and one group of 7
students who have been studying English for
1-3 years with 11,3%. Students study English
more 9 years and 10 years that hold 5 students
with 8,1% and 6 students with 9,7%
respectively. This pie chart shows the
information from time of English study
experiences. It is illustrated in the Figure 3.
Figure 3. Participants’ English learning experience
Figure 4 can explain the English study
regularity of DNTU students, it mainly shows
the majority of students sometimes learn
English vocabulary holding 37,1% (23
students), there are 15 students usually
learning English vocabulary with 24,2%;
students learn everyday that getting 21% (13
students), and about the remaining is 11
students with 17,7% learning every day.
Figure 4. Participants’ English study regularity
The all of students’ study as well as future job
have also English vocabulary especially in
demand. 16 students with 26,2% wanted to
learn 2 – 4 words in once, 12 students with
19,7%% learn about 1 – 5 words. Surprisingly,
the students who wanted to learn more 5
words such as 5 – 7, 7 – 9, 5 – 10 and more
than 10 words with 8 (13,1%), 10 (16,4%), 8
(13,1%), 7 (11,5%) students respectively.
The majority of participants have 41 learning
English vocabulary in free time, which stand
at 66,1%. There are 8 students have learned in
the evening in a closely equal ratio which
defers only by 12.9%. In the morning and at
night have 6 students learn English vocabulary
with the same percentage 9,7%. And the
lowest one is 3% that 2 students learn in the
afternoon.
Out of the total survey participants, 43.8% are
remembering these words they learnt after 2-4
hours, 26.6% of participants remembering
after 5 – 7 hours and 29.7% after 1 day. This
reflects on the time allotment to learn English
vocabulary and the method to learn of the
participants better.
English Vocabulary Methods
Out of 62 people joining the survey, only 1
respondent used 2 ways to learn English
vocabulary that includes reciting the mind and
reading words over and over again. They have
been questioned about the ways to learn that
affect their amounts of words. This has been
clarified using a predefined set of vocabulary
learning methods from which respondents can
choose one or more factors that influence this.
Furthermore, a provision has also been made
for respondents to express any other factors
which they feel has affected their amount of
learnt words. The responses have been as
follows:
As can be seen from this chart 9, the volume
of students who chose to learn English
vocabulary by copying words on paper
accounted for the largest (50%), and was
proximity one third as many as the quantity of
both ganders who chose the methods which
are reciting in mind, taking example with
words and reading words over and over again.
Meanwhile, the proportion of students
choosing items 2 and 4 that are both reciting in
mind and reading words over and over again
are the lowest, about 1.6%.
Awareness of using the golden study hour of
the brain
The respondents have mainly identified the
awareness for the way to use the golden study
hour of the brain to learn English vocabulary
more easily, effectively and permanently. This
has been clarified by the following question
for which their responses were as follows:
Figure 5. Awareness of participants about golden hour learning
Looking at the Figure 5 for more details, the
rates of students who have not known about
this method taking one third in total and this is
approximately true for that of the percentages
of both genders who chose “Yes” with 36.4%.
Furthermore, the quantity of students who
perhaps, knew this method is lower than the
two mentioned figures, about more than 20%.
Surprisingly, there was just about 1.5% of
students who still concerned if they have heart
about the method or not.
And with the question about the word review
of participants, the proportion of them say
“Yes” stood the highest one with 47.6%.
About “Maybe” and “No” accounted for a
difference of about 2%. This proves that
nearly half of respondents are also concerned
in checking and reviewing the vocabulary that
they have learnt before.
The best time to learn English vocabulary
According to the Figure 6, the percentage of
students who thought that the best period of
time for the brain to storm is from 4:00pm to
10:00pm was the highest, about 39% and the
similar was true for that of the quantity of both
genders choosing 4:00am to 7:00am. In
contrast, the proportion of teenagers who
chose their suitable time to learn is from
10:00am to 2:00pm was 21%. Surprisingly,
the number of students who chose the rest
answers was moderately equal.
Figure 6. Attitude of participants toward the best time of brain to learn
The number of both genders who really
applied the brainstorm period mentioned in
Question 12 was nearly three-quarters of the
total number and it was as approximately four
times as the rates of students who chose
"Maybe". As a result, the quantity of both
genders who did not take up this method
accounted for the lowest.
Based on the both above figure charts, the
transparent fact is that 45 respondents out of
62 respondents who answered the question 14,
which is 75%, say "Yes" to apply the golden
study hour of the brain to enhance English
vocabulary.
However, out of remaining percentage is 20%
of whom say "Maybe". And 5% chose "No".
So, the number of students want to enhance
English vocabulary as well as apply this
method to learn that take four fifths in total as
much as participants do not apply and might
apply.
If the combination between Agree and
Strongly Agree that learning English
4.2.
Discussion
recommendation
and
A vocabulary is a set of familiar words within
a person's language. A vocabulary, usually
developed with age, serves as a useful and
fundamental tool for communication and
acquiring knowledge. Acquiring an extensive
vocabulary is one of the largest challenges in
learning a second language. Based on the
figures of the survey, learning English
vocabulary depends on the time and methods.
vocabulary at the golden study hour of the
brain is a good idea to remember permanently,
more 75% of respondents chose. That is in
proportion to their desire to apply this way in
the question 14.
Our ongoing research includes using the
golden study hour of the brain to learn English
Vocabulary and Spaced Repetition method.
View pages’ summary of our initial project
objectives and early results. A summary of our
results to date, aimed primarily at the
development of learning English vocabulary
for students by the new method with easily,
quickly and permanently. More photographic
sketch, meant primarily for scientists, are
presented below (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Hermann Ebbinghaus with his work
It is the line of forgetting in the illustration
above. According to this graph (Figure 8),
your memory is like a sandy beach, your
ability to recall any information will decrease
over time, because waves of information are
constantly
hitting and
swept
away.
Accordingly, as soon as you read, hear, see
something, of course someone asks about it
you will immediately answer. But after only 5
hours, you will forget about 50%, after 1 day,
you will forget about 70%, and after a week
you will forget 90%, this is the vague feeling,
"remember the gutter" (remember, but don't
remember clearly what it is).
Figure 8. The line of forgetting of Hermann Ebbinghaus
After learning something our memory of it
will decline over time unless we review. The
more review it, the stronger we make the
memory, the longer we can remember it.
When exposed to the same material
repeatedly, it takes less time to pull the
information from your long-term memory. So,
that is the reason why you should learn
English vocabulary at the golden study hour of
the brain to help increase the high
remembering ability and mix with Spaced
Repetition Method in order to make all of
learnt words have been in mind permanently.
Based on the result of the study, the researcher
puts some suggestions to the following parties.
For the researchers
The researchers should be more researches on
the specific effects of the combination
between the golden study hour of the brain and
Spaced Repetition method. The writer would
like to suggest other researchers to conduct
further studies on this topic. Future research
may investigate the same topic, but with
different data be more valid.
The current investigation is limited by time, so
the writer did not go deeper in the discussion
of languages of students’ conclusions. The
writer suggests next researchers to go deeper
in the discussion of using the golden study
hour of the brain to learn English vocabulary
of students’ projects conclusions when they
conduct research on the same topic.
For the teachers
It is hoped that this research can encourage
them to consider a better way in teaching
vocabulary to improve the students’ ability in
English vocabulary mastery. The teacher also
can apply interesting methods to develop the
students’ ability, use the interesting materials
that Ebbinghaus recommended likes flashcards
that will make the students remember in mind
better.
For the students
The students have to improve their vocabulary,
especially about core vocabulary. It is
suggested to be more aware of the importance
of cohesion that English is necessary in the
future job. Vocabulary is the element a whole
as well as a way functions to create
meaningful language communication in which
is one of the most prominent usefulness of
language itself to be able to percept and
interpret in a proper way. Therefore, English
learners should apply the new method for
enhancing vocabulary.
affected the number of word retention in mind.
Depending on the method, they will learn and
remember about 50% after 5 hours and about
33% after 1 day learnt. In addition, the
mentioned time above when learners load
vocabulary, it should be applied because that
is the moments the brain functions at its best,
efficient
and
productive.
Thus,
the
combination between the golden study hour of
the brain and Spaced Repetition method will
be get 90-100% that is the percentage of
vocabulary memory.
5. Conclusion
In brief, the result shows that learning English
vocabulary bases on 2 main factors including
the method and the time to learn. Methods
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