SKKN ADAPTING READING TASKS IN THE NEW TEXTBOOK TIENG ANH 11 TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION

NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING –––––––––––––––––––––––– ADAPTING READING TASKS IN THE NEW TEXTBOOK “TIENG ANH 11” TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION Subject: En

NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

––––––––––––––––––––––––

ADAPTING READING TASKS IN THE NEW TEXTBOOK

“TIENG ANH 11” TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ READING

COMPREHENSION

Subject: English Group: Foreign languages – Literature

Vinh, 2022

NGHE AN DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

––––––––––––––––––––––––

ADAPTING READING TASKS IN THE NEW TEXTBOOK

“TIENG ANH 11” TO IMPROVE STUDENTS’ READING

COMPREHENSION

Subject : English Researcher: Vo Thi Thuy Linh Phone number: 0984359184 Group: Literature – Foreign languages

Vinh, 2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS

3.2 Principles and techniques for adapting textbooks 4

1 An overview of the new textbook “Tieng Anh 11” 5

2 Situation of teaching and learning reading skills at high school 5

2 Findings of the study 7

3.1 Suggested adaptations for some reading tasks in the new textbook

“Tieng Anh 11”

8

1 A summary of the development of the study 37

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Of the four language skills, reading seems to have received a great deal of attention from researchers in second language teaching It is considered “the most important of the four skills in a second language, particularly in English as

a second or foreign language” (Carrell, 1981:1) Despite its importance, many teachers of English at high schools find it difficult to get students’ enthusiasm in reading texts From students’ responses to the survey questions, it can be seen that many of the students feel frustrated at long reading texts with unfamiliar words Besides, many of them admit that they do not have necessary background knowledge about the topic of the reading texts or even they do not like the topic itself Consequently, they are not willing to learn reading skill as well as carry out the reading tasks given in the textbook

Another factor that should be considered when we mention the quality of teaching and learning reading skill at high school is the reading tasks given in the textbook It can be easily noticed that some of the reading tasks are similarly designed in different units, namely answering the questions, choosing the best title, matching words and phrases with their definitions This, to some extent, causes repetition and boredom to students

In addition, there is a lack of teachers’ flexibility in creating a suitable learning environment for students in class Statistics collected from the questionnaire reveal that a large number of students are not confident enough to perform all the given tasks by themselves Instead, they often rely on their friends as well as reference books for correct answers As a consequence, students cannot improve their reading comprehension during the process of learning reading skills In addition, most of the students involved in the survey claim that they prefer working in groups of students with the same level of proficiency in reading classes Thus, flexible work arrangements in reading class should be taken into consideration to boost students’ motivation and the quality

of teaching and learning reading skills

Last but not least, the outbreak of COVID -19 has forced schools to utilize new ways of learning and teaching, including formal and virtual classes Therefore, adaptations for textbook lessons with the aim of making them easier and more suitable for students’ competence are necessary to reduce their learning pressure

Related to these problems, this study was carried out, entitling: Adapting

reading tasks in the new textbook “Tieng Anh 11” to improve students’

reading comprehension

2 Aims of the study

The study aims at suggesting adaptations of some reading tasks given in

the new textbook “Tieng Anh 11” to enhance the 11th graders’ reading comprehension

PART II: CONTENT

In terms of skills required to learn reading effectively, there are many skills in the reading process, namely scanning, skimming, summarizing, paraphrasing, etc However, at the level of high school students, scanning and skimming are two most important ones that matches with their learning ability and goals

2 Definition of reading comprehension

In the context of language learning, according to Ur (1996:34), “reading means reading and understanding” In this sense, if a student can read the words but doesn’t know what they mean, it is not reading but “decoding” Sharing this view, Karlin and Kartin (1988:2) also express that “reading without reading comprehension is meaningless.” In other words, reading comprehension is a complicated process in which readers use their own knowledge, experiences and strategies to understand the content of the text Therefore, how to assist students

in having efficient reading comprehension is considered to be the most challenging task in teaching reading

3 Adapting textbooks

3.1 What is textbook adaptation?

Adapting textbook activities is not just something teachers should do as the need arises but also for appealing to the lower, middle and strong student levels Textbook adaptation is performed to make textbook lessons more communicative and incorporate authentic textbook into the lessons Adapting is the ability to create the textbook that introduces and integrates skills in a lively, enjoyable and productive format

3.2 Principles and techniques for adapting textbooks

Despite the great effort that textbook writers make to meet the needs of the intended users, textbooks are subject to adaptation when they are actually used in the classroom McDonough and Shaw (1993:83) propose that textbooks are internally coherent although they may be, they may not be entirely applicable Although most classroom teachers will not be involved in the production of textbooks, all teachers have the responsibility for textbook evaluation, selection and adaptation It is undeniable that adapting textbook allows teachers to achieve more compatibility and fitness between the textbook and the teaching environment, and therefore maximize the value of the book for the benefit of their particular learners and for the most effective teaching outcomes to achieve Maley (1998:281) suggested the following techniques to adapt textbook:

• Omission: the teacher leaves out things seemed inappropriate, offensive,

unproductive, etc., for the particular group

• Addition: where there seems to be inadequate coverage, teachers may

decide to add to textbooks, either in the form of texts or exercise material

• Reduction: where the teacher shortens an activity to give it less weight or

emphasis

• Extension: where an activity is lengthened in order to give it an additional

dimension (For example, a vocabulary activity is extended to draw attention to some syntactic patterning.)

• Rewriting/modification: teacher may occasionally decide to rewrite

material, especially exercise material, to make it more appropriate, more

“communicative”, more demanding, more accessible to their students, etc

• Replacement: text or exercise material which is considered inadequate, for

whatever reason, may be replaced by more suitable material This is often culled from other resource textbook

• Re-ordering: teachers may decide that the order in which the textbooks are

presented is not suitable for their students They can then decide to plot a different course through the textbooks from the one the writer has laid down

• Branching: teachers may decide to add options to the existing activity or to

suggest alternative pathways through the activities

Textbook adaptation can be done at three levels The first level is macro adaptation, which is ideally done before the language program begins After comparing what is covered in a textbook and what is required by the syllabus or examination, the teacher may find that certain areas or even whole units of the book can be omitted, and certain contents need to be supplemented

The second level of adaptation is adapting a unit This could be done by reordering the activities, combining activities, omitting activities, rewriting or supplementing exercise material, etc Unit adaptation helps to make the classroom teaching smoother and more cohesive It also helps the teacher to better fulfill the aims of a unit

The third level is adaptation of specific activities in a unit Occasionally

an activity is regarded as valuable, but it is not well-designed or it is not suitable

in a particular class If the teacher does not want to give up the activity, he or she needs to adapt it

3.3 Purposes of adaptation

McDonough and Shaw (1993:83) propose that “textbooks are internally coherent although they may be, they may not be entirely applicable” Despite the great effort that textbook writers make to meet the needs of the intended users, textbooks are subject to adaptation when they are actually used in the classroom The teachers may choose to adapt the material they are using with a view to making it more relevant, suitable and useful to their students, which plays a significant role in stimulating students’ motivation and increasing their achievement during the leaning process of reading skills

II PRACTICAL BACKGROUND

1 An overview of the new textbook “Tieng Anh 11”

Each unit in the textbook “Tieng Anh 11”, which refers to a particular theme, is divided into 6 sections: Getting started, Language, Skills, Communication and Culture, Looking back and Project Each section is designed with different kinds of activities with a view to helping students follow the lessons easily and attain basic knowledge related to the theme of the unit as well as improve their skills in terms of Reading, Speaking, Listening and Writing Normally, each skill lesson is taught and learnt in a 45-minute period

Like other skill lessons presented in the textbook, reading lessons consist

of different activities from the easier to more complicated ones for students to fulfill However, it is noticeable that some task types, namely answering the questions, matching words and their definitions, are repeated in all reading lessons and to some extent cause boredom to students

2 Situation of teaching and learning reading skills at high school

Under the instructions of Ministry of education and training, all schools now have had their own syllables for teaching and learning English As far as I

am concerned, most high schools in Nghe An province allot 45 minutes for each skill lesson However, many of the activities in Listening, Speaking and Writing lessons in general and in Reading lessons in particular are not fully carried out due to the lack of time as well as students’ uneven levels of proficiency Many

of the students admit that they are unable to complete all of the tasks themselves The quality of the reading lessons is also rooted from the monotonous requirements of some tasks given in the textbook Taken these factors into consideration, it is undeniable that the objective of the lesson is not always reached Because of these reasons, I would like to suggest a number of adaptations for some reading tasks to make them easier for students to fulfill so that the lesson objective is fully gained

III THE STUDY

1 Situation analysis

1.1 Setting of the study

The study was conducted at Le Viet Thuat High School in Nghe An province At Le Viet Thuat high school, the 11th graders have four 45-minute periods of English a week and there are only six reading lessons in each

semester The official textbook used at Le Viet Thuat high school is Tieng Anh

11, edited by Hoang Van Van and written by Phan Ha, Hoang Thi Hong Hai,

Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, Kieu Thi Thu Huong, Vu Thi Lan, Dao Ngoc Loc, and

Chung The Quang, published by Nha xuat ban giao duc Viet Nam

1.2 Scope of the study

The study was conducted in the second semester of the academic year 2021-2022 Some of the reading passages from unit 6 to unit 10 of the textbook

Tieng Anh 11 were used as the materials for the study

1.3 Participants

The participants of the research consist of 90 students of 11th form from classes 11A and 11D at Le Viet Thuat high school In this study, no students were identified by their names All of the informants have the same time of learning English of six years; and they have already completed the syllabus of English with the new series of English textbook from grade 6 to grade 10 at

secondary school The most significant point for choosing these participants is

that there are no noticeable differences in their levels of proficiency This is proved by their average scores in grade 10 and in the first semester of this academic year

1.4 Instrumentation

In order to get information to fulfill the aims of the study, a survey

questionnaire (given in Appendix 1) was designed and delivered to the student

respondents The survey questionnaire included two parts: Part 1 was some personal information and Part 2 comprised 5 questions relating to researched issue Questions in the questionnaire contained both closed-ended questions and opened-ended questions The questionnaire was written in Vietnamese in a logical order so that they could gradually lead the respondents into the theme of

the study and stimulate the respondents to answer the questions the most exactly

In addition, after each reading lesson intended to adapt in the research,

students were provided with 2 different survey questionnaires (given in

Appendix 2), which were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the application of

the study One survey questionnaire is for reading lessons whose tasks are taught exactly as they are presented in the textbook The other is for the lessons in which some tasks are adapted to make them suitable for real teaching and learning contexts

1.5 Data collection procedures

The quantitative method was mainly used in the study A survey through questionnaire was conducted among the participants with a view to gathering students’ opinions on learning reading in class Another two survey questionnaires for each reading lesson, one for reading lessons without any adaptations and the other for the ones containing adapted tasks, was employed to receive students’ responses from which the author could assess the effectiveness

of the adaptation The participants were asked to answer all of them honestly and frankly All of these answers would be used as important data of the study

The participants, then, were divided into two groups, one was taught with the application of the intended adapted tasks while the other was not After the two groups had completed their study with different teaching methods (with and without using task adaptations), their responses were used to draw the conclusion on the effectiveness of the adaptation

2 Findings of the study

The results from the survey disclose that only 10 out of 90 students, believe that reading skill plays an insignificant role in learning English On the contrary, a majority of the participants (89%) regard reading as the most important one

However, despite this evaluation, most of the students do not like reading skills 22% of the participants show their interest in learning reading skill in class while 70 out of 90 respondents reveal that they find reading lessons in the textbook unattractive This is explained through their comments on the factors that affect their reading comprehension while learning reading skills 72% of the students who do not like reading claim that there are too many new words and new structures in the reading passages 68 % of the respondents show their disinterest in certain types of reading tasks in the textbook, namely answering the questions, matching words and their definitions

Another factor which has bad influence on students’ preference for learning reading skills lies in the requirements of some reading tasks 28,6% of

out Approximately 20% of the students admit that lack of background knowledge on the topic prevents them from having a thorough comprehension

of the reading texts Because of the subjective and objective reasons mentioned above, 67% of the students reveal that they do reading tasks by copying the answers from their friends, reference books or the Internet Only 33% of the participants do the tasks by themselves

Anticipating students’ ideas basing on practical teaching experience, the author also includes some questions related to the way they learn reading skills

in class It is a matter of fact that the author always asks students to read the passages and prepare new words before each reading lesson Their preparation is noted down in a separate notebook and will be checked by the teacher by the time they start the new lesson It is motivating for the author to find out that all

of the respondents agree that this is useful for their better understanding of the text as well as remembering vocabulary

Besides a careful preparation in advance, work arrangement during the lesson is considered a vital factor contributing to students’ successful performance in class Therefore, other than questions focusing on the reading skill, some other questions are designed to discover preferred interactions among students while they carry out reading tasks It is surprising to see that a majority of the participants prefer to work in groups of similar levels of proficiency as this helps them to study the most effectively

From these findings, I would like to make some suggestions on changing the requirements of some reading tasks in the new textbook in order to facilitate students’ process of actively taking part in reading activities, hence enhance

their reading comprehension competence

Unit 6: Global Warming

Reading lesson: Global warming is real

Lesson objectives: skimming and scanning a text for general ideas and specific

information about the causes and effects of global warming

a Comments:

It can be seen that although the topic sounds familiar in modern society, its vocabulary including some specific terminology is strange to many students

In addition, it is challenging for students of average proficiency to complete all

of the five activities in this reading lesson in 45 minutes

According to the passage, there are two primary causes and 5 effects of global warming and the main activities for reading comprehension are task 2 and task 4 Task 2 asks students to choose the statement that expresses the main idea

of the passages Task 4 includes 6 questions about details of the passage However, the questions in task 4 do not cover all of the causes and effects mentioned in the text Therefore, it will be difficult for students to carry out the

first activity in task 5, which asks them to discuss the most serious effects of global warming Thus, personally I believe that the requirements of the given tasks should be modified so that students can acquire full comprehension of the reading text

b Suggestions for adaptation:

From the above comments, I would like to suggest some changes to the activities in tasks 2, 4 and 5 The requirements and questions in tasks 2 and 4 will be converted into the form of multiple-choice questions with some other added ones to help students have a broader understanding of the passage Besides, task 5 is considered a difficult one for students of average proficiency; therefore, students will be provided a diagram to label, using the words and phrases in the text before they discuss in groups

Suggestion for tasks 2 and 4: Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C,

or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions

1 What is the passage mainly about?

A Global warming is the rise in the world’s temperature

B Global warming leads to the extinction of millions of species in the world

C Global warming is mainly caused by humans and has negative impacts on people’s lives

D People have to work together to reduce the risks of global warming

2 According to the passage, carbon dioxide emissions come from _

A coal burnt to make electricity

B demand for public transport and electricity

C building power plants and producing vehicles

D the burning of petrol for transport and coal for electricity

3 The writer mentions “deforestation” in the passage because

A it is a cause of global warming

B it occurs frequently in recent years

C it is the effect of the temperature rise

D it is the consequence of coal burning

4 According to the passage, what is the impact of sea level rise?

A People lose their home

B It kill large numbers of people

C It causes the rise in temperature worldwide

D More natural disasters happen

5 According to the passage, crop harvests reduction results from

A low temperature B famine

C global warming D droughts and floods

6 It can be inferred from the passage that water shortages

A is one of the worst effects of global warming

B contributes to protecting ecosystem

C is unlikely to delay economic growth

D affects the productivity of crops

7 According to the passage, the disappearance of species

A plays an important role in remaining species diversity

B is a matter of great concern for humans

C is an unpredicted effect of global warming

D is a consequence of temperature rise globally

8 What does the write imply in the last paragraph?

A Global warming is definitely caused by humans

B Reducing global warming is the responsibility of everyone

C Global warming is the biggest issue facing humans today

D Understanding about global warming helps people reduce its effects

Descriptions for adapted activity:

- Work arrangement: individual work or pair work

- Possible outcomes:

+ students know about the main idea of the passage through question 1

+ students know about 2 causes of global warming through questions 2, 3 and about 5 effects through questions 4 to 8

+ students can improve their reading comprehension by giving the answers to these questions correctly

- Answers:

1 C 2 D 3 A 4 A 5 C 6 A 7 B 8 B

Suggestion for task 5: Complete the diagram with the words and phrases in the passage and then discuss the following question: Which of the effects of global warming do you think is the most serious?

Descriptions for adapted activity:

- Work arrangement: group work

- Possible outcomes:

GLOBAL WARMING

EFFECTS CAUSES

+ students reinforce their understanding by choosing suitable information from the previous task and in the passage to complete the diagram

+ students can improve their reading comprehension by giving correct answers

to the task and explaining their choices about the most serious effect of global warming

Deforestation/

cutting down of forests

Crop harvests reduction

Water shortages

Widespread loss of

species

Severe weather- heated natural disasters Sea level

rise

Unit 7: Further Education

Reading lesson: Preparation for higher education

Lesson objectives: reading for general ideas and specific information about

higher education opportunities

time-contribute greatly to achieving the goal of the lesson Because of this, I suggest that task1 should be done with more simple requirements

Students’ reading comprehension is mostly illustrated through task 2 and task 4 Nevertheless, the questions in task 4 do not cover all of the main ideas in the passage in which there are such unfamiliar terms as AS, A-level, or TOK Added to that, it is a factual matter that many students lack background knowledge of the topic All of these subjective and objective factors are likely to prevent students from having a deep understanding of the passage Consequently, students do not have sufficient knowledge and information to get task 5 fully performed

b Suggestions:

To improve students’ reading comprehension of the passage, I propose some adaptations for the question in task 1 and task 5 A summary of the reading text would be of great help for students to comprehend most of the information

in the passage as they have to find appropriate words or phrases to complete it

Suggestion for task 1:

Look at the table of the British state-run education system and make a comparison between British and Vietnamese education systems about the number of education levels and age to start and finish each level

Following this requirement students will be able to self-direct what they have to do and pay attention to the information they need As a result, they will

as well as get some knowledge related to the content of the passage as well as have the task carried our quickly and save time for other activities

Descriptions for adapted activity:

- Work arrangement: pair work

- Possible outcomes:

+ students know basic information about the education system in Britain

+ students show their acquisition of the information in the table by making comparisons with Vietnamese education system

- Suggested answers:

+ similarities: There are 4 levels of education in both Britain and Viet Nam: foundation school, primary school, secondary school and vocational school or college

+ differences: - Children in Britain start primary school at the age of 5 and finish

it at 11 while students in Viet Nam begin and complete it at 6 and 10 respectively

- Similarly, Vietnamese and British students have differences in the starting and finishing age in the rest of education levels For example, secondary school students in Britain complete their level 2 years earlier than in Viet Nam

Suggestion for task 5: Complete the following summary about higher education in the UK, using the words in the text

In the UK, students from both England and all over the world have chances to pursue (1) education to get highly appreciated qualifications after finishing secondary school To apply for this level of education, such academic qualifications as (2) or IB should be taken into consideration

In order to get the A-level, students have to choose 3 or 4 subjects to learn After

2 years of learning these subjects, they sit for AS and A-level (3) IB, which offers qualifications in 6 or 7 subjects including three (4) subjects: mathematics, native language and theory of knowledge, is an alternative to the A-level IB can be achieved from many schools and (5) throughout the UK However, students whose mother tongue is not English have

to take an English language (6) to be qualified for any higher education courses in the UK

Descriptions for adapted activity:

- Work arrangement: group work

- Possible outcomes:

+ apart from the information acquired from task 4, with this summary students know more about higher education in the UK by choosing suitable words for each gap

+ students can improve their reading comprehension by scanning to use the most correct words to fill in the gaps

- Answers:

Unit 10: Healthy Lifestyles and Longevity

Reading lesson: Life expectancy factor

Lesson objectives: developing the ability to follow the logical structure of a text

and reading for specific information about factors responsible for the increase in life expectancy

a Comments:

As can be seen from the textbook, a new kind of exercise (task 2) is introduced in this reading lesson It is obvious that students who have never practiced doing English language tests for external exams will find it difficult to carry out the task Hence, removed sentences should contain denoting words, connectors or repeated words in the preceding sentences to help students identify their meaning and location in the text easily Yet, 4 removed sentences

in this task focus more on students’ understanding of the text rather than provide them with noticeable cues like linking words or repeated ones, which is a challenge to many students of average proficiency

b Suggestions:

With the aim of facilitating students’ learning while the objective of the lesson is still guaranteed, I would get some other sentences removed from the passage so that they are more suitable for students of lower proficiency To

make it more specific, sentences a and b will be replaced by two other

sentences taken from paragraphs 2 and 4 These new sentences containing

repeated words of the preceding sentences (“stress” in paragraph 2 and

“century” in paragraph 4 are repeated in sentence b and a respectively), which

not only enable students to locate them in the passage quickly but also stimulate their reading comprehension while they are working out for the answers

Suggestion for task 2:

Read an article about the main factors for the increased life expectancy Four sentences have been removed from the article Choose a sentence (a-d) to complete each gap (1-4)

a In the 21st century, scientists continue to look for new ways to treat serious diseases and slow down the ageing process

b A popular way to relieve stress in today’s busy lifestyles is practicing meditation and yoga

c This increase can be attributed to three main factors: healthier lifestyles, better nutrition, and advances in medical science and technology

d Eating more fruits and vegetables, but less fatty foods can reduce the risk of serious diseases

Descriptions for adapted activity:

- Work arrangement: group work

- Answers:

+ Paragraph 1: c + Paragraph 2: b

+ Paragraph 3: d + Paragraph 4: a

3.2 Sample lesson plans

The following are sample teaching plans that I have used in my teaching for one group of the respondents While applying them into teaching, I am happy to realize that most of the students are much eager to get involved in carrying out all the activities required

Sample teaching plan for Unit 6: Global Warming

Reading lesson: Global warming is real

I Objectives:

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to

1 Cognition:

- use lexical items related to the topic Global warming

- identify main causes and effects of global warming

2 Skills:

- skim and scan a text for general ideas and specific information

3 Attitude:

- willingly acquire and exercise the tasks

- actively, creatively and cooperatively participate in and fulfill assigned tasks

- build up and develop responsibility for prevent global warming

- be ready to do take actions to do protect the environment

4 Competences:

- communicative competence

- self-control and independent learning

- communication and collaboration

II Teaching aids:

- textbook, TV, pictures, handouts, zalo (for Ss to send their preparation for the

lesson)

III Procedures:

1 Activity 1 WARM UP

5 minutes

a Aim: Visualize what the topic is and provide students

(Ss) with some background knowledge

b Performance: Work with a partner and guess what

problems are described in the pictures

- Ask Ss to discuss the questions

- Call on some Ss to give their answers

- Elicit feedback from the whole class

- Give suggested answers:

+ Picture 1: greenhouse gas emission + Picture 2: exhaust fumes from vehicles

3 Activity 3 PRACTICE

17 minutes Read the passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D to

indicate the correct answer to each of the questions

(adapted from tasks 2 and 4)

1 What is the passage mainly about?

A Global warming is the rise in the world’s temperature

B Global warming leads to the extinction of millions of species in the world

C Global warming is mainly caused by humans and has negative impacts on people’s lives

D People have to work together to reduce the risks of global warming

2 According to the passage, carbon dioxide emissions come from _

A coal burnt to make electricity

B demand for public transport and electricity

C building power plants and producing vehicles

D the burning of petrol for transport and coal for electricity

3 The writer mentions “deforestation” in the passage because

A it is a cause of global warming

B it occurs frequently in recent years

C it is the effect of the temperature rise

D it is the consequence of coal burning

4 According to the passage, what is the impact of sea level rise?

A People lose their home

B It kill large numbers of people

C It causes the rise in temperature worldwide

D More natural disasters happen

5 According to the passage, crop harvests reduction results from

A low temperature B famine

C global warming D droughts and floods