The effects of paraphrasing strategy on reading comprehension of non english major students at a univerity in hcmc m,a

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY — HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE THE EFFECTS OF PARAPHRASING STRATEGY ON READING C

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY — HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE

THE EFFECTS OF PARAPHRASING STRATEGY ON READING COMPREHENSION OF NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT A UNIVERSITY IN HCMC

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature

in partial fulfillment of the Master‘s degree in TESOL

ACKNOWLDEGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Dr Phan Thanh Hùng, my thesis supervisor, for his unwavering support During my preparation and completion of the thesis, he provided me with insightful discussion, considerable inspiration, and valuable guidance I deeply appreciate the way he read and corrected my thesis writing in detail with constructive feedback I would not have finished the thesis if it hadn't been for his incredible patience and professional expertise

Second, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr Đinh Văn Chương and Mrs Võ Thị Thanh Lý for allowing me to conduct my research on students at HCM University of Information Technology Also, I would like to acknowledge my debt

to all the students who supported me during the time I did the experiment

Thirdly, I sincerely extend my profound gratitude to all the lecturers at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities for their valuable guidance and encouragement in my education Throughout my tenure at the university, they were constant in their personal and professional support, which endowed me with many research skills

Furthermore, I would like to thank Mr Tiêu Tiểu Long and Ms Nguyễn Thị Hoài Anh for their proofreading and comments on my writing They always gave me an impulse to accomplish my thesis

Last but not least, I am deeply indebted to my family for their encouragement and

assistance during the months I studied for my MA in TESOL

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

I certify that this thesis, entitled ―The Effects of Paraphrasing Strategy on

Reading Comprehension of Non-English Major Students at a University in HCMC,‖ is my own work This thesis has not been submitted to any other

institution for the award of a degree or diploma Ho Chi Minh City, January 2022

Ho Chi Minh City, January 18th, 2022

Phạm Tố Quyên

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Phạm Tố Quyên, as a candidate for the Master of Arts in TESOL degree, accept the university's requirements for the retention and use of master's theses deposited in the library Theses should be accessible for study and research purposes, in accordance with the library's normal conditions for the care, loan, and reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, November 1st, 2021

Phạm Tố Quyên

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLDEGEMENTS i

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ii

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii

LIST OF TABLES ix

ABSTRACT xi

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Research questions 2

1.6 Scope of the study 3

1.7 Organization of thesis chapters 3

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Definition of reading comprehension 5

2.2 Definition of paraphrasing strategy 7

2.3 The metacognitive process 8

2.2 Definition of reading strategies 9

2.4 The meta-cognitive process of paraphrasing 11

2.5 A paraphrasing strategy to improve main idea comprehension 12

2.6 Definition of attitudes 13

2.7 The importance of attitudes in language learning 14

2.8 Readability formula 15

2.9 Previous studies on the use of paraphrasing strategy and Gaps 16

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 21

3.1 Research design 21

3.2 Context of the study 22

3.3 Participants 22

3.4 Procedures for teaching the paraphrasing strategy 25

3.4.1 Develop and active knowledge 25

3.4.2 Discuss the paraphrasing strategy 26

3.4.3 Model the paraphrasing strategy 27

3.4.4 Support the paraphrasing strategy 27

3.4.5 Independent performance 27

3.5 Procedures for teaching the paraphrasing strategy in the experimental class 28 3.6 Research instruments 32

3.6.1 Tests 33

3.6.1.1 Pre-test 33

3.6.1.2 Post-test 33

3.6.2 Questionnaire 35

3.6.2.1 The content of the questionnaire 36

3.6.2.2 The content of the questionnaire on attitudes and perception 36

3.6.2.3 Reliability of the questionnaire 37

3.7 Data collection procedure 39

3.8 Data analysis procedure 42

3.8.1 Analyzing the pre-test and post-tests 42

3.8.2 Analyzing data from the questionnaire 42

3.9 Summary of the chapter 43

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 44

4.1 Descriptive analysis of the tests 44

4.1.1 Descriptive analysis of the pre-test results 44

4.1.2 Descriptive analysis of the post-test results 45

4.1.2.1 Post-test 1 46

4.1.2.2 Post-test 2 47

4.1.2.3 Post-test 3 49

4.2 Questionnaire 51

4.2.1 Students‘ attitudes toward their use of paraphrasing strategy in the classroom 51

4.2.2 Descriptive analysis of the questionnaires 51

4.2.2.1 Enjoyment 51

4.2.2.2 Confidence 52

4.2.2.3 Students‘ reactions 53

4.2.2.4 Reading Comprehension perception 54

4.3 Discussion 55

4.4 Summary of the chapter 56

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 57

5.1 Summary of findings 57

5.2 Implication of PS 58

5.3 Limitations of PS 58

REFERENCES 61

APPENDICES 68

APPENDIX A - PRE-TEST 68

APPENDIX B – POST-TEST 1 79

APPENDIX C – POST-TEST 2 89

APPENDIX D – POST-TEST 3 98

APPENDIX E – THE VIETNAMESE VERSION OF THE QUESTIONAIRE 108 APPENDIX F – QUESTIONNAIRE FOR THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP 110

APPENDIX G – SAMPLE READING LESSON PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENTAL GROUP 112

APPENDIX H – SAMPLE LISTENING LESSON PLAN OF THE CONTROL GROUP 115

ESL English as a Second Language

SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1 Description and estimated reading grade for Flesch Reading Ease Score

(Flesch, 1948) 15

Table 3.1 Levels of English classes based on students' placement test scores 23

Table 3.2 lists general information about the study participants and the participants' gender 25

Table 3.3 Readability level and length of reading passages in the book ‗ETS TOEIC TEST 2019‘ 34

Table 3.4 Readability level and length of reading passages in the book ‗ETS TOEIC TEST 2020‖ 34

Table 4.10 The organization of the questionnaire and its related categories 36

Table 4.11 A summary of the questionnaire on attitudes and perception 37

Table 4.12 The summary of the questionnaire 38

Table 4.13 The Cronbach‘s Alpha statistic of the questionnaire 38

Table 4.14 The total statistics of all items in the questionnaire 38

Table 3.5 Coding scheme for the two Likert scales 43

Table 4.1 Descriptive statistics of the participants' scores in the pre-test 44

Table 4.2 The participants‘ homogeneity in RC competence 45

Table 4.3 Results of post-test 1 of the experimental and control groups 46

Table 4.4 Independent samples t-test for post-test 1 of the experimental and control groups 46

Table 4.5 Results of post-test 2 of the experimental and control groups 47

Table 4.6 Independent samples t-test for post-test 2 of the experimental and control groups 48

Table 4.7 Results of post-test 3 of the experimental and control groups 49

Table 4.8 Independent samples t-test for post-test 1 of the experimental and control groups 49

Table 4.9 Summary of the results of the three post-tests 50

Table 4.15 Results on students‘ enjoyment of PS 51

Table 4.16 Results on students‘ confidence 52

Table 4.17 Results on students‘ reactions to future use of PS 53

Table 4.18 Results on students‘ perception 54

ABSTRACT

Reading comprehension (RC) at the University of Information Technology (UIT) frequently necessitates a high level of literacy as well as a good realm of comprehension strategies A paraphrasing strategy (PS) is one of them, which has always been extensively studied in the domain of teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Notwithstanding, due to discrepancies in the results of studies in the domain, the effects of the PS on student RC are still being disputed A quasi-experimental design was conducted to analyze the effects on the RC of non-English major students 46 first-year non-English major students from 2 general English classes were conveniently selected to serve as an experimental group (EG) receiving

PS, and a control group (CG) receiving no PS treatment During research implementation from September 2020 to December 2021, both the experimental and control groups were given a baseline pre-test and three post-tests According to the results of the independent T-student test analysis, the EG significantly surpassed the

CG in the RC tests Moreover, the participants expressed positive attitudes toward the application of the PS through the questionnaire results The key findings revealed that students were able to transcend beyond their RC level and apply an authentic RC of the text once they learned and correctly applied the PS The pedagogical implications for the PS in RC were included in the discussion

KEYWORDS: paraphrasing strategy (PS), Reading comprehension (RC), EFL,

non-English major students

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter describes the introduction of study There is a statement of why the study is important, what it is going to be about, what it is going to look at, and how the thesis is going to be organized

1.1 Background to the study

Reading is one of the most crucial aspects of language acquisition This is a crucial ability since it may assist learners in learning the language process Students' fundamental English language skills, such as vocabulary, speaking and writing skills, thoughts, facts, and student experience, can all benefit from reading (Lai et al., 2019) As a result, students must read in order to improve their language learning The main goal of reading

in language learning is for people to understand what the text is about

Academic reading is essential for students‘ performance in school and can assist them in obtaining knowledge, which is one of the reasons why reading lessons are taught in schools and colleges Although academic reading is a time-consuming, serious, and complicated activity, it necessitates the development of a vast variety of reading strategies to assist learners in solving problems when they experience comprehension issues (Küçükoğlu, 2013; Sohail, 2016) Teachers must use interesting reading strategies

to help students improve their RC in response to the above issues

There are a variety of reading strategies that instructors may employ, and one of them is the PS, which is a versatile technique that entails three steps: reading the text; identifying the text's main ideas and details; and finally, converting the reader's understanding into their own words (Hagaman & Casey, 2017) They also feel that the PS is a means to increase students' reading ability through effective strategies for RC ability (Surayatika, 2018; Suwana et al., 2018) Students should view strategic RC training as a helpful approach since it allows them to better grasp and apply the information in the text, store it

in their memory, and remember it (Deshler & Lenz, 1989; Hagaman et al., 2016)

Therefore, PS should be taught before or during the summarization in RC (Watson et al., 2012)

PS has piqued the interest of various researchers in the field of RC throughout the last two decades This research used participants of various ages and areas, ranging from children to teenagers, from eastern to western countries, to look into various elements of PS's impact on RC However, few studies have looked into the impact of PS on non-major university students' RC, especially in the Vietnam Nam context The researcher's interest was piqued, so the researcher decided to undertake this study to look at the impacts of PS on the RC of non-English major university students

1.2 Aims of the study

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of teachers' use of paraphrasing strategies when teaching non-English major students reading comprehension Additionally, it seeks to ascertain students' perceptions of their use of the paraphrasing strategy in the classroom

1.3 Research questions

To accomplish the intended objective, this study was conducted to answer a research question: ―What are the effects of paraphrasing strategy (PS) on reading comprehension (RC) of non-English major students at a university in HCMC?‖

Two subsidiary questions were created to solve the primary research question:

1 Is there a substantial difference in the RC test results of non-English major students who received PS versus those who did not receive PS treatment?

2 What are students‘ attitudes towards their use of PS in the classroom?

1.4 Hypotheses

Through comparing the test results of the experimental and control groups, the effects of

PS on students' RC are examined As a consequence, the hypothesis proposed for this study is that the teacher‘s use of the PS in RC classes can help students improve their performance on RC tests

1.5 Significance of the study

Some past studies also clarify the effects of the PS on RC for learners Nevertheless, few researches, particularly in the Vietnamese context, has looked into the effect of PS on non-major university students' RC Therefore, this study seeks to fill in the literature on the effects of PS on the RC of non-English major students in the context of teaching Vietnamese learners English reading Importantly, the results and applications of this experimental research are two of the most important parts of this research, which not only help students improve their RC skills but also show how to teach RC more effectively in the future

1.6 Scope of the study

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between PS and RC in first-year students at Vietnam National University-HCMC University of Information Technology

in Thu Duc, Vietnam The study took place in two intermediate General English classes, ENG03.L12 and ENG03.L18, over a ten-week period from September 2020 to January

2021

1.7 Organization of thesis chapters

The abstract first provides readers with an overview, purpose, methods, and findings of the research, which helps them to have a general understanding of the study The introduction clarifies the background to the study, its aims, research questions and hypotheses, the significance of the study, and the scope of the study The literature review presents the associated literature on PS in an EFL setting Next, the methodology

was acquired from two sources, including student RC and the questionnaire, and the explanation of the study findings is analyzed in the results and discussion chapter The researcher shows the study's results and educational consequences, as well as research

recommendations in the conclusion and recommendations chapter

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

According to chapter 1, PS has long been a fascinating topic among researchers around the world, but it has not been thoroughly studied in the context of Vietnam This chapter describes the literature relevant to the research in order to provide context for the study

In addition, it sums up previous research to give a general overview of the PS

2.1 Definition of reading comprehension

Woolley (2011) believes that reading is a cognitive process in which all readers will not produce the same explanations or assumptions about the same text This means that everyone has different critical thinking to get specific information based on the articles they read Then, it becomes a process of constantly guessing the center of the paragraph

In addition, reading is an active skill because it involves not only guessing but also checking and asking information-related questions in order to convey the correct content Therefore, teaching reading is more complicated than teaching another skill because reading involves multiple skills

Reading comprehension, according to Mikulecky and Jeffries (2007), is the logical link between concepts in a book that someone has read and what he or she already knows If readers comprehend the content, they will be able to simply answer questions or explain

it Readers think and comprehend while they read in order to get information from the text This process is called reading comprehension

According to Snow (2002), reading comprehension is the process of simultaneously obtaining and producing meaning through interaction and engagement with written language Comprehension, according to the author, has three components: (1) the reader who is understanding; (2) the text to be understood; and (3) understanding is a part of the action

Sweet and Snow (2003), and Pang et al (2003) believe that reading comprehension consists of nine cognitive components: fluency, vocabulary, world knowledge, discourse knowledge, language knowledge, motivation, purpose and goal, cognition, and metacognition strategy The readers claim that proficient readers are strong understanding readers Non-fluent reading needs the mental ability to comprehend the process Fluent readers have a natural ability to read with ease and expressiveness Fluency in reading entails word recognition accuracy and automaticity, decoding ease, and reading expressiveness It necessitates the ability to recognize and decode words accurately Reading comprehension, according to Shanahan (2014), is the process of comprehending and interpreting information in a text Rather than passive recollection, comprehension involves the creation of meaning It is a type of active and dynamic thinking that involves filtering information through one's own knowledge and beliefs, thinking about information using the author's organizational plan, inferring what the author did not say is clear, and a variety of other cognitive behaviors

Perfetti and Adlof (2012) propose a comprehension framework to aid in understanding some of the complexities of reading comprehension concepts Comprehension, according

to these writers, happens when the reader creates a mental picture of the text message Across language units, the comprehension process happens at three levels: word level (lexical process), sentence-level (syntactic process), and text level All of these processes work together with the reader's conceptual knowledge to make a mental picture of the text at these different levels

According to Kirby (2007), reading comprehension is the ability to read and understand written material It includes decoding words, understanding terminology, and making connections between these and the reader's past knowledge and experience in order to understand the text

Lems et al (2009) point out that, in general, reading comprehension is the capacity to extract meaning from written material Reading comprehension is defined by Souvignier

and Mokhlesgerami (2006) as the capacity of a reader to read and recall, copy, understand, and uncover deeper meanings in a book for later use Reading comprehension, according to Pressley (2002), entails a variety of cognitive abilities that may be utilized to comprehend reading content

Reading comprehension is one of the most essential skills to master in any language It is important to build and nourish it at home and at school since it provides the basis for academic and other achievements According to Al Noursi (2014), the capacity to read for a variety of reasons is a prerequisite for successful learning in schools, colleges, and universities He goes on to say that this is a survival skill for students and professionals in the twenty-first century Reading, on the other hand, is seen as a significant factor in enhancing academic performance Reading comprehension may be described as a word that refers to a set of abilities that entails comprehending and applying the information from the text through a complex cognitive process that includes multidimensional components It refers to the process of learning new things from printed symbols, in which previous knowledge and reading comprehension are very important

Noursi's (2014) definition of reading comprehension was chosen for this study due to the similar setting of the research subject and context The participants in this study were university students, and all of the texts were academic, including e-mail, advertisements, letters, invitations, announcements, messages, and memos They were all consistent with Noursi's definition of RC

2.2 Definition of paraphrasing strategy

According to McNamara (2007), paraphrasing strategy is the process of creating a text using your own words It serves two purposes, the first of which is to affect the process It enables readers to convert textual information into terms or language that they are already familiar with It instructs readers to interpret phrases in their most fundamental form, implying that they must comprehend the meaning of each word It's then important for

people who read verbatim texts to understand the basic structure and grammar of sentences in order to make them more relatable

A paraphrasing strategy is a flexible strategy that includes three steps: reading the text; finding out the main ideas and details from the text; and then transforming the reader's understanding into their own words (Hagaman & Casey, 2017) It can assist students at elementary, middle, high, and university levels in enhancing their RC in a variety of topic areas Students who use this strategy must read and understand what they are reading by paraphrasing and asking questions

Escudero et al (2019) claim that PS is a strategy that allows students or readers to absorb the essential elements from the source of their reading more quickly It is also a monitor that knows what they are looking at The PS can then assist people to recall what they wrote once they have finished reading The paraphrasing will fail if they do not comprehend each sentence or the full text

Far from being misunderstood, paraphrasing includes more than simply changing words;

as a consequence, the entire definition consists of tactics that promote the strategy In Karapetyan's book, for example, many authors use strategies like changing sentence structures, giving references, not omitting information, changing numbers by fractions, using synonyms, and shifting the word class (Karapetyan, 2013)

In this study, the researcher chooses the PS definition of Hagaman and Casey (2017) to apply as it suits the research subjects, who are students of non-major English and training programs (Intermediate General English level) In addition, this is the most up-to-date definition that covers all the research content of the study Last but not least, Hagaman has always been interested in how PS affects students' RC over the last decade

2.3 The metacognitive process

According to Flavell (1979), a metacognitive process involves a person's knowledge of his own thought processes and products, active monitoring, and adjustment of cognitive

processing activities It is divided into four components: 1) metacognitive knowledge, which refers to people‘s understanding or perceptions of factors that affect cognitive activities (i.e., people, tasks, strategies); 2) metacognitive experience, which refers to personal psychological or emotional responses to cognitive activities; 3) goals and tasks relate to the goals or goals of any cognitive career; and 4) actions and strategies refer to the activities performed by learners to achieve their goals or metacognitive goals (Iwai, 2011)

Şen (2009) defines metacognition as cognition about cognition because it requires an examination of the brain's processing process while reading or thinking Iwai (2011) summarizes the metacognitive process into three steps: 1) plan; 2) monitor; and 3) evaluate RC is based on a process called metacognition This process is important because it helps students learn how to speak, think, and interact with others in different ways

In the field of reading, metacognitive strategies are activities that make students aware of their thoughts during reading tasks A metacognitive reading strategy, according to the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (NSWDET, 2010), is a planned, intentional, goal-oriented, and future-oriented mental activity and process that can help readers think and verify what they are doing When using metacognitive strategies to complete tasks, learners plan and activate, then monitor, control, react, and reflect (Pintrich et al., 2000)

2.2 Definition of reading strategies

Numerous researchers who value interactive reading have defined reading strategies, including Olshavsky (1977) and Barnett (1988) These researchers frequently referred to reading strategies as a ―purposeful means‖ or a ―set of conscious activities‖ that readers employ in order to effectively approach and comprehend a text They say that "reading strategies" are "deliberate, goal-directed efforts to exert control and modification over the

However, it is later suggested that, while the term ―reading strategies‖ emphasizes the reader's deliberate involvement in comprehending a text, not all strategies are employed consciously by fluent readers According to Davies (1995), reading strategies include both conscious and unconscious mental activities that the reader uses to help them understand the text These activities help the reader understand the text better

Various researchers use the terms ―reading strategies‖ and ―reading skills‖ to distinguish the two aspects of strategy use Their distinctions have been discussed by reading researchers such as Carrell (1998), Grabe and Stoller (2002), and Grabe (2009) Carrell et

al (1998) provide the following definition of reading abilities and reading strategies, highlighting their distinct characteristics and relationships:

― Automatic information processing techniques are referred to as skills They can range from recognizing grapheme-phoneme correspondence to summarizing a story Unconsciously, skills are applied to a text for a variety of reasons, including expertise, repeated practice, following directions, chance, and naive use By contrast, strategies are deliberate actions taken to accomplish specific goals When a newly acquired skill is used intentionally, it can develop into a strategy Indeed, strategies that are generated and applied automatically as skills are more efficient and developmental Thus, strategies are

―considered abilities.‖

As can be seen, when a reading strategy is used automatically, it develops into a skill, and skills are first developed through conscious and continuous text processing As a result, there is now a consensus that it isn't easy to tell the difference between skills and strategies because they are so important to the reading process (Grabe & Stoller, 2002)

As a result, reading strategies were given more precise definitions, referring to various approaches to various types of text Wallace (1992), and Singhal (2001) define them as

―text processing strategies‖ that the reader employs based on the text type, the reading purpose, and the context in order to improve text comprehension and overcome meaning

construction failures More precisely, Janzen (2002) views reading strategies as methods for resolving difficulties encountered by the reader while making sense of a text

2.4 The meta-cognitive process of paraphrasing

RC is a metacognitive skill that has been examined and debated by numerous researchers over several years In order for students to effectively understand the text, many elements will play a role, such as vocabulary, cognitive strategy description, metacognitive process, motivation, and self-regulation Furthermore, it is essential to recognize that what is read is frequently not the same as what is understood (Pei-shi, 2012) Therefore,

RC must take the first step at an early age It is the responsibility of the class teacher to equip learners with strategies With time and effort, these strategies will become skills as students become more knowledgeable This is how it works

According to Choy and Lee (2012), paraphrasing employs a step-by-step metacognitive framework Students are currently altering their thinking paradigms based on Blooms' taxonomy analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, which serve a very significant part in today's learning processes (Choy & Lee, 2012) Paraphrasing is a complete cognitive and metacognitive process that involves repeating a sentence or paragraph in such a way that the semantic aspect of the new text is preserved while the lexical and grammatical parts are changed (Khrismawan & Widiati, 2013) It also involves fundamental thinking abilities like comparison and contrast, seeing similarities and differences, making conclusions, and others

The metacognitive goals of this approach are to generate a reflection on the thought process while paraphrasing and to offer an assessment of the tactic's effectiveness Some

of the questions you could have at this stage include, is it true that my paraphrasing version functioned? What can I do better, differently, or avoid doing next time? Is the new version of the text having the same effect on me as the old one? Is the approach of

PS working for me? When students respond to these concerns, they gain a new

2.5 A paraphrasing strategy to improve main idea comprehension

Clark and Hecht (1983) believe that comprehension ability is an active mental process, that is accompanied by the reconstruction and interpretation of meaning from a piece of material RC is thought to be a lot about how well you use strategies for sorting, analyzing, and organizing information in a text

The paraphrasing procedure requires that students read a paragraph, stop and ask what the main idea is, identify two details from the paragraph, and put the information into their own words using a complete sentence The paraphrasing strategy uses students‘ own words to define the main idea of each paragraph Each succeeding paragraph in the passage follows the same procedure The PS for intervention is superior to the other strategies for ineffective RC

Scads of researchers, who have conducted numerous experiments for years, debate that

RC is a metacognitive skill There are tons of factors that affect students' RC, including vocabulary, cognitive strategy guidance, metacognitive process, motivation, and self-regulation Moreover, it is essential to recognize that what is read is frequently not the same as what is comprehended (Pei-shi, 2012) Teaching students how to read at a young age is important because it will help them apply reading strategies to RC texts without even thinking about it

Literal, inferential, and critical comprehension are the three essential components of RC that students must master in order to effectively take the RC tests Literal comprehension entails comprehending the major concepts, supporting information, and lexis so that the reader may classify, outline, and summarize the information Equivalently, inferential comprehension denotes a comprehension of the meaning or saying in the texts, and it may be found in key ideas, supporting details, and terminology, allowing the readers to draw out conclusions and anticipate and detect the writer‘s views and prejudices Lastly, the crucial RC includes an assessment of the writer‘s implications and a review based on the reader‘s previous experience (Mistar et al., 2016)

As previously discussed and based on real-world experience with the RC section in authentic tests such as TOEIC, IELTS, TOEFL, and FCE, readers must understand bas literal comprehension as well as inferential and critical comprehension Besides, teachers are told to give their students reading strategies that will help them improve their RC, too

A paraphrasing strategy is one that many experienced students say is not as simple as

―put the text in your own words.‖ Pei-shi (2012) adds the source reference and the preservation of meaning, which are two significant dedications to the paraphrasing strategy concept It is crucial to note that the paraphrasing strategy aims to improve students' capacity to digest supplied content and provide more meaningful output for themselves Furthermore, according to Latrobe University's ―Referencing and Paraphrasing Writing‖ students, who are bad at the paraphrasing strategy are frequently caused by inadequate understanding of the text According to McNamara (2007), there is

a significant connection between incorrect use of the paraphrasing strategy and impaired

RC The RC level of students‘ materials may be kept on track by the paraphrasing strategy, and if necessary, the student may return to the original resource to double-check and improve RC

Shi (2012) notes that some writers identify levels of paraphrase that are closely connected

to understanding levels For example, if a student does not fully comprehend the material, superficial paraphrasing will be used, consisting of word substitutions, sentence reordering, and deletions or insertions of too much of the original Students, on the other hand, will be able to make big changes, credit the source, and add new features when they learn more This is because they will be able to use inferential and critical thinking

2.6 Definition of attitudes

―Attitude‖ is defined differently in a variety of contexts An attitude is a concept used to describe how one feels about a person, place, thing, or event There are many different ways to think about attitudes when talking about language learning (Abidin et al., 2012)

Wenden (1991) provided a more expansive definition of attitude, dividing it into three components: cognitive, affective, and behavioral Among them, the cognitive component refers to the individual's ideas, beliefs, or point of view regarding the object of the attitude The second component is affective in nature and refers to ―the individual's feelings or emotions toward the object of attitude.‖ The final one, behavioral, refers to

―the individual's behavioral intention with regard to the object of attitude.‖ Attitude is defined as a favorable or unfavorable reaction to something that is composed of three components: feelings (affective element), thoughts (cognitive element), and behavior in a particular way (behavioral element) According to previous research, Bui and Intaraprasert (2013) concluded that students' attitudes toward speaking English are related to their thoughts, feelings, and emotions about speaking English In other words, the term ―learners' attitude toward language learning‖ refers to the learners' behaviors, cognitions, and feelings about language learning

Ajzen (2001) proposed a more specific definition of attitude as the assessment of psychological objects on the basis of four attribute dimensions: good-bad, harmful-beneficial, pleasant-unpleasant, and likeable-dislikeable This definition is more exhaustive, as it has been used in a large number of previous studies, and thus was used

as an operational definition in this study Positive or negative attitudes are expressed in relation to these four attribute dimensions

2.7 The importance of attitudes in language learning

Numerous studies have suggested that attitude research is a critical component of second language learning pedagogy While discussing the importance of examining learners' attitudes, Gũrsoy (2011) states that positive attitudes toward the target language, learning, and teaching assist students in increasing their motivation, whereas negative attitudes resulting in decreased motivation make this process more difficult Weinburgh (1998) asserted that it is critical to investigate learners‘ attitudes ―because attitudes can influence their behavior when it comes to learning a language, and because attitudes also bear

responsibility for increased motivation As a result, it is critical to investigate the learners‘ attitudes

2.8 Readability formula

Since this research aims to teach college students RC, the difficulty of reading articles

is one of the factors that affect students‘ comprehension levels and should be taken into consideration This difficulty is also called readability, and it can be measured by using the readability formula in more than 40 formulas The Flesch Reading Ease Readability Formula, proposed by Rudolph Flesch, is commonly used by many researchers (Heydari, 2012) The difficulty of any reading passage written in English is calculated as follows: Easy reading score = 206.835 - (1.015 x ASL) - (84.6 x ASW)

In the above formula, ASL stands for Average Sentence Length (i.e., the ASW stands for Average Syllables per Word (the number of syllables divided by the number of words) and the number of words divided by the number of sentences (Heydari, 2012)

The results range from 0 to 100 The higher the value, the easier it is for the reader to understand the text According to Flesch (1948), the value of reading ease can be interpreted as in Table 2.1

Table 2.1 Description and estimated reading grade for Flesch Reading Ease Score

(Flesch, 1948)

30-50 Difficult 13th – 16th grade (college)

50-60 Fairly difficult 10th - 12th grade (high school)

Though the books are carefully chosen by the department, they are based on the authentic format of the TOEIC tests, so they include both short passages from questions 147 to 175 and long passages from questions 176 to 200 That is why the researcher needs to apply this reading formula to choose an adequate passage in the teaching and learning PS process as well as on the tests Thanks to the development of Microsoft Word Office, the calculation of readability levels has become easier and simpler Now researchers can calculate the readability of reading paragraphs and check grammar and spelling at the same time

2.9 Previous studies on the use of paraphrasing strategy and Gaps

Due to the importance of RC and subsequent to some research on the effects of the PS on

RC, innumerable researchers started to be concerned about some of the various related facets of the PS There have been many related studies on the use of PS for students' RC For example, Hagaman and Reid (2008) find that ―RAP‖ PS is a significant and effective way for secondary school students in the midwestern state to increase their RC This finding comes from their study on RC strategies Then, sixth-grade children are trained in

a PS called ―RAP,‖ which is related to the self-regulatory model by Hagaman et al (2010) Following the study, it was found that students' RC skills for expository texts had gotten a lot better because of the practice

According to Karbalei and Amoli (2011), there is no relationship between gender and RC performance, and the paraphrasing strategy is helpful in enhancing the RC of Indian ESL college students The effectiveness of the PS is determined by the pupils' RC pre-test and post-test scores The research population of 63 English majors from three Indian colleges was chosen for the research

As Pakzadian and Rasekh (2012) point out, reading is the most frequently mentioned subject that students with learning disabilities fail Effective teachers will use certain strategies used by effective readers to help their students develop RC naturally Some researchers believe that using paraphrase as a reading strategy will be an effective

strategy to help students understand the content they read in reading activities Many good readers have used the PS found in Kletzien (2009) Moreover, under the PS, readers must read the text carefully, understand the text in-depth, and then convert the author‘s information into the reader‘s own words without changing the meaning Once students have mastered the interpretation strategy, they can enhance the reader‘s understanding of the text materials and improve their memory of the main ideas and details of the article Students can become active readers and understand all the content they read through PS Hagaman et al (2012) carried out research to see how the PS affects RC Six third-grade kids classified as fluent readers who struggled with comprehension in a midwestern state took part in the study When they use the PS, they find that it improves RC, as shown by text recall percentage and short-answer questions

Permadi (2013) investigates the efficacy of PS as a method of teaching reading procedure texts The research method is experimental, the instruments are multiple-choice pre and post-tests, and the data is analyzed using the t-test The population is made up of 36 grade twelve pupils, which sets it apart from the current study

According to Rochimah (2014), using a PS has a significant beneficial impact on students' RC In addition, the author utilizes a pre and post-test as the study's instrument The population of this study is 8th-grade pupils at Nurul Huda junior high school

Rinjani et al (2014) discover that training students to RAPQ (read, ask, paraphrase, and question) increases their RC For random probability sampling, the researcher uses a one-group pre-test and post-test design There are 40 multiple-choice items in the research tests The research sample consists of 30 second-grade pupils from the elementary level Hagaman et al (2016) conducted qualitative research to show that the TRAP (think, read, ask, and paraphrase) increases RC This study uses responses to short-answer questions to evaluate RC The number of participants is quite small, with only seven middle school

Hagaman and Casey (2017) discuss how to teach a PS in content area texts using the regulated strategy development paradigm to help students who struggle with comprehension build RC abilities They find that the PS has positive effects on RC and that it also matches well with the Common Core State Standards

self-According to Hans (2017), using a PS in the classroom can help students improve their

RC and writing skills It is easy for students to get all of the information from the original source when they use PS As a result, their RC and writing skills get better

İlter (2017) explores the effect of ―RAP,‖ a paraphrasing cognitive strategy training course associated with a self-regulatory paradigm, on increasing RC in children with a frustrating reading level The children's text recall and RC abilities have improved significantly The sample size is 21 fourth-graders, and the instrument used is a 30-item cloze test, which is not the case in this study

Suwana et al (2018) undertake two-cycle action research in order to improve students'

RC by using the R.A.P PS They gather data using instruments such as diaries, questionnaires, and tests and then evaluate the findings quantitatively and qualitatively According to the findings of the study, students' RC has increased considerably, and they have positive attitudes regarding using the R.A.P PS in their RC activities The research differs from this one in that it uses a two-cycle action research method, a diary instrument, and a qualitative analysis

There is a study to show how paraphrasing as a strategy can be combined with a translingual approach to instruct a group of first-year multilingual medical students explicitly on how to read and comprehend texts (Hungwe, 2019) The study discusses how paraphrasing may be used to help multilingual students comprehend texts via translanguaging Teachers can teach students how to utilize metacognitive methods like translanguaging and paraphrasing to help them improve their RC It also makes use of translanguaging in the study as a supplement to the use of paraphrases as an RC method

Stevens et al (2020) explore the impacts of PS on RC in fourth and fifth-grade children with reading difficulties The number of samples is 62 individuals, and the treatment is given to them at random A lot of people in the intervention group have a big, statistically positive effect on RC

According to Nirwana (2020), PS significantly enhances students' RC, and they are very interested in using PS in studying RC The quasi-experimental method is used in the study, and the instruments are tests and questionnaires There are 60 second-grade students at Mts Ummul Mukminin Makassar

In their study, Washburn et al (2021) find that applying the PS (TRAP strategy) to independent performance results in higher percentages of text recall and more accurate

RC short-answer questions The intervention is carried out in pairs by the classroom instructor, and students are put in pairs based on their independent word recognition levels The proportion of text recalled and the number of correct explicit and implicit comprehension questions were used to assess RC They teach striving fourth-grade learners the paraphrasing method (TRAP strategy)

Arizena and Mayasari (2021) investigate EFL students' paraphrasing abilities using a qualitative approach and schema theory with the purpose of determining EFL students'

RC levels The participants of the research are 11 English Education 2019 pupils The findings reveal that 68.45% of the participants are already familiar with paraphrasing, which allows them to solve the RC tests better Furthermore, every single participant believes that paraphrasing will enhance their RC The study has a small sample size and employs a qualitative approach

Sudarmawan (2021) claims that the (RAP) PS helps learners enhance their performance

of the main ideas and details of specific texts, offers many benefits for students in reading activities, and helps students understand texts as well as their RC After doing qualitative library research, the researcher found that the PS is the best tool for teachers to use in the

Different from other research, several experiments have applied the PS to different kinds

of populations, including young learners and those with reading disabilities Though there have been positive results from investigations into whose populations‘ first language is English and who do not face the obstacles that the L2 students‘ populations do, there is still a gap to be filled

As a result, there has been a considerable amount of past research on the use of the PS to improve RC These studies concentrate on various countries, ages, or levels of participants, such as high school freshmen with learning disabilities, primary-school students at frustration-level reading, or undergraduate English majors‘ Indian students, etc Karbalei and Amoli (2011), and Rochimah (2014) investigate the effect of PS on the

RC of ESL students Hagaman et al (2016), Hagaman et al (2012), and İlter (2017) all employ short-answer questions in RC tests to ensure data quality Hagaman et al (2016), Suwana et al (2018), Sudarmawan (2021), and Arizena and Mayasari (2021) use a qualitative research design to determine the efficacy of PS on students' RC All of the studies and findings are positive, indicating that students' RC has increased significantly

as a result of using PS However, the participants in this study are from Vietnam (EFL students), most notably first-year non-English major students Additionally, RC tests consist of multiple-choice questions that are based on the official course books and the format of the students' final exams The PS does not seem to have an effect on students'

RC in this case, which led the researcher to do this study

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter explains how the methodology is used to solve the main research question:

―What are the effects of the paraphrasing strategy (PS) on the RC (RC) of non-English major students at a university in HCMC?‖ which is divided into two subsidiary questions:

1 Is there a substantial difference in the RC test results of non-English major students who received PS versus those who did not receive PS treatment?

2 What are students‘ attitudes towards their use of PS in the classroom?

In this chapter, the methodology of research is explained in great detail This includes the research design, the location of the study, the participants, the research tools, the data-gathering process, and the ways to analyze the data

3.1 Research design

After consideration, the researcher finds that experimental research is one of the most powerful and suitable research methods that she can use in this research, so the researcher decides to implement this research as experimental research Among the various types of research that may be used in this study, the researcher chooses the current experiment because it is the best way to establish causal relationships between variables Experiments are scientific studies in which one or more independent variables are manipulated by the researchers The experiment not only controls all relevant variables but also observes the influence of the operation on the dependent variables This study uses a quasi-experimental research approach The focus of this study is non-English major freshmen at Ho Chi Minh City's University of Information Technology (UIT) The total number of students is 46 Students are in two classes, which the researcher is assigned by the head department The researcher randomly chooses one class as an experimental group while the other class is a control group The subjects (two groups) are

determined by convenience sampling Certain therapies are given to the experimental group but not to the control group Each group has a total of 23 individuals

As the study tried to find out the effects of teachers' using paraphrasing strategy in the classroom, the study adopted a quasi-experimental design, in which the experimental group received the PS in the RC classes while the control group did not In other words, the experiment involves changing the independent variable (students‘ reading comprehension) and observing its impact on the dependent variable (reading strategy) (Cohen et al., 2017) For the second research question, questionnaires could best help the researcher understand students' views on teachers' use of the PS in class

3.2 Context of the study

The research was conducted at the UIT English Center, which belongs to the University

of Information Technology (UIT) and is located in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City The sampling strategy used in this study is convenience sampling because the researcher has been working at the university for three years and can easily access the participants

In reality, the RC texts for university students are far longer and more sophisticated than the ones they read in high school Undoubtedly, given the nature of a foreign language,

RC texts are much more challenging for students owing to the excessive variety of specialized and academic terminology This study connects to UIT students‘ reality Due

to a lack of reading skills, students who start college could have a lot of problems with

RC

3.3 Participants

All non-English major students must take TOEIC preparation courses to get 500 TOEIC points for their graduation Before the start of the first year, all freshmen have to take a placement test so that they can be assigned to classes based on their language ability The university‘s entry requirement for freshmen is that they must score at least 300 points

on the TOEIC placement test People who cannot meet this requirement are assigned to

two lower-level classes, namely Basic English 1 and Basic English 2 As shown in Table 3.1, the six classes are divided into three levels by English proficiency levels in the university

Table 3.1 Levels of English classes based on students' placement test scores

During the 12-week semester, students take five out of a total of 60 periods per week All students in the first four classes (from Basic English 1 to TOEIC 3) have to use two textbooks One is Straightforward from Beginner to Advance (Roin Norris & Amanda Jeffries Macmillan), which helps them strengthen their general English knowledge, and the other is the TOEIC preparation book, which lays the foundation for them to take the

TOEIC test At the same time, intermediate students go through a very intense preparation program that focuses on practicing and taking some simulated TOEIC tests Among the six levels, the researcher decides to choose students of TOEIC 3, who get the average placement test score of 400, for three reasons First of all, they are freshmen, especially non-English major students, so they have not been trained through any skillful techniques or methods in reading in advance Therefore, they will not be affected by any other methods of RC Secondly, among university students, their level is somewhere between those with poor English (i.e., elementary and intermediate preparatory students) and those who have acquired a certain level of English proficiency (i.e., TOEIC Levels 2,

3, and 4) In other words, in the case of this study, students with lower abilities cannot be placed in an experimental group taught with the PS ENG04 students are also eliminated because their English knowledge and skills are very good They may find that when they enter the experimental group, the PS does not help them much in their RC study Finally, the researcher finds out that TOEIC level 3 students start to get and practice real TOEIC tests during the course

After consulting with the director of the UIT English Center about the requirements of the participants, the researcher is assigned to teach in two 23-student classes, namely ENG03.L12 and ENG03.L18 However, some students in the original class were transferred to other classes at the beginning of the semester, bringing the total number of students in the ENG03.L12 class to 25 During the entire research process, two participants in the class are rejected due to incomplete participation Therefore, there are

46 participants in the study, 23 in the former and 23 in the latter as well Class ENG03.L12 is the control group; the teacher does not use any strategy, and class ENG03.L18 is the experimental group, which is taught with the PS

The homogeneity of the participants can be ensured because they are sorted earlier in the placement test conducted by the university In addition, before the start of the study, they are all invited to participate in the pre-test so that they are truly homogenized The calculations are done with SPSS software Furthermore, both classes study English in

periods 1-3 (i.e., from 7:30 a.m to 9:45 a.m.), implying that they share the same mentality and body

Table 3.2 lists general information about the study participants and the participants'

gender

Frequency Percentage Frequency Percentage Experimental group (Class

3.4 Procedures for teaching the paraphrasing strategy

The PS used in this study was developed by Schumaker et al (1984), and Hagaman et al (2016) There are five stages in the procedure of teaching the PS

3.4.1 Develop and active knowledge

The first stage is the development of background knowledge Participants are introduced

to PS, which includes three steps: reading the text; asking yourself what the primary idea

is, and what the supporting details are; and putting the information into your own words Students are reminded that the PS helps them remember and understand what they are reading The importance of using the PS in RC is discussed After introducing the PS, the

good readers do while reading After reviewing the strategy, the teacher gives the students a short paragraph to read aloud Students are required to find the main ideas and details in the paragraph When students determine each element, the researcher asks for their answers and writes them in the appropriate part of the corresponding worksheet, which is shown on the board The researcher models how to write on the worksheet for students The worksheet asks students to figure out what the paragraph is about and what other information is in it After that, students are required to read another short passage, determine the main ideas and details, and then answer the below questions After completing the two paragraphs, the researcher introduces the transfer Students are asked

to think about where they can use PS Finally, the students review the PS, and they are reminded of a quiz at the beginning of the following lessons

3.4.2 Discuss the paraphrasing strategy

In the second stage, the students discuss the PS, and they continue to pay attention to the use of the PS and the importance of using strategies At the beginning of the course, students practice looking for the main ideas and details to test whether they are used to applying PS in RC This time, it will take longer to practice RC The students are then shown graphs of their previous performance collected during the baseline period The students are asked to discuss how to improve their performance After discussing the previous performance, the students are asked to set a goal for the next performance The researcher discusses the importance of goal setting with each student Students and the researcher set a realistic goal that is directly related to their current performance The students are told that they would record their future performance on a chart and use self-monitoring to move towards their own goals When the students reach their goal, the researcher will set a new goal with them The students are also asked whether they have transferred or used the PS since the last lesson

3.4.3 Model the paraphrasing strategy

In the third stage, the researcher clearly simulates the process of using PS through direction and self-dialogue Before starting, the researcher emphasizes that the purpose of reading is to ―understand.‖ Students must have a deep understanding of why they use PS and how PS can help them in RC To provide this information, good modeling lets students see the thoughts of good readers while using the PS The researcher uses PS to read an anthology consisting of four paragraphs In this process, the researcher demonstrates the use of PS while expressing her thought process in verbal form, and students are helped as soon as they need it Modeling helps students understand that using

self-PS is not a passive process, but needs positive thinking and hard work

3.4.4 Support the paraphrasing strategy

In this next stage, there is cooperation between students and researchers The researcher and students read the anthology together and used PS on each paragraph This stage is controlled by students, so the researcher only provides support whenever students need it The students determine the main ideas and details of each paragraph Students can choose

to reiterate the main ideas and details verbally or write them down on draft paper After reading the choices, students are asked to reflect on how PS helped them understand what they were reading After completing an essay, students are asked to answer all the following questions: Then, the student compares his or her current performance with his

or her current performance

3.4.5 Independent performance

In the final stage, students have their own independent performances, and they can successfully and independently identify the main ideas and details of each paragraph without the help of the researcher At this stage, students independently use PS to answer all their RC questions

3.5 Procedures for teaching the paraphrasing strategy in the experimental class

In the first stage, the researcher shows students a short paraphrase on the board and asks them to read it aloud After that, students are asked to identify the main idea and two details When students determine each element, the researcher writes their findings on the corresponding worksheet on the board The worksheet requires students to determine the topic of the paragraph and the additional information contained within The researcher introduces students to the PS, which consists of three steps: reading the text; determining the primary idea and supporting details; and rephrasing the information After introducing the PS, the researcher emphasizes how it can assist students in remembering all of the activities that effective readers engage in while reading Following that, students must read another brief passage, identify the main ideas and details, and then respond to the following questions The researcher introduces the transfer after concluding the two paragraphs Students are asked to consider possible applications for PS

In the second stage, the researcher helps students activate goal setting The students are shown graphs of their previous performance during the baseline period The students are asked to discuss their previous performance in pairs and then answer the question ―How can you improve your performance by using the paraphrasing strategy?‖ After that, they set a goal for their upcoming performance The researcher and the students establish a reasonable goal that is directly related to their current performance Students are instructed to keep track of their future performance on a chart and to use self-monitoring

to progress toward their personal goals When the students achieve their objective, the researcher will work with them to establish a new objective Additionally, students are asked if they have transferred or used the PS since the previous lesson The researcher encourages students to develop a plan to make sure they follow each step of the strategy

In the third stage, the researcher simulates the process of using PS through the aloud method With this method, subjects are asked to state aloud everything they think

think-or experience while perfthink-orming a task, which provides direct evidence about otherwise