Luận văn an investigation into some common errors in using auxiliary verbs made by first year students at the faculty of information technology thai nguyen university

University of Languages and international studies faculty of Post-graduate Studies KIEU THI VAN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH THE USE OF GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS AT MIL

University of Languages and international studies

faculty of Post-graduate Studies

KIEU THI VAN

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH

THE USE OF GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS AT MILITARY MEDICAL

UNIVERSITY: AN ACTION RESEARCH

(Nâng cao kỹ năng đoc hiều của sinh viên bằng phương pháp sư dung công cu

bảng biều tại Học Viện Quân Y — Nghiên cứu hành động)

MA MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Hanoi, 2011

Vietnam national university, Hanoi

University of Languages and international studies

faculty of Post-graduate Studies

KIỂU THỊ VÂN

IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH THE USE OF GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS AT MILITARY MEDICAL

UNIVERSITY: AN ACTION RESEARCH

(Nâng cao kỹ năng đoc hiều của sinh viên bằng phương pháp sư dung công cu

bảng biều tại Học Viện Quân Y — Nghiên cứu hành động)

MA MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

5 Scope of the Study

6 Significance of the sludy

1 1 What is action researeh2

1 2 Why does a teacher need action research?

1 3 How does a teacher perform action research ina language classroom?

1.2 3.2 Bottom — up and Top-down processing "5 8

1.2.5 2 Communicative Language Teaching Approach 11

1.3.1 Definition of Graphic Organizers ssssesustistsnieeetseesenstmsneeneie bd

1 3.3 Types of graphic organizers canployed in the 2 resvarelt 15

2.2.1, PRE —IMPROVEMENT STAGE cesersrerererrereee TẾ

2.2 1 1 Conducting a survey to getinformation Bom students .18 2.2 1 2 Employing reading pre-test to evaluate studefs" rending lzvels .18

3.2.1 3 Reading professional books and jpurnals for iđeas or suggestions 19 2.2 1.3 1 Tnglish language learners (BLL) 19 2.2 1.3 2 Factors Influencing Comprehension 20

2.2.2.1 Using a mind map sseesisssescusansseseeseestmssenesietieenssei 20

2.2.2 4 Using Venn địagram «án eeerrirreerrrararae 2Ï

2.2 3 1 ng Fina† Questionnaire lo collect dala 2 2.2.3, 2, Bmnploying rzading post — test lo cvaluate students’ reading levels 23

vi

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 24

3 1 Results of Student Questionnaire ¬

3 1.1 The results of the Inttial Student QuasiioImaire « 2 24

3.1.2 The results of the Final Student Questionnaire 2B

4 1 Summary and diycussion oÍ the main [indings so +5 34:

4 2, Implications for more cffective reading lessons

PART C: CONCLUSI

1 Conclusio

2, Limitations of the Study

3 Suggestions for further Research

vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

DRA Developmental Reading Assessment

EM: English in Medicine

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

MMU: Military Medical Universily

L: Level

SLP: Sample Lesson Plat

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Initial Questionnaire: Question 1 results

Question 2 results Question 3 results Question 4 results Question 5 results Figure 6:Inilial questionmaire: Question 6 results

Figure 5:Initial questionnair

Figure 7:Initial questionnaire: Question 7 resulls Figure 8:Final questionnaire: Question 1 results Figure 9:Final questionnaire: Question 2 results Figure 10:Final questionnaire: Question 3 results Figure 11:Einal questionnaire: Question 4 results Figure 12:14inal questionnaire: Question 5 results Kigure 13:Kinal questionnaire: Question 6 results Figure 14:Einal questionnaire: Question 7 results

als

Figure 15: Reading Carprehension Le

LIST OF TABLES

‘Table 1: Initial Student DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) scores

‘Table 2: inal Student DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) scores

In teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Viet Nam, reading seems

to be the most important and useful activity in any language class, especially for the students of English as a foreign language Of the four language skills, reading has always received a great deal of attention, which is emphasized by Carrell (1981: pl) that “Kor many students, reading is by far the most important of the four macro skills in a second

leaching

Reading comprehension is crucial to a student’s success at school and further to

becoming to a lifelong learner However, many students at Military Medical Academy

are struggling with reading comprehension They find it diffioult to catch the main ideas

of the text, to distinguish facts and details, and to retain information longer Basically, they are at literal reading comprehension level ‘Therefore they often fail to catch the author’s thought

rom this fact, as a teacher of nglish, the author herself thinks that it is essential to find something new to improve her students’ reading comprehension level so thai they cam improve their reading comprehension As a tesull, dhe author decided ter earry oul the entitled study: “Improving students’ reading comprehension through the use of

graphic organizers” The purpose of the study is to find out if graphic organizers can

help students read more eff-ctively

‘The author of this research chose to cary out the action research to find out how mmch graphic organizers affected the students’ reading comprehension Based on the results of this action research, some changes and improvement were applied in the author's lessons, and some appropriate strategies needed to be designed with the hope

thal the students would work more effectively in a reading lesson

3 Methods of the study

This action rescareh study uscd qualitative and quantitative rescarch methods The

sed 10

goal of this study

cuhance students’ comprehension skills would have a positive affect on the ability of students to make sense of what they read

Students would be able to build their comprehension skills of written material because of the exposure to and practice of the graphic organizers strategy, Using these

is Lo delermine whether the examined techniques and strategi:

strategies conid be flexible in helping them to gather an understanding of any genre of Lexl for any comprehension skill

For this action rescarch project the author used two kinds of data colicction instruments to gather information about the students involved, monitor the progress of the students when they applied the strategies throughout the research, and determine the

effectiveness of the strategies based on the pre-tests and post-tests

DRA jis an assessment in which the students are given a passage to read and answer comprehension questions based on the reading Comprehension is the most important thing tested during this assessment ‘This test was used to get a baseline comprehension score for the students

‘The pro-lesls wore necessary to assess the tailing comprehension level and skills

the students possessed before the intcrvention of the strategy and uscd as a bascline score

were used lo determing the cffectiven:

students during the rescarch process by comparing the pro-test scores to the ones taken at the end of the six practice reading lessons

“The questionnaire was a useful way of gaining insight on the feelings the students have toward reading before exposure to the reading strategies and how those feelings were altered if any after exposure to the strategies

Each of these tools was extremely usefill in determining the effectiveness of ths strategies being exarnined in {his esearch project

4 Research procedure

This action rescarch consists of three min slages: Pre — improvernca stage, Try —

out stage and Post — improvement stage

Stage 1: Pre - improvement

Step 1: Tde

improve by:

tify he problem which was desired Lo solve or an arca which was wished Lo

- Condueting a survey to get information from students

~ Initial Questionnaire

— Pretest DRA assessment

‘Step 2: Finding causes of the problem by:

Reading protissional books/ journals for ideas and suggestions

— English language learners (ELL)

Factors Influencing Comprehension

Stage 2: Trying— out stage

Step 3: Designing strategies for improvements (plan for action}

Slep 4: Trying — onl Ihe stralogios (action) and making records of whal happened in class

Stage 3: Post — improvement

Step 5; Evaluating the try out by

Carrying out a survey to get information from the students

— Final Questionnaire Results

— Final Student DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) levels

5 Scope of the study

This study was carried out with stxteen 43th grade students at Military Medical

University in Himoi The rescarch focuses on how graphic organivcrs affect those students? reading, comprchonsion in ESP reading lessons

6 Significance of the study

Many factors influence students’ abilities to answer comprchension questions including poor decoding skills, an undeveloped vocabulary, and the inability to make a connection with prior knowledge When teachers only focus on building students’ decoding and fluency skills, they are contributing to students’ comprehension problems In order to support students to gain the necessary skills to make them successful readers, they must develop good vocabulary skills and use their prior background knowledge (Albers & Foil,

2003, p 22) The unfortunats reality is thal those studonls whe have difficulty comprehending text are offen lacking the knowledge of reading comprehension strategies

thal could aid thom in doing so, Using reading stralogics as a contral part of the author's

instruction can make a profound difference in the comprehension skills that studas

s gain fiom their time in the classcoom Knowing what strategies are most beneficial to the students

cam help loachors immensely As a (oacher, Iho author corlainly wants to maks the most of the time she has with students in the classroom Being able to pinpoint the most effective ways lo reach students and to assist them in comprehending and relaining (he information will allow rescareher more time to conccntzate on making those stratcgics work and thus,

improve teacher’s instructional practices

“The results of this study would possibly assist other teachers and educators in knowing how the strategies used in this research project may affect their students’ reading comprehension skills Based on findings of the study, these strategies could be extremely beneficial to classroom instruction

7 Design of the study

‘The research consists of thres main parts: Intradnetion, Development and Conclusion Part Az Tntroduction prosonts the rationale, tho roscarch qneslions, the mothad of study, the rescarch procedure, the scope of the study, the significance of the study and the design of the study

Part B: Development ln this part, four chapters are presented

Chapter I deals with an exploration of the theoretical background of the research It is concemed with the issues relevant to the topic of the research: reading and reading comprehension, an overview of Linglish for Specific Purpose and Lnglish in Electronics, approaches and techniques to teach reading HE

Chapter 2 is the methodology This chapter presents the background information of the subjects of the study, the insirument used lo collect the data, the procedure of data collection and the procedure of data analysis

Chapter 3 is simned ul describing data analysis in dolail and a thorough discussion of the findings of the study Some cxplanations and interpretations of the findings arc also presented in this chapter

Chapter 4 gives the summary of the findings and some implications which are proposed for teachers teaching EM reading in particular and ESP reading in general

Part €: Conclusion presents briefly the answers to the research questions, the

limitations and some recommendations for firther research are also explored

‘The appondives lic at the ond of the stuty, following the References

œ

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW

1 1 ACTION RESEARCH

1 1 1 What is action research?

As stated by Grebhard (1999), the concept of action research emerged fiom the work

of Lewin (1948, 1952) He was a social psychologist who brought together experimental approaches to social — science research and the idea of “social action” to address social

i Corey (1952, 1953), a Columbia University Professor, was among the first to employ

“At one level, action research is about teachers identifying and posing problems, as well as addressing issues and concems related to the problem It is about working toward understanding and possibly resolving these probleme by setting goals and creating, initiating a plan of actions, as well

as, reflecting, on the degree ta which the plan work Ar another lovel, it can be about addressing educational practices that go beyond cach teacher's classroom”

Also, Wisker stated that “aclion research is tesearch thal we carry oul with our students

iu order Lo try out an idea or an imovation, tsst a hypothesis aboul their loning and lo sec what would happen if ."(p 156)

In short, action research is a sort of scientific study which is often conducted by a teacher or an educator in order to work out the difficulties which are associated to all actions and activities in a classroom, The problems which are resolved by action research are often empirical and helpful

1 1 2 Why does a teacher need action resear

As stated by Mettetal, “classroom action research is research designed to help a teacher

find ont what is happsning in and his or her classroom, and to use that information to make

wise decisions for the fuluro” (2001, p 7} Action resoarch at schools collages ar universities work out every day realistic problems experienced by teachers, rather than the “theoretical problans” defined by non — Icaching rescarchers

Action rescarch in education focuscs on the three related stages of action:

1, Initiating action, such as, adopting a text, choosing an alternative assessment

1 1 3 How docs.a teacher perform action rescarch in a language classroom?

Tsui (1993) has proposed 5 steps in carrying out action research:

Stepl: Identifying problems you desire to solve or an area you wish to enhance by:

- Running a survey to hear from your students

- Reviewing an audio — or a video — taped Jesson and the transcription of a segment of the lesson that illustrates the problem

Slop 2; Finding causes of the problems by

- consulting with your collcagucs, trainers

- reading professional books! journals (or ideas and suggestions

Step 3; Designing stratcgics for improvement (plan for action) and writing a proposak for action research

Step 4: 1rying out the strategies (action) and keeping a diary of what happened in the class Step 5; Evaluating the try out by:

- reviewing a lesson that illustrated the changes that have been made

- reflecting on the reasons for those changes

- carrying ont a survey Lo gat information frem students

1.1 3, Summary

Action rescarch is a sort of scientific sludy conducted by Icachers which solve the

realistic difficultics in a classroom The teachers necd action rescarch to adapt theory to

practice Action research ean be carried out in collaboration with other teachers or educators

“4

and il needs the supports froin both students and oducalion administrators, Tis results should

‘be popularized and shared with anybody who is interested in,

1.2 READING

1 2 L What is Reading?

Reading is known as an interactive process that connected the reader with the text, making comprehension ‘Ihe text displays letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that express meaning, The reader manipulates knowledge, skills, and strategies to decide what that meaning is, Up to now reading has been described diffzrently by lots of academics

Goodman (1971, p.135) declared that “teading is a psycholinguistics process by which the Teader, language usor, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has heen encoded

by a writer as a graphic display” Trom his point of view, readers not only gain knowledge or skills of how (o read the text, to bellor grammatical structures but also teakize tho content expressed in the text

According to William, (1990, p.2) “reading is a process whereby onz looks at and understands what has been written”, In his opinion, in the reading process, thare are two activities taking place at the same time: looking and understanding, Therefore, readers have

to “encode” meanings of a word decided by the context in which if is shown,

Also, iarmer (1989, p.153) shares his ideas “reading is an exercise dominated by the

eyes and the brain ‘The eyes receive messages and the brain then has to work out the significance of these messages”

Honea, clearly, ideas of reading have boor diverse in exploiting words and oxprossions but they all focus on two actions: studying with cyss and comprehending with brains of which the laticr is mora significant The most obvious thing in the taiter is that the tendors not only look at and understand the meaning of what is written but also read authors’ thinking

1 2 2, What is Reading Comprehension?

Grellet (1981: p 3) has considered reading comprehension or “understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as efficienity as possible” Swan (1975:1) also shared “a student is good at comprehension” if “he can read accurately and elficiontty, so as iv got the maximum information of a text wilh the maximum af understanding” In the same view Richard and Thomas (1987: p 9) have pointed ont

“reading comprehension is best described as an undorslarcling between the aulhar and the reader”, Though these opinions arc not exactly the samc, they all show that reading

comprahonsion is he process in which the readers, as they road, can rocognive Ihe graphic forms of the reading text and understand what is implicd bchind these forms

In brief, reading becomes meaningless withoul comprehension since only reading comprehension can appreciate how mach readers get the text Therefore, how to aid students

in having efficient reading comprehension methods is considered to be the most powerful task in teaching reading,

1, 2, 3, Reading Comprehension Process

‘The nature of reading comprehension process — how people lear to process textual information — has been researched by cognitive and behavioral scientists for many decades

So far reading has somnotimes bec charactorizad as “passive” or “Teoeplive™

1 2 3.1 The Schema Theory

Accoriling to Nunan (1999, p.201), “schema theory is hascd on the notion hát

situational context and the cnes provided by the author fo interpret the text How much he

can understand @ text depends on whether his schemata are sufficiently similar to the writer's That is why many arguments suggest that the concepts which a reader brings to the text are actually more important than the text itself for comprehension Therefore, the more experiences of the warkl we have, the betlor we car intsrprel lexts, A reader who is Tỉnh in background knowledge will comprehend the text more than another whose schemata arc poorer Inaddilion, the sohernala enable the reader to predict bout what she mighl gol from

a ccitain context

To sum up, it is essential for teachers to recognize that the schemata are the basis for comprehending, Therefore, in order to comprehend texts in Standard English foreign language students need to develop new schemata of language, text and interpretation, as well

as schemata of alternative cultural practices and values

curs when readers got the meaning of a text through

recognizing Ictters and words, working out sentence structures and then interpreting

paragraphs and the whole text According to this view, reading is a linear process by which

and then sentences

readers decode the text word by word, linking the words into phras

When first reading makes readers confused or they are not really sure of what waiters intended, understanding the mcaning ø senlete ean have on ils own wilt help readers fully grasp what writers conveyed

Inthe top down processing, reading is not just extracting meaning tiom a text but a process of connecting information in the text with the knowledge readers bring to the act of reading Reading, in this sense, is a dialogue between the reader and the text It is seen as an active cognitive process in which readers” background knowledge plays a key role in the creation of meaning (Tiemey & Pearson, 1994) This is called knowledge-based or convoplually driven information proc

to interactive processing

1 2, 3 3, Interactive Processing

It is known that no single method is the best A sucoessfidl reader should combine top — down and bottam — up processing, which is called interactive reading:

“In practice, a reader continually shifts from one focus to another, now adopting a top

— down approach to predict probable meaning, then moving to the bottom —up approach to check whether thai is really what the writer says” (Nuttal, 1996, p 17)

According to Hayes (1996, p.7), “in interactive models, different processes arc thought

s The

lo be responsible for providing information that is share with other pros

information obtained ftom cach type of processing is combined to determine the most

approptiate interpretation of the printed paz:

In short, the popularity of interactive processes shows that interactive processing can

maximize the strengths and minimizes the weaknesses of the bottom up and top down processing

1.2.4 An Overview of ESP:

4.2.4 4, Whatis ESP?

ESP originates ftom a famous saying “Tell me what you need English for and I will dll you the Bnglish that you necd”, So far, FSP has boon defined differently by different authors According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.19), ESP is “an approach to language

casc of the gencral category of special — purpose language teachin

However, all the above authors have the same opinions about the ESP’s features

1) It is parposefil and aimed at the successful performance of occupational or educational rotes by an individual or a group

2) It is based on an analysis of the students’ needs and is tailor-made to meet these needs

1.2.42 English in Medicine

Traditionally, ESP can be classified into two major groups: English for Academic

Purposes (ZAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (KOP) English for Academic

Science belongs to EAP and Linglish in Medicine is one of the branches of linglish for Academic Science Therefore, HM has the following characteristics:

1) designed to meet specified needs of the learner in the field of Medicine;

2) related in content (that is in its themes and topics) to aueiticine disciptines, occupations and activities,

3) centered on language approprisic fo Medicine activities in syntax, lexis discourse, scmantics and so on, and analysis of the discourse;

7.2 5 Approaches te teach Reading

In fact, there are quite a lot of approaches of teaching general English reading in general and ESP reading in particular However, in this study, I would like to mention about two approaches which are most commonly used in teaching ESP reading: Grammar — Translation approach and Communicative Language Teaching approach

+1 2 5 1 Grammar — Transtation Approach

‘The Grammar Translation Approach is the oldest approach of teaching in the world A

contrast with those of mother tongue

Advantages:

1 The phrascology of the (angel language is quickly explained Translation is the easiest way of explaining meanings or words and phrases ftom one langnags into another

2 Teachers? labor is saved when they usc (heir mother (ongus in teaching and learners

will not have uch difficulty in responding to questions in the mother tongue

Disadvantages:

traditions and modes of behavior 1s, indeed, a difficult task and exact translation from one

language to another is not always possible

throngh rules and not by use Researchers in linguistics have proved that to speak any language, whether native or foreign, entirely by rule is quite impossible

1.2.5.2, Communicative Language Teaching Approach

Commmmicative Language Teaching (CLT) dated fiom the late 1960s is perhaps the

latest ina long sucezssion of revolutions in language Leaching since il presents a fundamental

“paradigm shift” — a radically new appreach to tcaching-lcarning process (Christina, 1984)

In terms of ESP reading teaching, CLT is most used with two approaches: Content based

teaching and ‘I'ask-based teaching

1, 2 5.2, 1 Content-Based

Brown (2001, p.234) has stated that “content-based language teaching integrates the

learning of some specific subject-matter content with the learning ofa second language”

He has also claimed that the overall structs of a content-based euiculum “is

dictated by nature of the subject matter than by language forms and sequences Tereafter are some advantages and disadvantage of this approach:

Advantages:

1, Language learning is contextualized and purposeful

12

2 The content-based approach molivalos earners’ activensss Lcamnars are foreed to

think and activate their knowledge to guess the terms as well as the whole content of onc

text

Disadvantages:

The content-based approach is difficult to apply especially for learners who are low

in English competence Furthermore, learners who use this approach to read ESP materials have certain knowledge about that specific field

1.2 5, 2, 2, Fask-based approach

According to Brown (2001, p.50), task-based learning “puts task at the center of one’s

methodological focus” Tt vies

directly tinked ta the curricular goals they serve

Tn reading commprehsusion, tusks arc especially important since they will guide the

readers in a correct reading procedure and help them have thorough understanding of rcading

texts

Advantages:

1 Task-based leaming is more studem-centered, allows for more meaningful

communication, and often provides for practical extra-tinguistic skill building

2 Tasks are likely to be familiar to students who are more likely to he engaged, which may farther motivate them in their language learning

Disadvantages:

There have been criticisms that lask-bascl Learning is nol appropriate as the foundation

of a class for beginning students Others claim that studcnts arc only exposed te certain

forms of language and arc being negiceted of others such as discussion or debate

1 2 6 Techniques to teach EM reading

1.2 6.1 In Pre-reading

‘At this important stage, teachers should make sure that students have the relevant

schema for understanding the text This is achieved by having students think, write, and

discuss everything they know about the topic, employing the most common techniques such

as prediction, semantic mapping and reconciled reading

Prediction is defined us “the prior elimination of uriikely aliernalives” (Smith, 1994,

p 19) According to him, predictions are questions readers ask the world and comprehension

is recviving the answers

Previewing occurs when students look at titles, headings, and pictures, and rcad the

first few paragraphs and the last paragraph: these activities can then help students understand

‘This activity asks students to brainstorm about the reading topic as the information is displayed on a graphic “map”

Reconciled reading lesson reverses the sequence presented by many textbooks where the text is followed by questions, Instead, the teacher develops pre-reading questions ftom

the questions that appear al the ond af 1

Furthermore, during reading, readers’ minds repeatedly engage in a variety of Processes, seemingly all at one Lising top-down and bottom-up approachas, readers use pre- reading information to make some predictions about the text Using bottom-up approach, readers start by processing information at the sentence level

1 2 6 3 In Post-reading

This stage offers the chance 10 cvatuale students? adequacy of inlerprslation, whils bearing, in mind that accuracy is relative and that “readership” must be respected as Jong as the wriler’s intentions arz addressed (Tierney & Pearson, 1994)

Postrcading aims at oxtonding the understanding obtained from the pre-reading and while-reading stages into writing tasks, such as sumunarizing, evaluating, synthesizing, commenting and reflecting

By engaging students in pre-, while-, post-reading activities, teachers not only support students’ understanding of content but also provide them with opportunities to hone their comprehension, vocabulary, and study skills without interrupting content learning

1 2 7 Reading Comprehenston Levels

According lo tho Barrsit Taxonomy of Cognitive and Affective Dimensions of

Reading Comprehension, there are five reading comprehension lovels as illustrated below:

Si, classify, regroup, rearrange, assemble, collect, Reorganization (L2) categorize

Literal label, list, nome, recall, repeat, state

Comprehension (1)

Figure 15: Reading Comprehension Levels

1.3 GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS

1.3 1 Definition of graphic organizers

Bromley, Vitis, and Modlo (1995, p.6) defined “A graphic organizer is a visual roprescnlation of knowledge Tis a way of structuring informalion, of arranging impartant aspects ofa concept or Lopi into a pattem using labels”,

Sharing the same ideas, Amin (2004, p.3) claimed thal “A graphic organizer is a visual and graphic display that depicts the rclationships between facts, items, and idcas within a Tearing task”,

Graphic organizers are a great way to improve reading comprehension Basically, these tools are visual versions of outlines They help readers organize information so that it becomes more understandable and more memorable

1, 3 2 Roles of graphic organizers

Tramley, Vitis, and Modia (1995, p.66) has oullined four benefits front using graphic organizers They are

= Improving comprehicnsion skills and stratogivs

- Facilitating the recalling or retelling of literature

- Connecting prior knowledge and new knowledge for students,

- Easing the organization and direction of students writing

Ruffini (2008, p.57) also shared some advantages of using graphic organizers to reading comprehension as:

- Aiding learning by explicitly integrating new and old knowledge + Generating ideas through brainslorining

- Designing a complex strachure

- Communicating and understanding complex relationships

1.3.3 Types of praphic organizers employe in the research

1.3.3.1 Mind maps

A mind map is a kind of graphic organizers, it is a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea, Mind maps are used to gensrate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas, and as an aid to studying and organizing information (seo appendix C)

A Vern diagram is an illustration of the relationships between and among sets, groups

of objects that share something in common Usually, Venn diagrams are used to depict set inlerseelions (see appondix E) This activily will sharpen sludenls” skills for comparison and

contiast betwecn or among things

1.3.3.4 The “5 W's”

Five W's diagrams arc a type of graphic organizer that Ict the studcat think about and list the "Who, When, Where, What, and Why" ofa story or event ina simple visual way (see appendix E) ‘Chis activity will help students understand of what they have read, and they can see the relationship between all the information

1 4 Previous studies

There are some previous studies related to this study such as the study of Kim, Vanglm, Warrck, & Wei, (2004) and the study of Natalic (2001) Both of then dealt with

the use of graphic organizers in reading lessons Kim, Vaughn, Wanzek, & Wei, (2004)

aimed at finding out if whether ar nol graphic organizers would have positive effeels on reading, comprehension of students with lcarning disabilitics, His findings showed that semantic organizers, cognitive maps with a mnemonic and tiamed outlines were all found to

16

bơ hìghly sffbetivo in improving roading comgrchensiom Cogmlive mmps without a mnemonic wore found to be moderately effective, Besides, graphic organizers were cfffcctive rogardless of whether they were implemented hy Icachers or ressarohers Also, students ranging in age ftom clementary to high school all bencfited significantly from using graphic organizers

Natalie (2001) studied of “Ihe effects of Graphic Organizers on the Post-Reading

Comprehension of Students in a Collaborative Team Teaching Setting” The parpose of the study is to find out if the use of a graphic organizer would have an effect on reading comprehension The finding was shown that “S W's” had a positive effect on reading

study.