Luận văn a study on the use of new english file elementary to teach speaking skills to first year students at the military technical academy

Taspired by positive results in studies aboul extensive reading, the researcher created a plan of action in which graded readers were used for extensive reading.. Aim of the study and re

VIETNAM NATIONAT, UNIVERSITY, HANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST —- GRADUATE STUDIES

SAM THI LOAN

A STUDY ON IMPROVING FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS’

VOCABULARY THROUGIL EXTENSIVE READING AT

HANOL UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECIINOLOGY

Nghiên cứu về cải thiện từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thú nhất

thông qua việc đọc mô rộng tại rường Dại học Kinh doanh va

Công nghệ Hà Nột

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2015

'VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL

UNIVERSITY OEF LANGUAGES & LNIERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST — GRADUATE STUDIES

VN Ki MXH RA R KẾ

SAM THI LOAN

A STUDY ON IMPROVING FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS’

VOCABULARY THROUGIL EXTENSIVE READING AT

HANOL UNIVERSITY OF BUSINESS AND TECIINOLOGY

Nghiên cứu về cải thiện từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất

thông qua việc đọc mở rộng tại rường Dại học Kinh doanh và

Công nghệ Hà Nội

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Cede: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Trần Hoài Phương

HANOT - 2015

DECLARATION

T vorlify that the thesis entitled “A shedy on improving first-year students’ vocubulary through extensive reading at Hanvi University of Business and Technology” is my own research requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Tamgnages and International

Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

Signature Sam Thi Loan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Virst ond foremost, 1 would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr ‘Iran Hoài Phương, my supervisor for her encourngement and inspirational review during this process of writing the thesis, Without her precious support and invaluable guidance, this thesis would never have been completed,

Besides, T would like lo thank the authority of Hanoi University of Business and Technology for allowing me to carry out this study and thank my colleagues and all the students in class KT 19-05 for their participation in the study process

Finally, an honorable mention goes to wy families and friends for their assistance and support for me in completing this thesis.

‘be one of the most difficull problems in learning English As a result, the researcher

planned to conduct an extensive reading program as a mean of vocabulary improvement for first-year students at IIUBT The study was carried out in the form

of an avion research sludy on 30 students of class KT 19-05 Before the implementation, a questionnaire was used to collect information from the students

to identify the problem and the causes of the problem The collected data were

analyzcil Lo confirm the assumption thal the lack of vocabulary teally existed, and

the cause of this problem was due to students’ limited reading in class as well as at home

Taspired by positive results in studies aboul extensive reading, the researcher

created a plan of action in which graded readers were used for extensive reading

The action plan was implemented in 10 weeks’ time Then, the data were collecled

from various sources, including questionnaires, a pre-test, a post-test and book reports from students Ihe findings from the study showed that extensive reading

had a positive effect on leamers’ vouabulary acquisition and thal there was a

significant change in the students” attitude towards extensive reading Based on the findings of the study, some discussion and limitations were presented along with

some important pedagogy of implications

Despite the limitations, it is hoped that the study can be used as a reference

as well as a source of useful information for other leachers who wish to ulilize

extensive reading in their class concrete context

iti

LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES

PART I: INTRODUCTION | ceccceceeeiseeseeessnissieeniseneesiies

1 Rationale of the study

2 Aim of the study and research questions 2 scssssstsiennenitensineniee

3 Scope and significance of the Study

4 Method of the Study

PART IL DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTERI: LITERATURE REVIEW

11 Vocabulary sesssssanicinsseinaeictnsenaeicansiaseel cesctaesenneeneneis

1.1.1 The Notions of Vocabulary

1.1.2 The place of voeabulary in forvign language teaching and learning

1.1.3 Approaches tơ Vocsbulary Acguisitlon - e

1.3 Extensive reading

1.2.1, Extensive reading aud Hteusive reading sec

1.2.2 Definitions of extensive reading .sscssieesessneneeneee

1.2.3 The basic principles of extensive reading,

1.2.4 The relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension +

1.3, Reading maienils icooeoeorrorrooree

1.3.1 Authentic materials

1.3.2 Simplified materials

14 Graded readers

1.4.1 What are graded readers?

1.5, Reading a 0uttl .cesesssessestssersiesesntastneeeeneneeeee

CHAPTER2: THE§TUDY ò ri 18 2.1 Research Quasions ii cooeooroiee — -

2/3 Materials cssccssesntesseensenneveees serene setsiaenentsansiet 18 2.4, Ratienale for using actionresearch Ả

2.5.4 Process of action research in this study eo 23

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 36 3.1, Thestodents' vocabulary levels eo 26 3.1.1 Results from leamers’ survey questionnaire - - 36

3.2 Tala collected from the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale 33

3.3 Students’ attitude towards extensive reading

3.3.1 Data eolleeted from the bool: report "—~ `

3.3.2 The students’ overall allitude toward reading materials - 34 3.3.3 The students’ opinions on the level of difficulty of reading material .36

3.3.4 Students’ strategies to deal with new words ¬

3.4 Data collected from attitude questionnaire - - 40 3.5 Discussion of research questious AZ

3.5.2 The reasons for their performance on the vocabulary test 4

3.5.3 Positive effects of extensive reading on leamers’ vocabulary acquisition 43

3.5.4 Learners’ attitude towards extensive reading, 44

3.5.5 Other findings lrom the project - - - 44

PART II: CONCLUSION ecieeereeeee

APPENDIX L: SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE

Appendix 2: PHTEU BIRU TRA KHẢO SÁT

Appendix 3: THE ATTITUDE QUESTIONAIRE

Appendix 4: THE ATTITUDE QUESTIONAIRE

Appendix 5: THE VOCABULARY PRE-TEST

Appendix 6: THE VOCABULARY POST-TEST

Appendix 7: THE POST-TEST (second measure)

Appendix 8: BOOK REPORT

Appendix 9; ‘Ihe list of graded reading stories & articles students read in the project XX Appendix 10: The list of words marked YES, NS or NO in the pretest XXII

Appendix 11: The list of words marked YES, NS or NO in the posttest XXII

vi

LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES Table 1.1: Number of word families at each graded reader level 15 Table 3.1: The students’ self-assessment of their vocabulary knowledge 36 'Table 3.2: Activities through which students leam Linglish vocabulary most 26 Table 3 3: Leamers’ solutions when meeting a new word 27

Table 3.4: Suidents’ opitions on the tame (or reading in class 38

‘Table 3.5: Students’ opinion on the number of readings in their course book

Table 3.6; Students’ habits of reading materials in English oulside classroom 28

‘Table 3.7: Reading, topics chosen by the students

ories oulside class

Table 3.8: Students’ atlilude about being asked lo read s

Table 3.9: The result of YE8-marked words In the pro-tcst eo

‘Table 3.10: The results of YUS-marked words the post-test in terms of 20

xuatorials HH Y Hư HH HH ru be `

vii

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Founded in 1996 with the original name of Hanoi Privale University of

Management and Business, Llanoi University of Business and ‘technology (IUBT)

has grown considerably in recent years and is becaming one of the most prestigious

private universities im Vietnam Al present, the university offers courses in three

educational levels: College, Bachelor and Master with 15 different academic areas

including Business Management, Trading Piusiness, Tourism Business, Finance,

Banking, Accounling, Infonualion Tochnology, and Architecture and so on The university continues to pursue the goal of providing its undergraduate and graduate

students with a praclice-onented educalion Every graduate with an HUBT degree is

expected to master their professional knowledge, be proficient in using computer and especially be able to communicate 1m Linglish in daily life situations as well as

in business environment

In order to meet the above demand, the university management board has put much emphasis on the teaching and learning of English, which is one of the crucial factors

contributing to the success of both students and the university Consequently,

HUBY spends a large volume of time teaching English for students from the first

year to the third year The first-year students are expected to gain A2 level based on

the Common Furopean Framework of Reference (CEFR) after finishing the second

term, before learning ESP (English for Specitic Purposes) and TOEIC (Tost of English for International Communication) For this reason, the first year students are required Lo Tear al least 240 compulsory periods of English in the first and second terms at the university very week, the students have eight periods of

English lessons; each is 45 minutes long The major course book used for students

is Markel leader (Rlomontary— 3 edition by David Collon, David Falvey and

Simon Kent, the 2013 edition) Hach unit of the book includes a wide range of

activities: Vocabulary, Reading, Listening, Language review (Grammar) and Skills,

and Case study (Speaking)

Among these activities, the researcher paid much attention to the Reading section because in a recent conference of the Lnglish Department discussing the course

bouk Market leader Flementary, most of the English teachers teaching this matoriat

agreed that the book is the most authentic and updated Business English materials and it may meet the needs of teaching and learning English at ITUBT to some

extant However, only one or two short reading texis, which are about 100 — 300

words long with 10 15 new words are too few for students to read each week, so the amount of vocabulary the students read is not sufficient for them to become gond readers Therefore, il is necessary to provide students wilh more reading

materials to read, which helps the students not only develop reading habit but also enhance their English vocabulary

Based on the observation and experience [rom teaching English at HUBT, the

xesearcher found that many students have difficulties in expressing their own ideas

‘because of the English vocabulary deficiency even though they had leamt English

for at least three years al high schools prior to going lo the universily Besides, after

discussions with other colleagues as well as learners, it seems that the students’

shorlage of vocabulary was due to the two followmg reasons: firstly, most of the lcamers at HUBT usually have a habit of acquiring new vocabulary from short passages in textbooks or from their teachers during classroom lessons, llowever,

these sources provide learners with only a small amount of vocabulary, which is not

enough for them to read well in English Secondly, students’ vocabulary learning method is not very efficient Leamers only think of vocabulary leaming as knowing

the primary meaning of new words, and they are not aware of ali other functions of

the words ‘[hey only lear the Vietnamese translation of unfamiliar English lexical items in isolation by writing on paper, trying to learn them by heart whereas the

vocabulary is difficult since most of them are business English Tf they do not

develop a habit of learning vocabulary in contexts they may not to know how to use

vocabulary appropriately.

In the process of tying diftcrent vocabulary teaching strategies and techniques, the researcher found that reading is a suitable way for students to enhance their vouabulary As Lougheed (2008: 4) claims “One of the bes ways Lo improve your vocabulary is to read, and read often” The advantage of leaning and enhancing vocabulary through reading is that students can understand word meanings and can use the words in concrete contexts Moreover, the literate shows a positive role of

extensive reading in improving students’ motivation to read and enriching

vocabulary acquisition (lorst, 2005: 356; Soltani: 2011: 61, Morgado, 2009: 31-32,

Pavhakh & Soltani, 2010: 387) In addition, exlensive reading is still the mussing

ingredient in the LFL context of MULT

From this real situation, the idea of applying extensive reading as a mean of

boosting sludents’ vocabulary came to my mind Tt fed me to do this study entitled

“A study on improving first-year students’ vocabulary through extensive reading at

Hanoi University of Business and Technology” This study is expected to help my

students enrich their vocabulary

2 Aim of the study and research questions

The research aims to find oul, whether extensive reading has good effects improving

fust-year students’ vocabulary at HUBT er not as well as the students’ attitudes toward the extensive reading activities Lispecially, it is aimed at answering the

research questions as follows

1 What are students’ vocabulary levels?

2 What are the reasons underlying their performance on the vocabulary test?

3 To what extent can extensive reading enhance students’ vocabulary acquisition?

4 What are the students’ attitudes toward the extensive reading activities in their

program?

3 Scope and significance of the Study

‘The present study was conducted on first-year students who were not specialized in English, After 10 weeks of applying extensive reading, the researcher hoped that the research would help lo ontance the students’ vouabulary knowledge and develop

their positive attitude towards extensive reading If this research is successful, it will significantly contribute to an improvement in teaching and learning English at

HUBT

4 Method of the Study

To find the answers to the above research questions, an action research design has

‘been adopted

- A survey questionnaire was used as an instrument to investigate students’

vooabulary levels and their topics of interest

- An allilude queslionnaire was used to measure Ihe effects of exlensive

reading on learners’ vocabulary acquisition as well as the learners’ attitude towards

this activity

- A vocabulary pretest and a vocabulary postlest wore administered on 30 students to measure the differences in students’ vocabulary acquisition

- Eight book reports were used to monitor students’ reading and examine how

the students liked the stories and articles, and how they dealt with the meanings of

new words Every week, after reading two stories or articles the students were

required Lo complete a book report

5 Design of the Study

‘This study is divided into three main parts iach part deals with differem aspects of the stuly

Part one presents an overview of the study in which the rationale for the research, the aims, the research questions, the scope and significance of the study, the

research method as well as the design of the study are briefly presented

Part two consists of three chapters

Chapter one consists of a literature review in which the writer analyses some

general theories tefated 1o the nmportance of vocabulary and extensive reading

Chapter twe describes the research method, the rationale for the method and data

collection instruments Detailed information about the participants of the study, the

design of questionnaire, the pretest and the posttest and the data collection

procedures are provided

Chapter three presenls siginlicanl findings of the study and discusses the resulls of the study in relation to the research questions

Part three includes some pedagogical implications and some limitations of the

study

PART IE: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Vocabulary

LLL The Notions of Vocabulary

Linguists define vocabulary differently based on different critena The most

general one from Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, (2002: 579) vocabulary is defined as “a set of lexemes, including

single words, compound words and idioms”

Similar to the above notion, Penny (1996: 60) defines vocabulary as “the words

we teach in foreign language However, a new item of vocabulary may be more

than a single word # compound of two or three words or mulliword idioms”

Nevertheless, Lewis (1993: 89) focuses on functions of vocabulary, according to

him vocabulary: “ may be individual words or full sentences — insttutionalized

ullerances — thal convey lixed social or pragmatic meaning within a given

community”,

From these concepts of vocabulary, vocabulary can be understood as the lolal xumber of all the words that a language possesses, inchling single words, twe or three word items expressing a single idea and multi-word idioms

1.1.2 The place of vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning

Vocabulary is the smallest unit, yet the core of any language If we do not have

words, we will not be able to commumicate As Wilkins (1972: 111) states, “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed”

Wilkins also adds that leaming all the structures but no vocabulary expansion

in courses can do no harm in the long term but in most situations, structure and vocabulary are acquired together 1 can be inferred from this that the

necessity and the role of vocabulary is paramount, Sharing this idea, Dellar and Hocking believe that “if you spend most of your time studying grammar, your English will not improve very much, You will see most improvement, if you learn

sore words and expressions You can say very little with grammar, but you can say almost everything with words” (cited in Thornbury, 2002: 13) Richards (1976: 77)

explains the role of vocabulary in terms of the nalure of lexical competence

“knowing a word entails knowledge of the network of associations between that word and other words in language” Flower (2000: 5) claims that “words are the

aost important things you can learn English has the largest vocabulary m the

world, Grammar is important, but vocabulary is much more important.”

Trom the above views, it can be acknowledged that vocabulary leamiing is oritical in language acquisition, The learners musl alla a cerlain level of vocabulary mowledge in order to understand the written and spoken forms of the target language Second language leamers are unable to understand and communicate in

the targel language if hey know nothing about its lexis

11.3 Approaches to Vocabulary Acquisition

Incidental vocabulary acquisition and intentional vocabulary learning

Many Tinguisis have stated their definitions of meidental vocabulary learning According to Nation (2001:134), incidental vocabulary learning is an important stralsgy in vocabulary leaming Tt refers to the learning which occurs withoul specific intention to focus on vocabulary One can develop vocabulary knowledge subconsciously while being engaged in any language activities, especially reading

Nation (2001, 232) claims meidental leaning is a by-product of learning something,

‘That means Jeamers master vocabulary when they are involved in some learning activities, such as reading, speaking, doing a task, and interacting with others

Richards and Schmidt (2002:

2) also define that incidental Jearning is the process

of learning something without the intention of doing so t is also learning one thing while intending to learn another

Tovidenial vocabulary learning motivates learners in extensive reading, Tl involves leamers! ability to guess the meaning of new words from the contextual clues Incidental leaming occurs more frequently through extensive reading in input-rich environments (Coady, 2001, as cited in Almnad, 2011: 67) According Ahmad

(2011: 67) incidental vocabulary promotes deeper mental processing, and better retention, Ihe leamers get themselves fully involved in the process of deciphering

the meaning through the clues available mm the text They think and rethink aboul the

new words involving cognitive process which helps the learners retain the words for

a longer period of time Cognitive process includes both receptive and productive

aspeols of vocabulary Leamers undurstand tiol only the maanings in the giver text

but the xelated grammatical patterns, common lexical sets and typical association of

the word with the context

On the other hand, intentional learning of vocabulary is the method of learning

vocabulary by using tools to bring the leamer’s attention into direct contact with the

form and meaning of words, such as dictionaries, vocabulary lists, and direct

vocabulary exphmation Trtentional learning is quick and usually preferred by

leamers, but it also causes some problems Leamers often encounter vocabulary in

an isolated form and remain incapable of using it correctly in context (Ellis, 1999,

ag ciled in Shokouhi, 2009: 14)

Ahmad (2011; 68) claims intentional vocabulary leaming based on synonyms,

antonyms, word subsLitution, multiple choice, scrambled words and crossword

puzzles, regardless of context In addition, students often sram the meaning of the new words without undergoing cognitive process Moreover, when students learn

voabulary in this way, they are more prone to role learning Therelore, a very few

words leamed through this method get transformed into active process

1.2 Extensive reading

1.2.1 Extensive reading and intensive reading

Reading is classified in many different ways In terms of the scope and objects of this study, only intensive and extensive types of reading, are focused on

According Lo Dawson (1984: 43), studenls reading intensively look al every word, take notice of punctuation, sentences and paragraphs, as well as understand the grammar Intensive reading is often used as an exercise to teach the students new vovabulary as well as present and/or practice the rules of the English language

‘Most textbook readings have, until recently, been intensive, Intensive reading is also called “reading for accuracy” and is described as a detailed study of text designed to train students in readmg strategies such as skimming or scanning (Nuttall, 1982; 23) regards, in intensive reading, students read and often translate fairly short, difficult foreign language texts with the teacher's close guidance Teachers in their reading lessons usually use shor! texts of about, one or bwo pages al the maximum and a range of activities is used before, duving and also after reading Lxercises such as true/false comprehension questions or arranging information are used

While intensive reading focuses on individual words and sentences, extensive reading stresses overall understanding Compared to intensive reading, students read arelalively large amount of generally simpler materials while enjoying reading, and are not required to demonstrate a detailed understanding of materials through translation exercises or comprehension questions Extensive reading is intended to develop good reading habits, to build up knowledge of vocabulary and structures, and to encourage a liking for reading (Nation, 2001; 232, Loucky, 2003, as cited in Pazhakh & Soliani, 2010: 389)

1.2.2, Definitions of extensive reading

Jacobs and Renandya (1999: 91-92) define extensive reading as the reading of large quantities of material for information or pleasure Tn extensive reading, the immediate focus is on the content being read, rather than on language skills Many names have been given to ER programs, including Book Flood, Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading (USSR), Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), Silent Uninterrupted Reading for Fun (SURE), and Extensive Reading and Information Literacy (ERIL)

According lo Harmer (2003, as cited in Ahmad, 2001: 67) “extensive reading is a pleasurable reading situation where a teacher encourages students to choose what they want to read for themselves fram reading materials at a level they can

understand”, Tl means thai readers can choose what they want Lo read according to

their interests Reading materials should be of a level that learners are able to read and understand the text without difficulty While Richards and Schmidt (2002, cited

im Yarnashila, 2008: 661-662) claim Uhal extensive readmg is a form of reading

instruction, Its definition and purpose are expressed as follows: ‘extensive reading means reading in quantity and in order to gain a general understanding of what is

yoad TL is intended ta develop good reading habits, to build up knowledge of

vocabulary and structure, and to encourage a liking for reading.”

Trom Day and Bamford’s (1997: 7) point of view, extensive reading is “an

approach lo learting to read « second language, extensive Teading may be done in

and out of the classroom, Outside the classroom, extensive reading is encouraged by

allowing students to borrow books to take home and read In the classroom, it

yoquires a period of time, at least 15 mutes or sa to be sel aside for sustamed

silent reading, which is for students — and perhaps the teacher as well — to read

individually anything they wish to.”

From the above mentioned defitations, il can be seen that extensive reading is an

approach to language teaching in which leamers read a large amount of materials in

anew language They choose their own reading material and read i independently

of the teacher, They read for general overall meaning, and they read for information and enjoyment

1.232 The basic principles of extensive reading

Day and Bamford (1998:136-141) presents ten characteristics that are found mm

successful extensive reading programs Dealing with the nature of extensive reading

and the conditions and methodology necessary for its success, the ten characteristics

are also offered as “Yop Ten Principles for Yeaching Extensive Reading”

1 The reading material is easy

2 A variely of materials on a wide range of topics is available

3 Students select what they want to read

4 Students read as much as possible

10

5 The purposes of reading are usually related to pleasure, information, and general understanding

6 Reading ix its own reward

7 Reading speed is usually faster than slower

8 Reading is individual and silent

9 Teachers arieni and guide their students

10 the teacher is a vole model of a reader

In the list above, the writers have addressed five important issues in extensive reading, namely teading materials, reading amount, reading purpose, reading spesd,

and the role of the reader and the language teacher Although all the principles regarding these issues are important and should be applied in an extensive reading program, teachers are advised Lo consider siluations and apply these principles flexibly

1.24 The relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension

“Vocabulary is important int reading comprchension because vocabulary knowledge

is part of background knowledge, The more words the readers know, the easier they

will understand what they read” (Chou, 2011:100) That is, the greater number of words

a reader knows, the greater the specd at which a person us able to comprehend a particular written text, which leads to a greater sense of personal accomplishment This scnse of accomplishment may likely motivate the person lo read more, which,

in turn, causes him/her to encounter and acquire more words Stoller and Grabe

(1993: 30) comment “ vocabulary development must be viewed as both a cause

and a consequence of reading abilities.” Kazakh and Soltani (2010: 388) argue that

it is clear that comprehension is one of the most fundamental reasons for reading, and vocabulary, in turn, plays a significant part in comprehension Vocabulary

clearly makes a critical contribution o understanding what has been read

‘The particular relationship between vocabulary knowledge and language skills is beyond any doubt Especially, vocabulary has a close relationship with reading skills which in tum have an infercoumection with reading comprehension This

11

xelationship seems logical because of the fact that students get meaning from what they read, they also need both many words in their vocabulary repertoire and ability

to use various techniques lo understand the meanings of new words whon they

encounter them It is the case that most of the weak students who do not have

enough vocabulary or effective word-meaning strategies often struggle to achieve

comprehension in reading, Also, as they do nol have sullteienl word knowledge to

understand what they read, they often avoid readg, As a result, the students who

do not read much do not have the opportunity to see and learn many new words in

various contexts, but the studerits who read more can become betler readers and

gain more words Their reading comprehension skills, in consequences, are gradually improved

Ta conclusion, (he relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading

comprehension is integrated Reading improves vocabulary knowledge and

vocabulary knowledge supports reading development In cther words, “vocabulary

knowledge is normally major vehicle for suvcessful reading” (Coady and Huckin,

1997, as cited in Kazakh and Soltani (2010: 388)

They are materials that have been produced to fulfill some social purpose in the

language community.” (Peacock, 1997, cited m Berardo, 2006: 61) Nuttall

(1996:172) remarks “anthentic texts can be motivating because they are proof that

the language is used [or real-life purposes by real people.”

Most educators seem to mean that by “authentic” anything written for an first

language audience These materials are used in language teaching “because they are

considered interesting, engaging, culturally enlightening, relevant, motivating, and the best preparation for reading authentic texts” (Day & Barmford, 1998: 54)

According to Berardo (2006: 60), one of the main reasons for using authentic

materials in the classroom is once outside the “safe”, controlled language learning environment; the leamer will not encounter artificial language Another advantage

of using aulhentic malorials is that they allow siudents to moot language as it is used

in real life Moreover, the sources of authentic materials that can be used in the

classroom are infinite: the most common are newspapers, magazines, TV programs,

mnovies, songs and hlerature

On the other hand, authentic materials are usually thought to be discouraging and

difficult to read for language learners and thus such materials are considered not

useful rather Ian useful for those learners Williams (1984:25) notes the

disadvantages of using authentic texts such as lack of adequate copying facilities

and its being very difficult for lower levels Sharing this idea (Richard 2000, as

cited in Rerardo, 2006: 65) points out that dilRieult language, urmeeded vocabulary

items and complex language structures that authentic materials often contain cause a

burden for the leacher in lower-level classes

From the above views, it is clear that authentic texts are interesting but these materials are so challenging for low level learners For the leamers simple language

ig most of the times preferable Therefore it is necessary Lo be clear about whal i

sneant by simplified texts, Simplified materials will be discussed in the next part

1.3.2 Simplified materials

Hill and Thomas (1988: 44 -54) point out simplified materials are texts written originally for second language leamers Here the texts are written ina simple way in terms of vocabulary and structure according ta students’ linguistic levels, these

simplified materials are controlled for vacabulary difficulty, grammatical structure,

sentence length and complexity, and information density ‘They also emphasize that

“the vocabulary must be ninety percent within leamers’ understanding, the syntax and sonlonce structure musi be familiar, the information must iol be loo dense, and

13,

the meaning must be made explicit, especially at the lower levels” The assumption

is that such materials will allow low- level learners to read easily without struggling

to gel the general me: ing of what they read Nation and Ming-tzu (1999: 356) argue that without simplified materials low proficiency-level leamers would not be able to experience reading in a second language at a level of comfort and fluency approaching firsl language reading

According to Day (2005: 10 -21) simplified and authentic materials are good materials for teaching beginning and intermediate students how to read ina foreign

language Tr addition, simplified materials are short, and the beginning levels have

illustrations as an aid in comprehension ‘he strength of simplified materials for beginners is that the font size is generally a bit larger than normal, which helps comprehension,

Tlowever, simplified reading materials have also been criticized by some educators

in relation to extensive reading As Nuttall (1996: 178) writes, "However good a simplificalion is something is always lost, this is why some teachers refuse to use

simplified versions" Sharing this idea, Nation and Ming-tzu (1999: 356) explain

there are some writers who see tio place for simplified reading materials of the kind

that is founded in graded readers They consider that the simplification results in distorted language that is not suitable for leamers

From the above views, it is clear thal simplified and authentic matenala have a

significant role in the development of reading skill of language learners when they are used at suitable levels and for suitable purposes Using authentic texts with

beginning students can impede foreign language reading development because of

their linguistic difficulty and complexity but using these materials allows students to meet language as it is used in real life Whereas, the simplified materials are made

easy in order lo improve leamers reading Cluency and confidence Considering the

general reasons for using literature in language teaching to become better readers, language acquisition and success, it is recommended to use both types of materials

in language leaching (Nuttall, 1996, as cited in Benelayeb, 2010: 27)

14

1.4 Graded readers

1.4.1 What are graded readers?

Graded readers arc shorl books of fiction and non-fiction which are graded

structurally and lexically (Bamford 1984:218), that is, they are controlled in terms

of vocabulary and grammar and are grouped for particular age groups from primary

(age 8) to ndull (over 16)

According to Richards and Schmidt (2002; 230), graded readers are “a text written for children leaming their mother tongue, or for second or foreign language

leamers, in which the language content is based on a language grading scheme A

graded reader may use a restricted vocabulary or a set of grammatical structures” Hedge (1985 2) emphasizes that the language of a graded readers is controlled with

an inereasing range of vocabulary She follows this with the notion that graded readers will be very useful if the teacher is able to exploit them completely

to develop language leaming both in and ont of the classroom as it meets the

learner's uced

Graded readers are divided into different levels of difficulty, graded by a number of word families: a word family consisis of a headword, grammatical structure and

syntax, The level for adult leamers usually covers a range beguming at around 200-

500 headwords and goes up to 2,000- 3,000 headwords (Nation and Ming-tzu, 1999:

358) Nolice that Level 1 assumes knowledge of 530 words Level 2 introduces

another 341 words making a total Level 2 vocabulary of 871

Table 1.1: Number of word families at each graded reader level

To many language teachers and leamers, graded readers are an attractive option for several reasons, Graded readers not only offer controlled, systematic, and

comprehensive development of vocabulary and grammar but they also cater for he

different interests and levels, However, there exist some objections to graded readers as well As Nation (2005:17) noted, some teachers and researchers see

graded readers as “being unanthentic, watered-down versions of richer original

texts” and “vocabulary simplification is also seen to result in more complicated grammar.” These concerns over graded readers should also be considered when

choice of the use of graded readers is made

1.5 Reading amount

The amount of reading is one of the most critical factors in extensive reading, a3

extensive toading 1s based on the theory of comprehensible input proposed by

Krashen (1985:12) who stressed that Jarge amounts of language input within a

learners’ comprehension ability are required if that leamer is to make progress ina

new language Despite the importance of the reading amount, researchers and

teachers have not reached an agreement in how much reading is enough Nation and

Wang (as cited in Nation, 2005: 16-17) reached six conclusions regarding

vooabulary development with graded Readers

1 Leamers should read at least one graded reader every week, no matter what

level they are reading al

2 Learners should read five books at a level before moving to books at the next level

3 Leamers should read more books at the later levels than the earlier

4, Leamers should read at least 15-20 readers ina year

5 Leamers may need to directly study the new vocabulary at the earlier levels or

at least make use of a diclionary when slarling fo read books at a parlicular

level

l8

6 Leamers should work their way through the levels of graded readers as the later levels provide excellent conditions for establishing the vocabulary of the earlier levels

1n short, in this chapter four main contents were demonstrated including vocabulary, extensive reading, reading materials, and graded readers This was fundamentally the thoorelical background which helps the researcher to answer the following questions,

I What are students’ vocabulary levels?

2 Whal are the reasons underlying their performance on the vocabulary lest?

3 To what extent can extensive reading enhance students’ vacabulary acquisition?

4 What are the students’ attitudes toward extensive reading?

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

ch

This chapler is comprised of rationale for choosing avlion research design, res

questions, the participants, and research method, and data collection instruments

2.1 Research Questions

The study sought the answers to the following, questions:

1 What are students’ vocabulary levels?

2 What are the reasons underlying their performance on the vocabulary test?

3 Ta what extent can extensive reading enhance students’ vocabulary acquisition?

4 What are the students’ attitudes toward extensive reading activities in their

at least three years of learning Hnglish at high schools and secondary schools and aged from 18 to 20 Almost all students (29 out of 30 students) had leamt English before entering HUBT Only one student had below one year of experience in leaning English, because he learned French instead of Knglish at high school There are two English lessons every week, four 53-minute periods for one lesson In their curriculum, they are required to learn General English (GE) for 2 semesters to gam the A2 level The teaching material was the course book Marker leaders

(Elementary — 3“ edition by David Cotton, David Falvey and Simon Kent, 2013

dition)

18

2.3 Materials

In addition to authentic reading passages from Marker Leader elememary course

‘book, a set of 40 graded stories and articles on different topics at various levels of

English vocabulary and structure (beginner, elementary and pre-intermediate) were collected The materials were selected to allow students of varying proficiency levels increased opporturaties to choose the ones thal interested them They varied

in level of simplification from 150 to 1500 words ‘Ihe supplementary reading

materials for this program were carefully selected from some websites about

business, lilerahe == like English = for business, © EBook — Directory

(hitp:/Avww.ebookdirectory.com), and from some other course books: Know How,

Line life, New Headway, and so on The tasks for vocabulary development and

questions for reading comprehension were designed nguordimg tơ the students?

proficiency

2.4 Rationale for using action research

Action research has been defined in many different ways In

Wallace’s (1998:237) definition, action research is “Ihe systematic

collection and analysis of data relating to the improvement of some aspect of

professional practice” Burns (2010: 2) states that action research is “the central idea

of the action part of action research is to intervene in a deliberate way in the

problematic situation in order to bring about changes and even better, improvement

in practice Importantly, the improvements that happen in action research are ones tased on information (or to use the research term, dafa) that an action researcher collects jemalically.” Tn ihe Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and

Applied Linguistics (Richard, ct al: 4-5) action rescarch in teacher education is defined “ .teacher-initiated classroom research which seeks to increase teacher’s understandiry of classroom teaching and Tearing and to bring about improvements

in classroom practices” As Mettetal (2001: 7) writes “classroom action research is designed to help a teacher find out what is happening in his or her classroom, and to

use thal information Lo lake action [or Cuture improvement.”

1¢

In brief, action rescarch is a kind of scientific study which is often carricd out by a

teacher or an educator in order to solve a practical problem in a classroom It

focuses mainly on the actions of both teachers and sludenis, so it can solve the

problems which are related to all actions and activities ina classroom One of the most

significant features of an action research study in comparison to other research methods

is very situaliomal I appears In provide specific solutions to specilie problems in cach

context ‘This helps the teacher to have deeper understanding and thorough study into the single situation

Bums (2010: 7) gives the three reasons why a teacher needs action research:

- Action research can remvigorate our teaching

- Itean lead to positive change

- Tiraise our awareness of the complexities of our work

When thinking of choosing an appropriate methodology, the researcher, who is also

a teacher, found that action research is a good choice for the purpose of improving

the suulents’ vocabulary through extensive reading

‘There have been some different models on action research procedures given by different researchers Sleps tm action research vary from different poms of view Nunan (1992; 19) untroduees a model with seven steps: Initiation, Preliminary

investigation, Llypothesis, Llypothesis, lvaluation, Dissemination, and Follow-up

On the other hand, Bums (1999: 35) reports a lype of aelion research which has 11

steps Hence, it is really impossible to assert this or that researcher is right with exact four, five, six, seven or eight steps in their action research Sometimes, it is

hard to define a clear cut between the steps and the number of steps in action

xesearch because they may vary depending on different points of view held by

researchers,

“McBride and Schostak (1989) suggest that research should be follow eight steps

which could be measured as circle as follows:

20

._ 1216alleting daLa

identiiving a locus of Gi analyzing date/

interest or a problem generating hypotheocs

2.5 Data collection instrument

2.5.1 Questionnaire

Survey Questionnaire

‘Ten multiple choice questions were used to identify the students’ vocabulary problem, the causes of the problem and the topics they were interested in reading This questionnaire was delivered to the students at the beginning of the research Attitude Questionnaire

The main aim of this study was to investigate effects of extensive reading on learners’ voeabulary acquisition Tu addition, through this study, the researcher

would also like to discover the learners* attitudes towards this activi

21

Ten closed questions were used in the attitude questionnaire They are designed on

a five-point Likert scale (5= strongly agree, 4= agree, 3= not sure, 2= disagree, 1= strongly disagree)

2.5.2, Baok report

The second tool used in this study was book report A book report (adapted from

Bamford, 1984 220) was used to momlor the reading procedure In order to

examune how the students liked the book, what they felt about the story and the

article, how they found out the meanings of the new words Every week students

were asked (o complete a book report before going to English class Tk helped the

researcher monitor learners’ reading so she could offer guidance and decide what

needed to be modified in the next circles of the action

253 Tests

Pre-test

A list of 50 words which appear in students’ course book Afarket Leader

Flementary level as well as in the stones and articles thal they would read were

selected for the test All of the pages of the stories and the articles were

compuierived and loaded into a sofware program (Vocaprofile) that quantifted the

word frequencies in the text The researcher climmated many common words (¢.2.,

man, water, have, to, the ) that occurred hundreds of times ‘The selected words

also wore determined by their higher frequency and these words rust appear in

English key test Vocabulary list of Cambridge University (HSOL examination), appropriating to Level A2 on the CEFR The list of these words was presented to

the students, who were asked to choose one of the three options: Yes, if they think

they know the meaning of the given words; NS, if they are not sure; and No, if they

do not think they know the meaning of the word The NS option would reveal

learners’ partial knowledge of the word and also allow an honest response

According to llorst (2005; 365) “Ihe test is easy to construct, administer, and score,

and it allows for quick assessment of a large number of items.”

Past-test

‘The post-test was the identical list presented in a different order plus 20 other words

which also appoared in the stories with high frequency At the time of the post-Lesl,

as a check on actual gains of unknown words after reading, the students were asked

to complete a second measure, using words selected from the list of words that were

marked No or NS on the pre-test and words im the hist of 20 additioual words The

format of this measure will be based on Wesche and Paribakht’s (1996) vocabulary

imowledge scale (VKS), cited in Tlarst (2005: 375)

2.5.4 Pracess of action research in this study

In this study, the researcher followed the action research procedures suggested by

McBride and Schostak (1989) The action research was conducted during 10 weeks’

time as follows:

Step 1: Identifying a problem

Based on the observation and experience from teaching English at HUBT as well as

discussions with the leamers and the colleagues, the researcher (ound out that one

of leamers’ biggest problems is lack of vocabulary

Step 2: Collecting data

A questionnaire for Icamers was ued to find out the actual problem, the causes of the problem, and what need or must be done to improve learners’ vocabulary

knowledge

Step 3: Analyzing data

The data collected from the questionnaire was analyzed and the researcher came up

with a hypothesis that the students’ vocabulary was poor because of their timited

xeading in class as well as at home

Step 4: Planning action

An extensive reading project was chosen [or the action research Tn the project, the

researcher chose graded readers for the students A list of 40 graded stories and

articles for three levels: beginner, elementary and pre-intermediate for students to

choose 16 most-liked ones (adapted (rom Kargar, 2012: 167) All of them read these

23

16 storics, two stories or articles cach Because of the students’ tight schedule in

class, they had two Lglish lessons every week, four 45-minute periods for one lesson After taking the administralive procedure to get required permission, the researcher spent 45 minutes a week at the beginning of the lesson Jetting the students share their extensive reading experience and discuss the stories or articles they read in terms of meanings of new words, how Lo find ihe meanings of new

words, and also feelings of the students about the stories and articles

Step 5: Implementing action

Firsily, the researcher introduced the project (what extensive reading is, what

benefits of extensive reading are; why they need to read extensively; what they need

to do if they take part in an extensive reading project) Secondly, the students were asked lo do the pre-lost Thirdly, every week, the toacher, logether with the students

read the same two stories or articles in the collection of 16 chosen ones The students were also asked to fill in the hock report Fourthly, the students shared their

exlensive reading oxpericnce and discuss the story they read im Lerms of meanings off

new words, how to find the meanings of new words, and also feelings of the students

about the stories or articles,

Step 6 Collecting post-ala to monitor change

‘The post-test and the attitude questionnaires were used to collect data after the

action

Step 7%: Analyzing and evaluating

The action research was evaluated based on the results collected from the imitial

data, action data and post data Fram the findings of the action research evaluation,

some conclusions as well as pedagogical implications were made

2.6 Data analysis method

Firsl, the results collected from the survey questionaire, the altitude questionnaire,

pre-test, post-test, and book report were statistically calculated through Microsoft -

Excel software and calculator Next, the collected data were displayed in forms of

tables or figures for the convenience of analysis In addition, the collected dala were

234

classificd into different categories and the rescarcher used qualitative statistics to describe and analyze After that the collected data were synthesized, categorized

and discussed to reveal answers to Ihe research questions

25

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Tn this chapicr, the results of the study are pr

santed, The presentation includes the description of the initial results from the questionnaire, the information on the findings from the initial results, the views on the action plan and the evaluation of the action plan, All of them are aimed to answer the [our rescarch questions

3.1, The students? vocabulary levels

3.1.1 Results from learners’ survey questionnaire

Question 1: How do you evaluate the level of your English vacabulary now?

Table 3.1; The students’ self-assessment of their vocabulary knowledge

\s can be seen from ‘Table 3.1, the number of students who admitted that thew

vocabulary was “poor, ar “very poor” was very high (27 out of 30 students) Only about one tenth of students (3 aut of 30) thought that their vocabulary was nol a big problem in language leaming because their vocabulary knowledge was either good

or adequate None of them was said that their vocabulary was very good

Question 2: Through which activity do you often learn English vocabulary

most?

Table 3.2: Activities through which students learn English vocabulary mest

Reading | Listening | Speaking | Writing Others

students (3t) | (339) (0%) (6%) (30%) (16)

The figures from Table 3.2 showed that over one third of the students agreed that

they leamed vocabulary mostly through reading Only two students thought that

spouking was the inost effective way to learn vocubulary, Three students found that

26

through listening they could gain most vocabulary Nine students liked leaming vooabulary through writing Whereas, 16% of the students said that they leamed

vouabulary passively by other sources, chiefly through the

acher, Thay mean they

usually leamed by heart words the teacher wrote on the blackboard

Question 3: What do you often do when you meet a new word in reading texts? (Note: 1 always; 2 often; 3 sometimes; 4 rarely; 5 never)

Yable 3.3: Learners’ solutions when meeting a new word

As can be seen in Table 3.3, most of the respondents admitted that they had a habit

of using dictionary or asking their teacher or someone clse for explanation whenever they meet a new word ‘Thirty-three percent of the students said that they

never or rarcly guess word moanmng rom contexts

Question 4; What do you think of the time for English reading in class?

Table 3.4; Students’ opinions on the time for reading in class

‘Yoo little | Little Adequate | Much | Too much

Question 4 was used to ask students about their opmions on the ime used for

reading in class Approximately 70% of students agreed that the time used for

reading in class was “Little” or “too little” Only ane student thought that they spent

xruch lime reading in class No student thought that the time for reading in class was more than necessary

Question 5: What do you think of the number of reading passages in your

course book in class?

Vable 3.5: Students’ opinion on the number of readings in their course book in

As can be seen in Table 3.5, over half of the students surveyed (17 out of 30) agreed that

the number of reading passages m thew course book im class were “lew” or “loo few”

Only 10 students were satisfied or thought that the number of readings in their couse

book were adequate None of them thought that the number ofteadings were lou many

Question 6 Do you have a habit of reading slories, newspapers, magazines,

Question 6 showed that almost all students (26 out of 30) did not have a habit of

reading stories, newspapers, magazines, etc., in Iinghsh outside the classroom Only

a few students (4 out of 30) oflen or sometimes read extensively

Question 7: Why do you rarely or never read outside classroom?

This question revealed some causes of the students’ lack of reading habits in

Enghsh A half of the students (15 out of 30 students) comphained that they did not

have motivation to read Seven students said that they did not have enough English

reading materials with their favorite topics Three students added that the materials

in English such as newspapers, magazines or stories were often too difficult [or

them to understand whereas their vocabulary was poor hey believed that they could not read English books, magazines or newspapers without the aid of the teacher or dictionary

Question 8: Do you want to have readings to read outside class to improve your English vocabulary?

Almost all the studerils surveyed (25 oul of 30) said thal they wanted to have more

readings to read outside class to improve their English vocabulary Vive students

thought that reading outside class was uol necessary

Question 9: Which of the following topics do you mostly want (o read? (Yau

can choose more than one option)

Table 3.7: Reading topics chosen by the students

‘There were four topics (Society, Literature, Free topics, Hducation) that most

students were interested in Therefore, the researcher decided to ask the learners to

read about these topics extensively In the extensive reading project, the researcher

chose graded reatlers for the students A hist of 40 graded stories and articles with

29

students’ favorite topics at 3 levels (beginner, clomentary and pro-intermediate) was selected for the students to choose 16 most-liked ones Although the students were studying a course book for clementary Jovel, they were demanded to begin the project with books for beginners in order to motivate them to read more All of the students read these 16 stories and articles Lach week they read the same two stories

or articles (lor example if the books and articles were numbered from 1 to 16, ther book or article number one and two would be read in week oue, and book number

15 and 16 would be used in week nine) The students were required to read these books or article before going to the English class

Question 10: How do you feel if T ask you to read stories and articles on your favorite topics this semester?

Tahle 3.8: Students’ attitude about being asked to read stovies outside class

When asked this question, 19 studenls agreed lo read storics and articles that

semester 11 students did not like the idea of being asked to read extensively They

felt confused because they could not imagine how it would be like and they were

nol conlident in reading stories and articles duc to their poor yocabulary

The results from the survey questionnaire showed that the majority of the students

said that (herr vocabulary was either poor or very poor They also thought that they

often learnt vocabulary through reading activitics in class However, the reading texts in class were few or too few, they spent little or toc little time reading at class, and lhey never or rarely read oxlra reading malcrials in English al home As aresult,

it can be concluded that the lack of input, motivation as well as reading time limitation might be the reasons which prevented students from accumulating vocabulary

30

The data above also revealed that Jearners can read more in English if appropriate

reading materials were available and suttable for them rom the identification of

problems as reporled above, the author of this study had the following hypothesis: Tf guided extensive reading activities are used, students will improve their vocabulary imowledge and it also promotes their motivation and attitudes

3.1.2 Results of the pre-test

A collection of 16 graded readers as extensive reading materials for the project were scanned electronically The researcher chose 50 words which appeared many times

in the course book Market leader Rlementury level as welt as in the slories and articles they would read to make the test Moreover, the selected words must be in

English key test vocabulary list of Cambridge University, appropriating to Level A2

on CEFR Tu the lest of SO words, students were asked lo choose one of the hree

options: YES, if they think they know the meaning of the given word; NS, if they

are not sure; and NO, if they do not think they know the meaning of the word The

NSS option would allow learners to register partial knowledge of words Tl was also intended to encourage honesty, since it was assumed that students would over- or

under-estitnate their word knowledge less if they were not forced to simply choose

between cither YES or NO,

‘The pre-test was done by the students before they read graded readers

Table 3.9: The resuit of YES-sarked words in the pre-test