Luận văn using supplementary reading materials for the course book powerbase elementary to improve reading skills for first year non english major students at national economics university

NGUYEN THI NGOC HUAN USING SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE BOOK ‘POWERBASE - ELEMENTARY’ TO IMPROVE READING SKILLS FOR FIRST YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT NATIONAL

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

IANO! UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES %

DEPARTMENT OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYEN THI NGOC HUAN

USING SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS FOR THE COURSE BOOK ‘POWERBASE - ELEMENTARY’ TO IMPROVE READING SKILLS FOR FIRST YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJOR

STUDENTS AT NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

(SU DUNGTAI LIEU DOC BO TRG CHO GIAO TRINH ‘POWERBASE -

ELEMENTARY’ DE NANG CAO KY NANG DOC CHO SINH VIEN KHONG CHUYEN

TIẾNG ANH NAM THÚ NHẤT TR- ỜNG ĐẠI HỌC KINH TẾ QUỐC DÂN)

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 1410

NGUYEN THI NGOC HUAN

USING SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS FOR THE

COURSE BOOK ‘POWERBASE - ELEMENTARY’ TO IMPROVE READING SKILLS FOR FIRST YEAR NON- ENGLISH MAJOR

STUDENTS AT NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

(SỬ DỤNG TÀI LIỆU DOC BO TRO CHO GIAO TRINH ‘POWERBASE - ELEMENTARY?

DE NANG CAO KY NANG DOC CHO SINH VIEN KHONG CHUYEN TIENG ANH NAM

THU NHAT TR- ONG DAI HOC KINH TE QUOC DAN)

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY

CODE: 60 1410

SUPERVISOR: PHAN THI VAN QUYEN, M.A

HANOI, 2009

1.2 Scope of the study,

1.3 Significance of the study,

1.4 Aims of the study

1.5 Research questions

1.6 Methodology

1.7 Design of the study

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Overview of reading

2.1.1 Definitions of reading ¬— TH n TT tt nh nh HH ng rệc

2.1.2 Reading comprehension

2.1.3 Reading skills

2.1.3.1 Definition of reading skills

2.1.3.2 Types of reading skills

2.2 Overview of materials in language teaching

2.2.1 Definition of materials and types of materials in language teaching

2.2.2 Supplementary materials for language teaching

2.2.3 Materials evaluation and the criteria for reading texts evaluation

2.2.4 Criteria for selecting appropriate supplementary materials

Summary

vi vii

Rye

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Background to the thesis and statement of the problem

3.2 The description of the materials

3.2.1 The course book

3.2.1.1 Book ith

3.2.1.2.Book objectives

3.2.1.3.The structure of the course book

3.2.2 The supplementary material used for the course book

4.3 The subjects

3.4 Instruments for data collection

3.5 Data collection procedures

4.1: Major findings and discussion

4.1.1: The evaluation of the current reading materials used at NEU

411.1: The evaluation of the reading sections in Powerbase

4.2.1 Suggestions on how to use the course book Powerbase - Elementary,

4.2.1.1 Increasing more time for Reading

4.2.1.2 Designing more reading activities and oxcreises‘lasks

4.2.2 Suggestions for selecting supplementary reading materials

42.2.1, Suggestions for selecting supplementary reading materials

12.2.2 Suggested adaplation of the current SRM for Powerbase

Summary

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION

3.1 Conclusion of the study

5.2 Limitations of the study

5.3 Suggestions for further study

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

Appendix I: Qucstionnairos for tcachets dc cuc hon re

Appendix 2: Questionnaires for students

Appendix 3: Samples of supplementary readings for the themes in Powerbase

Appendix 4: Samplas of supplomentary readings for further roadings,

Appendix 5: The table of the Macro-skills proportion of the Powerbase

XẤT

XXXIV

ABBREVIATIONS

NTU: National Economics University

EEL: English as a foreign language

LIST OF TABLES

Tabla 1: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the topics of the reading texts in Powerhase 20

Table 2: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the exercises types of reading (exis in Powerbase 21

Lable 3: The 1's and Ss" opinions on the từae ailocation for reading in Powerbase 22 Table 4: The Ts Ss’ opinions on the length of the reading texts in Powerhase 22

Table 5: The Ts and Ss! opinions on the level of difficulty of the reading texts in Powerbase 23

Table 6: The Ts and Ss" opinions on the topics of the reading texts in the SM for P 33

Table 7: The Ts and Ss" opinions on the types of reading exercises in the SM 26 Table 8: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the tine allocation for reading in the SM 27

Vable 9: The 1s and Ss* opinions on the length of the reading texts in the SMI 28

Table 10: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the level of diffteulty of the reading texts in the SM 29

Table 11: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on a better SRM for Powerbase 3

Table12: The Macro-skills proportion of the course book Powerbase - Elementary XXXIV

LIST OF CHARTS

Chart Ja: the perception of the Ts about the reading texts in Powerbase

Chart Ib: The perception of the Ss about the reading texts in Powerbase

The perception of the Ts about the readirig texts in the SM

> The perception of the Ss ahout the reading texts in the SM

: The Ts’ attitudes towards the necessary use of SM for

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

Among the tour macro-skills, reading is “hy far the most importani , particularly in

English as a second or foreign language" (Carrel, 1981: 1) For many students, reading not

only brings them a lot of interesting information but also provides a variety of linguistic

expressions as well as grammatical structures, which are very uscful for them to develop other

skills [hanks to reading, students can “gain access to the requured knowledge that is

available, either exchusively or most readily, in English” (Munby, 1978: 3)

At National Economics University, reading is also regarded as one of the most important skills that necds to be focused on fom the first stagc of learning English Reading has constantly been tested in the mid-term tests together with either listening or speaking for many school years For the first year non-Tnglish mmakwr sindents of the school year 2008-

2009, the couse book Powerbase Elementary by David Evans is still in use as it is believed

to be suitable for students of elementary level Its most updated contents is said to provide

excellent preparation for other English business courses Powerbase is not a four-skill-focused material, It is a communicative course book that has been specially written for adults who need English for work, travel and everyday situations with the two main skills: Listening and Speaking In order to help sladents learn Fnglish belter and to fulfill the objectives of the course, before each school year begins, the Faculty of Economics Foreign Languages assign teachers of each group design the supplementary materials used along with the course books The supplemenlary traterials mot only provide students with more cxersises, bul they also remedy the shortcomings of the course books The supplementary materials are designed annually, in which the good points are maintained in but the shortcomings are replaced by the better ones, The cxisting supplementary material for Powerbasc mainly provides exercises on grammar, vocabulary and reading, However, through the supplementary book, many students find it hard to understand the strange, long reading texts with too many new words and new grammatical structures Additionally, students arc bored with doing only ouc ype of reading

exercise Many student hope to have more readings, but they do not know where to get appropriate extra reading rnatarials Consequently, they do not get as high marks at reading tests as they expected and they lose their interest in reading 'eachers, from time to time, complain that Ihey have to compile ather reading materials to meet the studonts’ nevds and to make the reading lessons more intzresting

All those reasons have inspired and cncouraged me to carry out the study on "Using supplementary reading materials for ‘Powerbase — Elementary’ to improve reading skill for first year non-Finglish major students at National Roonomias University” with the hope to make some contributions to improving the teaching and learning of reading for first year non- English major students at NEU

1.2 Scope af the study

De to the limited time and the size of a minor thesis, the researcher has no ambitions

to cover all aspeets af reading, such as reading in integration wilh other skills; spoaking, listening, and writing , but only focuses on the use of supplementary reading materials to develop reading skills for first year non-English major students at NEU

1.3 Significance of the study

This

study helps first ycar nonmajor sindenls at NEU to improve their English proficiency by lcarning reading and also suggests some ways to improve the teaching of English in general and the teaching of the reading skill in particular at NEU as well as other

universilies (hat share the same mandate

1.4, Aims of the study

The study is aimed at exploring the usc of supplementary reading matcrials to improve reading skills for first year non-English major students at NEU, giving recommendations on how o efficiently use the supplementary reading nialerials designed by Group KS0A teachers,

and suggesting some other reading supplementary materials as well The followings will be dona to achieve these aims:

_ Find out the teachers’ and students’ evaluations of the current English reading

Give recommendations for designing 2 more cffective supplementary materials

for Powerbase - Elementary to motivate first year non-English major students at

NEU to read

1.5 Rescarch questions

The study is carried ont to answer the following rescarch questions:

2 What are the teachers’ and students’ evaluations of the reading sections in the

course book Pawerbase — Llementary?

2 What ave the teachers’ and students’ evaluations of the current sypplementary

reading materials?

3 What do teachers and students expect of a supplementary reading material?

1.6 Methods of the study

‘The survey questionnaires are of great importance in collecting feedback stom tgachers and students on the materials int use

Informal interviews are also used to seek for more detailed and objective opinions of teachers and students on the materials and their needs.

significance, aims, roscarch questions, rescarch mathodotogy and the design of the sludy

Chapter 1; Literature Review provides (he lilerature review with fundamental aspcots

of materials evaluation, materials development, reading skills and supplementary matenals This chapter is considered as the basic foundations for the study

Chapter THỊ: Methodology deals with the methodological framework for the study It covers the setting, the subjects, the instruments and procedures for the data collection and

most importanlly the data analysis is fully given in (his chapter

Chapter IV: Major findings, discussion and recommendations shows the major findings, discussions of these findings, and offers recommendations on how to use supplementary meicrials (o improve students’ reading skills

Chapter V; Conclusion presents the concluding summary of the study, limitations of the study as well as suggestions for further research

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

different ways from written texls, newspapers, magavines to nolices, advertisements, train

schedules, charts and diagrams, etc Each linguist has their own definition of reading depending on their own different view of the reading process, therefore, the definition of reading is various

According ta Tanner (1989: 153) reading is defined as a mechanical process in which

“the eyes receive the message and the brain then has ta work out the significance of the message” In his point of view the reading process is dominated by the eves and the brain

Tlarmer also focuses on the speed of this process “a reading text moves at a speed af the

reader” which means that the reader is the one who decides how fast he wants fo read the text

Sharing the same point of view on reading, William, E (1990: 2) states that “reading

is a process whereby one looks at and understands what has been written” Smith (1985: 102) also defines “reading is understanding the author's thought” When reading, we have to put the words into the context to understand the meaning of the message as the meaning of cven a word depends on the context in which it appears !t means that we — the readers — read the

author’s mind not the author’s words

Goodman (1971: 135) sees reading as “a psycholinguistic process by which the reader, a language user, reconsirucis, as best as he can, « messaxe which has been encoded

by a writer as a graphic display”, We learn reading not only to know how to read, to master the symbols, the sound, the language, the grammar, elc., used in the text bu also Io understand the ideas, the information expressed in that text, and especially to develop the ability of

reconstructing its contents in ovr own words

the aulhor’s words but also undarstand their thonghls, In addition, most ñngnisls slưre the same idea thal reading means comprchending written language and it involves a varicly of skills The following parts will deal with reading comprehension and reading skills

2.1.2 Reading comprehension

One of the purposes that motivate people to learn a foreign language is to be able to read Lo gel information in that language Together wilh wriling, spcaking and fislening, reading is an essential skill that plays a very important role in the process of mastering a foreign language Karlin and Karlin (1988: 2) state “Reading without reading comprehension

is meaningless” Therefore, understanding what reading, comprchension is very necessary and

of great importance to both teachers and learners

According to Grellet (1981: 3), “Reading comprehension or understanding a written

text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible’ In his sense,

reading comprehension simply means rcading and understanding In other words, it should be

noted that reading comprehension is not merely decoding-translating written symbols into corresponding sounds, but reading comprehension is a process of negotiating and

understanding belwezn the reader and the writer The reader, as he reads, receives information from the author via words, sentences, paragraphs, ete then tries to understand meaning of the

texts as well as the inner feelings of the writer Sharing the same point of view, Carrel (1997

21) indicates that “Reading comprehension is reconstruction, interpretation and evaluation of

what author of written content means by using knowledge gained from life experience”

Nuttall (1998; 4) emphasizes the interaction of texts and readers in the reading, process Inhis point of view, “text is full of meanings like a jug of water, the reader's mind soaks it up like sponge” To make the matter simple and casy-going, Nuttall relates reading to

communication process and concludes that “reading means getting out of the text as nearly as

possible the message the writer puts inta it” Ve alsa agrees that “reading comprehension is best desuribed as an understanding between the author and the reader” in this case, reading,

comprehension is not just to get the information but also to respond to what is written so as to

understand the hidden meanings of the messages soul by Ihe author However, the teaders ara nol always sucoessfid in reaching the hiddan messages as it depends on the readers” language proficieney, interest, the cohesion and coherence of the text, as well as the background knowledge of the readers

In short, reading comprehension is (he proce

in which the readers can recognize nol

only the graphic form but understand the relationship between the writing and the meaning of

a passage ‘4 student is good at comprehension we mean that he can read accurately and

efficiently, so as to get the maximum information of a text with the minimum of

understanding” (Swan, 1975: 1) This means the student can show his understanding by rc-

expressing the content of the text in many ways such as summarizing the text, answering questions, ele Therefire, in leaching reading, i is essentiat for teachers to find answers to the three questions: What do ihe students read? Why do they read? and How do they read? so as

to help students find ont the right way to improve their reading comprehension

2.1.3 Reading skills

2.1.3.1, Definition of reading skills

In the first place the terms reading stalls and reading strategies are often used interchangeably In addition, reading techniques is sometimes used to refer to mental activities that help students to achieve success in their reading process

According to Doff (1998: 61) reading skills is defined as “information-processing

techniques that are automatic, whether at the level of recognizing graphene-phoneme

correspondence or summarizing a story Skills are applied to a text unconsciously for many

reasons ineluding expertise, repeated practice, and compliance with directions, luck, and

native use” In his point of view, reading strategies and reading techniques are understood as

2.1.3.2 Types of reading skills

‘There is a variety of types of reading skills used by both native and non-native speakers Nullall (1996: 48-120) in Teaching Reading Skills in a foreign Language gives several reading skills of which some basic ones are listed as the following:

- Making prediction

- Skimming

- Scanning

- Recognizing implications and making references

- Rocogniving text organization

- Guessing the meaning of words based on struetural and contextual clues

- Understanding syntax

- Recognizing and interpreting cohesive devices

Whereas William (1984: 79) points ouf seven important skills of reading listed hereunder:

1 Dedueting the incaning of unfarnifiar Texical items Recognizing indicators in discourse

Extracting salient points to summarize

ep

Using basic reference skill

Skimming to gct general information

au Scanning to locate specifically required information

7 Transferring information to diagrarmmalical display

In short, readers should choose the best skills for themselves basing on their purposes

of reading hey may vary their speed and their whole manner of reading due to their reading purposes, One of the principal characleristies of good readcrs is flexibility and they are advised to practise the skills regularly to cope with more sophisticated texts and tasks and deal with them effectively Wallace (1993) considers reading strategies as ways of reading which are emmployed flexibly and selectively and which vary depending an the (ext-lype, and the

context as well as the purpose of reading Therefore teachers should introduce students to different kinds of texts with different tasks so that they can vary their reading stratepies and speed to get success in reading cue to their purpose of reading

2.2 Overview of materials in language Leaching

2.2.4 Definition of materials and types of materials in language teaching

Malerials play an important role in mosl language leaching programs In theory,

Tomlinson (1998: 2) defines that the term language teaching materials is used to refer to

“anything which is used by teachers or learners to facilitate the learning of a language” In

other words, thz malcrials hers can be anything used lo widen the Iearncrs’ knowledge as well

as their experience of language Materials can be in the form ofa textbook, a workbook, a

cassette, a CD, a video, a photocopied handout, a newspaper, a magazine, a paragraph written

on board or anything that presents or informs about the language being Icarned

On talking about the mmicrial classification, Nunarr (1991) calogorizes language teaching materials into two main groups namely commercially developed and teacher developed materials, Another classification made by Crawford (2002), also shares the same view but in diffrent naincs, that is pre-prepared and self-prepared matctials Among these types of materials, Powerbase belongs to the former one and Supplementary materials are of

the later one

2.2.2 Supplementary materials for language teaching

In Materials Development in Language Teaching, Tomlinson describes supplementary materials as “materials designed ta be used in addition to the core materials of a course They are usually related to the development of skills of reading, writing, listening or speaking rather than io the learning of language items’ (Tomlinson, 1998: xiii)

In our teaching place, most language teaching course books probably need to be used with supplementary materials To some extent, it is for the purpose of tailoring them to the needs of a particnlar class to help Ieamers master the [orsign language According to Ur

(1991) there are packages of supplementary materials such as computers, simplitied readers,

overhead projectors, posters, pictures, or games, etc Tach type, obviously, has certain contuibutions to language teaching and its own good points as well as drawbacks based on the use of teachers and learners in leaning a certain foreign language

2.2.3 Materials evaluation and the criteria for reading texts evaluation

Every language teacher needs to have the ability to evaluate their teaching materials, doth the course books and the supplementary materials - if they are available Materials

evaluation is defined differently by diffrent linguists such as Worthen and Sanders (1973 19}, Popham (1975: 8) and Brawn (1995: 218) Ilowever, the definition by Brown seems to

‘de a comprehensive one and suitable for (he purposes of the sturdy

“Evaluation is the systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to

promote the improvement of a curriculan, and assess its effectiveness and efficiency, as well

as the participunts’ attitudes within the context of the purticular institutions involved”

(Prown, 1995: 218) Materials are evaluated based on different criteria, Cunningsworth (1984: 5-6) sets ont the four principies of materials evaluation, which are widely applied by teachers and learners

in their own teaching and Icarning contexts They are

_ Relate the teaching materials to your aims and objectives

_ Be aware of what language is for and select teaching materials, which help equip your students lo usc language 2ffeetively for their own purposes

Keep your students’ leaming needs in their mind

_ Consider the relationship between language, the learning process and the learner The main concem of this study is reading materials Therefore, the author would like to introduce the criteria for reading texts evaluation made by Williams, D (ELT Journal Volume 37/3 July 1983) as follows

Offar exercises for understanding of plain sense and implied meaning, Relate reading passages to the readers’ background

_ Select passages within the vocabulary range of the pupils

_ Select passages reflecting a varicty of styles of contemporary English

11

To sum up, it is neoessary for DIL tøachers to get acquainted with the principles of materials evaluation in order to find out whether the materials are consistent with the objectives of the curriculum or not ‘Therefore, they can be decisive in choosing the appropriate supplamoniary reading materials using along with the course banks

2.2.4, Criteria for selecting appropriate supplementary materials

Tnrecert years, the use of supplementary mnaterials has beer of great importance Lo the success of language learning However, it is not always true that all language teachers choose the right and suitable ones fiom the ñrst place Language teachers need to be instructed

beferchand and they should boar in their mind the crit

materials, According to Nuttall (1996: 170), whenever we choose a text as supplementary material, we need to consider the three main criteria, namely, the suitability of the content,

svia for sclecting the most appropriate

exploitability and readability

Suitability of the content, as the author’s explanation, is concemed with the text’s ability to address students’ needs and interests A text with interesting content will make the

learners” task Gar more rewarding and the classroom will become more effective Sharing the same idea, William (1984) also confirms that students’ motivation for reading increase when

they read what they are interested in and that this results in reading improvement

Exploitability -rocans facilitation of leaming- is arguably the most important criterion

after interest A text is designed for both the purpose of entertainment and reading practice as well Tl should not only interest the readers, bul also help them develop their language

competence Therefore, when you exploit a text, you can make use of it to develop the students’ competence as readers A text that you cannot exploit is of no use for teaching even

if it interests the students

Readability is used to refer to the combination of structural and lexical difficulty That

means, the text chosen must be suitable with students’ proficiency levels of that language in

ters of vocabulary, syntax, and slyle In order to choose the texts thal are readable, leachers must know their students’ language proficiency so as to find out the right material for the sight level

materials evatnalion, tut also bear in their mind the thyce main erileria thal influcnee the

It gan be drawn thal the Titnilations lying in each of these models arc umavoidable, bal all of them make important contributions to the background knowledge about reading and materials in language teaching

In the next chapter the researcher would like to bring about the mam part of the study which includes the methodology employed in the study, the insiumens and procedures of data collection, Data fom the two sets of survey questionnaire will also be thoroughly analysed

13

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Background to the thesis and statement of the problem: Ihe English teaching and the current materials in use at NEU

English has always been regarded as an important and popular subject chosen to learn

by most students al National Rconamics University (NEU) among other foreign languages thal students have to leam at the university are Chinese and French The Faculty of Economics Foreign Languages are in charge of setting the syllabus, choosing teaching materials and supplementary materials There are major English and non-English major for students al NEU,

of which the subjectives of the study are the first year non-English major students They are to learn English in their first two years in four semesters with the total of 18 credits (A credits in

each of the first three semesters and 6 credits in the fourth semester)

When all nor-English major studenls enter the university, they have lo take an English

placement test Based on the result of the test, students are categorized into two groups, group

A and group B, Group A — for elementary level of English - incindes all students who have fiom 0 to 29 comcet answers of the total 50 questions Group B — for pre-intcrmediate level of English is for all students who have fiom 30 to 50 comact answers, Group A students are to study the course book called Powerbase — Elementary by David Livans whils group 18 students study a different course book namely Business Rastes by David Gran and Robert Mel arty Two years ago the series of Powerbase are chosen to be the main course books for all non- English major students at NEU fiom Elementary to Pre-intermediate level, Jlowever, the course book for the Pre-intermediate level has becn ehanged by another popular course book called Business Basics to provide students with more situations and vocabularies related to business and their real working life in (he Culure The course book Powerhane — Blementary is still used for the group A sindenls as ìL is swid to be one af the most updated malcrials to mect the demand of teaching and learning English at NEU

The following part comes with the description of the course book and the

supplementary material being used for first year non-English major students at NEU

3.2 The description of the materials

3.2.1, The course book

3.2.1.1 Book title: Powerbase - Elementary by David Evans, Longman 2002

3.2.1.2 Book objectives: According to Evans (in the introduction page for Powerbase -

Elementary in www-_longman.comypowerbase), this short course book has been

specially written for adults who need English for work, travel and everyday

situations It provides excellent preparation for other Business English Courses

With Powerbase, learners can:

- Start speaking immediately with clear, structured speaking in everyday lessons

- Revise basic grammar and learn to speak confidently about the past, present and future

- Learn the survival phrases and key words needed in their working life

= Practise essential listening and pronunciation skills

3.2.1.3.The structure of the course book:

The ten units of the course book are all divided into four double-page spreads, each of

which makes up a free-standing lesson which can be further divided if time is short At the end

of every two units, a Review spread tests and consolidates the learners’ knowledge and

understanding about the grammar, vocabulary as well as real world situations learnt in the two

units

Each unit consists of four main sections:

Introduction: A double-page spread introducing language related to the theme of the unit A typical spread introduces the language and then provides activities for development

and practice

Grammar: The main grammar points at elementary level are introduced and practised

ina context that continues the theme of each unit A grammar reference section at the back of

the Course book provides learners with additional support

Working Ife: Key functional tangnage is introduced in a work-related situation, and learners are given practical situations in which they can practise and personalise what they have learnt

Real world: This double-page spread extends the there of the moduls, with a subject ollen, but not always, associated with the working world Topies covered include telephoni

computer language, leisure interests and hotels

‘The course book Powerbase is accompanied by 2 cassettes or CDs containing exercises

to develop Ioarmers’ promunciation and listening skills, Powerbase Study Rook provides students with exercises of various types for students to practice in grammar, reading, writing and listening comprehension, Powerbase Teacher’s book provides teachers with suggestions for teaching methods, classroom activities and key to exercises in the Study book Additionally, at the ond of the Teacher's book there is an exit test with answers

3.2.2, The supplementary material used for the course book Powerbase— Elementary

Due to the fact that the course book mainly focuses on Listening and Speaking, skills, whereas the mid-term tests focus on Listening and Reading skills, a supplementary material is necded to help students have more excreiscs to practise reading skills The supplementary

material designed by teachers of group A contains 10 units corresponding to the ten mits in

the course book it aims at reinforcing the knowledge that students have learnt in their course hook However, the format of cach unit in the supplementary materiat is familiarized with the Toeic format as this is also the format of the reading mid-term tests, Each unit contains three sections: grammar, vocabulary and reading

- Grammar pattems scction provides students with exercises bascd on the format of

‘Tosie grammar questions It allows students to practise their understanding of the grammar points presented in the Powerbase — Elementary

- Vocabulary items tested in this section are key words taken trom the course book

‘They offer students to have chance to revise and enrich their vocabulary, Also, this section serves as a means fo provide students with useful vocabulary to facilitate their

teading comprehension.

- Reading materials are selected from different Toeic sources They are of typical types

which are commonly found in the Toeic All materials are processed to fit the need of

beginning level students at NEU

In short, the supplementary material of the course book Powsrbass is used with the

hope thal il can, lo some extend, lend itself o the success of the students in the course, especially in the mid-term test and the end-of{term test However, all the exercises in the

supplementary material are multiple choice ones and reading exercises are extracted from

some Tocic tests for beginners To some extend, these rcading exercises arc uscful as they

help students to famiharize with the format of the mid-term tests and with the various types of

texts such as letters, e-mails, notices, faxes, advertisements, ntenios, posters, articles, cle In

the course book Powerbase, although reading accounts for a small proportion, reading tasks

are more diversified than in the supplementary book with nudtiple choice, answering questions, irueffalsa, matching, olv Tn the supplementary material, however, there is only oni

type of reading exercise: Multiple choice In addition, the topics of the reading texts arc not

related to the ones in the cotuse book Consequently, with only one type of reading exercises,

long and difficult texts and unrelated reading lopivs, tho supplomenlary material makes many students get bored with reading lessons, They complain about the difficulty of the reading texts as well as fewer chances to practise various reading skills Some students even admit that though their resus of the twa mid-term Teeding tests are good, they find it hurd to read English comprehensively in their study and read life situations

With the hope to improve students’ reading skills, this study was an attempt to find a way of developing a more effective and appropriate supplementary reading material

3.3 The subjects

The study was carricd out with the participation of 20 (out of 28) group A teachers and

124 (out of 136) first year non-English major students

Among the teachers, 3 have been abroad for further study, 6 have M.A degree in Education or Linguistics and 3 are taking M.A course Most of the teachers have at least four

18 to 23, All of them have learnt English at high school and nearly complete their first year at the university However, students’ resull al the English placcmeri desl is not ao good, fram 0

to 29 correct answers of the total 50, therefore, their level of English proficiency is not so high and they are categorized of the elementary level

3.4 Instruments for data collection

The main means of data collection in this study is questionnaire which Hammer (1986) states as a relatively popular means of collecting data Questionnaire enables the researcher the need data in quantitative form and helps all informants have the chance to express their

altitudes toward to the questions surveyed Consequently, the rescareher can have more

uniform and accurate data from the survey

To cbtain data for the study, two written questionnaires were administered to the

subjects One was for the teachers and the other was for the students, ‘Phe questionnaires were designed with # mixture of clased and operrended questions, All the questions were simpts and concise as they were for the students of elementary level It consisted of 6 questions divided into 3 parts basing on ths three research questions The first part inclndes ths first two questions that dealt with the teachers and students’ evaluations of the cwrent reading section

in the course book Powerbase - Elementary The next two questions are for their evaluations

of the reading (exts irr supplementary nraletial used for the course book in developing reading skills, The teachers and students’ preferences tor other reading materials used for Powerbase were the focus of the last two questions Respondents could be tree to express their thoughts about the items raised in the survey questionnaires,

3.5 Dafa collection procedures

The data were collected on May 28", 2009 Firstly, the author observed her own classes (K50A7, KS0A37 and K50A39) to see how the teading lessons go on in these classes,

especially how, why and when to use supplementary reading materials to see students’

attitudes towards these activities

Secondly, another source of data collection was from informal interviews with both teachers and students in order to find ont their feelmgs in learning reading with the aid of supplementary matcrial for Powsrbasc

Later was the lwo sets of survey questionnaires aibministered ta teachers and students al

‘NEU For the teachers, the questionnaire was delivered to 20 teachers of English in Group KS0A on the day of Group K50A year-end summation meeting, when all of them have finished their tcaching, so they could have mote accurate evaluations of the materials they have taught during the school year ‘The anthor was always ready to answer any questions raised by the teachers and collected the questionnaire right after they were completed,

Owing to the fact that first year non-English major students at NEU are of elementary evel, the questionnaize given to them are in Victnamesc to cnsurc that all the respondents understand the content of each question well enough to give their own answer, Whsn the students received the questionnaire, the author went over the students in each class to explain carclully the aim of the survey and explained question by question to take sure thal they all fully and clearly understood the questions before giving their final answers

3.6 Data analysis

3.6.1, What are the teachers’ and students’ evaleations of the reading sections

in the course hook Powerbase — Elementary?

Question 1: What is the teachers and students’ general impression on the reading texts in the

course book Powerbase?

Boring 41%

IDifficult 7%, IiRelevant 14%

majority of the teachers (40%) and the students (41%) agree that the reading texts are boring

Whereas, 35% of the teaches and 38% of the students express their opposite opinion These

teachers and students find the reading texts in general interesting For them, the reading texts are not only on the famous people in the world, but also on the familiar things in life

However, only 3 teachers (15%) and 17 (14%) students think that the reading texts are

relevant None of the teachers, but 7% of the students think that the texts are difficult In the

‘others’ space, none of the students give any further comment on the reading texts in the

comse book, but 10% of the teachers state reading accounts for a small proportion in comparison with other three skills, and that reading is often followed by listening, with only one popular way of reading is listen and choose the correct given wards then read the passages aloud Posides, the roading toxts a2 loo short wilh only some general types of exorơises such as gap-filling, questions answering; muillipte choice questions, Truc/False

In short, it can be drawn from the data above that the reading texts in the course book generally creates some problems for both teachers and students in teaching, learning and developing reading skills The details of Ihe problem is clarified in the next quostion with the specific information about the topies, types of exercises, time allocation for reading, the length

and the level of difficulty of the reading texts in Powerbase

Question 2: How do the teachers and students find the reading texis in Powerhase -

Elementary?

a Topics:

Tahie Ì- The teachers and students’ opinions on the topics of the reading texts in Powerbase

‘The table shows that the teachers and the students generally share the same point of view

in giving their opinion about the lopics of the reading in Powerbase Although nearly Inf of the teachers and students agree that all the topics in the course book are familiar (as they are about the common things in life), they still emphasize the boredom of these topics 40% of the tgachors and 38% of the studonis find (ml the topics are boring as they aro only focus on some

popular topies related 10 real life more than to business As they arc studying al NEU, they

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hope to have more reading topics on business in order that they can not only improve their

English, bat they can also enrich their knowledge in business, On the contrary 30% of the

teachers and 21% of the students find these reading topics are interesting as they think that

although the reading skill is not focused in the course book, the roading texts appear to be

inleresting They arc mainty aboul the commen things and some famous peaple in real Fife

None of the teachers find the topics unfamiliar, while 5 out of the 124 students (4%) think that

the topics are unfamiliar

To sum up, the leachors and the studonts have slightly different opintans on the Lopics of

the reading texts in Powerbase

b Exercises:

Teachers’ choice Students’ choice Exercises

Number Percentage | Number | Percentage

E, Unsuitable for students of elementary level 0 0% 4 3.2%

Table 2: The teachers and students’ opmions on the exercises bypes of reading texls in

Powerbase

As illustrated in the table 2, most of the respondents find that the exercises in the course book are of only some general types 85% of the teachers and 61.29% of the students

agree that they are suitable for students of elementary level None af the leachers bul 3.2% of

the students state that these reading exercises are unsuitable Only 1 out of 20 teachers (5%)

thinks that the exercises are of various types, whereas 12 out of 124 students (9.67%) agree

with this point of view None of the teachers and studenls agroc that (hers is only one Lype of

Teading cxcreises in Powerbasc

Table 3- The teachers and students’ opinions on the time allocation for reading in Powerbase

‘The above table shows the biggest percentage of the teachers (95%) have the opinion thal the time allocation for reading in Powerbasc is not sulficisnt cnough, Similarly, a considerable number of students (79, 03%) do not find the time allocation for reading, is suitable enough for them to learn reading Whereas, 19.35% of the students and 5% of the teachers think that the time for reading is suitable, and cven 1.6% of the students state that the time is too much for reading

In short, most teachers and students still do hope to have more time for reading so that they can have more chances to improve and develop their reading skills

& The length of the reading texts in Powerbase

The length of the reading ‘Teachers’ choice Students’ choice

texts in Powerbave Nunber | Percentage Number | Percentage

Table 4: The teachers and students’ opinions on the length of the reading texts in Powerbase

As can be seen fom the lable 4, both the teachers and the students generally share the same pots of view on the length of the reading texts in Powerbase 90% of the teachers and 82.3% of the students think that the length of the reading texts is suitable for students of

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elementary level Towever, different views are also presented, Nona of the teachers but 3.2%

of the students find the reading texts in Powerbase too Jong, whereas 10% of the teachers and

14.5% of the students think these reading texts are too short

@._ Level of di ) of the reading texts in Pawerhuse:

Level of difficulty of the ‘Teachers’ choice Students’ choice

reading texts in Powerbuse | Ninber | Perceniage Number | Percentage

‘The figures in the table 5 show that both the teachers and the students still share the

same point of view on the level of difficulty of the reading texts in Powerbase Most of them

(85% of the teachers and 71.77% of the students) find the reading texts cause no difficulty for

students to understand None of the teachers think that the texts are difficult, while 10 students (8.06%) find il difficult to grasp 15% of the teachers and 20.16% of the students slate (hat the

reading texts in Powerbase are still too easy

All in all, the reading in the course book Powerbase - Elementary has been evaluated in terms of fopics, exercises, time allocation for reading, the length and the difficulty of the roatling texts; gencrally, most of tha Loachors and the students share the same points of view that these reading texts are suitable for students of elementary level, However, students still cannot develop their reading skills due to the insufficiency of time for reading, uninteresting roading topics and only sain basic Lypes of rcading exercises

In order to help students learn English better, especially to improve their reading skill, the teachers of Group A were assigned to design a supplementary material used for Powerbase Following is the ovalualion of both teachers and students on this supplementary material - focused on reading only

3.6.2 What are the teachers’ and students’ evaluation of the current supplementary

reading materials?

Question 3: What is the teachers and the students’ general impression on the reading texts in

the supplementary materials for Powerbase?

lEIInteresting 20%, ImBoring 30%

IriDimicult 10%

IriRelevant 25%, mothers 15%

share the same points of view in the first two options by expressing the fact that the reading

texts in the supplementary material are either interesting (with 20% for the teachers and 16%

for the students) or boring (with 30% for the teachers and 34% for the students), they show

different opinions in the next three options Only 10% of the teachers find the texts in the

supplementary material difficult, while 37% of the students choose this option Their opinions

are stili different in the fourth option with 25% of the teachers but only 8% of the students state that the material is relevant Besides the four mentioned criteria, 3 teachers (15%) and 6 students (5%) express their opinions of the reading texts such as the reading texts in the supplementary maicrial arc Loo long with loo mmy new words, ar the topics arc urmclated to

the ones in the course book, ote

The detail of the reading texts in the supplementary material, is clearly clarificd in the

Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage

A Totally related to the topics of the

reatling Lexls in Powerbase

B Tolally unrelated lo Ue topics of the

reading texts in Powerbase

C Only some of them are related to the

inalerial, but 10.5% of the siudents slate (hal the Lopics are totally relaled to the ones in

Powerbase, However, 25% of the teachers see that there are still some topics related to the

ones in Powerbase, and 19.3% of the students share this view Surprisingly, 6.5% of the

students compared to 5% of the teachers give their opinions in the ‘others’ box Toth these teachers and students find that a lot of the reading topics in the supplementary material are about the other things not the ones like in the course book Some students even feel confused when they dat with these texts and they sugges! (hat the lopics should bo solootod similarly wilh the ones they have learnt from the course book so as to help them cnrich their knowledge, their vocabulary, etc, In addition, students are of elementary level, so they hope to read some things more interesting that attract them right ftom the title but the reading must be familiar and within their rangc of background knowledge

‘Number | Percentage | Number Percentage

‘A Of the same types as the exercises

im Powetbase

of them think they are totally different Besides, in the ‘ethers* place, 2 out of 20 teachers and

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7 out of 124 students express their valuable opmions Specrfically, | teacher and 5 students say that the reading is too boring with only one type of exercises and the zest admit that students cannot develop their reading skills perfectly due 10 the monotonous type of reading

exereises,

c Time allocation for reading in the supplementary material for Pawerbase:

Time allocation for reading Teachers’ choice Students’ choice

in the SM for Powerbase | Number | Percentage Number | Percentage

‘The figures in Table 8 reveal that the students’ answers are in great harmony with the

teachers’ As much as 70% of the feachers and 72.6% of the students find ihat the time

allocation for reading in the supplementary material for Powerbase is suitable, Tn the supplementary material there are two reading passages in every unit However, there are 7 out

of 20 teachers and 32 out of [24 students do not share the same point of view According to them, the time for reading in the supplementary material is not sufficient cnough That means, they still have desire for more reading texts in this book As for them, the reading accounts for

a small part in Powerbase in comparison with other skills, so they hope to have more reading

the reading texts by the teacher Disappointingly, 2 students find that there is too much time for reading in this book

In short, both the teachers and students still share the sare poil of view in the tire

allocation for reading in the supplementary material for Powerbase Although many teachers

and students think the time is suitable, some of them still hope to have more time for reading

inthis book so as to cnhance their reading ability

@ the length of the reading texts in the supplementary material for Powerbase:

The length of the reading texts in Teachers choice Students’ choice

the SM for Powerbase Number | Percentage Number | Percentage

It can be inferred that a ot of teachers see The texis have suitable lenglh, however, many students complain the texts are too long with too many new words and structures which cause them lots of difficulties to read comprehensively ‘The details of the students” answers on the level of difficulty is presented in the table below

2 Level of difficulty of the reading texts in the supplementary material for Powerbase:

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Level of difficulty of the reading Teachers’ choiec Students’ choice

texts in the SM for Powerbase Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage

Table 10: The teachers and students’ opinions on the level of difficulty of the reading texis in

the supplementary material for Powerbase

The illustration in the Table 10 clearly indicates the differences in expr

opinions of the teachers and the students Once again, the teachers who select the reading emphasize that all the reading texts in the SM for Powerbase are suitable for students of

ng the

clementary level Thy may cause no difficulty for stuđents in doing thesc reading tasks as for them, the texts are fiom the Toeic books for beginners or starters, 90% of the teachers show their agreement, whereas only 25% of the students is for this option Many students find these

3.6.3 What do teachers’ and students expect of a supplementary reading material?

Question 5- Do the teachers and students think it is necessary to use supplementary materials

for the improvement of reading skill?

Chart 3a: The teachers’ attitudes

1B No 0% towards the necessary use of SM

for the improvement of reading skill

Chart 3b: The students’ attitudes

In 000) towards the necessary use of SM

In answering the question “Do you think it is necessary to use supplementary materials

for the improvement of reading skill?" , 100% of the teachers and the majority of the students

(97.58%) answer ‘Yes’, Only 3 out of 124 students say ‘No’, Obviously, all the teachers and

most of the students participated in the survey show their positive attitudes towards the

necessary use of supplementary material for the improvement of reading skill According to

them the combination between the current reading materials with supplementary reading materials is very necessary for them to have more chances to practise their reading skills,

enrich their knowledge, and develop their reading comprehension, etc in order to achieve the

objectives of the course Both teachers and students still expect to have a more suitable SM for

reading Their desire is clearly seen in the answers to the following question.

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Question 6: In your awn opinion, an ideal sapplementary reading material for Powerbase

should meet which of the following requirements?

reading material for Powerbase Munber Percentage | Number | Percentage

Reading passages are related to the readers?

19 95% 105 | 84.68% background

The reading lopics are the sare as the ones it -

1 5% 19 | 1532% Powerbase

Exoroiscs are of various types l6 80% 97 | 78.22%

“There are reading exercises which are similar

4 20% 71 S7269%n

to those that appear in the reading tests

Reading exercises are more difficult than the

4 20% 2 | 23.39% ones in the course book

Reading passages arc within the vocabulary

ne passe 7Í 85% 85 | 68.55% range of the students

Time is set for cach roading task 1 5% 4 | 332% Reading texts are of suitable length for

students of elementary level

Others 3 15% 2 1.6%

Table 11: The teachers and students’ opinions on a hetter supplementary reading material for

Powerbase

The ñgures in Tabls 11 reveal that the students’ answers are in fairly harmony with the

teachers’ The grealesl portion of students (84.68%) suggest [hat reading passages should be

related to the readers” social background and so do most of the teachers (05%) The next great

portion of teachers (80%) and students (78.22%) is in favor of varions types of reading

excreiscs, 85% of the teachars and 68.55% of the students slate thal the toarling passages

should be within the vocabulary range of the students Moreover, the teachers’ answers are in

line with the students’ in that 75% of the teachers and 77.12% hope to have reading texts with

tos

ho roadinys loxts with glossary Only 5% of the icachers hope to have the same lopies like the ones in Powerbasc, bul 15.32% of the students find having the same topies in the supplementary material is necessary, Furthermore, the time set for each reading task seem to

be not very important as few teachers (5%) and students (3.22%) care for this requirement,

s (1.6%) add that the reading, texts should have more interesting and realistic topics abont business, stedents’ life, education,

Besides the given requirements, 3 teachers (15%) and 2 studl

and fave, and one teacher states thal the reading must scrve to davelop students” roading skills She says the reading texts should be ranged from easy to difficult so that students can understand the basic rules of reading comprehension If the students begin with the difficult roatlings, they will find it hard lo earn reading and offen get hored with reading Tessons Sharing, the same point of vicw the other two teachers agree that the type of the reading texts is

also an important factor because it affects the students’ reading motivation

In short, both teachers and students still do hope to have a more suitable supplementary reading material for Powerbase, Apart (rom topics, time selting, and level of difficulty of the reading texts, a future supplementary reading material should be related to the readers? background, within their vocabulary range with various types of exercises and have suitable length so as ta interest readers and mature [họt readings skills