Luận văn an exploratory study on the teaching of pre reading skills to third year non english major students using new headway pre intermediate textbook at a university in hanoi

240 3.2.4, Teachers’ frequency of using activities to start a reading lesson questions 5, 6 „41 3.3.5, Teachers’ frequency of using other materials in teaching pre-reading question 3.2.1

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, IIANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LE THI HONG VAN

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE TEACHING OF PRE-

READING SKILLS TO TIMRD-YEAR NON-ENGLISILMAJOR

STUDENTS USING NEW ITEADWAY PRE-INTERMEDIATE

TBOOK AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOL

( Nghiên cứu thim do vé vide day ki nang tién doc hiểu theo giáo trình New Headway Pre-intermediate cho sinh viên năm thứ ba không chuyén tiéng

Anh tai mét tréng dai hoc ô Hà Nội)

MA MINOR TIIESIS

Field: English Teaching Methudology

Code: 601411111

Hanoi, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, IIANOT UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

LE THI HONG VAN

AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE TEACHING OF PRE-

READING SKILLS TO TIMRD-YEAR NON-ENGLISILMAJOR

STUDENTS USING NEW ITEADWAY PRE-INTERMEDIATE

TBOOK AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOL

( Nghiên cứu thăm dò về việc dạy kĩ nang tién doc hiểu theo giáo trình Net Headway Pre-intermediate cho sinh viên năm thứ ba không chuyên tẳng

4Inh tại một trường đại hạc ô Hà Nội)

DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP

Thereby certify that the thesis entitled:

“An exploratory study on the teaching of pre-reading skills to third-year non- English-major suudents using New [feadway Pre-Intermediate textbook at a university in Hanoi” is the result of my research for the Degree of Master of Art at University of Languages and Intemational Studies, IIa Noi National University, and the thesis has not

‘been submitted for any degrce at any other university or tertiary institution

11a Noi, Janmary 2014

Student

Lê Thị Hồng Vân.

‘have been able to finish this paper

My sincere thanks are also sent to my colleagues as well as students at the HAUI who are

willing to help me complete the survey questionnaires and classroom observations

Last but not least, I am really gratefid to my family and friends for their continual cncouragement during the time I conducted the rescarch Especially, I would like to give

my thanks to my boyfriend who is always beside me, takes care of me and willing to help ame solve IT problems

ABSTRACT

In most cases a common problem students experience in reading classes is the feeling that they have inadequate knowledge about the subject they are reading about Llowever, this fecling may be more complex than gencrally thought The problem tay not be the lack of

‘background knowledge, but rather the failure to activate that knowledge Some researchers state that pre-reading activities provide a reader with necessary background to organize activities and to comprehend the raterial, Owing to the obvious awareness of the greal importance of pre-reading activities to the teaching and leaming of reading, the researcher decided to have a study on this issue Firstly, she will take effort to explore what pre- reading aclivitiss are oflen applied by the lzachers to teach third-year non-English-anajor students at the HAUT using the textbook New Headway Pre-Intenmediate Moreover, she wonld like to present her suggestions of some appropriate pre-reading activities with the hope of helping students have molivation in leaning reading and improve their reading

skills

iti

ABBREVIATIONS

A Accounting

BA Business Administration

LVL Lnglishas a foreign language

ESL English as a second language

ESP English for specific purposes

HAUL — Llanoi University of Industry

3 Scope of the study:

4, Significance of the study: sesssmuennn meen

5, Research methodology

S.1 Participants

5.2 Research inSirttiehiS: co seo

6 Design of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

1.1 Theoretical background øF reading,

1.1.1 Definitions of reading and reading comprehension

1.1.2 Classification of reading .se:seneienmuennnsinnneniemeneneninnes ensenene 1.2 Teaching and learning reading skils

2.4, Data collection irtstrurnentation - 222

3.4.2 Classroorn ơbsorvatiotls ceee 23 2.5 Data analysis methođs có nnrieereirireriiirrareirrriirooeeoo2 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS

2 Students’ attitudes towards pre-reading activities (questions 2 3, 4) 36 3.1.3 Students’ awarenzss of teachers? Frequency of using pro-rcading activities and

3.2.2 Toachors" aituđas 1owards the roÏe o[ pro-rosding aolivitiss in a roading Lesson

3.2.3, Teacher's focus on their teaching reading texts (question 4) 240 3.2.4, Teachers’ frequency of using activities to start a reading lesson (questions 5, 6)

„41 3.3.5, Teachers’ frequency of using other materials in teaching pre-reading (question

3.2.10, Teachers’ suggestions and recommendations on the Pre-reading activities

3.3 Data analysis of classroom obscrvations AD

INTERMEDIATE TO THE THIRD-YEAR NON-ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS

AT THE HAU

4.1 Discussion of major findings

4.1.1 Teachers” and students’ awareness of the role of using pre-reading activities to

4.1.2 Frequency of using pre-reading activities in reading lessons 253

4.1.3 Students’ preferences for pre-reading activities 54 4.1.4, Teachers’ difficullics in designing and carrying oul the pro-roading activities 54 4.1.5, Teachers’ and students’ comments on Pre-reading activities available in the

book New Headway Pre-intermediate - - 55

4.2 Suggestions of some possibile pro-reading activities crnploycd to wach roading texts using the textbook new headway pre-intermediate to the third-year non-English-major

students at the HAU], si<eerereirrrroree ¬-

4.3.2 UsÏng gAHi€S, St tntrderireirirrrrrraerrrereeerroe SỐ,

SR 3.2 Resaarch quastio 2: à ccreeerrrere s0

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

vii

PART A: INTRODUCTION

4 Rationale

A special focus is received by reading in many second or foreign language teaching situations There contain a number of reasons for this Firstly, when leaming @ foreign Janguage students often have reading as one of their most important goals They would like

to able to read for information and pleasure, for their career, and for study purposes In fact, i most TIL, sitnations, the abilily to read in a forsign language is all what students ever want to acquire, Secondly, written texts serve various pedagogical purposes The process of language acquisition can be enhanced by extensive exposure to hnguistically comprohonsible written loxts Roading toxis with good quality also provide good models

for writing and provide opportuniti

‘Therefore, students and teachers alike highly value this skill

cs lo introduce new topics, to stimulale discussion

Reading has always been received a great amount of attention from both teachers and

sludents in the process of teaching and learming English as a forcign language in Vietnam

in general and at the Hanoi University of Industry (HAUI) in particular

In most universities in Vietnam, students are taught in non-native English environment

That is why they mect many difficultics in learning the four English skills effectively in

general and the reading skill in particular

“For many students, reading is by far the most important of the four skills in a second

janguags, particularly in English as a second or forcign language” as Carrel (1981: 1)

stated This is tue to the students at the HAUT, where leamers usually have to do exercises

and tests incinding many reading texts luturemore, after graduating they would probably have to work wit many English wrillen materials related to their majors, so Teading skill

plays an important role in helping them werk with those materials It is essential for then

to acquire the ability to read Linglish effectively and efficiently Nevertheless, although

teachers and sludents have taken strenuous efforts, sludents still often claim to have a lat of

difficulties in reading English textbooks or English materials, and therefore, they

sometimes find it inefficient when reading them

For third-year university students tearning Tngtish

sa nonamajor, although they have

‘een learning Enplish for at Jeast several years, it is still often so difficult for them to understand a text or a passage in English, since they usually lack vocabulary, srammar,

reading skills and possess poor background knowledge Besides, the teachers from time to time have to confront with difficultics in dealing with the students’ learning demand and newly introduced sources of materials, Additionally, it seems to be clear that teaching methods and teaching techniques im general still have not met the international standard of edncalion Tis necessary lo explore the arezs of students’ difficulty al the TAUL, the causes of their unsuccessful reading comprehension, and the teaching of pre-reading skills

‘thus, these reasons have inspired the study of “dln exploratory study on the teaching of pre-reading skills to third-year non-Ruglishmajor sudents using New Headway Pre- Intermediate textbook ul a university in Hanoi.” Tt is hoped that the study will make some contributions to improving the leaming of English in general, and the learning of reading int particular among ths third-ycar non-Rnglish-mgjor sindgals at the HAUI The author also hopes that it will be possible to make suggestions for the teachers to have good teaching pre-reading skill method in order to improve the situation of teaching, and learning

reading at the ITAUI

2 Objectives of the study

‘The study is carried out with two major objectives The first objective is to investigate pre-

reading techniques employed by the teachers of Rnygtish al the TAU, The second objective

is to give suggestions of some possible pre- reading activities that can be applied to teach the text book New Headway Pre-Intermediate to the third-year non-English mayor students

al the HAUL

In brief, these objcetives could be summarized mio two z reli questions as follows

Question 1; What pre-reading activities are often applied to teaching reading for third-year

non-Lnglish-major students at the [LAL using the textbook New Leadway Pre-

Talermnediale?

Question 2: What possible pre-reading activities are suggested to help improve reading skills for third-year non-English-major students at the ITAUI using the textbook New Headway Pre-Intermediate?

3 Scope of the study:

With the desire of improving reading skill for third-year non-Lnglish-major students at the HAUT, the teachars can make usc of various lachniquos and a number of things should be done, However, in this study, the author only intends to overview a brief of current sifuation of teaching and learning reading of third-year non-English-mayor students at the

2

ILAUI, and to suggest some possible activities that can be applied in the Pre-reading stage

so as to help students have motivation in rending lessons as help them become good and suecessfil readers

4 Significance of the study:

Once having been completed, the research would provide an exploration of the teaching af pre-reading skills to third-year non-English-major students, In addition, the importance of motivation to the reading skills in general and to the pre-reading stage in particular will be highlighled be the sluly Furthermors, thanks lo the useful findings of the sludy, toaehors

of English can be aware of the vital role of the pre-reading activities to the students’ motivation and effectiveness in reading lessons,

Mallick, 1999:129) It would be employed as a valuable research instrument to exammne

the targeted population

The observation checklist will be designed based on most of the questions in the survey questionnaires Based on the observation checklist, the direct observation of the two

5.2.3 Data analysis methods

In this study, the questionnaizes are designed with both closed and open-ended questions Therefore, the researcher decides to choose quantitative method which is known as the method used the range of mathematical and statistical techniques to analyse closed questions Besides, the qualitative methed which is used to analyzc unstructured data will

be employed to deal with open-ended questions of the questionnaires and the data from

classroom observations

5.2.4, Procedures of data arualysi

After the provess of data collection, the information gathered from the survey

qnestionnaires, and observations will be analyzed and synthesized, The dala collected from the survey questionnaires is going to be presenled in forms of tables The data from observation, then, together with the results from the questionnaire will be synthesized and summarized to find out and draw the teachers’ and students’ awareness of the importance

of the teaching of pre-reading skills in teading lessons, and their altiindes towards pre~ reading techniques and their comments and suggestions for these activities in order to achieve the aims of the research which were specified through the research questions

6 Design of the study

‘The research includes three main pats Part A is the Introduction, which is aimed at clarifying the rationale, ams, objectives, research questions, scope, research methodology and design of the rescarch Part B is the Development which contains 4 chepiors: Chapter

1 is the Literature Review which presents theoretical backeround reading and reading comprehension, the importance of reading in foreign language learning, the factors affecting

4

teaching and leaming reading have been mentioned, and the organization of reading

comprchension text is also mentionsd in this chapter Chapter 2 is the Methodology in which the researcher presents the setting of the study, the participants under the investigation, the assessment of reading material, and dafa collection instrumentations including survey questiormaires for teachers and studsnts, and classroom observations Chapter 3 is the Analysis of the data collected fom the questionnaires and classroom observations to state what was found, and to analyze and explain why the results came out as they did, and how

search

they helped to achiove the objectives of the stuly as well as to answer the Iwo

questions Chapter 4 presents major findings and the author’s suggestious of some possible pre-reading activities which can be applied to teach the third-year non-English-

awajor sludenis af the HAUT using tho lexthook New Headway Pre-Intermediato Part C is

the Conclusion, which summarizes the study and gives some limitations of the study and suggestions for farther study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

In this chapter, the author will focus on the concepts of reading and reading comprehension, The review consists of the definitions of each concept Besides, the classification of reading, the importance of reading in (foreign language learning, actors in teaching and leaning, orgamzation of reading comprehension text, the importance of pre- reading stage and pre-reading activities in leaming readiny are mentioned, Kinally, the literature review of previous studios relevant lo the study will be presented in this chapter

1.1 Theoretical background of reading

1.1.1 Definitions of reading and reading comprchension

4.1.1.1, Definitions of reading

It cannot be denied that reading is basic to all education systems in the world, the most important of the four language skills for EFL learners (Gu, 2003), and it involves to our daily activities more or less Ilowever, there has not been so far a common definition of reading because of its different understandings in different aspects Therefore, thre cxists many definitions of reading of many authors and each of them reflects what it means to the

writer (Good et af 1987)

‘The first definition of reading the author would like to mention in this part is the one which

is extracted from a general overview of reading “Reading is best described as an

is on the reader’s

understanding between the aulhor and the teader The empl

undorstanding of the printed pags bascd on the individua!’s unique background of experiences Reading is much more than just pronouncing words conectly or simply knowing what the author intends, it is the process whereby the printed page stimulates

on the printed page Therefore, the nature of reading kos the coneantration of all

1.1.1.2, Definitions of roading comprehension

Reading in gencral and reading comprchension in particular plays a cruvial part in Leaching and leaming a foreign language While reading does not involve any other activities, reading comprehension is the understanding of a written text which means extracting the required information from the lex! as efficiently as possible (Grellel, 1981: 3)

Moreover, Richard and Thomas (1987:143) state that “reading comprehension is a mental

‘process that in the final analysis, only the reader filly understands Comprehension is what

sitnuilales readars ta tomember their past experience, That knowledge is, thon, uscd in trying to get meaning out of print, Meaning does not reside in the printed page but rather in the mind of the reader.” indeed, reading comprehension is the level of understanding of a ioxlmossage This understanding coms from the indoraetion between the words thal ars written and how they trigger knowledge outside the text/message to the readers

From these ideas above, we can conclude that reading comprehension is the act of understanding what you are reading While the definition can be simply stated the act is not simple to teach, lam or practice, Reading comprchension is an intentional, active, interactive process that occurs before, during and after a person reads a particular piece of writing Besides, reading comprehension is so imporlanl because withonl comprehension, reading is nothing more than tracking symbols on a page with your eyes and sounding them out In addition, the words on the page have no meaning They are simply symbols People read for many reasons bul understanding is always a part of their purpose Reading

understanding the message they convey, in other words “making sense” of a written text It does nol, normally involve saying the words we read, nol even silonily inside our heads,” Another definition of silent reading was presented that “.,.as an in-classroom reading activity in which students are given a certain amount of time to silently read self-selected mialerial for pleastr or information as a way of cultivating 4 love of reading without assessment, skills work, monitoring, or instruction fiom the teacher” (Garan & DeVoogd,

2006; Yoon, 2002) in short, silent reading benefits the user as it provides them a better

understanding of whatever they arc Teading This is largely because the rearing of Ihe text

is more important to silent readers than the ward pronunciation in those who read orally

“The reason for the effectiveness of silent reading is that there are no delays that are linked

to the pronunciation of difficalt words, Actually, pronunciation greally limils and reduces the speed at which oral readers read their matezials, an issue that does not affect those who silently read Undoubtedly, silent reading is a good technique for reading comprehension which helps students answer the questions following the text well

1.1.2.1.2, Reading aloud

Reading aloud is totally different from silent reading According to Doff (1988:23) reading

aloud is “nol just 1o understand a text bul lo convey the information to some else” Te added that “it is not an activity we engage in every often outside the classroom; common examples are reading out parts of a newspaper article to a friend, or reading a notice to other people who carmol see it” Thus, it is clear that “reading aloud involves locking al a

ioxl, understanding it und saying i”, Having the same opinion Abott and Wingard (198T 82) stated that “te readers is often merely mouthing meaningless language because of lack

of rehearsal and time to comprehend what he has to read aloud”

Tt can be concluded that teading aloud just may take students’ allontion on prommeiation not their understanding of the text, Indeed, when reading aloud the readers just focus on how to pronounce the words correctly but they do not take care of what those words say what, Conscquently, after reading the text they have no actual understanding of what they have read Besides, in the classroom, only the reading student is active, the other students

do not have to do anything or they will so something else not related to the reading lesson

because Ihoy have lo wait for their tums Io road the text, This men that iL will be 8 waslg

of time and it has a bit valuable in helping students improve their reading skill However, it cannot be denied that reading aloud also have some benefits in some expects Reading

8

alond is a wonderful tool to help students learn to read smacthly and build fluency skills, contimaily and confidencs I will also allow readers to listen back for thet voiec

Furthermore, reading aloud helps improve the readers’ diction and expression, which they will then transfer into their speaking voice and writing vaice In short, reading aloud has both advantages and disadvantages

1.1.2.2 According to purpose

It is obvious that different kinds of reading skills meet different purposes ‘Therefore, according to the purposes, thore are four main kinds of roading skills: skinmning, searming, extensive and intensive reading,

1.1.2.2.1 Skimming

According lo Grolict (1981: 19) skismming was defined that “When skimming, we go through the reading material quickly in order to get the gist of it, to know how it is organized, or to get an idea of the tone or the intention of the writer.” Sharing the same point of view, Nuttall (1982: 36) stated that “By skimming, we mean glancing rapidly through a text to determine whether a research paper is relevant to our own work or in order to keep ourselves superficially informed about matters that are not of great

impurlance to us”

Indeed, speed reading is a good way to absorb a lot of printed information quickly, but

sometimes you just need to get the gist of what is being written about, without all the

details Tha’s when knowing how to skim lext cart be helpful When you skirn a page, you

take Tho main ideas from the reading matsrial without reading all the words Readers skint

when time is short or when they need to understand the general ideas but not the paiticulars

of an article or book Moreover, main ideas are usually found in the fizst sentences of each paragraph and in ihe first and last paragraphs I is also uscfal to pay allention wo th: organisation of the text

To conclude, skimming is known as a helpful technique for reading comprehension which allows students to gct the main ideas of the text without focusing on the details Therefore, skimming is a useful reading skill for students, and it is advisable to apply at the first stage

of teaching reading because it can give them a more accurate picture of text to be read

later

1.1.2.2.2, Scanning

Scamming occurs when a readler looks quickly through the loxt scarching for a specific pizce

of information or to see if the text is suitable for a specific reading purpose That means scanming is selective reading, it helps students to choose the right text and understand it well, Notialt (1982:36) sialed thal “By scanning we mean glancing rapidly through a texi either to search for a specific piece of information (¢.g, a name, a date) or to get an initial impression of whether the text suitable for a given purpose (eg whether a book on gardoriing deals with the cultivation of a partiontar vogolable)

Indeed, scanning is used when a specific piece of information is required, such as a name, date, symbol, formula, or phrase, is required ‘The reader knows what the item looks like and so, knows when he has looalsd whai he was scarching for His assumed then, thal very little information is processed into long-teum memory or even for immediate understanding because the objective is simply matching

Additionally, according to Grellet (1981) scanning and skimming are both reading techniques that are necded for quick and cfficicnt reading, they should not be sclected

separately Besides, Davies, F (1995:137) asserted that “it is difficult to drawclear

boundaries belween the types of reading termed skimming and scarming; in real life, scanning inevitably involves some skimming (and skipping) of large sections of text, and skimming, reciprocally, must embrace some scanning.”

1.1.2.2.3 Extensive reading

Brown (1989) oxphains thal oxte carricd ont "lo achieve a generat understanding ofa text." Sharing the same idea, Long and Richards (1971, p.216) identity extensive reading as “occuring when students read large amounts of high interest material,

Actually, in extensive reading, reading is in quantity and in order to again a general understanding of what is read It is intended to develop good reading habits ‘'o build up knowledge of vocabulary and structure also ccoumaga a like for reading, Dahman, M (1978; 115) stated the extensive reading is a dluency activity mainly including global understanding of longer reading text, Extensive reading activities are usually done for

10

one’s pleasure’ enjoyment for example, in daily life our reading objective constantly varies, when planning xc

Extensive reading is considered to be usetill for students’ selftieamning, Their reading habits and passion for reading are also formed through extensive reading Students can choose what they want (o Tead based on their inferesis, what materials Ihey like and read for theix own purpose for pleasure or entertamment, Getting the extensive reading programme off to a good start is also vital ‘The aim is for an initial successfull experience

so that students discever thoy can toad i

English and that they onjoy il This positive experience should stimulate them to read more, increasing motivation, enjoyment and a desire to read However, it is more effective if students’ extensive reading is followed an instructional progrant with the hidlp of the reading teachor Indeed, the loachor pheys an important role in encouraging and assisting the students with their reading, which the students undertake during and after class

1.1.2.2.4 Intensive reading

In comparison with cxtcnsive reading, intensive onz which has another name “reading for

accuracy” (Brumifit, 1977; Nuttall, 1982) seems more difficult It involves approaching the

texl under the guidance of a teacher or a task which forces the students to focus on the text” (Nuttall, 2000:38) In the view of Nuttall(1982: 23) “The aim of intensive reading is

to amive at a profound and detailed understanding of the text: not anly of what it means, bat atso of how the meaning is procluced The “how” is as imporlanl as the “what”

Intensive Reading ovewss when the Jearnor is focused on the language rathar than the Lox! For example, the leamer may be answering comprehension questions,leaming new vocatniary, studying the grammar and expressions in the text,translating the passage, or ofher tasks that involvs the sludznt in looking intensively the text, Most often all the students read the same short text that the teacher decided, In other words, students read intensively to attain fill comprehension context, language pattems of the text, the purpose and attitude of the writer,

“The advantage of intensive reading is that it focuses the leamer on certain aspects of the language However, intensive reading is usually done with difficult texts with many unknown words that require Ihe Icarner fo usc a dichonary This means the readings is stow and that there are f2w opportunities for the leamer to learn to read smoothly, because she has to stop every few seconds to wark on something she can't understand ‘This slows or

prevents the development of Euent eye movements that are so necessary to improve one's reading skill, Intensive reading is the most typically tanght method of teaching reading,

‘Unfortunately some teachers only know this method and believe that by teaching the vocabulary and grammar that is all the leamer needs, ‘This is not so, she also needs

practice in reading and Lo be trained in developing reading skills

1.2 Teaching and learning reading skills

1.2.1 The importance of reading in forelgn language learning

IL is a well-known fact thal when there were no telovistons or compulcrs

reading was a primary leisure activity People would spend hours reading books and travel to lands far away in their minds ‘Ihe only tragedy is that, as time goes on people have lost their skill and passion lơ read, Thore arc many othor exciting and thrilling options available, besides books, And that is a shame because reading ofits a produetive approach to improving vocabulary and word power

Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes Reading is an activity that involves greater levels of conccntration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader It is an indulgence that enhances the knowledge acquired, consistently The habit of reading also helps readers lo decipher new words and phrases that they come across in everyday conversations The habit can become a healthy addiction and adds to the information available on various topios it helps us to stay in- touch with conlemporary writers as well as those from the days of your and makes us

sensitive to global issucs The leaching and learning of reading are always rocoived much attention in the process of teaching and teaming a second or foreign language with the

reason that it is considered as one of the most important major skills as what Carrell (1971:

1) stated: “for many students, reading is by far the mast itaportanl af the four macro skits, particularly in English as a second or foreign language”

Furthermore, reading a foreign language in general, reading English in particular seems to

‘be protty necessary to everyone nowadays At current time, human has cntered the 21st century, an era of intellectual economy or rather the Intemet Peoples' knowledge is increasing at an astonishing speed By the way of reading ,a learner can master these high- tech und cultural knowledge concerning Fnglish -spoaking comtrics As reading is the only time-saved way to absorb foreign advanced technology, by reading, we can leam

amore and make contributions to the construction of ous motherland In that case, reading Decomes nee

sary and urgent

By reading a lot, one can advance their English background knowledge and broaden his ot her vision, inspire his thought, build the values, train the creative performance and develop his intelligence 1f a parson master the English reading skills and form » good reading habit, she ot he can master English forever

1.2.2 Factors in teaching and Fearning reading

1.2.2.1 The role of reading texts

According fo Billows (1982:55), he thinks that “the role of the textbook is to stand for the distant and hardly accessible delights that lie behind the forbidding barriers of strangeness

of fanguagy, the imaginative tife of the child as well as its craving for knowledge” Indccd, the textbook plays an important role in helping the readers get over the obstacles of abstraction of language, help them reach the understanding of the familiarity of it, and the desire of mastering it

Itis doubtless that reading texts is an csscntial part in teaching reading, In the viewpoint of Grellet (1981:20), he obviously presents this idea “it is obvious that being aware of the function of a passage is vital lo ils comprehension Therefore, one of the very first things students should be led to do is to find out whether the text aims at convincing the reader, giving him information, asking him for something, etc.” Moreover, reading texts both

provides sludents wilh a valuable chance af approaching to the phonetics, I and gramunatical itams of the targel language and a chøneo to develop other three tanguage skills

Besides, engaging all students in a themed study or unit 1s a challenge that teachers can resolve by using materials thal match sludents* independent ar instructional roading levels When students face textbooks that are above their reading levels, teachers can help them access the reqnired information by filling their classrooms with multiple texts that vary in readability level, Multiple texts improve students’ application of reading—thinking strategies, build confidence, and develop the motivation to leam, ‘Through the use of mniitiple texts, all students have the opportunity to lean new information and make mcaningful conlributions ta discussions Morcover, varicd ioxts provids multipls perspectives that help students rethink events and issues that impact everyone and deepen their knowledge of literary genres Actually, through the texts, students can broaden their

3

splendid knowledge in different fields such as science, socisty, economy, technology, history cle which ar very uscful for them io improve their other language skills,

Therefore, the students can get effectiveness in applying what they have leamt from a reading text to different purposes of language study and communication ‘Thus, it is apparent to coneluds thal the reading texts possess great educational values,

1.2.2.2, The role of tracher

Itis generally accepted that the teacher plays a major role in determining the effectiveness

of ä roading instructional program Dufty-Hestor (1999: 492) perhaps stated il best wher she noted the role the teacher played in helping children learn to read: “I am convinced that the teacher is more important and has a greater impact than any single, fixed reading program, method, or approach”, In addition, iLis clear thal in a roading class, it is nol casy

for students to be efficient readers without the teacher’s facilitation and orientation according to Firochiaro’s opinion (1969:23): “in a reading class, a teacher should help the students comprehend printed materials and provide them with the knowledge and the ability to cnable them to read other materials out of class”

In the light of Nuttal’s suggestion (1982): “there are two main things that a teacher should always rernember in helping students, The first is to provide the students with suitable materials, and the second is to provide them with suitable teaching activities”, we can see that providing students with opportunities to apply their reading skills and strategies in meaningful conlenl areas appears lo be extremely important, however, teachers mest bs

1.2.2.3 The role of students

In the viewpoint of Nuttall (2000:33), several major roles of students in a reading lesson

are stated as follow:

- Taking an active part in leaming: Thịs is the first and foremost responsibility of the

learner They have fo be active and lake chay,

of what they do

- Monitoring comprehension: Students need to understand how texts work and what they

do when they read

- Leaming text talk: Tt is clear thal a goad reader caries on a dialogne with the Lext Consequently, the students have to lean how to do this An effective way to promote this skill is to talk about texts in class

+ Taking risks: Sludenls have to luke the tisk of making mistakes boumuse a mistake is an opportunity to learn

- Learning not to cheat oneself Leaming to read is leaning to give students enormous

advantages in HẾ» HH may leød lo beter jols, lo pơrsơnal đavclopmert, inlsresi snd enjoyment Students who do not want to Iearn to read can easily cheat but they are only cheating themselves

Besides, a reading lesson cannot be successful and effective if there lacks students” or teachers’ patticipation Therefore, teaching and lcaming is interdependent because the teacher needs to provide students with the Inowledge tools and skills for a global society and sturtonis need ways lo access the learning for acadermie achievernent

students road any texi, teachers can direct their allention to how a text is erganived, teach

unfamiliar vocabulary or other concepts, search for the mam idea, and provide students with a purpose for reading Most importantly, teachers can use prereading strategies to

inercass students’ interest in a text

Moreover, three strategies are suggested to be used in this stage as follow:

~ Establishing a purpose for reacting In the pre-read stage, the teacher establishes a purpose for studlonts* reading Thal is, the teacher lakes inta account the students” language and proficiency levels and determines the appropriate tasks for them to complete

- Activating and building background knowledge Reading comprehension research tells us that the students benefit in three main ways from having an intreduction lo the topic of an informational text before they begin to read First, an introduction helps students to recall any information that they may already know about the topic, Second, getting the students

to start to think about the lopie should increase their inlerest in the topic and thereby motivate them to read the text Third, if the introduction activity is conducted in English, it will also review or introdnoe the relevant vocabulary for that topic

+ Previewing the text to build expectations Previewing the toxt is @ useful preparation activity (Dole 2t al 1991) which enables students to establish their own expectations about what information they will find in the text and the way that information will be organized

We can also use series of statements, instructions, and/or questions that leads students

through the assigned readings and indicates what information is important, how a paragraph

ar saolion is organized, and whal is to bo Iserned Those are usofid in guiding the students through the text, but considerably more work for the teacher, Pattern study guides, which are somewhat more limited in scope, focus the students* attention on the ways that paragraphs, or oven larger unils of text, arc Lypically strucharcd ta represen! relationships between the main idea and subordinate detail, cause and effect, comparison and contrast, problem and solution, and so on The most familiar form of pattern study guides is the traditional outline, by having the students complete an outline or fill ina graphic, teachers can help students to perceive the relative importance of text concepts and how these ideas are related to one another

1.2.3.3, Post-reading stage

Comprehension questions are just one form of activity appropriate for post reading The teacher should also consider vocabulary study and ask students to identify the author’s

16

purpose, discuss the author’s line of reasoning, examine grammatical structures and steer

io the fearners’ knowledge interests, and opinions

Once the main ideas of the text have been reviewed, work on discrete elements of the passage can be undertaken Exercises could focns on grammar points, vecabulary in conlext or word roots, or discourse markers, OF eaurse wo do nol iced to do all of those exercises with each reading, for it will cause negative results when analyzing the, Careful choices should therefore be made depending on the character of the text and the needs of

the students

The final segment of the post-reading stage should be devoted to integrating the new information fom the text with what the students already know In the context of College English course, the usual means of doing this is through a writing assignment, but other techniques should also be used frequently, including discussions, debates, and role-plays

“The choice in this case depends on the inclinations of the class, and, to some degree, the need for variety

In conclusion, the teaching reading can be divided into three stages, namely, the pre- reading stage, the while-teading stage and the post-reading stage In each stage a certain arom of activities can be applisd Teaching reading in such a way can provitle students with the skills and stralogics needed to become an officiont, effective, and independent yeader and in the mean while, the teaching can also meet the requizement fiom the

students

1.3 The importance of pre-reading stage and pre-reading ac

ilies in learning reading

Jecksembiewva (1993) studied “Pre-reading activities in EFL/ESL reading textbooks and Turkish preparatary school teachers’ attitudes toward pre-reading activities” and concluded that pre-reading activities contributed 10 comprehension of the texts, thus, the teacher found the activities to be usefial in the classroom setting

Different schemma-aclivaling activities should be used in reading classes The aim of using activities is to activate the readers’ background knowledge, to prevent failure, and to support the readers” inferpretation of the text Adra (2000) studied “Lhe role of content

schema related to pre-reading activities” and stated the effectiveness of the activities on

s These reading activiti

‘between the reader and the text, which is, as Widdowson terms it, “authentie” (Wallace, 1992), Moreover, Ur (1996) emphasizes that the aim of pre-reading activities is to provide anticipalion and activate reader’s schema The purpose of including these activities is lơ

veaders’ comprchension of the $ can promote interaction

develop a better awareness of the relationship between the reader’s meaning and the author’s meaning, and to help readers have deep understanding of the teachers” expectations and views

Indeed, pre-reading stage plays an important role in reading comprehension Besides, it is

no doubt that appropriate pre-reading activities also contribute great importance to the

success of the toaching and learning roading at the first stage Owing to the awareness of this, the author decided to choose the pre-reading stage among the three stages of reading comprehension to investigate on her study with the hope of exploring the suitable pre- reading activities which teachers should apply to their teaching to help students have more cffkotivc reading lessons

1.4, Literature review of previous studies relevant to the study

‘There exist some researchers Lave studies on pre-reading activities For example, Rgitimds and Uygulama have a study on “The effects of pre-reading activities on ELT trainee teachers’ comprehension of short stories” [his study intended to investigate the effects of pre-reading activilies on TILT trainee teachers? reading comprehension of short slories An exploralory quasi-experimental design was chosen for the sturly sines thars were alroarly

two intact groups of students in the ELT department where the study was conducted A Previewmg/Brainstorming activity was used as the treatment condition vs a Brainstorming only concition Th

tudy conchutes that Previewing activities contribulc immensely to the comprehension of short stories and can be usefully used to help readers digest new stories Another study made by Mai (1999) is aimed at working out the most effective and suitable pre-reading activitics for students at sccondary and high schools

Moreover, Parviz Ajideh (2006) had a study on “Schema-theory Based Considerations on

Pre-reading Activities in ESP Textbooks” This study argues that background knowledge can be provided as a protoading activily prior to roading Tl is suggested that prior to reading the instructor can highlight those lexical elements in a text that seem to be in close relationship with the topic of the text and by making them transparent, the relevant

iB

schemata can be activated in the reader's mind Vinally, the author deals with the question

of proveading activities in ESP textbooks writien for Iranian students as univ

by SAMT, and have a close lock at the pre-reading tasks suggested in one of these textbooks Kei Mihara (2011) studies an issue on “Effects of Pre-Reading Strategies on

sily books

EFIESI Reading Comprehension” This study focuses on two pre-reading strategies:

vocabulary pre-teaching and comprehension question presentation The researcher investigates whether their claim is true of Japanese university students, ‘The porpose of the

study is Iwofold The first goal is to cxamine the effects of the two pre-reading stralegics; the second is to discuss the relationships between students’ English proficiency and their reading comprehension This study indicates that vocabulary pre-teaching is less effective for Japanese students, although students with highor English proficincy outperformed lowerlevel students regardless of which pre-reading strategy they used,

Another study will be reviewed here is “Pre-Reading Activities and Iranian EFL Leamer’s Performance in Reading Comprehension” by Massoud Rahimpour (2013) The present study is an attempt to investigate the impact of two different types of pro-reading activitics

of 1: glossary of unknown vocabulary items and 2: content related support on EFL

Jeamers’ performance ơn reading comprehension across low proficiency and high proficiency levels, Each level consisted of two experimental groups One experimental group received glossary of unknown vocabulary items while the other group received content related support (in writlen form) wilh the aim of activating prior knowhedge before

adrninis

cring reading comprehension questions The rosulis of the statistical anatysis of the data revealed that two types of pre-reading activity and proficiency level shad positive effect on the leamers’ reading comprehension ‘The study suggests that appropriate and

in teaching reading comprehension with differcnt participants in

be applied to touching roading lessons to the third-year non-English-major students al, the

HAUL

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

In the Chapter T, the literalure review has given as @ thcoretical basis for the sludly This chapter would give the setting of the study and describe the method to answer the research questions in detail, ‘The participants, the data collection instruments, and the data analysis would be justified

2.1 The setting of the study

‘the study was conducted at HAUL At this university, English is taught to non-English-

Trajor studcnts in formal setting wilh (oo stages Dusing the firs! stage, which consists of the first five terms, the students study peneral English with four language skills mainly speaking, listening, reading and writing ‘The materials chosen are International Express Flamentary, International Exp

Headway Pre-Intermediate, Talk Time, KET Objective In the second stage, students study ESP such as English in Economtics, English in Tourism, English in Chemical Technology, English in Mechanics However in reality, the four language skills are not taught as

Pro-Intermediate, Now Headway Flemenlary, New

separate subjects They are only parts of cach unit The students arc supposed to have acquired these skills at the first stage

To work out Ihe problems in leaching and learning reading comprehension in general and

in the pre-reading stage in particular of the teachers and the third year students at their first semester at HAUL, it is important to refer to data gathering through survey questionnaires, survey observation then come up with certain findings an the teaching and learning reading

perceived by the third year students and teachers at HAUL

2.2, Participants

2.2.1, Teachers af English

The study was camied out with the participation of 30 full time teachers of English at TLAUL Of the 30 teachers, they all have Diploma Degree in English while 25 of them have M.A Degree in English Teaching Methodology and English Linguistics, and five others are participating in the M.A Degree in English course Most of them have at least three vears

of working as a teacher of English at HAUL, therefore, with no doubt, they are experienced and onlhusiastie teachers, they are abways willing to help their sludents overcome the difficulties and make progress in learning English

ading stags and the source New Headway

20

2.2.2 Students

‘The 100 students under investigation arc in the first scrnester of the third year al HAUL Both male and female students’ ages are ftom 21 to 22 They come fiom the two difitrent

departments which are Business Administration (50 students), and Accounting (30

sudenis) They are supposed lo have equal knowledge of Fnglish before entering the HAUI since most of them have leat English for at least 7 years (from grade 6 to grade 12

at school) ‘They come from different family backgrounds Some of them come from Hanoi and other cities, the test come from different provinces around the country They have completed their tirst four terms of the four-year course Their level of English proticiency does not vary a lot At this stage, they are supposed to be at intermediate level of English

2.3 Material

‘The materials are variedly used to teach leamers about languages They can be extracted

from a textbook, a newspaper, a magazine, an advertisement, an interview, a story, a novel,

ete

At HAUI, the two main kinds of resources of matcrials in tcaching and learning English are general English and ESP materials The using of the textbook New Headway Pre-

intermediate by Liv, Jolm Soars & Sylvia Wheeldon is applied to the teaching to students

at the fifth term This book consists of 12 units and at this term the last 6 units (fiom unit 7

to unit 12), which are covered in 90 periods (each period lasts 45 minutes), are used to

teach in the course

This book is designad as a textbook so four skills arc al dhe sarne timc crphasived

However, each skill is set in each particular part Therefore, it is easy for both teachers and

students to teach and learn Hor example, cach unit consists of the following parts:

Grammar spal, vocabulary aud spouking, reading and

everyday English, Moreover, in this textbook, the different skills are combined to each other to get the more effective results For the reading texts, they are challenging but accessible reading tasks which build students skills and wider knowlcdg: about varied ñelds

king, listening and speaking,

Being a textbook, New Headway Pre-intermediate provides reading texts of various topics

based on the thorne of cach unit, For cxampla, the thems of unit, (0s “Things that changed the world”, and the reading texts in reading part are “The discovery of DXA”, and “The invention of Google”,etc it seems to be easily realized that various topics given in the

2L

reading texts ars beneficial for readmg comprehension developmentand for enriching

further knowledge for learners However, thi

we niol designed for reading skill improvement, so it is difficult for the teachers to foster their students’ reading ability if they do not set task for reading and employ suitable reading techniques

Furthermore, reading texts in this couse book are not designed specially for leaching reading so reading activities are not set: no pre-reading activities, no while-reading activities and post-reading activities What are given at the end of the reading texts are

sume gonoral cxcreises, in addition, all tho roading texts ara presonled in form of a narrative, Thus, the chance to get access to varied forms of text presentation of students is limited

2.4, Data collection instrumentation

To achieve the research objectives, the data collection process is a combination of using survey questionnaires, classroom observations,

2.4.1 Survey questionnaires

‘Survcy-questionnaires were chosen because “questionnaires can provide data economically and in a form that lends itself perfectly to the purposes of the study if well-structured” (Mallick, 1999:24), By designing and delivering a questionnaire, a large amount of information can be gathered fom a great number of participants in a shout tame

2.4.1.1 The questionnaires for the students

‘The questiomaire consists of 16 questions and was designed to gel information concerning

1 Students’ general assessments about reading texts in their course book (including

question 1)

2 Siudenis’ attitudes towards pre-reading activities (including quastions 2 , 3, 4)

3 Students’ awareness of teachers’ frequency of using pre-reading activities and supplementary materials in teaching pre-reading (including questions 5, 6, 7, 8)

4, Students’ preferences for Pre-reading techniques (including questions 9, 10, 11, 12,

13, 14, 15)

5 Students’ comments on the Pre-reading activities in the text book New Headway

Prointermedialc Ginctuding qucstion 16)

2.4.1.2, The questionnaires for the teachers

‘The questionnaire designed for the teachers consisting of 13 questions aims at finding out:

22,

1 ‘Teachers’ attitudes towards the reading texts and pre-reacling activities in a reading

9 Teachers’ comments on Pre-rcading activitics available in the book New Headway

Pre-intermediate (including question 12)

10 Teachers” suggestions and recommendations on the Preveading activities (ncludirys question 13)

2.4.2 Classroom observations

Together with the survey questionnaires, classroom observation is also “a lool for

collecting information without di

& Mallick, 1999:129), It would be employed as a valuable research instrament to examine

‘the targeted population

ly questioning on the part of the rescarcher” (Vajendra

Mackey & Gass (2005:176) said that obscrvations are useful to collect large amounts of Tich data on the participants’ behavior and actions within a specific setting Furthermore, with carefully designed checklist, observation was a good method to ensure the validity of information collceted from the survey questionnaires Therefore, the data and information collected from survey questionnaires could be checked, thus the gathered results were more detailed and reliable Kor the above reasons, observations were exploited as the secon tool of this sludy

The author of the study randomly chose 2 classes (BA 5 and A 7) to observe, She watched and followed all the provedures and activities the teachers and the students were

33

performing in the real classroom settings, which permitted the researcher to elicit reliable data, In other words, i is a moans to check the reliability af the dala collected for the

survey questionnaires

‘The observation was carried out twice at two different units and with different teachers in these classes Fach lesson Tasted 45 mines; the researcher has sel a clear checklist for her observation including the students’ attitudes towards the teachers’ activities, their involvement in the activity and their interaction with each other while doing the tasks She also observed the stidonis* reactions to Pro-roading activities craployed in the fesson as

well as their preferences for these techniques

‘two reading lessons were chosen to be observed are presented in Units 9 & 10 The

reading lext in Unit 9 is aboul Travel addlicis The students read about a different lopic in

‘Unit 10 which is a discovery and an invention that changed the world The purpose of choosing these units is that the researcher would like to observe how the teacher deal with Jong reading texts with different types of exercises following the text and what techniques

the teachers uscd at the pro-rcading stage to motivate students in reading these texts

2.5 Data analysis methods

In this study, the questionnaires are designed with both closed and open-ended questions Therefore, the researcher decides to choose quantitative method which is known as the method used the range of mathematical and statistical techmiques to analyse closed qnestions Besides, the qualitative inethod which is used to malyve unstructured data will

‘be employed to deal with open-ended questions of the questionnaires and the data from

classroom observations

1⁄4

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS

In this part, the researcher will present the treatment of all data collected from the survey questionnaires conducted on 100 third-year non-English-major students and 30 teachers of

English at the HAUI as well as from the author's observations in two classes

3.1 Data analysis of the students’ survey questionnaire

3.1.1, Students’ general assessments about reading texts in their course book

(question 1)

3%

@ A interesting 8B boring

C suitable

8D.ensy

WE difficult

Chart 1a: Students’ general assessments about reading texts in their course book

According to the illustration of question 1 in chart la, we can clearly see that most

students, which account for 40% and 30%, find the texts used in the course book New

Headway Pre-Intermediate suitable and interesting respectively Indeed, thanks to learning

reading, particularly learning reading through the course book New Headway Pre- Intermediate, the students are able to enrich the background knowledge, improve their reading skill, enlarge their source of vocabulary, grammar structures, and get pleasure and

information as well 15 of them who make up 15% in total say that the texts are difficult

because there are a number of new and unfamiliar words which they do not know in the texts Only 5% say that the texts are easy to them The rest 10 students claim that they feel boring about the texts in the course book

3.1.2 Students’ attitudes towards pre-reading activities (questions 2, 3, 4)

A very carefully B carefully C.notcarefully D.withoutpreparing

Chart 2a: Students’ attitudes towards pre-reading activities Question 2 (chart 2a) is designed with the aim of exploring how the students prepare their reading lessons before going to class It is happy that the researcher received the positive

result that most of them (45%) say they prepare carefully their reading lessons before

school 20% even confirm that they make careful preparations for the reading lessons before they go to the class However, 23% of them admit that they do not prepare carefully their lessons Disappointingly, the rest report that they go to the class without any preparations for their lessons, which account for 12% Consequently, this surely affects to

their results on reading lessons

eee B.givethe C design D do nothing E oth

feadingtext mwannesot, some pre- and ask others

"¬x~- 1 wcturesin text activities for reading lesson 8< space)

students immediately

Chart 2b: Students’ attitudes towards pre-reading activities

When designing question 3, the author aimed at finding out what teachers often do before asking students to read the text Form the chart le above, the biggest portion (40%) of

26

students, state that their teachers often design some pre-reading activities for students Ranking the second, 30% of students say that their teachers often give the meanings of new

words and structures in the text 22 of 100 students claim that their teachers introduce

briefly the reading text before asking them to read the text There are only 8% of students make sure that their teachers do nothing and ask them to do the reading lesson at once

This is maybe because of the teachers’ other purposes or time limit

A extremely important

'B very important

=C abit important 1D not important at all

Chart 2c: Students’ attitudes towards pre-reading activities

It can easily be seen from chart 2c that most of students realize the beneficial role of pre- reading activities Therefore, it is easy to understand why the the biggest population of the students (49%) thinks these activities play a very important role in motivating them to read Moreover, 24% of them even think that these activities are of extreme importance However, 22% of them do not highly appreciate the positive effects of application of their teachers’ employment of pre-reading activities Only 5% suppose that these activities are not important at all The suitable explanation for this is maybe that their teacher’ activities

do not meet students’ interests or not appropriate for their levels of language proficiency

27

3.1.3 Students’ awareness of teachers’ frequency of using pre-reading activities and supplementary materials in teaching pre-reading (questions 5, 6, 7, 8)

When being asked about teachers’ frequency of using supplementary materials in teaching

pre-reading (chart 3a), a large number of students (39%) state that their teachers sometimes

use other materials in their teaching pre-reading 25% of them agree that their teachers apply supplementary materials in their teaching Only 14% of students happily reply that their teachers always employ other material beyond the textbook However, 18% sadly say

that they are rarely taught with other reading materials by their teachers Even 4% insist

that their teachers never use other materials It is understandable for these teachers’ not

choosing other materials that the limited time of a period prevents them from adding any

other materials outside the reading texts in the course book

28

Chart 3b: Students’ frequency of reading supplementary materials

Corresponding to the teachers’ frequency of using supplementary materials, the students’ frequency of reading materials nearly results in the same Specifically, 46% of students sometimes read the supplementary materials provided by their teachers 23% admit that they usually read them Just only 7% of total students claim that they always read every

other matenals employed by their teachers Other 16% of students do not take much notice

of those materials The rest portion of 8% even takes no advantage of the added materials because they are not hesitative to concede that they never read the other materials despite

of the teachers’ requests

Chart 3c: Students’ answers on teachers’ frequency of using pre-reading activities in

teaching pre-reading

From the data shown in chart 3¢ above according to question 7, we can realize that the

majority of teachers (54%) sometimes apply the pre-reading activities in teaching pre- reading 25 of them which account for 25% use these activities more often Only a small

number of teachers use pre-reading activities in their reading lesson teaching all the time

8% and 3 % of them say that they rarely and never employ these activities with their honesty in turn, It can be expounded that these teachers maybe face up to time constraint or

do not recognize the necessity, importance, and effectiveness of pre-reading activities

The below chart is used to reply to the question of how often teachers introduce visual aids

as a pre-reading technique at the pre-reading stage

Chart 3d: Students’ answers on teachers’ frequency of using visual aids as a pre-reading

technique at the pre-reading stage

It appears obviously that the largest population (36%) of students confirms that teachers

occasionally employ visual aids to teach them before asking them to read 21% say that they are usually introduced the application of visuals at the pre-reading stage, and even 6%

report that their teachers always use visuals to helping them leam the reading texts

However, 20% have negative answers that their teachers hardly apply visual aids to teach

them at the first stage of learning reading lesson It is unhappily concluded that 17% of the teachers have not seen the big advantages of using visuals aids

30

3.1.4 Students’ preferences for pre-reading techniques (questions 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14,

15)

When designing question 9 (Which of the following pre-reading activities does your

teacher often use in a reading lesson?), the author would like to examine which pre-reading

activities teachers use most often

withinthe introducethe author's ad vocabuluy presentthe introduction

textto predict text background grammateal and text to the topic

the content writing style, structures grammatical of the text

and usual structures

topics

Chart 4a: Teachers’ frequency of using pre-reading activities in a reading lesson

According to the results presented in the chart above, most teachers prefer to employ

three activities: pre-teaching new vocabulary and grammatical structures, giving a short

introduction to topic of the text, reviewing vocabulary and grammatical structures

31