000080705 RE-ORGANIZING READING ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE TENTH-GRADE STUDENTS' READING COMPREHENSION AND MOTIVATION AT HERMANN GMEINER-HANOI HIGH SCHOOL TỔ CHỨC LẠI HOẠT ĐỘNG ĐỌC SÁCH NHẰM NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU VÀ ĐỘNG LỰC CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 10 TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT HERMANN GMEINER-HÀ NỘI
R ationale
Reading is a complex cognitive process, and its primary objective is text comprehension In my experience teaching reading in a high school setting, I have noticed that many students struggle with reading comprehension, probably due to a variety of factors such as limited vocabulary, insufficient practice with diverse texts, gaps in decoding skills, and instructional approaches that do not explicitly teach comprehension strategies Addressing these challenges involves targeted instruction that focuses on vocabulary development, explicit comprehension strategies, and regular exposure to a range of texts to improve students’ reading comprehension in secondary education.
W hen teaching reading lessons for the tenth graders students at H erm ann Gmeiner-
At Hanoi High School, I have found that students’ motivation for practicing reading in class is low When working with the English 10 textbook, many students prefer to work individually rather than learn cooperatively, and they struggle to read in groups When asked to collaborate on reading activities, they appeared bored; active reading was limited to a few strong readers while weaker students remained passive In groups, students often sat silently, said little, or spoke mainly in their mother tongue or engaged in private conversations This problem appeared in the early months of the first semester To change this situation and improve both reading motivation and reading comprehension, I decided to investigate the factors indirectly affecting my students and to implement targeted interventions designed to enhance their motivation and comprehension.
Hermann Gmeiner Ha Noi High School was established in 1994 as a project supported by SOS - The International Children's Village Although a relatively young institution, its teaching and learning quality has improved steadily and has attracted increasing interest from both teachers and students in recent years English is a key subject at Hermann Gmeiner Ha Noi High School, with strong emphasis on effective English instruction to raise students’ proficiency Like many other state schools in the region, it continues to strive for high educational standards.
Ha N oi, all students in this school study English books follow ing the curriculum o f
According to the Ministry of Education, the English 10 (Tieng Anh 10) syllabus shapes how the course is taught In my 10th-grade class, English is scheduled for three 45-minute periods per week The Tieng Anh 10 textbook has 15 units, with each unit divided into five periods that cover reading, speaking, listening, writing, and language focus Students study only one reading lesson per week, totaling 15 reading periods per year Each reading lesson typically provides a text with five or six new words My students have not developed a habit of reading beyond the textbook, so their monthly or yearly reading opportunities are limited This can lead to limited vocabulary enrichment and a shortage of extensive reading materials outside the textbook to improve reading comprehension If reading activities remain confined to the classroom as prescribed by the curriculum, students may not be sufficiently motivated to improve their reading skills, and often become bored during reading tasks.
Tiếng Anh 10 reading lessons are typically organized around pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading stages In pre-reading, students often work in pairs on activities designed to activate background knowledge and predict content, orienting them to the text During while-reading, tasks such as multiple-choice questions and true/false statements are commonly used, with students working individually or in pairs In the post-reading stage, activities are usually done in groups, and the same formats recur across texts However, these activities often fail to motivate students or promote deeper reading engagement If I merely followed the textbook's activities, students would know exactly what tasks awaited them, and some idle students might copy answers, while stronger students would miss chances to extend their knowledge or engage in extensive reading Students with low English proficiency often feel challenged by the tasks, and many are reluctant to express ideas due to limited vocabulary and background knowledge As a result, reading comprehension suffers, classroom engagement declines, and motivation remains a hurdle; incorporating explicit strategy instruction could help boost both motivation and comprehension.
This action research seeks to uncover the causes of students’ inactive participation in reading activities and their low reading comprehension, with the goal of identifying practical means to motivate classroom behavior and improve comprehension By examining these factors, the study aims to develop and test interventions that can be integrated into daily lessons Based on the findings, changes and improvements could be applied to my teaching practice, and appropriate strategies designed to address the problem of inactivity in reading activities effectively, thereby boosting student engagement and reading outcomes In short, the project intends to translate research insights into concrete instructional adjustments that enhance both motivation and reading proficiency.
Aim s And R esearch Q uestions o f the S tu d y
Aim s o f the S t u d y
1'he current study was conducted with the follow ing m ain purposes:
This study identifies the problems faced by tenth-grade students who display low reading motivation and low reading comprehension during English reading lessons at Hermann Gmeiner - Hanoi High School It examines factors contributing to their disengagement with texts and difficulties in understanding vocabulary, syntax, and overall meaning, with the aim of informing instructional strategies to improve English reading outcomes at the school.
- 'I'o exam ine the effects o f collaborative strategic reading on the tenth-grade students’ reading m otivation and reading com prehension at Hermann G m einer - Ha Noi High School.
This study examines EFL learners' reading motivation and reading comprehension after the intervention of collaborative strategic reading with group work discussions, structured through three reading steps—pre-reading, while-reading, and post-reading—to explore innovations in reorganizing reading activities.
R esearch Q u e stio n s
In order to reach the research aim s, the study aim s to answ er the following research questions:
1 What are possible causes o f low reading com prehension o f G rade 10 students at
H ermann G m einer-Hanoi High School?
2 To w hat extent does CSR (collaborative strategic reading) such as group work can im prove th e reading com prehension o f tenth-grade students at Hermann Gmeiner- Han Noi High School?
3 To w hat extent does CSR (collaborative strategic reading) such as group work can im prove the reading motivation o f tenth-grade students at H erm ann Hmeiner-Hanoi High School?
Scope o f the S tu d y
This study investigates the implementation of collaborative strategic reading (CSR) for 10th-grade students at Hermann Gmeiner Ha Noi High School, focusing on how CSR can enhance reading comprehension through structured group work Due to limited time and the scope of a master’s thesis, the action research concentrates mainly on CSR training delivered through collaborative tasks and guided group discussions.
Significance o f the S tu d y
A s m entioned above in the ‘statem ent o f the problem ’ section, the tenth learners at
Hermann Gmeiner – Hanoi High School featured students who studied English as a foreign language and were not English majors Most of them had limited English proficiency and struggled with reading comprehension during textbook reading tasks They showed low motivation in English reading lessons, as noted by Kolers.
In 1973, reading comprehension was regarded as the most complex form of information processing in language, suggesting that it would be particularly difficult for students Consequently, such challenges often left students unmotivated and the classroom less engaging.
Organizing reading activities around collaborative strategic reading (CSR) helps teachers discover effective approaches to teach reading strategies, boost students’ reading motivation and comprehension, and guide them in how to learn new things and engage in collaborative learning Research indicates that CSR implemented through group work benefits learners with mixed achievement levels by increasing academic performance, motivation, time on task, self-esteem, and positive social behaviors, thereby enhancing the overall efficiency of CSR lessons (Klingner, Vaughn, & Schumm, 1998; Lee, 2003).
Action research uses cycles of action, data collection, and reflection to generate new questions about practice and areas for improvement In my case, periodically collecting students’ achievement results helped me assess how effectively I was teaching the targeted reading strategies Therefore, I believed action research was an appropriate inquiry for this situation This project would benefit my teaching practice, my students, and other teachers at Hermann Gmeiner Hanoi High School by providing an overview and a clearer understanding of how the efficacy of collaborative reading through group work can be enhanced.
O rganization o f the S tu d y
Chapter 1 introduces the study by outlining its rationale and aims, detailing the specific objectives, presenting the research questions, and defining the scope of the study It also explains the significance of the research and provides an overview of the study's structure and outline.
Chapter 2 presents a comprehensive literature review on reading comprehension, outlining the key content areas of reading, comprehension processes, and research on comprehension-strategy instruction; it then analyzes collaborative strategic reading (CSR) and highlights the research gaps related to CSR The chapter next examines the theoretical foundations and empirical studies on small-group discussions, followed by the theory and empirical evidence on small-group work The fifth section covers the theory of action research, and the chapter concludes with a concise synthesis that summarizes the literature reviewed.
C hapter 3: M ethodology describes the m ethodology, including the selection o f students, the curricular program 1 used, and the data collection and analysis methods em ployed to develop the findings.
C hapter 4: Results and A nalyses, presents the results though the analyses o f data w as com puted and analyzed with the support o f SPSS, version 16.0.
Chapter 5: Reflection and Conclusion outlines the study’s findings, implications, and limitations, providing a clear synthesis of what the research shows and where it may be limited, and the second section offers brief yet meaningful insights into what I have learned about my teaching practice while outlining concrete next steps for my teaching and professional development, including how I plan to apply these lessons to improve instructional methods, reflective practice, and ongoing growth.
The appendices include sam ples from m y data to elucidate the action research process and the types o f data collected during th e project.
This chapter reviews the related literature in relation to the research questions and hypotheses, organized into six parts The first part covers theories of reading comprehension in EFL, focusing on the content of reading and how comprehension operates in language learning The second part examines the comparison between explicit and implicit instruction and the research on comprehension strategy instruction The third part discusses collaborative strategic reading (CSR) and identifies gaps in CSR research The fourth part presents the theory of small group work alongside empirical studies on small group work The fifth part explores the theory of action research and its methodological implications The sixth part provides a concise summary of the literature review, synthesizing the key theories, findings, and directions for future research.
R eading C om prehension in Second/F oreign Language L ea rn in g
T he C oncept o f R eading in Second L an gu age
Reading has long been studied by researchers and psychologists who seek to define it from a cognitive perspective Broadly speaking, reading is an active process of extracting meaning from and interpreting information and messages contained in diverse written materials.
Dubin and Bycina (1991) define foreign language reading as a selective process that unfolds in the interaction between the reader and the text, where background knowledge and various types of linguistic knowledge interact with the information in the text to contribute to text comprehension.
A lyousef (2005) expanded the definition for reading He described it as an interactive process that took place betw een a reader and a text and that led to automaticity, or reading fluency.
However, before discussing the effective reading issue, it w as probably useful to have a b rief understanding o f what reading com prehension is.
T heories o f R eading C o m p reh en sio n
Pang et al (2003) describe reading comprehension as an active process in which a reader constructs meaning from a text by engaging the interaction between prior knowledge and drawing inferences from the writer’s words and expressions to understand information, ideas, and viewpoints Snow (2002) adds that comprehension is the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through ongoing involvement with written language, centered on three elements: the reader, the text, and the activity or purpose for reading This perspective frames comprehension as a dynamic process in which understanding is filtered through the reader’s motivation, knowledge, cognitive abilities, and experiences.
Reading comprehension is the ability to identify and understand what a text communicates It entails both bottom-up processing—decoding letters, grammar, and vocabulary—and top-down processing—the use of prior knowledge and context to grasp meaning.
E ffective R eading C om prehension
Reading comprehension is the ability to understand written text and is a key component of English lessons for EFL learners Strong reading comprehension enables learners to construct meaning from text, understand what they read, and improve their command of the English language A range of factors influence reading comprehension, including background knowledge, grammar, vocabulary, strategy instruction, motivation, attention, and higher‑order cognitive and language skills How can EFL learners become proficient readers and achieve true comprehension? By integrating explicit strategy instruction, building robust vocabulary and grammar foundations, activating background knowledge before reading, cultivating metacognitive awareness, and sustaining motivation and focus throughout the reading process.
M any researchers proved that the im portant thing to any language learners if they w ant to becom e effective readers w as that they need to be active ones A good reader becam e an active participant in the reading process; one who requires the integration and application o f m ultiple strategies w hile reading Typically, the investigations o f reading strategies in second/foreign language acquisition have further identified the reading strategy use by effective and poor readers (C ham ot & K upper, 1989; C ham ot, 2005) For exam ple, effective E F L /E SL readers know how to use a variety o f appropriate strategies to reach th eir learning goals; while less effective readers not only used strategies less frequently, but often did not em ploy the appropriate strategies for the tasks.
An important factor in helping students become good readers is their ability to monitor their reading process and consistently apply different strategies to comprehend the ongoing text Good readers possess a repertoire of self-monitoring strategies that range from bottom-up vocabulary techniques—such as deriving meaning from word parts and using structural clues—to more comprehensive strategies, such as activating background knowledge, skimming for main ideas, making inferences, summarizing, and determining the tone or purpose of the text (Almasi, 2003; Sweet & Snow, 2002).
Block (1986) showed that the most successful readers use broad reading strategies—anticipating content, recognizing text structure, identifying main ideas, activating background knowledge, monitoring comprehension, and engaging with the text as a whole—while less successful readers default to local strategies, focusing on individual words or sentences and seldom integrating background knowledge with the text or concentrating on the main ideas Singhal (2001) concluded that successful readers consistently apply cognitive, memory, metacognitive, and compensation strategies at higher levels than their less proficient peers In contrast, less successful readers tend to fixate on local concerns such as grammatical structure, sound–letter relationships, word meaning, and other granular text details.
In line with prior research, Saricoban (2002) examined the strategy use of post-secondary ESL students and found that successful readers employ predictive and guessing strategies, draw on their background knowledge related to the topic, infer the meanings of unfamiliar words, and skim and scan the text, while less successful readers tend to focus on individual words, particularly verbs.
Moreover, numerous studies indicate that comprehension strategy instruction that includes multiple reading strategies is beneficial for helping students become strategic readers and improving their reading comprehension (Klingner et al., 1998; Koda, 2004; Pressley, 2006; Rosenshine & Meister, 1994).
Janzen & Stoller (1998) indicated that reading strategy instruction provided an efficient m ethod for teachers to m otivate students’ participation in their learning and taught them how to read effectively.
Effective reading comprehension is central to constructing meaning from any text, and employing a broad range of appropriate reading strategies is a key factor in enhancing that understanding A growing body of research on reading comprehension strategy instruction shows that these techniques are teachable and accessible to learners, suggesting that well-designed, strategy-focused guidance can improve how readers interpret written material.
R eading S tra teg ies
Developing proficient reading in the junior grades requires students to employ a range of complex reading strategies Farstrup (2006) notes that many students who were strong readers in the primary grades may still struggle in the junior grades if they do not learn the comprehension skills needed to navigate more complex text formats, features, and genres As students progress, reading becomes a more sophisticated process that demands higher-level understanding and the ability to adapt strategies to different texts.
To boost reading comprehension, students should apply a range of reading strategies, including prediction, think-aloud, using text structure, using visual cues, summarization, and asking and answering questions Duke and Pearson (2002) summarized these six strategies as important and necessary for understanding texts Before reading, readers are encouraged to ask questions and relate new information to their prior knowledge; prediction, such as noting the illustrated cover or considering the title, helps link the current text to related works Activating prior knowledge enables learners to make sense of new information and to organize it within a coherent framework for learning Think-aloud modeling demonstrates the thought processes of skilled readers: proficient readers verbalize their reasoning while reading, showing how they derive meaning and showcasing metacognitive strategies that help even struggling readers see active engagement rather than just decoding words.
Readers generally understand the components of fiction more readily than those of non-fiction, largely because they have more experience with fictional texts Emphasizing text structure helps readers organize information more effectively and improves their overall comprehension of the material.
Using visual cues is an effective reading strategy that helps improve a reader’s understanding of a text Graphic organizers such as Venn diagrams for comparing and contrasting and story webs, where ideas are placed in boxes or bubbles, help readers visualize what they have learned These tools allow readers to relate to the text and enhance overall comprehension Visualization cues can also be used to monitor one’s understanding while reading.
R esearch on C om prehension S trategy In stru ctio n
Over the past three decades, extensive research in reading strategy instruction has established that effective approaches are multicomponent and developmentally appropriate (Almasi, 2003; Koda, 2004) Backed by consistent empirical results, sophisticated instructional models that comprise specific reading strategies offer solid frameworks for understanding and teaching comprehension strategies, ultimately supporting improved reading outcomes.
Reciprocal teaching (RT) is a form of collaborative comprehension strategy instruction and, since its introduction by Palincsar and Brown in 1984, has become one of the most influential approaches to teaching reading comprehension RT is designed for students who have basic decoding skills but struggle with meaning construction; Pressley (2002) notes that it was the first empirically validated package of comprehension strategies The instructional model involves teacher–student collaboration to construct text meaning, with teachers modeling four cognitive reading strategies using the think-aloud technique to boost comprehension: summarizing, generating questions, clarifying, and making predictions In classroom settings, students gradually assume the role of the teacher as they become more proficient.
Rosenshine and Meister (1994) reviewed sixteen quantitative studies on reciprocal teaching to assess its effectiveness across students from first through eighth grade They identified three class types: mixed-ability, good-poor (strong decoding but weak comprehension), and below-average (weak in both decoding and comprehension) All studies involved control and experimental groups The meta-analysis showed that studies using researcher-developed comprehension measures had a larger impact than those using standardized reading tests, and the intervention appeared most beneficial for students who decoded well but had poor comprehension.
M oreover, S ong (1998) conducted a study in ESL/EFL classroom s to examine the effects o f reciprocal teaching on adult learners’ English learning The subjects consisted o f
Sixty-eight first-year tertiary students majoring in archaeology, aesthetics, and religion at a university in Korea participated in reciprocal teaching training Because no placement tests were administered, they varied in English reading proficiency The training method was adapted from Palincsar and Brown’s 1984 reciprocal teaching framework, incorporating four concrete reading strategies: summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting Prior to training, the teacher and class held a general discussion of strategic learning and strategic reading, during which the reading strategies and the concept of strategic reading were defined Results indicated that reciprocal teaching improved reading comprehension among Korean university students, particularly in understanding main ideas and making inferences from passages, though it did not enhance their ability to extract detailed information from the texts The findings also suggested that strategic reading skills can be taught, enabling EFL tertiary students to improve their overall reading comprehension.
Phakiti (2006) examined the relationship between cognitive and metacognitive factors and students’ reading test performance The study involved 358 students from a Government University in Thailand The instruments included a reading comprehension test and cognitive and metacognitive questionnaires, with data analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling to explore how cognitive processes and metacognitive strategies relate to reading outcomes.
Using structural equation modeling (SEM) as the research approach, the study found that memory and retrieval strategies enhanced EFL reading test performance by supporting comprehension strategies, while monitoring strategies served as an executive function that modulated memory strategies; evaluating strategies influenced retrieval, and planning strategies did not directly regulate memory Importantly, only comprehension strategies had a direct effect on reading test performance The authors also note limitations, such as difficulties connecting the measures to the intended constructs, and the need to examine both perceived knowledge of strategy use and actual strategy deployment Moreover, because the study employed a cross-sectional design, L2 test performance remains understood as highly complex, multidimensional, and variable across different social and contextual factors.
McKeown, Beck, and Blake (2009) conducted a two-year study to compare two major approaches to comprehension instruction—content instruction and strategies instruction—against a control condition Content instruction directed students' attention to text meaning through open, meaning-based questions, while strategies instruction taught specific procedures to guide their text access during reading The findings showed no difference between the two experimental conditions for some aspects of comprehension, but in narrative recall and expository learning tasks, students who received content instruction outperformed those who received strategies instruction.
Having discussed em pirical research concerning reading com prehension instruction, in the next section, 1 will discuss the theories o f collaborative reading w hich directly concern and relevant to the study.
2 3 C O L L A B O R A T IV E R E A D IN G /R E A D IN G S T R A T E G Y T R A IN IN G
2.3.1 DEFINITIO N O F CO LLA BO R A TIV E ST R A T EG IC READING
Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), defined by Vaughn and Klingner (1998), is a strategy-based approach to promote students' reading comprehension, especially for those with poor reading abilities Built on principles from reciprocal teaching, CSR integrates four core strategies: Preview, Click and Clunk (Fix-it strategies), Get the gist (the main idea), and Wrap-up (summarizing and questioning strategies) By guiding students through prereading anticipation, ongoing monitoring and clarification, identification of the main idea, and final summarizing and reflection, CSR supports collaborative learning and helps improve comprehension outcomes for struggling readers.
M oreover, K lingner, Vaughn, et al., (2001) defined collaborative strategic reading as a mean to enhance peer- mediated instruction for reading com prehension and content area learning.
Strategic Reading (CSR) is a framework of comprehension strategies designed to improve students' understanding of expository text Klingner, Vaughn, Arguclles, Remédia, Hughes, and Ahwee (2004) argue that CSR was designed to address three central educational challenges: first, how to adequately include students with disabilities and English language learners (ELLs) in text-based learning; second, how to teach effective text-comprehension strategies that support learning from expository materials; and third, how to provide opportunities for students with disabilities to interact meaningfully with their peers.
2.3.2 RESEARCH O N CO LLA BO R A TIV E ST R A T EG IC READING (CSR)
Klinger & V aughn (1998) w as considered the first study using CSR conducted with
In this study, 26 seventh- and eighth-grade students with low learning abilities who used English as a second language learned to use Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) through modified reciprocal teaching within cooperative learning groups, employing steps such as brainstorming, predicting, clarifying words and phrases, highlighting main ideas, summarizing key ideas and details, and asking and answering questions The results showed that CSR improved reading comprehension for most of these students The randomized design is a strength of the study, and the within-teacher design innovatively helps control for teacher and school effects; however, estimates of the program's impact may be biased downward if undetected or unaddressed treatment contamination was present.
Klingner, V aughn, & Schum m (1998) conducted a quasi experim ent to investigate the effectiveness o f a cooperative learning approach designed to foster strategic reading in
Three heterogeneous, culturally and linguistically diverse general education classrooms in a single school in the southeastern United States participated in this study Eighty-five fourth-grade students were assigned to an 11-day experimental condition and were taught by the researchers to use reading comprehension strategies, including several evidence-based approaches designed to improve text understanding.
Using CSR-based instruction, students read social studies texts in small, student-led groups, following routines such as preview, click and clunk, get the gist, and wrap up The study's findings indicate that students in the experimental groups outperformed those in the control groups on reading comprehension, though there was no significant difference in content learning between the groups CSR instruction yielded notable gains in reading comprehension, but it remains doubtful that the reading comprehension of learners with reading difficulties can be sustained long-term with only 11 or 12 days of intervention Additionally, researchers have explored the impact on learners' achievement of integrating CSR with other instructional approaches.
Klingner et al (1998) conducted an experimental study to examine the effects of collaborative strategic reading and meta-cognitive strategic learning on the reading comprehension of seventh- and eighth-grade English/Language Arts students across two sites—Texas and Colorado—and three school districts In the study, students were randomly assigned to classes, and those classes were randomly assigned to either a treatment condition or a business-as-usual comparison group If a teacher taught an uneven number of classes, extra classes were allocated to the treatment condition A total of 61 classes were randomized.
Across 34 treatment conditions and 27 comparisons, treatment students received a multi-component reading comprehension instruction—collaborative strategic reading—from their English/Language Arts/reading teachers, which involved teaching students to apply comprehension strategies in collaborative groups over 18 weeks, with approximately two sessions per week The study's findings indicated significant differences in favor of the treatment group on the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Comprehension Test, but not on reading fluency The randomized design demonstrated strengths, and the teacher design represented an innovative use for controlling teacher and school effects However, the estimates of program effect could be biased (i.e., underestimated) to the extent that undetected or unaddressed treatment contamination was present.
In addition, Klingner & Vaughn (2000) researched the helping behavior o f fifth- grade students w hile using Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR) in ESL content classes
With Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR), students work in groups, and each member takes on a distinct role—such as leader, clunk expert, announcer, encourager, and timekeeper They support one another while applying four CSR strategies—preview, click and clunk, get the gist, and wrap-up—to improve comprehension of content-area texts The findings show that students’ helping behavior was facilitated by explicit instruction on when and how to assist peers Notably, readers, especially those with lower language proficiency, may benefit from these strategy instructions.