skkn 11. sử dụng tư liệu trên internet để nâng cao khả năng đọc hiểu của học sinh (nguyễn thị hồng thúy - thpt mỹ hào)

Sở giáo dục và đào tạo hng yên trờng trung học phổ thông mỹ hào Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Sử dụng t liệu trên Internet để nâng cao khả năng đọc hiểu của học sinh Teaching experience Improvin

Sở giáo dục và đào tạo hng yên trờng trung học phổ thông mỹ hào

Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm

Sử dụng t liệu trên Internet để nâng cao khả năng đọc hiểu của học sinh

Teaching experience Improving reading comprehension

by using Internet-based reading materials

Họ và tên: Nguyễn Thị Hồng Thuý Chức vụ: Phó Hiệu trởng – Giáo viên tiếng Anh Giáo viên tiếng Anh Đơn vị công tác: trờng THPT Mỹ Hào Mỹ Hào, tháng 5 năm 2010 Table Of Contents PART 1: INTRODUCTION 2

1.1 Rationale ……….………… 3

1.2 Aim and objectives of the study ……….……… 5

1.3 Scope of the study ……….……… 5

1.4 Schedule ……….……… 5

1.5 Method of the study ……….……… 6

1.6 Time of fulfillment ……….…….………… 6

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT ……… ……… 7

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ……… 7

2.1.1 Definitions of reading ……….7

2.1.2 Internet-based reading materials ……….8

2.2 THE STUDY ……… 14

2.2.1 The contexts of the study ……… ……… 14

2.2.2 Data gathering and analysis ……… 15

PART 3: CONCLUSION ……… 17

3.1 Pedagogical implications ……… ……… 17

3.2 Conclusion ……… ……… 17

REFERENCE ……….18

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale

Of the four language skills, reading seems to be the most important one because in the learning process, it helps students develop other skills and provides knowledge on the target language Educational researchers have found that “there is a strong correlation between reading and academic success” In other words, a student who is a

good reader is more likely to do well in school and pass exams than a student who is a weak reader

Moreover, reading is very necessary for daily life Reading can help us to achieve some clear aims For example, we read a road sign so that we know where to go We read the instructions on a ticket machine because we need to know what to do next Being aware of the importance of learning reading, authors of new English 10 have choosen interesting topics for reading lessons with the aim to promote students in reading and improve their reading comprehension However some of them are not familiar with students genre and reading in the text book only is not enough to enhance students interest in reading and reading comprehension Successful reading depends on the interaction of reading stratergies for processing the text, background knowledge and linguistic competence Thus besides the reading texts in the textbooks students need to read more outside the classroom to enrich their vocabulary as well as their background knowledge That means students must read extensively

In the last ten years educational circles have witnessed a dramatic shift from seeing the computer as an adjunct or source of supplementary educational material to treating it as a platform where effective teaching and learning can be promoted Computer assisted teaching and learning have become increasingly indispensable components of mainstream education This is particularly true for language teaching and learning With the recent advances in the computer technology, especially in terms of the Internet, authentic target language is no more than a click away The Internet offers large amounts of authentic language in many languages The Internet provides opportunities to obtain instant and more interactive feedback compared to traditional media such as textbooks, audio cassettes, etc and an environment where autonomous self-study language learning can be realized much more efficiently and effectively Rich multimedia components, low-anxiety, student-centered learning environments, interest-driven materials are other assets the Internet provides At least in the areas of reading comprehension, preliminary studies indicate that web-based activities may be probably beneficial Considering

this wide spectrum of benefits of online language learning, we can claim that online activities will pave the way for better learning gains for reading

In fact, in Vietnamese high schools, teaching and learning reading are mostly based on textbooks Therefore, the sutents don’t seem to be interested in reading lessons Many of them find reading difficult and boring and even some are afraid of reading After reading a text, they don’t understand much about its content or they misunderstand the author’s ideas

As a high school teacher, I think that something has to be done about raising students’ interest in reading and helping them comprehend the texts better When seeking for materials to design the lessons, I realise that internet is a useful source of information for high school students to increase their background knowledge Here, I want to share ideas about the dificulties that the students in High schools in general, in

my school in particular encounter in reading lessons, how internet-based reading materials are useful in improving high school students’ reading comprehension skills and how to organize internet-based reading activities effectively I will present three types of internet-based reading activities that can help improve high school students’ reading comprehension skills

1.2 Aim and objectives of the study

This study aims at improving the quality of teaching/learning English reading as second language in the upper secondary education for Vietnamese students by using internet-based materials

To achieve this aim, the study sets out to obtain the three following specific objectives:

1 To investigate the situation of learning reading with internet-based materials among high school students in My Hao high school

2 To find out how effective are internet-based materials in improving high students’ reading comprehension

2 To offer recommendations for the application of internet-based materials to improve the students’ reading comprehension

1.3 Scope of the study

Internet-based reading materials play more and more important part in raising the effectiveness of teaching and learning foreign languages in general, English in particular This study focuses on the role of Internet-based reading materials in helping improve reading comprehension skills for students in My Hao High school and offers some suggestions for the intergration of internet-based materials in high school teaching and learning curricular in Vietnam

1.4 Schedule

To achieve the given aim, this study is intended to be fulfilled in 4 months, from February to May, 2010:

February, 2010: making schedule, preparing detailed research proposal, seeking for concerning materials

March, April: Collecting data, analyzing and processing data, drawing conclusions

May: Writing research

1.5 Method of the study

With the aim of finding out the role of Internet-based reading materials in helping improve reading comprehension skills for students in high school, a survey approach is adopted for this study Participants will be 43 students of class 11A12 of My Hao high school First, interviews will be conducted on a group of 20 grade 11A12 students These students will be randomly selected among the students of class 11A12 All the interviews will be audio-taped and fully transcribed Data will be analyzed qualitatively

to identify the situation of learning reading, the difficulties they encounter in the reading lessons Then all 43 students will be guided to use internet-based reading materials for a

month Questionnaires will be conducted after that to find out if internet-based materials help improve reading comprehension skills

1.6 Time of fulfillment: By May 20th, 2010

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT

2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1.1 Definitions of reading

2.1.1.1 What is reading ?

Reading is a huge topic It is a receptive skill Reading can be defined as a process, which involves a reader, a text and a resultant interaction between the two Reading is the process of constructing meaning from written texts It is a complex skill requiring coordination of a number of interrelated sources of information

Reading is a holistic act Success of reading comes from practice over long periods

of time And also, there may be more than one interpretation of a text The interpretation depends on the background of the reader, the purpose for reading, and the context in which the reading occurs

2.1.1.2 Extensive reading

So many studies have been conducted to find out ways to improve reading effectiveness Recently, there have been a lot of reseaches about the effect of extensive reading in improving students’ reading comprehension Research suggests that one of the best ways to help students increase their language proficiency is to encourage them

to read extensively Krashen (1993), as a result of an examination of research on in-school reading and "out of in-school" self-reported free voluntary reading conducted in many different countries, concludes that free voluntary reading or sustained independent reading results in better reading comprehension, writing style, vocabulary, spelling, and grammatical development The students who reported reading more English books

experienced significantly greater improvement in reading ability and vocabulary knowledge than those who reported reading less The students also reported that the extensive reading program helped them to improve their English Extensive reading is believed to be not only more pleasurable, but also more beneficial for language acquisition than instruction in grammar Colin Davis suggested that any classroom will

be the poorer for the lack of an extensive reading programme and will be “ unable to promote its students’ language developement in all aspects as effectively as if such a programme were present”, he also claimed that such a programme will make students more possitive about reading, improve their overall comprehension skills, and give them

a wider passive and active vocabulary Strong (1996) also stated that “extensive reading

of literature can encourage students to develope possitive attitudes toward reading”

2.1.2 Internet-based reading materials

2.1.2.1 Reasons for choosing Internet-based materials for extensive reading

Materials for extensive reading are available everywhere But internet-based materials seem to be the most suitable for high school students There are several reasons for choosing Internet-based materials First of all, in recent years, the use of the World Wide Web (WWW) as a resource for language learning materials has gained increasing popularity among language teachers and learners The Internet can now be used for supplementing and reinforcing what we do in the classroom as well as providing rich opportunities whereby students can start learning languages on their own Moreover, students generally have positive feelings about learning languages via the Internet I have interviewed some of my students about their attitudes towards learning English through websites Despite some difficulties encountered, they found that students had an overall positive attitude to using websites in their learning of English Secondly, the Internet facilitates individualization of instruction and introduces a more interesting platform to learn by incorporating multimedia into the process Thirdly, it enhances the accessibility of information, language materials in this case, as well as offering various ways to connect with the target speech community Unlike traditional textbook-based teaching, language material on the Internet can be updated periodically Recent literature on methodological and

pedagogical considerations requires language learners to become active participants

in the process rather than passive recipients of information In this age of information explosion, language learners are encouraged to be explorers and creators

of language, and assessors of their own linguistic progress Two other important aspects are the issues of learner autonomy and motivation Learner-oriented online language teaching materials demand that the individual background of learners, their needs, and learning styles are accommodated In other words, learner-directed language instruction provides learners with the control of choosing material, sequencing it, as well as deciding on the pace of delivery Communicative language teaching and learner autonomy have become increasingly important for language teachers in the last few decades Students are no longer expected memorize lists of grammar rules and vocabulary items but to understand and convey meaning with an adequate knowledge of the form, use, and appropriacy of the language They do not need to be spoon-fed all the time Mistakes are natural in the language acquisition process and learners are encouraged to be willing to learn and to take responsibility for their own progress Finally, students at this age are curious and they like reading something new, atractive and linked with modern technology Internet-based materials are plentiful with various topics

2.1.2.2 Internet-based reading materials improve reading comprehension

Thanks to the ever expanding flexibility and versatility of IT in performing many jobs, most of the language teaching authorities support using it in facilitating teaching in general, teaching English in particular With recent advancements in software technology, multimedia computing and extensive use of the Internet, computers have become so widespread in schools Internet technology is a medium

of global communication and a source of limitless authentic materials With the emergence of the Internet technology, e-mail, list-serves, streaming audio-video, chat rooms, audio-video and message boards, language learners now have more chances to improve their language competence Easier access in terms of distance and time considerations, self-paced language study, low affective filter, increased motivation, opportunities to access and use authentic language, and hence enhanced

learner autonomy are among the advantages of using the web in language teaching and learning Internet-based reading provides language learners with a much better opportunity for initiative in language learning, enhancement of learning strategies Engagement in meaningful authentic exercises promotes enthusiasm and motivation

on the part of the learners Internet-based reading helps create relaxed (in terms of learner anxiety) environments Internet-based reading establishes a basis for reflecting

on the experience of language learning, self-correcting, self-evaluating, and searching for information on any linguistic and/or socio-cultural aspect learners might want to learn more about right on the spot, something that cannot be realized easily in traditional type of media

The Internet as a resource can enrich and expand language instruction The teachers can integrate the Internet into a language curriculum The most compelling reason is definitely the convenience in accessing and obtaining an endless supply of authentic materials in target languages The WWW has brought the world to the fingertips of each learner Applying the WWW to foreign language teaching also provides the opportunity to meet the Standards in several ways

2.1.2.3 Types to internet-based reading

Here are three different types to internet-based reading, which can help students improve their reading comprehension skills using the materials from the Internet

a Teacher-determined lessons

The reading activities and materials of this type are comparable to the computer as

an online electronic workbook The teacher prescreens and selects reading materials or cultural readings from Internet-based, designs comprehension activities, and makes them available through his/her Web page By pre-selecting and preparing the readings, the instructor tailors the contents and tasks to the students' proficiency level The tasks are designed to support the reader's comprehension process focusing on textual, linguistic and cultural features Reading is a silent process that is best done individually The learners get to explore authentic reading materials outside of class at their own pace This frees up classroom time that can be spent more effectively getting students

involved in communicative language learning activities Furthermore, depending on the instructional program design, students' answers may be forwarded to the instructor Students' responses to reading tasks are limited by the capacity of the teachers’ packages Tasks can be true/false, matching, or multi-choice answers, or short answers

To create such activities, skills and expertise in language pedagogy, instructional design, and some programming are required The latter may include experience with HTML editors, HTML or Internet-based authoring packages such as Half-Baked Software, or WebCT Other technological skills such as the use of scanners and graphic programs are recommended

b Teacher-facilitated lessons

Internet-based reading activities that have gained most wide-spread attention and popularity among language teachers and students are those in which the instructor provides a set of learning tasks that engage the learners in exploring reading materials in their authentic environments The instructor determines a particular topic and set of goals for his lesson, such exploring English wedding, American education The teacher prescreens and selects a set of sites to ensure its contents are appropriate for their pedagogical goals Through a particular task design, the instructor facilitates the students' reading process and guides the learners to explore a variety of pre-selected resources, thus providing a clear goal to be accomplished by the students Furthermore, the tasks should be designed so that they are not so broad that students wander aimlessly through the material yet open enough to provide multiple paths, outcomes, and interpretations, which can form the basis for classroom interaction In this way, the teacher controls the navigational scope and the number and kind of Internet sites that the students access Despite the restriction, the learner has some autonomy as the tasks provide the learner a choice in the sites he or she accesses and explores Task types usually include comparisons, gathering factual information, descriptions, and short summaries The outcome of the student assignments is clearly defined, but open-ended The teacher's role can best be described as a guide and facilitator The students follow