Khảo sát quan điểm của giáo viên và học sinh về các nhiệm vụ đọc hiểu hiệu quả trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 ở Trường THPT Đại Mỗ

11 necessary to have an investigation into teachers„ and students‟ perceptions of effective reading comprehension tasks and the mismatch between teachers and students‟ perceptions of ef

HIGH SCHOOL

Khảo sát quan điểm của giáo viên và học sinh về các nhiệm vụ đọc hiểu hiệu quả

trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 ở Trường THPT Đại Mỗ

M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410

HANOI – 2010

HIGH SCHOOL

Khảo sát quan điểm của giáo viên và học sinh về các nhiệm vụ đọc hiểu hiệu quả

trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 ở Trường THPT Đại Mỗ

M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410

SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN BÀNG, M.A

HANOI – 2010

Table 3 Students‟ perceptions of effective classroom reading activities

Table 4 How teachers should exploit the textbook effectively

Table 5 Students‟ perceptions of effective assessment of Reading Comprehension Table 6 Teachers‟ perceptions of what teachers should do to make the reading lesson

effective

Table 7 Teachers‟‟ perceptions of the roles of various stages of an effective reading

comprehension lesson

Table 8 Teachers‟ perceptions of effective classroom reading activities

Table 9 How teachers should exploit the textbook effectively

Table 10 Teachers‟ perceptions of effective assessment of Reading Comprehension

8

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration ……… i

Acknowledgements ……… ii

Abstract ……… iii

Lists of tables……… iv

Table of contents ……… v

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1 Rationale……….……… 1

2.The scope of the study………,,,,,……… 2

3 Aims of the study……… 2

4 Research questions……… 2

5 Methods of the study……… 3

6 Significance of the study……… 3

7 Design of the study……… 3

PART TWO 5 CHAPTER 1 : LITERATURE REVIEW 5 1.1 Definition of Reading……… 5

1.2 The role of reading in foreign language learning……… 6

1.3 Good Readers vs Bad Readers……… 7

1.4 Approaches to teach reading comprehension……… 8

1.5 Effective reading comprehension tasks……… 11

1.6 Teaching Procedures……… 14

9

2.1 Setting and background……… 17

2.1.1 The school……… 17

2.1.2 Participants……… 17

2.2 Data collection instrument……… 18

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 20 3.1 Data analysis……… 20

3.1.1 Data analysis of the students‟ survey questionnaire……… 20

3.1.2 Data analysis of the teachers‟ survey questionnaire……… 24

3.2 Discussion and findings……… 31

PART THREE: CONCLUSION 35 1 Summary of the major findings……… 35

2 Recommendations for Classroom Practice……… 36

3 Limitations and recommendations for further study……… 37

4 Summary……… 37

APPENDICES

Reading is one of the most important language skills in academic settings It is also one of the most complex skills to develop strong second language (L2) fluency Unlike speaking and writing, the reader is not able to control the message or the language used It

is also a skill that, like listening, must be carried out under the real time pressure if it is done fluently However, unlike listening, there are no opportunities to ask for clarification

or additional information Moreover, the range of vocabulary encountered in reading is much greater than is typically used in speaking and listening settings (Stanovich, 2000, p 252-258) Given this starting point, it is fairly clear that the development of L2 reading abilities represents a serious challenge for both the learners and the teachers

Aware of the importance of teaching reading skill, all the teachers of Dai Mo upper-secondary school are trying their best to make the reading lessons effective The teachers themselves always try to find out the best approach to apply in teaching However, the quality of English learning and teaching still remains very low Although a great number of attempts have been made by the teaching staff in order to improve the situation such as applying various teaching approaches and techniques, adapting textbooks to make the lessons suitable for the students to learn, their efforts seem not effective at all The students cannot improve their English competence For all of these reasons, it would be

11

necessary to have an investigation into teachers„ and students‟ perceptions of effective

reading comprehension tasks and the mismatch between teachers and students‟ perceptions

of effective learning It is hoped that this study will reveal issues concerning teaching and learning reading comprehension tasks to help teachers have a deep understanding about the reading strategies to make decisions on how and what they should do to keep their students much more involved in the reading process

2 The scope of the study

Having effective reading comprehension lessons is one of the biggest concerns of both the teachers and the learners of English In this study, focus is mainly put on investigating the teachers and students‟ perceptions of effective reading comprehension

tasks and the mismatch between teachers and students‟ perceptions of effective learning

The study is conducted in only one high school of Dai Mo upper-secondary school on 182 students in four classes in twelfth grade and 7 teachers in the school

3 Aims of the study

The study aims to investigate three things:

1) Teachers‟ and students' perceptions of effective reading comprehension tasks 2) Differences between teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of effective reading tasks

3) To give some recommendations for the improvement of the reading lessons

4 Research questions:

This study seeks to answer the following research questions:

1 What reading tasks are perceived as effective by the students?

2 What reading tasks are perceived as effective by the teachers?

12

3 Are there any differences between teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of

effective reading tasks?

5 Methods of the study

In order to find out the answers to the above research questions, a survey research was adopted for this study

6 Significance of the study

Results of the study will help the teachers and students have a more comprehensive look at the present situation of teaching and learning English reading comprehension tasks And then, teachers will have appropriate and interesting ways to make the reading lessons more effective

7 Design of the study

The study is organized around three parts

Part one: - Introduction – provides rationale for the study, states what the study is

aimed at and what specific tasks it resolves, specifies the scope of the study, and sketches the general structure of the study

Part two: - Development – consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1: - Literature Review – mentions the theoretical background of the

topic with a definition of reading, an overview of the roles of reading in foreign language learning, good readers vs bad readers, approaches to teaching reading comprehension, effective reading comprehension tasks and teaching procedures

13

Chapter 2: - The study – provides information about the study This includes

the setting of the study, the participants and the research instruments used for this study

Chapter 3: - Data analysis and findings – gives the discription of the students

and teachers survey questionnaie This chapter also gives the discussion of the results and suggestions for teachers and students at Dai Mo Upper-secondary school and provides some suggestions for further study

Part three: – Conclusion – gives a summary of the whole study, its implicaions for

the improvement of the classroom practice, its limitations and suggestions for future research

1 Automatic recognition skills

2 Vocabulary and structural knowledge

3 Formal discourse structure knowledge

4 Content/world background knowledge

5 Synthesis and evaluation skills/strategies

6 Metacognitive knowledge and skills monitoring

15

1.2 The role of reading in foreign language learning

In a second language classroom, reading plays a significant role in building both linguistic and background knowledge for other language skills Reading may contribute significantly to competence in a second language There is a good reason; in fact, to hypothesize that reading makes a contribution to overall competence, to all four skills (Krashen & Terrel, 1983:131)

Hoang et al (2006: 191) even consider reading as the most effective means of improving students‟ language competence Especially, when there is a lack of L2 environment, reading is even more significant since it helps enlarge students‟ background knowledge and vocabulary as well as supports other skills (Pham, 2005 cited in Hoang et al., 2005:515) Since reading benefits grammatical knowledge and vocabulary development, overall competence in the second or foreign language increases through reading comprehension

Hedge (2003) states that any reading component of an English language course may include a set of learning goals for

 the ability to read a wide range of texts in English This is the long-range goal most teachers seek to develop through independent readers outside EFL/ESL classroom

 building a knowledge of language which will facilitate reading ability

 building schematic knowledge

 the ability to adapt the reading style according to reading purpose (i.e skimming, scanning)

 developing an awareness of the structures of written texts in English

 taking a critical stance to the contents of the texts

The achievement of these learning goals is the measure of the effectiveness of a reading comprehension program However, the extent to which these learning goals

16

depends on many variables such as reader variables and text variables Learner variables include students‟ interest level in the text, purpose for reading the text, knowledge of the topic, foreign language abilities, awareness of the reading process, and level of willingness

to take risks Text variables are text type, structure, syntax, and vocabulary (Hosenfeld, 1979) Therefore, comprehension is dependent on the interaction of the reader variables and text variables

1.3 Good Readers vs Bad Readers

The reading comprehension literature classifies readers into good (effective) readers and bad (ineffective) readers It is commonly agreed that the good readers have strong motivation for reading and appropriate reading strategies To these readers, reading

is enjoyable However, students‟ motivation to read is determined by how well they feel they read This implies that if the reading texts are carefully selected and therefore contribute to motivation, the process of language learning will be greatly helped In addition to strong motivation, a good reader does not examine every word in a linear fashion, but rather samples various linguistic cues (graphic, syntactic and semantic), and uses knowledge of the world to arrive at a hypothesis about the meaning of the text The reader then tests this hypothesis in various ways (reading on, rereading) Put it another way, a good reader is active in the process of constructing the meaning of the reading text Goodman (1967) describes a good reader briefly as the one who uses many sources of information

By contrast, bad or ineffective readers tend to struggle with the text They too frequently read a foreign language text with a painstaking dedication to deciphering every word in a linear fashion, frequently spending more time looking up in a dictionary than reading the text The result is at best a highly imperfect translation, at worst frustration and incomprehension (Revell & Sweeney, 1993) This is because these readers employ inefficient strategies, which are quite contrary to the natural reading process

17

1.4 Approaches to teaching reading comprehension

(i) Bottom – up approach:

According to the bottom – up model, reading is viewed as “the process of meaning

interpretation” in which “the language is translated from one form of symbolic representation to another” (Nunan, 1991) It was also understood as the process of recognizing the printed letters and words and building up a meaning from the smallest textual units at the bottom (letter and words) to larger units at the top (phrases, clauses, intersentential linkages) (Rivers 1964, 1968; Plaister 1968; Yorio 1971) In other words, in the bottom – up model, the reader begins with the written text (the bottom) and constructs meaning from letters, words, phrases and sentences found within, and then processes the text in a linear fashion Clearly, in the view of this driven model, the reader seems to play a relatively passive role because the basis of bottom – up processing is the linguistic knowledge of the reader Samuel and Kamil (188: 31) pointed out the shortcomings of these models as follows:

Because of the lack of feedback loops in the early bottom – up models, it was difficult to account for sentence – context effects and the role of prior knowledge

of text topic as facilitating variables in word recognition and comprehension

Due to this limitation, the bottom – up view of reading fell into disfavor

(ii) Top – down approach:

In this model, reading is seen as the process in which readers move from the top, the higher level of mental stages down to the text itself This approach emphasizes the reconstruction of meaning rather than the decoding of form, the interaction between the reader and the text rather than the graphic forms of the printed pages The reader proves his active role in the reading process by bringing to the interaction his/ her available

on the printed page with the reader„s background knowledge and experiences

Apparently, the strong points of top – down models outnumber those of the bottom – up as the reader – the center of the reading process – proves his active role However, for some researchers, these models still reveal certain shortcomings Stanovich (1988) stated that “ the generation of hypotheses would actually be more time – consuming than decoding” and Eskey (1988: 93) believed that ”in making the perfectly valid point that fluent reading is primarily a cognitive process, they (N.B: researchers who approved top– down models) tend to deemphasize the perceptual and decoding dimensions of that process”

Due to limitations of both bottom – up and top – down models, a new and more insightful reading process has been proposed under the name of interactive model

(iii) Interactive approach:

Interactive theorists appreciate the role of prior knowledge and prediction, and at the same time emphasize the importance of rapid and accurate processing of the actual words

of the text

According to Hayes et al (1991: 7) “in interactive models, different processes are thought to be responsible for providing information that is shared with other processes The

Most foreign language reading specialists view reading as interactive The reader interacts with the text to create meaning as the reader's mental processes work together at different levels (Bernhardt, 1986; Carrell, Devine & Eskey, 1988; Rumelhart, 1977)

One important part of interactive process theory emphasizes "schemata," the reader's preexisting concepts about the world and about the text to be read Into this framework, the reader fits what he or she finds in any passage If the new textual information does not fit into a reader's schemata, the reader misunderstands the new material, ignores the new material, or revises the schemata to match the facts within the passage

Content schemata are background knowledge about the cultural orientation or content of a passage For example, readers might know that Mark Twain wrote stories about life on the Mississippi River during the nineteenth century Such content schemata help the readers to understand and recall more than do readers less familiar with text content (Carrell, Devine & Eskey, 1988)

Formal schemata define reader expectations about how pieces of textual information will relate to each other and in what order details will appear (Carrell, 1987) For example, in a detective story, a reader could expect the following chain of events: a crime occurs, possible suspects are identified, evidence is uncovered, and the perpetrator is apprehended

20

1.5 Effective reading comprehension tasks

(i) What is meant by “effective readers”?

Effective readers are those who are able to read fluently and strategically They know how to identify key information from the reading text and know how to vary their reading speed depending on their reading purposes (see Grabe & Stoller 2001) This means that effective readers are strategic readers In other words, strategy training should be part

of reading comprehension instruction, which is discussed in the subsequent section

(ii) Teaching strategies to achieve effectiveness in a reading comprehension lesson

Learners of a foreign language, especially at elementary and intermediate levels, are rarely efficient readers in the foreign language This has to do not only with deficiencies in linguistic knowledge, but also with the strategies employed in reading Thus, most researches on reading now focus on the effective reading strategies that increase students‟ comprehension Guthrie et al (1996) argues that most researchers study a single cognitive strategy, rather than conducting a long-term study of multiple strategies Besides, few studies have addressed the issues related to “motivation” and “engagement” As Guthrie puts it:

Engaged reading is based on motivational and cognitive characteristics of the reader…who is intrinsically motivated, builds knowledge, uses cognitive strategies, and interacts socially to learn from text These engagement processes can be observed in student‟s cognitive effort, perseverance, and self-direction in reading (Ibid, p 404)

We must develop learners‟ reading strategies in the ways, which reflect the reading process in the native language This requires that we focus on meaning and on solving relevant problems, and not solely on interpreting individual words one after another Smith (1978:1267) emphasizes the preeminence of meaning and the essentially implicit nature of questions that we constantly ask in order to build up a general pattern of comprehension

21

He claims that such skills are not even expressly taught, but where foreign language readers are concerned there has been a traditional tendency to focus on „comprehension questions‟

It is the teachers‟ responsibilities to motivate reading by selecting the appropriate materials and especially for those at the early stages of learning Guthrie and Humenick (2004) performed a meta-analysis of studies that manipulated several aspects of intrinsic motivation support for reading These findings suggest that “meaningful conceptual content in reading instruction increases motivation for reading and text comprehension.” The second motivation-supporting practice showed that students who were provided choice

of text performed higher on reading tasks than those with no choice The third practice was

to use interesting texts This conforms to Hedge‟s proposal that in selecting task texts, teachers should seek interesting texts and consider variety of topics Readers‟ interest can

be revealed by setting “a reading interest questionnaire” where students check the fields that suit their interest, i.e short stories, thrillers, science fiction, etc Since “each learner will have different strengths to build on and different weaknesses to overcome” (Hedge,

2003, p 205), there is no one defined reading methodology In the functional approach to reading, Moorman & Ram (1994, p 646) focus on science fiction genre since “stories offer many opportunities for creative reading”

Carrell et al (1989, p 647) conducted a study on two metacognitive strategies, semantic mapping (SM) and the experience-text-relationship (ETR) method, to study their effect on second language reading In semantic mapping, categories and associations are displayed visually in a diagram These authors went on to argue that besides “being effective for vocabulary development, semantic mapping has proved to be a good

alternative to traditional pre-reading and post-reading tasks” (ibid, p.651) In fact, most

contemporary reading tasks include pre-reading tasks Therefore, I believe pre-reading tasks can be followed by SM strategy since the former aim at increasing learners' motivation While semantic mapping is used as a tool to assess students‟ schema, the experience text-relationship (ETR) method emphasizes comprehension, i.e., reading for meaning This method is based on discussion aiming at linking what the reader already

22

knows to what s/he will encounter in the text It has essentially three simple steps:

experience, text, and relationship In the experience step, the teacher leads the students to

the discussion of their own knowledge or experiences that are related in some way to the

passage to be read In the text step, students read short parts of the texts; usually a page or

two, and the teacher asks the questions about the content after each section In this step, the teacher may also need to correct any misunderstandings of the text evidenced by the

students In the final step, the relationship sequence, the teacher attempts to help the students draw relationships between the content of the text (as developed in the text step), and their outside experience and knowledge (as discussed in the experience step) In all

three steps the teacher is attempting to model and to guide the students systematically through the cognitive processes related to understanding a written text From the results Carrell et al (1989, pp 665-668) conclude that

…metacognitive strategy training does enhance L2 reading when compared to nonstrategy training, as in the control group [and that] while there are similarities between the two methods in their enhancement of second language reading on some measures, on other measures there are differences between them Finally, our results show that there are significant interactions between students‟ learning styles and the effectiveness of training in the two different strategies

Hedge (2003) states that although such small-scale studies need substantiation by

“further experimental work”, they have “contributed to ELT methodology in raising awareness about the characteristics of effective language learning”

(iii) Recognizing and implementing effective foreign language reading strategies

When foreign language teachers recognize that each reader brings to the reading process a unique set of past experiences, emotional and mental processes, level of cognitive development, and interest level in the topic, they also recognize that not all teaching strategies will be effective for all students When isolating the most effective teaching strategies to use with a group of students, the foreign language teachers must also

- guessing word meanings,

- becoming aware of the reading process, and

- taking risks

All of these strategies can be targeted for use with foreign language materials

Another step in effectively teaching students how to read materials written in a foreign language is to help the individual reader identify effective reading strategies based

on text variables One important part of this step is alerting the readers to significant aspects of text variables that will affect foreign language reading For example, pointing out the differences between a fairy tale and a newspaper article helps the reader recognize the different text types and to prepare for the uncomplicated sentence structure, high-frequency vocabulary, and, in most cases, happy ending that typically characterize a fairy tale On the other hand, the same reader would need to prepare very differently to read a newspaper article about the technicalities involved in negotiating a disarmament treaty In this case, the vocabulary would be very specialized and the sentence structures more complicated

1.6 Teaching Procedures

In the literature, a reading comprehension lesson is usually composed of three major stages These stages are pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading Each stage has its own goals, but altogether is aimed at making the reading comprehension effective in the sense that readers comprehend the text and develop their reading strategies Below is a discussion of these three stages regarding the goal and common tasks for each stage

24

"Pre-reading" is the first stage of a reading comprehension lesson, in which tasks are introduced to students with reference to a particular text While the main motivation of the pre-reading stage is to increase the students‟ interest in the reading process, the goals of this stage are to elicit or provide appropriate background knowledge, and activate necessary schemata Pre-reading tasks help the students to approach the text in a more meaningful and purposeful manner as the discussion compels them to think about the situation or points raised in a text The pre-reading phase helps students define selection criteria for the central theme of a story or the major argument of an essay Pre-reading tasks include: discussing author or text type, brainstorming, reviewing familiar stories, considering illustrations and titles, skimming and scanning (for structure, main points, and future directions)

"While -reading" tasks help students develop reading strategies, improve their control of the foreign language, and decode problematic text passages Helping students to employ strategies while reading can be difficult because individual students control and need different strategies Nevertheless, the teacher can pinpoint valuable strategies, explain which strategies individuals most need to practice, and offer concrete exercises in the form

of "guided reading" task sheets Such practice exercises might include guessing word meanings by using context clues, word formation clues, or cognate practice; considering syntax and sentence structure by noting the grammatical functions of unknown words, analyzing reference words, and predicting text content; reading for specific pieces of information; and learning to use the dictionary effectively

"Post-reading" exercises first check students' comprehension and then lead students

to a deeper analysis of the text, when warranted Because the goals of most real world reading are not to memorize an author's point of view or to summarize text content, but rather to see into another mind, or to mesh new information into what one already knows, foreign language reading must go beyond detail-eliciting comprehension drills to help students recognize that different strategies are appropriate with different text types For example, scanning is an appropriate strategy to use with newspaper advertisements whereas predicting and following text cohesion are effective strategies to use with short

25

stories By discussing in groups what they have understood, students focus on information they did not comprehend, or did not comprehend correctly Discussions of this nature can lead the student directly to text analysis as class discussion proceeds from determining facts to exploring deeper ramifications of the texts

The three above-mentioned stages have different purposes, but they together make

a coherent reading comprehension lesson The pre-reading stage is aimed at activating the students‟ background knowledge relevant to the information in the reading text, thereby helping students to use their existing knowledge in order to comprehend the new information in the reading text Also, in this stage, the teacher helps the students to deal with possible linguistic difficulties or challenges such as vocabulary and grammar The while-reading stage focuses more on the developing students‟ sub-skills of reading competence through doing various reading tasks By doing these tasks, students‟ reading strategies are also developed The post-reading stage is where linguistic skills are integrated Integrative tasks use text language and ideas in foreign language listening, speaking, and/or writing Integrative skills exercises include such tasks as students reacting

to texts with summaries, new endings, or pastiches; reenacting text; dramatizing interviews based on the text; carefully listening for key words or phrases in authentic video or audio tapes; and creating role-play situations or simulations of cultural experiences Also, in this stage, students‟ linguistic competence will be developed in this stage For example, the teacher can focus on helping students with problematic vocabulary or grammar

This chapter reviews some theoretical issues of teaching reading approaches The role of reading in foreign language learning and approaches of teaching reading have been elaborated Also, teaching strategies to achieve effectiveness in a reading comprehension lesson, recognizing and implementing effective second language reading strategies and teaching procedures are presented in this chapter The next one presents the study

26

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

This chapter provides information about the study This includes the setting of the study, the participants and the research instruments used for this study

2.1 Setting and background

2.1.2 Participants

The process of data collection involved the participation of both teachers of English and grade 12th students as follows:

(i) Teachers of English

In Dai Mo High School, there are totally 7 teachers of English, including the researcher, aged from 28 to 41 Two of them are studying for an M.A degree and the three others hold a B.A TEFL degree The two others had in-service TELT training courses The number of female teachers formed the majority (5 female teachers and 2 male teachers) Some of them, however, are middle-aged which prevents them from learning

27

new things to some extent These teachers are not very happy to attend training programs

to get the ideas about the textbook and new teaching methodologies The participants of this study were members of this team

(ii) Grade 12 th students

The subjects of the study were 182 students coming from four different classes at Dai Mo High School All of them were born in 1992 and they are both male and female and live around the school All of them basically are beginners of English despite finishing the English program for the secondary system Most of them are not good at using language skills and they do not have a good English learning and speaking environment Only in the classroom can they learn and use the language They do not have other places

to practice the knowledge they have learnt from school and have no chance to expose to the target language In addition, their lack of awareness on the importance of English as well as motivation make them not interested in learning English Although most of them have already learnt English for at least four years at lower secondary school, their knowledge of English is still poor and limited Hardly can they say a complete sentence in the target language

2.2 Data collection instrument

For a collection of sufficient, reliable and valid data for the study, two sets of survey questionnaires were administered to 182 students and 7 teachers of English at Dai Mo High School The questionnaire was composed of 20 closed items and 3 open-ended items The questionnaire was written in Vietnamese (see appendix A & B) to make sure that the teachers and students understand the questions accurately Questions were developed on the basis of the information related to effective reading comprehension in the literature

(i) The questionnaire for students

The questionnaire was designed to get information concerning:

3 Students‟ perceptions of effective classroom reading tasks

4 How teachers should exploit the textbook effectively

5 Perceptions of effective assessment of Reading Comprehension

6 Students‟ evaluation of the reading lessons

7 Students‟ recommendations for the improvement of the reading lessons

(ii) The questionnaire for teachers

Questionnaire designed for the teachers aims at finding out:

1 Teachers‟ perceptions of what teachers should do to make the reading lessons effective

2 Teachers‟ perceptions of the roles of various stages of an effective reading comprehension lesson

3 Teachers‟ perceptions of effective classroom reading tasks

4 How teachers should exploit the textbook effectively

5 Perceptions of effective assessment of Reading Comprehension

6 Teachers‟ evaluation of the reading lessons

7 Teachers‟ recommendations for the improvement of reading lessons

In short, this chapter has presented the information about the study This includes the setting of the study, the participants and the the research instruments used for this study The next chapter presents the data analysis and findings

29

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

3.1 Data analysis

3.1.1 Data analysis of the students’ survey questionnaire

(i) Students’ perceptions of what teachers should do to make the reading lessons

Agree

(%)

No ideas (%)

Disagree

(%)

Strongly disagree (%) S1 Teachers must teach all the new words in

S7 Teachers must help students understand

every single sentence in order to

comprehend the whole text

S2 Teachers needn‟t teach all the new words

but students can understand the main ideas

of the text

S3 Teachers need to activate students‟

background knowledge to help them

understand more

S6 Students should be let to read and get the

general ideas before coming to the text

detail

Table 1: Students’ perceptions of what teachers should do to make the reading lessons effective

30

Table 1 shows the students‟ perceptions of what teachers should do to make the reading lessons effective Students had the belief that they needed to be taught every word

in order to comprehend the whole text However, only half of them agreed that they needed

to understand every single sentence in order to comprehend the whole text and the other half disagreed with this statement More than half of them agreed that teachers didn‟t need

to teach all the new words but students could still understand the main ideas of the text (statement 2) Most of them (91%) thought that teachers need to activate students‟ background knowledge to help them understand the text better 86% had the idea that teachers should let students read and get the general ideas before coming to the text details

(ii) Students’ perceptions of the roles of various stages of an effective reading comprehension lesson

Statements

Strongly agree (%)

Agree

(%)

No ideas (%)

Disagree

(%)

Strongly disagree (%) S16 The pre-reading tasks are the most

S17 The while-reading tasks are the most

S18 The post-reading tasks are the most

S19 The main tasks in the while-reading stage

are to read and answer all the questions on the

reading text

Table 2: Students’ perceptions of the roles of various stages of an effective reading comprehension lesson

Table 2 shows the statistical results of students‟ perceptions of the roles of various stages of an effective reading comprehension lesson As can be seen clearly from the table

2 that one third of the students had no idea (they chose “no ideas” category) When being asked about the level of the importance of the reading tasks (pre-reading tasks, while-

31

reading tasks and post-reading tasks), 48% showed that the pre-reading tasks were the most important part in the reading lesson, while 38% said that the while-reading tasks were the most important part in the reading lesson, and 37% maintained that the post-reading tasks About one fourth of the students disagreed that the main tasks in the while-reading part were to read and answer all the questions on the reading text while half of them (48%) agreed with this statement

(iii) Students’ perceptions of effective classroom reading tasks

Statements

Strongly agree (%)

Agree

(%)

No ideas (%)

Disagree

(%)

Strongly disagree (%) S12 Students are required to read and complete all

S15 Teachers should not finish at reading and

answering the questions mentioned in the

textbook

S5 Students are helped to guess the unknown

S8 Teachers need to help the students know the

S13 All the skills such as speaking, listening and

writing should be integrated when teaching

reading skill

S4 Translation is required to help students

S10 Teachers shouldn‟t ask students to read the

Table 3: Students’ perceptions of effective classroom reading tasks