A study on the techniques for teaching reading skill to large English classes at the People''s Police Academy = Nghiên cứu các thủ thuật dạy kỹ năng đọc

Chart 2: Students‟ opinions on the reading activities Chart 3: Students‟ participation in reading lessons Table 1: Teacher‟s years of teaching English Table 2: Teachers‟ attitudes tow

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION ……… i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i1

ABSTRACT i3

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 6i

LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES 7i

Part A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Methods of the study 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Design of the study 3

Part B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Large Classrooms 4

1.1.1 Class size 4

1.1.2 Advantages of large classes 5

1.1.3 Disadvantages of large classes 6

1.2 ELT in large classrooms 8

1.2.1 Advantages and disadvantages of ELT in large classrooms 8

1.2.2 Reading in ELT 9

1.2.3 Reading in large classrooms 10

CHAPTER 2: PRACTICAL RESEARCH 12

2.1 Background of the study 12

2.1.1 Description of the English course and its objectives in the PPA 12

2.1.2 Description of the students at the PPA 13

2.1.3 Description of the teachers at the PPA 13

2.1.4 Description of the physical setting 13

2.2 Design and methodology 14

2.2.1 The participants 14

2.2.2 Research instruments 15

2.2.3 Data analysis 15

2.3 Presentation of statistical results 15

2.3.1 Questionnaire for Teachers 15

2.3.1.1 Methodology 15

2.3.1.2 Results 15

2.3.2 Questionnaire for students 20

2.3.2.1 Methodology 20

2.3.2.2 Results 21

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 28

3.1 Findings 28

3.1.1 Difficulties from teachers 28

3.1.2 Difficulties from students 28

3.1.3 Objective factors 29

3.2 Recommendations 30

3.2.1 Teaching reading strategies 30

3.2.2 Encouraging extensive reading among students 33

3.2.3 Adapting materials and varying tasks and activities 33

3.2.4 Using reading games and role-plays 34

3.2.5 Using visual aids 34

3.2.6 Large class management 35

Part C: CONCLUSION 39

1 Conclusion 39

2 Limitations of the study 40

3 Suggestions for further studies 40

REFERENCES ………41 APPENDICES ……… I

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as foreign language

ELT: English language teaching

ESL: English as second language

PPA: the People‟s Police Academy

LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES

Chart 1: Students‟ attitudes towards the position of reading skill

Chart 2: Students‟ opinions on the reading activities

Chart 3: Students‟ participation in reading lessons

Table 1: Teacher‟s years of teaching English

Table 2: Teachers‟ attitudes towards the position of reading skill

Table 3: Numbers of students in English classes

Table 4: Difficulties in teaching large reading classes

Table 5.1: Personalization techniques

Table 5.2: Techniques of organizing activities

Table 5.3: Techniques of Material adapting and supplementing and Assessment Table 6: Students‟ opinions on the reading texts

Table 7: Frequency of chances for practicing the 4 macro-skills though the given tasks Table 8: Students‟ reasons for poor participation in reading lessons

Table 9: Students‟ attitudes to the advantages of large class

Table 10: Students‟ attitudes to the disadvantages of large class

Table 11: Students‟ preferences for reading techniques

Part A INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Nowadays English is becoming one of the most popular languages worldwide In different countries, different people at different ages learn English for their own purposes Learning to use a language freely and fully is a lengthy and effortful process In Vietnam, learning English language is interested by young people, especially students at universities for many reasons such as being able to get better jobs in foreign companies, having opportunities to study abroad or having chances of being promoted and so on

In recent years, because of the phenomenal expansion in students‟ enrollment in Vietnamese universities, English language classes are bound to be large because of this expansion Although large classes facilitate a common background for students and are economically desirable, they pose a number of challenges to teachers As a matter of fact, teaching English is said to be not effective at universities in Vietnam in general and at the People‟s Police Academy (PPA) in particular

The importance of teaching English reading skill is undeniable in the context of Vietnam This is attributed to many reasons Generally speaking, teaching English in Vietnam supplies students with the abilities to understand the materials in the written form and to communicate in English Furthermore, English is taught and learnt in a foreign-language environment where students have little opportunity for using English in daily life

In such context, reading is not only a means to obtain knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place In other words, learners “read to learn” (Burn et al, 1998:11) Taking the same view, Carrell (1981:1) confirms that “for many students, reading is by far the most important of the four skills in a second language, particularly English as a second or foreign language” This is particularly true to the students at the PPA They know that if they read well, they will receive lots of information especially in their future job

However, there is also a fact that we – the teachers of English cannot deny That is, many EFL learners find reading the toughest or most boring of the four practical skills, especially in large classes Some call this an effective “sleeping pill”, others exaggerate

that reading teachers are those who can talk in other people‟s sleep The phenomenon that some students claim they feel tense before a reading class, stressed, confused and sometimes being neglected is not rare in many colleges and universities It is urgent for reading teachers to do something to improve the situation, especially on Vietnamese regional and global participation nowadays

All these facts have inspired the author to carry out the thesis titled “A study on the techniques for teaching reading skill to large English classes at the People‟s Police Academy” It is hoped that the study will be helpful for the author and other teachers in some ways

2 Aims of the study

The aims of the study is to investigate the real situation of teaching and learning reading in large classes at the PPA, to be more presice, the difficulties in teaching and learning reading in large classes experienced by the teachers and students so that suggestions can be given to help improve the situation

The specific aims are as follows:

- Investigating the problems encountered by teachers and learners in teaching and learning reading in large classes at the PPA

- Suggesting some feasible techniques to improve the quality of teaching and learning reading in large classes at the PPA

3 Methods of the study

In order to achieve the mentioned aims, a quantitative method is used which consists of the following tasks:

- Collecting data from 150 students of D34 who are learning English at the second term and from 16 teachers of English in 2009

- Assessing dominant difficulties in teaching and learning English

- Evaluating the techniques that best fit teachers and students

4 Scope of the study

Due to the limit of time, the study mainly focuses on the problems in teaching and learning reading in large classes at the PPA It also give some possible suggested techniques and activities that may improve the situation Several aspects relating to reading activities for large classes are not the focus of the study

5 Design of the study

The study is divided into three parts:

The first part, INTRODUCTION, presents rationale for the study and hightlights the aims,

scopes and methods of the study

The second part, DEVELOPMENT, consists of three chapters

Chapter 1 accounts for a variety of linguistic concepts most relevant to the research topic

such as definitions of large class, ELT in Large Classrooms, Reading in ELT and Reading

in Large Classrooms

Chapter 2 focuses on the analyses on the real situation of teaching and learning reading in

large classes at the PPA, learning requirements, teaching methods, materials and assessments This chapter also deals with the subject, instruments for data collection and data presentation as well

Chapter 3 takes a close look at problems in reading in large class at the PPA and it

provides suggestions to these problems

The last part of the study, CONCLUSION, sum up the issued addressed in the study and

points out the limitations and make some suggestions for further study

Part B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter briefly covers the theories related to the study: Large classrooms, ELT

According to Smart (2006), large classes are classes of more than 30 learners in elementary, secondary, adult or tertiary settings Large classes are thought to be classes where learners vary considerably in language and literacy skills and are in need of great personal attention and encouragement to make progress

Haynes (1997) defines that any class with over 40 learners can be considered a large class

Richard Watson Todd (2006) gives a table which shows the numbers of students mentioned in articles about large classes for English language teaching:

Some minimum sizes of large classes

Nolasco & Arthur (1986) 40

It is believed that there are always two sides in everything, and large class size is not an exception Large classes have both advantages and disadvantages Unfortunately, the former is outweighed by the latter This will be reviewed and critically discussed in the two parts that follows

1.1.2 Advantages of large classes

According to a survey carried out by Wulff, Nyquist and Abbot (1987) on 327 first year university students, 05% of the students would like to have fewer than 25 students per class wile 41% of the students preferred to have 100 students in a class The data result also showed that the students perceive that large classes are best places to meet with other students There is more variety of people to communicate with, to compare notes, to have fun and to form study groups together For other students, large classes are essential for the

students to allow them to form a meaningful interaction in the classroom

It is also suggested that “students may work by themselves in the large classroom,

as a large class gives them a feeling of independence so that learning was assisted by reliant self and having to study and learn themselves” (Wulff, Nyquist and Abbot,1987)

A lot of students suggest that large classrooms provide a relaxed environment Because there is no high pressure for them to perform or to be noticed by the teacher at all times

The content of the lessons conducted in a large class usually provides general information which is easy for the student to understand when they study in a large classroom As it is stated that “It is usually good for any person to learn, as the content is less detailed, more general and broader” (Wulff, Nyquist and Abbot, 1987, p.22)

It is also imperative to ensure that in large classes students understand the materials well The use of repetition in the class may “act as a map to help them know where the class has been and where it is going” (Carbone, 1998, p.21)

Moreover, in large class, students can share many different ideas and interesting life experiences This stimulates the students and enlivens those parts of our lessons where students can discuss and learn from each other During project work, students can learn to share responsibility and help each other This also brings diversity and speeds up the work

In short, although it is believed that teaching in large classes is big a challenge for the teacher, it still has a few advantages for both teachers and learners Because of these advantages, when teaches have to give lectures to large classes, it is advisable to make the best of these good points to have good teaching result

1.1.3 Disadvantages of large classes

Large classes are popular in many countries and it is indeed a pressing matter to many EFL teachers Many teachers have realized the negative influence that large class size can have on the quality of teaching and learning

The teaching of large classes is truly challenging and requires more conscious effort and planning in order to make learning and teaching more effective in such an environment Many experts believe that small classes achieve better results than large ones

do Most EFL teachers reject teaching in large classes as they often mean heterogeneous ages and abilities with many difficulties in learning and individually giving and getting attention A large class makes teachers difficult to motivate students‟ participation, difficult

to make interaction with students, and difficult to give feedback to them

Conant (2003) states that teaching large classes is demanding and difficult Among other things, as the size of a class increases, the challenges associated with building a participation-based class culture intensify Sometimes students do not prepare as well for a large class because they believe they will not be called upon Perhaps the sheer size of the room is intimidating and inhibits some from speaking Maybe students are not as motivated

to share their thoughts and observations because no formal incentives exists (e.g their grade is not participation-based) Whatever the reasons is, it is clear that as the size of a class increases, it is more and more difficult to keep everyone involved in the lesson

It is believed that the opportunity for contact between students and lecturers in a large class is significantly reduced, which results in less individual attention for the student

A more restricted range of teaching and learning activities is available and it is much harder to effectively manage groupwork

Many studies (Wangsa, O (2004); Brock Wetherly Rogers & Burnette Wolf Hamil (2008)) show that students prefer to have small classes, as large ones impinge on the quality of education they receive Some students view that large classes lessened individual responsibility where they do not have to be responsible for answering questions, they don‟t have to pay attention in the class or attend the class

There are a lot of students who feel that large classes decrease motivation, as they feel left out or lost The existence of a large number of students makes them invisible They are students in the crowds who will graduate unnoticed and feel insignificant and anonymous

Moreover, other tangible issues such as, inadequate equipment and overcrowding also contribute to the disadvantages of learning process in large classrooms The shortage

of seats in an overcrowded room creates an uncomfortable environment to study The problem with microphone may impinge the quality of the lecture, as students can not hear clearly The far distance from the professor may easily decrease motivation, which results

in losing interest in the classroom

Cao Xia (2006) states some major problems in a large class Firstly, there is little chance for teachers to check individual student‟s performance and for students to practice Secondly, there is lack of teacher-student interaction; and thirdly, there are some physical constraints as the most of the classrooms have rows of desks fixed to the floor, which is unfavorable for language learning and teaching Such being the case, it is not surprising if teachers feel there is a gap between the theory of teaching methodology and reality of their own teaching situation

Challenges of teaching a large class include the difficulties in keeping good class discipline, giving each student individual attention he or she needs; providing for more students of different ages and different abilities who want to learn different things at different speeds and in different ways

From the student‟s perspective the main problem with large classes is the feeling of anonymity The anonymity of students in large classes has been associated with students

taking a more passive role and being less likely to participate with in-class activities, hoping that their lack of involvement will „go unnoticed‟ (Islam, 2001)

Because of those disadvantages, it is not surprising that non-native teachers of English often find it difficult to carry out their teaching in a more effective way, which may involve the full participation and contribution from students

1.2 ELT in large classrooms

Teaching a second language can sometimes be complicated Some researchers believe that a naturalistic approach is more effective than formal teaching in the classroom setting However, second language acquisition or learning can also be achieved in the classroom setting, including large classroom, through appropriate methods of effective instructions and different types of classroom interaction

Moreover, learning usually takes place in the classroom setting where the teacher is the provider of the rules, i.e grammatical forms and feedback, including error detection and correction The teacher determines the syllabus, while the students are expected to receive passively Although the concept is the traditional methods of language teaching, it

is still widely used in schools around the world where large classrooms prevail

1.2.1 Advantages and disadvantages of ELT in large classrooms

English teaching may be considered intricate in large classrooms Issues such as discipline, correcting assignments, suitable materials will be hindrance if they are not addressed properly Usually, discipline problem is caused by lack of challenge or boredom, which can be handled by providing various tasks and materials and making activities interesting Asking the students themselves to correct each other‟s work can reduce loads

of marking the assignments This will result in improving their English skill It is essential

to supplement textbook with other materials to add variation and arouse interest in the students Various materials may stimulate collaboration and participation from them

“Interesting stimuli will raise students‟ motivation to engage in the task” (Ur 1998:306)

However, Ur (1998) suggests that properly managed, large classes can be used to deliver good quality of English teaching with equal achievement in small classes The large numbers of students provide bigger pool of human resources than small classes Their various interests, ideas and opinions can contribute to the classroom interactions Students

may learn about each other‟s values and personalities, which will increase their own knowledge and awareness of others as well as tolerance and understanding As the teacher

is unable to attend to all students during the class time, the students will have the opportunity to assist by doing peer teaching, thus it leads to foster an atmosphere of cooperation Teaching large classes can be viewed as more challenging and interesting It provides greater opportunity for creativity, innovation and general professional development

1.2.2 Reading in ELT

Reading is part of our daily lives and we read for different purposes such as reading for survival, reading for learning and reading for pleasure As we filter our spoken and written messages, our reading behaviour is also highly selective It is suggested “even when we commit ourselves to a full reading, that reading will still be selective, some parts being read with greater care than others” (Wallace 2001:5) There are many types of reading such as reading for survival, reading for learning and reading for pleasure

Reading for survival is any reading that response to our environment, such as reading signs on the street, signs for motorists, advertisements, notices and announcement For other social groups such as parents, reading for survival might include the ability to read instructions on the food package and safety regulations on toys “Survival reading serves immediate needs or wishes” (Wallace 2001:6)

Reading for learning means finding out information in order to extend one‟s horizon It is common for students to read for information while attending school, particularly in a setting where English is learned as a second or foreign language In this setting, reading may not be fully used to its potential to reflect the students‟ learning, it is rather used as a display function

Reading for pleasure is carried out for the sake of reading, In ELT situation, students are rarely taught the practice of reading as pleasure The purpose of reading has been converted into examination drills which mean reading is required merely to pass the exams Moreover, Wallace coins that “if readers do not read for pleasure in their mother tongue they are very unlikely to do so in a second or foreign language” (2001:7)

Fluency is the most essential outcome of reading for pleasure in any language Readers must be fluent in reading to be able to enjoy the material, otherwise it will create

boredom, and thus it will lead them to discontinue reading Simultaneously, it decreases motivation to read anything except reading for survival This in turn will determine fluency, which might never have an opportunity to develop

1.2.3 Reading in large classrooms

Reading has been “viewed as a twofold phenomenon involving process (comprehending) and product (comprehension)” (Siberstein 1987: 30) Many teachers, particularly in large classrooms concentrate more on the product of reading instead of the process, for example, the teacher explains new vocabulary at length, the text is read to the students and asked about the content, the students repeat after the teacher, individual students read aloud and the teacher corrects the pronunciation, or the students read the text silently and try to remember the content as they will be asked questions later

In order to have reasonable outcome, ESL/EFL teachers in large classes must focus

on the process that involves in the reading activity First, topic of the material must be introduced to the students by asking them questions that need to be answered immediately The purpose of this exercise is to find out the students‟ knowledge, to prepare the students for what they are going to read, to create expectations and to stimulate interest in the reading material Concurrently, it allows them to contribute their background knowledge to the reading of the text

Second, choosing only four to five items of new words or expressions from the material to pre teach to the class The notion of pre-teaching excessive new vocabulary items often spoils the classroom activity, which may impede the development of reading skills such as guessing or ignoring unknown words This may cause the students to quit reading every time they see words that they do not know By restricting the pre-teaching new vocabulary items, students may focus more on the actual reading and understanding the activities

The pre-reading activity should include not more than two focus questions, which could be written on the black/whiteboard This will give students a purpose to read and to stimulate their mind to respond to the material They will be involved in the reading and concentrate more on meaning Students must be prepared for reading the material to arouse interest, particularly in ESL/EFL classes where reading is often carried out with specific aim

The teacher should encourage students to read by themselves without having the material being read aloud He/she must emphasize the need to conform with real life reading where its normal way is to read silently Students must answer the question in written form instead of orally This will ensure the students to perform the entire task as well as giving the teacher enough time to monitor the students and be available to help them

In carrying out the class report, the teacher must ask questions to some students, especially to those who do not put their hands up When the answers are given, the teacher should not reward the students by saying “good” or “that‟s right” This is to encourage other students to give different answers or providing different approach to the same answer Furthermore, it is not advisable to correct any mistake that might occur during the question and answer session, as the activity is merely focused on the understanding of the meaning

of the material

CHAPTER 2: PRACTICAL RESEARCH

In the previous chapter, the theoretical background related to the topic has been covered However, in order to see how it really is in real teaching and learning, a practical research was carried out The Practical Research underwent the following steps:

1- Designing survey questionnaires

2- Delivering question sheets

3- Collecting completed question sheets

4- Analyzing collected data

5- Drawing conclusions from the results of the questionnaires and giving suggestions

In this chapter, only the first four steps are mentioned The last step will be presented in the next chapter – Findings and Recommendations

2.1 Background of the study

2.1.1 Description of the English course and its objectives in the PPA

Foreign language is now a compulsory subject In the PPA, students can choose to attend one of the three foreign language classes: English, French and Chinese However, the number of students who learn English is always the largest Students in the PPA have foreign language lessons during the first and the second year

Like in other universities, the English course in the PPA is divided into two stages: one for general English; the other for English for specific purposes

The first stage - the stage for general English - lasts 150 periods and it is carried out

in two semesters Aiming at providing students with general knowledge of English grammar, vocabulary, phonology as well as developing students‟ four language skills, the

textbook Lifelines (Elementary) is used By using this textbook, we can develop our

students‟ communicative competence and our students can learn the real things from daily life Students are required to work in pairs, in groups to practise English in common situations Additionally, students also have chances to listen to both native and non-native speakers from the tapes used with the textbook At this stage, two forms of tests are used:

an oral test at the end of the first term and a written one at the end of the second term

The second stage – the stage for English for Specific purposes – lasts 75 periods At

this stage, our students are provided with the knowledge of terms and structures related to

their profession The textbook used at this stage (English for Police), which mainly focuses

on developing students‟ reading, speaking and slightly on writing skill, is designed by teachers at the PPA Students are required to read the texts on real law cases, to find out the meanings of the law terms They then discuss in pairs, and in groups to find answers to the questions At the end of this stage students will have oral tests

The objectives of the English course are clear At the end of the course (after 225 periods), students are required to obtain:

- General knowledge of English grammar and an active vocabulary of 1,500 words

- The ability to communicate with foreigners in English in common situations like: showing the ways, asking to check foreigners‟ suspecting luggage

- The ability to understand and use the professional terms and structures

2.1.2 Description of the students at the PPA

Like students of other colleges and universities, in order to be students of the PPA, they have to pass a very challenging University Entrance Examination Students of the PPA come from all parts of the country: big cities, provinces and mountainous areas

Freshmen at the PPA do not have the same level of English language proficiency Some of them have learned English for 7 years at secondary and high schools some have only learned English for 3 years and some other have never learned English

2.1.3 Description of the teachers at the PPA

In the PPA, there are 16 teachers of English language aged from 23 to 52 Of the 16 teachers, 5 have MA degrees, 7 have been trained at College of Foreign Languages-Vietnam National University, Hanoi and one has been trained from Hanoi University of Foreign Studies The rest used to be teachers of Russian, however, since the number of students learning Russian is now dwindled, there are not many Russian classes for them Therefore, after having attended an English-training course which lasted more than two years, they became teachers of English

2.1.4 Description of physical setting

The term “physical setting” refers to the place where the lessons take place, the number of students in an English class, the equipments and different types of materials

available for teachers and students in teaching and learning English

In the PPA, English teaching and learning activities are mostly carried out inside the classrooms which are designed for lecture lessons and the only classroom equipment available is a chalkboard The only type of teaching aid that the Foreign Languages Department (FLD) has is cassette recorder There are about 7 cassette recorders in FLD but they are not in good conditions due to their oldness The PPA also has other equipments like multi-functions projectors, video recorders, TV but they are not enough for all classes

In terms of class size, as a non-language major university, the number of students in

an English class is quite large, from 40 to 50 Especially, there are even classes with 70 students This large number causes a great deal of difficulties for the teaching and learning

The materials for reference and self-study are not available for teachers and students at the PPA In the library, there are only some English books but they are not really helpful for teachers and students The teachers can try to overcome this difficulty since they can get out of the university setting out to find their own references However, it

is very difficult for students to do so as they are required to stay inside the Academy campus during weekdays and even at weekends while as Internet facility is not available for them to do online searching or studying

2.2 Design and methodology

2.2.1 The participants

In order to get information to fulfill the aims of the study, two survey questionnaires were designed The first questionnaire was administered to 16 teachers who teach English to non-English language major students at the PPA The researcher selected them as participants of the study with the hope to find out the teaching methods and techniques they currently apply in teaching reading skill to non-English major students at the PPA

The second questionnaire was administered to 150 non-English language major students at the PPA They are male and female students who were randomly chosen from

220 non English - major students of elementary level of English language proficiency Most of them aged from 18 to 22 and they are first year students The researcher delivered the questionnaire to those students in order to investigate the problems facing the students

at the elementary level at PPA in their learning of English reading skill The reason for the

choice of the first year students was because they were the only group of students who were still learning English at the time of questionnaire delivery

2.2.2 Research instruments

As mentioned above, in order to gather information for the study, the survey method employing self-administered survey questionnaires for both students and teachers was used The researcher only used survey questionnaire as her research instrument because of its convenience and due to the limitation of time and scope of this study

2.2.3 Data analysis

Data analysis is not simply a single description of the collected data In fact, it is the process by which the researcher interprets the data collected from the survey questionnaires The scheme and coding categories in this research emerged from an examination of data rather than being pre-determined and imposed on the data

2.3 Presentation of statistical results

2.3.1 Questionnaire for Teachers

2.3.1.1 Methodology

The questionnaire for teacher consists of 5 open-ended questions written in English with the hope to find out the difficulties that teachers encounter in their teaching of reading skill and their techniques in dealing with these difficulties The questions are divided into 5 different categories:

- Question 1: Teachers‟ experiences

- Question 2: Teachers‟ attitudes towards the reading skill

- Questions 3 - 4: Number of students in an English class and teachers‟ difficulties in teaching reading in these classes

- Question 5: Techniques for teaching large reading classes being used by teachers

- Question 6: Teachers‟ opinions

16 copies of the survey questionnaires were delivered to the teachers and they have been all responded

2.3.1.2 Results

* Teachers‟ experiences

Years of teaching English Number of teachers %

Table 1: Teacher’s years of teaching English

The table shows that English language teachers at the PPA are quite experienced 10 out of 16 teachers (62.5%) have been teaching foreign languages for more than 6 years

* Teachers‟ attitudes towards the position of reading skill

Table 2: Teachers’ attitudes towards the position of reading skill

It can be seen clearly that most of teachers are aware of the importance of reading skill when working as a policeman (56.2%) Because of the age of integration, police students in the future have to face up with many kinds of crimes including trans-nation crimes If they read well in English, they will receive a lot of information and they will work well with English documents

* Number of students in an English class and teachers‟ difficulties in teaching reading in these classes

Question 3: You are teaching English class with the numbers of students:

Statistics from table 3 is not a surprising result, because teaching large English classes is a normal phenomenon in Vietnam in general and also at the PPA in particular All English classes (100%) at the PPA are large classes with more than 40 students

Question 4: What difficulties do you have with your reading classes?

Options

Number

of teachers

%

a Feeling out of control and trapped by the problems of

b Being frustrated by the huge amount of written work 5 31.2

c Creating effective learning for all, finding suitable materials 13 81.3

d Activating all students, especially, silent or weak ones 14 87.5

Table 4: Difficulties in teaching large reading classes

Table 4 describes the problems that the teachers at PPA have to face with when teaching reading English in large classes According to them, the most difficult issue they have to cope with is to activate all students, especially, silent or weak ones (87.5%) The teachers complain that they do not have time to help all students, only some students are attended during the class due to the limited time

And 13 out of 16 teachers (81.3%) find that it is difficult to create effective learning for all, and to find suitable materials Many teachers are concerned that because students are too crowded and they are all so different, they are neglecting the needs of their students

as individuals

56.2% of the teacher (9 out of 16) feel out of control and trapped by the problems

of classroom management Apparently, this is a considerable pressure for teachers in large classes, both because they are obliged to complete the syllabus within limited time available and because they have to manage teaching activities As a result, many students are worried by the physical constraints imposed by a large class in confined classroom setting and by the discipline aspects of a large class They feel they are unable to control what is happening, and that the class becomes too noisy, there are too many students, when

they do activity, they make a lot of noises Furthermore, when the students work in pairs or

in groups, it may be noisy, and the teachers may not be able to control all the students, therefore, some students who are not interested in class may disturb the others

Of all the respondents participated in the research, five teachers are frustrated by the huge amount of written work, which accounts for 31.2%

Apart from these difficulties, teachers also list some other problems facing them Two teachers say that the large class size and enormous gaps and differences among students make it really hard for them to follow their individual progress Besides, students are not accustomed to self-regulation and lack skills to individualize the tasks set for the whole class In addition, the weaker students are always asking things in their mother tongue and want everything explained in Vietnamese They are not willing to use L2 when teacher is not with them during their groupwork

* Techniques for teaching large reading classes being used by teachers

The techniques in the question are classified into 4 groups: Personalization,

Activities, Material adapting and supplementing and Assessment The results collected

would be practical background for applying several effective techniques into the real teaching of ELT reading in large classes at the PPA

٭ Personalization techniques

teachers %

a Showing personal interest in students (remember, use students‟

names, encourage them to talk about themselves and about the topics

that concern them)

Table 5.1: Personalization techniques

One striking feature is that 100% teachers are aware of the importance of personalization, and they all apply in their classes But they also add that they cannot remember all students‟ names and they do not often ask students to talk about themselves

or about the topics of concern This is because each teacher has too many students and they have some classes at the same time Some confine that sometimes they do not treat all

respectfully and fairly, especially with weak students And they explain that is because of the pressure of overworking, large classes, quality of English teaching …

٭ Techniques of organizing activities

teachers %

g encouraging pair/groupwork (discussion, debate, news casting) 10 62.5

Table 5.2: Techniques of organizing activities

Among 15 techniques of organizing activities, setting up a clear goal for students to read and asking students to do tasks within a set time were the two most frequent activities carried out by 14 out of 16 teachers, taking up 87.5%

As we can see from the data, many techniques in this table were not applied or well exploited by the teachers although they were probably considered beneficial to stimulate and create relaxing, joyful atmosphere for students That will attract more students on reading lessons and improve their reading skill To explain this some teachers when being asked blamed for the time limitation, university compulsory syllabus and class size

٭Techniques of Material adapting and supplementing and Assessment

teachers %

Material adapting and supplementing

t making reading tasks more interesting and suitable to the students‟

u providing fun, colourful texts from magazine, newspaper, book,

Assessment

Table 5.3: Techniques of Material adapting and supplementing and Assessment

Very few teachers (37.5%) adapt reading tasks that are more interesting and suitable to the students‟ level, interests Thus, it is time for the teacher to spend more time and effort in adapting and supplementing materials

Referring to assessment techniques, 62.5% of the teachers give feedback regularly and appropriately but only 25% apply rewards and punishment policy These show that many teachers are trying to assess their students in some ways but not all of them give rewards and punishment policy which may motivate students in class activities

2.3.2 Questionnaire for students

2.3.2.1 Methodology

150 copies of the second questionnaire which consists of 10 questions were delivered to 150 students These 10 questions can be divided into 6 categories:

- Question 1: Students‟ attitudes towards the position of reading skill

- Questions 2 – 3: Students‟ evaluation on the reading texts/ activities

- Question 4: Frequency of chances for practicing the 4 macro-skills though the given reading tasks during their reading lessons

- Question 5 – 6: Students‟ reasons for poor participation in reading lessons

- Question 7 – 9: Students‟ attitudes to large class

- Question 10: Students‟ preferences for reading techniques

2.3.2.2 Results

* Students‟ attitudes towards the position of reading skill

Listening Speaking Reading Writing

Chart 1: Students’ attitudes towards the position of reading skill

Similar to the statistics from table 1 by the teachers, chart 1 shows that nearly half

of the students in the survey (48%) are aware of the importance of reading in their future job Also from chart 1, a relatively high number of students (34%) regard speaking skill as the most frequently used The rest number belongs to writing skill (4%) This can be that because the students under investigation come from different groups of specialized scientific branches such as criminal prevention and investigation violating social order, laws, criminology state management on social order, prisoners management and rehabilitation to name a few, therefore, their choices depend much on their working environment But most of them pay much attention to reading skill as it helps them a lot in their further study

* Students‟ evaluation on the reading texts/ activities

The results presented in table 6 - the students‟ opinions on the reading texts in

Lifelines-Elementary shown that more than half of the students being questioned find the

reading texts at the right level of difficulty (63.3%) Thirty students out of a total of 150 consider the reading texts too easy, and twenty five students think that they are too difficult, 20% and 16.7% respectively That might be because the levels of English among students are varied The challenge for the teachers is to find the way to overcome this and minimize the variation/gap

As for the topics of the reading texts, a large number of students (60%) suppose it

is satisfactory, 32.7% of the student participants find them interesting Only a very small numbers (5.2% and 2%) agree that the reading texts are boring and unfamiliar

Encourage Unencourage

Chart 2: Students’ opinions on the reading activities

Statistics in chart 2 corroborate with the results in table 6 The reading activities in the texts book encourage slightly more than half of the students (56%); the rest find that they are not encouraging in them

This indicates that this book is somehow acceptable to be used for teaching students However, more attention should be paid to find out why students do not feel like the reading section Therefore, it should be the teacher‟s priority task to sort out and apply appropriate teaching techniques in order to stimulate their students‟ interest in the reading sections of the book The teacher with his/her good techniques is like a good cook, in food-art with his own recipe, who can make nice dishes to suit the taste of their dinners however the simple ingredient may be

* Frequency of chances for practicing the 4 macro-skills though the given reading tasks during their reading lessons

44%

56%