The use of theme-based short readings to improve vocabulary for freshmen at Hanoi Medical College = sử dụng các bài đọc ngắn theo chủ đề nâng cao vốn từ vựng ch

Inspired by the studies on extensive reading in the second language classroom, the author decided to choose the topic “the use of theme based short readings to improve vocabulary for fre

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ MINH HUỆ

THE USE OF THEME - BASED SHORT READINGS

TO IMPROVE VOCABULARY FOR FRESHMEN

AT HANOI MEDICAL COLLEGE

(SƯ DỤNG CÁC BÀI ĐỌC NGẮN THEO CHỦ ĐỀ ĐỂ NÂNG CAO VỐN

TỪ VỰNG CHO TÂN SINH VIÊN TRUỜNG CAO ĐẲNG Y TẾ HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD : English Teaching Methodology CODE : 601401

COURSE : 18

HA NOI - 2011

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi

LIST OF TABLES & CHARTS vii

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Method of the study 2

6 Significance of the study 3

7 Design of the study 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning 4

1.1.1 Definition of vocabulary 4

1.1.2 The importance of vocabulary learning 5

1.2 Vocabulary pedagogy 5

1.3 Extensive reading 7

1.3.1 Extensive reading versus intensive reading 7

1.3.2 Characteristics of extensive reading 8

1.3.3 The benefits of extensive reading in foreign language learning 10

1.4 Previous studies on extensive reading in EFL 13

1.5 Summary 15

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 16

2.1 Research setting 16

2.2 Subjects of the study 16

2.3 Materials 17

2.3.1 Course book 17

2.3.2 Theme based short readings 17

2.4 Data collection instruments 17

2.4.1 Pre-tests and post- tests 17

2.4.2 Questionnaires 18

2.5 Procedure 19

2.5.1 Stage 1: Deliver pre – tests and post – tests 19

2.5.2 Stage 2: Deliver questionnaires 21

2.6 Summary 21

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 22

3.1 The three pre-tests and post- tests 22

3.2 The questionnaires 25

3.3 Summary 27

PART 3: CONCLUSION 29

1 Recommendations for better teaching and learning vocabulary through theme based short readings 29

2.1 Recommendations to teachers and learners 29

2.2 Recommendations to materials used for theme based short readings 31

2 Limitations and suggestion for further study 31

3 Conclusion 32

REFERENCES 34

Appendix 1: Pre – tests & Post – tests I Appendix 2: Questionnaires i

Appendix 3: Theme based short readings ii

Appendix 4: Frequency Tables vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ER: Extensive reading

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ESL: English as a Second Language

ELT: English Language Teaching

L1: First language

L2: Second language

HMC: Hanoi Medical College

SLA: Second Language Acquisition

GERP: Guided Extensive Reading Program

FL: Foreign Language

GR: General English

ESP: English for Specific

SPSS: Statistic Package for Social Science

ULIS: University of Languages & International Studies VNU: Vietnam National University

LIST OF TABLES & CHARTS

Chart 1: Data of pre – test 1……… …23

Chart 2: Data of post – test 1 ……… … 23

Chart 3: Data of pre – test 2 23

Chart 4: Data of post – test 2 23

Chart 5: Data of pre – test 3 24

Chart 6: Data of post – test 3 24

Table 1: Comparison of scores between the pre and post tests 25

Table 2: The students‟ attitudes questionnaires 26

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

In learning a foreign language, vocabulary plays an important role Words of a language are just like bricks of a high building Despite quite small pieces, they are vital to a great structure Vocabulary is one element that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all together Kristen (1989, p 439) stated that “a large vocabulary is,

of course, essential for mastery of a language” as “without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” Wilkins (1972, p.11) Vocabulary knowledge is generally considered an important factor in the comprehension of language and the number of words acquired is strongly related to competent language use

Accidentally, the notion of “extensive reading” from the article by Pagoda & Schmitt (2006) intrigued the researcher at first moment Many studies on “extensive reading” have shown considerable benefits for learners both in terms of learning gains and motivation and seem to come ever more popular in the ELT world Extensive reading has been proclaimed as “the single most effective way to improve language proficiency” (Malay,

2005, p 354, cited in Brown, 2008) Extensive reading can lead to students‟ improvement

in the areas of reading: writing, vocabulary learning, and overall proficiency while also increase motivation (Day & Bamford, 1998) Extensive readings offer the potential for reinforcing and recombining language learned in the classroom A large amount of comprehensible input provided by extensive reading materials may increase opportunities

to be exposed to words previously learned It reinforces the learners‟ existing knowledge

of vocabulary and builds their new stock of vocabulary

Nutgall (1982) suggests that „an extensive reading program is the single most effective way

of improving both vocabulary and reading skill in general‟

Inspired by the studies on extensive reading in the second language classroom, the author decided to choose the topic “the use of theme based short readings to improve vocabulary for freshmen at Hanoi Medical College” for her M.A thesis Through this

small scale, the author hopes that using theme based short readings will improve college students‟ vocabulary learning at Hanoi Medical College

2 Aims of the study

The aims of the research are to:

- Investigate the effect of theme based short readings on students‟ vocabulary learning

at Hanoi medical college;

- Discover HMC students‟ attitude towards theme based short readings;

- Provide suggestions for better learning and teaching at HMC through theme based short readings

3 Research questions

The study is hoped to find out effectiveness of theme based on short readings on HMC students and how the method of teaching vocabulary is useful to teachers Therefore, the

major questions interested in the study are:

- Question 1: How do the themes based short readings affect on HMC learners‟ vocabulary acquisition?

- Question 2: What are HMC learners‟ attitudes towards theme based short readings?

- Question 3: What should be done to provide better teaching and learning vocabulary through theme based short readings at HMC?

4 Scope of the study

This study focuses on vocabulary learning at HMC and especially bases on theme based short readings which are supposed to create a reading habit in English to help the students self - study to enrich their knowledge not only during the time at college but also for their lifetime

The study was carried out with 35 HMC students at elementary level of English The author hopes that the findings of the study can enrich teachers of English HMC the benefits

of reading theme based short readings in improving HMC learners‟ vocabulary as well as their English level

5 Method of the study

Quantitative and qualitative methods were both used in this paper with priorities given to

the quantitative In other word, the writer collected test scores from pre and post tests and questionnaires to investigate the effects of theme based short readings on HMC learners‟ vocabulary learning and their attitudes towards theme based short readings In addition,

such methods as descriptive, analytic, comparative and contrastive were also utilized to

describe and analyze, to compare and contrast the database

6 Significance of the study

By investigating the effects of theme based short readings on HMC learners‟ vocabulary learning, this study gives teachers of English at HMC a chance to understand and apply theme based short readings to vocabulary teaching If the theme - based - short - readings procedure is used, it can develop learners‟ knowledge of vocabulary More importantly, it can create a reading habit in English which is necessary for the learners It is believed that theme based short readings will not only improve HMC learners‟ vocabulary learning, but also show them a new path to more independent learning

7 Design of the study

The thesis consists of 3 main parts:

Part I- Introduction: presents the rationale of the study, states the aims of the study, scope

of the study, methods and significance of the study

Part II – Development: consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1- Literature Review: provides the basic concepts of vocabulary, extensive

readings, the importance of extensive readings and previous studies relating to the scope of the study

Chapter 2 – Methodology: describes the research design including setting, subjects,

data collection instruments, and procedure of the study

Chapter 3 – Results and Discussion: presents the collected data from pre and post

tests and questionnaires

Part III – Conclusion: provides the summary of the whole study: major findings, suggestions of teaching vocabulary by theme based short readings, limitations and suggestions for further study

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents theoretical backgrounds related to teaching vocabulary through theme based short readings (extensive reading) and summaries previous studies on extensive reading in EFL

1.1 Vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning

1.1.1 Definition of vocabulary

The term vocabulary has been defined quite differently according to its various aspects

such as criteria, features and functions According to Ur (1996, p.60), vocabulary can be

defined as “the words we teach in foreign language However, a new item of vocabulary

may be more than a single word: a compound of two or three words or multi word idioms” Pyles & Algeo (1970, p.96) also emphasizes that “it is words that sounds and meaning interlock to allow us to communicate with one another, and it is word that we arrange together to make sentences, conversation and discourse of all kinds”

The two notions of vocabulary give a general look at vocabulary However, vocabulary can

be interpreted as knowledge of words or word meanings Firstly, words are virtually manifested in the two forms: spoken form and written form Oral vocabulary including the words, phrases or sentences are used for listening and speaking, and the words which we recognize and use for reading and writing can be identified as written vocabulary The words that we use to write and speak are considered as productive vocabulary and the words that we hear from the people around us and see or read from stories, books, newspapers, and so on are recognized as receptive vocabulary It is possible to state that

the word vocabulary mean both the knowledge of words and word meanings in both oral

and print language and in productive and receptive forms Of course, lexical meanings vary from context to context In language communication, there are many cases in which the lexical meaning cannot be deducted from analysis of the individual components of that word Therefore in language learning and teaching, helping students to gain vocabulary from the different contexts is a must for all the instructors If this is regularly done, the learners will not only know how to use appropriate vocabulary in communication, but also develop their vocabulary repertoire themselves

1.1.2 The importance of vocabulary learning

Vocabulary is a very important element that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all together Vocabulary knowledge is generally considered an important factor in the comprehension of language and the number of words acquired is strongly related to competent language use In other words, in order to enhance overall English proficiency, ESL students need to attain a certain level of vocabulary knowledge According to Richards & Rernandya (2002, p.255),

“Vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how well learners speak, listen, read and write Without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for acquiring new vocabulary, learners often achieve less than their potential and may be discouraged from making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening to the radio, listening to native speakers, using the language

in different contexts, reading, or watching television.”

Some theories state that the lexical level is the most important as it makes basic communication possible The acquisition of vocabulary has assumed a more central role in learning a second language They also argue that errors of grammar can still lead to understand but lack of vocabulary will interfere with communication McGinnis & Smith (1982, p.236) believed that “without words students can seldom understand what is being communicative to him nor can he express his thoughts to others” Rubin & Thompson (1994, p.79) also shared the same view that „one cannot speak, understand, read or write a foreign language without knowing a lot of words Vocabulary learning is at the heart of mastering a foreign language‟ To any learners, vocabulary learning is essential element in their language learning Cook (1996) states that virtually all second language learners and their teachers are well aware of the fact that learning a second language involves the learning of large numbers of words Second language teachers find that the major obstacle

in teaching English is not learning the grammar but in helping learners master sufficient vocabulary so that they can engage in meaningful conversations and read materials other than the textbook

1.2 Vocabulary pedagogy

Central to research into vocabulary teaching and learning are key questions concerning how words can best be learned In the literature, two opposing views on this matter have

emerged On the one hand, there is an explicit vocabulary teaching approach where learners are given the meaning of target words right away, usually by the teacher On the other hand, there is an implicit vocabulary learning method where learners learn words implicitly such as learning word meanings incidentally through reading extensively

Regarding vocabulary pedagogy, Carter (2001) points out that teacher can help learners with vocabulary directly or „explicitly‟ by mean of words lists, paired translation equivalents, and they can also help learners by more indirect or „implicit‟ means, such as exposure to words in the context of reading real texts so that learners can infer words from context and thus learn words incidentally through reading

There has been much discussion in the literature on whether vocabulary is best learned through direct study or incidentally through reading Nation (2001, p.157) believes that direct vocabulary instruction has a place in SLA and should be directed towards the high frequency words of the language He puts forwards several points supporting the notion First, he notes that non- native speakers beginning their study of English generally know very few English words Because the high frequency words of the language are so important for language use and consist of a relatively small number of words (about 2,000), it is practical and feasible to directly teach a substantial number of them Second, direct vocabulary learning is a way of trying to bridge the gap between second language learners‟ present proficiency level and the proficiency level needed to learn from unsimplified input Third, direct vocabulary study is a way to speed up the second language learning process

However, there are still limitations with explicit vocabulary learning Nagy (1985) believes that teaching vocabulary directly is time wasting His major argument is that there are a large number of words in English and therefore a large amount of time is needed deliberately and explicitly teaching vocabulary He concludes that direct teaching can only account for a very small proportion of vocabulary, it may be better for learners to read in context Hence, Nation and Coady (1988) take the position that L2 learners have to learn vocabulary implicitly This can be done in the form of extensive reading According to Schmitt (2000) extensive reading should be structured in the vocabulary program It is important for at least two reasons: meeting a word in different context expands what is known about it and the addition exposures help consolidate it in memory

There is evidence that both the explicit and implicit approaches are both necessary in learning vocabulary There needs to be the proper mix of the explicit teaching and activities from which incidental learning can occur because both methods are used together

to supplement each other The researcher hopes that explicit vocabulary instruction in the class plus extensive reading is much more effective for vocabulary acquisition

1.3 Extensive reading

Theme based short reading is a specific activity of extensive reading Therefore, theoretical background of extensive reading presented in this part also provides basic features of theme based short reading

1.3.1 Extensive reading versus intensive reading

The term “extensive reading” was originally coined by Palmer (1917), cited by Day & Bamford (1998) to distinguish it from “intensive reading” Intensive reading focuses

mainly on the careful reading of short, complex texts for detailed understanding and skill practice Extensive reading involves the reading of large amounts of longer, easy to understand materials, usually done outside classroom and at each student‟s own pace and level According to Lewis and Hill (1985, p.109), extensive reading means “students have

a general understanding of the text without necessary understanding every word” As pointed out by Richards (1992), extensive reading means reading in quality and in order to gain a general understanding of what is read It is intended to develop good reading habit,

to build up knowledge of vocabulary and structure, and to encourage a linking for reading

It has since acquired many other names: Mikulecky (1990), cited in Day and Bramford,

1998) call it “pleasure reading”; Grabe (1991, p.375-406) and others use the term

“sustained silent reading”, while Mason and Krashen (1997, p.91-102) call it simply “free

reading”

Let‟s compare intensive reading and extensive reading:

Extensive reading Intensive reading

 Overall understanding

 Reading a lot

 Easy texts

 Fluent reading

 Ignore unknown words

 Reading for pleasure

According to Robb & Susser (1989, p.3) cite “extensive reading” as a language teaching/

learning procedure because it is reading (a) of large quantities of material or large texts; (b) for global or general understanding; (c) with the intention of obtaining pleasure from the text Further because (d) reading is individualized; (e) the books are not discussed in class, because the aim is for overall understanding rather than word by word decoding or grammar analysis The characteristics of extensive reading will be described in details in next section

1.3.2 Characteristics of extensive reading

In extensive reading, English language learners read large quantities of books and other material that are well within their linguistic competence They read for information and enjoyment, with the primary goal of achieving a general, overall understanding of the reading material Students select which books they are interested in reading, and read at their own speed Day and Bamford (1998, p.7-8) identify ten characteristics of successful extensive reading programs:

a The reading material is easy The teacher should make sure that students read

material that contains vocabulary and grammar within their linguistic competence When students find no more than one or two difficult words on a page, then the text is appropriately easy; it is well within their reading comfort zone Hu and Nation (2000, cited in Day and Bamford, 2002) suggest that learners must know at least 95 % of the words in a fiction text for unassisted understanding In addition, reading easy material helps the affective dimension of learning to read The students discover that they can

read FL material, and as they read more and more material, they see themselves as readers in the target language

b There must be a wide variety of materials on a wide range of topics Having variety

allow students to find material they want to read Different kinds of reading material also encourage a flexible approach to reading Students learn to read for different reasons (e.g., entertainment, information, passing time) and in different ways (skimming, scanning, more careful reading)

c Students choose what they want to read Self-selection of reading material means

those learners can select texts as they read, that is, they can choose texts they expect to understand, to enjoy or to learn from Students are free to stop reading material that is boring, too difficult or that turns out not to be of interest

d Learners read as much as possible This is the "extensive" of extensive reading,

made possible by the previous principles The most critical element in learning to read is the amount of time spent actually reading There is no upper limit to the amount of reading that can be done The more the students read, the greater the benefits

e The purposes of reading are usually related to pleasure, information, and general understanding and are determined by the nature of the material and the interest of

the students Students are encouraged to read for a variety of real-world reading purposes from entertainment to finding specific information Also in common with real-world reading, 100% comprehension is not usually the goal Only sufficient understanding to achieve one‟s purpose is required

f Reading is its own rewards Because the goal is for students to experience reading,

they are not required to demonstrate their understanding by answering comprehension questions However, teachers may need to ask students to engage in follow-up activities after reading for a number of reasons: 1) to discover what the students understood and experienced from reading; 2) to keep track of what students read; 3) to monitor the student‟s attitude toward reading; and 4) to link reading with other aspects of the curriculum

g Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower Because students read material

that they can easily understand, they begin to read faster Over time, they move from word-by-word decoding to fluent reading Students are advised against using

dictionaries as it interrupts the reading process, making fluent reading impossible When encountering unknown vocabulary items, students are advised to either ignore the word or guess the meaning

h Reading is individual and silent Silent, individual extensive reading contrasts with

the way classroom texts are used as vehicles for teaching language or reading strategies or (in traditional approaches) translated or read aloud It allows students

to discover that reading is a personal interaction with the text, and an experience that they have responsibility for Thus, together with freedom to choose reading material, individual silent reading can be instrumental in students discovering how foreign language reading fits into their lives Extensive reading means learners reading at their own paces It can be done both in the students' own time when and where the student chooses, or inside the classroom when part or all of a classroom period is set aside for silent, self-selected reading

i Teachers orient and guide their students Students need careful introduction to

extensive reading The teacher could begin by explaining the benefits of ER – it leads to gains in vocabulary knowledge as well as reading, writing, and oral fluency The choice of easy materials, self-selection and reading for overall understanding could be discussed Teachers can keep track of what and how much their students read, and the students‟ reactions to what was read Teachers may also wish to point out that there are no tests or comprehension questions

j The teacher is a role model of a reader for students - an active member of the classroom reading community who demonstrates what it means to be a reader and the rewards of being a reader Example is the most powerful instruction If the

teacher read the same material that the students read, and talks to them about it, this gives the students a model of what it is to be a reader and also makes it possible for the teacher to recommend reading material to individual students In this way, the teacher and students form an informal reading community, experiencing together the value and pleasure that may be derived from the written word

1.3.3 The benefits of extensive reading in foreign language learning

Reading is good for you The research supports a stronger conclusion, however: Reading is the only way, the only way we become good readers, develop a good writing style, an

adequate vocabulary, advanced grammar, and the only way we become good spellers (Krashen, 1993, p.23, cited in Rosszell, 2006)

Reading, in general, can enhance learners‟ language knowledge and especially, research has shown that extensive reading offers a wide range of learning benefits to second language learners It can help students improve vocabulary, reading skills, writing, and speaking, as Brown & Gakuin (2000, p.3) remark:

…… Student readers benefit a great deal from extensive reading As there are

components for developing fluent reading and true comprehension such as a large sight vocabulary (those words that a child can recognize at sight in reading), a large general vocabulary (common vocabulary), knowledge of how the target language is used, knowledge of various text-types, and increased knowledge of the world in which we live

Firstly, gains in vocabulary are among the most commonly cited benefits of extensive reading Nutall (1982) maintains that “an extensive reading program is the single most effective way of improving both vocabulary and reading skill in general” Extensive reading has been shown to be a highly successful way of reinforcing, confirming and deepening knowledge of vocabulary and expressions hitherto only imperfectly known, and

of developing an implicit understanding of when and how words are used, by experiencing language in context, Coady (1997, p.225-237) when students read widely, they will get ideas on what they have read and remember vocabulary on that topic Nation (1990) also has the same point of view when saying that “if the small amount of learning of a word is not soon after reinforced by another encounter, then that learning will be lost”

Moreover, extensive reading can help students remember vocabulary and grammar structures they have just learned Reading widely may be one of the best ways to increase the repetition of seeing the same vocabulary In the book “Working with words”, Gainns & Redman (1985) pointed out two basic theories about remembering words One theory suggests that information which is not activated regularly disappears in time from memory This means that unless new words are practiced and revised they will soon be forgotten Learners can practice and revise new words in order not to forget them in different ways and reading is one of the most effective ways When reading they see words that they have just learned The more they see the word the better they can remember it Bell (1998)

shares the same idea when saying that extensive reading helps consolidate previously learned language

Secondly, extensive reading can improve students‟ reading speed and reading comprehension Robb & Susser‟s (1989) experiments prove that extensive reading can help students read faster Reading is a skill Like many other skills, it needs a lot of practice to be perfect One way to improve reading ability is by reading a lot (Day & Bamford, 1998) Students only read a lot when they feel interested And when do students feel interested in reading? The answer is that when the reading text is about something they really want to read or are really interested in Moreover, when learners read extensively texts that are of the same level, or are slightly below, their reading abilities will enhance fluency, recover lost confidence and begin to provide enjoyment in reading Also the experience of extensive reading will show many students that they need to drop the habit

of literal translation – reading, a bad routine formed in traditional high school classes This habit limits the speed at which students read and reduce the efficiency with which they are able to comprehend

Bell (2001) did a research to measure the reading speed and comprehension in two groups

of learners exposed to “intensive” and “extensive” reading programs Results indicate that subjects exposed to extensive reading achieved both significantly faster reading speeds and significantly higher scores on measures of reading comprehension Wodinsky & Nation (1988) stated that graded readers provide much more favorable conditions for reading and vocabulary learning than unsimplified texts does Sometimes reading difficult texts in the classroom does not interest students These texts are designed to present grammar structures, to give students input for a discussion or to improve reading skills (skimming, scanning) Each text used in the classroom is for a certain purpose of language teaching and learning Therefore, the language used in these texts is not as natural as those read outside the classroom And not all the topics of the reading texts in the classroom can interest students Once the reading text is not attractive enough for students, they will be lazy to read and learn less effectively Meanwhile, extensive reading is used in the class, which means they encourage their students to read what they really want to read, or know about Students are free to choose what they can read; they do not have the feeling of being forced This will help increase their motivation to learn As a result, the more they read, the better their reading ability will be

Thirdly, many researchers have found extensive reading to have a positive effect on listening, writing and other areas of language competence Extensive reading provides input for speaking and writing skills Once students have a large vocabulary and ideas on some topic, it will be much easier for them to write or speak about that topic as one of the main reasons preventing students from speaking and writing is that they do not have ideas Moreover, extensive reading of high-interest material offers the potential for reinforcing and recombining language learned in the classroom When reading extensively, students automatically receive the necessary reinforcement and recycling of language required to ensure that new input is retained and made available for spoken and written production Finally, extensive reading helps to increase motivation and create a good habit of reading Constantino (1994), Mason & Krashen (1997, p.91-102), and Hayashi (1999, p.114-132) report that reading extensively increase motivation to read and the development of a positive attitude toward reading If reading is a “pleasure” like playing music or watching television, it still takes time to be interested in By having students read extensively what they are interested in, teachers can help them to spend more time reading and make it a habit Having a good reading habit is very important for students, who are expected to mainly self-study in their university course Moreover, by eliminating follow-up checks and exercises and encouraging students to go for understanding the general meaning rather than detailed comprehension, students are gradually weaned off word-by-word decoding at the sentence level, something Japanese students find very difficult, as shall be seen Then the goal is to turn "learning to read into reading to learn."

In conclusion, the research on extensive reading shows that there is a wide range of extensive reading are thus both cognitive as well as affective Not only does it lead to improvement in reading, writing, and vocabulary acquisition but it also leads to a positive attitude towards reading, which would help to increase students' language proficiency in the long term Grabe and Stoller (1997) stated that students need to read extensively If both the teachers and the learners know this, they will make full use of it

1.4 Previous studies on extensive reading in EFL

The past two decades have seen a considerable amount of research investigating the effects

of reading on students‟ vocabulary acquisition Many scholars have agreed that much

second language vocabulary is learned incidentally while learners are engaged in extensive reading

Nation (2001, p.149) states that incidental learning of vocabulary through meeting words

in reading has number of benefits It requires less teacher effort and classroom time, which can be used in other strands of language learning He also argues that although research shows only small amounts of incidental vocabulary learning occur from reading but these small amounts become big if learners read large quantities of comprehensive text Nagy and Herman (1987) concluded in their research that teachers should promote extensive reading because it can lead to greater vocabulary growth than any program of explicit instruction alone ever could (cited in Coady and Huckin, 1997, p 225)

Pigada and Schmitt (2006, p.133) did a study on the topic “Vocabulary acquisition from extensive reading” This case study of a learner of French explores whether an extensive reading program can enhance lexical knowledge The study assessed a relatively large number of words, and examined whether one month of extensive reading enhanced knowledge of these target words' spelling, meaning, and grammatical characteristics The measurement procedure was a one-on-one interview that allowed a very good indication of whether learning occurred The study also explores how vocabulary acquisition varies according to how often words are encountered in the texts Overall, the results showed that extensive reading appears to lead to substantial vocabulary learning, but it is not consistent across all word knowledge types

A Vietnamese researcher, Pham (2008), did a case study on exploring the vocabulary development through extensive reading practice without formal instructions The subject of her research is the 44-year-old government official practicing extensive reading for a period of nearly three months The study aims to find out whether extensive reading lead to vocabulary development in this type of subject in terms of the number of words and word knowledge (word meaning and using) The study results demonstrated that extensive reading really helps improve vocabulary

Tran (2008) in his MA thesis studied a GERP in helping grade 10 students at Ha Tinh special school develop their English vocabulary He did “the quasi- experimental method”

to find out whether guided extensive reading helps develop learners‟ vocabulary acquisition The data collection instruments of the thesis are pretest, posttest and questionnaire The results of the thesis revealed that learners gained some progress in

vocabulary learning Furthermore, learners‟ perception of the effectiveness of the GERP was significantly improved

In conclusion, much research provides good evidence that vocabulary is learned incidentally from reading on L2 learners language acquisition and extensive reading is part

of the ESL/FL curricula in many countries, it has attracted little attention in Viet Nam, so far, in Vietnam very little research has been done on extensive reading in teaching and learning English in general as well as in teaching and learning vocabulary in particular More importantly, as far as the researcher knows, most of the research on extensive reading has been used an experimental method or a case study as a research methodology The author of this study would like to explore the effects of extensive reading on vocabulary learning by the way of quasi- experimental, qualitative and quantitative analysis

135 periods are for general English (GE) and 90 periods are for English for specific

purpose (ESP) Life- lines series (Hutchinson, 1998) have been chosen as the course books

for the students In the first semester, the students learn 7 units of Lifelines Elementary course book within in 45 periods In the second semester they learn the last 7 units of Lifelines Elementary In the third semester, they learn 7 units of Lifelines Pre- Intermediate within 15 weeks, 3 periods a week The students are required to learn all four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing However, they have to cope with many difficulties in learning vocabulary Many students complain that they do not know how to remember new words and their meanings for a long time, how to improve vocabulary and use them properly in different contexts They still maintain their old learning habits such as writing words down on notebooks, learning new words by heart, heavily depending on wordlist in the textbook or passively waiting for their teacher‟s explanations of new words They do not have any habits of learning vocabulary which help them to know how to use vocabulary appropriately in different contexts Hence, teaching and learning vocabulary become a big question to teachers and learners at Hanoi Medical College

2.2 Subjects of the study

The respondents chosen in this study are 35 first year students at HMC They are all at elementary level of English There are 8 males and 27 females, mainly from 19 to 23 They come from different districts in Hanoi All of them have learned English at their high school Also, they have already learnt for 24 periods of English from unit 1 to unit 4 during

the first semester with Lifelines Elementary by Tom Hutchinson (1998) At present, they

are learning from unit 5 to unit 7 in Lifelines Elementary course book With the basic

knowledge of general English and knowledge equipped in the first semester, the students can take part in this theme - based - short - reading program in this study

2.3 Materials

2.3.1 Course book

Lifelines - Elementary is used in this study as the main course book This course book is

divided into fourteen topic- based units presenting and practicing vocabulary and grammar,

as well as developing the four language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking)

The interesting feature of this course book is that vocabulary is learnt according to topics Because the time limitation, the researcher only chose 3 units (unit 5: Food and drinks, unit 6: Daily Activities and unit 7: Parts of a house) to do the experiment for this study Each unit is taught within 6 periods in two weeks and each period is 45 minutes

2.3.2 Theme based short readings

The researcher of this study chose theme based short readings in accordance with topics

related to the three vocabulary lessons provided in class and selected from New Headway,

New English File and Know How at elementary level The selection ensures the reading

material of the study is suitable to HMC students‟ level and various enough to interest these students in the extended reading process

Therefore, the interested theme based short readings chosen in this study are:

- Lesson 1: Food around the world

Food in the United States

- Lesson 2: Everyday living

Louisa, a singer mother

- Lesson 3: The lady who lives on a plane

Living in the bubble

2.4 Data collection instruments

2.4.1 Pre-tests and post- tests

In this study, the researcher designed three tests about vocabulary corresponding with 3 chosen topics The tests given to the learners immediately at the end of the lessons are called pre – tests The tests given one week after the theme based short readings are called post - tests The pre – tests and post – tests are similar in format and content The purposes

of pre – tests and post – tests are to assess how could the students remembers the new words taught in the class and compare the effectiveness of doing the test and improvement

of vocabulary before and after using theme based short readings The tests were done with the supervision of the researcher

The tests consist of 3 exercises with 20 items practiced within 20 minutes Five points is given to a correct answer; the maximum score that a learner could get would be 100 The tests were designed in different types in order to measure vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension as follow:

 Match the verbs in column A with the nouns in column B

 Match the pictures and the verbs in the box

 Choose the best word in the box to fill in the gap

 Match the pictures and the verbs in the box

 Choose the best word in the box to fill in the gap

 Look at the picture and choose the correct word

 Fill in the blanks with the name of the object you see in the picture

 Complete Unfinished words

The key of pre – tests and post – tests consists of 50% of new words taught in the lesson and 50% of the number of new words found in the theme based short readings The purpose is to improve HMC students‟ vocabulary knowledge both in quality and quantity

2.4.2 Questionnaires

The attitude questionnaires used in this research consist of 9 closed questions They were

designed on a five-point Likert scale (strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, and

strongly disagree) The five- point rating scale was used in this study because “it is very

popular with educational researchers and has been shown to work well” (Johnson and Christensen, 2000, p.134) The participants were asked to tick the items which they choseinto the respective columns Question 1 asks them what they think about the theme based short readings given Questions 2, 3 and 4 are designed to discover the learners‟ sense of improvement in their reading after experiment Questions 5 and 6 ask the learners whether the theme based short reading activity helped to expand their vocabulary and improve other skills or not Question 7 asks the learners to give their opinions about the follow – up activities Questions 8 and 9 aim at getting information about the learners‟ reading habits with an aim to discover whether the extensive reading helps change their reading habits or

not When designing the questionnaires, the researcher has asked for recommendations from her colleagues so that the questionnaires are sufficient to the aims of the study and are clear enough to the students Moreover, before delivering the questionnaires to the respondents of the study, the researcher administered sample questionnaires to other five HMC students who are at the same level but do not belong to the population of the research Until she determines the questionnaires are well answered by the five sample students, does she carry on the research with the 35 chosen students?

2.5 Procedure

2.5.1 Stage 1: Deliver pre – tests and post – tests

The stage 1 is expressed by the following sessions:

Session 1:

Session 2:

Session 3:

Teach vocabulary on the following topic:

Food and Drinks

Deliver pre – test 1

Explain & deliver theme based short readings 2:

+ Everyday living + Louisa, a singer mother

Discussion & reflection on the theme based short readings 1

Teach vocabulary on the following topic:

Daily activities

Deliver pre – test 2

Explain & deliver theme based short readings 1:

+ Food around the world + Food in the unite states

Deliver post – test 1

readings of the previous week by asking her students related questions such as: “what is

the main idea of the passage?”, “what is your favorite food?” The post- test was given to

Discussion & Reflection on the theme based short readings 2

Teach vocabulary on the following topic:

Parts of a house

Deliver pre – test 3

Explain & deliver theme based short readings 3:

+ The lady who lives on a plane + Living in the bubble

Discussion & Reflection on the theme based short readings 3

Deliver post – test 2

Deliver post – test 3

the learners after they had already finished reading the materials Again, the teacher collected the post – tests The time of delivery of the pre and post test was within two weeks Hence, the total time of the procedure was 6 weeks The purposes of pre – tests and post – tests were to assess how the students could remember new words which have been taught in the class and compare the effectiveness of doing the tests and improvement of vocabulary before and after using theme based short readings The tests were done with the supervision of the researcher

2.5.2 Stage 2: Deliver questionnaires

After the delivery of the pre and post – tests, the questionnaires were administered to HMC students in order to collect the data of the students‟ attitude toward the theme based short readings

35 HMC were gathered into one room These students were required to attend the lessons

in the class, and then they were asked to finish the pre – tests, post tests and the questionnaires under the controlled of the researcher

Before delivering the tests and questionnaires, all information were explained carefully by the researcher The respondents were encouraged to give their true answers to all questions No name was written down on the papers No judgment and evaluation of their answers were made By this way, the data collected can be considered more reliable, valid and convincing

2.6 Summary

In this chapter, the research questions, the subjects, research setting of the study have been presented There is also detailed presentation of the data collection instruments and the reasons of choosing such instruments – course book, theme based short readings, tests, and the questionnaires The information of the procedure of the study has been also provided

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the results of the research The presentation includes the description

of the data collected from the three pre and post tests and the questionnaires The results are discussed and analyzed to investigate major findings of the study

3.1 The three pre-tests and post- tests

This section presents the results and the comparison of scores of 3 pre-tests and post- tests The total score of each test is 100 The collected scores are divided into four ranges: weak scores (from 0 < 50), average (from 50 < 65), good (from 65 < 85), and advanced (from 85 – 100)

To provide clear analysis, the researcher would like to present comparisons between pre – test and post- test of each lesson Look at the circle charts which show us the analysis of pre – test and post test of the first lesson

Chart 1: Data of pre – test 1 Chart 2: Data of post – test 1

Looking at chart 1, it can be seen that the students‟ scores from 50- < 65 is 40.1 % in total which take the highest position The rates of weak students are 31.4%; meanwhile a number of students getting good scores take 22.8% and the students getting advanced scores are not many (5.7%)

The reason is that the students do the pre – test as soon as learning the new lesson; therefore, their gained scores are not high Besides, in the test, there are 50% of new words included in short theme based readings which the students are required to read at home after that As the result, 50% of the knowledge in the test is new to the students

Chart 2 presents the readers‟ the data of the post- test 1 From the chart, it is revealed that a numbers of the students getting average scores still maintain the highest level (37.1%) However, this amount reduces in comparison with the pre- test (40.1%) While a number

of the students getting weak scores in post- test are 25.7% The good scores are increased (25.7%) in comparison with the scores of the pre-test The positive sign is expressed clearly when the students getting advance scores by 11.5% This means that the rate increases twice in comparison with the pre-test

It can be explained that HMC students have time to review the vocabulary (after one week More importantly, after using the theme based short readings delivered the previous week, the students‟ vocabulary are provided considerably Hence, their scores in the post – test 1 are relatively better than that in the pre – test 1 In the same way of analyzing the data of the test 1, the collected scores from pre – test 2 and post – test 2 are presented in the following chart:

Chart 3: Data of pre – test 2 Chart 4: Data of post – test 2

Looking at the above charts, it can be said that a number of the students getting scores from 50- < 65 are in the highest position (40%) in the pre-test 2 The reason is that the students have learnt the lesson, and they still have not updated new words in the theme based short readings Meanwhile, the students getting scores from 65- < 85 are the highest positions in the post- test 2 (34.3%) This proves that after reading the theme based short readings, the quality of doing test is increased The students‟ good scores are also upper in post- test 2 in comparison with the scores in pre-test 2 (rising from 8.6% to 17.1%) The result is that the students‟ weak and average scores in post-test 2 reduce in comparison with the scores in pre-test 2 (reducing from 25.7% to 20% and from 40% to 28.6%)

Chart 5: Data of pre – test 3 Chart 6: Data of post – test 3

The students‟ scores in the third test shows that the quality of doing test before and after updating the theme based short readings has obviously changed Namely, a number of HMC students getting average scores (from 50- < 65) in pre- test 3 are still high, but only accounting for 34 % However, when being compared with the scores in pre – test 2, the good scores in pre – test 3 increase slightly (29 %) Moreover, the students with weak scores are lower by 23 % but the students with advanced scores are nearly twice as many

as that in pre – test 2 by 14 % This proves that the quality of the students‟ doing test has increased It seems that the students are accustomed with the process of doing test and could improve vocabulary themselves through using the theme based short readings the last previous weeks The scores in post – test 3 are clearer evidence for increasing of the quality Specifically, the good scores in post – test 3 are the highest by 43 % The advanced scores confidently stand by 20% Meanwhile, the weak scores and average scores reduce considerably by 14 % and 23 %

The collected data from three pre – tests and post - tests has been computed and analyzed using SPSS version 17.0 and SPSS provides us general overview of HMC‟s improvement

of vocabulary learning through table 1:

a Multiple modes exist The smallest value is shown

Table 1: Comparison of scores between the pre and post tests There is obvious difference in the learners‟ scores after the implementation of theme based short reading activities As can be seen in Table 1, most of the learners get higher scores in the post tests The means and standard deviations suggest that there is an improvement in vocabulary knowledge of the students Specifically, there is an increase of 6 points between pre- and post-test 1 mean score, 8 points between pre- and post-test 2 mean scores, and 8.8572 points between pre- and post-test 3 mean scores The median scores of three post tests are higher than those of three pre – tests (Pre test 1 Median = 55.0000 v Post test 1 Median = 60.0000; Pre test 2 Median = 60.0000 v Post test 2 Median = 65.0000; Pre 3 Median = 60.0000 v Post test 3 Median = 70.0000) Moreover, the minimum and maximum scores increase obviously, around 5 points

In conclusion, after using the theme based short readings, all the students‟ scores in post- tests are increased in comparison with the scores in pre-tests Deeply, when comparing the scores of 3 pre-tests and post-tests together, it is revealed that the students‟ scores of the pre-tests and post-tests of each lesson gradually are increased owing to competence of doing tests and vocabulary improvement through short readings

3.2 The questionnaires

This section presents the results from the learners‟ attitude questionnaires and answers the question “What are learners‟ attitudes towards theme based short readings as an extensive

reading activity?”

Table 2 shows an overview of descriptive statistics of learners‟ responses to the questions

in the attitude questionnaires

The attitude questionnaires consist of 9 items The subjects‟ responses in the questionnaire are turned into five groups standing for “strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree and strongly disagree”

1 The theme based short readings

were suitable for me

10 (28%)

15 (43%)

8 (23%)

2 (6%)

0 (0%)

2

The theme based short readings

activity gave me more pleasure

in learning English

8 (23%) (46%) 16

7 (20%) (8%) 3 (3%) 1

3

The theme based short readings

activity helped me to gain more

self-control of my language

study

7 (20%) (34%) 12

10 (29%) (11%) 4 (6%) 2

4

My background knowledge has

been improved due to theme

based short readings

3 (8%)

14 (40%)

10 (28%)

6 (18%)

2 (6%)

5

The theme based short reading

activity helped to expand my

vocabulary

10 (28%) (43%) 15

5 (14%) (12%) 4 (3%) 1

6

The theme based short reading

activity also helped me to

improve other skills

6 (18%)

9 (26%) (34%) 12

5 (14%) (8%) 3

7 I started to feel like reading in English in my free time (14%) 5 (46%) 16 (26%) 9 (11%) 4 (3%) 1

8 I wish I had been encouraged to have theme based short readings

before

7 (20%)

15 (43%)

8 (23%)

3 (8%)

2 (6%)

9

I would like to be assigned

theme based short reading

activities in the same way next

year

5 (14%) (49%) 17

7 (20%) (14%) 5 (3%) 1

Table 2: The students‟ attitude questionnaire

According to the table 2, the rate of students chooses “Strongly Agree” and “Agree” account so much in total 71% of the students approve that the theme based short readings are suitable for their level of English but only 6% of the students give the opposite idea 69

% of the students feel that theme based short readings give them more pleasure and 54 %

of them shows that theme based short reading activities help them gain self - control in learning English In terms of disapproval of these two above ideas, a numbers of students only account for one – tenth (11%) and one – fifth (17%) About other benefits of theme based short readings such as improving knowledge background, expanding vocabulary, improving other skills and enjoying reading English, a number of the students giving agreement are usually higher than a number of the students giving disagreement Specifically, the approval and disapproval rates which are correlative with each of these above benefits are arranged in order as follow: 48% - 24%, 71% - 15%, 44% - 22%, and

60% - 14% Positively, the rates of the students who wish they had been encouraged to

have theme based short readings before and would like to be assigned theme based short reading activities in the same way next year are both more than three – fifth (63%) which

are approximate four times as many as the rates of the students having negative opinion Unstable like the two above mentioned degrees, except for expanding vocabulary (14%) and improving other skills (34%), approximate from 20 % to 30% of the students chooses neutral degree to advantages of theme based short readings

The table shows that the rates of “disagree” and “Strong Disagree” are the lowest among the five degrees In general, it can be realized through the chart that „Agree‟ and „strong agree‟ degrees are prominent The results of the learners‟ attitude questionnaires have revealed that majority of the subjects seemed to have positive attitude towards the theme based short reading activities carried out in this study The finding supports the results of the post-test This proves that theme based short readings might be an effective solution in learning English vocabulary at HMC

3.3 Summary

In this chapter, the collected data from pre and post tests and questionnaires have been analyzed Specifically, the results collected from the pre – tests and post- tests have shown positive effects on HMC students‟ reading scores These scores have gradually been increased in comparisons between the pre – tests and post – tests Moreover, the collected

data from questionnaires reveals that a number of the students who agree with the benefits

of the theme based short readings are always higher then a number of the students who own disagreement In other word, the results are reasonable answers for the two research questions In general, theme based short readings could help HMC students expand and improve their vocabulary which is very necessary for them to develop their English learning

PART 3: CONCLUSION

This final part includes three sections The first section shows some recommendations to teachers and learners who want to use theme based short readings for teaching and learning English vocabulary are presented After that the limitations and suggestions for further studies are provided in the last section And the last section is conclusion

1 Recommendations for better teaching and learning vocabulary through theme based short readings

This part provides some recommendations to teachers and learners who want to use theme based – short readings for teaching and learning English language Moreover, the materials

used for extensive readings are also mentioned

1.1 Recommendations to teachers and learners

In the scope of this study, the researcher only justifies the improvement of the college students at HMC towards vocabulary learning after using theme based short readings outside class The researcher hopes that extensive reading program will be used widely in universities and colleges in Vietnam Through experiences in implementing theme – based – short - reading program at HMC, particularly using graded readers as reading materials for HMC students, the author has some suggestions for HMC teachers who want to have a successful theme based short readings

Teachers have an important role to play in helping their students get the most out of theme based short readings Thus, before setting up theme - based - short - reading program, teachers should make some decisions as follow:

 What are the goals of the program? (improvement in reading? writing?

attitude toward FL reading? Building vocabulary? )

 What kind of material do the teachers want students to read? (simplified?

Authentic? Magazines? Newspapers? Stories?)

 How do the students access to the reading materials? (school library?

Teacher-prepared materials?)

 How much do the teachers want their students to read? (how many pages a

week?)

 How do the teachers do to check that students have read the materials?

(through reading journal, observation…) The answers to these questions will help to determine the shape of a successful - theme based - short - reading program

Importantly, teachers need to introduce their students to theme based short readings and provide essential instruction as they read extensively As Ono, Day & Harsch (2004) stated: “When you provide insightful and careful orientation and guidance to extensive reading, you are not only helping your students improve many aspects of their overall reading and language ability; you also might be opening a door to the variety of worlds that reading can present”

Furthermore, teachers should help students select material at the appropriate level Theme based short reading materials can be any materials in English that is easy enough for students to read with overall comprehension It is advisable that graded readers are a useful source of reading material Graded readers are simply books in which the content is controlled to match the language ability of learners

To make a theme based short reading program successful, the participation and support of the learners are very important When learners engage in theme based short readings, they read large quantities of easy material in English They read for information and enjoyment, with the primary goal of achieving a general, overall understanding of the reading materials They should ignore unknown or difficult words or guess the meaning of words from the context and avoid using dictionaries Stopping to look up words in the dictionary

is laborious and time-consuming and it can distract learners form reading for general understanding Additionally, it is a good idea for learners to expand their reading comfort zone When learners create a reading habit, they read more and more and their reading comfort zone should expand

It is important for both teachers and students to realize the benefits that theme based short readings bring in As Colin Davis (1995, p.335) said, “Any ESL, EFL, or L1 classroom will be poorer for the lack of an extensive reading program of some kind, and will be unable to promote its pupils‟ language development in all aspects as effectively as if such a program were present”

1.2 Recommendations to materials used for theme based short readings

What kind of reading materials are suitable for a theme - based - short - reading program mainly depends on the students taking part in the theme - based - short - reading program themselves as the goal of theme based short readings is that learners would be able to read anything that interest or need suggest irrespective of whether it is authentic or simplified The reading material must be both easy and interesting “Easy” means materials with vocabulary and grammar well within the students‟ linguistic competence Researchers suggest that learners need to be familiar with at least 95% of the running words in a text if they want to comprehend and thus learn from the text However, a lot of EFL teachers are often reluctant to embrace the use of easy materials because they think there is little for their students to learn from easy texts They prefer difficult materials as they appear to be

under the spell of what might be called the macho maxim of reading instruction: no

reading pain, no reading gains (Day & Bamford, 1998) This is unfortunate because, also

according to Day and Bamford, struggling with difficult, dull material is not the way to become a willing EFL reader nor is the most effective way of becoming an able reader

In short, in order to help theme based short readings do their work- build automaticity of word recognition, build vocabulary knowledge and develop positive attitudes toward reading, the reading material must be well within the students‟ linguistic ability (Day & Bamford, 1998)

In this research, the subjects are learners at the first year with elementary level of English and they want to improve their vocabulary in order to read documents in English Therefore, the researcher chooses theme based short readings which she thinks that they are easy for her students to read and understand

2 Limitations and suggestion for further study

The study has obtained some remarkable results in improving the college students‟

vocabulary knowledge at HMC However, limitations are inevitable

For one thing, the research has been done with a rather small number of participants (35 students of one class) and with a shortage a time (6 weeks) The study would be more reliable and further applicable if it were conducted with a larger number of participants within longer time The result of the study would be more precise if the tests concluded more words

Furthermore, the source of reading materials suitable for the students at HMC is really limited A collection of books for the students to self-select what they want to read was impractical in the context of HMC Therefore, the researcher had to prepare the reading materials for the students

It is suggested that the above limitations are the challenging questions for any further studies, which will find out more effective methods to overcome these shortcomings

3 Conclusion

Theme based short readings has been proved to bring many benefits to English language learners The study shows that when the students use theme based short readings at home after the lesson, they not only improve their reading fluency, but also build new vocabulary knowledge and expand their understanding of words they knew before And, perhaps, the best result is that students develop positive attitudes toward reading in English and increased motivation to study it

The comparisons between pre – tests and post – tests (a week later after the students read them based short readings at home) of each lesson show that the scores which the students gain are step by step improved The evidence is that, the students getting scores from 0 to

49, and from 50 to 64 firstly are at the much high rates (31.4% & 40.1%); however, the numbers are gradually reduced in the tests after the second and the third lessons (14 % &

23 %) Reasonably, the students getting scores from 65 to 84 increasing remarkably, from 22.8 % & 5.7 % in the first pre – test to 43 % & 20% in the third post – test This proves that theme based short readings show great effects on HMC students‟ vocabulary learning The comparisons between the three post – tests reveal that theme based short readings create the useful habit of reading materials in English The students are more and more familiar with reading materials, collecting, expanding their vocabulary and improving test skills Through the three post tests, the good marks (scores from 65 to 84) are upper from 25.7% to 34.3% and to 43 % and advanced marks (scores from 84 – 100) are changed from 11.5% to 17.1 % to 20% in total of the students

The data from questionnaires to investigate the students‟ attitudes towards theme based short reading activities presents less than only 10% of the students strongly disagree to the advantages of theme based short readings mentioned in the questionnaires Around 10 %

of the students show their disagreements Approximately 50% of the students approve the

benefits of the theme based short readings have brought to them Especially, the numbers

of the students having strong approval account for about 20% The result shows positive and motivational attitude toward the theme base- short - reading activity and learning English which gain great support to the data of the pre – tests and post – tests

In short, the data were analyzed to evaluate the effects of the experiment The comparison

of the scores of the pre-tests and post- tests showed that the mean score of the post tests was higher than that of the post- tests This leads to the conclusion that many learners who participated in theme based short reading program could make more progress in vocabulary knowledge The learners‟ attitudes also became more positive through the practicing periods At first, not all of them showed their interest towards reading activity, they are gradually excited by the activity This proved that theme based short readings promote students‟ motivation and attitudes toward English language learning

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