Some suggested techniques in the pre reading stage to improve reading comprehension for the 12th form student at xuan truong a high school

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY No2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY - - -    - - - NGUYEN THI HOAN SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES IN THE PRE-READING STAGE TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION FOR THE

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY No2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

- - -    - - -

NGUYEN THI HOAN

SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES IN THE PRE-READING STAGE TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION FOR THE 12TH FORM STUDENTS AT XUAN TRUONG B HIGH

SCHOOL

(GRADUATION PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF

THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH)

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI PHUONG LAN, M.A

Hanoi, 2014

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor Ms Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, M.A for the invaluable support, guidance, and timely encouragement she gave me while I was doing this research I am truly grateful to her for her advice and suggestions right from the beginning when this study was only in its formative stage

My special thanks also go to teachers of English and students of the 12thform at Xuan Truong B High school for their participation to the study as the subjects of the study Without them, this project could not have been so successful

I am particularly grateful to my close friends for their helping me with valuable reference documents and data for my research

Last but not least, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my family who have constantly inspired and encouraged me to complete this research

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ABSTRACT

The important role of reading comprehension is apparent for any student who has success in the command of foreign language in general, English in particular For many 12th students in Xuan Truong B High school, reading has been paid more attentions to as the students have to take the examinations which are grammar and reading based However, they have encountered a lot of difficulties in reading comprehension especially at the pre-reading stage

With the desire to improve students’ reading comprehension, this graduation paper limits itself to the study of the current situation of learning reading comprehension in the pre-reading stage for the 12th form students of Xuan Truong B High school The results of the study are conducted by questionnaires for students and then are illustrated by charts This study has also given some suggestions techniques to apply for the 12th students to help them to learn reading comprehension effectively at the pre-reading stage

Date submitted: May 2014

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

PART A: INTRODUCTION I Rationale of the study 1

II Aims of the study 2

III Scope of the study 2

IV Tasks of the study 2

V Methods of the study 2

VI Significance of the study 3

VII Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I.1 Literature review in brief 4

I.2 Overview of reading 5

I.2.1 Definition of reading comprehension 5

I.2.2 Classification of reading 7

I.2.2.1 According to the manner of reading 7

I.2.2.1.1 Reading aloud 7

I.2.2.1.2 Silent reading 8

I.2.2.2 According to the purposes of reading 9

I.2.2.2.1 Skimming 9

I.2.2.2.2 Scanning 10

I.2.2.2.3 Intensive reading 10

I.2.2.2.4 Extensive reading 11

I.2.3 Reading process 11

I.2.4 Schema 13

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I.2.5 Stages of a reading lesson 14

I.2.5.1 Pre-reading stage 14

I.2.5.2 While-reading stage 14

I.2.5.3 Post-reading stage 14

I.3 Overview on the pre-reading stage 15

I.3.1.The importance of the pre-reading stage 15

I.3.2.What to do in the pre-reading stage 16

I.3.2.1 Activating or building students’ knowledge related to the text’s topic 16

I.3.2.2 Helping students with difficult new language items 16

I.3.2.3 Preparing students for other reading activities in the while-reading stage 17

I.4 Related activities in reading process 17

I.5 The roles of the teacher and the students in a reading lesson 18

I.5.1 The roles of the teacher 18

I.5.1.1 As an organizer in a reading lesson 18

I.5.1.2 As a model reader 19

I.5.2.The roles of the students 19

I.5.2.1 Students play the role of the readers 19

I.5.2.2 Students play the role of the listeners 19

I.5.3.The roles of reading text 20

I.5.3.1 Improving reading skill for the students 20

I.5.3.2 Broaden knowledge 21

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY II.1 Participants 22

II.2 Data collection instrument 22

II.3 Data collection procedures 23

II.4 Data analysis procedures 23

CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS III.1 Results of the survey 24

III.1.1 Students’ attitude toward the learning of reading comprehension 24

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III.1.2 What do students usually do when tackling a reading text especially at the

pre-reading stage? 27

III.1.3 Students’ ideas on what they should be taught in the pre-reading? 30

III.2 Discussion 31

III.2.1.The current situation of learning reading of the 12th form students at Xuan Truong B High school 31

III.2.2 Students and teachers’ method of learning and teaching reading especially at the pre-reading stage 32

CHAPTER IV SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES IN THE PRE-READING STAGE TO IMPROVE READING SKILLS FOR THE 12 TH FORM STUDENTS AT XUAN TRUONG B HIGH SCHOOL IV.1 Introducing the text 34

IV.1.1 Using introductory sentences 34

IV.1.2 Using questions and answers 35

IV.2 Eliciting students’ background knowledge related to the text 35

IV.2.1 Giving discussions about some main points related to the text 35

IV.2.2 Brainstorming 36

IV.3 Encouraging students to guess the main content of the text 36

IV.3.1 Using networks 36

IV.3.2 Using the title of the text 38

IV.4 Presenting new vocabulary 38

IV.4.1 Using visual aids 38

IV.4.1.1 Using pictures 38

IV.4.1.2 Using real objects 39

IV.4.2 Showing the meaning of words in context 40

IV.5 Giving guiding questions 40

PART C: CONCLUSION 1 Summary of the study 43

2 Limitations for further study 43

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3 Recommendations for further study 44

REFERENCES 45

APPENDIX 47

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 47

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

I Rationale of the study

As an international language, English is widely used all over the world In Vietnam, English is also considered the most important foreign language and it is taught as a compulsory subject in most schools throughout the country When teaching English, the teacher teaches students not only the English language but also its usage And under the right guidance, right help of the teacher, the students have to try their best to master 4 language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking in order to communicate in English successfully Among these four skills, reading plays an important role in enriching the students’ general knowledge and in helping them with their further study later

In general, a reading lesson in classroom includes three stages: pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading Pre-reading is perceived to be very important, especially at lower language proficiency and at earlier stages of reading instruction Since it introduces background knowledge concerning what students are going to read, possibly prepares them for some new language items and the way to tackle the reading tasks or arouses their interest in the topic of the text Students then are motivated to read and do the comprehension exercises

However, in high schools in Vietnam, reading texts are exploited as the main source where both teachers and students acquire and provide vocabulary and grammar items rather than reading skills itself The teacher often presents the new words appearing in the text and students are required to read and do exercises afterwards In addition, they are rarely provided with the background knowledge concerning the reading text Consequently, students might be lacking of involvement, motivation and interest to read and do the comprehension exercises

The above mentioned facts motivated the researcher to carry out the study

“Some suggested techniques in the pre-reading stage to improve reading

reason for choosing 12th grade students to focus on the fact that the new syllabus has applied in the 12th form curriculum so limited amount of research has been conducted

in this field Moreover, the researcher is interested in seeking the answer to the question whether the teaching and learning reading including the pre-reading of the

II Aims of the study

This study specifically aims at:

- Investigating the present situation of teaching reading comprehension including the pre-reading stage of the 12th form students in reading lessons at Xuan Truong B High school

- Suggesting useful techniques to improve the reading comprehension skills

in the pre-reading stage for the 12th form in Xuan Truong B High school

III Scope of the study

As stated in the title, this study is designed to focus on techniques in the reading to improve the reading comprehension skills for the 12th form students Therefore, techniques used in the while-reading and post-reading will not be the main focus of this study The object of this research is the 12th form students at Xuan Truong B High school

pre-IV Tasks of the study

The study involves fulfilling the following tasks:

- To study the definition, the classification of reading comprehension

- To investigate the situation, the method of teaching and learning reading comprehension of the students and teacher at the pre-reading stage

- To propose some techniques in the pre-reading stage to motivate students learning reading comprehension effectively

V Methods of the study

To implement this study, the following methods are used:

- Consulting related materials: For the sake of getting knowledge and useful ideas, I read many books and other materials in addition to earlier researches about reading and teaching reading comprehension

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- Delivering survey questionnaire: To fulfill this thesis, survey questionnaires for

students were carried out to find out the students’ attitudes toward learning reading

VI Significance of the study

The study highlights the importance of motivation to the reading skills in general and to the pre-reading stage in particular Moreover, the findings of the study are thought to be useful for teachers of English to be aware of the essential role of the pre-reading activities to the students’ motivation in reading lessons

VII Design of the study

The thesis is divided into three parts:

Part A is the Introduction which includes rationale, aims, scope, tasks, methods, significance and design of the study

Part B - Development is the main part which consists of four chapters Chapter

I is about theoretical background relating to reading comprehension Chapter II describes the methodology of the study including the selection of informants, data collection instrument and the procedures of data collection and analys Chapter III discusses the major findings through the survey conducted Chapter IV gives some suggested techniques used in the pre-reading stage to improve the reading skill for the

12th form students

Part C is the Conclusion of the study, discusses the limitations of the study and proposes further researches Following this part are the references and appendix

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

I.1 Literature review in brief

In language learning and teaching, it is important that the teachers and learners

be fully aware of the role of reading comprehension especially in the pre-reading stage How to make reading lesson effectively and how to motivate students before reading a text? In fact, it has been studied by any methodologists like Grellet (1981),

L Billows (1982), D Brown (2001), C Anderson and D Pearson (1984), M Lewis and J Hill (1985), E Williams (1986), C Nuttall (1989) and so on Each of them gives different opinions to improve reading comprehension at the pre-reading stage

Grellet (1981) in Developing Reading Skills gives the definition of reading

comprehension, some strategies that can help students read more quickly and effectively include previewing, predicting, skimming and scanning, guessing from context, paraphrasing Especially, he introduces some pre-reading activities to prepare students for reading such as introducing students to a particular text, reviewing vocabulary or grammatical structures, giving students the background knowledge necessary for comprehension of the text, using the title, subtitles, and divisions within the text to predict content and organization or sequence of information, looking at pictures, maps, diagrams, or graphs and their captions and reading over the comprehension questions to focus attention on finding that information while reading

In Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language is written by C Nuttall

(1989) describes how the texts we read are organized to communicate meanings It examines what is involved in effective reading and suggests ways of helping students

to develop into effective readers in a foreign language

In the book Practical Techniques for Language Teaching, M Lewis and J Hill

(1985) claimed that it is correspondingly artificially difficult to ask students to read an unseen text with no preparation Preparation before reading a text not only provides students with necessary new words, structures and background knowledge to read the text more easily but also motivates them to feel interested in reading that text

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Brown (2001) lists some important microskills that learners should use in

reading tasks in Principles of Language Learning and Teaching According to him,

students should follows some principles for designing interactive reading techniques, such as: don’t overlook the importance of specific instruction in reading skills (balance extensive and silent reading), use techniques that are motivating, balance authentic texts, encourage the development of reading strategies include both bottom-up and top-down techniques, subdivide the techniques into pre-reading, during-reading and after-reading phases He also advises the introduction of the topic before reading the text, the practice of skimming, scanning, predicting and activating schemata The author emphasizes that students bring the best of their knowledge and skills to a text when they have been given a chance to ease into the passage

In brief, each person can have a different opinion to improve reading comprehension and we can not tell which is better because each of them focuses on one important matter of reading comprehension However, the findings they drew out were too simple and general They do not find out the real situation of teaching and learning reading comprehension at the pre-reading stage In fact, there are a lot of difficulties that learners have to face before reading a text Therefore, being a language teacher, we must understand the nature of reading thoroughly to help our students read effectively

I.2 Overview of reading

I.2.1 Definition of reading comprehension

Reading comprehension takes a very important part in teaching and learning reading a language and a foreign language as well It can be seen as the ability to retain information of a written text to the fullest of the readers

Grellet (1981:34) stated “reading comprehension or understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible” According to the author, reading comprehension is an activity which aims at decoding the meaning of word combination in the text in the most efficient way

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For Roe, Stood and Burns (1987:2) consider “reading comprehension is reconstruction, interpretation and evaluation of what author of written content means

by using knowledge gained from life experience”

According to interactive model of reading, comprehension is built up or constructed from knowledge sources which interact with each other on the input from the written page Comprehension, by definition, is the process of relating new or incoming information to information already stored in memory Readers make connections between the new information on the printed page and their existing knowledge They must allow the new information to enter and become a part of their knowledge store (Lee and Vanpatten, 1995:191)

Moreover, Abbott (1981:82) gives out a research on the nature of reading comprehension According to him, “there are two broad aspects or levels Firstly, there

is basically visual task that of deciphering the marks on the page, the brain receiving signals from the eyes Secondly, there is cognitive task that of interpreting the visual information, so one is not simply barking at point”

Also concerning the reading comprehension, Richard and Thomas (1987:9) considered “reading comprehension is the best described as an understanding between the author and the reader The emphasis is on the reader‘s understanding of the printed pages based on the individual’s unique background of experience Reading is much more than just pronouncing words correctly or simply knowing what the author intends It is the process whereby the printed pages stimulate ideas, experiences and responses that are unique to an individual” This definition emphasized that reading comprehension is not limitted in the recognition of words or understanding the message sent in the writing It stressed the importance of what the reader brings to the text combines with the ideas in the reading text to form the reader’s understanding because when reading, people call into mind any experiences and associated knowledge that they already have about the topic of the text

From the above mentioned definitions, it is possible to draw a conclusion that it

is meaningless if readers spend time reading but have no comprehension or attain nothing or even little from a written text In other words, it is no use of reading without comprehension Therefore, reading comprehension plays an important part in teaching and learning a foreign language in general and teaching reading in particular And it is

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a need to improve reading skills so that reading motivation is increased, benefits from reading such as being able to progress through assignments faster and to retain more information, learning more and being more knowledgeable, improving spelling and grammar skills, and having a more active imagination,… are to the fullest

In conclusion, in reading comprehension, the reader not only reads written graphic forms in the text but also recognizes the intention of the writer They are opinions and point of views which the writer had in mind when they wrote Therefore, readers can master the structures, vocabulary presented in the real situations.However, the reasons for reading differ from one person to another As a result, the ways we read are also different In other words, the purposes of reading determine the ways or the styles of reading Now it is necessary to have a close look at the classification on reading according to manner and the purposes of reading to identify different types of reading

I.2.2 Classification of reading

I.2.2.1 According to the manner of reading

I.2.2.1.1 Reading aloud

Reading aloud is an unnatural activity because most people do not read aloud in real life, and it is difficult for the speaker to pay attention to the meaning of the text when reading aloud Reading aloud involves “looking a text, understanding it and also saying it” (Doff, 1988:67) and he considers “reading aloud as a way to convey necessary information to someone else” Very few people are required to read aloud as

a matter of daily routine The readers are asked to read the text so loudly that other people can hear it Reading aloud does not happen outside the classroom as Doff (1988:67) said, “reading aloud is not an activity we engage in very often outside the classroom”

This kind of activity seems to be more popular in the language classroom It focuses on the pronunciation of words in the text rather than understanding In reading

a text, students come across many new words and phrases that they do not know how

to pronounce The teacher, in this case may help his students pronounce words by reading the text orally and loudly

Aloud reading is often applied for beginners and limited in upper classes because of some reasons Firstly, it takes up a long time as students often read slowly

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when they focus on pronunciation They consequently have not enough time to deduce the meaning of the text or complete comprehension exercises Secondly, because students are concerned with pronunciation, it is hardly for them to understand the meaning of the text as Lewis and Hill (1985:110) mention “asking a student to read aloud also means that he may concentrate inadequately on their meaning He may read correctly but afterward will not be able to tell what he has read”

That is the reason why, only for the early stages of foreign language learning, aloud reading should become an established part of a lesson to help the beginners read words, phrases with correct stress and intonation in a sentence But for upper-secondary schools in general and the 12th form students in particular, it is difficult to read aloud and to understand the text at the same time, so it is advisable for the teacher

to teach reading aloud when necessary

I.2.2.1.2 Silent reading

Silent reading is the nearest approach to the essence of reading Silent reading can be applied effectively to teaching and learning a reading comprehension text because reading a text silently helps students concentrate on understanding its meaning

In Doff’s opinion (1988:67), silent reading or reading for meaning “is the activity we normally engage in where we read books, newspapers, road signs, etc It involves looking at sentences and understanding the message they convey, in other words, ‘making sense’ of a written text ”

According to Doff, we know that silent reading is of great help in developing reading skills Students do not have to pay attention to the exact pronunciation of words, they will try their best to focus on the ideas of the texts Therefore, they can cover the greatest possible amount of the text in a shortest possible time Furthermore, through silent reading, students can all read at their own speed If they do not understand the sentence or an idea, they can go back and read it again So silent reading is a very effective in the reading comprehension process

Lewis and Hill (1985:110) find out that “the simplest method of reading, frequently forgotten by language teachers is silent reading It is the method we normally uses with our native language, and on the whole the quickest and most efficient”

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However, the nature of silent reading skill is far from uniform It varies according to the use to which it is being put

In sequence, the depth and detail of understanding, of comprehension increase

as we go though the ways of doing silent reading In all, silent reading is a useful technique in a reading comprehension process applied to students to exploit reading lessons and it is also a good way to help teachers control the class

I.2.2.2 According to the purposes of reading

I.2.2.2.1 Skimming

Skimming is commonly used in reading comprehension It is one of specific reading techniques necessary for quick and efficient reading There have been many definitions of skimming

Grellet (1981:19) states that “when skimming, we go through the reading material quickly in order to get the gist of it, to know how it is organized, or to get an idea of the tone or intention of the writer” It means that the purpose of skimming is simply to see what a text is about The reader skims in order to satisfy a very general curiosity about the text

According to Greenwood (1985:92), “skimming occurs when the reader looks quickly at the content page of a book, or at the chapter headings, subheading, etc This

is sometimes called previewing” Therefore, the key that actually encourages learners

to skim is to give them a series of texts and ask them to select appropriate titles from groups of ones Moreover, in order to teach skimming effectively, the teacher should have the students read the beginning or end of a text or a paragraph because it may provide students with a statement relating to the topic Skimming gives students the advantage of being able to predict the purpose of the passage, the main topic or message, or possibly some of the developing or supporting ideas Skimming also helps student organize their thoughts and specify what information they can get from a book

so that the subsequent reading will become more efficient

In brief, skimming is understood as a necessary technique for reading comprehension which enables readers to get the main points of the text without being concerned with the details Therefore, skimming should be applied at the first stage of teaching reading to help students have an overview of what they are going to read And it is sure that they will understand the whole text later

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I.2.2.2.2 Scanning

Similar to skimming, scanning is a necessary technique in reading efficiently Brown (2001:308) defines scanning as follows: “Scanning was quickly searching for some particular piece or pieces of information in a text”

Sharing the same opinion with Brown, Williams (1986:100) emphasizes:

“Scanning occurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly in order to find a particular point of information” It reveals the key to scanning is to decide exactly what kind of information we are looking for and where to find it

In addition, Grellet (1981:19) gives a more detailed definition of scanning:

“When scanning, we only try to locate information and often we do not even follow the linearity of passage to do so, and scanning is far more limited since it only means retrieving what information is relevant to our purpose”

These authors have the same point that while scanning reader does not need to read form cover to cover, they only look for the information they want by running their eyes rapidly along the lines It can be practised with the great range of texts such as dictionaries, maps, advertisements, labels, etc This kind of reading is very useful in reading selectively

In general, both skimming and scanning are effective techniques for quick and efficient reading It is advisable to make use of them to improve reading comprehension skills for students in reading classes

I.2.2.2.3 Intensive reading

Intensive reading is also widely used in a reading class It is an effective way to explore the text, to go deeply into the meaning and the organization of the text

According to Grellet (1981:4) “intensive reading means reading short text to extract specific information This is an accuracy activity involving reading for details”

In addition, Nuttall (1989:23) writes “intensive reading involves approaching the texts under the close guidance of the teacher…, or under the guidance of a task which forces the students to pay great attention to the ext the aim of intensive reading

is to arrive at a profound and detail understanding of the text: not only of what is means but also of how the meaning is produced”

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From the mentioned opinions intensive reading’s aim is to achieve full understanding of the logical arguments, attitude, and purposes of the writer as well as his linguistic means to achieve these purposes

Sharing the same opinion with Nuttall, Brown (2001:312) defines “intensive reading is usually a classroom oriented activity in which students focuses on linguistic

or semantic details of a passage Reading calls students’ attention to grammatical forms, discourse markers and other surface structure details for the purpose of understanding literal meaning, implication, rhetorical relationships and the like”

In short, intensive reading is a basic classroom activity It is really effective if the teacher and his students know how to fully exploit this activity in class with the help of reading exercises

I.2.2.2.4 Extensive reading

Extensive reading is also called “reading for fluency” The students read long texts to have general understanding, to develop fluency in reading or to relax This is

an activity involving global understanding just as Grellet (1981:4) confirms

“extensive reading means reading longer text, usually or one’s own pleasure This is a fluency activity mainly involving general understanding”

In Brown’s opinion, besides practising fluency, extensive reading helps students enrich their language elements because it is one of the keys to achieve reading ability, linguistic competence, vocabulary, spelling and writing (2001:301)

And to Nuttall (1989:168), this kind of reading is also a very useful skill for students to widen their knowledge as he wrote: “The best way to improve one’s knowledge of foreign language is to go and live among its speakers The next best way

is to read extensively in it”

To summarize, extensive reading is one of good ways to improve one’s knowledge of a foreign language because its aim is to cover the content of text in the shortest possible period of time In the language classroom, the teacher must introduce some suitable reading materials to students, as it is useful for them to form a good habit of reading

I.2.3 Reading process

Bottom-up and top-down approaches are the complementary ways of process a text and they are used whenever people read Although they are normally unconscious

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process, both of them can be adopted as conscious strategies by a reader when approaching a difficult text It is quite necessary for the reading teacher to grasp the nature of the two approaches as they can help him in providing his students with suitable reading activities to develop their reading competence as well as set appropriate preparation for them before tackling the text

According to Brown (2001:199), “in bottom-up processing, readers must first recognize a multiplicity of linguistics signals (letters, morphemes, syllables, words, phrases, grammatical cues, discourse makers) and use their linguistic data-processing mechanism to impose some sorts of order on their signals” In other words, the reader derives the meaning from the black marks on the page by recognizing letters and words and working out sentence structures Bottom-up approach can be used to make sure that the readers have understood the plain sense of the text correctly by reading it again and checking the vocabulary, syntax, etc It is of great help in developing the reader’s detailed comprehension; however, in order to get full understanding, it must

be used in conjunction with top-down processing

From Nuttall’s perspective “in top-down processing, we draw on our own intelligence and experience - the predictions we can make, based on the schemata we have acquired to understand the text” (1989:16) The top-down approach gives a sense

of perspective and makes use of all that the readers bring to the text: prior knowledge, common sense, etc Obviously, they do not have to read word by word but rather use their background knowledge, ecperience, interest,… to see the writer’s purpose, get the likely trend of the argument or predict what is coming next in the text The top-down approach can be used effectively in the pre-reading stage As detailed work on the text is more rewarding after students first get a global impression of the kind of text as well as a rough idea of the way it is organized

Some recent researches on teaching reading have also shown that a combination

of top-down and bottom-up processing, or what has come to be called interactive reading, is almost always a primary ingredient in successful teaching methodology because both processes are important Nuttall (1989:17) also highlighted “in practice, a reader continually shifts from one focus to another, now adopting a top-down approach to predict probable meaning, then moving to the bottom-up approach to check whether what is reading is really what the writer says”

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I.2.4 Schema

Schema is an important concept in the teaching of English as a second language It has been claimed to provide numerous benefits to the process of comprehending a text as Nuttall (1989:7) wrote: “The way we interpret depends on the schemata activated by the text, and whether we interpret successfully depends on whether our schemata are sufficiently similar to the writer’s” However, it is likely that there will be never a total coincidence of schema between writer and reader Moreover, some students’apparent reading problem may be the problem of insufficient schemata or their existing ones have not been activated before reading If it is the case, some disruption of their comprehension may occur Teachers then are recommended to

do some pre-reading activities which are often designed to build or activate the learners’ schemata However, before proceeding any further, the definition as well as several types of schemata should be mentioned

According to Brown (2001:299), schema is the information, knowledge, emotion, experience, and culture which the reader brings to the printed words Besides, schemata have been described by Widdowson (1988:83) as “cognitive constructs which allow for the organization of information in long-term memory” The teacher should also be aware of the classification of schemata as they can apply appropriate pre-reading activities which can help build new background knowledge and activate students’deficient ones Methodologists have identified several types of schemata: content, formal and linguistic schemata in which the former one refers to the reader’s knowledge of the world beyond the texts Formal schema, also known as textual schema, refers to the organization forms and rhetorical structures of written texts It can include knowledge of different text types and genre in addition to the understanding of the various types of text organization, language structures, vocabulary, grammar and level of formality While formal schema covers discourse level items, linguistic one includes the decoding features needed to recognize words and how they fit together in a sentence

Constructing new background knowledge as well as activating the existing schemata are the main goals that the pre-reading activities must accomplish Therefore, teachers should select suitable activities in order to support their students prior to reading

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I.2.5 Stages of a reading lesson

The process of teaching a reading lesson is often divided into three stages commonly known as pre-reading stage, while-reading stage and post-reading stage Each of these stages carries its own features and purposes and requires different techniques and strategies (Williams, 1986:37)

I.2.5.1 Pre-reading stage

The pre-reading stage aims at activating or building students’ knowledge related to texts’ topics It also help students to become familiar with some of the language items needed in the process of interpreting texts Another goal of the pre-reading stage is to interest and motivate student to read

In general in the pre-reading stage, it is necessary to set a good preparation for students, provide them the sense of what they are going to do in their reading lesson

I.2.5.2 While-reading stage

While-reading stage is regarded as the main part of a reading lesson In this phase, students have opportunities to understand the text thoroughly and clarify its content in detail The aims of this stage focus on making the students anticipate in the process of understanding the whole text, and interpreting exactly what the author wrote In addition, it helps the students break up the organization of the text; understand the text structures; classify the text content and recognize the writer’s purpose and attitude This stage also trains the students to think about other ideas rising from the text and to form judgement and opinions on the basis of the fact presented Moreover, it helps the students improve their reading speed and techniques Besides, this stage offers an opportunity to apply effectively what they have learnt from the text to their purpose of study and communication Last but not least, this stage helps the students develop their decision - making and problem solving skills

Because this stage plays a very important role in a reading lesson, it must be designed carefully

I.2.5.3 Post-reading stage

Post-reading stage is the final but it does not mean that it is less important stage

of a reading lesson in comparison with the former phases as it is the good time for students to revise and apply what they have got from the text into real life communication

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In Williams’s opinions (1986:39), one of the purposes of the post-reading work

is to check whether the students have understood the text or not The teacher can ask the students some questions about the texts which are not given in the book or require them to discuss in group and in pair and so on Another purpose is to consolidate or reflect upon what the students have read To achieve this, the teacher should help the students focus on the important points as writer’s opinion, the main ideas of the text, the specific paragraph or phrase in the reading text The third purpose of the post-reading work is to expand on the topic or language of the reading text, and perhaps transfer things learned to another context Therefore, the students can relate the text to their background knowledge and interest and be able to express their personal opinion toward the text Moreover, post-reading activities also offer the students a real practice

of using language

Setting up and organizing post-reading work depend very much on all the objectives of the program as a whole Post-reading work should, thus, contribute in a coherent manner, to the writing, speaking and listening skills that the program aims to develop

In summary, the three above mentioned stages play different roles in the reading process It cannot be said that teachers have to follow mechanically all three stages in every case; however, they are suggested following the three stages to have effective reading lesson

I.3 Overview on the pre-reading stage

I.3.1.The importance of the pre-reading stage

Pre-reading stage plays an important part in the whole process of teaching a reading text since it is of great help in motivating students and setting them a good preparation before reading Williams (1986:37) mentioned that the pre-reading stage aims at introducing and arousing interest in the topic, motivating learners by giving a reason for reading and providing some language preparation for the text

What Williams poited out is just general function of the pre-reading stage They will vary depending on each particular text In other words, not all of these aims will

be relevant for all texts In some cases, there may be no particular language problems; therefore teachers have no need to provide language presentation for the text In the case that language presentation is needed It does not mean that teachers should

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explain every possible unknown word and structure in the text This is due to the fact that there are some new language items students can guess meaning on their own in the process of reading text Doff explained “they can guess the meaning of many words from the context An important part of reading is being able to guess the meaning of many unknown words, and it can help students to develop their reading skill by giving practice this” (1988:59)

The teacher can ask students some useful questions to prepare for effective reading phase such as: What knowledge, ideas, or opinions might the students already have on this topic and how can this knowledge be exploited? How many grammatical items and vocabularies should be taught? How much time may be spent on the pre-reading activities? What tasks can be given to students before they read? Answering these questions will give teachers clues to ways of introducing the text and motivating learners

pre-I.3.2.What to do in the pre-reading stage

For each particular text, the teacher will have specific activities; however, there are three main things that are often applied in the pre-reading stage in cluding activating or building students’ knowledge related to the text’s topic, helping students with difficult new language items and preparing them for other activities

I.3.2.1 Activating or building students’ knowledge related to the text’s topic

This activity aimed at helping students to predict content of the text they are going to read Teachers are supposed to pressume whether the text’s topic is relevant with students’ existing schemata or not If students have already had knowledge on the text’s topic, teachers will help them recall and activate their already existing knowledge If the text’s topic is new to students, teachers will prepare activities to set background information for students, providing them the new knowledge related to the text

I.3.2.2 Helping students with difficult new language items

Teachers are supposed to identify difficult language items to pre-teach for students Teachers can relate new and difficult language words to the ones that students have already learnt by using synonyms, antonyms, definitions, etc In other way, teachers can give instructions for students to guess the meaning of difficult words from the context Together with presenting unknown vocabulary, teachers should also

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give explaination to some difficult grammatical items if they appear in the reading text This laguage preparation will help students avoid difficulties in the process of interpreting the reading text

I.3.2.3 Preparing students for other reading activities in the while-reading stage

Several texts may require students to do strange type of tasks; as a result, teachers also should spend time preparing students for new types of tasks by giving clear instructions or explanation

I.4 Related activities in reading process

In the process of teaching and learning English, it is very crucial for learners to realize the integration of language That is the possibilities of other aspects of foreign programme Therefore, reading skill is closely related to writing, listening and speaking skills Understanding relations will help learners succeed

According to Rivers and Temperly (1978), reading skill is not a single skill but

an integrated language skill Firstly, reading is related to writing That is when students are asked to summarize or continue the reading material such as resume, end of a story, short descriptions of the characters, etc Secondly, reading is concerned with listening comprehension Students may listen to a story, a play… than read it or read first and “listen to a worthwhile reading or dramatic presentation of what they have read The aural element adds vividness and life to the reading unit” (Rivers and Temperly, 1978:259) They further note that “practice in direct reading of a text which

is readily accessible to the students at their present level of knowledge, while they are simultaneously listening to a taped model reading it in meaningful and expressive segments, can help students develop useful habits of anticipation and syntactic identification in both of these skills”

Thirdly, that is integration of reading and speaking Reading materials serve as

a fundamental source for oral presentations as they can base on these ideas they have read to discuss or debate for their own purposes This is the best way for them to share what they have been reading with others

To summarize, those combinations between reading and, writing, listening, speaking comprehension should be put into serious consideration when teaching and learning English as a foreign language

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I.5 The roles of the teacher and the students in a reading lesson

I.5.1 The roles of the teacher

I.5.1.1 As an organizer in a reading lesson

It is natural that in a reading lesson, the students must work actively and individually It does not mean that the teacher has nothing to do Discussing the roles of the teacher in teaching reading, Richard and Amato (1987) emphasize: “The first role is

to facilitate communicative process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and text The second role is to act interdependent within the learning teaching group”

In Richard and Amato’s point of view, the teacher is an organizer of resources

He also plays the role as a guide within the classroom procedures and student’s activities during the lesson

Being concerned with the roles of the teacher in teaching reading, Harmer (2001:213) gives an opinion that the teacher needs to create interest in the topic and task He also needs to work as an organizer, observer, feedback organizer and prompter Firstly, the teacher is an observer While students are reading, the teacher can observe their progress since it will give him valuable information about how well his students are doing individually or collectively, and will tell him whether to give them extra time, or move to organize feedback more quickly than he has anticipated The second role is a feedback organizer When the students have completed the given tasks, the teacher can lead a feedback session to check if they have completed the task successfully or not He may start by having his students compare their answer in pairs

or in groups and then ask for their answers When asking students to give answers, it is effective to ask them where in the text they found the information This will help him recognize his students’ problems if their answers are inappropriate Lastly teacher has

to be a prompter When students are reading the text, it is also necessary to draw their attention to the language features in that text He may direct his students to certain features of the text construction, clarify ambiguities and make them aware of issues of the text structure which they have not come across previously

Referring to this issue, Moore (1992:5) adds “the teacher is an environmental engineer who organizes the classroom space to fit their goal and to maximize learning

I.5.1.2 As a model reader

Besides, the teacher could act as a model for students by demonstrating appropriate ways of doing things so that the students would understand what was wanted Teachers are also expected to help students deal with the given task by giving cues, asking easier questions and setting supplementary tasks (Nuttall, 1989:54) Even while students are in the reading process, teachers have to be always ready to support both individual learners with their particular difficulties and the whole group if a general difficulties arises (Abbott & Wingard, 1981:101)

In general, the teacher must be aware of what they need to do in a reading lesson By performing their roles well will help the teacher contribute a lot to the success of the reading class, i.e helping students grasp the meaning of the text, improving their reading competence and at the same time developing the other skills which can be integrates in the reading lesson

I.5.2.The roles of the students

In communicative language teaching, students are regarded as the centre of the lesson It is true in every reading lesson During the reading process, the students play the role of an active and creative listener as well as readers

I.5.2.1 Students play the role of the readers

In a reading lesson, the students must be active and flexible readers, it is wise if they work on their own during the reading process, make full use of the class time to read and do the exercises to achieve a full understanding of the text It is necessary for them to find a suitable reading strategy and use their background knowledge to fulfill their tasks because the significance of the text as well as the information is not always directly stated in printed pages

I.5.2.2 Students play the role of the listeners

Besides, students must take an active role as listener They need to listen to the teacher’s instructions and explanations carefully to find out the way of recognizing

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information and way of deducing new words or grammatical structures On the other hand, the students are the providers of feedback to the teacher through their expression and understanding of the reading texts Without the students’ feedback, the teacher does not know how to make the reading lesson become most effective Moreover, because the student is the heart of a reading lesson, all the teacher’s activities are to provide the students with as much knowledge as possible If the teacher does not know how much knowledge his students can receive from his reaching, he can not have appropriate method for his students to study effectively Therefore, the student may negotiate with the teacher to find out the suitable method of study Furthermore, through the students’ reflections, the teacher may draw up his own experience to teach better and perfect himself

In summary, students are the key factor to decide the success of a reading lesson Teacher and students are interrelated to each other during the process of teaching and learning reading skills

I.5.3.The roles of reading text

I.5.3.1 Improving reading skill for the students

One of the chief purposes of learning a foreign language is to bring near what is distant, to get information which is inaccessible in the home language; we seldom read

a book to find out about what we already know Therefore, Billows (1982:55) thinks

what “the role of the textbook is to stand for the distant and hardly accessible delights

that lie behind the forbidding barriers of strangeness of language, the imaginative life

of the child as well as its craving for knowledge” It is not to present, and give a foretaste of all those books which the learner aspires to read and master

It is obvious that reading text plays an important role in teaching reading process It is both the means to introduce phonetics, lexical, and grammatical items of the target language and the means to develop other three language skills (especially the two productive ones: writing and speaking) The importance of reading texts is shown clearly by Grellet (1981:20) According to him, “it is obvious that being aware of the function of a passage is vital to its comprehension Therefore, one of the very first things students should be led to do is to find out whether the text aims at convincing the reader, giving him information, asking him for something, etc”