The influence of reading topics on students’ motivation to read at Vinh Bao high school, Hai Phong

The influence of reading topics on students’ motivation to read at Vinh Bao high school, Hai Phong Nguyễn Thị Thúy Minh Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: English teachin

The influence of reading topics on students’ motivation to read at Vinh Bao high school, Hai

Phong Nguyễn Thị Thúy Minh

Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: English teaching methodology; Mã số: 60 14 10

Người hướng dẫn: M.A Nguyễn Thị Mai Hữu

Năm bảo vệ: 2012

Abstract Motivation is a key factor in second language acquisition, for which teachers of

EFL (English as a foreign language) have always tried to find out strategies and techniques

In an attempt to investigate the role of reading topics to the students’ motivation in learning reading skill and their preferences for the current reading topics, the study was conducted with 82 grade 11 students and 10 teachers at Vinh Bao High School by means of survey questionnaires and interview The study focuses on 4 main issues: (1) students’ attitude towards reading skill, (2) types of motivation possessed by the 11th - form students at Vinh Bao High School, (3) the students’ attitudes towards the current reading topics, (4) the inluence of reading topics on students’ motivation to read The findings hereof are supposed

to be of interest of not only the EFL teachers but the EFL materials developers as well

Keywords Phương pháp giảng dạy; Kỹ năng đọc; Tiếng Anh

Content

1 Rationale for the study

Krashen & Terrel (1983:131) state that “Reading may contribute significantly to competence

in a second language There is good reason, in fact, to hypothesize that reading makes a contribution

to overall competence, to all four skills” Reading is one of the major skills of learning a second or foreign language and it has a prominent position in the design of a foreign language teaching program Reading skill helps the students to increase their knowledge of English through exposure to language expressions, and structures, and language contents as well Therefore, teaching reading is gaining more attention from both language teachers and language teaching materials developers However, in Vietnam, many English learners complain that reading always makes them feel bored and stressful They seem to lack motivation to read In fact, motivation is an essential element

in learning in general and in learning reading in particular, but creating a motivated atmosphere for students in a reading lesson is a challenging task

For the above reasons, I would like to carry out “The influence of reading topics on

students’ motivation to read at Vinh Bao high school, Hai Phong” to investigate the role of

reading topics in learners’ motivation to learn reading skill and to study their interests in reading topics It is hoped that the study will be helpful for English teachers in general and those at Vinh Bao high school in particular to stimulate their students in a reading lesson

2 Aims of the study

The study is aimed at:

- Identifying students’ motivation in learning reading skill at Vinh Bao high school;

- Identifying students’ interests in the reading topics;

- Studying the influence of the reading topics on students’ motivation to learn reading skill

3 Research questions

The study was carried out in order to find out answers to the following research questions:

1 What is students’ attitude towards learning reading skill?

2 What types of motivation do they have in learning reading?

3 How interesting do the students find the current reading topics?

4 What is the influence of the reading topics on students’ motivation to read?

4 Scope of the study

With the limitation of the time, I will focus on the 11th - form students’ attitudes at Vinh Bao high school towards learning reading skill, the types of motivation possessed by students, the students’ attitudes on current reading topics and the influence of the reading topics on students’ motivation to learn reading skill Needless to say, it is necessary for the teachers to know what their students like

to read

5 Significance of the study

The study highlights the influence of reading topics on the motivation in learning reading skills

The findings of the study are believed to be useful for English teachers to be aware of the essential role of reading topics in the students’ motivation to learn reading Hopefully, it can help them to motivate students in learning reading skills

6 Methods of the study

The theoretical background of the study mainly is developed basing on the references of and analysis on relevant theories about motivation and reading The study is carried out on the basis of survey questionnaires

Firstly, for the theoretical basis, a lot of reference materials on motivation and reading have been gathered, analyzed and synthesized thoroughly with the clue consideration on the teachers’ and students’ teaching and learning situations

Secondly, interviews and questionnaires are carried out with teachers and students of English

to gather the most reliable data for the thesis

7 Design of the study

The study is organized in three parts:

Part A: Introduction presents the rationale, the aims of the study, the research questions,

the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the methods of the study and the design of the study

Part B: Development consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1: Literature review provides theoretical background for the study Its focus is on

introducing important relevant concepts, discussions of issues and ideas on theories for motivation, nature of reading and motivation in learning reading as well as factors affecting motivation in learning reading

Chapter 2: Methodology presents the methods used in the study including research methods,

research setting , participants of the study, data collection instruments, data collection and data analysis procedure

Chapter 3: Data analysis and major findings shows the detailed results together with a

comprehensive analysis on the data collected from the survey questionnaires and the interview

Part C: Conclusion presents the conclusions, implications, limitations and the suggestions

for further study

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