Using mindmapping to check efl students reading comprehension

Post‐test results showedsignificant differences between the experimental and control groups as a result ofusing the mind‐mapping to check students’ reading comprehension and itstechnique

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ KHOA HỌC GIÁO DỤC

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌCSupervisor: Dr.Trần Thị Ngọc Yến

Nghệ An, năm 2013

ABSTRACT

Mind- mapping has been considered an effective method to check students’reading comprehension and its technique helps improve students’ motivation tolearn reading skills This study investigates how the reading sections in the textbook

“English 12’ are taught at some upper-secondary school in Nghe an with references

to designing and utilizing activities

To achieve the aims of the study, a treatment for 80 students were designedand used as the data collection tools Both qualitative and quantitative methodswere employed to analyze collected results and create a detailed description of the

real teaching context The purpose of treatment interventions in higher education is

to develop students’ competencies with the reading skill of their academic studies.One such competency is mind mapping The literature provides strong argumentsthat mind mapping provides students with valuable organizational and heuristictools and offers guidelines on how to draw mind maps Post‐test results showedsignificant differences between the experimental and control groups as a result ofusing the mind‐mapping to check students’ reading comprehension and itstechnique to improve students’ motivation to learn reading skills Finally, the thesislooks at the effects of using mind-mapping to check EFL students’ readingcomprehension such as increase in getting points, develop the reading skill throughmind-mapping the students can complete main ideas of texts easily

Experimental students, who used mind-mapping, made higher gains inreading than control students who did not use mind-mapping The thesis also seeks

to determine the development if reading skill if mind-mapping development in thecourse leads to increase rate in reading text The result of treatment was recognized

by six tests and 80 questionnaires which were done by students With respect toreading rate the experiment found that the difference between the control groupsand the experimental groups was statistically significant And the result alsocompared to show correctly in the number of the tables and charts

The findings of the research indicate that most of the students appreciate therole of activities learning reading However, the scope is still limited, and there existcertain difficulties that hinder the teachers and students in exploiting readingactivities Such reasons as class size, students’ different levels of proficiency,curriculums, the textbook, time limit

From the outcome of the research, other studies on issues related to teachingand learning writing as well as other skills can be carried out Such researches canimprove material mind-mapping, curriculum design, and classroom activities in thereal contexts of teaching Hopefully, this study has made a small contribution tothese fields

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis would not have been possible without the support of many people.First, and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr.Tran Thi NgocYen, my supervisor, who allowed me to ‘jump from high bridges’ Her support andguidance made it possible for me to not only complete this thesis, but also todevelop a theoretically guided understanding for approaching the complexity ofreading comprehension Her expertise in both the reading and comprehensioncomponents of reading comprehension have allowed me to bridge two fields thattraditionally have been examined separately She opened the door for me to workwith teachers in improving literacy outcomes for adolescent students She showed

me the importance of acquiring both depth and breadth in my knowledge base This

is a chance for me to express my deep gratitude to many people, without whom thisstudy would not have come into being

I would like to thank all my teachers at the Post Graduate Faculty, College ofForeign Languages, Vinh University, Hanoi, for their useful knowledge conveyedvia interesting lectures

Finally, I should like to express the warmest gratitude to my colleagues,friends, students, especially my beloved family I feel greatly indebted to them fortheir essential help and encouragement

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Content Page

ABSTRACT ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

Content Page v

LIST OF FIGURES viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.Rationale 1

2 Aims of the Study 3

3 Scope of the Study 3

4 Methods of the study 3

5 The Design of the thesis 4

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1 Reading 5

2 Reading comprehension 12

3 The teaching and learning of reading 25

4 Mind- mapping 31

CHAPTER 3 THE STUDY 38

3.1 Research questions 38

3.2 Participants 38

The research participants were eighty members of two classes of twelve year students at high school Class A was the experimental group and Class B was the control group Both classes were at the same school and both classes consisted of 80 students 38

3.5.4 The progress pattern that the two groups make 49

Fully developed patterns were investigated Ideally, sample patterns have developed from a real process Before this recognizer can be put into application, it needs to be trained and tested Since this study used the supervised testing approach, each pattern presentation was tagged with its respective label 49

CHAPTER 4 CONCLUSION 63

63

65

REFERENCES 66

APPENDIX A

APPENDIX B

APPENDIX C

APPENDIX D

Table1.2 Numbers of participants in each group were counted comparing toincreases by the last two sessions minus in the first two sessions 47

Table 1.3 Means and standard deviations of average score increases on the firstand last two sessions of texts for the experimental groups and control group 48

Table1.4 Means and standard deviations of average score increases on the firstand last three sessions of texts for the experimental groups and control group 49

Table 1.5: The Content of using mind-mapping Activities 50

Table 1.6 Numbers of participants for different change patterns……… 50

Table 1.7: The result of questionnaires in motivation of two groups .55

Table 1.8 Percentage of improved items in the motivation tests 56

Table1.9 The learners’ satisfaction on reading comprehension after using mapping technique 57

LIST OF FIGURES

Figures 1.1 A sample of gradual increase pattern – participant A3 50

Figures 1.2 A sample of fluctuate increase pattern – participant B12 51

Figures1.3 A sample of substantial increase pattern – participant A39 51

Figures 1.4 A sample of plateau pattern – participant A1 52

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

“If you want to find your way, get a map!”

(Kathleen M Fisher saying)

to their individual style This makes the best teacher in the world

Many teachers and lecturers are already adapting mind mapping to createpowerful classroom presentations, innovative handouts, and an unforgettableexperience for their students Others are using advanced mind maps to tackle largerclassroom projects like innovative long range educational planning or weekly lessonmanagement that really meets the needs of individual students

It is undeniable that the English language has gained more and moresignificance in every aspect of society in general and in education in particular.Realizing the importance of English in education, many policies and renovationshave been promulgated in teaching and learning English during the recent years In

an attempt to innovate Vietnamese education to meet the demand of the society inthe process of integration and development, the Vietnamese Ministry of Educationand Training has reformed English textbooks concentrating on the four skills:speaking, listening, reading and writing for secondary school students since theschool year 2006-2007 With this reform, both teachers and students have certain

advantages and disadvantages in mastering the four skills in the process of teachingand learning English.

Of the four skills, reading, in general, is considered the most difficult one fornot only students but teachers to master In reading section in the textbook “English12”, students are asked to perform tasks of various kinds such as make out the mainideas, understand the main topic, sentence, paragraph, etc However, it seems thatsome of the reading tasks in the new textbooks have not supported students’language acquisition appropriately Besides, teachers also face certain difficulties inteaching reading skills

For many years, teaching reading comprehension was based on a concept ofreading as the application of a set of isolated skills such as identifying words,finding main ideas, identifying cause and effect relationships, comparing andcontrasting, and sequencing Teaching reading comprehension was viewed as amastery of these skills My students think that it is very difficult to learn readingskill I think one of the most powerful tools can be used to improve our readingcomprehension is Mind-mapping

When I have graduated university, I applied for a job at Dien Chau 2 highschool I teach English subject as a second language There are four skills eachlesson but my favorite skill is teaching reading because from the text, students caneasy use words, structures, sentence to communicate with many people There issome difficulty in the reading text They don’t understand how to answer thequestions So this is a problem that I should worry and find out the way to helpthem I think that whenever reading, they also understand all the information Some

of them may not have had enough time to read, they read very quickly but littleresult I think it depends on the level of reading They haven’t used right skill Itmade them get little information

Being a teacher of English at upper-secondary for eleven years, theresearcher has understood the reality of teaching reading in English The researcherrealizes that the upper-secondary school students in general and 12th form students

in particular do not acquire reading skill efficiently They seem to follow therequirements of reading tasks in each lesson in order without achieving theobjectives of the lesson through completing the main tasks with appropriate skills.Because of the practicality in teaching English reading, this study was carried out,

entitling “Using mind-mapping to check EFL students’ reading comprehension”

The study is intended to investigate types of activities teachers use in theirreading classes and the efficiency of these activities as well In addition, it alsoseeks to find out to what certain extent these activities have influence on students’study achievements Finally, through the study, some suggestions are offered so thatteachers can use mind-mapping for doing tasks in the textbook appropriately toimprove students’ reading skill

2 Aims of the Study

The study aimed to help Students develop and checking students’ understandingreading comprehension We find out the value of the Students’ comprehensionreading level in the Text There were some benefits of teaching comprehension byusing Mind-mapping Mind maps provide an effective study technique whenapplied to written materials the value of level reading comprehension of studentswith the text (If there is any).Improving the motivation how the reading sections in thetextbook “English 12” have been taught at upper-secondary schools with particularreference to use mind-mapping

3 Scope of the Study

The study only focuses on teaching common activities used in readingteaching and their benefits to 12 h form students at some upper-secondary schools inrural areas of Nghe An province From the findings of the research, suggestedactivities will be given to improve teaching English reading to 12th form students

4 Methods of the study

The main method is experimental research and questionnaires

5 The Design of the thesis

The study will consist of the following parts: Chapter 1 Introduction

Chapter 2 Literature Review

1 Reading and reading comprehension

2 The teaching and learning of reading

3 Mind-mapping

Chapter 3: The Study

Chapter 4: Conclusion

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

1 Reading

Reading is a means of language acquisition, of communication, and of sharinginformation and ideas Like all language, it is a complex interaction between thetext and the reader which is shaped by the reader’s prior knowledge, experiences,attitude, and language community which is culturally and socially situated Thereading process requires continuous practices, development, and retirement.Reading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text,resulting in comprehension The text presents letters, words, sentences, paragraphsthat encode meaning The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determinewhat that meaning is

As a skill reading is clearly one of the most important; instances around theworld we may argue that reading is the most important foreign language skill,particularly in cases where students have to read English material for their ownspecialist subject but may never actually have to speak the language; such cases areoften referred to as ‘English as a library language’ Even though we are looking ateach language skill independently in these chapters, there is clearly an overlapbetween reading and writing, in that a ‘text’ has to be written down before we canread it In many societies literature is still seen as the prime example of writing andtherefore one of the first things a student is asked to do is to read In classroomterms one of the reasons for this is partly practical: it is often thought to be easier tosupply a written text to be read than a spoken one to be understood Much of thecurrent thinking on reading tends to focus primarily on the purpose of the activity;even if reading is done for pleasure it is still purposeful

According to Jolly (1978, p 67) “one’s first language reading ability plays amore important role in reading success than his level of the target language doesbecause foreign language reading requires the transference of old skills, not the

learning of new ones Therefore, students who fail to read adequately in the foreignlanguage fail because they either do not possess “old skills”, or because they have

failed to transfer them This view is shared by Cody (1979) who asserts that foreign

language reading is a reading skill problem, not a language problem encouragednew methods to convey them Mind- mapping in teaching reading comprehensionhas considered and it useful to remember the content of lesson The students are in

grade 12 who learn English badly.’’

Dealing with a reading text, readers have to face various difficulties The firstand foremost problem is that readers may have to work with unfamiliar and difficult

topics, which is called “text problems” The content of the text might be rather

strange to the students and the grammatical structures might be new Therefore, thereaders will find the text very challenging and might not have any motivation left to

keep on reading The second problem is “vocabulary problems” Knowledge of

vocabulary is a great deal more important as a factor of reading comprehension thanawareness of grammatical structures (O’Donnell, 1961:313-316)

Readers encounter a lot of difficulties in dealing with proverbs and idioms,synonyms metaphor, metonymy and other types of transference of meaning alsocause great difficulty for readers Reading is an active skill, involving guessing andpredicting It is common that there are new words, new structures and ideas in areading text for every language learner If he/she does not have a good guessingability and can not make full use of grammatical, logical and cultural clues, he/shewill read the text with less understanding than he/she might expect, and he/she willfeel frustrated at the text, and will not want to keep on reading However; teachingreading comprehension is the problem that teachers should interested because thestudents at high school learn English as the second language and they are poor inknowledge, poor environment and they learn English sometimes without materials.Reading is a receptive skill with many sub schillings just as those involved inlistening Reading is also very important in real life People always read forpleasure or for work Language learners can learn to use different reading styles

Some read and understand a text very quickly while others read slowly and fail tounderstand what they read The following are some qualities of good reader.

First, good readers do not read every word in a text but take small samplesfrom a text and try to understand from these samples They learn to focus onimportant words By reading certain words a good learner can understand mostgood reader may only focus on the underlined words

Second, good readers read silently rather than whisper words while reading.They will also try to predict what comes next in the next, and if the readers do notunderstand what they have just read, they will quickly go back and read it a gain

In addition, good readers will use their own knowledge to help understandwhat they are reading In order to understand a text, they skillfully recall what theyalready know about topic Moreover, they learn to guess at the meaning of newwords They look at the context of the words and the affixes of words They focus

on the general meaning first, and then the specific meaning

The ability to read and to extract meaning from text is a fundamental skillnecessary for most forms of personal learning, intellectual growth, and educationalattainment (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,2010) On an international level, the literacy rate in Canada is high: results frominternational assessments of reading proficiency indicate that Canadian youths (age15) rank in third position of 41 countries (Busier, Cartwright, & Kingston, 2004).Although the reading proficiency of Canadian youths places Canada as one of thetop ranked countries in the world, the results mask a significant problem thatdemands attention: almost 30% of 15-year-old Canadian students did not meet whatare considered to be adequate levels of proficiency on international tests of reading(OECD, 2010) That a substantial number of youth struggle to understand what theyhave read carries negative social and economic costs: poor youth literacy is related

to high school dropout rates, long-term unemployment, and higher crime rates (TheCanadian Language and Literacy Research Network, 2009).The importance of

monitoring the reading proficiency of youth is evident in the increased use of scale government-mandated assessment

1.1 The reading process

Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols in order toconstruct or derive meaning (reading comprehension) It is a means of languageacquisition, of communication, and of sharing information and ideas Like alllanguage, it is a complex interaction between the text and the reader which isshaped by the reader’s prior knowledge, experiences, attitude, and languagecommunity which is culturally and socially situated The reading process requirescontinuous practice, development, and refinement

Readers use a variety of reading strategies to assist with decoding (to translatesymbols into sounds or visual representations of speech) and comprehension Readersmay use morpheme, semantics, and syntax context clues to identify the meaning ofunknown words Readers integrate the words they have read into their existingframework of knowledge or schema (schemata theory).Other types of reading arenot speech based writing systems, such as music notation or pictograms Thecommon link is the interpretation of symbols to Currently most reading is either ofthe printed word from ink or toner on paper, such as in a book, magazine,newspaper, leaflet, or notebook, or of electronic displays, such as computerdisplays, television, mobile phones or e-readers

Handwritten text may also be produced using a graphite pencil or a pen.Short texts may be written or painted on an object Often the text relates to theobject, such as an address on an envelope, product info on packaging, or text on

a traffic or street sign A slogan may be painted on a wall A text may also beproduced by arranging stones of a different color in a wall or road Short texts likethese are sometimes referred to as environmental print Sometimes text or imagesare in relief, with or without using a color contrast Words or images can be carved

in stone, wood, or metal; instructions can be printed in relief on the plastic housing

of a home appliance, or a myriad of other examples A requirement for reading is a

good contrast between letters and background (depending on colors of letters andbackground, any pattern or image in the background, and lighting) and a suitablefont size In the case of a computer screen, it is important to be able to see an entireline of text without scrolling The field of visual word recognition studies howpeople read individual words A key technique in studying how individuals readtext is eye tracking This has revealed that reading is performed as a series of eyefixation with saccades between them Humans also do not appear to fixate on everyword in a text, but instead fixate to some words while apparently filling in themissing information using context This is possible because human languages showcertain linguistic regularities.

The process of recording information to be read later is writing In the case

of computer and microfiche storage there is the separate step of displaying thewritten text For humans, reading is usually faster and easier than writing Reading

is typically an individual activity, although on occasion a person will read out loudfor the benefit of other listeners Reading aloud for one's own use, for bettercomprehension, is a form of intrapersonal communication Other methods of teachingand learning to read have developed, and become somewhat controversial Reading is

an intensive process in which the eye quickly moves to assimilate text Very little isactually seen accurately It is necessary to understand visual perception and eyemovement in order to understand the reading process There are several types andmethods of reading, with differing rates that can be attained for each, for differentkinds of material and purposes: Rates of reading include reading for memorization(fewer than 100 words per minute [wpm]); reading for learning (100 -200wpm);reading for comprehension (200 - 400 wpm); and skimming (400–700wpm).Reading for comprehension is the essence of the daily reading of mostpeople Skimming is for superficially processing large quantities of text at a lowlevel of comprehension (below 50%).Advice for choosing the appropriate reading-rate includes reading flexibly, slowing when concepts are closely presented andwhen the material is new, and increasing when the material is familiar and of thin

concept Speed reading courses and books often encourage the reader to continuallyaccelerate; comprehension tests lead the reader to believe his or her comprehension

is continually improving; yet, competence-in-reading requires knowing thatskimming is dangerous, as a default habit Reading speed requires a long time toreach adult levels The table to the right shows how reading-rate varies withage, regardless of the period (1965 to 2005) and the language (English, French andGerman) The Taylor values probably are higher, for disregarding students whofailed the comprehension test The reading test by the French psychologist PierreLefebvre’s tested reading aloud, with a penalty for errors, and could, therefore, not

be a rate greater than 150 wpm According to Carver (1990), children's readingspeed increases throughout the school years On average, from grade 2 to college,reading rate increases 14 standard-length words per minute each year (where onestandard-length word is defined as six characters in text, including punctuation andspaces)

1.2 Classification of reading

Several types of reading may occur in a language classroom One way, inwhich these may be categorized, as suggested by Brown (1989) can be outlined asfollows:

Oral and silent, and intensive there were two kinds: linguistic and content.But in Extensive there were three kinds such as: skimming scanning and global

The first distinction that can be made is whether the reading is oral orsilent Within the category of silent reading, one encounters intensive and extensivereading Intensive reading is used to teach or practice specific reading strategies or

skills The text is treated as an end in itself Extensive reading on the other

hand, involves reading of large quantities of material, directly and fluently It is

treated as a means to an end It may include reading simply for pleasure or reading

technical, scientific or professional material This later type of text, more academic,may involve two specific types of reading, scanning for key details or skimming for

the essential meaning A relatively quick and efficient read, either on it’s or afterscanning or skimming, will give a global or general meaning

Brown (1989,p.72) explains that intensive reading "calls attention togrammatical forms, discourse markers, and other surface structure details for thepurpose of understanding literal meaning, implications, rhetorical relationships, andthe like." He draws an analogy to intensive reading as a "zoom lens" strategy

Long and Richards (1987, p.33) say it is a "detailed in-class" analysis, led bythe teacher, of vocabulary and grammar points, in a short passage."

Intensive reading, sometimes called "Narrow Reading", may involve studentsreading selections by the same author or several texts about the same topic Whenthis occurs, content and grammatical structures repeat themselves and studentsget many opportunities to understand the meanings of the text The success

of "Narrow Reading" on improving reading comprehension is based on the premisethat the more familiar the reader is with the text, either due to the subject matter orhaving read other works by the same author, the more comprehension is promoted.Skimming is a more complex task than scanning because it requires the reader toorganize and remember some of the information given by the author, not just tolocate it Skimming is a tool in which the author's sequence can be observed, unlikescanning in which some predetermined information is sought after Scanning is aquick reading, focusing on locating specific information Scanning involves quickeye movements, not necessarily linear in fashion, in which the eyes wander until thereader finds the piece of information needed Scanning is used when a specific piece

of information is required, such as a name, date, symbol, formula, or phrase, isrequired The reader knows what the item looks like and so, knows when he haslocated what he was searching for It is assumed then, that very little information isprocessed into long-term memory or even for immediate understanding because theobjective is simply matching Scanning is used often with technical, scientific orprofessional materials to locate specific information Scanning is a valuable skill forsecond language learners to develop because often they do not require a detailed

read of a text There are many everyday uses for scanning, relevant to a purpose,such as reading a schedule

It is an accepted view today that efficient readers are not passive They reactwith a text by having expectations and ideas about the purposes of the text as well

as possible outcomes They reflect on expectations as they read, anticipate what will

come next In other words, they” interact with the text".

Skimming involves a thorough overview of a text and implies a readingcompetence Scanning is more a limited activity, only retrieving informationrelevant to a purpose

Pugh (1978, p84) suggested that “since scanning is a less complex style ofreading it can be introduced first Skimming requires greater fluency and morepractice is required, so it should be introduced later Often skimming and scanningare used together when reading a text For example, the reader may skim throughfirst to see if it is worth reading, then read it more carefully and scan for a specificpiece of information to note Students need to learn that they need to adapt their

reading and techniques to the purpose of the reading ”

2 Reading comprehension

Reading Comprehension is the ability to understand what we read- wherewords have contexts have meaning Reading comprehension skills allow us to readproficiently, learn effectively, problem, solve, strategize, conceptualize, andsucceed in life Without reading comprehension skills, many students are leftbehind Reading comprehension is the heart and gold of reading, since the purpose

of all reading is to gather meaning from the printed page If a student says words in

a passage without gathering their meaning, one would hesitate to call that reading

Comprehension depends on knowledge Comprehension as defined byBernhardt (1987) is the process of relating new, or incoming information toinformation already stored in the memory (background knowledge) Obviously,during the process of reading, readers must not only look at words on the pages

(bottom-up processing), but also activate background knowledge (top-townprocessing), and then build all the elements into comprehension (Rinehart, 1980).Furthermore, according to Emhart’s organization reading comprehension can bedefined as: a topic-dependent It involves making appropriate decisions from thebeginning of a text It involves the selection of critical features for processing).Itinvolves the rapid processing of text It involves met cognitive awareness of thecomprehension process .The first two items above are so-called “schemata”(background knowledge) The third item involves scanning, which is looking forinformation in the text The fourth item is also called skimming, which is readingquickly for general idea as far as the third and the fourth parts are concerned, slowspeeds in reading seem to imply limited use of them, and also limitedcomprehension A study revealed that readers, who are unsuccessful, usually makemore eye contact per line, rather spending more time at each fixation (Tulles, 1971).Similarly, Smith (1971) argued that the visual system is made up of three features:The brain does not see everything that is in front of the eyes The brain does not seeanything is in front of the eyes immediately and the brain does not receiveinformation from the eyes continuously So, reading must be “fast, selective anddependent on nonvascular information”

The nature of comprehension in reading has been explored in numerousstudies Some researchers see it as a state of having questions answered (Smith,1978) in which readers have to find a configuration of hypotheses which offer acoherent account for the various aspects of the text (Rinehart, 1977) In order tocomprehend a text, readers modify the organizational structure of the texts fortheir own purposes While reading they keep making predictions, or questionsbased on their theories about the world, and if the questions are answered while

or after reading, comprehension is achieved (Smith, 1978)

Commonly in the context of teaching comprehension in secondary schoolclassroom of English, there are only a few techniques that are being repeatedly used

to study content of a reading text such as: Question – answer, finding synonyms,antonyms, gap – filling or True – false sentence.

A large and growing body of literature has investigated the components ofcomprehension One of the main themes in the literature is the simple view of

reading, which holds that comprehension can be decomposed into linguistic comprehension and reading comprehension (Dumbly, 2009; Dreier & Katz, 1992; Gough & Tuner, 1986; Hoover & Gough, 1990) Linguistic comprehension refers

to the action of using vocabulary knowledge to interpret the text and reading comprehension is the same ability, which, on the other hand, relies on printed information arriving through the eye In order to assess linguistic comprehension,

testers should ask questions about the contents of a text presented orally while to

test reading comprehension, they must ask questions about a text in printed form.

Some other researchers divide comprehension into two components:

comprehension and interpretation Comprehension involves what the reader utilizes according to his reading aims Interpretation concerns the differences

between people who read the same text, or within one person when readingdifferent texts These differences may be due to such factors as backgroundknowledge and cultural presuppositions

Reading comprehension is “the process of simultaneously extracting and

constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language”(reading study group, 2003, p.11) This process of interaction and involvement withthe text is a function of both reader and text variables that take place within a largersocial context (Goldman, Saul, & Corte, 1995; McNamara & Malians, 2009; ReadingStudy Group, 2002) When successful, the product of reading comprehension is acoherent mental representation of a text’s meaning that is integrated with thereader’s prior knowledge This product is often referred to as a mental model(Johnson-Laird, 1983) or a situation model (Kitsch, 1998; Kitsch, & van Disk,1978) and is considered to be the basis for learning from text The nature of the

model, that is the ideas and the links connecting those ideas, defines what has beenlearned.

Reading comprehension is a complex skill: it requires the successfuldevelopment and orchestration of a variety of lower- and higher-level processes andskills (Balata, Flores darkish, & Rayners, 1990) As a consequence, there are anumber of sources for potential comprehension failure and these sources can varydepending on the skill level and age of the to improve our understanding of readingachievement, and to provide better information for Reading comprehension is acomplex skill: it requires the successful development and orchestration of a variety oflower- and higher-level processes and skills (Balata, Flores darkish, & Rayners,1990)

As a consequence, there are a number of sources for potential comprehensionfailure and these sources can vary depending on the skill level and age of the reader(Keenan, Bateman, & Olson, 2008) Theories and models of reading comprehensionare necessary to make sense of this complexity

2.1 Factors affecting the learning of reading comprehension.

The comprehension goals of the intermediate grade sad dress these abilities

as well as those required for independent study: skimming, using referencematerials, outlining, summarizing, altering reading rate and focus as the purpose

of reading changes, use of headings, note taking, and so on For many spreadingcomprehension is a major problem There are mainly three causes for poor readingcomprehension: First is, if the person has a language problem

Language plays a vital role in reading One cannot read a book in a languageunless one knows that particular language If a child’s knowledge of English ispoor, then his reading will also be poor, and naturally also his readingcomprehension Second is, if the foundational skills of reading have not beenatomized When a person attempts to speak a language in which he has not becomeautomatic yet, he will necessarily have to divide his attention between the content ofhis message and the language itself He will therefore speak haltingly and with

great difficulty As Yap and Van dear Leif explained in the Journal of Learning Disabilities If the skill on the primary task is automat zed, it will not be disrupted

by concurrent processing on the secondary task because automatic processing doesnot take up antinational resources If, on the contrary, the skill is not automat zed, itwill be disrupted by concurrent processing of a second skill because two skills arethen competing for limited intentional resources This also applies to the act ofreading The person, in whom the foundational skills of reading have not yetbecome automatic, will read haltingly and with great difficulty The poor reader isforced to apply all his concentration to word recognition, and therefore has noconcentration left´ to decode the written word, and as a result he will not be able toread with comprehension Lastly, threaded is unable to decode the written word

The decoding of the written word is a very important aspect of the readingact Without being able to decode the written word, reading comprehension isimpossible This explains why some children can read without understanding whatthey are reading Many students don’t realize how important it is to be able to fullycomprehend what you read Being able to completely and accurately comprehendwhat you read is essential to your ability to learn, perform well on tests andultimately succeed in school and in a career Anyone who desires to acquireeffective study techniques would do well to improve his reading comprehensionskills Developing reading comprehension techniques is one of the two basic ways

of improving reading skill, the other being developing reading speed However,rapid reading is valueless unless what is read is understood Thus, comprehensionsthe vital factor in efficient reading by Bobby Coles

According to Bobby Coles Created on: (03, 2010, p67)

“Reading comprehension is a learned skill that is dependent upon several factors While there are certain factors that significantly aid reading comprehension, there are also factors that affect reading comprehension Not every child or adult will glean the same amount out of a given text, for several underlying

reasons Aside from a learning disability, there are some more common factors that affect reading comprehension, such as focused attention span, experience, vocabulary level, and ability to make connections’'.

A learning disability (such as Dyslexia) will severely hamper your ability tocomprehend that which you read, but if there is not a disability present, the nextmajor factor contributing to reading comprehension is focused attention span Ashort attention span will severely cramp your ability to understand what you arereading As you read, if you are not able to follow along with each word, you willeventually drift off topic and interest will not have been sustained Reading requiresfocused attention, and you have to be able to make sense of each word andsentence Written works typically follow a progression, and if you are not attending

to it while reading, it will become easy to succumb to distractions This is a majorfactor that affects reading comprehension

Experiences are another factor that greatly impact reading comprehension Ifyou have many life experiences that you can draw upon from your memory bank,you may be more apt to follow along with a given reading selection A story thatdoes not make sense to you because you have not lived that sort of experiencebefore will not be able to hold your interest Comprehending reading requires thatyou delve deep into the characters and plot, and allow your imagination to soar,transcending time and boundaries The creative aspect of your brain needs to beengaged in order to fully understand different concepts and abstract reasoning Amastery of vocabulary is an essential factor that affects reading comprehension Ifyou possess an expansive vocabulary, you are more likely to understand textualwriting, and you will be less likely to become confused or frustrated Knowledge ofwords is imperative to reading comprehension, and this can make a written piececome alive for some people If the writing is too difficult to understand, a person ismore likely to put it down or lose interest Soon, you have lost all understanding ofthe piece, and therefore your reading comprehension has been compromised.Making connections is an essential factor that affects reading comprehension

While you read, you should be able to make connections to your self, yoursurroundings, or your environment The more that you are able to connect a writtenwork to something personal, the more apt you are to fully understand Makingconnections can truly allow you to establish and grasp a compelling hold on thewritten work, and the more you understand, the more insatiable your thirst forreading will become.

2.1.1 Text factor

Vocabulary is introduced firstly to link the text so it is difficult to introduce

We often use pictures to explain the meaning of words Sometime vocabulary is notconnection to the text The speed of vocabulary is more and more difficult Besides

it, some texts are difficult and not suitable with the grade of students Syntax isintroduced once for waiting grammar part In the text Syntax is not explainedclearly

Cohesion and coherence are discussed in terms of their use in written textsfrom text High school graduates are facing increasing expectations The concepts

of cohesion and coherence are central to our proposed research Text

cohesion refers to the very briefly: a text is cohesive if its elements are linked

together A text is coherent if it makes sense It should be clear that these are notthe same thing That is, a text may be cohesive, but incoherent Here is one such(invented) text:

Put simply, then: cohesion is a formal feature of texts (it gives them

their texture), while coherence is "in the eye of the beholder" - that is to say, it is the

extent to which the reader (or listener) is able to infer the writers (or speakers)communicative intentions Thus, cohesion is objectively verifiable, while coherence

is more subjective A text may be coherent to you, but incoherent to me

The exact relationship between cohesion and coherence is a matter of

contention, however While it is true that a sequence of unlinked utterances can make

sense, it is often the case that some form of linking, e.g with cohesive devices such

as and, but, so, can make it easier for the reader (or listener) to process and to make

sense of what they read (or hear) Nevertheless, a text which is basically poorlyorganized is not going to be made more coherent simply by peppering it

with moreover, however and notwithstanding The following text (devised by the

writer on writing, Ann Rimes) is an example of a text that is "over-egged" withcohesive markers, and which is typical of the kind of texts that many studentsproduce as a result of an over-emphasis on linking devices at the expense of otherways of making texts cohesive (of which probably the most important is lexis):

The way that textual cohesion is achieved is best learned through payingclose attention to the way sentences are linked in texts Cutting texts up and askinglearners to order them is a good way of drawing attention to the way that they arelinked I am fond of using short articles from children's encyclopedias Identifyinglexical chains in texts - that is, repetitions, the use of synonyms and hyponyms, andwords from the same lexical field - is also a useful way of alerting learners to thekey role that lexis has in binding a text together

Coherence is more elusive but it has a lot to do with the way that thepropositional content of texts is organized If the content of a (written) text isorganized in such a way that it fulfills the reader's expectations, it is more likely toachieve its communicative effect This means that learners can be helped to writecoherent texts through the analysis of the generic features of particular text types.This has long been the approach to teaching business, technical, and academicwriting More important still, is second-guessing the intended reader's questions,and then answering them This means that it is important that, when doing writingtasks, students have a clear idea both of the purpose of the text, and of the intendedreadership Good writers are able to "keep their reader in mind" Keeping yourreader in mind does not guarantee coherence, but it would seem to be aprerequisite

2.1.2 Automat city

Reading is often thought of as a hierarchy of skills, from processing ofindividual letters and their associated sounds to word recognition to text-processing

competencies Skilled comprehension requires fluid articulation of all theseprocesses, beginning with the sounding out and recognition of individual words tothe understanding of sentences in paragraphs as part of much longer texts There isinstruction at all of these levels that can be carried out so as to increase studentunderstanding of what is read.

Decoding, perhaps it is a truism, but students cannot understand texts if theycannot read the words Before they can read the words, they have to be aware of theletters and the sounds represented by letters so that sounding out and blending ofsounds can occur to pronounce words (see, e.g., Nicholson, 1991) Oncepronounced, the good reader notices whether the word as recognized makes sense inthe sentence and the text context being read and, if it does not, takes another look atthe word to check if it might have been misread (e.g., Gough, 1983) Of course,reading educators have paid enormous attention to the development of children’sword-recognition skills because they recognize that such skills are critical to thedevelopment of skilled comprehend

Automat city is defined as fast, accurate and effortless word identification atthe single word level The speed and accuracy at which single words are identified

is the best predictor of comprehension Fluency, on the other hand, involves notonly automatic word identification but also the application of appropriate prosodicfeatures (rhythm, intonation, and phrasing) at the phrase, sentence, and text levels.Wood, Flowers, and Grigorenko (2001) emphasize that fluency also involvesanticipation of what will come next in the text and that speeded practice alone is notsufficient Anticipation facilitates reaction time and is particularly important forcomprehension

Automatic reading involves the development of strong orthographic representations,which allows fast and accurate identification of whole words made up of specificletter patterns English orthography is generally alphabetic in nature and initiallyword identification is based on the application of phonic word attack strategies(letter-sound association) These word attack strategies are in turn based on the

development of phonemic awareness, which is necessary to learn how to mapspeech to print.

Students must learn to recognize all four types of words automatically inorder to be effective readers; thus, techniques for developing strong orthographicrepresentations for all types of words are essential Extensive opportunity forrepeated practice in pattern recognition is often necessary In order to strengthen theletter patterns associated with the six syllable types and other rule based

orthographic patterns in English (such as e, i and y signaling the pronunciation

of c and g, Fischer (1994) has developed drills to "train the orthographic processor"

which involve having the student mark the vowels long or short based solely on theletter patterns contained in the word They do not actually read these words, butinstead focus attention on the letter pattern The next step is to "link thephonological and orthographic processors" which involves saying only the vowelsound of the words rather than reading the word Again, the focus is primarily onthe orthography Other ways of emphasizing orthography would be card sorts wherestudents sort different syllable types into appropriate categories as quickly aspossible and then say the vowel sounds of each syllable type as quickly as possible

2.1.3 Reading strategies

Comprehension strategies are conscious plans It sets of steps that goodreaders use to make sense of text Comprehension strategy instruction helpsstudents become purposeful, active readers who are in control of their own readingcomprehension There are seven strategies to teach students text comprehension.The first strategy is comprehension monitoring It means be aware of what they dounderstand, identify what they do not understand and use appropriate strategies toresolve problems in comprehension The second strategy is met cognition focus on

“thinking about thinking” The third strategy is graphic and semantic organizerswhich help students focus on text structure “differences between fiction andnonfiction” as they read Moreover, it provides students with tools students can use

to examine and show relationships in a text The next strategy is answering

questions effectively because they can give students a purpose for reading, focusstudents’ attention on what they are to learn , help students to think actively as theyread, encourage students to monitor their comprehension and help students toreview content and relate what they have learned to what students already know.The fourth strategy is generating questions because of generating questions,students become aware of whether students can answer the questions and if theyunderstand what they are reading Students learn to ask themselves questions thatrequire them to combine information from different segments of text For example,students can be taught to ask main idea questions that relate to importantinformation in a text The sixth strategy is recognizing story structure In storystructure instruction; students learn to identify the categories of content (characters,setting, events, problem, and resolution) Often, students learn to recognize storystructure through the use of story maps Instruction in story structure improvesstudents’ comprehension The last strategy is summarizing It makes studentsdetermine what is important in what they are reading and to put it into their ownwords Therefore; summarizing helps students identify or generate main ideas,connect the main or central ideas, eliminate unnecessary information, rememberwhat they read and help students write well-organized summaries of a text.

2.1.4 Reading purposes and motivation

The problem addressed in this study is that many high school teachers areunaware of, or mistaken about, specific strategies and practices that actuallymotivate their students to read, and that what motivates one group of students maynot motivate another Content-area teachers are often unaware that although theymay not have been trained in teaching reading strategy and may feel as thoughteaching reading is not their job, it is an expectation that could largely be met by theimplementation of motivational strategies When teachers do not employmotivational strategies, they miss an opportunity to engage students in reading,

ultimately contributing to the decreasing rates of literacy in high schools (NationalCouncil of Teachers of English, 2007)

The expectancy theory of motivation is categorized as a process theory ofmotivation because of its emphasis on individual perceptions and the interactionsthat follow as a consequence of personal expectations, whereas theories categorized

as content theories of motivation focus on internal attributes of an individual (Isaac,Zebra and Pitt, 2001) Expectancy theory, a cognitively oriented mode of behavior,maintains that “the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on thestrength of an expectancy that the act will be followed by a given consequence (oroutcome) and on the value or attractiveness (or valence) of that consequence (oroutcome) to the actor” (Lawler, 1994, p 57) Over the years there have been variousmodifications proposed to the original theory, including a variation by Vroomwhich initially dealt primarily with motivation in the work place However,although it has not been applied extensively in the area, expectancy theory is alsoparticularly well-suited for the educational setting as well

The outcome, which is student performance or perception in a classroomsetting, can be affected by the valence and consequence, both of which the teacherhas the power to highlight or alter depending on the preferences of his or her group

of students

According to Broom’s model (sometimes referred to as VIE theory forvalence, instrumentality, and expectancy), one action could result in numerouscombinations of

out comes Vroom called for “multiplying the valence of each outcome timesthe strength of the expectancy that the act will lead to the attainment of theoutcome, and then taking the algebraic sum of all the resulting products” (Lawler,

1994, p 59) This distinction is important because it assumes that motivation doesnot depend on merely one reward or incentive, as is often thought to be the case bythose who lead people Broom’s version complicates matters, informing that simplyproviding a pay increase will not be an effective motivational strategy for all

employers and that simply offering the reward of an A on a report card will not be

an effective motivational strategy for all students He also notes that a person will

be motivated to perform well only when the attractiveness of the situation and theexpected outcome are considered higher for a good performance than for a bad one(Lawler, 1994)

The study is significant because although research has been conducted todetermine what motivates students to read, the vast majority of the literature focuses

on elementary- and middle- grade students In addition, a disparity in teacher andstudent perceptions demonstrates a real problem that must be addressed in order toinform instructors in their delivery and practice regarding motivational strategies toread

2.2 Accessing reading comprehension

According to Jeanette Klingender (2004, p.12):

“Generally, experts agree on what good readers do to comprehend text They connect new text with past experiences, interpret, evaluate, synthesize, and consider alternative interpretations Yet, traditional measures of reading comprehension only provide a general indicator of how well a student understands text They do not provide information about how the student uses cognitive and met cognitive processes or explain why a student may be struggling”.

This Text discusses various traditional and innovative reading comprehensionassessment measures, including multiple choice, questionnaires, true or falsestandardized norm-referenced tests, informal reading inventories, interviews and,anecdotal records and observations, oral retelling, free writing, and think-aloudprocedures For each technique relative strengths and weaknesses are described Wehave created this summary of the different types of assessment that can be used formeasuring development in reading skills in the hopes that teachers will betterunderstand how single skills can be assessed by multiple measures This description

of the various assessment techniques may also help teachers to design their own

classroom assessments, and may help teachers to better understand the district orcampus assessments that are already being used with their students.

3 The teaching and learning of reading

“ The reading problem is so bad ’’ said one social studies teacher, “that I nolonger make any reading assignment It is useless Most of the kids can not read thetext What ever they learn, they learnt through lecture and discussion All areverbal.’’

At high school the teaching and learning of reading in English are limitedbecause they learn English as a second language There are five periods per weekbut reading skill has only one period a week so the learner is too difficult toremember and follow the topic and main paragraph

3.1 The role of reading in learning

Reading is fundamental to function in today's society There are many adultswho cannot read well enough to understand the instructions on a medicine bottle.That is a scary thought - especially for their children Filling out applicationsbecomes impossible without help Reading road or warning signs is difficult Evenfollowing a map becomes a chore Day-to-day activities that many people take forgranted become a source of frustration, anger and fear

Reading is important because it develops the mind The mind is a muscle Itneeds exercise Understanding the written word is one way the mind grows in itsability Teaching young children to read helps them develop their language skills Italso helps them learn to listen Everybody wants to talk, but few can really listen.Lack of listening skills can result in major misunderstandings which can lead to jobloss, marriage breakup, and other disasters - small and great Reading helps children[and adults] focus on what someone else is communicating

Reading is important It is how we discover new things Books, magazinesand even the Internet are great learning tools which require the ability to read andunderstand what is read A person who knows how to read can educate themselves

in any area of life they are interested in We live in an age where we overflow withinformation, but reading is the main way to take advantage of it.

Reading develops the imagination TV and computer games have their place,but they are more like amusement Amusement comes from two words "a"[none]and "muse” Amusement is non-thinking activities With reading, a person can goanywhere in the world or even out of it! They can be a king, or an adventurer, or aprincess, or the possibilities are endless Non-readers never experience these joys tothe same extent

Reading is fundamental in developing a good self image Nonreaders or poorreaders often have low opinions of themselves and their abilities Many times theyfeel as if the world is against them They feel isolated [everybody else can read -which isn't true] and behavior problems can surface They can perform poorly inother subjects because they cannot read and understand the material and so tend to

"give up."

As students learn to sound out letters and words, spelling comes easier.Also, reading helps to expand the vocabulary Reading new words puts them intheir mind for later use Seeing how words are used in different contexts can give abetter understanding of the word usage and definitions than the cold facts of adictionary

There is an old saying, "The pen is mightier than the sword." Ideas writtendown have changed the destiny of men and nations for better or worse The flow ofideas cannot be stopped We need to read and research to build on the good ideasand expose the bad ideas before they bring destruction Only by reading can we bearmed in this never-ending, life-and-death struggle

The fact of the power of written ideas communicated through reading is afoundational reason why some governments oppose free and honestcommunication Illiterate people are easier to control and manipulate They cannot

do their own research and thinking They must rely on what they are told and how

their emotions are swayed There is a good possibility that this is one of the mainreasons phonics was removed from the schools about 100 years ago.

Finally, reading is important because words - spoken and written - are thebuilding blocks of life

3.2 The factors affecting the learning of reading

Reading comprehension is influenced by the reader's strength and fluency inlanguage and her understanding of its uses and variant meanings Oral languageskills also play a part in determining how proficient a reader each student is,because students will hear words and gain a larger vocabulary A larger vocabularywill help a student interpret other, unknown words, by using the idea of context

The complexity of any written work will influence the degree to which it can

be interpreted Sentence structure, word choice, and inferred or variable wordmeanings can affect the ability of readers to understand the piece Youngerelementary readers cannot process the information in a high school textbook, yetmany are able to understand texts written for their grade or reading levelsspecifically

Students attempting to read a piece while in a hectic or unorganizedenvironment will find it more difficult to understand the piece than readers in aquiet and controlled space Safety is also another factor If the student is in anunsafe home environment, he may find it difficult to concentrate on homework orreading When placed in safe environments, his reading comprehension skills mayimprove Loud noises such as televisions or radios or loud conversations can alsoserve as distractions for readers

The importance of the reason behind the reading task can also influencethe student's ability to understand the material Testing, class work or homeworksituations have greater consequences than reading for pleasure Some studentswill react positively in testing and school situations, while others will beoverwhelmed by the pressure to perform to a certain standard Students suffering

this anxiety may rush through the reading or not fully understand theinstructions, resulting in confusion and poor comprehension of the material.Other students may force themselves to focus on the reading more closely, and

be better able to comprehend it

If a reader finds the material uninteresting or dry, she will have a moredifficult time focusing on the reading This inattention could result in a lowering ofreading comprehension levels If they find the material interesting they will betterunderstand it and will remember it more clearly Educators can keep readersmotivated by providing interesting pieces throughout the students' class time

We use English 12 by Hoang Van Nam of Vietnam’s education public to teach

3.3 Motivation in reading

The problem addressed in this study is that many high school teachers areunaware of, or mistaken about, specific strategies and practices that actuallymotivate their students to read, and that what motivates one group of students maynot motivate another Content-area teachers are often unaware that although theymay not have been trained in teaching reading strategy and may feel as thoughteaching reading is not their job, it is an expectation that could largely be met by theimplementation of motivational strategies Because national reading scores ofproficient readers among high school students have dropped and continue to remain

in the lower 70 percent range, it is critical that high school teachers focus onproviding reading experiences that will increase their students’ reading abilities

Understanding how to motivate students is a crucial skill that high schoolteachers should aspire to attain; however, instructors often miss opportunities tocapitalize on the strengths of those they teach by not tapping in to what excitesthem

Although it may be 7 time-consuming, numerous connections could be made

to all content areas that could spark a genuine interest within students (Guthrie &Wig field, 2000) It is understandable with all the responsibilities placed on

instructional leaders to “cover” a wide breadth of content preparing students formandatory accountability testing that they may be reluctant to implement all thesuggestions offered by experts on motivation (Lanterns, 2006), but it is possible thatthey could adapt a few of the most highly recommended into their classroommanagement strategies or teaching techniques Once teachers understand thebenefits of their efforts, both in student performance and attitude, they will likely bemotivated to incorporate more, adjusting procedure and effectively changing theculture of their classrooms (Hall, 2005) Like their primary and middle schoolcounterparts, high school teachers can learn of the importance of the provision ofproper motivation, understanding that the delivery of their content alone isinsufficient High school teachers need to be able to determine what will motivateeach of their students to read The first step in this differentiation of teaching isdiscovering perceptions particular student groups possess in regard to reading

So it is very important we often use many kinds of motivation such as:matching, gap-filling, guessing, questionnaires, bill, letters Especially the studentsalways want encourage them getting high marks And we often divide them in tomany groups to get main information and compare each group’s information bypractice true or false but the motivation is the most method for students learnreading comprehension

Motivation researchers have discussed how motivational and cognitiveprocesses

Interact, and how each affects achievement outcomes (Pint rich, 2003; Pintrich, Marx, &Boyle, 1993; Author, 2006) In particular, such research has focused

on how motivation provides an activating, energizing role for cognitive processes,which in turn can impact achievement (Pint rich; Authors, 2006) For example,Author et al reviewed work showing that motivational variables such as self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation predict students’ achievement in different areassuch as reading ability, math, language arts, sports and occupational choice.However, Pint rich noted that there is little specific information in the literature

about the strength of these activating processes or how they operate For instance, itmotivation and reading comprehension is likely, that there are multiple motivationalpathways for the exercitation of students’ behaviors such that some students may bemotivated by their self-efficacy beliefs, whereas others may activate cognitiveprocesses through personal interests or contextual factors.

Research that examines the different ways that motivation relates to variouscognitive processes speaks of the need for integrated models of motivation andcognition that has been emphasized in the motivation field (Pint rich)

In the field of reading motivation, in particular, several researchers haveexamined the relations among motivation variables and literacy skills For example,research has found relationships of young children’s reading self-concept (assessed

as students’ perceptions of reading competence, the difficulty of reading, and theirattitude towards reading) with word recognition and reading comprehension skills(Chapman & Tuner; 1995 Chapman, Tuner, & Poncho, 2000) Findings showed thatchildren who reported negative reading self-concepts performed more poorly onreading-related tasks than did children with positive reading self-concepts(Chapman et al.)

Mind Map Example

4 Mind- mapping

Mind-mapping was developed in the late 60s (the 20th century) by TonyBussan as a way to help students"recorded lectures" thatonly using key words andimages records Mind maps (or similar concepts) have been used for centuries inlearning, brainstorming, memory, visual thinking, and problem solving byeducators, engineers, psychologists, and others Some of the earliest examples ofmind maps were developed by Porphyry of Tyros, a noted thinker of the 3rdcentury, as he graphically visualized the concept categories of Aristotle.Philosopher Ramon Lull (1235-1315) also used mind-mapping British popularpsychology author Tony Bussan claims to have invented modern mind mapping Heclaimed the idea was inspired by Alfred Kaczynski’s general semantics aspopularized in science fiction novels Bussan argues that while 'traditional' outlinesforce readers to scan left to right and top to bottom, readers actually tend to scan theentire page in a non-linear fashion Bussan also uses popular assumptions about thecerebral hemispheres in order to promote the exclusive use of mind mapping overother forms of note making

Mind maps have many applications in personal, family, educational, andbusiness situations, including note taking, brainstorming (wherein ideas are insertedinto the map radically around the center node, without the implicit prioritization thatcomes from hierarchy or sequential arrangements, and wherein grouping andorganizing is reserved for later stages), summarizing, revising, and generalclarifying of thoughts One could listen to a lecture, for example, and take downnotes using mind maps for the most important points or keywords One can also usemind maps as a mnemonic technique or to sort out a complicated idea Mind mapsare also promoted as a way to collaborate in color pen creativity sessions A mindmap is a visual representation of hierarchical information that includes a centralidea surrounded by connected branches of associated topics Benefits of MindMaps: Help students brainstorm and explore any idea, concept, or problem

Facilitate better understanding of relationships and connections between ideas andconcepts Make it easy to communicate new ideas and thought processes Allowstudents to easily recall information Help students take notes and plan tasks.

All mind maps begin with a main concept or idea that the rest of the maprevolves around, so choosing that idea or topic is the first step Begin by creating animage or writing a word that represents that first main idea

From that main idea, create branches as many as needed, that eachrepresents a single word that relates to the main topic It’s helpful to use differentcolors and images to differentiate the branches and sub-topics Then, create sub-branches that stem from the main branches to further expand on ideas and concepts.These sub-branches will also contain words that elaborate on the topic of the branch

it stems from This helps develop and elaborate on the overall theme of the mindmap Including images and sketches can also be helpful in brainstorming andcreating the sub-branch topic

Mind Maps in Education and Teaching with Mind Maps: Mind mapping is abeneficial learning tool to help students brainstorm any topic and think creatively.Mind maps are particularly helpful in the writing process and provide students with

a natural way of thinking and building thoughts on a story plot or theme

Mind maps also provide teachers with insight into their students’ thoughtprocess regarding a specific topic By asking students to create mind mapsdemonstrating their comprehension of a concept, teachers are able to understandwhat a student’s prior knowledge was and how well the student understands theassignment or the material being taught This is a very effective way of evaluatingstudents’ understanding and effectiveness in learning

Bussan claims that the mind map is a vastly superior note taking methodbecause it does not lead to a "semi-hypnotic trance" state induced by other noteforms Bussan also argues that the mind map uses the full range of left and righthuman cortical skills, balances the brain, taps into the apocryphal 99% of theunused mental potential, as well as intuition (which he calls "super logic")