Using whilereading activities to improve reading comprehension for the 10th form students at Nguyen Trai high school=Sử dụng các hoạt động trong khi đọc để nâng cao hiệu quả của việc đọc hiểu cho học sinh lớp 10 tại trường THPT Nguyễn Trãi

In an attempt to help improve reading comprehension of students atNguyễn Trãi high school, an action research project was carried out to answer thefollowing questions: 1.. The evaluation

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Abstract

Tables of contents

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study 8

2 Aims of the study ……… … 9

3 Research questions 9

4 Methods of the study 9

5 Significance of the study 9

6 Scope of the study……… 10

7 Previous studies……… 11

8 Design of the study……… 12

Chapter 2: Theoretical background……… 13

2 1 Definitions of reading and reading comprehension … ………… ……… 13

2.1.1 Definitions of reading……… ……… ……… 13

2.1.2 Definitions of reading comprehension…… ……… 15

2.2 Types of reading……… 15

2.2.1 According to manners of reading……… ……… 15

2.2.1.1 Reading aloud……… ……… 16

2.2.1.2 Silent reading……… ……….17

2.2.2 According to purposes of reading……… 17

2.2.2.1 Skimming ……… 18

2.2.2.2 Scanning……… 18

2.2.2.3 Intensive reading………19

2.2.2.4 Extensive reading………19

2.3 Factors in teaching and learning reading……… ………21

2.3.1 Teacher’s role ……… 22

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2.3.2 Students’ role……… …… 22

2.3.3 The reading texts……… ….… 23

2.3.4 The three stages of a reading lesson……… ……….23

2.3.4.1 The pre- reading stage……… ………… …23

2.3.4.2 The while - reading stage……….…… 25

2.3.4.3 Post-reading stage ……… … 26

Summary… …….27

Chapter 3: Methodology 28

3.1 Action research……….……… …… 28

3.1.1 What is action research? 28

3.1.2 Why should a teacher do action research? 29

3.1.3 What are the steps in action research? 29

3.2 The subjects of the study……… 29

3.2.1 The researcher- the teacher……… 29

3.2.2 The participants……….30

3.2.3 Data collection instruments……… 30

3.3 The reading program for grade 10th at Nguyễn Trãi high school……… 31

3.3.1 The objectives of the program……… ………31

3.3.3 The schedule of the course……… ……….31

3.3.4 Characteristics of reading passages ……… …32

3.3.5 Characteristics of reading tasks ……… 32

3.4 The current situation of teaching the textbook at Nguyễn Trãi High School 33

3.4.1 Introduction to Nguyễn Trãi High School and students……….34

3.4.2 Teachers and teaching methods ……….34

3.4.3 Teaching facilities ……… ………35

3.4.4 Syllabus of teaching English and time allocation for a reading period ….35 Chapter 4: ACTION RESEARCH PROCEDURE……… 36

4.1 Rationale for choosing action research……… 36

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4.2 Restatement of research questions……… 36

4.3 Action research procedures ……… …… 36

4.3.1 Planning stage……… ….36

4.3.1.1 Identifying the problem……… …….… 37

4.3.1.2 Observing a lesson that illustrated the problem……… 37

4.3.1.3 Conducting a survey to get information from students…… ……… 40

4.3.1.4 Consulting with colleagues……… 45

4.3.1.5 Generating hypotheses……… 48

4.3.1.6 Drawing a plan of action to solve the problem……… 49

4.3.2 Acting stage……… 49

4.3.2.1 The first try – out lesson – at class 10 A……….…… 49

4.3.2.2 The second try – out lesson – at class 10D……….49

4.3.3 Observing stage……….50

4.3.4 Reflection/ Evaluation stage……… 56

Summary……… 60

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION 5.1 Summary of the main findings ……… 64

5.2 Implications for more effective reading lessons……… … … 64

5.2.1 To the teachers……….……… 64

5.2.2 To the classroom facilities……… 65

5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further research……… 65

5.4 Conclusion……… ……… 66 References

Appendices

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In the first place, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to mysupervisor, Ngô Hữu Hoàng, PhD, who has provided me with insightful discussion,helpful comments, valuable support in the preparation and completion of this thesis.Without his constant guiding support and continuous encouragement, my thesiswould have never come out in the present form

My sincere thanks also go to the teachers in the post- graduate departmentfor what they have taught me and the materials they have supplied me in thefulfillment of this thesis

I would also be very grateful to my classmates, who have given mesuggestion and encouragement and to the teachers and the 10th form students atNguyễn Trãi high school, who actively took part in my experimental tests

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to members of myfamily, who have constantly supported, inspired and encouraged me to carry outsuccessfully the thesis

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In an attempt to help improve reading comprehension of students atNguyễn Trãi high school, an action research project was carried out to answer thefollowing questions:

1 What difficulties do the teachers and students face when dealing with areading lesson?

2 How can the use of while-reading activities in teaching reading lessonsenhance Nguyễn Trãi tenth-grade students’ reading comprehension skill? Then action research project was carried out for five weeks The subjectswere 80 students from two classes (10A and 10D) at Nguyễn Trãi high school Datawere collected by means of questionnaire (one for teachers and one for students)and class observation The initial data revealed that students’ poor readingcomprehension may be attributed to the unsuitable methods and techniques used byteachers of English at Nguyễn Trãi high school On the basis of initial findings, it

was hypothesized that Training students while-reading activities would help improve the students’ reading comprehension The researcher implemented an

action plan, in which the students were trained some while- reading activitiesexplicitly The evaluation of the project showed that all of the students had positiveattitudes toward using while-reading activities in teaching reading lessons and theirreading comprehension skill could be improved through these tools, a great majority

of the participants reported in the post-improvement questionnaire survey that theyhave made progress in their reading comprehension skill While-reading activitieswere useful which helped the students complete the reading tasks more effectively.Besides, they felt more confident in reading

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LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Evaluating the students’ English reading competence

Table 4.2: The expectations of the students towards teachers’ reading techniques Table 4.3: The students are asked to join in the while-reading activities

Table 4.4: The reasons the students aren’t interested in taking part in the

while-reading activities today

Table 4.5: The teachers – related – problems make the students feel not motivated

enough in today’s while – reading activity

Table 4.6: The difficulties the teachers face when teaching reading

Table 4.7: The reasons why the teachers do not usually use while-reading activities

in teaching reading lessons

Table 4.8: The students’ opinions about the lessons using while-reading activities Table 4.9: The changes made by the teacher

Table 4.10: The students’ own changes after taking part in the while-reading

activities

Table 4.11: The students’ personal problems

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LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 4.1: The difficulties the students face when learning reading

Chart 4.2: The students overcome the difficulties

Chart 4.3: The students’ responses to those while-reading activities

Chart 4.4: The reading lessons using while-reading activities have made English easier to learn

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter provides the rationale for the study states the aims, researchquestions and methods of the study, defines the scope and significance of the study,the previous studies and design of the study

1 Rationale for the study.

Reading is considered as one of the most important skills which languagelearners should master, particularly as it helps to build a variety of languageexpression and structures, widen general knowledge and leads to lifelong learning

and improvement in the first and second language skills “Reading is an essential skill for English as a second/foreign language (SL/EFL) student; and for many, reading is the most important skill to master” Anderson [8, p.14] According to Carrell [13.p.1-3] “For many students, reading is by far the most important of the four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second or foreign language” What is more, when poor reading results are reported, one tends to

blame the students for having poor ability or for making insufficient effort.Nevertheless, the students are not always at fault There are other important factors

in the process of teaching and learning reading that are worth considering It could

be unsuitable teaching materials It could be the inappropriate attitude of theteachers and learners towards the subject It could be the teachers’ inappropriateteaching methods and classroom techniques

In the context of the upper secondary school, reading even more importantthan other three skills of speaking, listening, and writing because students have totake the examinations which are grammar- and reading- based However, thestudents’ reading proficiency is not satisfactory even after the new textbook hasbeen put to use

Nguyễn Trãi High School, which was founded in 1980, is one of the highschools chosen to pilot the set of English textbook 10 During the piloting period theteachers have confronted a number of difficulties such as students’ general lack ofmotivation and opportunities to practise communicating in the target language It isfurther exacerbated by students’ familiarity with passive learning, the uneven

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teachers’ capacities, the large size of the classes and the poorly equippedclassrooms Regarding reading skills, students at Nguyễn Trãi High school share anumber of difficulties with their counterparts throughout the country

They confront five major obstacles in reading, such as: the habits of by-word reading, overemphasis on forms rather than meaning, excessive focus ondetails rather than main ideas, poor vocabulary and limited background knowledge

word-In this situation, the teachers need to take a serious look at the teaching and learning

of English in general and the teaching and learning of the reading skill in particular

so as to suggest suitable techniques about the teaching and learning of the readingcomprehension at high schools to be more effective

Being a teacher of English at Nguyễn Trãi High School, the researcherwishes to give a hand in promoting reading skills for her 10th-form students This

matter of fact has offered her a chance to conduct a study on “Using Reading Activities to Improve Reading Comprehension for the 10th-Form Students at Nguyễn Trãi High School” In the study, the author decided to carry

While-out the action research to find While-out what difficulties the teachers and students facewhen dealing with a reading lesson and whether the while – reading activities areimportant to teachers of English at Nguyễn Trãi High School Based on the results

of this action research, some changes and improvements could be applied in theauthor’s lessons, and some appropriate strategies needed to be designed with thehope that students will work more effectively in the reading lessons

2 Aims of the study.

This study has two objectives:

- Finding out the difficulties of upper secondary teachers and students whendealing with the reading lessons

- Exploring how the use of while-reading activities in teaching readinglessons can enhance upper secondary students’ English reading skill

3 Research questions.

To achieve these two objectives, two research questions were set for the study:

1 What difficulties do the teachers and students face when dealing with areading lesson?

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2 How can the use of while-reading activities in teaching reading lessonsenhance Nguyễn Trãi tenth-grade students’ reading comprehension skill?

4 Methods of the study.

The methodological approach was action research using mixed methods fordata collection The tools for data gathering include two questionnaires, (one for

teachers and one for students) and class observation (See chapter 3)

5 Significance of the study.

Reading has always a significant position in language teaching.Nevertheless, how to teach and learn reading effectively often poses great problems

to both teachers and students For the teachers of English at high school, reading isconsidered a difficult skill to teach Most language teachers, following a traditional,test-oriented teaching approach, often concentrate on teaching English vocabulary,grammar, and focus only on grammar exercises for the exams However, nothing isdifficult if we, the teachers make decision to make it easier Hopefully, with a range

of suggestions of how to make while – reading activities effectively in readinglessons introduced in this research, it will be more motivating for the teachers toteach and make progress in teaching reading Therefore, their students will beinterested in reading lessons

6 Scope of the study.

Due to the limitation of time and knowledge, this thesis only focused onusing while-reading activities in teaching reading lessons to tenth- grade students atNguyễn Trãi high school in the second term of the school- year of 2012-2013

7 Previous Studies.

The number of reading comprehension activities research which investigatesthe effects of reading comprehension activities on reading comprehension has beenever more limited Nevertheless, the following studies on using readingcomprehension activities to improve the reading comprehension skill

- Bùi Thị Mỹ Linh (2007) investigated using While- Reading Techniques to

Improve Reading Comprehension for the 11th Form Students at Phan Dang LuuHigh School The participants of the study were one hundred 11th form secondarystudents at Phan Dang Luu high school; most of them had been learning English for

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nearly six years and ten teachers of English, especially those who were teachingEnglish to the 11th form students at this school

To fulfill this thesis, she used two survey questionnaires, one for studentsand another for teachers and some reading class observations were carried out toinvestigate the present situation of teaching and learning reading comprehension ofthe 11th form students to find out advantages as well as problems facing bothteachers and students in reading lessons and she suggested useful techniques todevelop the reading comprehension skills in the while- reading stage for the 11thform in Phan Dang Luu high school The results of this study revealed that usingWhile-reading Techniques to teach reading lessons helped the 11th form students atPhan Dang Luu high school to improve their reading skills as well as the teachers

- Yeeding, S (2007) examined the effects of Pre-reading activities on reading

comprehension ability This study was conducted with 60 grade-9 students studying

at Muslim Witaya Phuket in 11 weeks totaling 22 periods The purposes of thestudy were to compare the learners’ comprehension ability before and after theimplementation of two types of pre-reading activities, guessing reading contentfrom pictures and asking pre-reading questions and to investigate the learnersattitudes towards the implementation of the two pre-reading activities The results

of this study revealed that the activities subjects were highly motivated, enthusiastic

to read After the experiment, the students scored significantly higher

- Nguyễn Thị Minh Hồng (2008) conducted a study on some possible

effective pre-reading activities to improve reading skills for the 2nd -year EnglishMajors at the Military Science Academy The study was carried out with theparticipation of 30/45 full-time teachers aged from 25 to 45 (half of them had been

in Great Britain, Australia, America and India for further training) and 80/110second-year students and they were learning text book More Reading Power Of the

30 teachers, they all had Diploma Degree in English while twenty of them haveM.A Degree in Education, Linguistics, or International Relations and another onehas Ph.D Degree in Linguistics Most of them had at least three years of teaching,therefore, with no doubt, they were experienced and enthusiastic teachers, they werealways willing to help their students overcome the difficulties and make progress inlearning English

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These teachers were now teaching English to the students of differentcourses at the MSA: full time, short time courses (These courses last for about twoyears and they are used for Army Officers who had Diploma Degree in otherforeign languages and now were serving in different branches of the Armybelonging to the Ministry of Defense) The 80 students under investigation were inthe second term of the second year at the English Department of the MSA (bothcadet and civilian students, male and female) These students’ages were between 20and 22 years old They were supposed to have quite an equal knowledge of Englishbefore entering the MSA since most of them had learnt English for at least 7 years(from grade 6 to grade 12 at school)

Moreover, they all passed a very challenging entrance exam Some ofthem came from Hanoi; the rest came from different provinces around the country.These students were chosen from 110 second year students during the school year

of 2006-2007 They had completed their first three terms of the four-year course Ofcourse it was very difficult to select a sample of individuals since the students hadalready assigned to four different classes The main purposes of the study were toinvestigate pre-reading techniques employed by the teachers of English at the MSA,and to give a suggestion of some possible pre- reading activities that could beapplied to teach the text book More Reading Power to the second-year students ofEnglish at the MSA

The results of this study showed that both teachers and students at theMSA were highly appreciated the important role of Pre-reading activities For theteachers, the application of Pre-reading activities enabled them to activate students’existing knowledge, to teach more words as well as to arouse students’ motivation

in reading to the texts On the other hand, for the students, the Pre-reading activitieswere obviously useful since they were more motivated, they could understand thetexts better while reading and the most important thing was that these activitieshelped them improve their reading skills as well

- Nhữ Văn Lược (2005) also conducted a study on the techniques for

improving reading skills to non-major students of English at Haiphong ForeignLanguage Center, Haiphong University This study was conducted with theparticipation of 240 learners (aged 14-45) at 6 C level classes in 2005 These classesdid not start at the same time This meant the students were not learning the same

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lesson when the survey was carried out However, they had ever finished unit 40 in

the book Streamline English – Destination, so they all knew what their teacher in

each practice skill often presents Of the learners, 46 of them were from 14 to 18years old; 20 were from 31 to 45, and the rest from 18 to 30

The youngest group (from 14 to 18) was attending secondary and uppersecondary school education, and the oldest (from 30-45) were holding certainpositions in many offices and they had ever graduated from university or colleges.All of them had one thing in common, that was they all officially or unofficiallyexperienced at least three years learning English The purpose of this study was toexamine the areas of difficulties in reading encountered by non-major students atHFLC so that techniques could be given to help them improve this skill The result

of this study revealed that students were more active and became more aware ofwhat they needed to do every reading lesson and the teacher worked out appropriatetechniques to help handle the difficulties or clear away the obstacles faced bystudents in their reading process so as to gradually better their reading skill

To sum up, reviewing the previous studies inside and outside Vietnam,the findings of some of the above studies indicate positive effects for using readingactivities in teaching reading lessons Those findings provide encouraging evidencethat using reading activities in teaching reading lessons increases the learners’awareness of effectiveness of using reading activities which can improve theirreading comprehension The researcher, hence, desires to conduct such a study toimprove learning reading at her school

8 Design of the study.

The thesis consists of five chapters, organized as follows:

Chapter 1 - Introduction - provides the rationale for the study, states the aims, the

scopes, the methods, the significance, the research questions of the study, theprevious studies and the design of the study

Chapter 2 - Theoretical background – presents the knowledge relating to the issues

in terms of reading comprehension and teaching reading comprehension

Chapter 3 - Methodology – describes the action research and the reading program

for grade 10th at Nguyễn Trãi high school

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Chapter 4 - Action Research Procedures describe the rationale for choosing action

research and the procedures of this action research with the following main steps:defining the problem, observing class, conducting a survey using questionnaires,collecting data and analyzing data, and giving out conclusions from findings

Chapter 5 – Conclusion - is the last part which offered a summary and suggestions

for more effective reading activities and some limitations and suggestions forfurther studies

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CHAPTER 2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

In this chapter, I attempt to deal with definitions of reading in general andreading comprehension in particular, types of reading and teaching readingcomprehension

2 1 Definitions of reading and reading comprehension

2.1.1 Definitions of reading.

Reading is a completely individual activity which takes place in all differentways from newspapers, magazines, written texts, telephone directory, labels onmedicine bottles, notices, etc The ability to read is such a natural part of humanbeings that they seldom try do define reading However, there are still differentpoints of view on the definition of reading

According to Goodman [19, p.135], reading is “a psycholinguistic process

by which the reader, a language users, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display”, and the act of reconstruction is viewed as “a cyclical process of sampling, predicting, testing and confirming.”

William [30, p.3] had the same view on reading, especially on the act of

reconstruction as Goodman He argues that “written texts, then, often contain more than we need to understand them The efficient reader makes use of this to take what he needs, and no more, to obtain meaning”

Harmer [21, p.153] considers reading as a mechanical process that “eyes

receive the message and the brain then has to work out the significance of the message” He not only focuses on two actions that dominated by the eyes and the brain but also the speed of the process “a reading text moves at a speed of the reader”, which means that the reader who decides how fast he wants to read the

text

Moreover, Urquhart & Weir [29, p.22] define reading as follows: “Reading is the process of receiving and interpreting information encoded in language form via the medium of print” Reading plays such an important part in the success of second

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language learning and it is necessary to understand what reading is, however, it’sdifficult to explain it briefly and correctly

In a general term, reading is defined as “ Reading is an active, fluent process which involves the reader and reading materials in building meaning, meaning does not reside on the printed page, nor is it only in the reader” Anderson

[8, p.1] this definition of reading has been generally shared by other researches

Deriving from those opinions, reading is considered a process in which areader looks at and understands what has been written out

2.1.2 Definitions of reading comprehension

In teaching reading, it is necessary to understand the nature of readingcomprehension What the teacher understands about it will have a great influence onwhat he or she teaches in the class He would know what to teacher and how to makehis reading lesson effectively In fact, methodologists have been providing differentdefinitions of reading comprehension

Swam [28, p.1] stated that when we say “ a student is good at comprehension we mean that he can read accurately and efficiently, so as to get the maximum information a text with the minimum of understanding”.

Also concerning the reading comprehension, Grellet [20, p.3] argued that:

“Reading comprehension or understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible.” The author means that

reading comprehension is an activity which aims at decoding the meaning of wordcombination in the text in the most efficient way

According to the above authors, reading comprehension is not only simplyunderstanding what is written, but also is what stimulates students to rememberfrom their experiences That knowledge is then used to get meaning out of printedpage, but in the mind of the readers which included not only facts or details but alsoemotion, belief and critical evaluation

From these opinions, it can be concluded that reading comprehension is aprocess of understanding what is conveyed in the text It does not mean that thereader needs to understand every single word in the text but actively work on thetext and extract the required information efficiently

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2.2.1 According to manners of reading

Reading, according to manner, is divided into reading aloud and silent reading

2.2.1.1 Reading aloud

Aloud reading 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 thetext when reading aloud, In fact, it must be recognized that reading aloud isprimarily an oral matter so that for those who teach and learn foreign languages, it

is closer to “pronunciation” than it is to “comprehension” Lewis and Hill [24,

p.110] mention: “Asking a student to read aloud unseen also means that he may concentrate so hard on pronouncing the words that he will be unable to concentrate adequately on their meaning too He may read correctly but afterwards will not be able to tell what he has read”

This kind of activity seems to be more popular in the language classroom Itfocuses on the pronunciation of words in the text rather than understanding Inreading a text, students come across many new words and phrases that they do notknow how to pronounce The teacher, in this case may help his students pronouncewords by reading the text orally and loudly So reading aloud is often applied forbeginners and limited in upper classes because of some reasons Firstly, it takes up along time as students often read slowly when they focus on pronunciation Theyconsequently have not enough time to deduce the meaning of the text or completecomprehension exercises Secondly, because students are concerned withpronunciation, it is hardly for them to understand the meaning of the text

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As for Doff [17, p.67], “Reading aloud involves looking at a text, understanding it and also saying it Its purpose is not just to understand a text but

to convey the implication to someone else.”

That is the reason why, only for the early stages of foreign language learning,reading aloud should become an established part of a lesson to help the beginnersread words, phrases with correct stress and intonation in a sentence

2.2.1.2 Silent reading

Silent reading is the nearest approach to the essence of reading Because only

by reading silently, can the readers best comprehend the written materials in theshortest possible time Silent reading can be applied effectively to teaching andlearning a reading comprehension text because reading a text silently helps studentsconcentrate on understanding its meaning Silent reading is widely used in both real

life and classroom, and “it is the method we normally use with our native language, and on the whole the quickest and most efficient” Lewis and Hill [24, p.110] With

silent reading we can best understand the reading materials in the shortest possibletime because we do not need to read all the words in the text, we can read at ourown speed and if we do not understand what we are reading, we can read again orslow down for intensive reading

For the teachers, silent reading is helpful for controlling the class In silentreading, students are in fact concentrating on the text, obtaining the meaning andextracting what they need

In sequence, the depth and detail of understanding, of comprehensionincrease as we go though the ways of doing silent reading In all, silent reading is auseful technique in a reading comprehension process applied to students to exploitreading lessons and it is also a good way to help teachers control the class

2.2.2 According to purposes of reading

According to purposes, reading is categorized into four types: skimming,scanning, extensive reading, and intensive reading

2.2.2.1 Skimming

Skimming is commonly used in reading comprehension It is one of specificreading techniques necessary for quick and efficient reading Skimming is used to

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quickly gather the most important information, or 'gist' According to Grellet, F.

[20, p.19], “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 the intention of the writer.”

Nuttal [26, p.36] states that “by skimming, we mean glancing rapidly through the text to determine whether a research paper is relevant to our own work or in order to keep ourselves superficially informed about matters that are not of great importance to us.”

Therefore, the key that actually encourages learners to skim is to give them aseries of texts and ask them to select appropriate titles from groups of ones.Moreover, in order to teach skimming effectively, the teacher should have thestudents read the beginning or end of a text or a paragraph because it may providestudents with a statement relating to the topic Skimming gives students theadvantage of being able to predict the purpose of the passage, the main topic ormessage, or possibly some of the developing or supporting ideas This gives them a

“head start” as they embark on more focused reading Skimming also helps studentorganize their thoughts and specify what information they can get from a book sothat the subsequent reading will become more efficient

In conclusion, skimming is understood as a necessary technique for readingcomprehension which enables readers to get the main points of the text withoutbeing concerned with the details Therefore, skimming should be applied at the firststage of teaching reading to help student have an overview of what they are going toread And it is sure that they will understand the whole text later Hence, skimmingshould be applied in teaching reading to help students have an overview of whatthey read

2.2.2.2 Scanning

Scanning occurs when a reader looks quickly through the text searching for aspecific piece of information or to see if the text is suitable for a specific readingpurpose

In the view of Brown [11, p.308] defines scanning as follows: “Scanning is the process of quickly searching for particular piece or pieces of information in a text.

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The purpose of scanning is to extract specific information without reading the whole text.”

Grellet [20, p.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 byrunning their eyes rapidly along the lines It can be practiced with the great range oftexts such as dictionaries, map, advertisements, labels, etc This kind of reading isvery useful in reading selectively

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

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

Intensive reading "involves approaching the text under the guidance of a teacher or a task which forces the students to focus on the text" Nuttall [26, p.38] Brown considers intensive reading as "a classroom-oriented activity in which students focus on the linguistic or semantic details of a passage.” Brown [10,

p.297] The objective of intensive reading is to achieve a full understanding of thetext, not only of what it means but also of how the meaning is produced Throughintensive reading, the reader must arrive at a profound and detailed understanding oflogical arguments, the rhetorical arrangement, the pattern of the text, the attitudeand purposes of the writer and his linguistic means to achieve his purposes.Intensive reading has the following characteristics:

1 The reading materials may not be relevant to learners' ability and interest

as they are chosen by teachers not learners

2 In doing intensive reading, the actual amount of time spent on reading isvery little as a lot of procedures such as listening to the teacher's instructions,

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reading comprehension questions, writing answers to comprehensive questions,discussing the content of the text, doing pos-reading activities have to befollowed

3 Reading speed is usually slower than faster as learners have to stop atsome moments during their reading in the classroom to look up new words indictionary, ask the teacher for a definition or analyze the text by reading it word-byword or sentence-by-sentence

4 Reading in intensive reading approach is not individual as learners areassumed to interact more with the teacher than with the text

What is meant by all the characteristics of intensive reading approachmentioned above is not that intensive reading is bad, only that it is limited in what ittries to do

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 withthe help of reading exercises

2.2.2.4 Extensive reading

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

is an activity involving global understanding just as Grellet [20, p.4] confirms:

“Extensive reading means reading longer text, usually or one’s own pleasure This

is a fluency activity mainly involving general understanding.”

What is more, Nuttal [26, p.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.”

Lewis and Hill [24, p.109] state that “extensive reading means students have

a general understanding of the text without necessarily understanding every word”.

It is obvious that when reading extensively, readers do not need to have intenseconcentration on the content of a long text and total comprehension because theobjective of extensive reading is to cover the greatest possible amount of text in theshortest possible time

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

2.3 Factors in teaching and learning reading

2.3.1 Teacher’s role

Together with students, the teacher is one of the two main necessaryelements which create the teaching process In general, the role of the teacher is toprovide students with knowledge and the best methods for learning effectively Theteacher is a means to an end, that is, an instrument to see that learning takes place.Besides this general function, teacher also has specific roles in teaching readingcomprehension process Although the success in a reading class is how far thestudents learn without the teacher’s help, it does not mean that there is nothing forteacher to do in a reading class In fact, there is a great deal Without help from theteacher, it is difficult for the students to be efficient readers

Nuttal [26, p.35] suggests that “there are two main things that a teacher should always remember in helping students The first is to provide the students with suitable materials, and the second is to provide them with suitable teaching activities”.

The teacher sometimes finds it difficult to select suitable reading material,because the first thing they have to do is to select a text which is at the right level ofdifficulty for the students A text which is too difficult will make them bored.Secondly, selecting texts that interest the students is another important point toremember If the text provided is interesting, and the students enjoy reading it, theywill be motivated to read more, and vice versa Thirdly, there should be variety inthe range and the type of exercises A text with many kinds of accompanyingexercises probably covers many different skills

Besides, suitable activities the teacher provides can focus the students’attention of specific skills necessary for efficient reading Normally, there are threemain activities in a reading comprehension text which are called pre-reading stage,while – reading stage, and post- reading stage Thus, the role of the teacher is

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closely related to these stages At pre-reading stage, the teacher has to makestudents be aware of what they are going to read and do during the lesson At while-reading stage, the teacher’s main function is to offer help to students if necessary.And at post- reading stage, the teacher is considered as a guide or an adviser to helpthe students express their own ideas through their understanding of the text.

To sum up, the two main duties of the teacher in helping the students to beefficient readers are to provide suitable reading materials and suitable readingactivities To fulfill his role, the teacher should know the reading skill that studentsneed for reading

2.3.2 Students’ role

Like the teacher, the student is also one of two main factors of teaching andlearning process This process can only be carried out when there are both of them.The students are not only the subject but also the object of teaching and learningprocess In particular, in a reading lesson, the students play the role of the readers.The role demands that the students should make sense of the text for themselves It

is the fact that the student is the heart of the reading lesson and the element whichdetermines the success of a reading lesson That is to say, the students must be veryactive in the lesson from the beginning in reading texts to get the right meaning ofthe texts

Moreover, they also have to do other exercises and maybe they have toencounter and solve the difficulties by themselves Thanks to this, the students canaccumulate a large amount of knowledge from the reading texts and understandthem thoroughly On the other hand, the understanding from the reading text is thechance for the students to improve other language skills, because only when theyreally master the knowledge by themselves, can they apply it flexibly

In fact, very frequently, the students deal with some problems which arebeyond their ability, for example proverbs, idioms, polysemantics, or backgroundunderstanding and so on In this case, to get the target reading, the students havework under the direction of the teacher and take part in guided activities activelyand attentively However, the teacher should only act as the guide and give thestudents some suggestions to help them think and understand the reading texts ontheir own Therefore, the teacher can stimulate the students’ creativity as well as

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their imagination If not, the students will be passive and the reading lesson will not

be successful

In addition, the students can be the important element that helps teacherfulfills his duties The teacher can not teach without the students On the other hand,the students are the providers of feedback to the teacher through their expressionand understanding of the reading texts Without the students’ feedback, the teacherdoes 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 toprovide the students with as much knowledge as possible If the teacher does notknow how much knowledge his students can receive from his reaching, he can nothave appropriate method for his students to study effectively

Therefore, the student may negotiate with the teacher to find out the suitablemethod of study as well as select appropriate reading materials and activities.Furthermore, through the students’ reflections, the teacher may find out his mistakesand draw up his own experience to teach better and perfect himself

To sum up, in teaching and learning process in general, and in a readinglesson in particular, the teacher and the students have the interdependentrelationship The students need to be active to take part in the activities that theteacher provides to understand the reading texts and do the exercises On the otherhand, the teachers need to be aware of problems facing students to help themovercome their difficulties and assess the students’ ability correctly to haveappropriate teaching method Lacking one of the two elements – the teacher and thestudents, the teaching and learning process can not be carried out Therefore, therelationship between the teacher and the students also makes them become co-participants

2.3.3 The reading texts

The roles of the reading texts must be paid attention to in teaching andlearning reading skills because an appropriate text is very important in building uppupils’ reading competence In William’s opinion, [30, p.23] reading material is anypiece of written language It may come from the integrated course book whichincludes reading texts, from the supplementary reading comprehension and readingskills books containing texts and exercises, from the real life (authentic texts) or be

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simulated texts He further discusses some criteria which are very useful for theteacher in choosing text for reading lessons

Reading materials should not contain a large a mount of language that it istoo difficult for most of the class In addition, a purposeful reading can occur withspecially prepared texts that imitate real life counter parts but simple language.Furthermore, the topic of the text plays an important role because how difficult oreasy a text is depends not only on the language of the text but on what sort ofknowledge the learners bring to the text and how much they like to read it

To the teacher at the secondary school, the text book will be the main source

of reading materials for his students in the reading class He sometimes can use textsoutside the textbook which are both suitable for the students’ level and interestingenough to attract their attention and encourage them to read

2.3.4 The three stages of a reading lesson.

A reading lesson can be divided into three stages which are pre- readingstage, while- reading stage and post- reading stage Each of these stages carries itsown features and purposes and requires different techniques and strategies

2.3.4.1 The pre- reading stage

This stage plays a decisive role in the whole process of teaching readingcomprehension, so most experienced readers employ pre- reading and otherstrategies to make reading easier Pre- reading aims at introducing the text to thestudents and helps them make careful preparation before reading the text It isadvisable for the teacher to create a reading motivation and a positive attitudetowards reading for students so that they can achieve a high level of success andbecome confident that they can read effectively

According to Williams [30, p.37], the purposes of the pre-reading stage are:

- To introduce and arouse interest in the topic

- To motivate learners by giving a reason for reading

- To provide some language preparation for the text

Normally, pre-reading stage often last from two to ten minutes depending oneach lesson The teacher should activate the students’ background knowledge and

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provide some information about the text This is aimed to help the students topredict the content of the text they are going to read Prediction is an importantability that the students should develop in order to comprehend various kinds oftexts, especially the texts that the students are not familiar with In general in thepre- reading stage, it is necessary to set a good preparation for students, providethem the sense of what they are going to do in their reading lesson.

2.3.4.2 The while- reading stage

Later on, students are lead into the main reading activity of the lesson, whichprincipally aims at helping the students to understand the specific content andbecome aware of the rhetorical structure of the text Williams [30, p.38] states thatwhile-reading stage is the main part of a reading lesson with the following specificaims:

- To help understanding of the writer’s purpose

- To help understanding of the text structure

- To clarify text content

The techniques applied in this stage widely vary, ranging from guessing newwords in contexts, asking questions to note-taking Teachers, at the while-readingstage, need to help their students comprehend the text thoroughly while studentshave to apply to the best their reading skills like skimming, scanning, guessing, etc

to understand the text as well as the writer’s purposes conveyed through the readingtext Apparently, time allocation for this is nearly two thirds of the whole lesson Concerning the while -reading stage’s activities, in his research, William [30,

p.39] has a more generating idea: “While- reading work should begin with a general or global understanding of the text, and then move to smaller unit such as paragraphs, sentences and words”

In the while- reading stage, to direct students to the general understanding ofthe text, the teacher may ask them to guess the title, to match the heading etc Healso may ask students to find out the specific information in the text by answeringthe questions, to use the information in the text for completing tables or diagrams.Furthermore, the students can focus only on individual language item by deducingthe meaning of the new lexical items, etc

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Indeed, there are various activities the teacher can choose for his students inthis stage It is, however, essential to be flexible in this task The selection of any ofthem depends on the nature of the reading text and the level of the students Besidesselecting suitable activities, during the while- reading stage, the teacher should bear inmind his roles of an organizer, observer, assessor and prompter as mentioned in thelast part, the roles of teacher.

2.3.4.3 Post-reading stage

The post- reading stage is the final but not the les important stage of a readinglesson because it is time for students to apply what they have got from the text intoreal life communication One of the purposes of post-reading work is to checkwhether the students have understood the text or not The teacher can ask thestudents some questions about the texts which are not given in the book or requirethem to discuss in group and in pair and so on

In Williams’ view [30, p.39], “the post-reading stage is aimed at consolidating

or reflecting upon what has been read and relating the text to the learners’ own knowledge, interests or views” To achieve this, the teacher should help the students

focus on the important points as writer’s opinion, the main ideas of the text, thespecific paragraph or phrase in the reading text Another purpose of post- readingwork is to expand on the topic or language of the reading text, and perhaps transferthings learned to another context Therefore, the students can relate the text to theirbackground knowledge and interest and be able to express their personal opiniontoward the text Moreover, post- reading activities also offer the students a realpractice of using language

In summary, each of the reading stage carries its own aims and activities It

is very effective if these three stages are combined flexibly and appropriately for anefficient reading lesson In the while- reading stage, it is necessary to help thestudents improve and develop sub- reading skills such as skimming, scanning, orreading for details If the students can acquire these skills, it is easier for them tounderstand efficiently the significance of the text To acquire these skills, studentsmay be instructed to take part in various activities according to each skill There arenumerous activities in this stage The teacher should be flexible in choosing themfor their reading lessons In the process of reading, asking students to work in pairs

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or groups is also advisable This may enable students to feel more pleasant inreading, encourage them to work harder to improve and develop effective readingskills.

Summary

In this chapter, all the concerning theoretical background of readingcomprehension has been presented First, some definitions of reading and readingcomprehension basing on some linguistics scholars have been presented Second,the role of the teacher as well as the students in the three stages of a reading lessonhas been reviewed The following chapter will display the methodology

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CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the action research and subjects of the study, datacollection instruments and the reading program for grade 10th at Nguyễn Trãi highschool

3.1 Action Research

3.1.1 What is action research?

Kurt Lewin, a German social psychologist, has been credited with thedevelopment of the idea of action research He first found that experimentalmethods, in many cases, were inadequate and unsatisfactory He then tried to seekfor a method that based on people’s real world experience; from that time on, actionresearch has entered the world of researchers According to Kurt Lewin [23, p.35],

action research is “a comparative research of the conditions and effects of various forms of social action and research leading to social action”; this type of research uses “a spiral step,” each of which is “composed of a circle of planning, action and fact-finding about the result of the action”

Also discussing about action research, Carr and Kemmis [14, p.220] pay

much attention to the purposes of action research when they define it as “a form of self-reflective enquiry undertaken by participants in social situations in order to improve the rationality and justice of their own practices, their understanding of these practices and the situations in which the practices are carried out”

On the other hand, looking at the nature of action research, O’Brien [ 27, p.2]asserts that although action research has been referred to by different names such asparticipatory research, collaborative inquiry, emancipatory research, action learning

or contextual action research, it is truly understood as “learning by doing” namely, a

group of people encounter a problem; they do something to resolve it; they then seehow successful their efforts are and if they are not satisfied with the result they can

try it again O’Brien’s view is shared by Dick[ 16, p.3] when he states that “action research is a natural way of acting and researching at the same time” To make it

clearer, Dick affirms that action research is a true reflection of its names as it isintended to achieve both action and research at the same time It is critically suitable

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for educational situations where teachers wish to bring about action in the form ofchange or improvement in their teaching and at the same time develop anunderstanding which informs the change and is an addition to what is known

Action research is a kind of scientific study which is often carried out by ateacher or an educator in order to solve a practical problem in a classroom Itfocuses mainly on the actions of both students and teachers So, it can solve theproblems which are related to all actions and activities in a classroom Theproblems which are solved by action research are often practical and useful forteachers

3.1.2 Why should a teacher do action research?

To improve and develop teaching, research into classrooms is needed Asteachers, we need to know what is actually happening in our classrooms, whatlearners are thinking, why learners are reacting in the ways they do, what aspects ofthe classroom we should focus on to develop our teaching most effectively, how weshould change in these aspects, and what the effects of such a change are It isimportant to note that more than half of the items in this list concern describing andunderstanding the existing classroom situation rather than evaluating theimplementation of a new approach If we do not truly understand our classroomsituations first, our choices of new approaches to implement are likely to be based

on personal fancy and whimsy rather than on what is most likely to have beneficialeffects in the situation

Action research in schools, colleges or universities solves everyday practicalproblems experienced by teachers, rather than the “theoretical problems” defined bynon – teaching researchers It should be carried out by the teachers themselves or bysomeone they commission to carry out for them

3.1.3 What are the steps in action research?

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According to Kemmis and Mc Taggart [22, p.11-14], who are major authors

in this field, action research typically involves four broad phases in a cycle of

research

Figure 1.1 Cyclical AR model based on Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988).

The action research consisted of four main stages: Planning, Acting,Observing and Reflection/evaluation stage

Stage 1: Planning

- Identifying problem and causes of the problem: Low quality of Englishteaching- learning due to unsuitable methods and techniques used by teachers ofEnglish at Nguyễn Trãi high school The unsuitable methods and techniques lead tostudents’ low level of motivation and their underdeveloped English reading skill.The researcher observed a lesson that illustrated the problem, and then conducted asurvey to get information from students

- Designing strategies for improvement (plan for action): Plan lessons to tryout the use of While- reading activities to improve reading comprehension skill forthe 10th form students at Nguyễn Trãi high school

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trying The results of class observation were used to evaluate the success of theaction on using While – reading activities to improve reading comprehension skill

at Nguyễn Trãi high school

Stage 4: Reflection/evaluation stage

- A questionnaire survey was carried out to get information from students onthe extent to which the use of While- reading activities has helped to improve theirreading skill

- From the surveys, conclusion and commendations were made

3.2 The subjects of the study

3.2.1 The researcher- the teacher

In this study, the researcher is also the teacher who is responsible for teachingthe classes 10A and 10D at Nguyễn Trãi high school in the second semester ofschool year (2012-2013) The researcher has been teaching English at Nguyễn Trãihigh school for more than 3 years

3.2.2 The participants

This action research project was conducted with 80 grade 10th students inclass 10A and 10D at Nguyễn Trãi High School, There were twenty males and sixtyfemales Their average age ranges from 16 to 17, nearly three-forth of whom camefrom the countryside Their English proficiency levels were reported to be at theelementary level and 15 teachers who are currently teaching English To be morespecific, among 15 teachers answering the questionnaires, there was no maleteacher The teachers’ ages range from 24 to 56 Their experience of teaching

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English varied from one year to 30 years The research was carried out during thesecond term of the academic year 2012 – 2013 at Nguyễn Trãi High School.

3.2.3 Data collection instruments

The data collection instruments used in this study are two questionnaires,(one for teachers and one for students) and class observation Information aboutthese instruments is provided below

Instrumentation one: A set of questionnaires answered by the students in while–

reading stage

The questionnaires were designed with 5 questions to elicit from students theinformation about the situation of their class in while– reading stage, the way theteacher carried out these activities The questions is multiple choice

Instrumentation two: A set of questionnaires completed by the teachers

This set of questionnaires were designed with the aim to find out the attitude

of the teachers toward teaching while – reading activities in a reading lesson, thedifficulties they often meet while conducting these activities and solutions to solvethe problem In addition, their suggestions of how to make the while – readingactivities effectively were also mentioned To complete the questionnaires, teachershad to tick the appropriate boxes or to give answers

Instrumentation three: A set of questionnaires answered by the students in post –

3.3 The reading program for grade 10 th at Nguyễn Trãi high school

3.3.1 The objectives of the program

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Basing on the new textbooks designed by the Ministry of Education andTraining, English are taught with four skills and Language Focus which focuses ongrammar and pronunciation The reading program at Nguyễn Trãi high schoolfollows the syllabus of the MOET (Ministry of Education and Training) with theaim of improving students’ abilities in reading On English 10 textbook, there are arange of types to practice reading such as: Daily activities or daily routine, selfintroduction, people’s background, special education, modern technology, outdooractivities…

In terms of methodology, students are expected to master the general studyskills Students should be active in self – studying, peer and group cooperation.They make sense of the process in teaching and learning reading thoroughly andlearn how to read well

3.3.2 The teaching materials

The course books used to teach reading skills to the grade 10th students of

Nguyễn Trãi High School is English 10 by MOET

3.3.3 The schedule of the course

There are 3 periods of English in a week In our school, we spend two weeksfor one unit because each unit is taught from five to six periods

The teaching and learning tasks for the first term of the academic year will bescheduled as follows:

Week 1 Course Introduction

Week 2 +3 Unit 1: A day in the life of…

Theme: Daily activities, daily routine.

Week 4+ 5 Unit 2: School talks

Theme: Self introduction

Week 6 + 7 Unit 3: People’s background

Theme: People’s background

Week 8 Progress test one and correction

( Unit 1-3)

Week 9 Unit 4: Special education

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Theme: Special education

Week 10 +11 Unit 5: Technology and you

Theme: Modern technology

Week 12+ 13 Unit 6: An Excursion

Theme: Outdoor activities

Week 14 Progress test two and correction

( Unit 4-6)

Week 15 Unit 7: The Mass Media

Theme: The Mass Media: Newspapers, television, radio…

Week 16+17

Unit 8: The story of my village Theme: Community life

Final first – term Test

The teaching and learning tasks for the second term will be scheduled asfollows:

Week 19+ 20 Unit 9: Undersea world

Theme: The Undersea world: marine life

Week 21+22 Unit 10: Conservation

Theme: Conservation

Week 23+24 Unit 11: National parks

Theme: National parks

Week 25 Progress test three and correction

( Unit 9-11)

Week 26 +27 Unit 12: Music

Theme: Music

Week 28 +29 Unit 13: Films and cinema

Theme: Films and cinema

Week 30 +31 Unit 14: The World cup

Theme: The world cup and other sports

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Week 32 Progress test three and correction

( Unit 12-14)

Week 33 Unit 16: Historical places

Theme: Historical places

Week 34+35 Revision and Final Second – term Test

3.3.4 Characteristics of reading passages

A reading passage in the new English textbook “Tiếng Anh 10” has 190 - 230

words in length Each passage closely relates to the theme of the unit It is divided

into small paragraphs According to "Tài liệu bồi dưỡng giáo viên tiếng anh 10” [1.

p.60] ("Teacher Training Manual"), the passage is written with simple and easilyunderstandable style However, some passages are long and rather difficult for thestudents to understand, as there are a lot of difficult new words It takes time toelicit them Moreover, in each passage, some sentences with the new grammaticalstructures of the unit are also introduced This requires the teacher to explain them

to the students (quick explanation)

3.3.5 Characteristics of reading tasks

In “While you read” (While - reading) there is always a requirement: “Readthe passage and do the tasks that follow” In each unit, three kinds of tasks aredesigned Each task has its own aim

- Task 1 helps the students to understand words or phrases in the passage(Vocabulary comprehension)

- Task 2 helps the students to comprehend the content of the passage (Passagecomprehension)

- Task 3 helps the students to have an overall understanding of the passage

In task 1, the following exercises are included: Matching, Gap-filling Students areasked to guess meaning in context or finding words from context to match or to fill

in the blank

Matching is the most popular exercise in Task 1

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In task 2, to help students to comprehend the passage, the following exercises aredealt with:

- Deciding on True or False statement

- Scanning for specific information to fill in the sentenses or the table

- Answering the questions

- Multiple-choice questions

- Gap-filling (in “After you read”)

Among the exercises, answering the questions appears most

To meet the requirement of Task 3, one type of exercise is designed: choice This type is used to identify the main idea of the passage

Normally, Task 1 and 2 are complicated and they require more time to do Thesetasks themselves cause a lot of difficulties for students

3.4 The current situation of teaching the textbook at Nguyễn Trãi High School 3.4.1 Introduction to Nguyễn Trãi High School and students

Nguyễn Trãi High School is located in south west of Thanh hoa city This is asmall school It has 21 classes It has been in operation for over 30 years Like otherhigh schools, its duty is to train students from the 10th form to the 12th form Everyyear the school admits about 300 students for the 10th form After leaving theschool, our students are provided with knowledge of English which is good enoughfor them to take the entrance exams to colleges or universities, or to begin workingfor their own living

In our school, Maths, Physics and Chemistry are chosen by most of the studentswho wish to take the exams to colleges or universities English is one of thecompulsory subjects at high school and in the school-leaving exam However, fewstudents choose the colleges or universities which require an English exam

The students at Nguyễn Trãi High School are approximately 16 - 18 years ofage They come from the villages surrounding the school Most of their parents arefarmers Their main work is doing farming Besides, they do extra work in cities.Some of them do not take good care of their children The students have differentlearning abilities and different attitudes towards learning English such as some are

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learning for the entrance exams to colleges or universities, some are learning onlyfor graduating exam, and others are learning for nothing, i.e they cannot identifywhat they learn English for They consider it as a subject they have to learn atschool Thus, the teachers in our school cope with the difficulties which come fromour students’ different motivations

Moreover, most of our students have low English level They have learnt

English for four years at secondary schools However, their English backgroundknowledge has been remained a little When they come to the 10th form, it issurprising that they have limited vocabulary and grammatical structures For somestudents, the things they have learnt at secondary school seem to be completely new

at the moment Some students want to go to English classes in order to improvetheir English However, it is impossible for them to go to the English centres,because they are too far from the school So they attend the extra English classeswhich are held by the English teachers of our school

Another problem of the students is that most of them do not have the habit oflearning independently and tend to depend on the textbook or the textbooks with theavailable answers (namely “To learn English well"…etc), and on the teachers forknowledge This fact calls for suitable teaching methods to help the studentsbecome more active in learning English

3.4.2 Teachers and teaching methods

Our school has got five English teachers, aged from 24 to 56 Three of themtook full- time ELT training courses at the College of Foreign Languages (VNUH),and two of them took in-service ELT course at the same college The oldest teacherhas more than 30 years of teaching experience and the yougest teacher has got 3years All of us have never participated in any training course abroad However, wehave been to some domestic workshops in language teaching and some summerworkshops on changes in English textbooks Each teacher has to teachapproximately 12 periods a week Each has the responsibility to teach 3 periods ineach class

As far as the methodology is concerned, the teachers are aware of the new trend

in teaching method nowadays: Learner - centered approach They try to give theirstudents independence in studying by asking them to work through the text or

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discuss subject matters in groups or in pairs, after giving the some instructions.However, not all of the teachers can do that and the amount of time spent on suchactivities is not much.

Furthermore, most of the 10th form students cannot do these themselves.Therefore, the teachers often employ the traditional method of teaching in readinglessons The teachers play the key role in the classroom, being the main speakersworking through the text The teachers explain new words, new structures, evengive the answers to some difficult exercises The students are passive And thesuccess depends on how flexible and adaptable the individual teacher is to respond

to the requirement of the teaching situation

3.4.3 Teaching facilities

Teaching facilities are considered significant and may affect the teaching processpositively or negatively According to the Ministry of Training and Education, thechanging teaching methods are closely related to the changing teaching facilities Inteaching competitions between high schools, lessons with modern teaching facilitiesare highly appreciated, because they bring great results In general, the teachingfacilities at Nguyễn Trãi High school are poorly equipped There is no Englishlaboratory; there is only one library which provides books on different subjects,mainly on Maths, Physics and Chemistry There are not any projectors Theequipment in classrooms is very simple and traditional A board, chalk, a cassetteplayer (which is in bad condition) and a textbook are main teaching equipments inevery class

3.4.4 Syllabus of teaching English and time allocation for a reading period

At the moment, the 10th form students are using the new textbooks,published in 2007 The new English textbook “Tieng Anh 10” has totally 16 unitsand 6 Tests yourself The units and tests are divided into 105 periods Each weekhas 3 periods and each one lasts 45 minutes Each unit is taught within 5 periods.This is shown very clearly in the textbook, under the macro-skills: Reading,Speaking, Listening and Writing Language focus is the last part of the unit in order

to introduce the new grammatical structures

In each reading lesson, three stages have been applied, but more time isspent on While -reading than two other stages, as students have to read the passage

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