A study on application of some reading techniques to doing IELTS reading comprehension tasks for the 1st – year english majors in the foreign language department, hai phong university

READING SAMPLES...10 CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS AND SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION TO THE 1ST - YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT, HAI PHO

I would like to send my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs NGUYEN THIQUYNH CHI, who has given me valuable and enthusiastic help Without her help, I couldnot have completed my thesis

Also, I would like to send my sincere thanks to the students of the 1st- year EnglishMajors in the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University for their support andco-operation for the thesis

At last, I wish to express my gratitude to all my friends for their comments andsuggestions

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

PART I INTRODUCTION 1

1 RATIONALE 1

2 AIMS OF THE STUDY 1

3 METHODS OF THE STUDY 1

4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY 1

5 DESIGN OF THE STUDY 1

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT 2

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 2

1.1 AN OVERVIEW ON THE NATURE OF READING 2

1.1.1 Definition of reading 2

1.1.2 The importance of reading skill 2

1.1.3 Classifications of reading 2

1.1.3.1 According to manner 2

1.1.3.1.1.Reading aloud 2

1.1.3.1.2.Silent reading 2

1.1.3.2 According to purpose 2

1.1.3.2.1.Skimming 3

1.1.3.2.2.Scanning 3

1.1.3.2.3.Extensive reading 3

1.1.3.2.4.Intensive reading 3

1.1.4 Reading process 3

1.1.4.1 Pre-reading stage 3

1.1.4.2 While-reading stage 3

1.1.4.3 Post-reading stage 3

1.2 READING COMPREHENSION AND READING COMPREHENSION TECHNIQUES 3

1.2.1 Definition of Reading comprehension 3

1.2.2 Techniques for Reading Comprehension 3

1.3 FACTORS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING READING 3

1.3.1 The role of teachers 3

1.3.2 The role of students 4

1.4 SUMMARY 4

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 4

2.1 THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY 4

2.2 OBJECTS OF THE STUDY 4

2.3 INSTRUMENTATION 5

2.3.1 Survey questionnaires 5

2.3.2 Sample texts 5

2.3.3 Class observation 5

2.3.4 Materials collection 5

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND CLASS OBSERVATION 5

3.1 DATA ANALYSIS OF STUDENT’S SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES 5

3.2 CLASS OBSERVATION 10

3.3 READING SAMPLES 10

CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS AND SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION TO THE 1ST - YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT, HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY 11

4.1 MAJOR FINDINGS 11

4.2 SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION TO THE 1ST - YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT, HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY 12

4.2.1 Multiple choice questions 13

4.2.1 Summary completion 13

4.2.1 True/False/Not given 13

4.2.1 Sentence completion 13

4.2.1 Short answer questions 14

4.2.1 Matching paragraph information 14

PART 3: CONCLUSION 14

APPENDICES 16

PART I INTRODUCTION

1 RATIONALE

In the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University (HPU), there is a factthat many 1st year English majors do not pay proper attention to basic reading techniques

to do IELTS reading tasks Thus, it leads to the situation that many of them get the poor

exam results From this fact, I decide on choosing “A study on application of some

reading techniques to doing IELTS reading comprehension tasks for the 1 st – year English majors in the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University”.

2 AIMS OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study is to investigate the difficulties faced by the 1st – yearEnglish majors at Foreign Language Department, HPU in doing IELTS readingcomprehension tasks so that techniques can be given to help them improve this skill Thespecific aims of the study are as following:

- To find out student’s difficulties in doing IELTS reading comprehension texts

- To investigate the reasons for these difficulties

- To suggest some useful reading techniques and tips that helps students do IELTSreading comprehension tasks well

3 METHODS OF THE STUDY

The research is carried out with a combination of methods: survey questionnaires,reading sample works, data and material collection, observations and analysis

4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Though the study focuses on techniques to improve reading comprehension skillfor the 1st – year English majors in the Foreign Language Department, HPU, due to thelimitation of time, the researcher just can conduct survey on students of two classes toinvestigate reading problems experienced by these students then suggest some certaintechniques to help them better their reading comprehension skills

5 DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The study is divided into three parts: the introduction, the development and theconclusion

The development is the main part which consists three chapters:

Chapter 1: “Literature review”

Chapter 2: “Methodology”

Chapter 3: “Data analysis and class observation”

Chapter 4: “Major findings and some suggested techniques to improve readingcomprehension to the 1st – year English Majors in the Foreign Language Department, HaiPhong University”

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

I.1. AN OVERVIEW ON THE NATURE OF READING

I.1.1 Definition of reading

According to Carell Devine and Eskey (1988:13), “Reading is a process in that it

starts with linguistic surface representation encoded by a writer and ends with meaning, which reader constructs There is, thus, an essential interaction between language and thought in reading The writer encodes thought in language and the reader decodes language to thought”

I.1.2 The importance of reading skill

According to Bright and Gregor (1970:52), “books provide most pupils with the situation

in which learning takes place Where there is little reading, there will be little language learning” It is obvious that reading is a means by which further learning takes place.

I.1.3 Classifications of reading

I.1.3.1 According to manner

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

reading.

I.1.3.1.1 Reading aloud

I.1.3.1.2 Silent reading

I.1.3.2 According to purpose

According to purpose, reading is categorized into four main types: skimming,

scanning, extensive reading and intensive reading.

I.1.3.2.1 Skimming

I.1.3.2.2 Scanning

I.1.3.2.3 Extensive reading

I.1.3.2.4 Intensive reading

I.1.4 Reading process

A reading lesson can be divided into three stages: Pre-reading stage, while-readingstage and post-reading stage Each of these stages carries its own features and purposesand requires different techniques and strategies

I.1.4.1 Pre-reading stage

I.1.4.2 While-reading stage

I.1.4.3 Post-reading stage

I.2 READING COMPREHENSION AND READING COMPREHENSION

TECHNIQUES

I.2.1 Definition of Reading comprehension

Richard and Thomas (1987:143) state that “Reading comprehension is a mental

process that in the final analysis, only the reader fully understands Comprehension is what simulates readers to remember their past experience That knowledge is, then, used

in trying to get meaning out of print Meaning does not reside in the printed page but rather in the mind of the reader.”

I.2.2 Techniques for Reading Comprehension

Nuttal (1982) provides a list of reading skills which consist of macro-skills with

Word-attack skills and Text- attack skills

I.3 FACTORS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING READING

I.3.1 The role of teachers

Discussing the roles of the teacher in teaching reading, Richard and Amato (1988)

emphasize: “The first role is to facilitate communicative process between all participants

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

I.3.2 The role of students

During the reading lesson, the students play the role of an active and creativelistener as well as the reader They need to listen to the teacher’s instructions andexplanations carefully to find out the way of recognizing information and way of deducingnew words or grammatical structures

I.4. SUMMARY

In short, this chapter focuses on the concepts useful for the accomplishment of thestudy First, some definitions of reading basing on some linguistics scholars have beenpresented Second, the importance of reading skill and the classification of reading into

reading aloud and silent reading in terms of reading manner and skimming, scanning, extensive reading, and intensive reading in terms of reading purposes are stated What’s

more in the first chapter are the three stages of a reading lesson Then comes in the firstchapter is an insight into what is reading comprehension and the techniques for readingcomprehension Last but not least, the role of the teachers as well as the students in thethree stages of a reading lesson has been reviewed

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY2.1 THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY

The survey of the study is carried out in order to find out student’s difficulties indoing IELTS reading comprehension texts, to investigate the reason for these difficultiesand to research opinions and attitudes of the students of using some useful readingtechniques and tips that help students do IELTS reading comprehension tasks well It isconducted with the assistance of the 1st year English majors, Foreign LanguageDepartment, HPU Survey questionnaires are given to 50 students studying at two Englishmajors classes at Foreign Language Department, HPU

2.2 OBJECTS OF THE STUDY

The study is designed for the 1st – year English majors: They are from 18 to 20 years old,both male and female students, at the first year of university When doing this survey, they are

in the mid 2nd term at HPU At this stage, they have learned about some techniques applied inreading comprehension and practiced some types of IELTS reading texts

2.3 INSTRUMENTATION

2.3.1 Survey questionnaires

In this study, the researcher applied questionnaire as a main means of datacollection because of some advantages Firstly, this method can give the researcher theneed data in quantitative form Secondly, all informants have chance of expressing theirattitudes As a result, researcher can have more uniform and accurate data

The survey questionnaires were administered to get information concerning:

- Student’s difficulties in doing reading comprehension tasks

- Student’s attitudes towards reading comprehension techniques

- Student’s methods of doing reading comprehension tasks

- Student’s using supplementary materials

2.3.2 Sample texts

The researcher uses two sample texts which has the same level to investigate thestudent’s reading efficiency before and after applying methods to doing readingcomprehension texts

me finish the study perfectly

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND CLASS OBSERVATION3.1 DATA ANALYSIS OF STUDENT’S SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES Question 1 finds out the student’s difficulties in doing reading comprehension tasks

A Limited vocabulary

B The lack of grammatical structures

C Inappropriate reading techniques

D Others (Optional): ………

Question 2 refers to the role of reading techniques to student’s reading.

A Very important

B Important

C Quite important

D Not important at all

Question 3 investigates the first the first thing to do when working on IELTS reading comprehension texts

A Read the question then read the text

B Read the whole text from the beginning to the end immediately then read the question

C Others (Optional): ………

Question 4 discovers the way to deal with the questions.

A Identify the type of question

B Try to understand the question

C Think about the information you will need to find

D Underline key words in the question and think about synonyms orparaphrases for these key words

B 44%

C 18%

D 16%

Question 6 aims at finding the way students read the text.

A Focus on every word for detailed understanding

B Read quickly for general understanding first and then focus on other specificinformation

C Others (Optional): ………

Question 7 aims at finding student’s way to deal with new words and unfamiliar structures.

A Look them up in the dictionary

B Figure out the meanings of the word from the text

C Ignore them all

D Others (Optional): ………

Question 8 explores how often students read the sentences around the answer

to look for traps and check other information.

A Usually

B Sometimes

C Seldom

D Never

Question 9 discovers how often students limit the time in doing reading comprehension exercises.

A Usually

B Sometimes

C Seldom

D Never

Question 10 investigates the student’s using supplementary materials.

A Newspapers and magazines

B Reference books

C Internet

D Others (Optional): ………

3.2.CLASS OBSERVATION

From the factual class observation, there still exist both strong and weak points inthe process of applying some techniques to doing reading comprehension texts, especially

in the while- reading stage

In terms of strong points, most of the students prepared the supplementary materialsvery carefully All of their extra reading texts were from Internet which contains ofvarious interesting topics and types of questions so that students can be more enthusiastic

in reading

In contrast, there are numerous problems The number of students in class was quitelarge (from 37 to 40) and students did not pay adequate attention to the lessons Many ofthem made noise; and some others studied other subjects Many students were passive andwaited the answers corrected by the teacher Besides, they still used the method oftranslating the text into Vietnamese in the while- reading stage In addition, some studentsdid not limit the time for each question

To summarize, the application some techniques to doing reading comprehensiontexts still faces shortcomings It is advisable to enrich the learning strategies for students todevelop their effective reading skills

3.3 READING SAMPLES

After answering the survey questionnaires, I gave the students a readingcomprehension sample – Multiple choice tasks The obtained result is that no one had allthe right answers, and there was still some students had not completed the questions yet.They read the text attentively from the beginning to the end to answer the question no.1which asks to find the main idea of the passage Although, the majority of them (80%) gotthe right answer, they cost much time for just one question Consequently, some questionshave not completed, and students got the poor result In addition, they did not read theoptions to get the idea what they may need to look for, and have the habit of highlightingthe key words at the same time Hence, there were 28% of students having the correctanswers for question no.2 which needs to use scanning technique Moreover, a largenumber of them (78%) got the wrong answer for two questions related to the vocabulary

and synonyms as question no.4 and no.5 because they did not guess the meanings from thetext to answer this type of question

After 10 minutes doing the first reading sample, I continued to give the studentsanother reading comprehension task which was as difficult as the previous one This time,

I gave them some tips and techniques to do multiple choice questions As a result, therewere many students having all the right answers for this time (60%) Firstly, studentsapplied skimming and scanning very well They just read through the passage very quickly

to find the main idea and focus on key words to locate the specific information For thisreason, they saved much time for the other questions and the quality of the answer wasalso ensured Therefore, 90% of students answered correctly no.1 and 80% for questionno.2 and no.4 Secondly, they tried to guess the meaning of words in the text instead ofusing dictionaries or choosing randomly, so the number of students having the exactanswers related to vocabulary as question no.3 and no.5 was higher than the previous time,accounting to 70% Lastly, everyone had completed all the questions because theymanaged the time successfully, and no one had all the wrong answers

To summary, students should enhance their reading techniques and know how toapply it accurately for each type of reading comprehension questions If students do thatwell, their readings will be better and their results will be improved remarkably

CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS AND SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION TO THE 1 ST - YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT,

HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY 4.1.MAJOR FINDINGS

My study is carried out to investigate some reading techniques applied by the firstyear English majors at Foreign Language Department, HPU From the data analysis, Iexperienced findings in using these techniques to doing IELTS reading comprehensiontexts

Firstly, according to the statistics, all the students have the difficulties working onreading comprehension texts Their difficulties are various with the majority get trouble