VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRIỆU THỊ HOÀI THU AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS CAUSING THE 10 T
Trang 1VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
TRIỆU THỊ HOÀI THU
AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS CAUSING THE 10 TH STUDENTS’ ANXIETY IN ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION CLASSES AT
TAM ĐẢO HIGH SCHOOL
(Tìm hiểu về các yếu tố gây ra sự lo lắng của học sinh lớp 10 trong các giờ học
đọc hiểu tiếng Anh ở trường THPT Tam Đảo)
M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111
HANOI - 2016
Trang 2VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
TRIỆU THỊ HOÀI THU
AN INVESTIGATION INTO FACTORS CAUSING THE 10 TH STUDENTS’ ANXIETY IN ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION CLASSES AT
TAM ĐẢO HIGH SCHOOL
(Tìm hiểu về các yếu tố gây ra sự lo lắng của học sinh lớp 10 trong các giờ học
đọc hiểu tiếng Anh ở trường THPT Tam Đảo)
M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS
Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Assoc Dr Ngô Hữu Hoàng
HANOI - 2016
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT Error! Bookmark not defined ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Error! Bookmark not defined ABSTRACT Error! Bookmark not defined LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Error! Bookmark not defined LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Error! Bookmark not defined
PART A: INTRODUCTION I
1 Rationale of the study I
2 Aims of the study I
3 Research questions II
4 Scope of the study II
5 Methodology II
6 Significance of the study II
7 Organization of the study II PART B: DEVELOPMENT IV CHAPTER 1:LITERATURE REVIEW IV 1.1 Reading IV 1.1.1 Definition of reading? IV 1.1.2 Definition of reading comprehension V 1.1.3 The importance of reading V 1.2 Types of reading VI 1.2.1 Skimming VI 1.2.2 Scanning VII
1.2.3 Extensive reading Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2.4 Intensive reading Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3 Stages of a reading lesson Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3.1 Pre-reading Error! Bookmark not defined 1.3.2 While-reading Error! Bookmark not defined
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1.3.3 Post- reading Error! Bookmark not defined 1.4 Anxiety Error! Bookmark not defined 1.4.1 Definition of anxiety Error! Bookmark not defined 1.4.2 Foreign language reading anxiety Error! Bookmark not defined
1.5 Previous studies on the effect of anxiety on students’ reading comprehension
Error! Bookmark not defined 1.6 Summary Error! Bookmark not defined
CHAPTER 2:METHODOLOGY Error! Bookmark not defined 2.1 Research method Error! Bookmark not defined 2.1.1 The nature of qualitative research Error! Bookmark not defined 2.1.2 Selection of survey research as research strategy Error! Bookmark not defined
2.2 The context of the study Error! Bookmark not defined 2.2.1 An introduction of Tam Dao high school Error! Bookmark not defined 2.2.2 The teaching material and reading tasks in teaching reading Error! Bookmark not defined
2.3 Participants Error! Bookmark not defined 2.4 Instruments Error! Bookmark not defined 2.4.1 Questionnaire Error! Bookmark not defined 2.4.2 Semi-structured interview Error! Bookmark not defined 2.5 Data collection procedure Error! Bookmark not defined 2.6 Data analysis procedure Error! Bookmark not defined 2.7 Summary Error! Bookmark not defined
CHAPTER 3:DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION Error! Bookmark not defined
3.1 Students' attitude towards the importance of reading Error! Bookmark not defined
3.2 Students’ interest in English reading lessons Error! Bookmark not defined
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3.3 Reading anxiety caused by each reading factors Error! Bookmark not defined
3.3.1 Anxiety caused by reading text factors Error! Bookmark not defined 3.3.2 Anxiety caused by personal factors Error! Bookmark not defined 3.3.3 Anxiety caused by time constraint Error! Bookmark not defined 3.4 Students’ opinions on teachers’ teaching method Error! Bookmark not defined
3.5 Teaching methods in helping students overcome anxiety in reading Error! Bookmark not defined
3.6 Discussion Error! Bookmark not defined 3.7 Summary Error! Bookmark not defined
CHAPTER 4:SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS Error! Bookmark not defined 4.1 Raise students’ self - awareness of anxiety Error! Bookmark not defined 4.2 Increase student’s self-confidence Error! Bookmark not defined 4.3 Improve students’ background knowledge Error! Bookmark not defined 4.4 Apply appropriate reading strategies Error! Bookmark not defined 4.5 Develop supplementary reading materials Error! Bookmark not defined 4.6 Create a pleasant and comfortable classroom atmosphere Error! Bookmark not defined
4.7 Summary Error! Bookmark not defined PART C: CONCLUSION Error! Bookmark not defined
1 Summary of the study Error! Bookmark not defined
2 Limitations of the study Error! Bookmark not defined
3 Recommendations for the further study Error! Bookmark not defined
REFERENCES VIII
APPENDICES Error! Bookmark not defined
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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1 Rationale of the study
It is indisputable that English plays an important role in teaching and learning as a foreign language However, to master English, learners need to grasp a lot of different skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing Among these skills, reading is the most crucial skill that not only develops other skills such as speaking, listening and writing but also expands the students’ knowledge of the language However, according to (Saito, Horwitz, & Garza, 1999), “reading is an important source of input; however, it is also an anxiety provoking activity” Therefore, it can be undeniable that it is a difficult or a challenge to improve and develop reading skills for both teachers and students
In fact, in reading lessons in Tam Dao high school, teachers always try to effectively transmit how to understand and exploit the reading text for students However, most of students share that they find that learning foreign language reading as English is affected by the personal factors, especially anxiety Therefore, the effectiveness of students’ reading comprehension is not as expected and they have little attention or motivation in reading lessons
While a certain amount of research has been conducted to investigate foreign language anxiety and its effect on learn a foreign language, little has been done on anxiety in learning four skills, especially reading alone in Vietnam As a teacher of English in this school, I recognize the importance of reading, it is strongly desirable for me to propose “An investigation into factors causing the 10th students’ anxiety
in English reading comprehension classes at Tam Đảo high school” to be the subject
of this thesis
2 Aims of the study
The main aim of this study is to investigate the effect of students’ anxiety on reading comprehension and then suggests some solutions to reduce their reading anxiety
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3 Research questions
To achieve the aims mentioned above, the following research questions are proposed:
1) What are the causes that affect students’ anxiety at Tam Dao high school
in reading lessons?
2) What are some suggested solutions to reduce students’ anxiety on reading comprehension?
4 Scope of the study
This study focuses on students’ anxiety on reading comprehension Due to the limitation of page numbers of the minor thesis, the research only involves the
10th form students at Tam Dao high school
5 Methodology
To achieve the aims of the study, qualitative method is employed The data was collected by means of survey questionnaires and semi-structured interviews After the data is collected, analyzed and discussed, some conclusions will be drawn, and some suggestions will be made in the thesis
6 Significance of the study
This study investigates the causes of anxiety on students’ reading comprehension It could be of some help to teachers and students at Tam Dao high school to improve both teachers and students’ awareness of causes of reading comprehension anxiety By doing this research, the researcher wishes to help the
10th form students to reduce their reading anxiety through the suggested solutions
7 Organization of the study
The research consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion
Part A: Introduction presents the rationale, the aims, the research questions, methods, scope, significance and organization of the study
Part B: Development consists of four chapters:
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Chapter 1 Literature review gives the concepts of reading, reading comprehension, its importance, types of reading and stages of a reading lesson Next, the concepts of anxiety, foreign language reading anxiety and the previous studies on anxiety in reading comprehension are presented
Chapter 2 Methodology includes the research method, the context, participants, instruments and research procedure with the following main steps: conducting survey questionnaires and interview collecting data and analyzing data, and giving out conclusions from findings
Chapter 3 Analyses were given on students’ attitude and interests on reading, their sources of anxiety, their opinions of teachers’ teaching methods and how to cope with their anxiety chapter also focuses on data collections - findings and discussion
Chapter 4 Some suggested solutions of the study for improving reading skills
to the students at Tam Dao high school are proposed
Part C: Conclusion is the last part which offered a summary, some limitations and suggestions for further studies
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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1:
LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1 Reading
1.1.1 Definition of reading?
Reading is the most crucial aspect of any teaching program and for the
teachers to decide what they will teach in the classroom This definition of reading has been generally shared by other researchers
It is simply stated as “a psycholinguistic guessing game” and involves “an interaction between thought and language” (Goodman, 1976) He proposes that reading is not primarily a process of identifying all elements in a letter-by-letter, word-by-word manner, but the ability to guess which are right the first time based
on cues
Reading is generally defined as the interaction between the reader and the text Aebersold and Field (1997, p.15) points out “Reading is what happens when people look at a text and assign meaning to the written symbol in that text” Therefore, it is a process of negotiating understanding between the reader and the author
For the notion of reading, Harmer (1991) defines “reading is an exercise dominated by the eyes and the brain The eye receive message and the brain then has to work out the significance of the message” (p.90) From this point of view, the relationship of reading and understanding is concretely concerned
According to Grabe (1991, p 379), reading is such a “complex” process and
“many researchers attempt to understand and explain the fluent reading process by analyzing the process into a set of component skills” Therefore, they propose at least six general component skills and knowledge areas:
1 Automatic recognition skills
2 Vocabulary and structural knowledge
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3 Formal discourse structure knowledge
4 Content/ world background knowledge
5 Synthesis and evaluation skills/strategies
6 Metacognitive knowledge and skills monitoring
From those above opinions, reading is considered a process in which a reader looks at and achieves the comprehension what has been written out
1.1.2 Definition of reading comprehension
Reading comprehension plays an important role in teaching and learning reading foreign language It is defined as a complex process when the readers apply their ability to read and comprehend a text Many definitions of reading comprehension are given from the researchers
Grellet (1981, p.3) points out the nature of reading comprehension that
“Reading comprehension or understanding written text means extracting the required information from it as effectively as possible” It can be understood that the readers not only decode the meaning of word combination but also work in the text actively
When studying the reading comprehension, Snow (2003, p.1) defines reading comprehension as the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning In other words, extracting and constructing are a process in reading comprehension to get the meaning and the information of the text
In addition, Linse (2005, p.71) mentions that reading comprehension refers
to reading for meaning, understanding, and entertainment He adds that there are two main reasons that people read: “the first is for pleasure and the second is for information”
To sum up, in reading comprehension, the readers must understand what is conveyed in the text
1.1.3 The importance of reading
Reading has a significant role in the development of the readers’ overall communicative competence and in the second language classroom as well
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Anderson (1999) discuses “the more exposure a student has to language through reading, the greater the possibilities that overall language proficiency will increase.” (p 3)
Hedge (2003) points out that any reading component of an English language course may include a set of learning goals for
- The ability to read a wide range of texts in English This is the long-range goal most teachers seek to develop through independent readers outside EFL/ESL classroom
- Building a knowledge of language which will facilitate reading ability
- Building schematic knowledge
- The ability to adapt the reading style according to reading purpose (i.e skimming, scanning)
- Developing an awareness of the structure of written texts in English
- Taking a critical stance to the contents of the texts
Reading is a crucial skill for second language learners; besides the nature of reading, the main reading approaches are also necessary for teachers who want to improve their reading lessons The next part is going to show the approaches’ strengths and weaknesses
1.2 Types of reading
According to Macleod (n.d.), reading is categorized into four types: skimming, scanning, extensive reading and intensive reading
1.2.1 Skimming
Skimming is referred to as quick reading focusing on the title, headings, topic sentence to get the main idea According to Macleod (n.d), skimming is a more complex task than scanning because it requires the reader to organize and remember some of the information given by the author, not just to locate it Similarly, Grellet (1981, 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.”