Applying graphic organizers to teaching reading comprehension at an giang university

In order to expand the knowledge on G.Os and learning outcomes, this thesis examines the effects of G.Os on reading comprehension of university students.. LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: A Heu

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE and HUMANITY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Arts (TESOL)

Supervisor Senior lecturer Nguyễn Thị Kiều Thu, Ph.D.

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2008

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

APPYING GRAPHIC ORGANISERS TO TEACHING

READING COMPREHENSION

In terms of the statement of requirements for Thesis in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee

Ho Chi Minh City, Septemper 2008

Lê Thái Hưng

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Lê Thái Hưng, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements for the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited

in the Library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan and reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2008

Lê Thái Hưng

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would first like to express my deepest gratitude to the precious instructions given by my respectable advisor, Ms Nguyễn Thị Kiều Thu, Ph.D Without her wholehearted guidance, long-standing encouragement, invaluable comments, and strong support during the research, this thesis could not have been accomplished The greater part of the credit for this complete work goes to her

I also wish to say my heartfelt gratitude to all my teachers of the Master course in TESOL, 2005-2008 at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, whose highly informative, interesting lectures, academic advice and enthusiastic guidance helped me form a more scientific approach to my career

My special thanks to Ms Trần Thị Thái, my respectable teacher, who was willing to share some invaluable experiences of her own during my research work

I am indebted as well to some of my colleagues at the Department of Foreign Languages, An Giang University, especially Ms Nguyễn Thị Tâm and Ms Trương Thị Thanh Nga, who were willing to permit me to attend their classes and gave me their helpful hands in testing Many thanks are also offered to all the students of the two classes DH7D1 and DH7D2 for their enjoyable companionship and honest support

Grateful acknowledgement is made to my beloved for their data collection, feedback and supportive opinions in accomplishing this thesis, as well as to my family for their deep love and heartedly constant encouragement

ABSTRACT

Recent educational researches have pointed to the cognitive view of learning, which examines what goes on inside the learner’s mind Teaching methods based on this view are thought to concentrate on the procession of information of learners As any educator knows, regardless of prior knowledge of student, for individual students to feel competent of doing or completing a task given, it’s up to the educator to make that task organized, comprehensible, and challenging as well The idea or information the instructor is conveying, should be as clear as possible for a student to handle, and should be at the level of understanding of the learner.Educators can achieve this goal by applying and providing cognitive strategies such

as an organizational framework which facilitates the thinking process for learners One of the major cognitive-related ways in which students can be trained is through the use of graphic organizers (G.Os) In respect to the more specialized area of language acquisition, recent overviews of reading have argued that G.Os, as an instructional tool, greatly contribute to reading comprehension

In order to expand the knowledge on G.Os and learning outcomes, this thesis examines the effects of G.Os on reading comprehension of university students The current research attempts to use G.Os in order to see if they can help teach and learn the English language more effectively

The hypothesis embedded in the thesis is:

When given a reading text, students who have been familiar with G.Os will better understand and remember the facts as well as the relationships between these facts so as to more easily reproduce the text in written and oral forms

For such a proposition to stand valid, a study was conducted to provide realistic evidence The over-four-week investigation, which contained a period of experimental teaching, two tests and one form of questionnaire, examined the

effectiveness of G.Os on language achievement of the second year students of English major at An Giang University (AGU) The result of quantitative analysis indicated that (1) G.Os were of great benefits in practicing the three skills of language learning, i.e reading, writing and speaking; and that (2) the students of English major had positive attitudes toward G.Os after exposing to them

The findings of the present study confirm the usefulness of G.Os in teaching English at university On recommending a step-by-step procedure to incorporate G.Os into classroom activities, this thesis is the initial step toward the application of G.Os in teaching English at AGU Furthermore, it is dedicated to making it easier to implement G.Os as an creative method in teaching and learning the English language in Vietnamese context

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Certificate of originality i

Retention and use of the thesis ii

Acknowledgement iii

Abstract iv

Table of contents vi

List of tables x

List of figures xi

Appendices xii

Abbreviations xiii

Chapter I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1

1.1.1 Vietnamese education in the international integration 1

1.1.2 The current methods of teaching reading comprehension at AGU 2

1.1.3 Lack of visual tools in reading classes 3

1.1.4 Textbook 3

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT 4

1.3 THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH 6

1.4 METHODOLOGY 7

1.5 LIMITATIONS 8

1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS 10

Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 DEFINITION OF TERMS AND TYPES OF G.OS 12

2.2 RATIONALE FOR USING G.OS 20

2.3 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF G.OS 23

2.4 PRINCIPLES OF READING COMPREHENSION .26

2.4.1 The nature of reading 26

2.4.2 Schema theory .28

2.4.3 The interactive model 29

2.5 LEARNING STYLES AND STRATEGIES 30

2.5.1 Learning styles .30

2.5.2 Learning strategies 33

2.6 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH 36

2.6.1 Theories of learning process 36

2.6.1.1 Right brain versus left brain 36

2.6.1.2 Theories of interactive visual-verbal learning 37

2.6.2 Theories of the cognitive role of G.Os .40

2.7 PREVIOUS RESEARCHES ON THE PEDAGOGICAL EFFECTIVENESS OF G.OS IN READING COMPREHENSION 43

2.8 SUMMARY .47

Chapter III: METHODOLOGY 3.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 49

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 49

3.2.1 Subjects 50

3.2.2 Instruments 51

3.2.2.1 Pre-test 51

3.2.2.1.1 Written test 51

3.2.2.1.2 Oral test 54

3.2.2.2 Experimental teaching 55

3.2.2.3 Post-test 56

3.2.2.3.1 Written test 56

3.2.2.3.2 Oral test 57

3.2.2.4 Questionnaires 57

3.2.2.4.1 Participants 57

3.2.2.4.2 Questionnaire description 58

3.2.3 Data collection procedure 60

3.2.3.1 Test scoring 60

3.2.3.2 Questionnaire administration 61

3.2.4 Some problems with the tests 61

3.3 SUMMARY 62

Chapter IV: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 4.1 OVERVIEW OF ANALYZING PROCEDURE 63

4.2 ANALYSIS ON TEST SCORES 64

4.2.1 Descriptive statistics 64

4.2.1.1 Pre-test scores .64

4.2.1.2 Post-test scores 65

4.2.2 Pre-test – post-test comparison 66

4.2.2.1 Gain score computing 66

4.2.2.2 Gain scores of the two groups 67

4.2.2.3 Gain score analysis 69

4.3 RESPONSES TO QUESTIONNAIRES 76

4.3.1 Students’ experiences with G.Os 76

4.3.2 Students’ comments on the effects of G.Os .77

4.3.3 Students’ preference for G.Os being applied in teaching and learning 79

4.4 DISCUSSIONS ON MAIN FINDINGS 80

4.5 SUMMARY .82

Chapter V: RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 IMPLICATIONS 84

5.2 CONCERNS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 86

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS 87

5.3.1 Constructing G.Os with “ASAS” and “5 IFS” 88

5.3.2 Introducing G.Os to students with “3 Steps” 90

5.3.3 Implementing G.Os in 3 stages of teaching a lesson 91

5.3.4 Creating G.Os with technology 92

5.3.5 Using G.Os to assess students 92

5.3.6 Integrated – skill approach using G.Os .93

5.3.7 Overcoming challenges 93

5.3.8 Textbook recommendation 96

5.3.9 Summary 97

5.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY 98

CONCLUSION 100

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 102

APPENDIX 111

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Descriptive statistics for G.O and non-G.O group comparisons 51

Table 2: Pre-test scores of G.O and non-G.O groups 64

Table 3: Post-test scores of G.O and non-G.O groups 65

Table 4: Frequency distribution of the post-test scores of the two groups compared to the pre-test scores 67

Table 5: Descriptive statistics of the gain scores of the two groups 68

Table 6: Test of normality 70

Table 7: Test for equality of variances 72

Table 8: Statistics of G.O and non-G.O groups 73

Table 9: Independent samples t-test analysis of gain score difference 74

Table10: Frequency distribution of the participants’ experience with G.Os 76

Table11: Frequency distribution of the participants’ using G.Os 76

Table12: Frequency distribution of the students’ perceptions of the degrees G.Os can help in practising language skills 78

Table13: Frequency distribution of the students’ preference for G.Os being applied in teaching and learning 79

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: A Heuristic for Thinking about Reading Comprehension 27

Figure 2: Left-Right brain function 36

Figure 3: Continuum of representational conventions in cognitive artifacts 38

Figure 4: Information Processing 44

Figure 5: The post-test scores of the two groups compared to the pre-test scores 68

Figure 6: Frequency distribution of gain scores of non-G.O group 71

Figure 7: Frequency distribution of gain scores of G.O group 71

Figure 8: The percentage of the respondents’ comments on the helpfulness of G.Os in comprehension 77

Figure 9: The participants’ preference for G.Os being applied in teaching and learning 80

Figure10: Four steps for planning G.O embedded curriculum 94

APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1 Cause and effect organizers 111

APPENDIX 2 Types of G.Os and their functions 132

APPENDIX 3 The mind map 137

APPENDIX 4 (a) Pre-test .138

APPENDIX 4 (b) Post-test 142

APPENDIX 5 A typical lesson plan 146

APPENDIX 6 Mark scheme for writing section 154

APPENDIX 7 Mark scheme for speaking test 155

APPENDIX 8 Scores of G.O group 156

APPENDIX 9 Scores of non-G.O group 157

APPENDIX 10 Guidelines for choosing types of G.Os 158

APPENDIX 11 Sample G.O-embedded lesson format 159

APPENDIX 12 A sample lesson with blank G.Os 160

APPENDIX 13 Opinion survey 162

ABBREVIATIONS

ELT : English language teaching

EFL : English as a foreign language ESL : English as a second language

SPSS : Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

Chapter I: INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

1.1.1 Vietnamese education in the international integration

The growth of the use of English as the world’s primary language for international communication has obviously been acknowledged for several decades Complex international, economic, technological and cultural changes amplify the leading position of English as the language of the world market The global spread of English raised not just linguistic, educational and economic issues but also cultural, political and ethical ones Despite the extraordinary changes of the last few years, one thing appears to remain the same More people than ever want to learn English It is common knowledge that English has been growing in popularity across the world

In Vietnam, English language teaching (ELT) has long been a trend and the wave of English learning in the present day has turned out to be stronger than ever before This indicates that Vietnam’s international integration has been well-prepared and is increasingly going along, together with numerous feasible national programs and projects, primarily in the fields of economy and education

As expected, education and training plays its key role in raising the awareness and sense of responsibility of present and future generations Vietnamese education, which traditionally stresses mechanical memory rather than inquiry, has dynamically flourished in recent years The renovation of educational system, especially the renewal of teaching and learning methods, is increasingly strengthening The learner-centred( 1)approach has started to be widely applied in schools and universities as well

as educational centres, particularly in the field of ELT That is part of the campaign

(1) Moore (1999) defines learner-centredness as a way of thinking about student learning that drives your teaching practice and focuses on student outcomes rather than on teaching

set out by Ministry of Education and Training in order to upgrade the quality of national education

In international relationship, Vietnam, since becoming the 150th member of WTO, has gone through the open door into world trading and international communication The globalization route requires human beings to together put efforts

to address global issues which relate to the existence and non-existence of not only an individual, a social class or a nation While Vietnamese education is rooted in national concerns like industrialization and modernization, there are also global issues that education should address That is to say, our educational system is to face

a lot of big challenges and demands The established styles of teaching such as teacher-directedness and grammar-emphasis will soon become history, giving way to the wide application of efficient methods and modern approaches to teaching and learning Regarding that English is a means of cross-culture communication, these innovations need to be employed in ELT as soon as possible in an attempt to bring up

a Vietnamese energetic generation who are capable of “using” English, instead of merely “knowing” it

1.1.2 The current methods of teaching reading comprehension at AGU

There have been a few methods used to teach reading comprehension to students of English major at AGU Among those methods are the problem method and the communicative approach Additionally, the method of discussion has been used in reading classes as well

Presently, the communicative approach has been formally required for teaching

a reading class In theory, this approach adheres to the idea that language learning should be meaningful and realistic, and that students should learn applicable language skills in order to communicate Yet in practice, the method of discussion is preferred

by most of the English teachers at AGU The method supposedly encourages students

to talk and share their home preparation with other students in group or in class

Teachers create exercises and act as a presenter of language It is thought to be beneficial to student practice and production of the target language

Copies of a single required class text remain the dominant reading resource in classrooms Students view texts as storehouses of factual information for oral or written questions Recitation, a form of questioning in which teachers already know the answers to the questions they ask, occurs more frequently than give-and-take dialogue

in the form of liberated discourse Classroom interactions most often consist of teacher- controlled dialogue, yet student-initiated comments or questions are also encouraged

1.1.3 Lack of visual tools in reading classes

Even though professors or educationalists became interested in using visual aids

in the early 1950s (Dalrymple, 2006) and visual aids are currently used in meetings or conferences, some visual aids have not been widely applied in the ordinary English classrooms at AGU, except for some common ones like chalkboard, posters, and rarely films

In the classroom, students are verbally taught and materials are most frequently presented through verbal means This forms the verbalism, which is defined as the memorizing of words rather than understanding the concept or idea behind the words (Dalrymple, 2006) Moreover, the frequency of the method of discussion, in dominating the pedagogy of English major, has led most teachers in charge of reading teaching to believe that other teaching methods are less adequate Therefore, the research and development of alternative teaching techniques, including the use of G.Os, has not been pursued in the Department of English

1.1.4 Textbook

At the time the present research was carried out, the second-year students of

English major, the subjects of the research, were studying the Interaction 2 - 4 th Edition, McGraw-Hill / Contemporary

The reading book is authorized by Elaine Kirn (West Los Angeles College) and Pamela Hartmann (Los Angeles Unified School District) It is in use as the official syllabus for teaching the second year students of English major of AGU

As mentioned by Janet Podnecky - the author of Instructor’s Manual Interaction 2 Reading - “The goal of Interaction 2 Reading is for students to become

independent readers through instruction in various reading skills and through intensive and extensive readings” (p.iv) The book contains twelve chapters, each of

which consists of four parts as follows: Part 1: Reading 1, Part 2: Reading 2, Part 3: Building Vocabulary and Study Skills and Part 4: Reading in the Real World Besides, there are also parts of Focus on Testing and Video Activities Before and after each

reading text in each chapter, there are exercises to develop reading skills and vocabulary Students practice identifying main ideas, classifying and organizing information, and preparing summaries-skills needed for academic study and research The Interaction Reading text books, from edition 1st to 4th, have been continuously applied to teaching at AGU for eight years

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

As mentioned earlier, the learner-centred approach has started to be widely applied in educational organizations, especially in the field of ELT, in order to develop language competence of students However, students’ ability to use English,

as pointed out by some experienced experts, is still the problem that needs to be taken into more careful consideration From the author’s standpoint, the problems to be considered are due to not only the methods the teacher uses, but also skills or sub-skills to help learners understand both rationally and emotionally to achieve successful communication from their learning process

In Vietnamese educational system, reading usually stands in the central part of

a school curriculum A typical lesson is supposed to be planned in a three-phase framework in order to build background knowledge and to practise integrated skills

of speaking, listening, reading and writing The overarching goal of reading area is to forward the development of active, engaged, independent readers Yet in reality, fostering reading comprehension in classrooms can be a difficult task if effective teaching tools and training are not available

The diversity of today’s classrooms requires a great deal of planning by teachers The various learning approaches and developmental difficulties which teachers encounter place responsibility on the teacher to come up with strategies that will address this variety In fact, it can be seen that the majority of teachers of ELT, for some reasons, still prefer using old and out-of-date teaching methods which are heavy on conveying knowledge The traditional text-based teaching styles frequently rely on students’ memorization of facts while ignoring the fact that many students do not understand how these facts may be relevant to a particular subject Teachers do not usually emphasize on training students the independent and creative thinking methods as well as right attitudes toward learning and life In addition, few teachers

of reading comprehension feel they have the expertise or the time to help struggling readers More to the point, they may not recognize that their students are struggling with reading Most teachers spend limited instructional time for implementing reading skills and strategies, yet they expect their students to have the reading comprehension necessary to read in the content areas

One of the most vexing problems facing teachers of ELT today is that many students come into their classrooms without the prerequisite knowledge, skills, or dispositions to read and comprehend the materials placed before them Certain textbooks being used in reading classrooms can further interfere with students’ understanding the material, particularly when they lack prior knowledge of certain subjects To further compound the problem, many students begin reading classes at university well below grade level Learning disabilities, language barriers, and low skill levels are possible reasons for reading problems These students are at risk of

reading failure and in need of instruction that strengthens reading skills A recent survey conducted at AGU revealed a perceptible proportion of the students who misinterpret, misuse or easily forget the reading information in their quizzes The knowledge of English they acquired from the given texts did not seem to meet the requirements for critical information let alone to be satisfactory in oral presentation This shows that their reading comprehension is not yet well-built and that their reading skill is not well-trained, either

To find an answer to these problems will require certain changes that will incorporate different teaching strategies to address the diversity found in today’s classrooms This step must be accomplished while providing adequate instruction to all students Particularly useful in activities that require critical thinking skills, the G.O is known as a sub-skill or a tool to support teaching and to help students comprehend and practise language skills in a very helpful way As it promotes active learning (Bromley, DeVitis and Modlo, 1999), the G.O is often referred to as the specific thinking tools of the twenty first century However, while proved effective and popularly used in many countries, G.Os still do not receive much attention in Vietnam

The whole situation requires that an intense and clear research on the effectiveness and applicability of G.Os in reading comprehension should be presented so that teachers and students can count on it to promote teaching and learning process

1.3 THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH

In the past decade, there has been sustained interest in promoting reading as a significant and viable means of language development for second or foreign language (L2) learners This is especially the case in English as a foreign language (EFL) settings in which sources of L2 input are limited (Redfield, 1999) Likewise, the concept of a “communication triangle” of reading, writing, and discussing implies the

significant role of methodologies whereby the teacher could stimulate the natural interaction of language uses in students to further linguistic development Specifically, it entails the need for a method with which the teacher could connect assignments to teach “the art of communicating” (Simpson, 1986) This study is based on the premise that the G.O is regarded as a vehicle to reach meaningful learning(2) and as an aid in processing information It is the ultimate hope of G.O practitioners that L2 learner’s gains in language acquisition will transfer to an advanced stage

Bearing that sense, the purposes of this study are:

(1) to examine the multi-effects of G.Os as a learner-centred tool in teaching reading skill;

(2) to seek practical evidence which reinforces the assumption that with G.Os being used methodically, reading comprehension can help students improve their speaking and writing skills; and

(3) to provide recommendations for initially applying G.Os to ELT at AGU

1.4 METHODOLOGY

To reach the goal of the thesis, an investigation was carried out based on: (1) two tests of the same format given out before and after a four-week study on G.Os (referred from now on to as pre-test and post-test), and (2) a form of questionnaire The tests were accomplished by two groups of students, which were experimental group using G.O strategy (namely G.O group) and controlled group using normal study guide strategy (namely non-G.O group) Every effort was made to maximize

(2) Ausubel (1968) believes that three conditions must exist for meaningful learning to occur: (a) the learner must sense a relationship among the concepts to be learned; (b) the learner must possess specific relevant ideas to which this new material can be related; and, (c) the learner must actually intend to relate these new ideas to ideas already possessed

the comparability across the two tests The question of interest is whether the improvement in scores from pre-test to post-test is greater for the treatment group than it is for the controlled group The question can be answered by computing the difference between the pre-test and post-test scores for each person and then analyzing those differences This analysis of difference scores is also called a gain score analysis

The questionnaire was used to measure the attitudes of students toward the validity and utility of G.Os in learning the language of English Both random and non-random sampling was taken up to decide on the subjects for the tests and the questionnaires Finally, quantitative technique was employed for data collection and analysis

Using an experimental design, namely Two-group Control Group Design, the

study compared the two strategies in teaching reading currently used in EFL and ESL (English as a second language) classrooms One of the two strategies is at present employed in the Department of English at AGU Both the pre-test and post-test were designed to check the reading, writing and speaking skills of two classes of second year students of English major at AGU Soon after, a form of questionnaire was handed out to the group of students studying with G.Os, asking their perceptions of factors involving the utilization of G.Os The collected data was then analyzed and synthesized to draw out supporting evidence for the thesis

1.5 LIMITATIONS

In interpreting this study, it is important to consider limitations that may reduce the generalizability of the findings Given the characteristics of the study, several shortcomings are admittedly apparent Researchers agree that the effectiveness of any learning strategy depends on context and content of instruction, and on individual learner’s experience, cognitive maturity, motivation, and learning style (Oxford, 1990b) Obviously, the study did not contemplate on such figures of

the participants In this study, context and content of instruction were analogous for both G.O and non-G.O groups One assumption made was that subjects did not substantially differ in terms of their experience and cognitive maturity because they were at the same grade level, they were randomly assigned to treatment groups, and their pretest scores did not indicate statistically significant differences (Gimenez, 1994) The results therefore indicated that the two groups did not vary on learning styles to the point of significantly impacting academic achievement scores according

to the tests used in this study to measure the students’ comprehension Virtually, studies conducted among groups of different socioeconomic and demographic factors will offer valuable findings on G.Os’ applicability in education

Furthermore, the present research has not yet carefully considered the effect of three types of factors suggested by Winn (1987), i.e treatment, learners, and task As with any instructional technique, the effectiveness of G.Os will depend on the entire context of treatment, including the G.O characteristics (e.g is it realistic or symbolic) and quality (has the artist expressed the content clearly and appropriately), the support system (such as specific instructions and tasks), the classroom environment, whether the treatment is well designed to achieve the educational objectives, and other relevant considerations Also, it has not yet made clear whether it really indicates the extent to which the educational objectives (conceptual understanding,

acquisition or improvement of skills, retention, transfer ) have been achieved

Another limitation of this study was the length of treatment Due to scope and sequence limits placed on curriculum and timing of the research project, it was necessary to impose a four-week restriction on time allocation. Nevertheless, the four weeks allotted might not have been sufficient time for students to develop and apply graphical organizing techniques It is conceivable that students spent time during the treatment period learning the techniques of G.Os instead of learning the content of the given texts Moreover, the shortage of time might lead to the constraint on the

participants’ degree of involvement in constructing G.Os, which might help them achieve a high level of graphical organizing mastery and therefore affect the results

of the study From another aspect, this short exposure may also be viewed as supporting the strength of G.Os Because students exhibited significant gains after a brief exposure, longer exposures to G.Os may generate even greater gains in academic scores

The most significant question involves the sample size, which may cause deficiency in the outcome of the study The study was limited to two classes of AGU

It is not likely that these students are representative of the majority of English majored students throughout the country Its results and conclusions therefore can not

be generalized with certainty

Another area in need of more careful consideration relates to the research circumstance, which implies that the study was conducted under highly controlled conditions With prior teaching experience and being well equipped on G.Os, the author of the thesis assigned himself to the position of the instructor of the two classes under investigation Indeed, different teachers have different motivations, teaching skills and levels of G.O knowledge Thus, it remains unclear if similar results would be achieved with other teachers in other environments In other words,

it remains to be seen if the results of this research would be replicated under less controlled conditions Currently, little is known about how best to provide staff development and support to teachers as they work to implement new innovations, including the G.O Even less is known about maintaining and sustaining innovations (Denton and Fletcher, 2003)

1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

There will be four chapters which are preceded by Chapter 1 demonstrated above, building up the thesis

Chapter 2-Literature Review-assesses the literature which backs up the present study Beginning with the definition and types of G.Os, this chapter will then get into the specific reasons for using G.Os, together with the historical perspective of G.Os and the theoretical background to the research Finally, the previous research on the pedagogical effectiveness of G.Os in reading comprehension will end this chapter

Chapter 3-Methodology and Methods Used-lays out the methodology of the study, composing of the subjects, instruments and data collection procedure

Chapter 4-Data analysis and Findings-presents the analyses using the test scores and the responses to the questionnaires before making note of the extracted findings

Chapter 5-Implications and Recommendations- shows the implications which are drawn from the study and recommends some techniques to step up the learning outcomes using the G.O

Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter will review previous research that has investigated the evidence for the effectiveness of G.Os and proceed to discuss the nature of the reading process based on a survey of the literature These research areas will be presented continuously in seven separated parts in order to foreground and motivate the present study

The literature review begins with a brief look at the definition, categorizations, and historical perspective of G.Os It will then draw attention to some primary reasons for using G.Os After briefly discussing a few theories of reading, it will concentrate on the theoretical background to the research and emphasize a number of previous studies on the pedagogical effectiveness of G.Os in reading comprehension Finally, a short summary will close this chapter

2.1 DEFINITION OF TERMS AND TYPES OF G.Os

G.Os are visual frameworks to help the learner make connections between concepts A G.O is a visual representation of knowledge that structures information

by arranging important aspects of a concept or topic into a pattern using labels (Bromley et al., 1999) In other words, “a G.O is a visual representation of concepts, knowledge, or information that can incorporate both text and pictures G.Os allow the mind “to see” undiscovered patterns and relationships” (Berger, 2003) To be brief, G.Os are graphical representations that visually illustrate verbal statements

A G.O often depicts the relationships between facts, terms, and/or ideas within

a learning task It is often referred to as a “map” because it can help teachers and students “map out” their ideas in a visual manner There are many similar names for G.Os including: knowledge maps, concept maps, story maps, cognitive organizers, advance organizers, or concept diagrams (Online Learning Centre, 2007)

The various types of G.Os have varied functions, depending on the idea or concept to be conveyed Some forms of G.Os are used before learning and help

remind the learners of what they already know about a subject Other G.Os are designed to be used during learning to act as cues to what to look for in the structure

of the resources or information Still other G.Os are used during review activities and help remind students of the number and a variety of components they should be remembering Bromley et al (1999) gathers G.Os into five main categories according

to their conventions: (see illustrations in Appendix 1)

Cause and Effect Organizers (11 G.Os): highlight the causes of one event or more

Character and Story Organizers (16 G.Os): present main ideas or characters and supporting details in a certain order

Compare and Contrast Organizers (6 G.Os): depict similarities among key concepts

Sequence, Cycle, Timeline, and Chain of Events Organizers (7 G.Os): illustrate a series of steps or place events in a chronological order

Vocabulary Development and Concept Organizers (6 G.Os): include concepts or words with supporting facts, evidence, or characteristics

In addition, there is an extra sort of G.Os called Miscellaneous Organizers, which

is the mixed type of those in five main categories above

Lowe and Murray (2005), on the other hand, divide G.Os into ten types based on their functional distinctive and involved fields of cognitive: (see illustrations of G.Os

in Appendix 2)

Type of G.O Job Bloom's

Continuum, Storyboard, Cycle Knowledge

Cycle Continuum, Storyboard, CycleSequence of Events, Knowledge

Idea Map or

Double Cell Diagram/

Comparison Matrix Compare/Contrast Two Items Evaluation

As pointed out by Winn (1987), G.Os are also excellent tools for learning the

structure of thinking skills According to him, G.Os can be categorized by the different thinking skills they utilize as follows:

Brainstorming/Associating:

Concept Web

These smaller circles can be used to explore additional supporting concepts

An illustration might be the sub concept of voting as a critical part of citizenship

Mind Map

A Mind Map can be used to organize thoughts, either of an individual or of a group, for preparing lesson plans, writing a book, planning a project, or giving a speech

The center circle of the Sunshine Wheel represents the main idea and the lines

extending out from the center circle represent the thoughts generated about the main idea For example, the center circle could be leadership and the rays could be all the elements of leadership recalled

Comparing/prioritizing:

Venn Diagram

Venn diagrams are favorites for comparing and contrasting story elements In language instruction, Venn Diagrams are useful for examining similarities and differences in characters, stories, poems, etc

Analog/Simile Chart

An Analogy Chart is used to illustrate the thinking and organizing process that

involves comparing one thing to another thing that initially seems unrelated The benefit of the process comes from having to explore the connections and the critical elements

The rungs on the Ranking Ladder can represent priority or precedence, such as

steps in a process, a hierarchy, position of components, relative importance of each data point, or status of individuals

Analyzing/comparing:

Looks-Sounds-Feels Looks Sounds Feels

Shiny Squeak Smooth

New Quiet Worn

Look-Sounds-Feels allows users to compare appearances, auditory expressions, and tactile characteristics of an element

The structure of a Fishbone Chart can help in thinking of important components of a problem to solve, an issue to explore, or a project to plan

Matrix

The Matrix tool is helpful to identify relationships and component pieces of an issue or data point Intersecting horizontal and vertical lines create a grid used to classify and categorize related elements

Double T-Chart

Before During After

Sleep Work Play

Study Test Relax

The Double T-Chart is a three column chart that has three specific labels such

as, “Before, During, After” or “Look, Sound, Feel” or “What, So What, Now What”

or “High, Medium, Low” or any other concept that includes three distinct elements

Sequence Chart (Also known as Bridging Snapshots)

The connected boxes of a Sequence Chart show a progression, series, or

succession of information It does not focus on the priority or importance of information; rather it shows connections in the form of a timetable, cycle, or chain of events

This is another three-column chart The specific labels for each column are “What do

you KNOW?”, “What do you WANT to know?” and “What have you LEARNED?”

This is useful in treating new or difficult information

KDL

The specific labels for each column in the three-column KDL chart are, “What

do you KNOW?”, “What do you DO?” and “What have you LEARNED?” This G.O

can be used to connect knowledge and behavior

PMI

A PMI chart can be used to evaluate the pluses and the minuses of a concept

or idea and the interesting features of the concept

Right Angle Chart

The Right Angle Chart can be used to identify facts along the horizontal line and associate thoughts and feelings about the facts below the vertical line This is most useful to help you to connect feelings to facts and reflect on how you might alter feelings based on the facts

Overall, G.Os allow you to visually organize concepts, ideas, data, thoughts, and feelings Choosing the appropriate G.Os depends on the type of elements that need organizing and analyzing Once the organization process is complete, understanding complex concepts, decision making, and problem solving becomes easier

2.2 RATIONALE FOR USING G.OS

The main purpose of a G.O is to provide a visual aid to facilitate learning and instruction Most G.Os form a powerful visual picture of information and allow the mind “to see” undiscovered patterns and relationships Although they have been applied across a range of curriculum subject areas, reading is by far the most well practiced application Science, social studies, language arts, and math are more recent areas in which G.Os are being applied (Online Learning Centre, 2007) Since many G.Os use short words or phrases, they are ideal for many types of learners, including English language learners at any levels of proficiency in Vietnam

Teachers can use G.Os to model a variety of learning situations, e.g reading strategies for comprehending a written or oral text, using new language structures, reviewing previously learned information, or drawing connections between sources G.Os may also be used by individual students (either in class or for homework), pairs

of students, or cooperative groups of learners G.Os help students to think about, visualize, and arrange their knowledge In a traditional classroom setting, most teachers rely on talking, reading, and writing for representing and communicating concepts Studies show that when students create nonlinguistic representations of their knowledge there is increased activity in the brain (Gerlic and Jausovec, 1999) On creating a form of G.Os, students must draw upon analysis skills to clarify relationships, organize their thoughts, and formulate plans or process steps The process of creating the representations helps students retain information and extends students’ ability to convey and exchange their thinking in collaborative group work (Intel Education, 2006) Either used by teachers or students, G.Os are obviously an ideal tool to stimulate creativity, which is absent in the majority of Vietnamese students

From research, some of the advantages for using G.Os are that they are able to make ideas clearer for the understanding of information, they show how ideas relate, they challenge thinking processes, and they reveal order and completeness of individuals thought processes (Corkill, Bruning, Glover, 1988) “It [the G.O] is useful for students and teachers because it concretizes abstract information that can otherwise be overwhelming for students G.Os prevent students from memorizing pieces of information by allowing students to link the pieces of information into a pattern that results in the students conceptually understanding the information” (Hyerle, 1996:14) It has been discussed by Fry (1981) that it is a must to emphasize graphical literacy in reading and comprehension because of it being a communicative

tool for students It allows them to express their comprehension of written text or document

Indeed, G.Os are a very versatile instructional tool that can easily be used to optimize content-based reading They can be used effectively in many different instructional settings, but they are particularly powerful when integrated into reading activities, because they can; (1) provide the necessary scaffolding that is so critical in reading activities; (2) help students notice and understand the link between the content they are studying and the specific vocabulary and language structures needed

to communicate about that content; (3) engage students in more active learning and, consequently, increase students’ motivation; (4) support cooperative learning activities (Bellanca, 1992)

G.Os, if well designed, serve as scaffolds for content and language learning They provide the necessary framework for students to complete a task that requires them to use language meaningfully by helping them categorize, infer, summarize, compare and contrast, evaluate, and so much more G.Os are especially effective when combined with cooperative learning instructional strategies because they can provide students with an often lacking framework for tackling a specific task As Shaw (1997) pertinently points out, there are many issues to consider when using small-group work, and instructors need to keep in mind that “success is directly correlated with the specificity of the instructions given: one cannot simply tell students to get into their groups and discuss something They need clear guidance normally a specific outcome” (p.276) In this context, the G.O serves to frame a specific task and identify a meaningful purpose for the activity

G.Os can also facilitate the final production stage by helping students prepare, for example, oral or written reports, written summaries, letters to authorities and oral debates Ideally, using G.Os appropriately can allow instructors to ensure that their students are; (1) using or activating prior background knowledge (e.g

brainstorming); (2) using language meaningfully and purposefully to communicate; (3) engaging in motivating and cognitively challenging activities related to the new content (e.g problem-solving or decision-making, evaluating, to name a few) (Winebrenner, 1996) In addition, using G.Os can help instructors ensure that their students have the tools necessary to understand and use specific language structures

In fact, it is believed that they can also help instructors identify and articulate sound language objectives

A primary disadvantage to using G.Os shown from recent researches is that once students see the advantage and opportunity of using G.Os, then there is the possibility of less note-taking, which leads to totally relying on them as a written reference The consequence is incomplete notes on learner’s part and lost information In fact, this problem is resulted from the misusing or misunderstanding about G.Os It is needed that users have a right attitude toward G.Os As mentioned

by Robinson, Katayama, Dubois and Devaney (1998), G.Os are spatial displays of text information that are provided to students as study aids to accompany text They are a means of acquiring issues from text and a source of information to write a text Although proved very effective, G.Os should only be used as a tool for the comprehension of text, but not to replace text

2.3 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF G.OS

G.Os probably rank among the oldest forms of human communication The ancient Egyptians and even prehistoric people have used visual interpretations to communicate information For centuries, G.Os have been used for learning, brainstorming, memory, visual thinking, and problem solving by educators, engineers, psychologists and people in general Some of the earliest examples of G.Os, one of which was the mind map, were developed by Porphyry of Tyros, a noted thinker of the third century as he graphically visualised the concept categories

of Aristotle Ramon Llull (1232–1315), whose writings helped to develop the

Romance Catalan language and widely influenced Neoplatonic mysticism throughout medieval and 17th-century Europe, also used these structures of the mind map form (Horton, Lovitt and Bergerud, 1990) However, the first expert assumed to fully study the field of G.O is David Ausubel G.Os developed as a result of Ausubel’s research into the benefits of advance organizers to enhance a students’ acquisition of new knowledge In 1960 Ausubel concluded that when used as a tool, an advance organizer has the potential to link acquired information with existing knowledge

In essence, Ausubel’s advance organizer is a visual display of information introduced before the student goes to the textbook to read Educational objectives, the focus of the instruction, are presented and organized into a graphical, visual representation, by the teacher, before instruction begins The G.O sets the stage for student learning

From 1969 to 1977, researchers such as Barron (1969), Earle (1973) and Baker (1977) continued to investigate advance organizers, but through modifications such as outline formats During this time frame, the term G.O was coined with the expansion of hierarchically organized visuals adapted to overview structure In the

year of 1979, Stewart, Kirk and Rowell claimed in The American Biology Teacher

that they developed concept maps, which is a form of G.Os However, in their concept maps the links were not named and therefore no propositions were formed from concepts That is to say, these concept maps could not be understandable without the author’s further explanation By 1984, Novak and Gowin adapted the G.O for mapping and to emphasize the importance of identifying relationships through labeled links Novak built upon Ausubel’s theory and introduced the Novakian concept map Novak’s concept map is also a graphical representation, but one in which a nodule of information representing a concept, has lines or arrows linking to smaller nodules showing associative relationships within the concept map Novak’s concept mapping has quickly gained momentum for use in all fields of

education Unlike the theory presented by Ausubel, teachers are no longer doing the prior constructing of the visual representation Now students are taking an active part

in their learning Novak’s concept mapping allows students to talk through their ideas

on the concept being presented and sharing those ideas with their peers Using this process facilitates both the auditory and visual learner, by providing a bridge connecting the visual patterns and relationships (Robinson, 1998) Through student manipulation of the information, the opportunity is increased for understanding of the concept This procedure can minimize the frequency of students who try to memorize information, instead of comprehending the association between the concepts

Further research favored the G.O because it provided an overview of material

to be learned, reference points for putting new main ideas into orderly patterns, cues for important information, visual stimulus for written and verbal information and a concise review tool During the 1990’s it was discovered that learner-constructed concept maps reflected student understanding of concepts better than traditional forms of testing Additionally, learning was enhanced when G.Os were combined with other metacognitive training such as summarizing and retelling In 1990, mind map was introduced by a British popular psychology author, Tony Buzan (4) It is an image-centered diagram that represents semantic or other connections between portions of information (see illustration in Appendix 3) By presenting these connections in a radial, non-linear graphical manner, it encourages a brainstorming approach to any given organizational task, eliminating the hurdle of initially establishing an intrinsically appropriate or relevant conceptual framework to work within

(4) Tony Buzan, currently considered the world’s leading author on the brain and learning

With two books translated into Vietnamese (i.e The Mind Map and Using Your Mind), he is

the pioneer in introducing such an innovative way of thinking to Vietnam

For the remainder of the decade, studies continued to confirm Ausubel’s theory that new meanings are constructed from a student’s previous knowledge base There are many researchers (e.g Mastropieri and Scruggs, 1997) who refer to Novak and Gowin, but clearly mix concept maps with Buzan’s mind maps, which are much simpler association maps

2.4 PRINCIPLES OF READING COMPREHENSION

2.4.1 The nature of reading

Reading is about understanding written texts It is a complex activity that involves both perception and thought Reading consists of two related processes: word recognition and comprehension Word recognition refers to the process of perceiving how written symbols correspond to one’s spoken language Comprehension is making sense of words, sentences and connected text (Pavli, 2006)

Comprehension, by definition, is the process of relating new information to information that is already stored in memory Readers typically make use of background knowledge, vocabulary, grammatical knowledge, experience with text and other strategies to help them understand written text (Pavli, 2006) Comprehension involves (1) understanding the author’s intended message, (2) interpreting the message’s meaning and implications, and (3) applying the message in meaningful ways (RRSG, 2002)

The Rand Reading Study Group (2002) concludes that reading consists of three elements: the reader, the text, and the activity or purpose for reading (see Figure 1) This group proposes that comprehension occurs as an interrelationship between these elements and the socio-cultural context that shapes and is shaped by the reader