DSpace at VNU: Thêm vào Góc nghiên cứu Developing pre-reading tasks with first-year students of English-major Division, Department of Social Science, Vinh Phuc College: An action research

iii ABSTRACT This action research focused on finding out the primary problem related to using pre-reading tasks; hence, the major purpose of the study aimed to develop pre-reading tasks

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2016

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã

HANOI – 2016

i

DECLARATION

I certify that the work contained in this thesis is the result of my own research, and this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or institution

Hanoi, January 2016

Signature

Vũ Quỳnh Hoa

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am indeed thankful to my supervisor, Dr Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã, whose sympathetic guidance has been the source of inspiration and knowledge for my research I am also grateful to other teachers of the Department of Post -Graduate Studies for their encouragement and valuable advice

I have profound regards for all the teachers of English-major Division of Vinh Phuc College and for all of the English-major freshmen of the class 18 who spent their precious time on completing my survey questionnaire Without their enthusiastic cooperation, my thesis would not have been completed

My great thanks are also given to my family and my friends who have constantly supported, inspirited and encouraged me during the process of my study

iii

ABSTRACT

This action research focused on finding out the primary problem related to using pre-reading tasks; hence, the major purpose of the study aimed to develop pre-reading tasks for improving students’ reading performance The research was conducted with first-year students of English-major Division, Department of Social Science, Vinh Phuc College Data were collected through 4 observed lessons and two sets of survey questionnaire delivered to 32 freshmen of the class 18 English after the lessons The research findings revealed the problem of ineffective use of pre-reading tasks in reading lessons as well as its causes and effects on students’ reading performance Finally, I also presented suggestions for developing pre-reading tasks that the teachers have used in their reading lessons for improving students’ reading performance

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AR: Action Research No: Number of students Ss: Students

LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1: Action research procedure

Figure 2: Simple action research model (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2008, p.278) Figure 3: Detailed Action Research Model (Susman, 1983)

Table 1: Students’ assessment on the first lesson

Table 2: Students’ assessment on pre-reading tasks used in the first lesson

Table 3: Reasons for effectiveness and ineffectiveness of pre-reading tasks

provided by the students

Table 4: Students’ assessment on exercises and tasks at the while and post reading

stages in the first lesson

Table 5: Students’ suggestions about efficient pre-reading tasks in the next reading

lesson

Table 6: Students’ assessment on the first try-out lesson

Table 7: Students’ assessment on pre-reading tasks used in the first try-out lesson Table 8: Reasons for effectiveness of pre-reading tasks provided by the students Table 9: Students’ assessment on exercises and tasks at the while and post- reading

stages in the first try-out lesson

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION I

1.1 Rationale I 1.2 Aims of the Study II 1.3 Research questions II 1.4 Significance of the Study II 1.5 Scope of the Study II

1 6 Method of the research III

1 7 Design of the study III

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND V

2.1 Introduction V 2.2 Theoretical background of reading V

2.2.1 Definitions of reading V 2.2.2 Types of reading VI

2.3 Teaching and learning reading skills IX

2.3.1 The importance of reading in foreign language learning IX 2.3.2 Stages of a reading lesson X

2.4 Theoretical background of pre-reading tasks Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.4.1 Overview of pre-reading tasks Error! Bookmark not defined 2.4.2 Pre-reading Tasks Error! Bookmark not defined.

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2 5 Summary Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER 3: THE METHODOLOGY Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.1 Introduction Error! Bookmark not defined 3.2 Situation analysis Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.2.1 Setting of the study Error! Bookmark not defined 3.2.2 Reading materials Error! Bookmark not defined.

3 3 Participants Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.3.1 The researcher Error! Bookmark not defined 3.3.2 The observed students Error! Bookmark not defined 3.3.3 The researcher’s assistants Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.4 Data Collection Instruments Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.4.1 Questionnaire Error! Bookmark not defined 3.4.2 Classroom observations Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.5 Methods of Data Anal ysis Error! Bookmark not defined 3.6 Research Method – Action research (AR) Error! Bookmark not defined.

3.6.1 Definitions of AR Error! Bookmark not defined 3.6.2 Action research model Error! Bookmark not defined.

3 7 Summary Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.1 Introduction Error! Bookmark not defined.

4 2 Findings Error! Bookmark not defined.

4.2.1 Cycle 1 Error! Bookmark not defined 4.2.2 Cycle 2 Error! Bookmark not defined 4.2.3 Cycle 3 Error! Bookmark not defined.

4 3 Summary Error! Bookmark not defined.

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION Error! Bookmark not defined.

5 1 Introduction Error! Bookmark not defined 5.2 Discussion Error! Bookmark not defined.

5.3 Implications Error! Bookmark not defined.

5.3.1 Employing pre-reading tasks suitable for students’ interests

Error! Bookmark not defined.

5 3.2 Varying pre-reading tasks Error! Bookmark not defined.

5 3 3 Pedagogical use of pre-reading tasksError! Bookmark not defined.

5 3 4 Improving the pre-reading tasks in the text book Error! Bookmark not defined.

5 4 Limitations and suggestions for further studyError! Bookmark not defined.

REFERENCES XI APPENDIXES Error! Bookmark not defined.

I

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

In colleges, English has been a compulsory subject in the curriculum Attention is given to all of the four English skills including reading, listening, speaking and writing However, reading plays an important role in enriching the student’s general knowledge and in developing their further study later In highlighting the importance of reading, Langer (1981, p.153) stated that “reading is the most important activity in any language class, not only as a source of information and pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating and extending one’s knowledge of the language.” Moreover, reading helps students learn other skills better Reutzel (1985), for example, acknowledge that anyone who reads more has various vocabularies and receives marks better for grammar and writing tests Also, Carrell (1984, p.1) confirms that, by far, for numerous students,

in English as a second language, reading plays the most crucial role of the four skills Teaching reading, consequently, has attracted greater attention However, in reading classes, it is common that students do not absolutely know about topic of the text they are reading about Thus, pre-reading stage in each reading lesson becomes indispensable for introducing and for arousing interest in the topic; for motivating learners by giving a reason for reading and for providing some language preparation for the text (Williams, 1986, p.37)

At Vinh Phuc College, where I work, teaching reading is extremely essential

in developing all of the four basic English skills for students As a teacher of English here, I am teaching reading skill to first-year students of English-major division, Department of Social-Science I realize pre-reading stage in each lesson has significant effects on the students’ reading performance However, using pre-reaching tasks in each pre-reading stage is far from satisfactory In other words, pre-reading tasks I used in each reading lesson had not led to effective performance These tasks were so not only simple but also ineffective that they could not motivate students for reading, provide prior knowledge or build necessary background for comprehending the text Therefore, I decided to carry out the action research to develop pre-reading tasks for first-year students of English-major Division, Department of Social-Science, Vinh Phuc College Based on the findings

of this action research, some changes and improvements can be applied in my lessons, and some appropriate strategies need to be designed with the hope that students will work more effectively in a reading lesson I hope that the findings of this study will be shared with other teachers who have experienced similar problems

1.2 Aims of the Study

The main purpose of the study is to develop pre-reading tasks in reading lessons for English-major freshmen at Vinh Phuc college Specifically, it aims at:

 finding out the problems the first-year English-major students at Vinh Phuc College encountered in pre-reading tasks

 giving the teacher’s solutions for these problems and emphasizing on the effects of the intervention on the students

 providing the implications for developing pre-reading tasks to improve students’ reading performances

1.4 Significance of the Study

Theoretical significance of the study:

The study synthesized the problems related to using pre-reading tasks in reading lessons and their effects on students’ performance Furthermore, the research suggested how to effectively develop pre-reading tasks to improve students’ reading performance

Practical significance of the study:

The study is expected to improve using pre-reading tasks in reading lessons

at Vinh Phuc College Based on some findings of the study, some suggestions of developing effective pre-reading tasks are given for teachers and students to enhance students’ reading performances

1.5 Scope of the Study

Although there are various factors that influence the students’ reading performance in reading lessons, I only focus my study on one of these factors – i.e

III

developing pre-reading tasks effectively to improve students’ reading performance

in reading lessons The study was conducted at course 18 English in 4 lessons Each lesson lasted 4 periods (45minutes/ period)

1 6 Method of the research

The research method I used is the action research The study was carried out with the process adapted by Tsui (1993) including five concrete steps: identifying problems, finding causes of the problem, designing strategies for improvement (plan for action) and writing a proposal for action research, trying out the strategies (action) and evaluating the try-out These steps were grouped into four phases in the following figure

Figure 1: Action research procedure These steps were described more concretely in the chapter 3 on methodology

1 7 Design of the study

The main body of this thesis consists of five chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction: presents the rationale, the aims, the significance, the

scope, the method and the design of the study Herein, the research questions are also raised

Chapter 2: Theoretical background: provides the definition of related concepts

and reviews the related works that compose the theoretical background of the study

(1) DIAGNOSING Identifying the problem & its causes

(2) ACTION PLANNING designing strategies for improvement writing a proposal for action research

(3) TAKING ACTION trying out the strategies (4) EVALUATING

evaluating the try-out

Chapter 3: The Methodolody: presents situation analysis, identifies the research

method and gives detailed descriptions of the data collection tools (survey questionnaire and classroom observation), methods of analysis as well as the participants of the study

Chapter 4: Findings: presents, analyzes the findings of the research

Chapter 5: Conclusion: summarizes the discussion of research findings, gives

some teaching implications, and discusses the limitations of the study as well as suggestions for further research

background of reading including definitions of reading, types of reading The

second section focuses on teaching and learning reading skills consisting of importance of reading in foreign language learning and stages of reading lesson The third one emphasizes on the theoretical background of pre-reading tasks which

comprises an overview of pre-reading tasks and a classification of these tasks

2.2 Theoretical background of reading

Another interesting definition of reading by Harmer (1989) is that reading is considered as an exercise with the eyes and the brain The brain works to understand the message from the reading text after this message is received by the eyes

A definition of reading is offered by Rubin and Thomson (1994, p.91),

“reading is an active information-seeking process in which readers relate information in the text what they already know” From this point of view, both the reader’s knowledge of the language and their background knowledge play the significant role for their reading success

Reading is also defined as the interaction between the reader and the author According to Smith (1978, p.102), “reading is understands the author’s thought”

He also explained that “it means that we-the readers-read the author’s mind not the author’s words” In addition, reading is described in a more extensive way: “reading

is understanding written language”, “reading is a complex mental process”,

“reading is thinking” (Roe, Stood and Burns, 1987, p.2)

In short, from these theories above, it is obvious that no definition can likely consist of all aspects or features of the definition of reading Each linguist’s