Summarization of doctoral thesis: Competence-based Teaching for text reading comprehension for pupils of grades 4 and 5

Purpose of the research: To recommend some particular measures in order to improve the efficiency of competence-based teaching text reading comprehension for pupils of grades 4 and 5. To recommend measures of competence-based teaching for text reading comprehension for pupils of grades 4 and 5. Organize scientific experiment to initially verify the feasibility of the recommended measures.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2

- -

TRINH CAM LY

competence-based Teaching for text reading comprehension for pupils of grades 4 and 5

Major : Pedagogics (Primary Education)

Code : 62 14 01 01

SUMMARIZATION OF DOCTORAL THESIS

IN PEDAGOGICS

HANOI - 2015

Hanoi Pedagogical University 2

Supervisors: 1 PhD Nguyen Trong Hoan

2 PhD Nguyen Thi Kieu Anh

Reviewer 1:

Reviewer 2:

Reviewer 3:

The Thesis shall be upheld in front of the University Thesis Examiners'

Council at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2

At : of (dd) (mm) (yyyy)

References are available at: Hanoi National Library

Or Hanoi Pedagogical University 2's Library

FOREWORD

1 Rationale

1.1 Reading is one of four skills in using Vietnamese and can be

considered as the most important skills for Primary school pupils

Reading activity includes both technique and content comprehension in which content comprehension (reading comprehension) is the target of the

reading activity Therefore, it can be affirmed that reading comprehension is

one of the factors of language competence and one of the core competences to

be formed for pupils

1.2 The role of reading comprehension is affirmed once more time; along with Mathematics and Science, Reading comprehension is selected as one of

three aspects to assess learning competence of 15-year-old pupils under the

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)

1.3 Teaching the reading comprehension for primary school pupils is

mainly conducted through Reading subject However, for both objective and subjective reasons, teaching the reading comprehension is not properly concerned Especially, teaching the reading comprehension for pupils of grades

4 and 5 at present is only limited to teaching of particular texts without attaching special importance to the formation of reading skill, orienting towards the development of reading comprehension competence for pupils

1.4 Implementing the spirit of the Resolution No 29, the innovation of

targets, contents and teaching methods is taking place strongly and broadly Teaching the reading comprehension must be essentially innovated along with other subjects at school

For the above mentioned reasons, we select the topic Competence-based teaching for text reading comprehension for pupils of grades 4 and 5 with

the expectation of recommending some particular measures to improve the efficiency of teaching text reading comprehension for pupils of grades 4 and 5 through theoretical research and practical survey

2 Purpose of the research

To recommend some particular measures in order to improve the efficiency of competence-based teaching text reading comprehension for pupils

of grades 4 and 5

3 Object and subject of the research

3.1 Object of the research

Pupils’ competence-based teaching

3.2 Subject of the research

Measures of competence-based teaching for text reading comprehension for pupils of grades 4 and 5

4 Scientific hypothesis

If teachers apply measures recommended by the thesis under chapter 3 which are teaching text reading comprehension based on natural, social knowledge and basic language competence of pupils, teaching the reading comprehension based on text language style, it will contribute to improvement

of the teaching quality, interest, efficiency as well as formation of text reading comprehension competence for pupils of grades 4 and 5

5 Tasks of the research

5.1 To define the theoretical background of competence-based teaching

for text reading comprehension for pupils of grades 4 and 5

5.2 To define the practical background of competence-based teaching for

text reading comprehension for pupils of grades 4 and 5

5.3 To recommend measures of competence-based teaching for text

reading comprehension for pupils of grades 4 and 5

5.4 Organize scientific experiment to initially verify the feasibility of the

program and teaching linguistic data for Reading in the existing Vietnamese textbook for grades 4 and 5

- The measures recommended under the thesis orient towards the competence-based teaching for text reading comprehension by different language styles for pupils of grades 4 and 5 Due to the purpose of the research, the topic has not discussed about techniques of assessing results of competence-based teaching for reading comprehension

6.2 Location of survey and experiment

- Location of survey: 20 primary schools in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi City

- Location of experiment: 8 primary schools in Bac Giang Province and Hanoi City

6.2 Subjects of survey and experiment

Teachers and pupils of grades 4 and 5

6.3 Contents of experiment

Experiment through Reading subject for grades 4 and 5

6.4 Time of survey and experiment

- Time of survey: School year 2011 - 2012

- Time of experiment:

+ Exploratory experiment: Semester 1 - School year 2014 - 2015

+ Impact experiment: Semester 2 - School year 2014 - 2015

7 Research methods

In implementing the thesis, we use theoretical and practical research

method, expert method, survey method and teaching experiment method

8 New contributions of the thesis

- Systemize text reading comprehension skills to be trained for pupils of grades 4 and 5 under competence approach

competence Direct teachers to design lessons of competencecompetence based teaching for text reading comprehension in different language styles for pupils of grade 4 and 5

9 Structure of the thesis

In addition to the Foreword, Conclusion and Recommendations, References and Appendixes, the main contents of the thesis include 4 chapters:

Chapter 1: Theoretical background of competence-based teaching for text reading comprehension at Primary schools

Chapter 2: Practical basis of teaching reading comprehension to pupils of grades 4 and 5 under competence approach

Chapter 3: Methods of competence-based teaching for text reading comprehension for pupils of grades 4 and 5

Chapter 4: Scientific experiments

Chapter 1 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF COMPETENCE-BASED TEACHING FOR TEXT READING COMPREHENSION AT

PRIMARY SCHOOLS

1.1.1 Researches on reading comprehension and reading comprehension teaching

It is not simple to define accurately the appearance of reading comprehension terminology in term of time The double terminology of reading comprehension may appear very early However, the theory of reading comprehension appears later

In the world, especially in European - American countries and the old Soviet Union, the theory of reading comprehension was concerned and researched many decades ago with many scientific works and articles on reading comprehension and reading comprehension teaching

In How to read a book, the author Mortimer J Adler focuses on solving the

conception of reading method with different reading levels to gain information and understand a book

We especially concern about the research titled Reading and Study Skills

The author John Lagan presents ten skills supporting the text reading comprehension: skill of determining definitions and examples; skill of determining chains of theoretical points; skill of determining headings and subheadings; skill of determining instructive words; skill of determining main ideas in paragraphs; skill of making lay-out; skill of summarizing; skill of understanding tables and charts; skill of reasoning; skill of critical thinking

In our country, teaching text reading comprehension was only mentioned

as an independent issue to be researched since the beginning of the 1990s of the

20th century

The author Pham Thi Thu Huong in the volume Reading comprehension

and text reading comprehension tactics at schools gave out some fresh tactics

such as: highlighting and marginal notes, general linking questions, question - answer relation, reasoning in reading, intellect film, etc to actively support the text reading comprehension at schools

In the volume Teach Reading at Primary Schools, the author Le Phuong

Nga affirmed that reading comprehension is an activity with clear progress nature because it includes many actions spreading by linear time: action of language identification, action of clarifying the meanings of language signal chains and action of responding to ideas of writers under the texts The author also presents particular skills to take these actions

In the thesis titled Training the reading comprehension skill for pupils of

grades 4 and 5, the author Nguyen Thi Hanh established a system of reading

comprehension exercises as well as mentioned the organization of teaching the reading comprehension at grades 4 and 5 The author continues presenting persuasively the scientific background as well as practical background of teaching the reading comprehension at Primary schools under the specialized

essay titled Teaching the reading comprehension at Primary schools

In the volume Some issues of teaching Vietnamese in viewpoint of

communication, the author Nguyen Tri affirms that reading is the skill most

frequently used by pupils in which silent reading is mostly used and referring to silent reading is referring to reading comprehension because reading comprehension is the target of reading activity The author also comments that

if we consider reading as comprehension, the experience of training the reading comprehension skill is very poor

The School Education Quality Assurance Program (SEQAP) is the first and only unit conducting experiment for the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) tool developed by experts of RTI International In Vietnam, a group of experts customized international EGRA for Vietnam and established a tool of reading skill assessment on a large scale since 2013 They pointed out that formation of reading competence undergoes two periods with different goals:

1) Learning to know how to read

2) Reading to serve learning

By this division, pupils of grades 4 and 5 at Primary schools start to step into the period of reading to serve learning

The number of researches on reading comprehension and reading comprehension teaching in the world and in the country is bulky with many profound ideas; however, it can be seen that almost researches are macroscopic and clear theories In Vietnam, finding out optimum measures for competence-based teaching for reading comprehension in a particular subject and class to

assist teachers and pupils at Primary Schools to teach and learn text reading comprehension well with different language styles at grades 4 and 5; especially, non-artistic text reading comprehension teaching has not been mentioned comprehensively and profoundly

1.1.2 Researches on competence and competence-based teaching and education

In the world as well as in Vietnam, there are many authors with many researches on competence and competence approach in teaching and education

In the article Social competence in school learning contents, the author

Dang Thanh Hung affirms that social competence is the integral part in the school learning contents and in the viewpoint of the author, this is the poorest phase in the educational program in our country in the past which must be

absolutely overcome today Next, in the article Competence and

competence-based education, the author presents the conception of competence, structure,

format, type and determines basic issues of the competence-based education

The author Hoang Hoa Binh in the article Competence and competence

structure affirms that competence has two specific characteristics which are

exposure through activity and assurance of efficient activity

In accordance with the author Nguyen Thi Hanh in the article Assessment

standards for reading comprehension competence in Literature after 2015, to

design the assessment standards for reading comprehension competence in Literature in school educational program in Vietnam after 2015, it is necessary to: Determine elements of reading comprehension competence; compile content standards for reading comprehension competence with 6 criteria in 5 phases (grades 1, 2, 3; grades 4 and 5; grades 6 and 7; grades 8 and 9; grades 10, 11, 12); compile performance standards for reading comprehension competence on the basis of concretizing the reading comprehension content standards into assessment indexes

The author Tran Thi Hien Luong in the article Assessment standards for

text establishing competence in Literature at schools affirms that it is necessary

to rely on the assessment standards for text acquiring and establishing competence to assess the language competence of pupils

From the progressive viewpoints of the authors, we position reading comprehension in language competence, particularly text acquiring competence and it is necessary to establish the reading comprehension competence framework as well as determine basic skills to be trained during the formation

of the reading comprehension competence for pupils

1.2 THEORY OF TEACHING TEXT READING COMPREHENSION

AT PRIMARY EDUCATION LEVEL

1.2.1 Some concepts

1.2.1.1 Text

Within the scope of this dissertation, we define text as the product of

writing process with structure, subject and topic constituting a unit such as a story, a poem, a letter or a regulation in writing

1.2.1.2 Reading

Within the scope of the topic, we define reading as the reception and

understanding of language signs and written things On that basis, it is possible

to change into speech with sound (reading aloud) or change into meaning units without sound (silent reading)

1.2.1.3 Comprehension

In our viewpoint, comprehension is the application of intellectual to

identify and explain language signs, thereby connecting, evaluating and applying information to solving learning and life problems

1.2.1.4 Reading comprehension

Within the scope of the topic, we define reading comprehension as the

reading competency at comprehension level and comprehension competency via reading and classify text reading comprehension as two levels:

For the pupils of the 1st grade, 2nd grade and 3rd grade, reading comprehension is the ability to identify and understand text meaning (word,

sentence, paragraph, content and meaning of the text); initially connect, evaluate information (mainly in the text) and apply such information to solving simple problems in learning and life

For the pupils of grades 4 and 5, reading comprehension is the ability to

identify and understand text meaning (word, sentence, paragraph, structure, main messages and important details, layout and summary of the text); on that basis, connect, evaluate information (connecting information in the text and initially connect information outside the text); apply such information to solving some specific problems in learning and life

1.2.2 Psychological characteristics of the pupils of grades 4 and 5 and text reading comprehension

Through studying perception, thinking, imagination, memory, language and attention of the pupils of grades 4 and 5, we have reached some pedagogical conclusions related to text reading comprehension teaching

1.2.3 Text language style and reading comprehension teaching at primary education level

1.2.3.1 Text language style

From concept analysis, in consideration of the texts selected as reading comprehension teaching linguistic data for the pupils of grades 4 and 5 in the current Vietnamese textbook, we classify text into two big groups: art text including poem and prose (story and description), dramatic text and non-art text including administrative text, scientific text, journalistic text, political text and life text

Based on such text classification by linguistic style characteristics, we have classified 118 reading texts in the Vietnamese textbook for grades 4 and 5 Summary result is as follows:

Table 2.1 - Reading text classification for grades 4 and 5

READING TEXT FOR GRADES 4 AND 5

1.3 THEORY OF TEXT READING COMPREHESION TEACHING FOR PRIMARY PUPILS UNDER COMPETENCY APPROACH

1.3.1 Some concepts

1.3.1.1 Competency

Within the scope of this thesis, we choose the competency concept by

author Dang Thanh Hung: Competency is the combination of biological,

psychological and social properties of the individual created by the nature, learning and training, which allows the individual to succeed in a wide range of activities under certain requirement or standard

1.3.1.2 Competency approach

From competency concept, the author Dang Thanh Hung defines

competency approach is an approach to ensure that the teaching focuses on

developing pupil’s competency while basing on fundamental competency of pupils In the experience of pupils, there are always readily or potentially requisites and internal conditions of competency on which teaching must be based to develop pupils Competency approach doesn’t merely means developing competency but firstly basing on the learner’s competency

1.3.2 Competency and competency approach in text reading comprehension teaching for the pupils of grades 4 and 5

From the viewpoints by the scientists on the competency and competency

approach in teaching at Primary education level, in our opinion, text reading comprehension competency for the pupils of grades 4 and 5 is the fact that

pupils apply available experience and instruction by teachers to identify and understand text meaning (word, sentence, paragraph, structure, main messages and important details, layout and summary of the text); on that basis, connect, evaluate information (connecting information in the text and initially connect information outside the text); apply such information to solving some specific problems in learning and life

On that basis, we define text reading comprehension teaching for the pupils

of grades 4 and 5 is a process in which the teacher organizes activities to help

pupils apply available experience to identify and understand text meaning (word, sentence, paragraph, structure, main messages and important details, layout and summary of the text); on that basis, connect, evaluate information (connecting information in the text and initially connect information outside the text); apply such information to solving some specific problems in learning and life

1.3.3 Text reading comprehension competency framework of the pupils of grades 4 and 5

From the above analysis, we define that text reading comprehension competency of the pupils of grades 4 and 5 includes three levels: identification and meaning understanding, connection and evaluation, application of information to problem solving Each level includes component skills: