Insights from an action research project on extensive reading for high school students = Những nhận thức từ một dự án nghiên cứu hành động về việc đọc thêm ở nhà cho học sinh THPT). M.A. Thesis Linguistics: 81401

2.Aims of the study and research questions In conducting this study, the researcher expects to explore the feasibility of using extensive reading as an out-of-class activity for high sc

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E3

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

-* * * -

MAI THI NGỌC UYỂN

INSIGHTS FROM AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON

EXTENSIVE READING FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS (Những nhận thức từ một dự án nghiên cứu hành động về việc đọc thêm ở nhà cho học sinh

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E3

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

-* * * -

MAI THI NGỌC UYỂN

INSIGHTS FROM AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT

ON EXTENSIVE READING FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

(Những nhận thức từ một dự án nghiên cứu hành động về việc đọc thêm ở nhà cho học sinh

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E3

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1.Rationale of the study 1

2.Aims of the study and research questions 2

3 Scope of the research topic 2

4 Significance of the study 2

5 Method of the study 2

6 Organization of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Introduction 4

1.2 Attitude 4

1.2.1 Definition 4

1.2.2 The efffects of attitude in second language learning 5

1.3 A literature review on extensive reading in foreign language learning 6

1.3.1 Empirical studies on extensive reading 7

1.3.2 The role of extensive reading in language education 9

1.3.3 The principles for teaching extensive reading 11

1.4 Benefits of extensive reading 11

1.4.1 Improvement in L2 reading motivation and the development of positive L2 readingattitudes 12

1.4.2 Gains in VocabularyKnowledge 12

1.4.3 Improvement inWriting 13

1.4.4 The Development of ReadingStrategies 13

1.5 Chapter summary 14

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 16

2.1 Research context 16

2.2 Research questions 16

2.3 Research approach 17

2.3.1 An overview of action research 17

2.3.2 Rationale for the use of an action research 18

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E3

2.4 Description of the research 19

2.4.1 Population 19

2.4.2 Data collection instruments 20

2.4.2.1 Questionnaires 20

2.4.3 The action procedures 21

2.4.4 Data collection procedures 23

2.4.4.1 Planning 23

2.4.4.2 Pre-questionnaire 24

2.4.4.3 Questionnaire 24

2.4.4.4 Post – questionnaire 24

2.4.5 Data analysis procedure 24

2.5 Summary 24

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 26

3.1 Initial data and research question 1 26

3.2 Research question 2 27

3.3 Conclusion 37

PART C: CONCLUSION 38

1 Conclusion 38

2 Implications 39

3 Limitations of the study 40

4 Suggestions for further research 41

REFERENCES 42

chapter starts with the rationale of the study Then the aims, hypothesis, scope,

significance and method of the study will be presented

1.Rationale of the study

Reading is an activity that can be considered as a crucial aspect of one's language ability because this skill helps to develop other language skills and provides knowledge on the target language However, many students experience difficulties in comprehending the reading texts These difficulties appear because the students have low motivation and possess limited vocabulary Students today have become more passive and reluctant in regard to reading, doing no more than what is required Educators are concerned about students' disinterest and therefore, are endeavoring to find ways and sources to encourage students to read Moreover, time for reading lesson at high school is limited There are three English lessons every week and there

is only one for reading which means there is not enough time for reading - the most important language skill That is the reason why teachers have to find ways to enhance students to read more That means students have to read extensively

Furthermore, the books we read outside our narrow professional field can have an unpredictable effect on our practice within it So much of what we learn is learned sub-consciously Its effects spread more by infection than by direct injection And it is highly individual Individuals form associative networks among the books they read This results in a kind of personal intertextuality, where the patterns form and re-form as we read more different books This gives us a rich mental yeast which we can use to interact with others, while still retaining our individual take on the texts and the world

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E32

From the important role of exsentive reading, the author wanted to have insights from a extensive reading project for high school students This might help the author recognize the benefits and constraints to students learning English

2.Aims of the study and research questions

In conducting this study, the researcher expects to explore the feasibility of using extensive reading as an out-of-class activity for high school students so that they can improve their English and the teacher-researcher can discover the effects of extensive reading to high school students It is hoped to improve students' extensive reading as well as their language proficiency In addition, this paper was carried out to find out advantages and disadvantages of extensive reading activity Specifically, two main research questions was following addressed:

1 What are the students‟ attitudes towards extensive reading?

2 What are the students‟ perceived benefits and challenges of extensive reading? How do they overcome those challenges?

3 Scope of the research topic

The research project was conducted with a group of 46 students of Grade 10 in Nguyen Binh Khiem high school located in Ha noi The project lasted one school-year (nine months) The research limited itself to the students‟ perceptions of the benefits of extentive reading to their learning English

4 Significance of the study

Once completed, the study is aimed to provide empirical information about the feasibility of extensive reading with EFL high school students via their perceptions of how useful extensive reading was to their learning English This information is helpful

to high school teachers who wish to provide more exposure to English for their students by means of extensive reading

5 Method of the study

An action research approach was adopted in this study because its aim is to provide understanding of how extensive reading works in a particular context of the researcher‟s classroom and students In order to get data, a combination of different

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E33

instruments, namely questionnaire, focus group interviews, is used The data collected through the sets questionnaire will be analyzed by quantitative method, using an ANCOVA (Analysis of Covariance) through SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Science) To complete the research effectively and logically, and researcher‟s diaries are also used to take notes the process carefully

6 Organization of the study

The study consists of three parts:

Part A – Introduction: presents the rationale, aim, scope, significance and method of

the study

Part B – Development: comprises three chapters:

- Chapter 1: Theoretical Background and Literature Review covers the overview

of the literature which includes relevant theoretical background and reviews of related studies concerning extensive reading skill and its effectiveness in language teaching

- Chapter 2: Research Method continues with the research method including the

participants of the study, the instrumentation, the methods and procedures of data collection and data analysis

- Chapter 3: Findings and Discussion demonstrates the findings accompanied by

data analysis and discussion

Part C: Conclusion: recapitulates the major findings of the study and represents

further recommendations

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E34

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Introduction

Reading activity can be regarded as a important aspect to develop the ability in language as well as social interaction, this skill; moreover, helps to develop other language skills and provides knowledge on the target language However, many students seem not to recognize the role of reading activity, they have low motivation and possess limited vocabulary Students today have become more passive and reluctant in regard to reading, doing no more than what is required In this paper, a review of literature in theory and practice on reading is provided First, the definition and role of reading, especially extensive reading in language teaching are introduced Second, benefits were reveales before by some researchers Next, the definition and effect of attitude on language learning are discussed Following this, the studies related

to the subject conducted are reviewed

1.2 Attitude

1.2.1 Definition

According to Longman’s Dictionary of Contemporary English, attitude is "a

way of feeling or thinking about someone or something, especially, as this influences one‟s behavior"

Language attitudes, however, are different from other general attitudes in the sense that they are specifically about language We normally believe that language attitudes are concerned with attitudes with regard to the language itself – its variety, its sound system, its semantic quality and so on and so forth In fact the term language attitude

as it is applied by sociolinguists today, includes the outlook and stance towards speakers of a particular language as also a variety of behavior concerning language

Ellis (2000) mentioned that positive attitudes towards the L2 and its speakers can be expected to enhance learning while negative attitudes impede it Therefore, learner attitudes have an impact on the level of L2 proficiency achieved by individual learners who are themselves influenced by this success Thus, learners with positive attitudes, who experience success, will have these attitudes reinforced Similarly, learners‟ negative attitudes may be strengthened by lack of success (Ellis 2002)

Baker (1988) suggested that attitudes are complex constructs; there may be both positive and negative feelings attached to a language situation According to Lambert (1967), attitudes consist of three components - the cognitive, affective and conative (related to action) components The cognitive component refers to an

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E35

individual‟s belief structure, the affective to emotional reactions and the conative component includes the tendency to behave in a certain way towards the attitude

Wenden (1991) as cited in Atez & Munir (2009) gave a broader definition of the concept "attitude" He claimed that the term "attitudes" includes three components namely, cognitive, affective, and behavioural A cognitive component is comprised of the beliefs and ideas or opinions about the object of the attitude The affective one is made up of the feeling and emotions that one has towards an object, "likes" or

"dislikes", "with" or "against" Finally, the behavioural component refers to one's consisting actions or behavioural intentions towards the object

To sum up, attitude is a mental and neural state, expressing the individual's responses to an object, a person, a thing or an event

1.2.2 The efffects of attitude in second language learning

The concept of learners' attitude has been the focus of attention in explanation and investigation of human behavior offered by social psychologists Attitude is usually defined as a disposition or tendency to respond positively or negatively towards a certain thing such as an idea, object, person, or situation A large number of studies have investigated the relationship between attitude and proficiency in the language (Bachman, 1990; Coleman, Strafield, and Hagan, 2003) Gardner (1985) believed that attitude and other affective variables are as important as aptitude for language achievement

According to Ismet (2005), attitude is one of "the determinants of success in EFL learning" Depending on the learners' attitudes, learning language can be a source of enrichment or a source of resentment Positive attitudes towards L2 is beneficial to L2 learners because positive attitudes help to create motivation to achieve success in acquiring that language (Holmes, 1992); whereas, negative attitudes towards the foreign language and group which often comes from stereotypes, can impede the learning of that language (Brown, 2000)

In sum, from these studies into the learners' attitudes towards L2 learning, it can be concluded that learners' attitudes play a significant role in enabling learners effectively Having positive or negative attitudes towards a certain language can exert considerable influence upon their performance on the language itself Consequently, L2 teachers need to take learners' attitudes into consideration Teachers should be aware of a positive correlation between language learners' attitude and language proficiency This awareness can help language teachers make decision about their

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E36

teaching, and this decision making can call for some teaching implications which refer

to teaching practice orientation to learners' attitudes

1.3 A literature review on extensive reading in foreign language learning

Extensive reading, free reading, book flood, or reading for pleasure is a way

of language learning, including foreign language learning, through large amounts of reading As well as facilitating acquisition and learning of vocabulary, it is believed to increase motivation through positive affective benefits The promotion of extensive reading in foreign language learning is based on the assumption that extensive exposure to language input willhelp develop many aspects of language Ithas now been well-established that ER has a positive impact on cognitive and affectivedomains of reading in L2 (Yamashita, 2015) Scholars (e.g Krashen,1989) claim that reading alone will increase encounters with unknown words, bringing learning opportunities

by inferencing The learner's encounters with unknown words in specific contexts will allow the learner to infer and thus learn those words' meanings While the mechanism

is commonly accepted as true, its importance in language learning is disputed (Cobb

2007)

In language learning, extensive reading is contrasted with intensive reading,

which is slow, careful reading of a small amount of difficult text – it is when one is

"focused on the language rather than the text" Extensive and intensive reading are two approaches to language learning and instruction, and may be used concurrently Intensive reading is however the more common approach, and often the only one used

Both intensive and extensive readings are important and necessary for effective readings, and they are complementary to each other To be an efficient reader, one must carry on both these two processes, as Williams (1986: 44) suggests, “For every hour of intensive reading, a learner should be doing at least another hour of extensive reading.” Davis (1995: 329) defines an extensive reading as a supplementary class library scheme, attached to an English course, in which pupils are given the time, encouraged, and materials to read pleasurably, at their own level, as many books as are only competing against themselves As for extensive reading as an informal reading habit, it is something that the educated blend and stretch their formal-education-induced ER into their future lives for profit (in terms of gaining knowledge) alone or pleasure alone or both (Lakshminarayanan 2015)

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E37

1.3.1 Empirical studies on extensive reading

Many researchers have investigated the effect of extensive reading programs

in ESL/EFL contexts over the last three decades Elley and Mangubhai (1983) conducted an important study in the 1980s Their research explored the effects of a reading-based program, the so called “Book Flood,” on the development of second language receptive skills Subjects were 380 pupils in Classes 4 and 5 (9-11 years old) enrolled in 12 rural schools in Fiji The study took place over the course of 8 months This study compared two Book Flood groups (the Shared Book Experience

group)andthecontrolgroup.IntheSharedBookExperiencemethod,theteacherread aloud

a high-interest story to students and implemented follow-up activities such as role- playing or art work The Silent Reading method had students read self-selected books silently for 20-30 minutes in class No follow-up activities were required The control group followed a regular audio-lingual program For the pre- and post-tests,

the authors used the STAF Reading Comprehension test that contained 32 choice items, the English Structures Test with 20 open-ended items (for Class 5) and

multiple-35 multiple choice items (for Class 4), the English Composition Test that required students to complete a short story, and the interview-based Word Recognition Test

Their result showed that the Book Flood groups surpassed the control group in reading comprehension, and also demonstrated 15 months of reading growth in only

8 months The Book Flood groups improved their reading comprehension skills at over twice the normal rate

In the years following Elley and Mangubhai‟s work, many researchers investigated the impact of extensive reading on various areas Specifically, they explored how extensive reading influences L2 learners‟ reading comprehension, reading rate, and reading fluency Another area the researchers were interested in was how learners‟ L2 reading motivation and attitudes toward L2 reading changed after participating in an extensive reading program Some researchers explored each area independently, and others examined both areas in a singleexperiment

Hafiz and Tudor (1990) examined the effect of a 90-hour extensive reading program that used only graded readers on the fluency, accuracy, and range of L2 structures Subjects were 25 male secondary school pupils (15-16 years old) in Pakistan The experimental group read self-selected graded readers for 40 minutes a day for 23 weeks The comparison group, however, only received normal English instruction To measure the effect of the reading program, six 30-minute writing tests were used as

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E38

pre-, during-,andpost-tests.Theessayswrittenforwritingtestswereanalyzedaccordingto the following categories: writing readiness, vocabulary range, syntactic maturity, and accuracy of expression

Results showed that the experimental group made significant improvement in writing readiness (the total number of words written), vocabulary base (the number of separate words used) and accuracy of expressions, but showed no real improvement in syntactic maturity The authors argue that improvement in writing readiness and vocabulary base enabled the experimental group to develop L2 reading fluency Furthermore, the experimental group demonstrated dramatic progress in accuracy in terms of the grammatical structure of utterances, lexical choices, and spelling accuracy However, the experimental group showed similar or slightly lower development in syntactic maturity than the control group The authors suggest that a reduction in the complexity

of the graded readers caused the decline in syntactic maturity Therefore, extensive reading results in strong gains in fluency and accuracy in L2 competence However, the use of graded readers can limit the development of syntactic features in L2 due to their simplified syntactic structures theyoffer

Nishino (2007) presented a longitudinal case study on the reading strategies and motivation of 2 Japanese middle school students beginning to read extensively

in English During the 2.5-year study, the researcher conducted four interviews with each student, gave tests regularly, and observed participant behavior during the reading sessions Students, Fumi and Mako had a 15-minute reading session four times a week with the researcher They read graded readers as well as three authentic

books: Harry Potter 4, Harry Potter 5, and Stravaganza The researcher responded

to their questions, assisted with their book choices, and added vocabulary glosses to several books Interviews and observations indicated that students used a variety of reading strategies and that these strategies changed as they read more books However, the participants used different strategies depending on their individual learning styles when they came across unknown words Furthermore, the extensive reading program enhanced the two girls‟ intrinsic motivation to do L2 reading However, this study shows that the learners‟ motivation can decrease when they lose interest in L2 reading materials

Different from the researchers who utilized printed L2 reading materials in their ER program, Arnold (2009) investigated the affective and linguistic benefits of

an online extensive reading program in German as a foreign language Eight students in an advanced composition and conversation class for German

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E39

participated in this study The class met twice a week for 75 minutes Over the course of the study, the students participated in seven extensive reading sessions in the computer lab They could read anything of interest Quantitative data sources were mostly multiple-choice and Likert-scale questions on the reading questionnaire, exit questionnaire, and reading reports Results showed that this online extensive reading program positively affected students‟ language proficiency and motivation The students reported an average 3.95 score (on a scale from 1 to 5) about how much they enjoyed reading the texts In their reflections, the students reported that they adjusted their reading strategies depending on the text In addition, they said that they applied specific reading strategies, such as bottom-up (e.g., morphological strategies) and top-down strategies, to deal with unknown lexical items All students reported that they gained confidence in their reading ability and that their self-efficacy increased after they successfully finished reading the text in German According to Arnold, this online extensive reading program helped learners increase their motivation to read, raised their confidence in their ability to read L2 texts, improved their reading ability, and encouraged them to read for pleasure

Thanks to to the above empirical researchs on extensive reading, it is easily recognized the role ofextensive reading in improving learning English as foreign language as well as other skills ER also has a positive influence on the affective domains, including motivation and reading attitude The important empirical studies

on L2 extensive reading also show the impact of extensive reading on overall L2

competence, reading rate, fluency, reading motivation, and attitude towardreading 1.3.2 The role of extensive reading in language education

Various studies already exist in support of extensive reading Bell (1998) stated that extensive reading provides substantial linguistic input which is needed for language acquisition and thus helps develop learners' linguistic competence Many researchers point out the importance of extensive reading, the positive effects of extensive reading

in students' reading comprehension They suggest that one of the best ways to help students increase their language proficiency is to encourage them to read extensively Through experiencing language in context, extensive reading is a very effective way of reinforcing, confirming and deepening knowledge of vocabulary, structures, and of developing an implicit understanding of when and how words are used (Nation, 1997 and Cady, 1997 cited in Mutoh, Bamford and Helgesen, 1998) And motivation is stimulated by combining the pleasure of "a good read" with the satisfaction of

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E310

accomplishing a meaningful task in the target language It is also a widely held belief among supporters of extensive reading that, by eliminating follow-up testing and exhorting students to aim for general understanding rather than detailed comprehension, they gradually learn to read without word-by-word decoding at the sentence level Carrell (1998) stated that the goal is to turn "learning to read into reading to learn"

Strong (1996) also stated that "extensive reading of literature can encourage students

to develop positive attitudes toward reading"

Bell (2011) has clearly identified the role of extensive reading in language education as follows:

It can provide "comprehensible input"

It can enhance learners' general language competence

It increases the students' exposure to the language

It can increase knowledge of vocabulary

It can lead to improvement in writing

It can motivate learners to read

It can consolidate previously learned language

It helps to build confidence with extended text

It encourages the exploitation of textual redundancy

It facilitates the promotion of prediction skills

The benefits of extensive reading, therefore, extend beyond the acquisition of reading fluency Krashen (2004) claimed that "Reading is good for you Reading is the only way, the only way we become good readers, develop a good writing style, an adequate vocabulary, advanced grammar, and the only way we become good spellers."

According to Krashen (2004), "What makes it [extensive reading] far more compelling is that extensive reading not only develops reading skill but also benefits a whole range of other language skills, boosts confidence and motivation and improve overall attitude Reading in this sense has to be seen holistically as a crucial part of students' total development, not as some separate skill."

To sum up, many studies have shown that extensive reading has positive effects not only on students' reading comprehension skill but also on a variety of language skills and language development It has been claimed that free voluntary reading or sustained independent reading results in better reading comprehension, writing style, vocabulary, spelling, and grammatical development

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E311

1.3.3 The principles for teaching extensive reading

Extensive reading can be a major benefit for students in several ways Reading fluency, general language competency, general knowledge, vocabulary size, learning autonomy, and motivation to continue learning can all be improved or augmented if students engage in extensive reading (Petrimoulx 1988, Flaspeter 1995, Day & Bamford 1998, Luna, Urbanski, & White 2002, Hitosugi & Day 2004, Reynolds & Bai

2013, Ro 2013, Mermelstein 2014) Day and Bamford‟s (2002) Top ten principles for

teaching extensive reading remain foundational for teachers and researchers wanting

to make progress in the field of L2 reading, and extensive reading specifically

The ten principles, briefly, are as follows: In an extensive reading program…

1 The reading material is easy

2 There must be a wide variety of reading material on a large range of topics

3 Students choose what they want to read

4 Learners read as much as possible

5 The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information, and general understanding

6 Reading is its own reward

7 Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower

8 Reading is individual and silent

9 Teachers orient and guide their students

10 The teacher is a role model of a reader

Much of the literature in ER research involves discussion as to how to actually implement these ten principles How can these principles be turned into a real, functional program that will benefit students? Are these immutable rules that must be followed at all cost? Is there room for flexibility depending on the context? Is more clarification on the principles necessary? Is there a hierarchy among the principles? Is

it even realistically possible to implement all of these principles in an ER program? The trend, as evidenced by the literature, seems to be that teachers use the ten principles as guidelines and tweak the rules to fit their particular needs The areas of agreement seem to be that students should be reading a lot, at their own level, with freedom to choose a variety of texts

1.4 Benefits of extensive reading

The aforementioned empirical studies reveal several benefits of extensive reading including improvement of motivation, development of reading comprehension and

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E312

reading speed, vocabulary growth, writing progress, and reading strategy development

1.4.1 Improvement in L2 reading motivation and the development of positive L2 readingattitudes

According to Wigfield and Guthrie (1997), students who are intrinsically motivated read more, and students with greater exposure to reading materials see improved comprehension and vocabulary growth Furthermore, Guthrie and Wigfielf (2000) argues that students with high intrinsic motivation, a learning goal orientation, and high self-efficacy are relatively active readers and high achievers Mason and Krashen (1997) also found that once struggling and reluctant students developed into eager readers while participating in an extensive reading program Moreover, according to Day and Bamford (1998), positive attitudes can motivate students to read in the second language and learn about the cultures and people who speak the language Studies also found that extensive reading had a positive influence on attitudes towards L2 reading (Arnold, 2009; Hayashi, 1999; Lao & Krashen, 2000; Robb & Susser, 1989) Therefore, extensive reading experiences promote learners‟ intrinsic motivation and develop positive attitudes towards L2 reading, which are important factors in the development of skilled L2 reading

1.4.2Gains in VocabularyKnowledge

Extensive reading is one of the most valuable methods for learners to improve their vocabulary Grabe (1988) points out that fluent readers need “a massive receptive vocabulary that is rapidly, accurately, and automatically accessed” (p 63) Therefore, the lack of such a vocabulary may be the greatest impediment to fluent reading for ESL students In addition, Nagy and Herman (1987, cited in Day & Bamford (1998), p 17) also maintain that incidental learning of words during reading may be the single easiest and most powerful means of promoting large-scale vocabulary growth Horst (2005) showed that extensive reading helps learners expand their vocabulary Furthermore, participants gained new knowledge, learning more than half of the unfamiliar words that occurred in their extensive reading materials In studies by Lao and Krashen (2000) and Hayashi (1999), the extensive reading group made significant gains in vocabulary growth Taken together, these empirical studies support the value of extensive reading in ESL/EFL contexts Therefore, reading large amounts of comprehensible and interesting texts helps learners achieve a richervocabulary

to better comprehension It may be that students realize that writing is a useful way

to improve their understanding of readings Based on these studies, it can be argued that extensive reading can improve L2 writing proficiency and, when combined written activities, extensive reading can motivate learners‟ to keepreading

1.4.4 The Development of ReadingStrategies

Extensive reading improves L2 learners‟ reading strategies Grabe (2009) argues that reading is an interactive process between the reader and the text It requires sufficient knowledge of language, of the world, and of a given topic When readers have sufficient knowledge of a given text and language, they may discover their own strategies to understand the meaning of the text Reading many different kinds of books and articles in the L1 and L2 may give L2 learners rich background knowledge and the means to guess the meaning of unknown words based on context Hayashi (1999) also found that the extensive reading group showed a remarkable change in their reading strategies The use of bottom-up strategies such

as “use of dictionary” and “translation to L1” decreased at the later stages of extensive reading, while the use of top-down strategies such as

“guessingfromcontext”increased.Inaddition,Nishino(2007)indicatedthathistwo

participants, Mako and Fumi, developed reading strategies such as “grouping words” and “using background knowledge” during the extensive reading program Therefore, extensive reading has a positive impact on the development of L2 reading strategies

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E314

Extensive reading, therefore, is believed to have considerable benefits for learners both in terms of learning gains and motivation and seems to be becoming ever more popular in the ELT world (Brown, D 2009) Extensive reading has been proclaimed as, „the single most effective way to improve language proficiency‟ (Maley 2005: 354 quoted in Brown) Extensive reading is thought to lead to considerable learning gains in the areas of reading, writing, vocabulary learning, and overall proficiency while also increasing motivation (Day and Bamford 1998 quoted

in Brown) A substantial body of research has shown that extensive reading has considerable benefits Day and Bamford summarize a number of investigations into the effects of extensive reading thus, „Students increased their reading ability in the target language, developed positive attitudes toward reading, had increased motivation

to read, and made gains in various aspects of proficiency in the target language, including vocabulary and writing‟ (Brown, D 2009)

Although many studies report the positive impact of ER, this approach is still not widely practiced in ESL/EFL classrooms Tanaka (2007) pointed out several ER implementation problems in EFL contexts such as Korea and Japan First, it is difficult for L2 teachers to include supplementary classroom activities for ER beyond the content prescribed in nationally authorized textbooks Most high school teachers focus on intensive reading, concentrating on grammar and vocabulary in relatively short texts Sometimes, the class ends up demanding a translation of the passage into their native language Nuttall (1996) calls it “the vicious circle of reading”: “reading slowly, not enjoying reading, not reading much, and not understanding” (p 127) Inaddition, teachers and administrators have difficulties

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E315

implementing ER programs in many EFL contexts because of cost, time, and the lack

of trained teachers However, particularly in input-poor EFL settings, extensive reading should be implemented inside and outside the classroom That is, increasing the amount of exposure to a target language is an important way for learners to improve their L2 competence Therefore, L2 instructors need to find a way to provide their learners with opportunities to read more extensively in their curricula and to implement their own ER program according to their L2 learning environments

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E316

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter provides an overview of action research, the current situation where the author conducts the studyand a description of the methodology employed to collect data for the study

2.1 Research context

It is a fact that English teaching and learning in Vietnamese high schools has recently changedsignificantly.Vietnamese students start studying English as early as middle school, with many even learning it in elementary school or kindergarten – just like many other countries where it is spoken as a second language – but few of them can use the language fluently or correctly when they leave high school As a teacher in

a high school, the author found that students at high schooldo not often do extensive reading to raise general knowledge,widen vocabulary or improve their reading skills Extensive reading seems to be a luxurious activity for them When interviewed, the students claimed that reading was a difficult skill for them They do not have much time to do extensive reading Moreover; they are not sure that do extensive reading can help them improve their English tests or examinations In addition, teachers, in almost cases, never used any reading materials rather than those in the textbooks due to time limitation as they stated These reasons constitute the motivation for this study

The author conducted this study at Nguyen Binh Khiem High School in Cau Giay district, Hanoi where all the students have learned English for about 7 years and have three English classes per week and half of them have one optional lesson every week

The textbook series English 4 to English 10 is taught and the students have to take the

entrance exam including English as a compulsory subject The physical condition of the school can provide a supportive environment for language teaching and learning with favorable facilities such as rooms equipped with overhead projector, screen, loud speakers, CD and CD player

2.2 Research questions

As previously mentioned in the introduction part, this study aims to deal with these two research questions

1 What are the students‟ attitudes towards extensive reading?

2 What are the students‟ perceived benefits and challenges of extensive reading? How do they overcome those challenges?

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E317

2.3 Research approach

2.3.1 An overview of action research

Action research is known by many other names, including participatory research, collaborative inquiry, emancipatory research, action learning, and contextural action research, but all are variations on a theme Put simply, action research is “learning by doing” - a group of people identify a problem, do something to resolve it, see how successful their efforts were, and if not satisfied, try again While this is the essence of the approach, there are other key attributes of action research that differentiate it from common problem-solving activities that we all engage in every day

Action researchaims to contribute both to the practical concerns of people in an immediate problematic situation and to further the goals of social science simultaneously Thus, there is a dual commitment in action research to study a system and concurrently to collaborate with members of the system in changing it in what is together regarded as a desirable direction Accomplishing this twin goal requires the active collaboration of researcher and client, and thus it stresses the importance of co-

learning as a primary aspect of the research process ( Thomas Gilmore,1986)

The term “action research” refers to two dimensions of activity: the word

“research” in “action research” refers to a systematic approach to carrying out investigations and collecting information that is designed to illuminate an issue or problem and to improve classroom practice, meanwhile the word “action” refers to taking practical action to resolve classroom problems (Richards, 2005) Therefore, action research achieves both action (change or improve) and research (understanding)

According to Cohen and Manion (2007), action research is “small-scale intervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects

of such intervention.”

Kemmis and Mc Taggart (1988) identify three characteristics of an action research, which are: “carried out by practitioners”, “collaborative” and “aimed at changing things”

Tsui (1993) suggested 5 steps in conducting action research: 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 keeping a diary of what happened in the class; and Evaluating the try-out Whereas

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E318

Nunan (1992) defines the framework of a research as consisting of seven steps as follows:

- Step 1: Initiation (Identify the problem)

- Step 2: Preliminary investigation (Collect data through a variety of means)

- Step 3: Hypothesis (Develop research questions)

- Step 4: Intervention (Devise strategies and innovation to be implemented)

- Step 5: Evaluation (Collect data again and analyze it to work out the findings)

- Step 6: Dissemination (Report the result by running workshops or issuing a paper)

- Step 7: Follow-up (Find alternative methods to solve the same problem)

Different from Tsui, Nunan (1992) suggested that teachers should observe and make notes on what their learners said and did in class, and then, based on these observations, identified positive ways to bring about this change

A necessary component of action research is collaboration among different people They are teachers, their colleagues and students, who should be willing to talk with each other about the problems and find out the solutions together, as well as help each other in implementing classroom–centered action research projects It also needs the collaborative efforts of students who participate in the action research project Students‟ collaboration plays an important role in the success of the action research project

In this study, the researcher followed Nunan's action research model and students' pretest and posttest scores from the two groups of students were calculated by using ANCOVA through SPSS

2.3.2 Rationale for the use of an action research

Action research is an approach to improving education by changing it and

learning from the consequences of changes Besides, It develops through the reflective spiral which includes cycles of planning, acting(implementing,observing, reflecting, replanning, reacting, reobserving and so on One good way to begin an action research project is to collect some initial data in an area of general interest , then

self-to reflect , and then self-to make a plan for the changed action Another way self-to begin is self-to make an exploratory change, collect data of what happens, reflect and then build more

refined plans for action In both cases, issues and understandings, on the one hand, and the practices themselveson the other, develop and evolve through the action

research process However, it would make better sense if we start with issues that affect us in carrying out our professional responsibilities.(http://wikieducator.org)

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E319

Cohen and Manion (2007) state that the aim of action research is to improve the current state of affairs within educational context in which the research is carried out Koshy (2005) also maintains that action research is a powerful and useful model for practitioner research because research can be set within a specific context or situation and researchers can be participants - they do not have to be distant and detached from the situation

Whenever teachers in general and teachers of English in particular identifies a problem which is happening in the class, it is his/her task to find ways to solve that problem Therefore, action research is inevitably a very common practice

As a teacher of English,a practitioner, I carried out this research to recognize and observe a real problem in the classes that my colleagues and I taught in the past few school years Most of the students appeared to poorly participate in reading lessons Many of them are passive and unenthusiastic because they may lack background knowledge about and vocabulary related to the topic of the reading texts This research was conducted with a desire to have insights from extensive reading

so that the author can build a long-term, sustainable plan for students This possible improvement would help them have inspiration of engaging more into the lessons in class With this view, this research meets the definition of action research as aiming at changing things for the better This is also an action study because it was conducted in the real context of my classroom, aimed at professional development through changing my methods of teaching to raise students‟ extensive reading ability

2.4 Description of the research

2.4.1 Population

The researcher, an English teacher, recruited around 46 students from class 10 D1

at Nguyen Binh Khiem high school from October to March of the school year

2017-2018 The participants of the research were selected on the basis of simple random sampling Using simple random sampling method, the researcher ensured that the students of the sample have characteristics similar to the population as a whole

The students participating in the study are at the age of 15 and all of them had studied English formally from grade 3 to grade 10 They are non-English major students These students had a similar level because they had took part in an entrance exam when they started high school However, some of them really interest in learning English, they sometimes borrow English books from library to read The rests received the same classroom instruction, with the only difference being that the experimental

Student: Mai Thị Ngọc Uyển K25 - QH2016.1.E320

group was given supplementary materials related to the course topics for extensive reading outside of class whereas the control group was asked to follow the reading exercises given in students‟ workbook That means they were taught with traditional method

The experimental group was asked to read 5 texts within 10 weeks , the length of each text is about 200-350 words Teachers selectedtopics that are at a suitable level and can be read at a manageable time to help students with their reading skills Of course students can choose the reading materials that they feel comfortable with, but for the study purpose and convenience, the instructor selected readings for the experimental group

2.4.2 Data collection instruments

In order to ensure the validity of this study, a number of different instruments were implemented, which are both qualitative and quantitative All of these instruments were finished in class

In this study, the questionnaires were to get the information on their attitudes toward extensive reading, and recognize the benefits and constraints from extensive reading for EFL high school students This will help the author give students some methods to overcome constraints and motivate them in extensive reading

Questionnaires in this study include a Pre-questionnaire that was distributed to all participants at the start of the investigation The Pre-questionnaire (see Appendix I) consists of 4 items which was designed to elicit information concerning the participants‟ background information and knowledge of English, the level of students‟ interest, their needs and expectations in reading lessons

Moreover, 5questionnaire sets for 5 reading texts in APPENDIX II and APPENDIX III carried out in 10 weeks ask students to commplete after doing