A study on the use of New English File Elementary to teach speaking skills to first-year students at the Military Technical Academy

The findings from the study showed that extensive reading had a positive effect on learners‟ vocabulary acquisition and that there was a significant change in the students‟ attitude towa

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

SẦM THỊ LOAN

A study on improving first-year students’ vocabulary through extensive reading at Hanoi University of Business and Technology

Nghiên cứu về cải thiện từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất thông qua việc đọc mở rộng tại trường Đại học Kinh doanh và

Công nghệ Hà Nội

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2015

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

*****************

SẦM THỊ LOAN

A study on improving first-year students’ vocabulary through extensive reading at Hanoi University of Business and Technology

Nghiên cứu về cải thiện từ vựng cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất thông qua việc đọc mở rộng tại trường Đại học Kinh doanh và

Công nghệ Hà Nội

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Trần Hoài Phương

HANOI – 2015

DECLARATION

I certify that the thesis entitled “A study on improving first-year students’

vocabulary through extensive reading at Hanoi University of Business and Technology” is my own research requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at

the Faculty of Post Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

Signature

Sam Thi Loan

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Dr Tran Hoai Phuong, my supervisor for her encouragement and inspirational review during this process of writing the thesis Without her precious support and invaluable guidance, this thesis would never have been completed

Besides, I would like to thank the authority of Hanoi University of Business

and Technology for allowing me to carry out this study and thank my colleagues and all the students in class KT 19-05 for their participation in the study process Finally, an honorable mention goes to my families and friends for their assistance and support for me in completing this thesis

ABSTRACT

Vocabulary plays an important role in second language learning process However, for most of Vietnamese students in general and learners at Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT) in particular, vocabulary seems to

be one of the most difficult problems in learning English As a result, the researcher planned to conduct an extensive reading program as a mean of vocabulary improvement for first-year students at HUBT The study was carried out in the form

of an action research study on 30 students of class KT 19-05 Before the implementation, a questionnaire was used to collect information from the students

to identify the problem and the causes of the problem The collected data were analyzed to confirm the assumption that the lack of vocabulary really existed, and the cause of this problem was due to students‟ limited reading in class as well as at home

Inspired by positive results in studies about extensive reading, the researcher created a plan of action in which graded readers were used for extensive reading The action plan was implemented in 10 weeks‟ time Then, the data were collected from various sources, including questionnaires, a pre-test, a post-test and book reports from students The findings from the study showed that extensive reading had a positive effect on learners‟ vocabulary acquisition and that there was a significant change in the students‟ attitude towards extensive reading Based on the findings of the study, some discussion and limitations were presented along with some important pedagogy of implications

Despite the limitations, it is hoped that the study can be used as a reference

as well as a source of useful information for other teachers who wish to utilize extensive reading in their class concrete context

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES vii

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aim of the study and research questions 3

3 Scope and significance of the Study 3

4 Method of the Study 4

5 Design of the Study 4

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 6

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

1.1 Vocabulary 6

1.1.1 The Notions of Vocabulary 6

1.1.2 The place of vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning 6

1.1.3 Approaches to Vocabulary Acquisition 7

1.2 Extensive reading 8

1.2.1 Extensive reading and intensive reading 8

1.2.2 Definitions of extensive reading 9

1.2.3 The basic principles of extensive reading 10

1.2.4 The relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension 11

1.3 Reading materials 12

1.3.1 Authentic materials 12

1.3.2 Simplified materials 13

1.4 Graded readers 15

1.4.1 What are graded readers? 15

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 18

2.1 Research Questions 18

2.2 Description of Participants 18

2.3 Materials 19

2.4 Rationale for using action research 19

2.5 Data collection instrument 21

2.5.1 Questionnaire 21

2.5.2 Book report 22

2.5.3 Tests 22

2.5.4 Process of action research in this study 23

2.6 Data analysis method 24

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 26

3.1 The students‟ vocabulary levels 26

3.1.1 Results from learners‟ survey questionnaire 26

3.1.2 Results of the pre-test 31

3.1.3 Results of the post-test 32

3.2 Data collected from the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale 33

3.3 Students‟ attitude towards extensive reading 34

3.3.1 Data collected from the book report 34

3.3.2 The students‟ overall attitude toward reading materials 34

3.3.3 The students‟ opinions on the level of difficulty of reading material 36

3.3.4 Students‟ strategies to deal with new words 38

3.4 Data collected from attitude questionnaire 40

3.5 Discussion of research questions 42

3.5.1 Learners‟ vocabulary levels 42

3.5.2 The reasons for their performance on the vocabulary test 43

3.5.3 Positive effects of extensive reading on learners‟ vocabulary acquisition 43

3.5.4 Learners‟ attitude towards extensive reading 44

3.5.5 Other findings from the project 44

PART III: CONCLUSION 45

1 Implications 45

2 Limitations 46

3 Conclusion 46

REFERENCES 48 APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONAIRE I Appendix 2: PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA KHẢO SÁT III Appendix 3: THE ATTITUDE QUESTIONAIRE V Appendix 4: THE ATTITUDE QUESTIONAIRE VI Appendix 5 : THE VOCABULARY PRE-TEST VII Appendix 6 : THE VOCABULARY POST-TEST VIII Appendix 7: THE POST-TEST (second measure) X Appendix 8: BOOK REPORT XIX Appendix 9: The list of graded reading stories & articles students read in the project XXI Appendix 10: The list of words marked YES, NS or NO in the pretest XXII Appendix 11: The list of words marked YES, NS or NO in the posttest XXIII Appendix 12: A sample of a lesson plan……… XXV

LIST OF TABLE AND FIGURES

Table 1.1: Number of word families at each graded reader level 15

Table 3.1: The students‟ self-assessment of their vocabulary knowledge 26

Table 3.2: Activities through which students learn English vocabulary most 26

Table 3.3: Learners‟ solutions when meeting a new word 27

Table 3.4: Students‟ opinions on the time for reading in class 28

Table 3.5: Students‟ opinion on the number of readings in their course book in class 28

Table 3.6: Students‟ habits of reading materials in English outside classroom 28

Table 3.7: Reading topics chosen by the students 29

Table 3.8: Students‟ attitude about being asked to read stories outside class 30

Table 3.9: The result of YES-marked words in the pre-test 31

Table 3.10: The results of YES-marked words the post-test in terms of 20 additional words 32

Table 3.11: Sample item requiring demonstration of word knowledge 33

Table 3.12: An overview of descriptive statistics obtained from the questionnaire responses 40

Figure 2.1: Action Research Cycle (McBride & Sckostak, 1989) 21

Figure 3.1: The students‟ overall attitude towards the reading materials 35

Figure 3.2: Students‟ opinion on the level of difficulty of the reading materials 36

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

Founded in 1996 with the original name of Hanoi Private University of Management and Business, Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT) has grown considerably in recent years and is becoming one of the most prestigious private universities in Vietnam At present, the university offers courses in three educational levels: College, Bachelor and Master with 15 different academic areas including Business Management, Trading Business, Tourism Business, Finance,

Banking, Accounting, Information Technology, and Architecture and so on The

university continues to pursue the goal of providing its undergraduate and graduate students with a practice-oriented education Every graduate with an HUBT degree is expected to master their professional knowledge, be proficient in using computer and especially be able to communicate in English in daily life situations as well as

in business environment

In order to meet the above demand, the university management board has put much emphasis on the teaching and learning of English, which is one of the crucial factors contributing to the success of both students and the university Consequently, HUBT spends a large volume of time teaching English for students from the first year to the third year The first-year students are expected to gain A2 level based on the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) after finishing the second term, before learning ESP (English for Specific Purposes) and TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) For this reason, the first year students are required to learn at least 240 compulsory periods of English in the first and second terms at the university Every week, the students have eight periods of English lessons; each is 45 minutes long The major course book used for students

is Market leader (Elementary– 3rd edition by David Cotton, David Falvey and Simon Kent, the 2013 edition) Each unit of the book includes a wide range of activities: Vocabulary, Reading, Listening, Language review (Grammar) and Skills, and Case study (Speaking)

Among these activities, the researcher paid much attention to the Reading section because in a recent conference of the English Department discussing the course

book Market leader Elementary, most of the English teachers teaching this material

agreed that the book is the most authentic and updated Business English materials and it may meet the needs of teaching and learning English at HUBT to some extent However, only one or two short reading texts, which are about 100 – 300 words long with 10 – 15 new words are too few for students to read each week, so the amount of vocabulary the students read is not sufficient for them to become good readers Therefore, it is necessary to provide students with more reading materials to read, which helps the students not only develop reading habit but also enhance their English vocabulary

Based on the observation and experience from teaching English at HUBT, the researcher found that many students have difficulties in expressing their own ideas because of the English vocabulary deficiency even though they had learnt English for at least three years at high schools prior to going to the university Besides, after discussions with other colleagues as well as learners, it seems that the students‟ shortage of vocabulary was due to the two following reasons: firstly, most of the learners at HUBT usually have a habit of acquiring new vocabulary from short passages in textbooks or from their teachers during classroom lessons However, these sources provide learners with only a small amount of vocabulary, which is not enough for them to read well in English Secondly, students‟ vocabulary learning method is not very efficient Learners only think of vocabulary learning as knowing the primary meaning of new words, and they are not aware of all other functions of the words They only learn the Vietnamese translation of unfamiliar English lexical items in isolation by writing on paper, trying to learn them by heart whereas the vocabulary is difficult since most of them are business English If they do not develop a habit of learning vocabulary in contexts they may not to know how to use vocabulary appropriately

In the process of trying different vocabulary teaching strategies and techniques, the researcher found that reading is a suitable way for students to enhance their vocabulary As Lougheed (2008: 4) claims “One of the best ways to improve your vocabulary is to read, and read often” The advantage of learning and enhancing vocabulary through reading is that students can understand word meanings and can use the words in concrete contexts Moreover, the literature shows a positive role of extensive reading in improving students‟ motivation to read and enriching vocabulary acquisition (Horst, 2005: 356; Soltani: 2011: 61; Morgado, 2009: 31-32, Pazhakh & Soltani, 2010: 387) In addition, extensive reading is still the missing ingredient in the EFL context of HUBT

From this real situation, the idea of applying extensive reading as a mean of boosting students‟ vocabulary came to my mind It led me to do this study entitled

“A study on improving first-year students‟ vocabulary through extensive reading at Hanoi University of Business and Technology” This study is expected to help my students enrich their vocabulary

2 Aim of the study and research questions

The research aims to find out whether extensive reading has good effects improving

first-year students‟ vocabulary at HUBT or not as well as the students‟ attitudes

toward the extensive reading activities Especially, it is aimed at answering the research questions as follows:

1 What are students’ vocabulary levels?

2 What are the reasons underlying their performance on the vocabulary test?

3 To what extent can extensive reading enhance students’ vocabulary acquisition?

4 What are the students’ attitudes toward the extensive reading activities in their program?

3 Scope and significance of the Study

The present study was conducted on first-year students who were not specialized in English After 10 weeks of applying extensive reading, the researcher hoped that the research would help to enhance the students‟ vocabulary knowledge and develop

their positive attitude towards extensive reading If this research is successful, it will significantly contribute to an improvement in teaching and learning English at HUBT

4 Method of the Study

To find the answers to the above research questions, an action research design has been adopted

- A survey questionnaire was used as an instrument to investigate students‟ vocabulary levels and their topics of interest

- An attitude questionnaire was used to measure the effects of extensive reading on learners‟ vocabulary acquisition as well as the learners‟ attitude towards this activity

- A vocabulary pretest and a vocabulary posttest were administered on 30 students to measure the differences in students‟ vocabulary acquisition

- Eight book reports were used to monitor students‟ reading and examine how the students liked the stories and articles, and how they dealt with the meanings of new words Every week, after reading two stories or articles the students were required to complete a book report

5 Design of the Study

This study is divided into three main parts Each part deals with different aspects of the study:

Part one presents an overview of the study in which the rationale for the research,

the aims, the research questions, the scope and significance of the study, the research method as well as the design of the study are briefly presented

Part two consists of three chapters

Chapter one consists of a literature review in which the writer analyses some

general theories related to the importance of vocabulary and extensive reading

Chapter two describes the research method, the rationale for the method and data

collection instruments Detailed information about the participants of the study, the

design of questionnaire, the pretest and the posttest and the data collection procedures are provided

Chapter three presents significant findings of the study and discusses the results of

the study in relation to the research questions

Part three includes some pedagogical implications and some limitations of the

study

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Vocabulary

1.1.1 The Notions of Vocabulary

Linguists define vocabulary differently based on different criteria The most

general one from Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied

Linguistics, (2002: 579) vocabulary is defined as “a set of lexemes, including

single words, compound words and idioms”

Similar to the above notion, Penny (1996: 60) defines vocabulary as “the words

we teach in foreign language However, a new item of vocabulary may be more than a single word: a compound of two or three words or multiword idioms”

Nevertheless, Lewis (1993: 89) focuses on functions of vocabulary, according to him vocabulary: “… may be individual words or full sentences – institutionalized utterances – that convey fixed social or pragmatic meaning within a given community”

From these concepts of vocabulary, vocabulary can be understood as the total number of all the words that a language possesses, including single words, two or three word items expressing a single idea and multi-word idioms

1.1.2 The place of vocabulary in foreign language teaching and learning

Vocabulary is the smallest unit, yet the core of any language If we do not have words, we will not be able to communicate As Wilkins (1972: 111) states, “without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” Wilkins also adds that learning all the structures but no vocabulary expansion

in courses can do no harm in the long term but in most situations, structure and vocabulary are acquired together It can be inferred from this that the necessity and the role of vocabulary is paramount Sharing this idea, Dellar and Hocking believe that “if you spend most of your time studying grammar, your English will not improve very much You will see most improvement if you learn

more words and expressions You can say very little with grammar, but you can say

almost everything with words” (cited in Thornbury, 2002: 13) Richards (1976: 77)

explains the role of vocabulary in terms of the nature of lexical competence

“knowing a word entails knowledge of the network of associations between that word and other words in language” Flower (2000: 5) claims that “words are the most important things you can learn English has the largest vocabulary in the world Grammar is important, but vocabulary is much more important.”

From the above views, it can be acknowledged that vocabulary learning is critical in language acquisition The learners must attain a certain level of vocabulary knowledge in order to understand the written and spoken forms of the target language Second language learners are unable to understand and communicate in the target language if they know nothing about its lexis

1.1.3 Approaches to Vocabulary Acquisition

Incidental vocabulary acquisition and intentional vocabulary learning

Many linguists have stated their definitions of incidental vocabulary learning According to Nation (2001:134), incidental vocabulary learning is an important strategy in vocabulary learning It refers to the learning which occurs without specific intention to focus on vocabulary One can develop vocabulary knowledge subconsciously while being engaged in any language activities, especially reading Nation (2001: 232) claims incidental learning is a by-product of learning something That means learners master vocabulary when they are involved in some learning activities, such as reading, speaking, doing a task, and interacting with others Richards and Schmidt (2002: 252) also define that incidental learning is the process

of learning something without the intention of doing so It is also learning one thing while intending to learn another

Incidental vocabulary learning motivates learners in extensive reading It involves learners' ability to guess the meaning of new words from the contextual clues Incidental learning occurs more frequently through extensive reading in input-rich environments (Coady, 2001, as cited in Ahmad, 2011: 67) According Ahmad

(2011: 67) incidental vocabulary promotes deeper mental processing and better retention The learners get themselves fully involved in the process of deciphering the meaning through the clues available in the text They think and rethink about the new words involving cognitive process which helps the learners retain the words for

a longer period of time Cognitive process includes both receptive and productive aspects of vocabulary Learners understand not only the meanings in the given text but the related grammatical patterns, common lexical sets and typical association of the word with the context

On the other hand, intentional learning of vocabulary is the method of learning vocabulary by using tools to bring the learner‟s attention into direct contact with the form and meaning of words, such as dictionaries, vocabulary lists, and direct vocabulary explanation Intentional learning is quick and usually preferred by learners, but it also causes some problems Learners often encounter vocabulary in

an isolated form and remain incapable of using it correctly in context (Ellis, 1999,

as cited in Shokouhi, 2009: 14)

Ahmad (2011: 68) claims intentional vocabulary learning based on synonyms, antonyms, word substitution, multiple choice, scrambled words and crossword puzzles, regardless of context In addition, students often cram the meaning of the new words without undergoing cognitive process Moreover, when students learn vocabulary in this way, they are more prone to rote learning Therefore, a very few words learned through this method get transformed into active process

1.2 Extensive reading

1.2.1 Extensive reading and intensive reading

Reading is classified in many different ways In terms of the scope and objects of this study, only intensive and extensive types of reading are focused on

According to Dawson (1984: 43), students reading intensively look at every word, take notice of punctuation, sentences and paragraphs, as well as understand the grammar Intensive reading is often used as an exercise to teach the students new vocabulary as well as present and/or practice the rules of the English language

Most textbook readings have, until recently, been intensive Intensive reading is also called “reading for accuracy” and is described as a detailed study of text designed to train students in reading strategies such as skimming or scanning (Nuttall, 1982: 23) regards, in intensive reading, students read and often translate fairly short, difficult foreign language texts with the teacher‟s close guidance Teachers in their reading lessons usually use short texts of about one or two pages at the maximum and a range of activities is used before, during and also after reading Exercises such as true/false comprehension questions or arranging information are used

While intensive reading focuses on individual words and sentences, extensive reading stresses overall understanding Compared to intensive reading, students read

a relatively large amount of generally simpler materials while enjoying reading, and are not required to demonstrate a detailed understanding of materials through translation exercises or comprehension questions Extensive reading is intended to develop good reading habits, to build up knowledge of vocabulary and structures, and to encourage a liking for reading (Nation, 2001: 232, Loucky, 2003, as cited in Pazhakh & Soltani, 2010: 389)

1.2.2 Definitions of extensive reading

Jacobs and Renandya (1999: 91-92) define extensive reading as the reading of large quantities of material for information or pleasure In extensive reading, the immediate focus is on the content being read, rather than on language skills Many names have been given to ER programs, including Book Flood, Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading (USSR), Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), Silent Uninterrupted Reading for Fun (SURF), and Extensive Reading and Information Literacy (ERIL)

According to Harmer (2003, as cited in Ahmad, 2001: 67) “extensive reading is a pleasurable reading situation where a teacher encourages students to choose what they want to read for themselves from reading materials at a level they can understand” It means that readers can choose what they want to read according to

their interests Reading materials should be of a level that learners are able to read and understand the text without difficulty While Richards and Schmidt (2002, cited

in Yamashita, 2008: 661-662) claim that extensive reading is a form of reading instruction Its definition and purpose are expressed as follows: „„extensive reading means reading in quantity and in order to gain a general understanding of what is read It is intended to develop good reading habits, to build up knowledge of vocabulary and structure, and to encourage a liking for reading.”

From Day and Bamford‟s (1997: 7) point of view, extensive reading is “an

approach to learning to read a second language, extensive reading may be done in and out of the classroom Outside the classroom, extensive reading is encouraged by allowing students to borrow books to take home and read In the classroom, it requires a period of time, at least 15 minutes or so to be set aside for sustained silent reading, which is for students – and perhaps the teacher as well – to read individually anything they wish to.”

From the above mentioned definitions, it can be seen that extensive reading is an approach to language teaching in which learners read a large amount of materials in

a new language They choose their own reading material and read it independently

of the teacher They read for general, overall meaning, and they read for information and enjoyment

1.2.3 The basic principles of extensive reading

Day and Bamford (1998:136-141) presents ten characteristics that are found in successful extensive reading programs Dealing with the nature of extensive reading and the conditions and methodology necessary for its success, the ten characteristics are also offered as “Top Ten Principles for Teaching Extensive Reading”

1 The reading material is easy

2 A variety of materials on a wide range of topics is available

3 Students select what they want to read

4 Students read as much as possible

5 The purposes of reading are usually related to pleasure, information, and general understanding

6 Reading is its own reward

7 Reading speed is usually faster 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

In the list above, the writers have addressed five important issues in extensive reading, namely reading materials, reading amount, reading purpose, reading speed, and the role of the reader and the language teacher Although all the principles regarding these issues are important and should be applied in an extensive reading program, teachers are advised to consider situations and apply these principles flexibly

1.2.4 The relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension

“Vocabulary is important in reading comprehension because vocabulary knowledge

is part of background knowledge The more words the readers know, the easier they will understand what they read” (Chou, 2011:100) That is, the greater number of words

a reader knows, the greater the speed at which a person is able to comprehend a particular written text, which leads to a greater sense of personal accomplishment This sense of accomplishment may likely motivate the person to read more, which,

in turn, causes him/her to encounter and acquire more words Stoller and Grabe (1993: 30) comment “…vocabulary development must be viewed as both a cause and a consequence of reading abilities.” Kazakh and Soltani (2010: 388) argue that

it is clear that comprehension is one of the most fundamental reasons for reading, and vocabulary, in turn, plays a significant part in comprehension Vocabulary clearly makes a critical contribution to understanding what has been read

The particular relationship between vocabulary knowledge and language skills is beyond any doubt Especially, vocabulary has a close relationship with reading skills which in turn have an interconnection with reading comprehension This

relationship seems logical because of the fact that students get meaning from what they read, they also need both many words in their vocabulary repertoire and ability

to use various techniques to understand the meanings of new words when they encounter them It is the case that most of the weak students who do not have enough vocabulary or effective word-meaning strategies often struggle to achieve comprehension in reading Also, as they do not have sufficient word knowledge to understand what they read, they often avoid reading As a result, the students who

do not read much do not have the opportunity to see and learn many new words in various contexts, but the students who read more can become better readers and gain more words Their reading comprehension skills, in consequences, are gradually improved

In conclusion, the relationship between vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension is integrated Reading improves vocabulary knowledge and vocabulary knowledge supports reading development In other words, “vocabulary knowledge is normally major vehicle for successful reading” (Coady and Huckin,

1997, as cited in Kazakh and Soltani (2010: 388)

Most educators seem to mean that by “authentic” anything written for an first language audience These materials are used in language teaching “because they are

considered interesting, engaging, culturally enlightening, relevant, motivating, and the best preparation for reading authentic texts” (Day & Barmford, 1998: 54)

According to Berardo (2006: 60), one of the main reasons for using authentic materials in the classroom is once outside the “safe”, controlled language learning environment; the learner will not encounter artificial language Another advantage

of using authentic materials is that they allow students to meet language as it is used

in real life Moreover, the sources of authentic materials that can be used in the classroom are infinite; the most common are newspapers, magazines, TV programs, movies, songs and literature

On the other hand, authentic materials are usually thought to be discouraging and difficult to read for language learners and thus such materials are considered not useful rather than useful for those learners Williams (1984:25) notes the disadvantages of using authentic texts such as lack of adequate copying facilities and its being very difficult for lower levels Sharing this idea (Richard 2000, as cited in Berardo, 2006: 65) points out that difficult language, unneeded vocabulary items and complex language structures that authentic materials often contain cause a burden for the teacher in lower-level classes

From the above views, it is clear that authentic texts are interesting but these materials are so challenging for low level learners For the learners simple language

is most of the times preferable Therefore it is necessary to be clear about what is meant by simplified texts Simplified materials will be discussed in the next part

1.3.2 Simplified materials

Hill and Thomas (1988: 44 -54) point out simplified materials are texts written originally for second language learners Here the texts are written in a simple way in terms of vocabulary and structure according to students‟ linguistic levels, these simplified materials are controlled for vocabulary difficulty, grammatical structure, sentence length and complexity, and information density They also emphasize that

“the vocabulary must be ninety percent within learners‟ understanding, the syntax and sentence structure must be familiar, the information must not be too dense, and

the meaning must be made explicit, especially at the lower levels” The assumption

is that such materials will allow low- level learners to read easily without struggling

to get the general meaning of what they read Nation and Ming-tzu (1999: 356) argue that without simplified materials low proficiency-level learners would not be able to experience reading in a second language at a level of comfort and fluency approaching first language reading

According to Day (2005: 10 -21) simplified and authentic materials are good materials for teaching beginning and intermediate students how to read in a foreign language In addition, simplified materials are short, and the beginning levels have illustrations as an aid in comprehension The strength of simplified materials for beginners is that the font size is generally a bit larger than normal, which helps comprehension

However, simplified reading materials have also been criticized by some educators

in relation to extensive reading As Nuttall (1996: 178) writes, "However good a simplification is something is always lost; this is why some teachers refuse to use simplified versions" Sharing this idea, Nation and Ming-tzu (1999: 356) explain there are some writers who see no place for simplified reading materials of the kind that is founded in graded readers They consider that the simplification results in distorted language that is not suitable for learners

From the above views, it is clear that simplified and authentic materials have a significant role in the development of reading skill of language learners when they are used at suitable levels and for suitable purposes Using authentic texts with beginning students can impede foreign language reading development because of their linguistic difficulty and complexity but using these materials allows students to meet language as it is used in real life Whereas, the simplified materials are made easy in order to improve learners reading fluency and confidence Considering the general reasons for using literature in language teaching to become better readers, language acquisition and success, it is recommended to use both types of materials

in language teaching (Nuttall, 1996, as cited in Benettayeb, 2010: 27)

1.4 Graded readers

1.4.1 What are graded readers?

Graded readers are short books of fiction and non-fiction which are graded structurally and lexically (Bamford 1984:218), that is, they are controlled in terms

of vocabulary and grammar and are grouped for particular age groups from primary (age 8) to adult (over 16)

According to Richards and Schmidt (2002: 230), graded readers are “a text written for children learning their mother tongue, or for second or foreign language learners, in which the language content is based on a language grading scheme A graded reader may use a restricted vocabulary or a set of grammatical structures” Hedge (1985: 2) emphasizes that the language of a graded readers is controlled with

an increasing range of vocabulary She follows this with the notion that graded readers will be very useful if the teacher is able to exploit them completely

to develop language learning both in and out of the classroom as it meets the learner's need

Graded readers are divided into different levels of difficulty, graded by a number of word families; a word family consists of a headword, grammatical structure and syntax The level for adult learners usually covers a range beginning at around 200-

500 headwords and goes up to 2,000- 3,000 headwords (Nation and Ming-tzu, 1999: 358) Notice that Level 1 assumes knowledge of 530 words Level 2 introduces

another 341 words making a total Level 2 vocabulary of 871

Table 1.1: Number of word families at each graded reader level

Level Word families introduced at each

To many language teachers and learners, graded readers are an attractive option for several reasons Graded readers not only offer controlled, systematic, and comprehensive development of vocabulary and grammar but they also cater for the different interests and levels However, there exist some objections to graded readers as well As Nation (2005:17) noted, some teachers and researchers see graded readers as “being unauthentic, watered-down versions of richer original texts” and “vocabulary simplification is also seen to result in more complicated grammar.” These concerns over graded readers should also be considered when choice of the use of graded readers is made

1.5 Reading amount

The amount of reading is one of the most critical factors in extensive reading, as extensive reading is based on the theory of comprehensible input proposed by Krashen (1985:12) who stressed that large amounts of language input within a learners‟ comprehension ability are required if that learner is to make progress in a new language Despite the importance of the reading amount, researchers and teachers have not reached an agreement in how much reading is enough Nation and Wang (as cited in Nation, 2005: 16-17) reached six conclusions regarding vocabulary development with graded Readers

1 Learners should read at least one graded reader every week, no matter what level they are reading at

2 Learners should read five books at a level before moving to books at the next level

3 Learners should read more books at the later levels than the earlier

4 Learners should read at least 15-20 readers in a year

5 Learners may need to directly study the new vocabulary at the earlier levels or

at least make use of a dictionary when starting to read books at a particular level

6 Learners should work their way through the levels of graded readers as the later levels provide excellent conditions for establishing the vocabulary of the earlier levels

In short, in this chapter four main contents were demonstrated including vocabulary, extensive reading, reading materials, and graded readers This was fundamentally the theoretical background which helps the researcher to answer the following questions:

1 What are students’ vocabulary levels?

2 What are the reasons underlying their performance on the vocabulary test?

3 To what extent can extensive reading enhance students’ vocabulary acquisition?

4 What are the students’ attitudes toward extensive reading?

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

This chapter is comprised of rationale for choosing action research design, research questions, the participants, and research method, and data collection instruments

2.1 Research Questions

The study sought the answers to the following questions:

1 What are students’ vocabulary levels?

2 What are the reasons underlying their performance on the vocabulary test?

3 To what extent can extensive reading enhance students’ vocabulary acquisition?

4 What are the students’ attitudes toward extensive reading activities in their program?

at least three years of learning English at high schools and secondary schools and aged from 18 to 20 Almost all students (29 out of 30 students) had learnt English before entering HUBT Only one student had below one year of experience in learning English, because he learned French instead of English at high school There are two English lessons every week, four 55-minute periods for one lesson In their curriculum, they are required to learn General English (GE) for 2 semesters to

gain the A2 level The teaching material was the course book Market leaders

(Elementary – 3rd edition by David Cotton, David Falvey and Simon Kent, 2013 Edition)

2.3 Materials

In addition to authentic reading passages from Market Leader elementary course

book, a set of 40 graded stories and articles on different topics, at various levels of

English vocabulary and structure (beginner, elementary and pre-intermediate) were

collected The materials were selected to allow students of varying proficiency

levels increased opportunities to choose the ones that interested them They varied

in level of simplification from 150 to 1500 words The supplementary reading

materials for this program were carefully selected from some websites about

business, literature like English for business, EBook Directory

(http://www.ebookdirectory.com), and from some other course books: Know How,

Line life, New Headway, and so on The tasks for vocabulary development and

questions for reading comprehension were designed according to the students‟

proficiency

2.4 Rationale for using action research

Action research has been defined in many different ways In

Wallace‟s (1998:227) definition, action research is “The systematic

collection and analysis of data relating to the improvement of some aspect of

professional practice” Burns (2010: 2) states that action research is “the central idea

of the action part of action research is to intervene in a deliberate way in the

problematic situation in order to bring about changes and even better, improvement

in practice Importantly, the improvements that happen in action research are ones

based on information (or to use the research term, data) that an action researcher

collects systematically.” In the Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and

Applied Linguistics (Richard, et al: 4-5) action research in teacher education is

defined “…teacher-initiated classroom research which seeks to increase teacher‟s

understanding of classroom teaching and learning and to bring about improvements

in classroom practices” As Mettetal (2001: 7) writes “classroom action research is

designed to help a teacher find out what is happening in his or her classroom, and to

use that information to take action for future improvement.”

In brief, action research is a kind of scientific study which is often carried out by a teacher or an educator in order to solve a practical problem in a classroom It focuses mainly on the actions of both teachers and students, so it can solve the problems which are related to all actions and activities in a classroom One of the most significant features of an action research study in comparison to other research methods

is very situational It appears to provide specific solutions to specific problems in each context This helps the teacher to have deeper understanding and thorough study into the single situation

Burns (2010: 7) gives the three reasons why a teacher needs action research:

- Action research can reinvigorate our teaching

- It can lead to positive change

- It raise our awareness of the complexities of our work

When thinking of choosing an appropriate methodology, the researcher, who is also

a teacher, found that action research is a good choice for the purpose of improving the students‟ vocabulary through extensive reading

There have been some different models on action research procedures given by different researchers Steps in action research vary from different points of view Nunan (1992: 19) introduces a model with seven steps: Initiation, Preliminary investigation, Hypothesis, Hypothesis, Evaluation, Dissemination, and Follow-up

On the other hand, Burns (1999: 35) reports a type of action research which has 11 steps Hence, it is really impossible to assert this or that researcher is right with exact four, five, six, seven or eight steps in their action research Sometimes, it is hard to define a clear cut between the steps and the number of steps in action research because they may vary depending on different points of view held by researchers

McBride and Schostak (1989) suggest that research should be follow eight steps which could be measured as circle as follows:

Figure 2.1: Action Research Cycle (McBride & Schostak, 1989)

Action research procedures can be different since they are either basic, simple or elaborate models In this study, the researcher followed the action research procedures suggested by McBride & Schostak (1989) because it is clear and easy to

Attitude Questionnaire

The main aim of this study was to investigate effects of extensive reading on learners‟ vocabulary acquisition In addition, through this study, the researcher would also like to discover the learners‟ attitudes towards this activity

Ten closed questions were used in the attitude questionnaire They are designed on

a five-point Likert scale (5= strongly agree, 4= agree, 3= not sure, 2= disagree, 1= strongly disagree)

2.5.2 Book report

The second tool used in this study was book report A book report (adapted from Bamford, 1984: 220) was used to monitor the reading procedure In order to examine how the students liked the book, what they felt about the story and the article, how they found out the meanings of the new words Every week students were asked to complete a book report before going to English class It helped the researcher monitor learners‟ reading so she could offer guidance and decide what needed to be modified in the next circles of the action

2.5.3 Tests

Pre-test

A list of 50 words which appear in students‟ course book Market Leader

Elementary level as well as in the stories and articles that they would read were

selected for the test All of the pages of the stories and the articles were computerized and loaded into a software program (Vocaprofile) that quantified the word frequencies in the text The researcher eliminated many common words (e.g., man, water, have, to, the…) that occurred hundreds of times The selected words also were determined by their higher frequency and these words must appear in English key test Vocabulary list of Cambridge University (ESOL examination), appropriating to Level A2 on the CEFR The list of these words was presented to

the students, who were asked to choose one of the three options: Yes, if they think they know the meaning of the given words; NS, if they are not sure; and No, if they

do not think they know the meaning of the word The NS option would reveal

learners‟ partial knowledge of the word and also allow an honest response According to Horst (2005; 365) “The test is easy to construct, administer, and score, and it allows for quick assessment of a large number of items.”

Post-test

The post-test was the identical list presented in a different order plus 20 other words which also appeared in the stories with high frequency At the time of the post-test,

as a check on actual gains of unknown words after reading, the students were asked

to complete a second measure, using words selected from the list of words that were

marked No or NS on the pre-test and words in the list of 20 additional words The

format of this measure will be based on Wesche and Paribakht‟s (1996) vocabulary knowledge scale (VKS), cited in Horst (2005: 375)

2.5.4 Process of action research in this study

In this study, the researcher followed the action research procedures suggested by McBride and Schostak (1989) The action research was conducted during 10 weeks‟ time as follows:

Step 1: Identifying a problem

Based on the observation and experience from teaching English at HUBT as well as discussions with the learners and the colleagues, the researcher found out that one

of learners‟ biggest problems is lack of vocabulary

Step 2: Collecting data

A questionnaire for learners was used to find out the actual problem, the causes of the problem, and what need or must be done to improve learners‟ vocabulary knowledge

Step 3: Analyzing data

The data collected from the questionnaire was analyzed and the researcher came up with a hypothesis that the students‟ vocabulary was poor because of their limited reading in class as well as at home

Step 4: Planning action

An extensive reading project was chosen for the action research In the project, the researcher chose graded readers for the students A list of 40 graded stories and articles for three levels: beginner, elementary and pre-intermediate for students to choose 16 most-liked ones (adapted from Kargar, 2012: 167) All of them read these

16 stories, two stories or articles each Because of the students‟ tight schedule in class, they had two English lessons every week, four 45-minute periods for one lesson After taking the administrative procedure to get required permission, the researcher spent 45 minutes a week at the beginning of the lesson letting the students share their extensive reading experience and discuss the stories or articles they read in terms of meanings of new words, how to find the meanings of new words, and also feelings of the students about the stories and articles

Step 5: Implementing action

Firstly, the researcher introduced the project (what extensive reading is; what benefits of extensive reading are; why they need to read extensively; what they need

to do if they take part in an extensive reading project) Secondly, the students were asked to do the pre-test Thirdly, every week, the teacher, together with the students read the same two stories or articles in the collection of 16 chosen ones The students were also asked to fill in the book report Fourthly, the students shared their extensive reading experience and discuss the story they read in terms of meanings of new words, how to find the meanings of new words, and also feelings of the students about the stories or articles

Step 6: Collecting post-data to monitor change

The post-test and the attitude questionnaires were used to collect data after the action

Step 7: Analyzing and evaluating

The action research was evaluated based on the results collected from the initial data, action data and post data From the findings of the action research evaluation, some conclusions as well as pedagogical implications were made

2.6 Data analysis method

First, the results collected from the survey questionnaire, the attitude questionnaire, pre-test, post-test, and book report were statistically calculated through Microsoft - Excel software and calculator Next, the collected data were displayed in forms of tables or figures for the convenience of analysis In addition, the collected data were

classified into different categories and the researcher used qualitative statistics to describe and analyze After that the collected data were synthesized, categorized and discussed to reveal answers to the research questions

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this chapter, the results of the study are presented The presentation includes the description of the initial results from the questionnaire, the information on the findings from the initial results, the views on the action plan and the evaluation of the action plan All of them are aimed to answer the four research questions

3.1 The students’ vocabulary levels

3.1.1 Results from learners’ survey questionnaire

Question 1: How do you evaluate the level of your English vocabulary now? Table 3.1: The students’ self-assessment of their vocabulary knowledge

Very good Good Adequate Poor Very poor Number of

students (N = 30)

0 (0%)

As can be seen from Table 3.1, the number of students who admitted that their vocabulary was “poor, or “very poor” was very high (27 out of 30 students) Only about one tenth of students (3 out of 30) thought that their vocabulary was not a big problem in language learning because their vocabulary knowledge was either good

or adequate None of them was said that their vocabulary was very good

Question 2: Through which activity do you often learn English vocabulary most?

Table 3.2: Activities through which students learn English vocabulary most

Reading Listening Speaking Writing Others Number of

through listening they could gain most vocabulary Nine students liked learning vocabulary through writing Whereas, 16% of the students said that they learned vocabulary passively by other sources, chiefly through the teacher They meant they usually learned by heart words the teacher wrote on the blackboard

Question 3: What do you often do when you meet a new word in reading texts?

(Note: 1= always; 2= often; 3= sometimes; 4= rarely; 5= never)

Table 3.3: Learners’ solutions when meeting a new word

(20%)

15 (50%)

8 (27%)

1 (3%)

0 (0%) Ask your teacher or someone else for

explanation

5 (17%)

16 (53%)

7 (23%)

2 (7%)

0 (0%)

Guess the meaning from the context 4

(13%)

6 (20%)

10 (34%)

4 (13%)

6 (20%)

Do not pay attention or ignore new

words

2 (6%)

7 (23%)

10 (34%)

6 (20%)

5 (16%)

As can be seen in Table 3.3, most of the respondents admitted that they had a habit

of using dictionary or asking their teacher or someone else for explanation whenever they meet a new word Thirty-three percent of the students said that they never or rarely guess word meaning from contexts

Question 4: What do you think of the time for English reading in class?

Table 3.4: Students’ opinions on the time for reading in class

Too little Little Adequate Much Too much Number of students

(N = 30)

5 (17%)

15 (50%)

9 (30%)

1 (3%)

0 (0%) Question 4 was used to ask students about their opinions on the time used for reading in class Approximately 70% of students agreed that the time used for reading in class was “little” or “too little” Only one student thought that they spent much time reading in class No student thought that the time for reading in class was more than necessary

Question 5: What do you think of the number of reading passages in your

course book in class?

Table 3.5: Students’ opinion on the number of readings in their course book in

14 (46%)

10 (34%)

3 (10%)

0 (0%)

As can be seen in Table 3.5, over half of the students surveyed (17 out of 30) agreed that the number of reading passages in their course book in class were “few” or “too few” Only 10 students were satisfied or thought that the number of readings in their course book were adequate None of them thought that the number of readings were too many

Question 6: Do you have a habit of reading stories, newspapers, magazines,

etc., in English?

Table 3.6: Students’ habits of reading materials in English outside classroom

Always Often Sometimes Rarely Never Number of students

1 (3%)

3 (10%)

12 (40%)

14 (47%)

Question 6 showed that almost all students (26 out of 30) did not have a habit of reading stories, newspapers, magazines, etc., in English outside the classroom Only

a few students (4 out of 30) often or sometimes read extensively

Question 7: Why do you rarely or never read outside classroom?

This question revealed some causes of the students‟ lack of reading habits in English A half of the students (15 out of 30 students) complained that they did not have motivation to read Seven students said that they did not have enough English reading materials with their favorite topics Three students added that the materials

in English such as newspapers, magazines or stories were often too difficult for them to understand whereas their vocabulary was poor They believed that they could not read English books, magazines or newspapers without the aid of the teacher or dictionary

Question 8: Do you want to have readings to read outside class to improve your English vocabulary?

Almost all the students surveyed (25 out of 30) said that they wanted to have more readings to read outside class to improve their English vocabulary Five students thought that reading outside class was not necessary

Question 9: Which of the following topics do you mostly want to read? (You

can choose more than one option)

Table 3.7: Reading topics chosen by the students

Topic Business Politics Society Education Literature Accounting Free

students‟ favorite topics at 3 levels (beginner, elementary and pre-intermediate) was selected for the students to choose 16 most-liked ones Although the students were studying a course book for elementary level, they were demanded to begin the project with books for beginners in order to motivate them to read more All of the students read these 16 stories and articles Each week they read the same two stories

or articles (for example, if the books and articles were numbered from 1 to 16, then book or article number one and two would be read in week one, and book number

15 and 16 would be used in week nine) The students were required to read these books or article before going to the English class

Question 10: How do you feel if I ask you to read stories and articles on your favorite topics this semester?

Table 3.8: Students’ attitude about being asked to read stories outside class

I like it It is alright for me if I

am required to do so I dislike it Number of students

(N = 30)

1 (3%)

18 (60%)

11 (37%) When asked this question, 19 students agreed to read stories and articles that semester 11 students did not like the idea of being asked to read extensively They felt confused because they could not imagine how it would be like and they were not confident in reading stories and articles due to their poor vocabulary

The results from the survey questionnaire showed that the majority of the students said that their vocabulary was either poor or very poor They also thought that they often learnt vocabulary through reading activities in class However, the reading texts in class were few or too few, they spent little or too little time reading at class, and they never or rarely read extra reading materials in English at home As a result,

it can be concluded that the lack of input, motivation as well as reading time limitation might be the reasons which prevented students from accumulating vocabulary

The data above also revealed that learners can read more in English if appropriate reading materials were available and suitable for them From the identification of problems as reported above, the author of this study had the following hypothesis: If guided extensive reading activities are used, students will improve their vocabulary knowledge and it also promotes their motivation and attitudes

3.1.2 Results of the pre-test

A collection of 16 graded readers as extensive reading materials for the project were scanned electronically The researcher chose 50 words which appeared many times

in the course book Market leader Elementary level as well as in the stories and

articles they would read to make the test Moreover, the selected words must be in English key test vocabulary list of Cambridge University, appropriating to Level A2

on CEFR In the test of 50 words, students were asked to choose one of the three options: YES, if they think they know the meaning of the given word; NS, if they are not sure; and NO, if they do not think they know the meaning of the word The

NS option would allow learners to register partial knowledge of words It was also intended to encourage honesty, since it was assumed that students would over- or under-estimate their word knowledge less if they were not forced to simply choose between either YES or NO

The pre-test was done by the students before they read graded readers

Table 3.9: The result of YES-marked words in the pre-test

Percentage of YES -

marked words

90% - 100%

80% - 89%

70% -

79%

60%- 69%

50%- 59%

Under 50%