Building reading habits for enhancing students’ self studying a case study at doan thi diem ecopark academy

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ THỊ TUYẾT NHUNG BUILDING READING HABITS FOR ENHANCING STUDENT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

VŨ THỊ TUYẾT NHUNG

BUILDING READING HABITS

FOR ENHANCING STUDENTS’ ENGLISH SELF-LEARNING:

A CASE STUDY AT ĐOÀN THỊ ĐIỂM ECOPARK ACADEMY

SCHOOL

(Hình thành thói quen đọc nhằm thúc đẩy việc tự học tiếng Anh của học sinh: Nghiên cứu trường hợp trường Phổ thông Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60140111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Ngô Tự Lập

AUTHOR’S STATEMENT

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled:

“Building Reading Habits for Enhancing Students’ English Self-learning: A case Study at Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy.” is complete my own research

which was carried out at Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy School during the school year 2014-2015, and the thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any

other tertiary institution

Hanoi, September 30th, 2015

Vũ Thị Tuyết Nhung

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis would not have been completed without the support of many people,

to all of whom I am profoundly indebted

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Ngô Tự Lập, my supervisor, for his great encouragement, constant guidance and enthusiastic support during all the stages of this study Without his advice and tireless persistence, I would not have been able to finish this work

My sincere thanks are also sent to my colleagues as well as students at Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy School who are willing to help me complete the survey questionnaires and the interviews

Last but not least, I am really grateful to my family and friends for their continual encouragement during the time I conducted the research Especially, I would like to express my thanks to my husband and my son who are always beside

me, taking care of me and supporting me mentally and physically

Hanoi, September 30th, 2015

Vũ Thị Tuyết Nhung

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, learning a foreign language, especially English, is very important for international integration To master a language, students not only need the guiding and encouraging from teachers, but also must have the ability to study by themselves Nevertheless, students at Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy School seem to lack methods and skills of self-learning Therefore, there is an urgent need

to provide students with ways to enhance their autonomous learning

Reading habits is best to be built up since students are young The more they read, the more knowledge and skills they gain Reading habits help broaden students’ knowledge, as well as, helps them be confident in learning and express more logically and cohesively When students feel confident about themselves and their learning, they will likely be able to control their studying and be responsible for their learning

Owing to the above reasons, the researcher carries the study to investigate into the effectiveness of building reading habits in developing students’ self-learning at Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy School Moreover, she would like to suggest some recommendations with the hope of helping students build effective reading habits and learn autonomously

TABLE OF CONTENTS AUTHOR’S

STATEMENT……… 1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iv

LISTS OF TABLES vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale for the study 1

2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

3 Research questions 3

4 Scope of the study 3

5 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Self-learning: 4

1.2 Building reading habits 9

1.3 Review of previous studies relevant to the study 13

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 16

2.1 Setting of the study 16

2.2 Research types 19

2.3 Research approach 19

2.4 Procedure of the study 20

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 23

3.1 Results from the survey questionnaire 23

3.2 Results from the interview 28

3.3 Discussion of major findings 30

PART C: CONCLUSION 32

1 Recapitulation 32

2 Implications for teachers 33

3 Limitations and suggestions for further research 34

REFERENCES 35

APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 II APPENDIX 3 III APPENDIX 4 IV APPENDIX 5 V APPENDIX 6 XII

LISTS OF TABLES

Table 1 : Time for reading per week

Table 2 : Reasons for liking reading

Table 3 : Reasons for disliking reading

Table 4 : Effectiveness of reading habits in students’ self-learning

LISTS OF FIGURES

Figure 1 : Students’ attitude toward reading

Figure 2 : Time for self-learning before building reading habits Figure 3 : Time for reading per week

Figure 4 : Time for self-learning

Figure 5 : Students’ attitude toward effectiveness of reading habits

PART A: INTRODUCTION

This part includes the rationale, the aims and objectives, the research questions, the scope and the design of the study Its task is to help readers have a general view

on the research

1 Rationale for the study

Learning cannot happen if learners are not willing to contribute, as Scharle and Szabo (2000, p.4) put it: “Success in learning very much depends on learners having

a responsible attitude.”

In Vietnam today, English is taught by a modern teaching and learning method named Communicative Language Teaching, in which students are considered as the center of the learning and teaching process Hence, students need to be active and responsible for their learning Learning process is not only passive information receiving but also is students’ frequent critical thinking That means that students themselves have to learn and practice their skills and knowledge day by day Moreover, each teachers have their own teaching styles, methods, and experience which are sometimes difficult to follow Especially, teachers do not always teach and help students; therefore, it is necessary to raise students’ awareness of the significance of autonomous learning In addition, teachers should provide them with essential knowledge and skills to build up and develop their self-learning during school time and in their future lives

Among the four major skills of learning a foreign language in school, reading seems to be the most important because of its obvious benefits Not only provides knowledge of the target language, reading helps students experience about the target culture and life And simply, reading brings them fun According to recent studies, children who read regularly from a young age do examinations with more assurance,

so that their performance is better As they grow into adults, this strong reading foundation stands them in good stead (Usha, 2008, p.1-4) Learning starts when students are at their very young ages through their sense When they observe their

daily life, they are eager to know about and discover the strange and wonderful world

Furthermore, it is obvious that books are available, cheap, informative, accurate, and systematic; meanwhile, teachers are changeable, not always available, and have different levels of English proficiency As a result, to have life-long learning, students need to build up self-learning ability, and one way to enhance autonomous learning is building reading habits As can be concluded from Takase’s study, students who gradually develop good reading habits can become autonomous learners

However, at Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy School, students have low learning ability They are often passive and depend much on teachers in learning The reason is that they do not have good reading habits Moreover, they are not guided to read effectively Carrell and Eisterhold (1989) argue that there is a significant relationship between autonomous learning and reading skills (cited in Paweena, 2012, p.2) Poor reading proficiency can thus be a factor that may hinder students from gaining full language learning progress (Paweena, 2012, p.15)

self-Because of these reasons, I do my research on “Building Reading Habits for Enhancing Students’ English Self-learning: A case Study at Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy School” Its purpose is to study the effectiveness of building reading habits

as a tool for developing students’ self-learning ability at Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy School

2 Aims and objectives of the study

The aim of the study is to investigate into possibility and effectiveness of developing students’ self-learning by building reading habits

The objectives are:

- To investigate the reading habits and self-learning of students

- To study the influence of reading habits on students’ self-learning at Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy School

self-4 Scope of the study

Self-learning or learner autonomy is obviously a vast issue in the second language learning It covers many different aspects and areas Therefore, this study focuses mainly on developing learning autonomy by building reading habits The subjects of the study are 140 Secondary students who are not major in English and show the lack of autonomy in learning

5 Design of the study

The study includes three main parts:

 Part A is the Introduction, which is aimed at clarifying the rationale, aims,

objectives, research questions, scopes, and design of the research

 Part B is the Development which contains 3 chapters:

Chapter 1 is Literature Review to find what is already known about some

previously related studies including definitions of key concepts and what the researcher can develop in this study

Chapter 2 is Methodology in which the researcher gives information about

setting of the study including the research place and participants; research instruments and research procedure

Chapter 3 is Data Analysis and Discussion to state what was found, and to

analyze and explain why the results came out as they did, and how they helped to achieve the objectives of the study as well as to answer the two research questions

 Part C is the Conclusion, which summarizes the main issues covered in the

paper, presents the limitations of the study and some suggestions for further studies in the research area

Following this chapter are the References and Appendixes for the whole research

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides a brief review of the works and ideas on self-learning, reading, reading habits, and influence of reading on autonomous learning

1.1 Self-learning:

1.1.1 Definition of self-learning

Self-learning has become a key concern in the foreign language instruction context in recent decades There have been a huge number of studies related to the concept Holec (1981, p.3) defines self-learning as “the ability to take charge of one’s own learning.” In addition, the author describes autonomous learners as those who are aware of the purpose of their learning, learning goals, independently make their learning plans, and activities, regularly review, and evaluate their learning Sharing the same idea, Dickinson (1987: 11) states that “learner is totally responsible for all the decision concerned with his or her learning and implementation of those decisions,” which mean that students should take responsibility for organizing and planning their learning as well as the results of their work In a similar view, Little (1991: 4) defines self-learning as “a capacity for detachment, critical reflection, decision making, and independent action.” According to Wang and Pevely (1986), autonomous learners are those who are able to be active and independent in learning process; can identify and formulate their own goals, and can change the goals to suit their learning needs and interests (Cited in Dickinson, 1995, p 167)

For Richards and Schmidt (2002, p.297), students’ self-learning refers to “the principle that learners should be encouraged to assume a maximum amount of responsibility and independence an autonomous learner should take responsibility

for they learn and how they learn it” Therefore, the main roles of the teacher should

be information provider, assessor, administrator, and organizer Nevertheless,

“learner autonomy does not mean avoiding any reliance on sources of help around you but means being aware of these sources and what they have to offer in different situations.” (Nunan 1997, p.193) For example, if students ask teacher for all new words and structures when they are reading, they are dependent students In contrast,

if they look up the dictionary and then ask teacher for the most suitable meanings of the words in the context, they are autonomous students One more example, students can improve their autonomous learning by asking teachers for suitable reading materials that meet their interests and English proficiency In these cases, the students draw the teacher into their own learning agenda, effectively using the teacher as a source of help To sum up, someone is qualified as an autonomous learner when he or she independently chooses aims and purposes and sets goals; chooses materials, methods and tasks; exercises choice and purpose in organizing and carrying out the chosen tasks; and chooses criteria for evaluation (Based on Holec, 1982, cited by Thansoulas, nd, p.1)

In the theories and studies above, autonomous learning is no doubt the best way to reach educational goal According to McDevitt (1997: 34), the end product of education is an independent learner, and cultivating a learner’s independence or autonomy should be regarded as the end goal that teachers and educators try to pursue Many educators and scholars believe that some degrees of autonomy need to

be developed if learners are to become effective language users (Littlewood, 1996; Nunan, 1997; Breen, 1984)

1.1.2 Reasons for students’ self-learning

More and more research has been done on students’ self-learning and independence (Holec, 1981; Benson, 2000) and its importance for successful learning process “You can bring a horse to water but you cannot make him water” The old saying highlights the importance of student’s autonomy in language learning

process In fact, there are a number of reasons why students’ self-learning should be developed

First, self-learning is essential to make language learning successful Ellis and Sinclair (1989:1, cited in Benson and Voller, 1997:174) argue that “helping learners take on more responsibility for their own learning can be beneficial” because: (1) learning can be more effective when learners take control for their own learning because they learn what they are ready to learn; (2) those learners who are responsible for their own learning can carry on learning outside the classroom; (3) learners who know about learning strategies can transfer learning strategies to other subjects No matter how much students learn in the class, there is always much more they have to learn by practice on their own In reality, programs and syllabi used in current Vietnamese contexts cannot offer many opportunities for students to use a foreign language outside their class Therefore, students must take more responsibility on their learning to master the target language This self-learning helps enrich the input and skills (Deci, 1995)

In addition, a great number of researches have proved the intertwined relationship between autonomy and motivation In Deci’s words, “autonomy is nourished by, but

in turn nourishes, our intrinsic motivation, our proactive interest in the world around us” (1995, p.2) The student with self-motivation will be more confident and study better

Furthermore, once students acquire autonomy in learning in school, they slip easily into autonomy for the activities outside class In other words, autonomy helps study to remain life-long learning and hereby they are capable of mastering the language but also the world in which they live

Finally, language learning is life-long learning: formal lesson alone will not enable students to communicate effectively in complex life and work situation As being said by Trim (1988, p.3) “no school, or even university, can provide its pupil with all knowledge and skills they need in their active adults live.” Hence, it is important to help students become more autonomous not only for the sake of their

learning in school, but also for their actual lives As Little (1991, p.8) discussed “if there are no barriers between learning and living, learners should have difficulties in transferring their capacity for autonomous behavior to all other areas of their lives and this should make them useful members of society and more effective participants

in the democratic process.”

Because of all above reasons, it can be said that self-learning is “an unavoidable methodological option” (Narcy, 1994)

1.1.3 Characteristics of self-learning

Holec (cited in Hsu, 2005) states that an autonomous learner is a manager of their learning processes This is further developed by Nunan (1997:193) who sees learning autonomy as the ability “to hold the responsibility for all the decisions concerning all aspects of this learning, i.e.: determining the objectives; defining the contents and progressions; selecting methods and techniques to be used.” Sharing the same ideas, Omaggio, 1978; Holec, 1981; Dickinson, 1987; Little, 1991; Broady & Kenning, 1996; and Barnett, 1993, give the characteristics of an independent learner

as below:

- Autonomous learners plan their learning and set goals

- Autonomous learners are intrinsically motivated by making progress in learning

- Autonomous learners can make well-informed learning decisions

- Autonomous learners are aware of their strengths and weaknesses

- Autonomous learners have insights into their learning styles and strategies

- Autonomous learners are self-reliant for their own learning

- Autonomous learners use and practice skills

- Autonomous learners plan their learning and set goals

- Autonomous learners connect classroom learning with the real world The difference between the dependent and autonomous learners is the dependence

on the teacher Whereas the dependent students rely much on their teachers and

believe teachers are wholly responsible for their learning, the autonomous ones need

a help from teachers as facilitators and counselors

1.1.4 Factors affecting self-learning

There are many factors influencing self-learning In our opinion, apart from learning strategies, the two most important factors affecting self-learning are the change of teacher’s role and the students’ learning motivation

1.1.4.1 Teacher’s role

In past, the teacher-centered instruction method long dominated language classroom practice Teachers were determiners, respected sages, and sometimes facilitators who carried both ultimate responsibility and authority in classroom, while students learnt passively and had no active interactions because of the fear of making mistakes or suffering embarrassment in spite of the long-recognized significance of in-class engagement to the development of their linguistic proficiency and successful target language acquisition (Nuttall, 1996) Referring to the teacher’s role; recently, Hsu (2005) in his research, still emphasizes the role of teachers on students’ self-learning It can be concluded from the research, students’ self-learning or learner independence means that the teacher becomes a learning guide Teachers play a key role in creating environment to facilitate and motivate learners to take responsibility for their learning, develop good habits, the reading habits, and become independent learners-readers

In brief, because of the changing of learners from passive knowledge recipients to the autonomous agents in their learning, teacher is no longer a knowledge transmitter but a facilitator of the learning process in which, reading is essential

1.1.4.2 Motivation

One of the most important factors that influence independent learning is motivation The research about the influence of learner motivation on developing autonomous learning, by Conttia (2007: 3) indicates that learner motivation and self-learning are intertwined in a web of cognitive, psychological, and social practices that are dynamic and socially constructed Sharing the same idea, both Scharle &

Szabo (2000) and Dickinson (1995) agree that people, who are intrinsically motivated in doing a learning activity, are more able to identify the goals of learning and more willing to take responsibility for the outcome as they do it for its own sake Because most knowledge and skills the students learn are in books, learning motivation depends greatly on reading motivation This means that, it is crucial for a self-learner to know how to read

To sum up, apart from learning strategies, the two most important factors affecting students’ self-learning are students’ learning motivation and the change of the teacher’s role But both factors depends greatly on the students’ reading habits and skills

1.2 Building reading habits

1.2.1 Classification of reading

It is obvious that different kinds of reading skills meet different purposes According to purposes, it is possible to distinguish four main kinds of reading skills: skimming, scanning, extensive, and intensive reading

1.2.1.1 Skimming

According to Grellet (1981: 19), “When skimming, we go through the reading material quickly in order to get the gist of it, to know how it is organized, or to get an idea of the tone or the intention of the writer.” Sharing the same point of view, Nuttall (1982: 36) stated, “By skimming, we mean glancing rapidly through a text to determine whether a research paper is relevant to our own work or in order to keep ourselves superficially informed about matters that are not of great importance to us”

Indeed, speed-reading is a good way to absorb printed information quickly, but sometimes you just need to get the gist of what is being written about, without all the details That is when knowing how to skim text can be helpful When you skim a page, you take the main ideas from the reading material without reading all the words Readers skim when time is short or when they need to understand the general ideas but not the particulars of an article or book Moreover, main ideas are usually

found in the first sentences of each paragraph and in the first and last paragraphs It

is also useful to pay attention to the organization of the text

To conclude, skimming is known as a helpful technique for reading comprehension, which allows students to get the main ideas of the text without focusing on the details Therefore, skimming is a useful reading skill for students, and it is advisable to apply at the first stage of teaching reading because it can give them a more accurate picture of text to be read later

1.2.1.2 Scanning

Scanning occurs when a reader looks quickly through the text searching for a specific piece of information or to see if the text is suitable for a specific reading purpose That means scanning is selective reading, it helps students choose the right text and understand it well Nuttall (1982:36) states that “By scanning we mean glancing rapidly through a text either to search for a specific piece of information (e.g a name, a date) or to get an initial impression of whether the text suitable for a given purpose (e.g whether a book on gardening deals with the cultivation of a particular vegetable)

Indeed, scanning is used when a specific piece of information is required, such as

a name, date, symbol, formula, or phrase, is required The reader knows what the item looks like and so, knows when he has located what he was searching It is assumed then, that very little information is processed into long-term memory or even for immediate understanding because the objective is simply matching

Additionally, according to Grellet (1981) scanning and skimming are both reading techniques that are needed for quick and efficient reading, they should not be selected separately Besides, Davies, F (1995:137) asserts that “it is difficult to draw clear boundaries between the types of reading termed skimming and scanning; in real life, scanning inevitably involves some skimming (and skipping) of large sections of text, and skimming, reciprocally, must embrace some scanning.”

1.2.1.3 Extensive reading

Brown (1989) explains that extensive reading is carried out "to achieve a general understanding of a text." Sharing the same idea, Long and Richards (1971, p.216) identify extensive reading as "occurring when students read large amounts of high interest material, usually out of class, concentrating on meaning, "reading for gist" and skipping unknown words." Besides, by “reading for fluency” it means students have general understanding of the text without understanding every word (Lewis, 1992) Therefore, it is a very good way for students to widen their knowledge by

reading extensively (Nuttall, 1982)

Actually, in extensive reading, reading is in quantity and in order to again a general understanding of what is read It is intended to develop good reading habits

To build up knowledge of vocabulary and structure also encourage a like for reading Dalman, M (1978: 115) stated the extensive reading is a fluency activity mainly including global understanding of longer reading text Extensive reading activities are usually done for one’s pleasure/ enjoyment for example, in daily life our reading objective constantly varies, when planning exercises

Extensive reading is considered to be useful for students’ self-learning Their reading habits and passion for reading are also formed through extensive reading Students can choose what they want to read based on their interests, what materials they like and read for their own purpose for pleasure or entertainment Getting the extensive reading program off to a good start is also vital The aim is for an initial successful experience so that students discover they can read in English and that they enjoy it This positive experience should stimulate them to read more, increasing motivation, enjoyment and a desire to read However, it is more effective if students’ extensive reading is followed an instructional program with the help of the reading teacher Indeed, the teacher plays an important role in encouraging and assisting the students with their reading, which the students undertake during and after class

1.2.1.4 Intensive reading

In comparison with extensive reading, intensive reading which has another name,

“reading for accuracy” (Brumfit, 1977; Nuttall, 1982), seems more difficult It

involves approaching the text under the guidance of a teacher or a task which forces the students to focus on the text” (Nuttall, 2000:38) In the view of Nuttall (1982: 23)

“The aim of intensive reading is to arrive at a profound and detailed understanding of the text: not only of what it means, but also of how the meaning is produced The

“how” is as important as the “what”…”

Intensive Reading occurs when the learner focusses on the language rather than the text For example, the learner may be answering comprehension questions, learning new vocabulary, studying the grammar and expressions in the text, translating the passage, or other tasks that involve the student in looking intensively the text Most often all the students read the same short text that the teacher decided

In other words, students read intensively to attain full comprehension context, language patterns of the text, the purpose, and attitude of the writer

The advantage of intensive reading is that it focuses the learner on certain aspects

of the language However, intensive reading is usually done with difficult texts with many unknown words that require the learner to use a dictionary This means the reading is slow That there are few opportunities for the learner to learn to read smoothly, because she has to stop every few seconds to work on something she cannot understand This slows or prevents the development of fluent eye movements that are so necessary to improve one's reading skill Intensive reading is the most typically taught method of teaching reading Unfortunately, some teachers only know this method and believe that by teaching the vocabulary and grammar that is all the learner needs This is not so, she also needs to practice in reading and to be trained in developing reading skills

1.2.2 A brief introduction to reading habits

Reading is not only an essential tool for knowledge transfer but also the most important academic activity in self- learning and in learning in general Once the child has been taught to read and has developed the love for books, he can explore for himself the wealth of human experiences and knowledge through reading Children, who miss the opportunity of getting in touch with books in their early

stages of life, find it hard to acquire good reading habits in their later years (Deavers, 2000)

Reading is an intellectual action that is possible only if a man forms a habit of reading and practices these from childhood Reading habits, therefore, play a very crucial role in enabling a person to achieve practical efficiency Gallo (2007) argues that “Books yield their best to you, if you read them at the age at which each particular masterpiece can ideally be chewed and digested.” Everyday reading consists of individuals’ reading activities for a variety of purposes, such as for relaxation or information (Issa et al, 2012) They believe that from middle childhood through adulthood, reading becomes a major component of studying, and much information learned through studying is initially acquired through reading Thus, everyday reading activities in which students engage may considerably influence their studying skills and subsequent academic performance There is a general sense

in which one appreciates the link between good habits of reading and the academic performance of students generally, (Issa et al, 2012)

The term “reading habits” refers to the behavior which expresses the likeness of reading of individual types of reading, and tastes of reading (Sangkaeo, 1999) It is a pattern with which an individual organizes his or her reading Reading is important for everybody in order to cope with new knowledge in a changing world – that of the technological age The ability to read is at the heart of self-education and lifelong learning Darko-Ampem (2005) also states, “The great divide between home and school, the facilities of education system to recognize the oral culture of communities, especially folklore and story-telling traditions, and the lack of culturally relevant materials in indigenous languages are all factors which contribute toward the lack of a reading culture in many African communities.”

1.3 Review of previous studies relevant to the study

Some researchers have studied the problems of self-learning and how to develop self-learning by reading First, Atsuko Takase (2012) has a study on “Effectiveness

of Sustained Silent Reading in Becoming Autonomous Learners.” This study

investigated into the influence of Extensive reading (ER) on improving second or foreign language students’ self-learning He also suggested the key to success in learning is to read a vast amount in the target language, and read many easy materials of students’ own choice In the study, Takase analyzed Sustained Silent Reading (SSR) or Free Voluntary Reading (FVR) FVR can be referred to as any in-school program where students are provided a short time for reading It requires no book reports to be written, no questions to be answered at the end of reading and no dictionary to be used to look up every unknown word while reading SSR which is one kind of FVR is a system whereby students engage in silent in-class designated period of time “when students are allowed to read whatever they like.” The study concluded that the more students read, the more their reading proficiency improves

In addition, with monitoring and encouragement of the instructor, SSR enables learners to start reading easy books well within their reading level Thus, SSR students become motivated to read even outside of class, gradually developing a good reading habits and becoming autonomous learners

Another interesting study is that by Paweena C that is entitled on “Promoting Learner Autonomy through an Extensive Reading Program among Second Year

Undergraduate Students of Naresuan University Reading Strategies” (2012) This

study argues that reading strategies are probably to be regarded as an important factor for the success of self-learning Reading strategies are the “actions, behaviors, steps, or techniques” which students use to improve their progress in apprehending, internalizing, and using the L2.” With suitable knowledge of those reading strategies, students may probably become less dependent on the teacher and have more knowledge and greater awareness of the significance of reading strategies to the success of extensive reading program The success of self-learning may also require the understanding of how to use different reading strategies effectively and efficiently Hence, learning and practicing is necessary accordingly Benson (2001: 75) argues, “Fostering autonomy does not imply that we simply leave learners to their own devices, but that we actively encourage and assist them to take control of

their learning.” The teacher, for example, could train students on how to use various reading strategies to deal with different type of reading texts In this way, students manage to read strategically and confidently by themselves and ultimately develop their learner autonomy as the readers who possess certain reading proficiency levels Another study is “Reading Speed and Learner Autonomy” by Fujigaki, E (2012) This paper describes the significant role that reading speed has in reading fluency and developing autonomy She stated that students need a certain speed to get a real understanding of a text To achieve a reasonable speed, students need to develop a daily reading habit She indicated that if autonomy in reading means is able to read at length without a dictionary or other outside help, being able to choose one’s reading materials and general being self-sufficient After the study, she concluded that considerable speed is indispensable for achievement of satisfactory reading and enjoyment; as a result, it enhanced students’ autonomy learning

All the above studies prove the effectiveness of extensive reading, reading speed, and reading strategies in enhancing learner autonomy The participants were university students who studied English as major In Vietnam, although many researchers and educators have studied about learner autonomy, there is still no study

in the field of developing self-learning by reading habits In this present study, the author would like to investigate into the influence of reading habits on enhancing students’ self-learning at Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy The participants are students in grade 7 and 8, and study English as foreign language In the study, the researcher will apply the Takase’s work about building Extensive Reading, Sustained Silent Reading, or Free Voluntary Reading Because of available reading materials in the library and suitability for students’ interests and proficiency, it is hopeful to build effective reading habits for students

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the setting, procedure, methods used and actual realization

of the study to answer the research questions The participants, the data collection instruments, and the data analysis methods are also justified

2.1 Setting of the study

2.1.1 Research place

The study was conducted at Đoàn Thi ̣ Điểm Ecopark Academy School At this school, English is taught as a foreign language The textbook in use is “Tiếng Anh 8” according to the English program designed by The Ministry of Education and Training There are seven periods of English per week, each of which lasts for 45 minutes They are taught by both English and Vietnamese teachers

At Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy School, the English language sub-division has 14 teachers Some of them have more than 10 years of teaching experience, and the youngest teachers have more than one year of teaching experience All of them are enthusiastic, active, hard working, and willing to apply better methods to upgrade their teaching ability

2.1.2 Participants of the study

2.1.2.1 Teachers of English

The study was carried out with the participation of five full –time Secondary school teachers of English at Đoàn Thi ̣ Điểm Ecopark Academy School All the five teachers have Bachelor’s Degree in English Teaching Methodology or English Linguistics, two of them are studying in a M.A Degree Program in English studies, and two had received M.A Degree in English Teaching Methodology Most of them have at least two years of working experience as teachers of English at Đoàn Thi ̣ Điểm Ecopark Academy School and other Vietnamese Public Schools; therefore, it

is not exaggerated to say that they are experienced and enthusiastic teachers They are always willing to help their students overcome difficulties and make progress in learning English

2.1.2.2 Students

The 140 students under investigation were chosen from classes 7A1, 7A2, 7A3, 8A1, 8A2 at Đoàn Thi ̣ Điểm Ecopark Academy School Of them, 75 are male and 65 are female Some of students have learned English since they were in Primary grades However, some of them do not know virtually anything about English vocabulary and structures Therefore, they were divided into high and low English proficient groups Students with high English proficiency are quite confident and active in class; whereas, the low English proficiency ones are passive and depend much on the teachers in learning Unfortunately, students of both groups are not very autonomous in setting their learning goals, making plans to get the goals; especially, they do not find out their important roles in their autonomous learning

2.1.3 Data collection instruments

The data collection is achieved by a combination of survey questionnaires and interviews

2.1.3.1 Survey questionnaires

Questionnaire data is particularly appropriate for quantitative, and statistic analysis: since all the informants answer to the same questions, the data collected is easy to be classified, summarized, analyzed and reported (Wilson & Maclen, 1994; Brown & Rodgers, 2002; Cohen & Morrison, 2007) Besides, according to Nunan (1993), using survey questionnaire is helpful because researchers can save considerably the time of delivering and collecting the questionnaires Furthermore, the subjects are free to state out their ideas without having to worry about personal information to be leaked As a result, questionnaire is the main tool to collect data for this study

2.1.3.1.1 The questionnaire 1 for the students

The survey questionnaire 1 (see Appendix 1) was given to 140 students before building reading habits of building reading habits It aims to find out students’ reading habits and self-learning The questionnaire is divided into two parts The first part has three questions about the students’ reading habits The second part

consists of one question dealing with self-learning 140 copies of this questionnaire were collected in class 15 minutes later

2.1.3.1.2 The questionnaire 2 for the students

The survey questionnaire 2 (see Appendix 2) was given to the same 140 students after building reading habits of building reading habits to find out the effectiveness

of building reading habits in students’ self-learning There are four questions in the questionnaire 140 copies of it were given to the students and collected after 15 minutes The researcher was in the class to help students get right understanding and make correct answers

2.1.3.2 The interviews

We agree with Kvale (1996), that interview is a particular useful research tool for getting in-deep information about a specific research issue or question He supposes that this is a personal form of research and as interviewer works directly with the respondents, the information about the opinions or impressions is often easier to collect through oral interviews

2.1.3.2.1 The interview 1 for teachers

The interview 1 (see Appendix 3) was conducted with five teachers of English in the English sub-division at Đoàn Thị Điểm Ecopark Academy School The interview aimed to elicit information about teachers’ attitude towards students’ self-learning and reading habits at the school Moreover, to find out teachers’ attitude towards the effectiveness of building reading habits in students’ English self-learning before building reading habits There are three open-ended questions in the interview 1 2.1.3.2.2 The interview 2 for teachers

The interview 2 (see Appendix 4) was taken after building reading habits The purpose of the interview is to find out teachers’ judgement about the effectiveness of reading habits in enhancing students’ self-learning and teachers’ suggestions to developing autonomous learning There are two open-ended questions in the interview 2

2.2 Research types

The ultimate goal of this study is to improve the students’ listening skills by using movies in teaching listening To achieve the ultimate goal, the study used the quantitative Quantitative data were collected based on the results of the questionnaires, pre-test and post-test

In order to conduct an action research, Nunan (1992) suggests seven steps:

Figure 1: Action Research Model These general steps were used in this action research

2.4 Procedure of the study

The study was carried out at the end of Term 1

2.4.1 Delivering survey questionnaire 1

On December 22nd, 2014 the survey questionnaire 1 was delivered to 140 students

in classes 7A1, 7A2, 7A3, 8A1 and 8A2 in their classrooms at the break time During 15 minutes, the researcher was in the class, helped and gave more instructions when it was necessary The 140 copies of first questionnaire were collected and then the participants were divided into two groups based on their high and low English proficiency Because of the teacher’s help during the procedure and the English simple questions the students understood and did the questionnaires, no questionnaires were rejected Next, questionnaire 1 was analyzed to find out

students’ reading habits and self-learning ability After that, teachers discussed and found out ways to encourage students to build reading habits Then 140 students were guided to build reading habits in four months

2.4.2 Building reading habits

Firstly, teachers support students with reading materials All reading materials are available in the school library Five reading materials were used as follows:

(1) Bilingual jokes (The Windy Publisher) The small collection of interesting jokes

support reading bilingual English Vietnamese for students want to relax while improving their English language abilities in a natural way It also provides meanings, pronunciations, and parts of speech of new words Teachers suggested this book for low English proficient group

(2) Facts & Figures – Basic Reading Practice and Cause & Effect - Intermediate

Reading Practice (Patricia Ackert, First New Publisher, Third Edition) These

books include from 25 to 35 texts about five or seven popular topics At the end of each reading, there are exercises to check reading comprehension, and to practice new words and structures Teachers suggested this book for low English proficient group

(3) Concepts and Comments - A Reader for Students of English as a Second

Language (Patricia Ackert & Anne L Nebel, First New Publisher, Second Edition)

includes 25 long texts about the interesting topics It supports meanings, pronunciations, and parts of speech of new words Moreover, it helps students study the language throughout these parts: Work with Vocabulary, Understanding the Reading, Writing, Word Study, and Building Vocabulary Skill Teachers suggested this book for high English proficient group

(4) Let’s Enjoy Masterpieces! (Rudyard Kipling, First News- Tri Viet Publishing

Co., Ltd) It is a series of short novels about normal life with pictures They support key words with parts of speech, key sentences, Vietnamese meanings, check-up part, and comprehension quiz Teachers suggested these books for both low and high English proficient groups

(5) Science made Easy (Carol Vorderman) includes science fact, science quiz, and

science activities Teachers suggested this book for high English proficient group After reading, students were guided to write reading reports Then teachers arranged group and peer discussions to share students’ reading experience in the class

Secondly, teachers spent one period per week for free reading lesson in the library In these periods, teachers guided students how to find useful reading materials Then, they encouraged their students to find and read the books they like Thirdly, teachers supported students with reading strategies They explained these reading strategies and helped students practice with exercises

2.4.3 Delivering survey questionnaire 2

After four months, the survey questionnaire 2 was given to the same 140 students

to find out the effectiveness of reading habits in their self-learning 140 students were asked to evaluate the influence of building reading habits on enhancing their self-learning All of students answered the survey questionnaire 2; the teacher stood

in the class and answered the questions when it was necessity All of 140 questionnaires were collected after 15 minutes

2.4.4 Interviewing teachers

Besides, the interviews were carried out with five teachers in the break time Each interview lasted about 10 minutes The first interview was carried out on December

22nd, 2014 and the second one was on April 22nd, 2015

The table below shows the names, ages, sexes of five teachers who participated in the interview

1 Nguyễn Thị L Female 29

2 Nguyễn Thị A Female 30

3 Nguyễn Thị Thu T Female 29

4 Bùi Vân A Female 24

5 Nguyễn Thị N Female 27