Supporting students reading comprehension through task adaptation with reference to the new headway pre intermediate coursebook at hanoi universtiy of industry

The Vicious Circle of the Weak Reader LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES  Table I.1: Steps in Action Research Cycle  Table 3.1: The Students’ Perception of the Role of Reading Comprehension 

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*****

đặng thị lê na

SUPPORTING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH TASK ADAPTATION WITH REFERENCE TO THE NEW HEADWAY PRE-INTERMEDIATE COURSEBOOK AT HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY

HỖ TRỢ KĨ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CHO SINH VIấN KHễNG

CHUYấN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CễNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI THễNG QUA VIỆC ĐIỀU CHỈNH CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG ĐỌC CỦA GIÁO TRèNH NEW

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*****

đặng thị lê na

SUPPORTING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH TASK ADAPTATION WITH REFERENCE TO THE NEW HEADWAY PRE-INTERMEDIATE COURSEBOOK AT HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY

HỖ TRỢ KĨ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CHO SINH VIấN KHễNG

CHUYấN TIẾNG ANH TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CễNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI THễNG QUA VIỆC ĐIỀU CHỈNH CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG ĐỌC CỦA GIÁO TRèNH NEW

HEADWAY PRE-INTERMEDIATE

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor: Lờ Văn Canh, M.A

HANOI, 2010

1.1 Overview on Reading, Task and Task Adaptation 5

1.1 Definition of Reading Comprehension 5 1.2 The Role of Reading in Foreign Language Learning 5 1.3 Challenges of Comprehending Reading Texts 6

2.3 The Adaptation of Reading Tasks in the Coursebook 13

4.1 Major Findings and Discussions 31

Appendix 1: Preliminary Survey

Appendix 2: Survey Questionnaire

Appendix 3: Worksheets (delivered in class)

Appendix 4: Samples of Adapted Reading Tasks

Appendix 5: Survey for Response to Adaptation

Appendix 6: Original Reading Sections (Unit 2, Unit 4, and Unit 7)

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

 HaUI: Hanoi University of Industry

 GE: General English

 ESP: English for Specific Purposes

 ESL: English as a Second Language

 EFL: English as a Foreign Language

 CUP: Cambridge University Press

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

 Figure 1.1 The Vicious Circle of the Weak Reader

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

 Table I.1: Steps in Action Research Cycle

 Table 3.1: The Students’ Perception of the Role of Reading Comprehension

 Table 3.2: The students’ Evaluation of Reading Lessons

 Table 3.3: Elements Affecting the Students’ Reading Comprehension

 Table 3.4: The Students’ Evaluation of the Role of Reading Materials

 Table 3.5: The Students’ Opinions towards the Language in Reading Texts

 Table 3.6: The Students’ Opinions towards the Content of Reading Texts

 Table 3.7: The Students’ Opinions towards the Reading Tasks

 Table 3.8: The Students’ Preferences for Reading Tasks

 Table 3.9: The Students’ Opinions on Tasks of the Reading Stages Needed Adapting

 Table 3.10: The Students’ Response to the Reading Lesson of Unit 2

 Table 3.11: The Students’ Response to the Reading Lesson of Unit 4

 Table 3.12: The Students’ Response to the Reading Lesson of Unit 7

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PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Identify the Problem

In Vietnam, English is taught and learnt in a non-native environment so reading is perhaps the most important skill as it provides students with access to written materials Teaching and learning English in general and teaching reading in the context of Hanoi University of Industry is receiving more attention because reading helps students increase knowledge of English through exposure to the target language as well as sources of valuable information It is crucial for them to acquire the skills to read English efficiently

However, as a teacher of English at HaUI for nearly 4 years, I find that my students, especially the first-year ones, are quite bored with the reading tasks offered in the coursebook “New Headway Pre-Intermediate”, the second edition Doing reading tasks sometimes is a burden for them Students often participate in reading lessons inactively and inefficiently

The fact has urged the author to carry out the study with the view to supporting students‟ reading comprehension through task adaptation Hopefully, this study will make contributions to improving the learning of reading in particular and that of English in general at HaUI

2 Aims of the Study

The study was designed to support students‟ reading comprehension through the adaptation of reading tasks in the coursebook New Headway Pre-Intermediate It aimed to achieve three primary objects:

1 To investigate how interesting and relevant the students find the current reading materials and reading tasks

2 To identify unsuitable aspects of the reading tasks in the coursebook New Headway Pre-Intermediate and adapt them

3 To make some suggestions for supporting students‟ reading comprehension through task adaptation

3 Research Questions

In order to achieve the above-mentioned aims, the following research questions guided the study:

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1 What reading comprehension tasks in the coursebook New Headway Intermediate do the students feel challenging?

Pre-2 Why do they feel those tasks challenging?

3 In what way are those tasks adapted in order to help them cope with the reading tasks better according to the students‟ evaluation?

4 Significance of the Study

The study was carried out to encourage the students‟ assessment of reading tasks in the coursebook The unsuitable tasks were adapted to be more practical and accessible for the students Pedagogically, the findings of the study are believed to bring about necessary changes in reading materials and teaching methodology to improve the students‟ reading comprehension at HaUI

Furthermore, the suggestions for teaching reading based on the findings can be useful for concerned teachers to make reading lessons more interesting and effective

5 Scope of the Study

Materials adaptation is such a broad topic that cannot be wholly discussed within the framework of this paper, therefore, only one specific aspect will be central to the discussion that is reading tasks‟ adaptation

With the focus on reading tasks only in the coursebook New Headway intermediate, the second edition, the study was carried out to adapt those which are inappropriate according to the students‟ evaluation to support their reading comprehension

Pre-The study focuses on the first year students, non-major English, so the results of the study are not applied for all students at HaUI

6 Methods of the Study

The study in fact is a mini action research carried out with the following steps:

Step 1:

Initiation

- In the process of teaching the coursebook New Headway Intermediate, the author observed that reading lessons are not always interesting enough to students, they often participate in reading lessons inactively and inefficiently meanwhile reading comprehension is considered important to academic studies What should be done?

Pre-Step 2: - The author carried out the preliminary survey to find out major

Step 4:

Intervention

- Before each new unit, the students were surveyed to find out their opinions about reading tasks in the coming lesson

- The author selected some reading tasks that the students assessed

to be unsuitable and suggested different types of adapted tasks

- The adapted tasks were delivered in the next lesson The author observed the class, recorded the results

- When the students finished the tasks, the author provided them with survey questionnaires for response to adaptation

Step 5:

Evaluation

- The students found the adapted tasks less challenging and achievable They were more comfortable when doing those tasks and took part in reading lessons more actively

Table I.1: Steps in Action Research Cycle (Adopted from Figure 1.5, Nunan, 1992:19)

7 Design of the Study

The study titled “Supporting Students‟ Reading Comprehension through Task Adaptation with reference to the New Headway Pre-Intermediate Coursebook at Hanoi University of Industry” consists of three main parts namely Introduction, Development and Conclusion

In the first part- Introduction- the reason for the research, aims, significance, scope and methodology of the study are considered

The second part- Development- contains four chapters

- Chapter Three deals with a comprehensive data analysis

- Chapter Four reports major findings, discussion, and suggestions

The last part- Conclusion- provides a summary of the study, limitations and recommendations for follow-up action

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PART II: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW

Introduction

This chapter aims at providing a theoretical background knowledge relating to reading comprehension and task adaptation for the study

1 Overview on Reading Theories, Task and Task Adaptation

1.1 Definition of Reading Comprehension

Attempts to define reading have been numerous Williams (1984: 2) defines reading simply as “a process whereby one looks at and understands what have been written.” Ur (1996: 38) shares the same view when he defines “reading means reading and understanding.” Or according to Karlin and Kartin (1988: 2)‟s view “reading without reading comprehension is meaningless” In these ways of definition, merely reading without understanding does not count as reading The problem in defining is the confusion between „understanding‟ and „comprehending‟ It seems that the two words are used interchangeably For example, according to Grellet (1981: 3), “reading comprehension or understanding written texts means extracting the required information from it as efficiently

as possible.” In a similar way, Richard and Thomas (1987: 8) do not make any distinction between the two terms They define reading comprehension as “an understanding between the author and the reader” To their view, reading comprehension is not just a matter of simply knowing what the author intends but it is the process whereby the printed pages stimulate ideas, experiences and responses that are unique to an individual

In short, reading comprehension is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, between the readers‟ existing knowledge and the information suggested

by the text being read The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode meaning The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to understand or comprehend the meaning of the text

1.2 Role of Reading in Foreign Language learning

The role that reading plays in language acquisition continues to be an area of research in second language learning In teaching and learning English as a foreign

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language in Vietnam, reading has always received a great deal of attention This is because reading gives learners access to written materials and facilitates other language skills to help them have good command of English Thus, reading skill is not only an important means to gain knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place In other words, learners read to learn The importance of reading skill is acknowledged in Carrel‟s (1981: 1) view, “for many students, reading is by far the most importance of the four skills

in a second language, particularly in English as a second or foreign language” Enhancing learners‟ reading skills is crucial because according to Richard (1993: 9), “becoming an effective and influent reader in another language has a number of important benefits for the learner.” Anderson (1999: 1) while regarding the importance of reading writes, “with strengthened reading skills, ESL/EFL readers will make greater progress and attain greater development in all academic areas.” Bearing this point in mind, it is a mandatory duty for each ESL teacher to develop learners‟ reading comprehension in general and developing vital reading skills in particular

1.3 Challenges of Comprehending Reading Texts

Reading in a foreign language is of great importance to academic studies, personal development and professional success However, reading in a foreign language is much more difficult Many scholars agreed that there are three main factors that affect reading comprehension: (1) reading ability, (2) language proficiency, and (3) cultural and background knowledge

1.3.1 Reading Problems

If a reader has a poor reading ability in his first language, he cannot read well in a second language as Bernhardt and Kamil (1995: 17) assume “reading performance in a second language is largely shared with reading ability in a first language” Besides, according to Alderson (1984), the reason why learners who fail to read adequately in English is that they cannot read efficiently in the native language Obviously, reading process in a second language is slower than that of the first one as it depends on lots of factors For most learners, their limited reading skills create many problems Very frequently, students feel difficult to use the appropriate ways to read They just look at every word, read slowly from the beginning to the end Sometimes, they may encounter new words or unfamiliar topic, cannot concentrate well on the text and finally fail to grasp the general meaning Usually, there are unfamiliar words, new structures and ideas in

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reading text If a learner does not have strategies and skills to make use of lexical, grammatical, logical, and cultural clues he will read the text with less comprehension And poor reading comprehension may result in disinterest in reading He may be trapped in a vicious circle:

Doesn‟t understand → Read slowly

↑ ↑

Doesn‟t read much → Doesn‟t enjoy reading

Figure 1.1 The Vicious Circle of the Weak Reader (Nuttal, 1996: 127)

1.3.2 Language Problems

Yorio (1971: 108) contends that reading problems of foreign language learners are largely due to the imperfect knowledge of the target language and the mother tongue interference in the reading process Concerning language problems, Levine and Reves (1990: 37) write, “lack of adequate vocabulary as one of the obstacles to text comprehension” (cited in Anderson, 1999: 25) Obviously, low competence in the target language hinders readers from reading efficiently Dealing with a reading text, learners may have to face with difficulties of „text‟ and „vocabulary‟ The first problem of „text‟ happens when learners have to work with unfamiliar and difficult topics in a text with lots

of new grammatical structures They do not have any motivation to keep on reading as the text is challenging to understand The second frequent problem is caused by „vocabulary‟ For any foreign language readers, there is always new vocabulary in reading texts Vocabulary problems occur when readers dealing with proverbs, idioms, synonyms, antonyms, etc because they cannot interpret their real meanings in context Therefore when knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical structures is restricted, the readers have lots of difficulties As a result, they will be unwilling to explore the text

1.3.3 Cultural and Background Knowledge Problems

Background knowledge includes all experience that a reader brings to a text such as life experience, educational experience, and knowledge of how texts can be organized rhetorically Nunan (1989: 33) discusses on the significant role of background knowledge

in reading comprehension through „schema theory’ According to this theory, reading is an

interactive process between what a reader already knows about a given topic and what the

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author writes The way we interpret depends on the schemata activated by the text Hence, many readings passages can only be adequately comprehend if the reader has the relevant cultural knowledge

Strang (1972) thinks that different readers have different levels of comprehension of the same text because they start off from different positions In a similar vein of thinking, Osman (1985) finds that readers coming from different cultural backgrounds interpret texts differently because of the differences in the high-level cultural schemata that were activated When dealing with a reading text, a reader may encounter the problem of an unfamiliar topic Comprehension of a culturally unfamiliar text is more difficult because readers may misinterpret the text according to their own cultural experiences The new content of the text prevents readers from comprehending the text properly which may make them lose their interest in exploring the text As Carell and Eisterhold (1983: 560) point out “a reader‟s failure to activate an appropriate schema during reading results in various degree of non comprehension” (cited in Anderson, 1999: 12)

1.4 Task Adaptation as a Type of Support for the Reading Comprehension Process

The previous sections discuss reading comprehension and its related aspects This current section is intended for task adaptation

1.4.1 Definition of Task

In Breen‟s (1987: 26) words, “a language learning task can be regarded as a springboard for learning work In a broad sense, it is structured plan for the provision of opportunities for the refinement of knowledge and capabilities entailed in a new language and its use during communication”, (cited in Richards and Rogers, 2001: 223) According

to Prabhu (1987: 17), a task is “an activity which requires learners to arrive at an outcome from given information through some process of thought, and which allows teachers to control and regulate that process” The ideas cover sufficient features and functions of tasks in language acquisition Obviously, a task is a practical implementation of teaching objectives to facilitate the process of language acquisition of learners

To specify a language learning task, in the context of teaching reading comprehension Scrivener (2005: 188) recommends a framework of 15 specific reading tasks such as reordering, listing, responding, problems solving, predicting, etc These are actually tasks which are aimed to develop students‟ various micro-reading skills The

In general, adaptation tends to be thought of as a rather formal process in which the teacher makes decisions about teaching materials that needs changing, and then wrote out a revised version for the class, counting for different factors to make the materials more accessible and practical to the teaching context

1.4.3 The Purpose of Adaptation

No one book can be perfect for a particular teaching-learning context In fact, a coursebook can never be totally an effective tool for teachers to follow without any adaptation because of its intrinsic deficiencies such as linguistic inaccuracies, out-of-datedness, lack of authenticity or lack of variety Thus, the author favors Madsen and Bowen‟s (1978) and Tice‟s (1991) view that is the purpose of adaptation is to “compensate for those deficiencies” (cited in McGrath, 2002: 64)

Another purpose of adaptation, as explained by Mc Donough and Shaw (1993: 85)

is “to maximize the appropriacy of teaching materials in context, by changing some of the internal characteristics of a coursebook to better suit our particular circumstances.” Maximizing the appropriacy of teaching materials by different techniques to make them more relevant, accessible and useful for learners is important because it can stimulate motivation, and increased motivation is, in turn, likely to lead to a classroom atmosphere more conductive to learning

Concerning the role of motivation in language learning, McGrath (2002: 67) acknowledges that one of the practical reasons for adaptation is “to maintain

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learners‟ interests by varying what might be a rather repetitive diet” Maintaining students‟ motivation is important because motivation directly affects the extent of students‟ involvement and performance in language learning

1.4.4 Categories of Adaptation

There are a number of techniques for adaptation depending on teacher‟ purposes and teaching context Within the scope of this research, some frequently-used ones will be discussed with reference to the discussion of McGrath (2002) and McDonough and Shaw (1993) that „adaptation‟ refers to some techniques of change and addition

Regarding to techniques for adaptation, McGrath (2002: 64-67) divides them into two categories: adaptation as addition and adaptation as change The former includes 3 forms of adaptation such as extemporisation, extension, and exploitation The later presents

a principled approach to adaptation and foci and forms of change Sharing the same concerns, McDonough and Shaw (1993: 36) developed “external criteria” and “internal criteria” for adaptation According to these authors, both external criteria and internal criteria when considered together would determine how the task could be localized, personalized, individualized Then the teacher makes decision on whether to add, to delete,

to modify, to simplifying or to reorder the tasks regarding the language practice, texts, skills, etc The limitation of this framework is that the adaptation techniques are limited just to 5 different techniques This does not reflect fully the complexity of the classroom and the diversity of coursebook in use

Chapter Conclusion

To conclude, this chapter has presented a brief review of related knowledge which will be the theoretical foundation for the interpretation of data and suggestions in the next chapters

2.1.1 Setting of the Study

The study was conducted at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI) The university was officially established in December 2005 on the basis of Hanoi Industrial College, one

of the leading vocational colleges in Vietnam where thousands of skilled workers and engineers are trained every year

At HaUI, English is taught as a compulsory subject and a pre-requisite for graduation because it is considered to be useful both for students‟ studies and their future jobs English training program is divided into two courses: General English and English for Specific Purposes Of the total 5 semesters, the first 4 terms are designed as a GE course to help students acquire English at pre-intermediate level During this stage, students study 60 periods of English in each semester However, there is only two periods of reading a week Totally, there are 20 periods of reading a semester The last semester is devoted to introduce ESP content with a focus on reading and translating documents relating to students‟ majors

2.1.2 The Learners

The study was carried out with the participation of 98 students of two English classes from Automation & Electronics, and Electrical Engineering Departments In general, the students are at the age of 18-22 They are mostly male students They come from different provinces of Vietnam The majority of them are from the countryside Some

of them have never studied English before but there are lots of students who have learnt English since they were at grade 6 At the beginning of the first term, the students were grouped according to their English placement test results The results showed that most of them were at beginner‟s level In fact, English is not their major, so they do not pay much

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attention to study English At the time of the study, the students were in the second term of their first year

2.1.3 Reading Materials

The New Headway series, the second edition (New Headway Beginner, New

Headway Elementary and New Headway Pre-intermediate) by John and Liz Soars

published by OUP are used as the main coursebooks providing students with thorough coverage of basic grammatical and lexical items and language skills

The New Headway Pre-Intermediate is used for the first year students, who have finished the New Headway Elementary Since last year, the coursebook New Headway Pre-Intermediate has been divided into 2 stages of learning called English credit 2 and 3 Each stage covers 7 units Reading lessons in the coursebook follow three stages pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading The reading texts are long with a great deal of new words and grammatical structures, requiring good reading strategies

2.2 Instrumentation and Procedures

This mini action research was conducted based on the data collected from

„student-based evaluation‟ and „response-„student-based evaluation‟ (Ellis, 1997: 39-40) The former

regarded the students‟ attitudes to the reading tasks to check whether they are enjoyable or useful Therefore, the data was practical and reliable The later required the teacher to examine the actual outcomes (both the products and processes of the tasks) to see whether they matched with the students‟ motivation and teaching objectives Although response-based evaluations were time-consuming and quite demanding, they did provide valuable information regarding whether the task was achieving what was intended to achieve

Questionnaires were utilized as the main data collection instruments and class observation was functioned as a supplementary source of information Because all the informants gave answers to the same questions, the data collected from the questionnaires was quite easy to summarize, analyze and report Besides, the informants had chance of presenting their ideas in a free way without having to provide personal information As a result, the researcher had more uniform and accurate data

To avoid misunderstanding and ensure the accuracy of the data, both types of questionnaires were written in Vietnamese and distributed with the author‟s clear explanation

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In order that the participants were not under pressure of time, the time for responding to a survey questionnaire is 15 minutes before and after each reading lesson in class

The instrument and procedures used to gather the information for the study will be described as follows:

2.2.1 Instrument 1: Preliminary Survey

The Preliminary Survey Questionnaire (see Appendix 1) was delivered to the students at the beginning of the second term of their first year, after they have finished the coursebook New Headway Elementary It was designed with a mixture of closed and open questions with two parts Part one consists of 4 questions seeking information about students‟ sex, major, homeland, time of learning English and English result of the previous semester Part two includes four questions focusing on finding the students‟ general attitudes towards: the role of reading comprehension (Question 1), reading lessons (Question 2), elements affecting reading comprehension (Question 3), and the role of reading materials to their interests (Question 4)

2.2.2 Instrument 2: Survey Questionnaire

This questionnaire (see Appendix 2) was designed with five open and closed questions It was administered before each new reading lesson to obtain the students‟ evaluative opinions of reading texts in terms of content, language, and reading tasks in each unit

2.2.3 Instrument 3: Class Observation Sheets

The class observation sheets were used to record students‟ performance in classroom This was a useful means to measure students‟ attitudes, behavior and interaction when adapted tasks were employed

2.2.4 Instrument 4: Survey for Response to Adaptation

In order to measure the effectiveness of the adapted tasks, the Survey for Response

to Adaptation (see Appendix 5) was delivered to the students after finishing reading lessons with adapted tasks The follow-up questionnaire consists of 7 items The students were asked to self- rate the usefulness of the adapted tasks in reading lesson

2.3 The Adaptation of Reading Tasks in the Coursebook

There are various techniques for adapting tasks depending on teacher‟s purposes and teaching context Basing on the findings from the students‟ evaluation of reading tasks,

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some common adapting techniques were employed such as „replacing‟, 'adding', 'modifying', and 'simplifying' to make the challenging and unsuitable tasks of unit 2, unit 4 and unit 7 more accessible to the students at the teaching context of HaUI

 Samples of Adaptation

1 Replacing

*Sample 1.1: Unit 2- (see Appendix 4, sample 1.1)

Rationale for Adaptation:

As jigsaw reading tasks, the while-reading tasks (task 2, task 3, and task 4, see Appendix 6, Unit 2) aim at developing group-work practice with the model of 3 groups reading about one of three characters in the text respectively then retelling other groups about the character he/she has read As a matter of fact, the class size sometimes hinders teachers from carrying out group-work effectively It is hard to accomplish the task well with 49 students in class Furthermore, the students‟ language proficiency was not adequate enough to deal with the tasks Regarding the students‟ opinions that the tasks were complicated, the author replaced the original tasks by the adapted version

Adapted Version:

- Type of activity: individual and pair work

- Aims: to help the students practice and facilitate skimming and scanning skills by finding details in the reading text

- Task: while-reading task, completing the given table with details

- Preparation: make one copy of the worksheet for each student

- Time: 15 minutes

- Procedure:

+ After finishing pre-reading task (task 1) in the coursebook, the teacher asked the students to work individually first to read through the text, then fill in the table with specific details from the text At the same time, reminded them of combining scanning and skimming skills to fill in the table

+ The students exchanged their work with a partner

+ The teacher checked the answers with the whole class

2 Adding

*Sample 2.1: Unit 4-(see Appendix 4, sample 2.1)

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Rationale for Adaptation:

The reading section of Unit 4 (see Appendix 6) was regarded a difficult one according to the students‟ assessments because the text itself contains a great deal of complicated words, phrases and new grammatical structures Thus, the adapted version of task 1 in the coursebook was added

Adapted Version:

- Type of activity: individual work

- Aims: to provide the students with essential vocabulary in the text with the emphasis on parts of speech and collocations

- Task: pre-reading task, matching two groups of items

- Preparation: prepare one copy of the worksheet for each student

- Time: 12 minutes

- Procedure:

+ After finishing the first pre-reading task, the teacher asked the students to look through the second pre-reading task and drilled the pronunciation

+ The teacher reminded the students of some learnt words in the table In fact, most

of them were rarely-used that the students felt not easy to recall Then, the teacher used some techniques of teaching vocabulary to make sure that the students know the meaning

of words in one column

+ The teacher reminded the students of not looking at the text, and encouraged them to do the matching The students exchanged their answers in pairs

+ The teacher elicited answers from the students then checked the answers with the whole class

*Sample 2.2: Unit 7- (see Appendix 4, sample 2.2)

Rationale for Adaptation:

As a long text in the format of an interview, the reading text of Unit 7 (see Appendix 6) offers lots of ambiguous words that need clarifying in context Concerning the ideas of the students about vocabulary of the reading text, the author wanted to bring a new air into vocabulary teaching by adding the adapted version

Adapted Version:

- Type of activity: pair work

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- Aims: to enhance the students‟ ability of guessing meanings of words in context

- Task: pre-reading task, guessing the meaning of word in context

- Preparation: make one copy of the worksheet for each student

+ The teacher asked the students to work in pairs to identify meanings of these words in contexts

+ The teacher elicited answers from the students then checked the answers with the whole class

3 Simplifying

*Sample 3.1: Unit 4-(see Appendix 4, sample 3.1)

Rationale for Adaptation:

Task 1 of unit 4 (see Appendix 6) is really culture-bound To fulfill the task effectively, the students must have broad background knowledge because it requires them

to match the names of some famous shopping centers in the world with their well-known products It is not suitable for the students because most of them come from remote villages and towns of Vietnam According to the survey, the students felt unfamiliar with the content and the text itself, regardless of task 1 in the coursebook It is essential to think

of a new way to make the lesson less complicated and encourage the participation of the students

Adapted Version:

- Type of activity: group work

- Aims: to help students practice discussing about a practical and familiar topic

„shopping‟ with the given prompt to arouse interest for the new lesson

- Task: pre-reading task, discussing on the same topic of the text with prompt

- Preparation: make one copy of the worksheet for each student

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- Time: 10 minutes

- Procedure:

+ The teachers asked the students to work in groups of 3-4 or and decide: “What is

the best shopping place in Hanoi?” with the prompt: “I/We think is the best place for shopping in Hanoi because ”

+ The teacher went round the class during the discussion then called some representatives to express their opinions

*Sample 3.2: Unit 7, (see Appendix 4, sample 3.2)

Rationale for Adaptation:

For most reading lessons in the coursebook, the post reading stage contains a discussion which is quite easy to follow But in case of unit 7, the post-reading task (task 7, see Appendix 6) seems impractical for students Moreover, the students are not really proficient enough to tackle this adequately, since they have learnt the language structures but not fluent in their use Besides, due to the time limitation, the post reading task should immediately follow the two previous ones so the adapted version was simplified

Adapted Version:

- Type of activity: pair work

- Aims: to create a chance for the students to make use of structures and vocabulary from the text to talk about a familiar topic

- Task: post reading task, discussing on same topic of the text with prompts

- Preparation: make one copy of the worksheet for each student

- Time: 10 minutes

- Procedure:

+ The teacher asked the students to work in pairs and tell a partner about a famous person he/she has ever met or a favorite singer/footballer/actor/actress with the given prompts:

Who is she/he? What does she/he do?

Where is she/he from?

How old is she?

Why do you like him/her?

+ The teacher went round the class, offered help and observed the class‟ performance

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+ The teacher called some students to talk about their favorite people

4 Modifying

*Sample 4.1: Unit 4- (see Appendix 4, sample 4.1)

Rationale for Adaptation:

The reading section of unit 4 offers a common while-reading task of the coursebook-answering comprehension questions (task 4, see Appendix 6) Sometimes, the process is rather monotonous and students get bored with this repetitive task type For some texts, the students can answer by „lifting‟ the information straight from the text Actually, the questions of this task are not easy to deal with Additionally, with such a difficult text of Unit 4, the author was convinced by Nuttal (1996: 192)‟s idea, “the more difficult the text, the easier you should make the tasks” Thus, the questions can be modified to help students feel comfortable to do In terms of format, the adapted task could attract students‟ interest then the effect would be better than answering comprehension questions

Adapted version:

- Type of activity: individual work and pair work

- Aims: to check the students‟ understanding about the text, to practice inferring skill

- Task: while-reading task, deciding whether the given statements are True or False

- Preparation: make one copy of the worksheet for each student

+ The teacher went round the class and observed the students‟ performance

+ The teacher elicited answers then checked with the whole class

Chapter Conclusion

In general, this chapter has presented the subjects, instrumentation and procedures applied in the study The analysis of the data will be dealt with in the next chapter

choosing that choice The number of respondents was 98

3.1 Data analysis of Preliminary Survey (see Appendix 1)

3.1.1 Personal Information of the Students Taking Parts in the Survey

According to the statistics, more than two thirds (78%) of the students participating

in the surveys are male The majority (80.1%) of them come from the countryside whereas 19.9% are from cities Only 9% of the students has been learning English for less than 3 years, in contrast, 93.9% has spent more than 4 years of learning this subject However, one third of them got mark 5, only 8 students got mark 8, none of them had mark 9, and the rest got mark 6 or 7 as the final subject result of the previous term

3.1.2 The Students’ Perception of Reading Comprehension in general

3.1.2.1 The Students’ Perception of the Role of Reading Comprehension in Learning English (Question 1)

Table 3.1: The Students’ Perception of the Role of Reading Comprehension

As can be seen from the table, most of the respondents were fully aware of the significant role of reading comprehension in learning English Nearly half (47.2%) of the students‟ population regarded reading comprehension as being important in English learning Besides, more than half of students (52.8%) thought that reading comprehension

is not really important for their English study No one devaluated the importance of reading comprehension

3.1.2.2 The Students’ Evaluation of Reading Lessons in terms of their Interests (Question 2)

Table 3.2: The Students’ Evaluation of Reading Lessons

The table indicates that only 34.2% of the students said they were interested in reading lessons In contrast, the majority (55.8%) of the respondents admitted that they were fed up with the lessons

3.1.2.3 The Students’ Perception of Elements Affecting their Reading

Comprehension (Question 3)

(%)

Volumn of vocabulary and new grammatical structures in reading texts 71.3

Table 3.3: Elements Affecting the Students’ Reading Comprehension

From the statistics, three main factors causing the students‟ difficulties in reading comprehension are the volumn of vocabulary and new grammatical structures in reading texts, the students‟ lack of background knowledge and reading strategies The most influential factor belonged to the students‟ limited capacity of vocabulary and grammatical structure The lack of reading strategies also caused difficulties for 65.7% of the students while reading However, nearly half (45.1%) of the respondents had problems with background knowledge The subjective factor „uninterested in topics‟ was not really serious because just 12% of the respondents did not like topics of the reading texts Besides, there were other factors which also caused difficulties for the students when reading such as the lack of preparation for reading texts and tasks, the nature of texts and task, and inappropriate reading strategies

Table 3.4: The Students’ Evaluation of the Role of Reading Materials

The results in the table demonstrate that the majority of the students appreciated the important role of reading materials in reading comprehension However, just few of the students did not recognize the importance of reading materials

3.2 Data Analysis of Survey Questionnaire (see Appendix 2)

This Survey Questionnaire was delivered to the students before each new unit in the coursebook to thoroughly check their opinions towards characteristics of reading tasks with detailed questions about content, language of reading texts, and task types From the gathered data, most of the students shared the same ideas that reading sections of unit 2, unit 4 and unit 7 contains irrelevant points that need adapting These points were shown as follows:

level

I have no difficulty in dealing with grammatical

structures in this lesson

Table 3.5: The Students’ Opinions towards the Language in Reading Texts

At the first glance, it can be inferred from the table that each unit reflected different challenges for the students Unlike unit 4 and unit 7, in unit 2, only one-third (30-35%) of the students had problems with new vocabulary structures and grammatical structures In

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contrast, unfamiliar vocabulary in reading texts of unit 4 and unit 7 affected reading comprehension of 63% and 40% of the students respectively Besides, new grammatical structures of the two units also caused difficulties for 72% and 23% of the students

It is difficult to understand the lesson

because the content is too unfamiliar

Table 3.6: The Students’ Opinions towards the Content of Reading Texts

With regard to content of reading texts, for Unit 2, the majority (81%) of the students did not have any difficulties in understanding the text However, for unit 4, the unfamiliar content of the text prevented 79% of the students from understanding Furthermore, the highest percentage (83%) of the respondents belonged to those who said that the content of the text was difficult to comprehend though it was interesting Similarly, for unit 7, the majority (87%) of the students shared the same idea that the text was interesting but difficult to understand

3.2.3 In terms of Reading Tasks

3.2.3.1 Reading Tasks in general

a The reading tasks are suitable to my English level 14 12 38

b The reading tasks are not difficult but they are not

useful to my English study

c The arrangement of reading tasks is not suitable 38 12 14

d The reading tasks are too difficult for me to do 32 72 14

e The reading tasks are complicated, they need 76 81 12

Table 3.7: The Students’ Opinions towards the Reading Tasks

As can be seen from the table, the number of those who agreed that reading tasks of the 3 units were suitable to their English level accounted for small percentages (14%, 12%, and 38%) respectively

Concerning task level, for unit 2, 76% of the students found the reading tasks of really hard that needed adapting Besides, 32% of them affirmed that the tasks were too difficult to complete Especially, for unit 4, the majority (81%) of the respondents claimed that the tasks were really complicated that need adapting Prominently, for unit7, 42% of the students thought that some more tasks should be supplemented although the students did not found reading tasks difficult

3.2.3.2 Preferred Reading Tasks

b Choose the best answer for given questions 53 39 35

c Decide whether the given statements are true or false 30 51 21

e Guess the meaning of words in context 27 26 41

f Find specific details in the text 46 32 15

i Match the text with appropriate topics/ main ideas 6 10 3

k Match given headlines with reading sections 0 3 0

Table 3.8: The Students’ Preferences for Reading Tasks

As can be seen from the table above, the majority of the students favored multiple choice questions the most Generally, for all three units, they preferred other kinds of

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reading tasks such as deciding whether the given statements are true or false, guessing the meaning of word in context, finding specific details in the text, completing charts/tables, and matching two groups of items Only few of the students (0%-3%) were fond of answering comprehension question and matching headlines with reading sections

3.2.4 In terms of Tasks of Reading Stages needed Adapting

Table 3.9: The Students’ Opinions on Tasks of the Reading Stages Needed Adapting

The table clearly shows that the students had different ideas on tasks of reading stages that need adapting Based on detailed assessment about the content, the language and the reading tasks, in general, for unit 2, the students did not like the while-reading tasks In contrast, for unit 4, most of the students wanted to have pre-reading tasks adapted For unit 7, the students favored the while-reading tasks

3.2.5 The Students’ Suggestions for the Teacher’s Adaptation of Reading Task

Through the findings of the last question (question 5) in the Survey Questionnaire (see Appendix 2) about the students‟ suggestions for the teacher‟s adaptation of reading tasks, the most highly-agreed idea was that reading tasks should be of different types which can help them to practice essential reading sub-skills and strategies to tackle reading tasks effectively not just answering comprehension questions They preferred some tasks that allow them to work in pair or group to develop other language skills

3.3 Data Analysis of Survey Questionnaire for Response to Adaptation (see App 5)

The evaluation of the adapted reading tasks‟ effectiveness via pilot teaching based

on 7 items to find out the students‟ feedback on different criteria The collected data revealed the small percentages (from 4.2% to 8%) of the students who neither liked the adapted tasks nor participated in the lessons In fact, these students rarely paid attention to English learning and teaching whether the lesson was coursebook-based or adapted

3.3.1 Data Analysis of Response to Task Adaptation of Unit 2- Delivered on March

12 th 2010- (Number of informants: 98)

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Statements

Agree (%)

Disagree (%)

Don’t know (%)

Others (%)

1.1 I like the lesson because

all the tasks are

well-connected

81.7 13 5.3 - “The reading tasks are

quite hard for low English level students.”

1.2 I really enjoyed today‟s

lesson because the tasks are

new and interesting

80 14.7 5.3 - “The adapted task is

useful because it requires high concentration.”

1.3 I learnt a lot because the

tasks are suitable to my level

73.5 18.5 8

1.4 I acquired social and

cultural knowledge through

the reading lesson

70.3 15.5 5.2

1.5 Through today‟s lesson, I

can expand my vocabulary as

well as grammar

72.5 21.7 5.8 - “The text contains too

much new and remember words and structures, teacher should explain more in detail.”

difficult-to-1.6 I find today‟s lesson

useful because I could practice

useful reading skills

78 14 8 -“There are stills words

that I could not remember.”

1.7 I don‟t like today‟s lesson

because the teacher goes too

far from the course book

7.8 84.2 8

Table 3.10: The Students’ Response to the Reading Lesson of Unit 2

According to the statistics, the adapted reading tasks of unit 2 really caught the students‟ attention 80% of the respondents were interested in the lesson with adapted task The majority (81.7%) of the students thought that the tasks were well-connected More than two thirds of the respondents (73.5%) were in favor of the statement that the tasks

Don’t know (%)

Others (%)

1.1 I like the lesson

because all the tasks are

well-connected

80.3 12.7 7 - “Really good

lesson!”

1.2 I really enjoyed

today‟s lesson because the

tasks are new and

interesting

50.6 44.1 5.3

1.3 I learnt a lot

because the reading tasks

are suitable to my level

53 39 8 - “The pre-reading-

matching task is difficult.”

1.4 I acquire social and

cultural knowledge through

the reading lesson

78 14.1 7.9 - “There are still some

structures that I do not know.”

1.6 I find today‟s lesson

useful because I could

practice useful reading

skills

27

1.7 I don‟t like today‟s

lesson because the teacher

goes too far from the course

book

Table 3.11: The Students’ Response to the Reading Lesson of Unit 4

In combination with the original tasks of unit 4, the adapted tasks received different feedback from the respondents The findings indicated that, more than half (50.6%) of the students enjoyed the lesson Besides, 53% of them found satisfied with the things they learnt from the lesson It is pleasant to realize that 81.5% of the respondents supported the idea that the reading lesson was useful to them because they could practice some essential reading skills

3.3.3 Data Analysis of Response to Task Adaptation of Unit 7-Delivered on April 28 th 2010- (Number of informants: 98)

Statements Agree

(%)

Disagree (%)

Don’t know (%)

Others (%)

1.1 I like the lesson because all

the tasks are well-connected

1.2 I really enjoyed today‟s

lesson because the tasks are new

and interesting

52.6 43.2 4.2 - “The post-reading

task is good.”

1.3 I learnt a lot because the

tasks are suitable to my level

55.2 39.8 5 - “I need more

detailed vocabulary and structure explanation.”

1.4 I acquire social and cultural

knowledge through the reading

lesson

65.7 34.3 0

1.5 Through today‟s lesson, I

can expand my vocabulary as well

87 13 0 - “I really appreciate

the technique of