USING MIND-MAPS TO IMPROVE THESTUDENTS’ READING SKILLS AT DONG NAI TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCESGRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES NGUYỄN HOÀNG PHI USING MIND-MAPS TO IMPROVE THE STUDENTS’ READING SKILLS AT DONG NAI TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY MA THES

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

NGUYỄN HOÀNG PHI

USING MIND-MAPS TO IMPROVE THE

STUDENTS’ READING SKILLS

AT DONG NAI TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

MA THESIS IN ENGLISH LANGUAGE

HANOI, 2019

VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

NGUYỄN HOÀNG PHI

USING MIND-MAPS TO IMPROVE THE

STUDENTS’ READING SKILLS

AT DONG NAI TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

Field: English Language Code: 8220201

Supervisor: Bùi Thị Thục Quyên, Ph.D.

HANOI, 2019

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR

I certify this thesis entitled “USING MIND MAPS TO IMPROVE THE STUDENT’S READING SKILLS AT DONG NAI TECHNOLOGYUNIVERSITY” is my own study All statements in this thesis which are not

my own will be shown in the list of references

Author’s signature

Nguyễn Hoàng Phi

APPROVED BYSuppervisor

Bùi Thị Thục Quyên, Ph.D

Date: ………

First of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Bùi Thị Thục Quyên, Ph.D who gave me precious guidance, assistance and encouragement during the time of conducting this study.

I also want to express my sincere thanks to all my students at Dong Nai Technology University for their contribution in completion this research.

Finally, I would like to express my thanks to my beloved family for supporting me during the time of my study.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

DECLARATION BY AUTHOR i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

ABSTRACT v

LIST OF TABLES vi

LIST OF FIGURES vii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the study 1

1.2 Aims of the study 3

1.3 Research questions 3

1.4 Scope of the study 3

1.5 Significance of the study 4

1.6 Research Methods 4

1.7 Structure of the study 5

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.1 Theoretical review 6

2.1.1 Reading 6 2.1.2 Reading skills 9

2.1.3 The mind map technique 13

2.2 Previous studies 18

2.3 Chapter summary 20

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 22

3.1 The research settings 22

3.2 Research Design 22

3.3 Population and Sample 23

3.4 Data collection instruments 24

3.4.1 Test 24 3.4.2 Questionnaire 25

3.5 Data analysis procedures 25

3.5.1 The analysis of test 25

3.5.2 The analysis of questionnaire 26

3.6 Chapter summary 26

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 27

4.1 Data analysis of Test 27

4.1.1 Data description 27

4.1.2 Data Analysis 34

4.2 Analysis of Questionnaire 39

4.3 Discussion 59

4.4 Chapter summary 60

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 62

5.1 Recapitulation 62

5.1 Concluding Remarks 62

5.3 Implications 63

5.4 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 63

REFERENCES 65

Appendix 1: Questionnaire I Appendix 2: PRE-TEST and POST-TEST V

1. Pre-test V

2. Post – test VIII Appendix 3: Lesson Plans XI

This is an experimental research about reading skills at Dong NaiTechnology University Its objective are to find out students’ perception aboutreading and mind maps as well as find out whether mind maps can helpstudents in improving their reading skills or not The data were collectedthrough test and questionnaire The test included pre-test and post-test weredelivered before and after the experimental teaching for both control class andexperimental class The questionnaire was delivered only to experimental classbefore and after the treatment The results of this study showed that mind mapstechnique really helps in improving the students’ reading skills

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1.1.1: The results of pre-test score 29

Table 4.1.1.2: The results of post-test score 31

Table 4.1.1.3: The results of gained score 34

Table 4.1.2.1: The t-test of Pre-test 345

Table 4.1.2.2: The t-test of Post-test 347

Table 4.1.2.3: The t-test of Gained scores 348

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4.2.1.1: Reading habit before the experimental teaching 39

Figure 4.2.1.2: Reading habit after the experimental teaching Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.2.2.1: Student’s excitement before the treatment 41

Figure 4.2.2.2: Student’s excitement after the treatmentError! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.2.3.1: Reading’s importance before the experimental teaching 42

Figure 4.2.3.2: Reading’s importance after the experimental teaching Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.2.4.1: Getting main idea before the treatment 44

Figure 4.2.4.2: Getting main idea after the treatment Error! Bookmark not defined.5 Figure 4.2.5.1: Comprehension ability before the treatment 45

Figure 4.2.5.2: Comprehension ability after the treatment Error! Bookmark not defined. Figure 4.2.6.1: Reviewing the material habit before the treatment 47

Figure 4.2.6.2: Reviewing the material habit after the treatment 48

Figure 4.2.7.1: Before applying Mind maps 48

Figure 4.2.7.1: After applying Mind maps 49

Figure 4.2.8.1: Color and images effectiveness before the treatment 50Figure 4.2.8.2: Color and images effectiveness after the treatment 51Figure 4.2.9.1: Information organizing before the experimental teaching 51

Figure 4.2.9.1: Information organizing after the experimental teaching.Error! Bookmark not defined.

Figure 4.2.10.1: Vocabulary improvement before the experimental teaching53Figure 4.2.10.2: Vocabulary improvement after the experimental teaching

Error! Bookmark not defined.

Figure 4.2.11.1: Saving time opinion before the treatment 54

Figure 4.2.11.2: Saving time opinion after the treatmentError! Bookmark not defined.

Figure 4.2.12.1: Getting genaral idea ability before the treatment 56

Figure 4.2.12.2: Getting genaral idea ability after the treatment Error! Bookmark not defined.

Figure 4.2.13.1: Confident feeling before the experimental teaching 58

Figure 4.2.13.2: Confident feeling after the experimental teaching Error! Bookmark not defined.9

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the study

English is an international language and it plays an important role in ourdaily life nowadays In Vietnam, English is used as a foreign language and it

is taught as a compulsory subject at all levels of educational system fromkindergarten to university

As we know, there are four skills taught in English teaching and learningprocess They are reading, speaking, listening and writing Reading is one ofthe essential skills that need to be mastered when learning English as Nunan(2003, p.69) states that “Reading is an essential skill for learners of English as

a second language For most of these learners it is the most important skill tomaster in order to ensure success not only in learning English, but also inlearning in any content class where reading in English is required Withstrengthened reading skills, learners will make greater progress anddevelopment in all other areas of learning”

In addition, reading is not an easy skill to master because it cannot beseparated from comprehension If the learners do not understand the text, theycannot achieve the information from the text they read The reading activityrequires the learners’ knowledge in identifying the structure and the maintopic of the text

Moreover, most of the best books are written in English, to reach theuseful information, students need to be good at English to comprehend.Especially, they need to develop their reading skills to get the knowledgeeasily

After three years of teaching at Dong Nai Technology University, theresearcher realized that the reading skills of the students here are still low.Most of them supposed that the reading lessons are the most boring part inEnglish They are not very patient with the texts, especially the long texts Thefirst things they do when are asked to do a reading task is looking up all thenew words to make sure that they understand the meaning of all words anddoing the tasks then It often takes them a lot of time to do such a task Sothey usually feel bored with the texts or even they fear for reading texts.

Based on the facts above, the researcher would like to find a better way

to make students more interested and motivated in reading activity Thus, theycan comprehend the text easily and gradually improve their skills in reading

In this case, the researcher chooses mind maps technique because when usingmind maps, the learners can speed up their think rapidly and develop theirthink quickly Moreover, mind maps gives easy way for the students to plan,communicate, be creative, arrange, and explain the ideas quickly It alsofacilitates the students to understand a complicated system or structurebecause mind map delivers the students to be focused on the ideas (Indrayani,2014)

Therefore, the researcher conducts this study to mainly find out whethermind maps technique have an effect on improving the reading skills of thestudents at Dong Nai technology or not because their skills of reading arequite low

1.2 Aims of the study

In line with the purposes of this study is to find out whether mind-mapshave any effectiveness on improving the reading skills on the students Themain aim of this study is to find out the attitude of the students toward readingand mind maps technique as well as to explore whether the mind maptechnique can improve the students’ results in reading tests at Dong NaiTechnology University

1.4 Scope of the study

The focus of this study is on using mind maps to improve the students’reading skills at Dong Nai Technology University After teaching at thisuniversity for more than 3 years the researcher recognized that the studentsusually have difficulties in learning English, especially their reading skills.They are not very interested in reading lessons, they often get bored with longreading text since they do not really understand what the text about They maynot have sufficient vocabularies to understand the text or reading strategy tocomprehend it easily So the researcher would like to find a good way to helpthem overcome those problems

The subjects of this study are 61 second year students come from twoclasses that the researcher is teaching They are going to participate in doingthe test and respond to the survey questionnaire.

1.5 Significance of the study

At Dong Nai Technology University, the students have to self-study a lot

to do the assignment that the lectures gave They have to read books from thelibrary or on the internet As mentioned before, the reading skills of thestudents at this university are quite low so this study was expected to providesome advantages for both students and teachers in teaching and learningprocess

For the students, this study is hoped that it would figure out the benefit

of mind maps to help the students feel more interested and active in readingclassroom activity Therefrom, they can take the most advantages of mindmaps technique to motivate themselves in joining the teaching and learningprocess so that they can improve their reading skills to comprehend the texteasier

To the teachers, this research is expected to be helpful in improving theteachers’ teaching skills in order to create an exciting atmosphere during theclass time to gain the best results of reading teaching and learning activity

1.6 Research Methods

This study was an experimental research The data were collected by means

of test (pre-test and post-test) and questionnaire The details would be presented inthe Chapter 3

1.7 Structure of the study

The study will be divided into five chapters:

o Chapter 1: Consisted of rationales, aims, research questions,scope, the significance, the methods and the structure of the study

o Chapter 2: Provides the definition of reading, reading skills, themind mapping technique and the previous studies

o Chapter 3: This chapter describes the research setting, researchdesign, population and sample, data collection instruments anddata analysis procedures

o Chapter 4: “Findings and Discussions”, offers the data analysisfrom test, questionnaire and discussions

o Chapter 5: “Conclusion”, wraps up the study, followed by thesummary, limitation and recommendations for further study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

According to him, strategic reading is defined as the ability of thereader to use a wide variety of reading strategies to accomplish a purpose forreading Good readers would know what to do when they faced difficulties inreading Fluent reading is the ability to read at an appropriate rate withadequate comprehension Meaning does not rest in the reader nor does it rest

in the text The reader’s background knowledge integrates with the text tocreate the meaning

He emphasized “the text, the reader, fluency, and strategies combinedtogether define the act of reading.” Nunan (2003, p.68)

According to Grabe and Stoller (2011, p.3), “Reading is the ability to

draw meaning from the printed page and interpret this information appropriately.” It means that reading activity is the interaction between the

readers and the printed papers The readers try to understand what the printedpapers mean

In another book of Grabe (2009, p.14) “Reading in a second

language- moving from theory to practice” he cited some definitions of

reading as the following:

“Reading is the process of receiving and interpreting information

encoded in language form via the medium of print” or “Comprehension occurs when the reader extracts and integrates various information from the text and combines it with what is already known”.

Rubin (1982) supposed that reading is the bringing of meaning to andgetting of meaning from the printed page It means that reading is an activeactivity, the readers have to do something to get the meaning of the text

Nuttall (2005) also agreed with the role of the reader in reading activitywhen he stated about the meaning of the text According to him, it is not lying

in the text waiting to be passively absorbed On the contrary, the reader isactively involved and often has to work to get the meaning out

Harmer (2007) as cited by Indrayani (2014, p.16) stated that reading isuseful for language acquisition; the more the students read, the better they get

at it In addition, reading also has positive effect on students’ vocabularyknowledge, on their spelling, and on their writing Reading is the skill oractivity of getting information from books It is an important skill forlearners Hence, who is not engaged in reading activity, they will miss newinformation

Although there are various definitions of reading, the researcher

follows the definition of Grabe & Stoller “Reading is the ability to draw

meaning from the printed page and interpret this information appropriately.”

After reading, the learners must comprehend what the paper mean

2.1.1.2 Types of classroom reading performance

It is stated by Brown (2001, p 312): “Variety of reading performance

in the language classroom is derived more from variety of the texts to whichyou can expose to students than from the variety from overt types of

performance There are two types of reading performance: oral reading and

 Serve as an evaluative check on bottom-up processing skills

 Double as a pronunciation check

 Serve to add some extra student participation if you want to highlight a certain short segment of a reading passage

However, this oral reading still has some disadvantages as stated by Brown

(2001, p.132)

 Oral reading is not a very authentic language activity

 While one student is reading, others can easily lose attention (or be silently rehearsing the next paragraph!)

 It may have outward appearance of student participation in reality it is mere recitation

2) Silent reading

According to Brown (2001, p.312), silent reading may be categorizedinto intensive and extensive reading “Intensive reading the students mainlyfocus on the linguistic or the semantic details of a passage Intensive readingcalls students’ attention to grammatical forms, discourse markers, and othersurface structure details for the purpose of understanding literal meaning,implications, rhetorical relationship, and the like.”

While “extensive reading is carried out to achieve a generalunderstanding of a usually somewhat longer text (book, long article, or essay,etc.) Most extensive reading is performed outside of the class time.” Brown(2001, p.313)

a) Discriminate among the distinctive graphemes and orthographicpatterns of English

b) Retain chunks of language of different lengths in short-term memory

c) Process writing at an efficient rate of speed to suit the purpose

d) Recognize a core of words, and interpret word order patterns andtheir significance

e) Recognize grammatical word classes (nouns, verbs, etc.) systems(e.g., tense, agreement, pluralization), patterns, rules, and ellipticalforms

f) Recognize that a particular meaning may be expressed in differentgrammatical forms

g Recognize cohesive devices in written discourse and their role insignaling the relationship between and among clauses

The list of macro skills are presented below:

a. Recognize the rhetorical forms of written discourse and their

significance for interpretation

b. Recognize the communicative functions of written texts, according

to form and purpose

c. Infer context that is not explicit by using background knowledge

d. Infer links and connections between events, ideas, etc., deduce causes and effects, and detect such relations as main idea, supporting

idea, new information, given information, generalization, andexemplification.

e. Distinguish between literal and implied meanings

f. Detect culturally specific references and interpret them in a context

of the appropriate cultural schemata

g. Develop and use a battery of reading strategies such as scanning andskimming, detecting discourse makers, guessing the meaning of wordsfrom context, and activating schemata for the interpretation of text

There are also another expert proposes reading skills That is Mikulecky(1990) as cited by Suriyani (2014, p.12) The details can be seen in thefollowing table:

Automatic decoding Students are able to recognize a word at a

glance

Previewing and predicting Students are able to guess what the text is

about by looking at the text a quick once over

Identifying purposes Students are able to predict what the form and

context of the text will be

Specifying Purposes Students are able to know why the text is being

read

Scanning

Students are able to find out the specific information in a text by looking at the text very rapidly

Recognizing topics Students are able to find out what the text tells

about after reading and comprehending the

Guessing the meaning of

unknown words from the

Paraphrasing

Students are able to paraphrase the text to helpthem understand the text by using their own words

Summarizing

Students are able to shorten the text by retaining and re-stating the main idea byleaving out details

Drawing conclusion

Students are able to put together the information from several parts of the text and induce new or additional ideas

Reading critically

Students are able to judge the accuracy of thetext with respect to what the reader already knows and distinguish facts or opinions

Reading faster Students are able to read fast enough to allow

the brain to process the input

The researcher couldn’t agree more with Suriyani (2014) when she

said: “Having a skill makes the students can solve any problem in reading a

written text The reading skills also can increase pleasure and effectiveness of reading activity.” Indeed, when the students master those skills, they can be

helped in not only subjects at school but in their daily life as well However,being a skillful reader is not easy at all It requires a hard serious practice in along time

2.1.3 The mind map technique

2.1.3.1 Definition

According to Buzan (1994, p.59) “The Mind Map is an expression ofRadiant Thinking and is therefore a natural function of the human mind It is apowerful graphic technique which provides a universal key to unlocking thepotential of the brain The mind map can be applied to every aspect of lifewhere improved learning and clearer thinking will enhance humanperformance The mind map has four essential characteristics:

1) The subject of attention is crystallized in a central image

2) The main themes of the subject radiate from the central image asbranches

3) Branches comprise a key image or key word printed on an associatedline Topics of lesser importance are also represented as branchesattached to higher level branches

4) The branches form a connected nodal structure

As Siriphanich stated in her study (2008) that Mind map are visualframeworks such as figures, diagrams or charts used to present structuralknowledge spatially with the intention of empowering comprehension andlearning Mind map are effective in terms of helping communicateinformation because they can clarify complex concepts into simple,meaningful displays so that learners can develop a holistic understanding ofthe content to be learnt.

She also cited Marton and Booth’s opinion about mind map in her study.Mind map is a tool for enhancing learning and thinking It provides a structure

to reveal various aspects of a story such as the sequence of events, the keypoints, the cause and effect, the relation of ideas and so on Students can usemind maps for revising and clarifying thoughts so as to get the deep meaning

of a story

DePotter and Hernacki (2004) also defined mind map technique and itwas cited by Suryani in her study (2014), the mind mapping is a technique touse the whole brain by using visual and other graphic to create a meaningfulimpression

2.1.3.2 How to make mind-maps

There are several ways to make mind map from experts The first suggestedwas of Rose and Nicholl (2002) According to them, there are 8 steps to makeit

1) Start with the topic in the middle of paper

2) Use keywords

3) Make the branch from the main topic

4) Use symbols, colors, words, or pictures mainly in the mind mapping.

5) Make it as interesting as possible

6) Make it full of colors

7) Repeat again two or three times to make it perfect

8) Do it by yourself

In the way suggested by DePotter and Hernacki (2004), there were some points that were the same with Rose and Nicholl above

1) Make a circle of main idea in the middle of paper

2) Make branch from the main idea to make key points Do not forget

to use a color pen to make it

3) Write the keywords or phrases in every branch and then develop them with details

4) Give additional symbols and illustrations

5) Do not forget to use capital letters

6) Write down the main ideas with the bigger letter

7) Be creative and express it freely

8) Use the unique form to show the points or ideas

9) Do not forget to make it horizontally to make a wider space

In an article, Davies (2010) cited some recommendations when making mind map of Buzan The details are presented as follow:

1) Place an image or topic in the center using at least 3 colors

2) Use images, symbols, codes, and dimensions throughout your maps

mind-3) Select key words and print using upper or lower case letters

4) Each word/image is alone and sitting on its own line

5) Connect the lines starting from the central image The central linesare thicker, organic and flowing, becoming thinner as they radiate outfrom the center

6) Make the lines the same length as the word/image

7) Use colors—your own code—throughout the mind-maps

8) Develop your own personal style of mind-maps

9) Use emphasis and show associations in your Mind Map

10) Keep the mind-maps clear by using radial hierarchy, numericalorder or outlines to embrace your branches

Figure 2: A sample of mind map from the book “The Mind Map book” of Buzan (1994)

2.1.3.3 The advantages of using mind map.

According to Buzan (1994, p.89-90) mind map technique brings many

advantages in reading:

1) Time saved by reading only relevant words and reviewing mind mapnotes

2) Concentration on real issues enhanced

3) Essential key words made more easily discernible

4) The brain finds it easier to accept and remember visuallystimulating, multi-colored, multi-dimensional mind maps, rather thanmonotonous boring linear notes

5) Clear and appropriate associations made between key words.

6) The Mind Map works in harmony with the brain’s natural desire for completion or wholeness

2.2 Previous studies

The topic of using Mind maps to improve reading skills has beenstudied by both foreign and Vietnamese researchers In this part, theresearcher just summarizes some studies that were conducted before

In 2008, a study named “Using Mind Mapping Technique to Improve

Reading Comprehension Ability of Thai EFL University Students” conducted

by Siriphanich The subjects of this study are 35 first year students In thisstudy, the researcher employed both quantitative and qualitative data analysesfrom pre-and post-tests, a questionnaire, and an interview After the research,the researcher showed that the mean core of the students in the post test washigher than in the pre-test Finally, he concluded that the mind mapstechnique can improve the students’ ability of reading comprehension and itwas considered as a useful technique and it can be applied to non-Englishsubjects

Another study that should be mentioned was Improving Students’

Reading Skills by Using the Mind Map Technique at SMA N 1 Kretek in the Academic year of 2013-2014 by Suryani (2014) This research was an action

research that was conducted in 2 cycles The results of this study have provedthat Mind map technique could improve the students’ reading skills After theresearcher implemented the actions, the students have developed their skills inidentifying the topic of the text They become more excited and motivated inreading lessons

In 2014, Indrayani conducted a study entitled: “The Effectiveness of

Using Mind Mapping in Improving Students’ Reading Comprehension of Narrative Text” This is a Quasi Experimental study The aim of this research

was to find out whether mind mapping technique is effective to improvestudents’ reading comprehension achievement There were 70 studentsparticipated in her study The gained score of the experimental class (27.14) ishigher than the control class (17.71) and the result of statistic calculationshowed that the value of to (3.67) > t-table (1.66) Therefore, she concludedthat mind mapping technique is effective to improve students’ achievement inreading comprehension

In Vietnam, a study was conducted in 2012 by Nguyễn Thị Thúy Vân

named: “Using mind mapping techniques to develop Ly Thuong Kiet high

school 11th grade students’ reading text summary skills.” This is a

quasi-experimental research with the participation of 80 students from 2 classes(experiment class and control class) The researcher used both test andquestionnaire as the data collection methods The findings of this studyshowed that using mind-mapping improved students’ reading text summaryskills

Another study named: “Using Mind maps to increase the students’

interest in reading comprehension at Nghe An College of Economics” was

conducted by Hồ Thị Hương in 2014 The subjects of this study were 97students and 7 teachers of English group This study focus on 3 researchquestions: Firstly, the researcher wanted to investigate students’ and teacher’sattitudes towards the reading texts Secondly, the researcher wishes to explorestudents’ and teacher’s perception toward mind mapping Finally, she hopes

to find out if mind mapping technique can help to increase students’ interest

in reading comprehension The interview and questionnaire were used to getdata The results of the study showed that mind mapping technique reallyhelpful on improving students’ interest in reading comprehension.

One more study was conducted by Ngô Thị Phương Thảo in 2016

entitled: “Effects of Mind mapping on freshmen’s reading comprehension

ability at Ho Chi Minh City University of Transport” Three main data

collection instruments were used in this study: questionnaire, test andinterview The results of sample t-test have showed the disparity between theexperimental class’s mean score and control class’s mean score Thequestionnaire and interview were used to determine the attitude of thestudents After the treatment, the researcher proved that the students inexperimental class had made a great progress in their reading ability, but thecontrol class had not It can be concluded that the mind mapping has greateffects on students’ reading comprehension ability

Those studies above have showed that the mind maps technique waseffective on improving the students’ reading competence It could beconsidered as one of the good ways to help students in reading However, thestudents at Dong Nai Technology University still have numerous ofdifficulties in reading They show no interest in reading lessons or even theirreading skills are low Hence, this study was conducted with the hope to findout the effects of Mind maps on reading Therefrom, it can be used as a usefultool to prove the students’ reading skills at Dong Nai Technology University

2.3 Chapter summary

This chapter discussed some key issues that related to the study:theoretical review of reading, reading skills and mind maps technique

including definitions, ways to make mind maps and its benefits This chapteralso presents some related previous studies that were good references for thisresearch In the next chapter, the researcher would present the methodology ofthe research consists of the setting, the sample, data instruments and dataprocedures of the research.

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 The research settings

The study was conducted at Dong Nai Technology University Thestudents there are trained to work in a wide range of different fields such asaccounting, baking, engineering, nursing and so on They are non-Englishmajored students so their English ability is quite low The participants of thisstudy are second-year students who are using “Idiscover -4” as course book.This university is in Dong Nai province The majority of its graduatedstudents work for companies which located in this area Especially it as a bigchance to work for foreign companies if they are good at English

Although they know that English would bring a big advantage for theirfuture career, they seem not to be interested in learning it They learn justbecause it is a compulsory subject at school and their purpose is to get marksfor the examination only They just focused on subjects relevant to their majorinstead Therefore, their English ability has not been improved so far althoughthey have learnt English from the early age

3.2 Research Design

Because the main object of this study was to find out whether mindmaps technique can improve the reading skills of the students or not,experimental research would be used in this study as Denscombe (2010, p.65)stated about experiment: “An experiment is an empirical investigation undercontrolled conditions designed to examine the properties of, and relationshipbetween, specific factors.” He also pointed out the purpose of experiment:

“The purpose is to discover new relationships or properties associated with the materials being investigated, or to test existing theories.”

According to him, experiments are concerned with determining thecause and the effect So it requires a distinction between dependent andindependent variables “The independent variable is the one that has theimpact on the dependent variable Its size, number, structure, volume orwhatever exists autonomously, owing nothing to the other variable A change

in the independent variable affects the dependent variable The dependentvariable is the factor that alters as a result of changes to the independentvariable It literally depends on the independent variable Any change in thedependent variable does not affect the independent variable.” Denscombe(2010, p 66)

Thus, there are two variables in this study: independent variable anddependent variable The independent variable is using mind maps technique;the dependent variable is reading skills of the students

3.3 Population and Sample

According to Descombe (2010, p.23), population “refers to all the items

in the category of things that are being researched” and “The sample refers tothe relatively small part of that (research) population who are actually chosen

to participate in the study” Therefrom, the population of this study are all ofthe second year students of Dong Nai Technology University 2018 – 2019academic year and the sample of this research are the two classes:Experimental class includes 30 students learnt reading with mind maps andControl class includes 31 students learnt reading without mind maps

The researcher has been teaching six classes in this semester, but hechose the two classes above because they have learnt with him in the previoussemester They are considered as good co-operators for the study Moreover,their English ability is not very different This is good for the researcher when

he make a comparison of the two classes before and after the treatment

3.4 Data collection instruments

Because the main objects of this research was to find out whether mindmaps technique could improve the students’ reading skills or not and to findthe attitude of the students toward reading and mind maps technique, theresearcher used two main data collection methods: test and questionnaire

3.4.1 Test

Two kinds of test were used to get data in this study: Pre-test and test They were given to both the experimental class and control class indifferent points of time The pre-test was given before conducting theexperimental teaching and the post-test was held after the treatment Thepurpose was to find out whether the mind maps technique could improve thereading skills of the students or not based on the differences of post-test meanscores of the two classes

post-Both pre-test and post-test were of the same model and were arranged in

10 multiple choices questions including defining the main idea, topic sentenceand some detail information of the text They were chosen from the testcollection that approved by the Dean of Foreign Language Faculty at DongNai Technology University

3.4.2 Questionnaire

In this study, the questionnaire was distributed to the students ofexperimental class before and after conducting the treatment to see what theattitude of the students toward reading and mind maps technique

According to Denscombe (2010), there are variety of ways to put thequestions into questionnaire It depends on the purpose of the researcher andthe advantages of each kind In this book, he just mentioned two kinds:opened questions and closed questions All of the questions in thequestionnaire are closed questions because the answers in closed questionsform helps the researcher in analyzing the data as Denscombe (2010, p.166)stated that: “The answers in closed questions, in fact, provide pre-coded datathat can easily be analyzed.”

The questionnaire that given to students consists of 13 statements inVietnamese language in order for them to understand easily For eachstatement, the students have to choose the most suitable provided answers.They are totally agree, agree, not sure, disagree and totally disagree

3.5 Data analysis procedures

3.5.1 The analysis of test

The data collected from pre-test and post-test would be analyzed withSPSS program The pre-test and post-test mean scores were calculated toidentify the advancement in students reading The t-test of dependent sampleswas also calculated to identify the significant differences between the meanscores of pre-test and post-test

3.5.2 The analysis of questionnaire

To analyze the data of questionnaire, the researcher used the following

of data collection techniques and data analysis procedures The analysis of collected data will be presented in the next chapter

𝒏

P = 𝒇 𝒙 𝟏𝟎𝟎%

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.1 Data analysis of Test

This part shows the general description of scores (pre-test scores,

post-test scores and gained scores) of students in both experimental class and

control class Hereafter the details:

4.1.1 Data description

4.1.1.1 The pre-test scores

Table 4.1.1.1 below expresses the students’ pre-test scores of both

experimental class and control class There are 31 students in the control class

and 30 students in the experimental class

Students The pre-test’s score of

Table 4.1.1.1: The results of pre-test score

The data in the table above expressed the pre-test scores of students

in experimental and control class The test was given at the first meeting,before conducting any treatment Both classes have 40 as the lowest score, 80

as the highest score and the median score is 60

Moreover, the mean score of the experimental class is 56.33 and thecontrol class is 55.48 Thus, it can be concluded that the pre-test score of thetwo classes is almost equivalent It means that the English ability of the twoclasses is not very different

4.1.1.2 The post-test scores.

The table below expressed the score of post-test of both experimentalclass and control class The number of student in experimental class is 30 andthe control class is 31