the employment of metacognitive reading strategies by tesol postgraduates intakes 9 and 10 at ho chi minh city open university

background knowledge, language proficiency, and metacognitive knowledge impact the readers’ reading processes and their comprehension of texts Ismail and Tawalbeh, 2015.. In specific, TE

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (TESOL)

CHÚ Ý CÁCH SẮP XẾP

1 BÌA TRÊN IN THÊM MỘT TRANG NỮA (BÊN TRONG)

2 TIẾP THEO, LÀ “Ý KIẾN CHO PHÉP BẢO VỆ LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ CỦA

GIẢNG VIÊN HƯỚNG DẪN”

3 TIẾP THEO, LÀ “PART II.PDF” (ĐÍNH KÈM)

4 TIẾP THEO, LÀ “PART III.PDF” (ĐÍNH KÈM)

5 TIẾP THEO, LÀ “BIÊN BẢN HỘI ĐỒNG”

6 CUỐI CÙNG, LÀ “BIÊN BẢN CHỈNH SỬA”

DÒNG CHỮ BÊN HÔNG (GÁY LUẬN VĂN):

TESOL9  MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL  NGUYỄN THỊ THU THỦY  2018

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis entitled “The Employment of Metacognitive Reading

Strategies by TESOL Postgraduates Intakes 9 and 10 at Ho Chi Minh City Open University” is my own work

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis does not contain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution

Ho Chi Minh City, 2018

Nguyen Thi Thu Thuy

to describe the extent of my gratitude

I am also sincerely grateful to all lecturers of the Open University in Ho Chi Minh City for providing me with invaluable sources of intellectual knowledge during my study there This knowledge was very useful when I conducted this research

I owe a great debt of gratitude to the anonymous participants who contributed data to this thesis Without them the data collection for this study could not properly been carried out

Last but not least, I would like to express my particular gratitude to my beloved family for their unconditional love, understanding, encouragement, and financial and spiritual support over time and distance

ABSTRACT

Metacognitive reading strategies are significantly important for students at all levels, including TESOL postgraduates, as it can help them enhance their reading comprehension However, if there is any one ignored or less frequently used strategy, reading comprehension definitely weakens This study, therefore, aimed at investigating

of the employment of metacognitive reading strategies by the TESOL postgraduates Intakes 9 and 10 at Ho Chi Minh City Open University as well as their perception towards the effects of these strategies

To achieve this purpose, relevant literature on metacognitive reading strategies in both theory and previous practice was reviewed in the second chapter to shape the theoretical framework of the study

Based on this conceptual framework, the study was conducted in the two classes: TESOL9 and TESOL10 at Ho Chi Minh City Open University Data collection was fully carried out during the three weeks of 12th March to 9th April, 2016 Data were collected through the tools of test, questionnaire and interview for both the two classes, and then analyzed with version 22.0 of the SPSS software

The findings of the study indicated that almost all the participants highly recognized the importance of metacognitive strategies on their reading comprehension However, in reality, some strategies were only less frequently used such as paraphrasing, self-questioning, prior knowledge activating or checking prediction The notable finding was found that these less frequently used strategies were employed by the participants who did not take any C1-level tests

Based on the research findings, the paper concluded with some pedagogical implications and a recommendation for further study in the line of research on metacognitive reading strategies

TABLE OF CONTENT

Page

Statement of authorship………i

Acknowledgements……… ii

Abstract ……… iii

Table of content ……… iv

List of figures and tables……… viii

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION……….1

1.1 Rationale for the study……….1

1.2 Statement of the problem……….2

1.3 Research aims……… 4

1.4 Research questions……… 4

1.5 Importance of the study……… 5

1.6 Scope of the study………5

1.7 Organization of the thesis………5

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW……….7

2.1 Background of reading……….7

2.1.1 Definition of reading……….7

2.1.2 Approaches of reading……… 8

2.1.2.1 Bottom-up……… 8

2.1.2.2 Top-down approach……….10

2.1.2.3 Interactive approach………11

2.2 Metacognitive reading strategies……… 12

2.2.1 Reading strategies……… 12

2.2.1.1 Definition ………12

2.2.1.2 Classifications ……… 13

2.2.2 Metacognition ………14

2.2.3 Metacognitive reading strategies ……… 15

2.2.3.1 Definitions ……… 15

2.2.3.2 Measurement tools of metacognitive reading strategies……… 16

2.3 Overview of language proficiency and use of metacognitive strategies……… 18

2.3.1 Description of reading proficiency……….18

2.3.2 Characteristics of less proficient students in use of reading strategies……… 20

2.4 Relevant previous studies……… 21

2.5 Research gaps……… 24

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY……… 27

3.1 Research site and sampling technique for research participants ……… 27

3.1.1 Research site……… 27

3.1.2 Sampling technique for research participants……….28

3.2 Research approach ………29

3.3 Instruments……….31

3.3.1 Questionnaire……… 31

3.3.1.1 Rationale for employing questionnaire………31

3.3.1.2 Description of the questionnaire……… 32

3.3.1.3 Reliability of the questionnaire ……… 34

3.3.1.4 Validity of the questionnaire………35

3.3.2 Reading comprehension test……… 36

3.3.2.1 Rationale for reading comprehension test……… 36

3.3.2.2 Description of reading comprehension test……….36

3.3.2.3 Reliability and validity of the interview……… 37

3.3.3 Interview……….38

3.3.3.1 Rationale for interview……….38

3.3.3.2 Description of the interview……….38

3.3.3.3 Reliability and validity of the interview……… 40

3.4 Data collection procedure ……….40

3.4.1 Collecting data from the questionnaire……… 40

3.4.2 Collecting data from the reading comprehension test……….41

3.4.3 Collecting data from the interview ……….42

3.5 Analytical framework ……… 43

3.5.1 Quantitative analysis for questionnaire ……… 43

3.5.2 Quantitative analysis for reading comprehension test………43

3.5.3 Qualitative analysis for interview……… 44

3.6 Methodological issues………45

3.6.1 Ethical considerations……… 45

3.6.1.1 Consent form………45

3.6.1.2 Anonymity and confidentiality ……… 45

3.6.2 Triangulation……… 46

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION……… 47

4.1 Findings ……… 47

4.1.1 Findings of the participants’ background information………47

4.1.1.1 From the questionnaire and the test……….47

4.1.1.2 From the interview………49

4.1.2 Findings of research question 1……… 50

4.1.2.1 The use of global reading strategies………51

4.1.2.2 The use of problem-solving strategies ……….53

4.1.2.3 The use of support reading strategies……… 55

4.1.2.4 The use of overall strategies……….57

4.1.3 Findings of research question 2 ……… 59

4.1.3.1 Reading comprehension test results……….59

4.1.3.2 Global reading strategies……….61

4.1.3.3 Problem-solving strategies……… 64

4.1.3.4 Support reading strategies……… 67

4.1.4 Findings of Research question 3……… 70

4.1.4.1 Importance of reading comprehension in TESOL program………70

4.1.4.2 Issues of reading act faced by the TESOL postgraduates………71

4.1.4.3 The effect of using metacognitive reading strategies……… 75

4.2 Discussion of findings……….80

4.2.1 Discussion on Research question 1……… 80

4.2.2 Discussion on Research question 2……… 81

4.2.3 Discussion on Research question 3……… 83

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS……….85

5.1 Summary of key findings……… 85

5.1.1 Research question 1……….86

5.1.2 Research question 2……….87

5.1.3 Research question 3……….88

5.2 Evaluation of methodology………89

5.2.1 Strengths……… 89

5.2.2 Weaknesses……… 89

5.3 Implications and recommendations for students………89

5.4 Recommendations for further research……… 91

REFERENCES………92

APPENDICES……… 98

Appendix A.1: Adapted version of SORS ……… 98

Appendix A.2: Original version of SORS ……… 101

Appendix B: Reading comprehension test ……….102

Appendix C: Interview questions……… 111

Appendix D: Consent form (Vietnamese version) ……….112

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 3.1: The flowchart of research phases ……… 30

Table 2.1: Description of the C1 reading requirements……… 18

Table 3.1: Research questions and data collection instruments……… 31

Table 3.2: Cronbach’s Alpha for each category and all 30 items of the SORS (N=58) ……… 35

Table 3.3: IELTS reading marking scheme (Academic) ……… 44

Table 4.1: Demographic information of the questionnaire respondents and test takers (N=58) ……… 48

Table 4.2: Demographic details of the interviewees (n=6) ……… 49

Table 4.3: Global reading strategies employed by TESOL postgraduates ……….51

Table 4.4: Problem-solving strategies employed by TESOL postgraduates ……… 54

Table 4.5: Support reading strategies employed by TESOL postgraduates ……… 55

Table 4.6: Overall strategies used by TESOL postgraduates ……… 57

Table 4.7: Reading comprehension test results………60

Table 4.8: Independent-sample t-test results of global reading strategies……… 61

Table 4.9: Independent-sample t-test results of problem-solving strategies……… 65

Table 4.10: Independent-sample t-test results of support reading strategies ……….67

Table 4.11: Difficulties of academic reading encountered by the TESOL postgraduates……… 74

Table 4.12: The effects of metacognitive reading strategies reported by the TESOL postgraduates……… 79

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the study

Numerous studies proved that, reading is an interactive process by which learners summon different sources such as background knowledge, text schema, lexical and grammatical awareness, and their personal purposes in order to enhance an understanding of written material (Karbalaei, 2010) At the same time, reading is of complexity since many domains (e.g background knowledge, language proficiency, and metacognitive knowledge) impact the readers’ reading processes and their comprehension of texts (Ismail and Tawalbeh, 2015) Besides, Tierney (2005) admits

“learning to read is not only learning to recognize words; it is also learning to make sense of texts” (p 51) According to Pressley (2002), reading involves much cognitive

capacity for comprehension

Moreover, based on Anderson (2003), reading is the interaction of four things including the reader, the text, “the ability or read at an appropriate rate with adequate comprehension, and strategic reading” (p 8), and “the ability of the reader to use a variety of reading strategies to accomplish a purpose for reading” (p 8) For this, Ad-Heisat et al (2009) posits that awareness of reading strategies helps readers identify their reading goals and steps used to achieve these goals Likewise, Cadena (2006) suggests that

Students are explicitly aware of strategies that could help them to overcome problems in reading is an accurate way to deal with the learning of reading in second language Furthermore, this will facilitate the learning process in other learning areas and develop students’ basic skills as this enables them to become successful readers, writers and problem solvers (p 97)

Consequently, the aim of research in the area of reading strategies is to explore the most effective techniques or processes the learners choose to conquest the written texts More recently, many studies have focused on conscious awareness of reading strategies, and strategy training and use in reading comprehension

Metacognitive reading strategies have become one of the effective ways to accelerate students’ reading comprehension in the realm of foreign language education Early studies on metacognitive reading strategies tended to make lists of strategies and other features assumed to be really necessary for language students (Oxford, 1994) According to Karbalaei (2010), “if students are capable of comprehending what they are reading through a variety of strategies, they will create an interested and self-regulative attitude toward the path of academic achievement” (p 166) Successful second/ foreign readers involve into a high level of metacognition, or controlling of their own thinking during the act of reading By way of illustration, they make predictions, check guesses, and administrate their comprehension during working on meaning from the texts Succinctly stated, successful language readers are those who know how to use such reading strategies efficiently

1.2 Statement of the problem

When pertaining to the most common problems negatively affecting reading comprehension, Cabaroglu and Yurdaisik (2008) point out that “unfamiliar texts, lack

of vocabulary, and grammar knowledge, inappropriate level of texts were the common points that the teachers reported regarding the difficulties students faced in a reading class” (p 142) Once again, it is true to confirm that reading is a complex process where an array of strategies, linguistic knowledge and background knowledge are concurrently summoned Similarly, in academic course like TESOL (Teaching English

to Speakers of Other Languages) program, reading is an extremely crucial task to enter the academic world (Grabe, 1991) In other words, this requires postgraduates to focus

on higher levels of cognitive and metacognitive strategies in their reading practice

since utilizing the metacognitive strategies is genuinely effective in students’

achievement and enhances their learning (Imani, et al., 2013) In specific, TESOL

students are considered those who possess a fundamental knowledge about reading approaches and strategies such as Top-down processing, Bottom-up processing, scanning, skimming, reading for detail, inferring, deducing meaning from context, predicting, and so on that they have learned from university curriculum and experienced numerous types of reading texts However, English reference materials for TESOL specialization are often too long (length) and very complicated (content) It is essential that the TESOL students have to employ effective and proper reading strategies A study by Cohen (1998) showed that the contents of the learning situation may have a strong influence on learners’ own choice of the language learning strategies A question is posed whether all TESOL postgraduates have had effective reading strategies when working on the materials used to course assignments and thesis

as well The fact proved that skills and strategies for comprehension can be taught, some students are successful in learning to read English, however others remain at a low proficiency level throughout their school years Put it differently, there does exist the differences of using reading strategies and being aware of these strategies between the two groups of high and low proficiency level Furthermore, in fact, it is reported that there are many different reading strategies; for example, O’Malley and Chamot (1990) classified learning strategies into 3 subcategories such as Metacognitive strategies, Cognitive strategies, Socioaffective strategies, and we still remain the strategies known by other studies As for the researcher, the priority is given to employment of metacognitive reading strategies regarded as effective strategies in many previous studies, and mentioned most by researchers’ discussion

With all above interest of the study and mentioned issues, together with there have not been many studies about TESOL postgraduates’ metacognitive reading strategies, the researcher have made a decision to carry out an investigation into the use

of metacognitive reading strategies by TESOL postgraduates Intakes 9 and 10 at Ho Chi Minh City Open University

1.3 Research aims

The aims of the study are (1) to investigate what types of metacognitive reading strategies are being used by TESOL postgraduates Intakes 9 and 10 at Ho Chi Minh City Open University; (2) to disclose the difference of using metacognitive reading strategies between the two groups of high proficient students (within C1 certificate or other equivalent ones) and less proficient students (without C1 certificate or other equivalent ones); (3) to probe what difficulties TESOL postgraduates Intakes 9 and 10 encounter in their act of academic reading; from that, some recommendations are made

to help these students at Ho Chi Minh City Open University overcome their current problems

1.4 Research questions

To obtain the established aims above, this study is processed in order to answer the three research questions as follows:

Research question 1: What types of metacognitive reading strategies are frequently

employed by TESOL postgraduates Intakes 9 and 10 at Ho Chi Minh City Open University?

Research question 2: Is there any difference in the use of metacognitive strategies in

reading between TESOL postgraduates within and without C1 level (CEFR)?

Research question 3: What perceptions do TESOL postgraduates Intakes 9 and 10

have in terms of their reading problems and the effects of employing metacognitive reading strategies?

1.5 Importance of the study

This study was conducted in order to help TESOL postgraduates at Ho Chi Minh City Open University recognize the problem they encounter during their reading process and improve the students’ reading strategies Purposefully, it is believed that findings of this study might provide TESOL postgraduates with new insights and useful knowledge in relation to applying metacognitive reading strategies in reality Moreover, they can understand their own strengths and weaknesses so that they can adjust their reading strategies to get their goals and good academic achievement in their TESOL learning program

1.6 Scope of the study

This study is conducted for TESOL students Intakes 9 and 10 at Ho Chi Minh City Open University, so the generations and implication are expected to be only helpful for TESOL students at Ho Chi Minh City Open University It is limited to TESOL students at other universities in Viet Nam and in the world because of learning environment and level among them Furthermore, it has also been many other learning strategies that contribute to learners’ outcomes from the other researchers, but the researcher only considers the employment of metacognitive reading strategies by TESOL postgraduates Intakes 9 and 10 at Ho Chi Minh City Open University

1.7 Organization of the thesis

This study is divided into five chapters, including

Chapter 1 is the Introduction part which consists of rationale of the study,

problem statement, research aims and questions, significance and scope of the study

Chapter 2 presents a review of literature and studies relevant to this study It is

used to examine the theoretical and practical information related to theories of reading process and strategies Most importantly, the chapter continues to summarize some

related empirical studies From these studies, some research gaps are provided to situate the study itself

Chapter 3 presents the context and participants, data collection instruments and

in which ways these instruments were designed and developed Also, it presents the procedure of collecting and analyzing the collected information

Chapter 4 presents findings from questionnaires and interviews, and an

extensive discussion is also included

Chapter 5 summarizes the main findings of the study, reveals the limitations

and gives suggestions for further research

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Chapter introduction

In this chapter, the related literature will be reviewed and analyzed with regard

to relevant concepts of (1) definitions of reading and some typical approaches of reading act; (2) reading strategies and metacognition, which literally catalyze the theme

of metacognitive reading strategies; (3) measurement tools for assessing the students’ conscious awareness of reading strategies; (4) the relationship between language proficiency and the use of metacognitive reading strategies As an important part, some previous studies will be summarized and critically evaluated, which help the study situate itself in this field

understanding the text, but it comprises of word reading and language comprehension (Gough and Tunmer, 1986) Word reading relates to the ability to decode the words out

of context while language comprehension relates to the ability to understand words or sentences as a whole in context of the text The two components of reading comprehension supplement each other That is to say students cannot understand the text if they are not adequately provided with vocabulary On the other hand, the fact that students with the ability of reading words out of context does not mean that they can make sense of those words in context of a particular text

In brief, reading is a complex cognitive ability requiring the capacity to integrate text information with the prior knowledge of the reader and resulting in the elaboration

of mental representation (Anderson, 2003; Meneghetti, Carretti, and Beni, 2006) Thus, reading comprehension is an interactive process between a reader and a text (Rumelhart, 1994) During this interaction, the readers exert different knowledge and skills including language skills, cognitive resources and world knowledge

2.1.2 Approaches of reading

It is noted that in an attempt to understand the definitions of speaking skill and comprehension, several researchers have proceeded by analyzing it in terms of a set of approaches to reading process which will be presented as below Many researchers in the field of reading have classified the models of reading into three categories such as bottom-up, top-down, and interactive approaches These approaches describe what happens when readers look at the text, and also what complementary ways of processing a text are Readers use them with unconscious way, or adopt them as conscious processes during reading a text

2.1.2.1 Bottom-up

Bottom-up processing is considered as a process which is related to language structures To put it another way, it concentrates on individual words, phrases or cohesive devices and gets understanding by associating detailed elements together to

create a whole According to Adams (1990), when the words of the written text are identified, they immediately recognize the words to which they belong The readers grasp syntactic and semantic structures once they capture words Overall, comprehension level in this model is catered upwards since the analytical product of low level is the coming elements of higher levels This is called bottom-up processing

In the bottom-up approach, the role of word knowledge is requisite for lexical recognition which is regarded as its strength On the other hand, bottom-up processing

is also hierarchical, through identifying letters and words and constructing a meaning for a written text from the smallest textual units at the “bottom” (i.e letters and words)

to bigger units at the “top” (i.e phrase, clause, and sentential linkages) This means that

we need to know all letters of a word to access its meaning, and all the words in a clause or a sentence to construct its whole meaning Therefore, the knowledge of vocabulary is a fundamental advantage for this process

Apart from that, an important disadvantage of this model is shortage of feedback, in that no mechanism is given to permit for processing stages which happen later in the system to affect the process which takes place earlier in the system Due to the lack of feedback in the early bottom-up model, it is challenging to explain sentence-context effects and the contribution of prior knowledge of the text theme as facilitating changes in word recognition and comprehension (Carrell, Devine and Eskey, 1998) Thus, the combination of readers’ past experiences and language knowledge is not considered to make contribution to reading comprehension

In brief, the bottom-up processing is a model which focuses on word recognition Therefore, the readers can only achieve better reading comprehension by applying the recognition of words, phrases and finally sentences In contrast to this advantage, the importance of relating background knowledge to sociocultural meaning

is not considered in second language reading comprehension of this process viewed as its weakness

2.1.2.2 Top-down approach

Top-down processing is a model by which the readers get a general view of the reading passage and absorb the overall picture Carell, Devine and Eskey (1988) found that in top-down processing, since the reader is only checking the textual information

so as to verify hypothesis and prediction, reading is reckoned as being conceptually provoked by the higher order stages In specific, the readers base on their background knowledge and expectations to reconstruct the meaning of the text One important advantage of this process is language knowledge, world knowledge and personal experiences are expressed in top-down influences reading comprehension As for the top-down process, Anderson (2003) stated that top-down processes emphasize that meaning is located inside the readers Readers activate their background knowledge and make predictions before reading the text to find out information for their predictions made in advance Meanwhile, Schramm (2008) based on the amount of pre-knowledge used by students to make the distinction between top-down and bottom-

up processes As students need to use their background knowledge in both top-down and bottom-up processes, there is an interaction among the two processes Meanwhile, Wallace (1992) stated that the top-down processes in reading mainly rest on students’ bringing their background knowledge to boost their reading performance As a result,

in the readers become more active participants in reading process

However, one problem posed for top-down model is that for many texts, the readers usually possess little background knowledge of the given topic and therefore it

is hard to manipulate predictions Besides, a more serious problem is that even in the case that a skilled reader can manipulate the predictions; the amount of time necessary for this may be much more than the amount of the time the skilled reader utilizes simply to recognize the words This means that in some cases, it is for more difficult for readers to make predictions than recognize words in a text

In summary, the top-down model of reading focuses on meaning Cohen (1990) explains that the readers should not recognize all letters, words and sentences in the written text; instead of that, they only need to identify key words and phrases to comprehend the meaning of the text It is started with predictions and then some attempt to check these predictions by working down the written texts Thus, it is more useful for readers to make a combination between top-down and bottom-up processing

to achieve the best in reading comprehension

2.1.2.3 Interactive approach

From the problems emerging in bottom-up and top-down processing, many researchers found that interactive models appears to provide a better result of reading performance than heavily rely on bottom-up or top-down model The interactive model involves employing both top-down and bottom-up skills to construct the meaning of the text It highlights that reading is the interaction between readers and texts According to this approach, reading is attached to the perceptions of graphic cues as soon as these are recognized as familiar, both linguistic schemata and world knowledge are brought into play (Grabe, 1991) Furthermore, in this model, texts cannot be considered either generally easy or difficult on the basis of linguistic features; texts become easier if they correspond with the reader’s prior knowledge (Clark and Silberstein, 1979) Thus, failure in reading comprehension can occur if there is a breakdown in compatibility between bottom-up and top-down processes

In short, the interactive approach emphasizes the application to the interaction

of bottom-up and top-down processes to get successful reading, it is necessary for readers to have an appropriate balance between these approaches and an important aspect of interactive approach is that bottom-up and top-down processes could occur at all level simultaneously In other words, an inappropriate balance between bottom-up and top-down models leads to failure in reading comprehension, thereby producing unsuccessful readers To give an example, a student who has good word-recognition

skills, but poor inference skills will still face comprehensive problems as this reader will not be able to fill in the missing links in a text

2.2 Metacognitive reading strategies

In this section, the study will present a general picture of metacognitive reading strategies To make it clearer, the researcher mentions the definition and classification

of reading strategies at first, then metacognition, and finally issues and measurements

of metacognitive reading strategies

2.2.1 Reading strategies

2.2.1.1 Definition

Numerous definitions of reading strategies have been extensively found in the relevant literature As what Cohen (1990) defines, reading strategies are “mental processes that readers consciously choose to use in accomplishing reading tasks” (p 83) In the same line, they are “the mental operations involved when readers approach

a text effectively to make sense of what they read […] Good readers apply more strategies more frequently and more effectively than poor readers” (Pani, 2004, p 67).Additionally, according to Block (1986), it is emphasized that reading strategies indicate how readers perceive a task, what textual clues they will use, how they construct meaning of what they read, and what strategies they use to overcome reading problems But in the most common, Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002) define reading strategies based on three aspects of (1) intentionally, carefully planned techniques by which readers manage their reading; (2) actions and procedures that the readers use during they directly work with a text; (3) basic support aimed to assist readers in reading comprehension The impact of these strategies on reading is viewed as a pillar

in any act of reading By anyway, “reading comprehension is attributed to developing suitable, efficient comprehension strategies” (Brown, 2001, p 306)

as the name implies, are directly related to the intellectual processing of language such

as memorization of vocabulary, or form recognition They are used to deal with the new information and work with language in different tasks and situations On the other hand, indirect strategies have no direct relevance to language as direct strategies Direct strategies consist of (1) memory strategies, (2) cognitive strategies, and (3) compensation strategies; while indirect strategies include (1) metacognitive strategies, (2) affective strategies and (3) social strategies

Based on the model of interactive approach, Carell (1998) categorizes reading strategies into two types: cognitive and metacognitive strategies Cognitive strategies are directions by which learners work with and manipulate the task materials themselves, leading to task completion Samples of cognitive strategies include prediction on prior knowledge, analysis of text organization, summary, taking notes, etc These strategies are identified as important cognitive strategies related to academic performance in the classrooms because they are applied to from simple to complex tasks that require understanding of information; whereas, metacognitive strategies involve thinking about the learning process, being aware and controlling of planning for learning, monitoring the learning task, summarizing and evaluating how well it has been ended In the same line, Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002) generate another classification scheme involving metacognition to classify the reading strategies within three categories, that is, (1) global strategy (e.g having reading purpose in mind); (2)

problem-solving strategy (e.g modify reading speed, rereading); (3) support strategy (e.g using dictionary, taking notes, etc.)

2.2.2 Metacognition

Metacognition refers to an awareness of cognitive processes, that is, “thinking about thinking” In other words, students who use metacognitive strategies are aware of their thinking processes during studying Metacognition, based on Flavell (1976), is defined as “one’s knowledge concerning one’s own cognitive processes and outcomes

or anything related to them” (p 232) Flavell further explains that metacognition is “the active monitoring and consequent regulation and orchestration of these processes in relation to the cognitive objects or data on which they bear, usually in the service of some concrete goal or objective” (p 238) In other words, metacognition can be defined as the development of students’ mental abilities

Flavell’s (1979) model of metacognition is the foundation for research in the field of metacognition today when discussing about the parts of metacognition According to his model, there are four categories: (1) metacognitive knowledge, (2) metacognitive experiences, (3) goals/ tasks, and (4) actions/ strategies He exemplified that people manage their cognitive process by using components described in these four categories In the same vein, Kuhn (2000) refers metacognition to two aspects, namely the students’ self-awareness of a knowledge base in which information is stored about how, when, and where to use various cognitive strategies and their self-awareness of and access to strategies that direct learning This awareness of strategies

is deemed to be developmental and lies on a continuum

Pintrich, Wolters and Baxter (2000) supplement that there are three main aspects of metacognition: metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive monitoring, self–regulation and control In brief, metacognition talks about a level of thinking that involves active control over the process of thinking during a learning activity such as English reading These scholars suggest that the learner develops perceptions of the

task demands, engages in metacognitive monitoring, selects and implements cognitive strategies that are appropriate for the task demands, and evaluates task performance while reflecting on the effectiveness of the cognitive strategies

Literature on metacognition has unraveled that less proficient readers do not capture the purpose of reading and only pertain to employ word-by-word strategy Put simply, they lack metacognitive ability, and are not aware of the problems that emerge during reading and do not know how to monitor their reading process Moreover, less proficient readers are less competent in planning, monitoring and controlling their understanding of texts, or deficient in summoning their own metacognitive skills Conversely, good readers are those who actively utilize their own metacognition to follow up their reading purposes, use different reading strategies to facilitate their reading comprehension, and so on (Lau, 2006) It goes without saying that metacognition plays a pivotal role in English reading comprehension, and the readers need to activate their own metacognitive abilities to monitor what are being read

2.2.3 Metacognitive reading strategies

2.2.3.1 Definitions

Based upon Brown (1994), metacognitive reading strategies include “checking

an outcome of any attempt to solve a problem, plan one’s text move, monitoring the effectiveness of any attempted action, testing, revising and evaluating one’s strategies for reading” (p 115) It is generally accepted that metacognitive reading strategies are classified into three groups of [1] planning (pre-reading), [2] monitoring (during-reading), and [3] evaluating (post-reading) strategies, and each group has a different set

of strategies that require readers’ metacognitive awareness (Skehan, 1989)

Planning strategies are used before reading; activating learners’ background

knowledge to get prepared for reading is an example of planning strategies (Israel, 2007) Also, previewing a title, picture, illustration, heading, or subheading can help readers grasp the overview of the text Readers may also preview the general

information in the text and its structure (Almasi, 2003) Learners may check whether their reading material has a certain text structure, such as cause and effect, question and answer, and compare and contrast

Monitoring strategies occur during reading Some examples of monitoring

strategies are comprehension of vocabulary, self-questioning, summarizing, and inferring the main idea of each paragraph (Israel, 2007) Readers may pay attention to key information or key words, including “but”, “however”, “on the other hand”, “in addition”, “also”, and “in conclusion” Besides, according to Hudson (2007), to determine which part of the passage can be read or ignored regarding the purpose of the task is another monitoring strategy

Evaluating strategies are employed after reading For example, after reading a

text, learners may think about how to apply what they have read to other texts

Numerous researchers in the realm of reading skills advocated that metacognitive strategies play a significant role in a reader’s language learning For examples, O’Malley and Chamot (1990) affirmed that “students without metacognitive approaches are essentially learners without direction or opportunity to plan their learning, monitor their progress or review their accomplishments and future directions” (p 8) In the same fashion, Sheorey and Mokhtari (2001, p 445) approved that “skilled readers are more able to reflect on and monitor their cognitive processes while reading”

2.2.3.2 Measurement tools of metacognitive reading strategies

Along with interviews and classroom observations, questionnaire has been widely employed to measure students’ metacognitive awareness of reading strategies in the field of reading comprehension In recent years, some studies have made a great deal of efforts in order to build up their questionnaires to become a powerful measurement tool of this realm mentioned earlier (e.g Mokhtari and Richard, 2002; Mokhtari and Sheorey, 2002) First, Mokhtari and Richard (2002) developed a

questionnaire namely Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory

(MARSI), measuring metacognitive consciousness of reading strategies of English

speaking students Later, through checking wording, add two new strategies and removing two irrelevant items from MARSI, Mokhtari and Sheorey (2002) designed

the Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) for assessing metacognitive perception of

reading strategies of ESL or EFL students in different EFL contexts around the world

In specific, the MARSI and SORS Questionnaires measures three broad categories of

reading strategies including:

1 Global Reading Strategies (GLOB), which are a set of strategies used to

establish the steps for the reading act (e.g setting a purpose for reading, predicting what the text is about, etc.);

2 Problem-Solving Strategies (PROB), which are strategies used to solve

reading problems as well as improve reading comprehension (e.g checking one’s understanding upon, re-reading, encountering conflicting information, etc.);

3 Support Reading Strategies (SUP), which are strategies used to sustain the

flow of reading (e.g use of reference materials)

In this research study, the SORS was deliberately employed to measure the

TESOL postgraduates’ metacognitive awareness of their reading strategies during the current act of reading academic texts Inferentially, this employment derives from the three reasons as follows:

1 The SORS was precisely developed based on reviewing many relevant

studies of the existing body of literature on reading strategies, metacognition, and reading comprehension (e.g Mokhtari and Reichard, 2004; Karbalaei, 2010; Cuu Quang Thanh, 2012; Tavakoli, 2014); thus, the internal consistency of the questionnaire obtained through Cronbach’s alpha was reported to be 0.89, highly reliable (Mokhtari and Sheorey, 2002);

2 The items of the SORS sufficiently cover three sub-groups of metacognitive

strategies, including planning strategies, monitoring strategies, and evaluating strategies;

3 The items covered up the SORS are easily and simply comprehensible to

many ESL and EFL contexts such as in Vietnam (e.g Tavakoli, 2014)

2.3 Overview of language proficiency and use of metacognitive strategies

In this section, the researcher presented the overview of requirements that test takers have meet in response to C1-level reading proficiency Following that, some typical characteristics of less proficient readers were generally described

2.3.1 Description of reading proficiency

Given the demand that the study was made to check the difference between the two groups of high-proficiency and low-proficiency TESOL postgraduates in their act

of reading, which was categorized based upon C1 level (CEFR certificates such as CAE, CPE) or other equivalent certificates (IELTS, TOEFLITP, or TOEFLiBT) The table below will be presented to help readers gain general background of requirements that C1 holders must meet in the reading section

Table 2.1

Description of the C1 reading requirements

First English

Certificate

(FCE, Grade A)

Cambridge

Overall reading comprehension: Can understand in detail lengthy,

complex texts, whether or not they relate to his/her own area of specialty, provided he/she can reread difficult sections;

Reading correspondence: Can understand any correspondence given the

occasional use of a dictionary;

Reading for orientation: Can scan quickly through long and complex

Reading for information and argument: Can understand in detail a wide

range of lengthy, complex texts likely to be encountered in social, professional or academic life, identifying finer points of detail including attitudes and implied as well as stated opinions

Reading instructions: Can understand in detail lengthy, complex

instructions on a new machine or procedure, whether or not the instructions relate to his/her own area of specialty, provided he/she can reread difficult sections

(Common European Framework Of Reference For Languages: Learning, Teaching, Assessment, 2001, p 69–71)

As the information described above in Table 2.1, the readers taking these

reading texts should use different strategies to understand a range of complex and long academic texts, and only take advance of dictionary in necessary Inferentially, according to the requirements of C1 holders in the reading section, some strategies can help the readers work well on a range of long and complex academic texts such as (1) identify the purpose in reading; (2) Skim the text for main ideas; (3) scan the text for specific information; (4) use semantic mapping or clustering; (5) Guess when you aren’t certain; and so on Consequently, the readers can manage the texts given the limited time when being sensitively aware of these strategies In general, much of the research into metacognition in EFL reading revealed that readers’ metacognitive strategies are concerned positively with their success of EFL reading comprehension and that reading comprehension is much contributed by the readers’ development of metacognition

2.3.2 Characteristics of less proficient students in use of reading strategies

In his 2006 study, Lau enumerates some typical characteristics of poor readers, who are often less proficient in language, including:

1 They do not know how to build up the main ideas of the texts;

2 They have troubles in exploiting inferences to tackle in-depth understanding of the reading texts;

3 They are not consciously aware of the problems that take place during reading and do not know how to control their reading progress;

4 They possess scant prior knowledge and seldom employ their background knowledge to support text comprehension;

5 They are strange with the text structure and seldom use the text frame to organize the main ideas

In the same vein, according to Vacca and Vacca (1999, as cited in Ismail and Tawalbeh, 2015), less proficient users of language are those who lack the defining attributes of the successful readers such as poor reading comprehension, study skills, word recognition, and reading fluency; especially, they do not know what strategies are really effective for academic reading, as well as they hardly know how to improve their reading comprehension On contrary, when comparing between good and weaker readers in reading comprehension, Mokhtari and Reichard (2002) indicate that good readers are more aware of monitoring their comprehension and are also more cognitive

of their strategy use

In the existing body of literature, some of the studies unraveled a strong relationship between positive reading performance of proficient learners and their level

of metacognitive awareness For example, Alderson (1984) showed that the general finding revealed that good and poor readers used different strategies but poor learners used the strategies less effectively Furthermore, Anderson carried out another study on this field in 1991 and affirmed that both high and less proficient language students used

the same kinds of strategies but different level of frequency In other words, high proficient students used the reading strategies more frequently, effectively and consciously than less proficient students did Also, Santana (2003) found that the strategies that showed significant difference between high proficient and less proficient students were the metacognitive strategies, in which successful people are good strategy users, that is, they know how to use a variety of reading strategies, mandate a planned sequencing, and monitor their use Conversely, poor readers are not aware of the use of strategies to manage their comprehension of reading texts as well as their strategy use (Mokhtari and Reichard, 2002)

2.4 Relevant previous studies

A large body of previous research studies has been extensively conducted for investigating the effectiveness of metacognitive awareness of reading strategies on students’ reading comprehension as well as the congruence or divergence in the use of metacognitive reading strategies between readers from different background of context, gender, age or even language proficiency In this section, some relevant studies were reviewed so as to draw some gaps and then situate the study itself in this field

Sheorey and Mokhtari (2001) examined differences in the metacognitive and perceived use of reading strategies among United States of America (USA) and English as Second Language (ESL) university students in the United States of America (N=105) The results of the study showed that both the USA and ESL students expressed a high level of various reading strategies awareness Besides, both ESL and USA high-reading-ability students affirmed that they used metacognitive reading strategies than lower-reading-ability students

The study of Karbalaei (2010) compared between the use of metacognitive reading strategies by EFL and ESL readers The participants included 96 Iranians as EFL readers and 93 Indians as ESL readers (N=189) He used a 30-item questionnaire

to measure their metacognitive awareness according to three groups (1) global reading

strategies, (2) problem-solving strategies, and (3) support reading strategies The results of his study showed significant differences; for instance, Indian students reported using most types of strategies more often than did the Iranian students, in which Indians were more interested in exerting top-down strategies (e.g summarizing, paraphrasing, note-taking) for better understanding of the texts while Iranians are more frequently used bottom-up strategies such as using a dictionary

Tavakoli (2014) conducted a study with the purpose of exploring metacognitive awareness of reading strategies and its correlation with reading comprehension, and examine whether gender and proficiency level impact the use of these strategies or not The Survey of Reading Strategies Questionnaire (SORS), the semi-structured interview technique, and a reading comprehension test were used to collect data from a randomly chosen sample The results emerged from this study revealed that there was a strong positive correlation between metacognitive awareness of reading strategies and reading comprehension achievement The results of this study also indicated that the students’ use of metacognitive reading strategies was significantly impacted by their English proficiency level but not by gender According to the findings, Iranian EFL students were moderately aware of reading strategies and the most frequently used strategies were the Support Reading Strategies (SUP), then Global Reading Strategies (GLOB), and finally Problem-Solving Strategies (PROB)

By the nature of an experimental study, Ismail and Tawalbeh (2015) conducted

a study aimed to investigate the effects of metacognitive awareness of reading strategies instruction (MARSI) on Taif University EFL students who achieved low results in reading Twenty-one female university students (N=21), categorized into two groups including the experimental group (n=10), and the control group (n=11) The statistically significant differences between the experimental group and the control group on the post-test reading comprehension test as well as the reading strategies questionnaire were ultimately found In specific, this showed that the experimental group improved in reading skills after the students participated in the training

In Vietnamese context, Nguyen Thi Huyen Trinh (2010) carried out her study aimed to explore the effects of using strategies in reading classrooms through the theme of frequency at An Giang University The subjects consisted of 88 successful students and 83 unsuccessful students (N=171), based on the achieved scores of the reading test prior The study revealed that the successful students tent to use reading strategies more frequently than unsuccessful ones However, this study did not make it clear that which types of reading strategies were most frequently used among the two groups

In the same purpose, Cuu Quang Thanh implemented his study in the academic year of 2011-2012 to probe the reality of the first-year medical English students and the effects on reading comprehension at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine (N=128) The core instruments used for this study were the SORS, developed by Mokhtari and Sheorey’s (2002) study and interviews The results reported that these students used their metacognitive reading strategies at medium level of frequency; nevertheless, there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups of the successful and unsuccessful students Finally, some factors affecting their reading strategy use were discovered such as reading difficulty, motivation, vocabulary size

Tran Van Dat (2012) conducted his study to identify the frequency level of use

of metacognitive reading strategies of English-majored students while they are reading the academic English materials, and to investigate the relationship between students’ metacognitive reading strategies and their academic English reading comprehension achievement This study used a convenient sample of 107 the first year English majors from two intact classes in Faculty of Education at An Giang University The results showed that students used the metacognitive reading strategies in high level The results also showed that the metacognitive reading strategies had positive correlations with the achievement of English reading comprehension In addition, high-level readers used metacognitive strategies more frequently than those intermediate and low-level readers

In 2013, Vo Thi Huong, with the aim of investigating the beliefs in training of strategy use during the three phases of a reading class, worked out a study at Ho Chi Minh City Open University on the lecturers and first year English major students (N=190, n lecturers=3, n students=187) Pertaining to data collection instruments, the copies

of questionnaires were distributed to the studied students, which originated from the MARSI of Mokhtari and Reichard’s (2002) study, while the semi-structured interviews were conducted with the lecturers The results indicated that both the lectures and students trained and used reading strategies during the Pre-reading and During-reading phases but not in the Post-reading one Along with this result, the study also pointed out some factors impeding their training and using of metacognitive reading strategies including: insufficient class time, students’ lack of lesson preparation, class size, and various proficiency levels

Do Minh Hung and Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao (2014) examined the impact of metacognitive strategy instruction on EFL university learners’ reading comprehension

as well as aimed at identifying the conscious use of these learners’ metacognitive strategies Participants were sixty-four students at Can Tho University The findings showed that the experimental group via a special instructional treatment program had more enhancement than the control group in the reading post-test and the conscious use

of the target strategies in the post-questionnaire As a result, it suggests that apart from other regular cognitive activities (e.g scanning, skimming, picking up new words, pre-teaching vocabulary, translating), EFL teachers should raise learners’ attention to metacognitive strategies while conducting reading tasks in particular

2.5 Research gaps

The aforementioned body of literature introduced the bulk of related works in the field of the use and the metacognitive awareness of reading strategies regardless the subjects and contexts; however, the literature has emerged some adequacies

The previous studies above have been constantly conducted (e.g 2010, 2012,

2013, 2014) at some universities (e.g An Giang University, Can Tho University, or Ho Chi Minh City Open University) in the Vietnamese context Likewise, some previous studies have been also carried out in foreign countries such as Sheorey and Mokhtari (2001), Karbalaei (2010), Ismail and Tawalbeh (2015) However, there has been no study on the postgraduates in Ho Chi Minh City Open University so far In another line, almost all the studies above primarily focused on the effects of metacognitive reading strategies on EFL learners’ reading comprehension achievement Apart from the theoretically and practically positive relationship between metacognitive reading strategies and reading performance, the types of metacognitive reading strategies and the use frequency level of these strategies also need to be investigated and described in different contexts By those reasons, the current study aimed to investigate the reality

of the TESOL postgraduates’ utilization of metacognitive reading strategies at Ho Chi

Minh City Open University of Vietnam (Research questions 1, 2) Methodologically,

most of the previous studies above only produced quantitative results from questionnaires and tests Thus, the current study uses both quantitative results from questionnaire and test and qualitative results from semi-structured interview to ensure triangulation of data collection methods

Besides, these studies have concentrated mainly on the effects of metacognitive reading strategies but failed to mention the factors or problems that can impede the students’ awareness of reading strategies, excluding Vo Thi Huong (2013) Understanding causal factors on university students’ using metacognitive reading strategies is necessarily important since it helps the researcher, language teachers and faculty staffs to find out solutions to overcome these challenges Therefore, the present study also tried to seek what possible problems impact the participants’ utilization of

metacognitive reading strategies (Research question 3)

Chapter summary

To recap, this necessarily important chapter presented an extensive understanding of fundamental theories of metacognitive strategies in reading comprehension activities such as background of reading definitions and approaches, reading strategies and metacognition, or the correlation between language proficiency and reading performance, which considerably provided a conceptual framework for this study Additionally, some previous related studies were also summarized in this chapter The next chapter will be covered with the research design, contexts and population, instruments and procedures of data collection and analysis for the current research paper

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY Chapter introduction

In this chapter, the methodology, including the overall research approach, the instruments of questionnaire, test, and interview was discussed Additionally, the selection of context and subjects for the study, issues of reliability and validity, the data collection phases, and analytical framework are also described in the present chapter The aims of the current study were to work out the answers to the three research questions posed in Chapter 1 In specific, the study aimed to explore to what extent the TESOL students of TESOL9 and TESOL10 employed metacognitive strategies during their reading of academic texts In addition to the first aim, the study moves to investigate if there was any significant difference in the employment of metacognitive reading strategies between the two groups of high proficient and less proficient students Finally, the present study was carried out to probe what attitudes these postgraduates hold in terms of the effects and challenges of applying metacognitive reading strategies

3.1 Research site and sampling technique for research participants

3.1.1 Research site

This study was conducted at the Faculty of Graduate Studies of Ho Chi Minh City Open University, which is located at 97 Vo Van Tan Street, Ward 6, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam The faculty provides two types of part time courses, including local programs, and joint courses with foreign universities Specifically, when it comes to the local programs, they involve eight training specializations, namely, (1) Business Administration, (2) Finance-Banking, (3) Economics, (4) Economic Laws, (5) Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (abbr TESOL),

(6) Sociology, (7) Biological Technology, and (8) Civil and Industrial Construction Engineering

Pertaining to the motto of the faculty, the core values of creativity, life–long learning, practical orientation, globalization, social engagement, flexibility and friendliness are embedded in its teaching, studying and research activities Up to now, there have been more than nine hundred (900) master students following the local programs and three hundred (300) following the joint master programs and thirty (30) students following the doctoral programs

Relating to the local TESOL program, since the academic year of 2006 until now, the total number of TESOL postgraduates has been approximately five hundred (500), ranged in twelve (12) intakes To be legally permitted to attend any local TESOL course here, the postgraduates must obtain a bachelor’s degree of English, English Linguistics and Literature, English Language Education, and pass the entrance examination within the three (3) mini-tests of Linguistics, Methodology and a Foreign Language Almost all of the TESOL postgraduates are often English teachers (fulltime

or part–time) at primary schools, high schools or tertiary schools; and, only some of them pursue the occupation of an officer

3.1.2 Sampling technique for research participants

In the current study, the researcher deliberately employed convenience sampling technique to identify the research sample (i.e research participants) In specific, it is an array of techniques in which sample is selected by convenience in terms of proximity, availability, accessibility that researcher perceive (Brahams, 2010) Link to the current study, the postgraduates from the two classes of TESOL9 and TESOL10 were recruited

as the research sample due to a couple of the reasons First of all, regarding the accessibility criterion, the researcher was a member and vice-monitor of class TESOL9 and had some friends who were in TESOL10 class; therefore, it is quite accessible for her to get the postgraduates Intakes 9 and 10 to participate in the present study Second, when it comes to the availability criterion, the researcher allowed them to complete the

questionnaire, one of the used instruments of the study, in the length of three weeks In other words, the participants would not be pushed to finish the questionnaire urgently

Thanks to the utilization of convenience sampling technique, the researcher was lucky to invite fifty-eight postgraduates (N=58) from TESOL9 and TESOL10 into this study, in which there were twenty-eight participants of TESOL9 (nTESOL9 = 28) and thirty participants of TESOL10 (nTESOL10 = 30) Their demographic information in terms of gender, age, teaching experience and language proficiency level was presented

in section 4.1, Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion

3.2 Research approach

In this section, the researcher gave a precise overall research approach In common, the study employed mixed methods within the three main research instruments, that is, questionnaire, test, and interview

To collect the data adequately for answering the research questions posed in Chapter 1, the study conductor utilized the mixed methods design, which has been extensively defined in an array of ways, but in general involving both quantitative and qualitative research techniques, methods, and approaches in a single study (Yin, 2006; Creswell and Clark, 2011; Creswell, 2012) According to this theorist, utilizers of the mixed methods approach select a sequence of data collection instruments in a combined way

Link to the current research, quantitative data was collected first through the test and questionnaire tools (Phase 1), followed by the collection of qualitative data from the interview (Phase 2) The mixed methods design was purposefully employed for this study according to several reasons First, quantitative data can yield specific numbers that can be statistically analyzed to assess the frequency and magnitude (Creswell, 2012) of the actual employment of metacognitive reading strategies of the studied TESOL postgraduates on the large number of the respondents, as well as the actual reading comprehension ability Furthermore, to provide a complex picture of the aimed

situation, it is necessary for the researcher to use open-ended interviews, which then produce qualitative results, “rely more on the views of the participants in the study and less on the direction identified in the literature by the researchers” (Creswell, 2012, p 17) In short, an exploratory mixed methods research design was utilized to answer the research questions since it can provide depth for the study The procedure of the current research was described in Figure 3.1

Questionnaire distribution

(n=58)

Interview recording

(n=6)