Researches on teaching multi-modal text comprehension confirms that teachers continue to organize and guide students while students take an active role in the process of searching and ac
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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VIETNAM INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES
TRAN THI NGOC
TEACHING MULTIMODAL TEXT READING COMPREHENSION IN PHILOLOGY PROGRAM AT
SECONDARY SCHOOLS
Major: Teaching theory and methodology subject of Literature -
Vietnamese Code: 9.14.01.11
SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL DISSERTATION
Hanoi, 2021
Trang 2The dissertation has been completed at Vietnam Institute of
Educational Sciences
Scientific supervisors: 1 Assoc Prof Dr Do Ngoc Thong
2 Assoc Prof Dr Hoang Hoa Binh
Examiner 1: Examiner 2: Examiner 3:
This dissertation will be defended at Institute-level Board of Examiners at
………
………at ………on ……… This doctoral dissertation can be found at
- National Library of Vietnam
- Library of Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences
Trang 3INTRODUCTION
1 Rationale for the study
1.1 The development of life and society of listening and seeing has created vivid and diverse texts In print media such as newspapers, flyers or advertisements, words are almost always presented with a combination of pictures, diagrams and drawings Additionally, printing technology has been improved for a variety of fonts and shapes Besides, display screens are becoming increasingly common in shops, workplaces, schools or at home Cell phones can transmit images as well as sound Therefore, it can be seen that the scope and ways of communication are expanding
1.2 In countries with advanced education system, multi-modal text has been incorporated into the school curriculum In Philology and Literature education programs of Australia, USA, and South Korea, teaching multi-modal texts in Philology has become a requirement
1.3 In Vietnamese schools, although students have not learned how to read modal texts, they have to be exposed to many multi-modal texts in different subjects Meanwhile, Philology is an instrumental subject whose functions are forming and developing students’ communication skills However, students have not been taught how to read this type of text Materials supporting teachers and students in the teaching process such as teacher books and workbooks have not paid attention to the exploitation of multi-modal texts Due to the changes in the construction of the general education curriculum in Philology, one of the urgent tasks is the need for more specific and detailed research on teaching students to read multi-modal texts
multi-For the above reasons, we chose Teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension in Philology program at secondary schools as the research topic
of the study
2 Overview of the study
2.1 Studies on teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension in Philology
- There is no common reading comprehension method for all types of documents It is necessary to base on many factors such as recipient, type of text and reading purposes from which readers will choose appropriate reading methods
2.1.2 Studies on teaching text reading comprehension
Trang 4In many countries, there have been a lot of researchers interested in teaching text reading comprehension such as H Alan Robinson, Taffy E Raphael, Winch, Rosemary Ross Johnston, Marcelle Holliday, Lesley Ljungdahl, Paul March, Jack
C Richards, Willy A Renandya, John Langan Studies all agree that teaching reading comprehension plays an important role in education in general and language teaching in particular It is not only seen as teaching skills for a subject but it should be seen as training an important skill for lifelong learning needs At the same time, according to researchers, the system of reading comprehension questions and learners’ background knowledge play an important role in the process of teaching reading comprehension Therefore, in the process of teaching reading comprehension, it is necessary to give prominence to the active role of learners, the importance of teachers’ role of orientation and organization and the flexible use of reading teaching methods and strategies
2.1.3 Studies on teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension
Up to now, there have been many researches on teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension in terms of concepts, multi-modal text features and methods
of teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension There are many authors such as Bearne, E Wolstencroft, H., Mary Kalantzis, Bill Cope, Maureen, Anthony Baldry, Paul J Thibault, Len Unsworth, Ann Daly, Geoff Dean, Serafini Researches on teaching multi-modal text comprehension confirms that teachers continue to organize and guide students while students take an active role in the process of searching and acquiring information The process of guiding students to read multi-modal texts is divided into 3 stages, namely pre reading, while reading and post reading In each stage, teachers need to use a reasonable and diversified reading comprehension question system These are the questions that need to evoke background knowledge
in students, train students’ ability to analyze, synthesize, evaluate and create In particular, in order to effectively exploit the symbology system to create multi-modal texts, teachers need to provide a system of questions/exercises to identify the meaning and effect of each symbol and the question/lesson system for students to
practice expressing relationships between those symbols
2.2 Studies on teaching multi-modal text comprehension in Philology in Vietnam
2.2.1 Studies on text reading comprehension
The issue of text reading comprehension has attracted the attention of many scientists, such as Tran Dinh Su, Nguyen Thanh Hung, Le Phuong Nga, Nguyen Thi Hanh, Hoang Hoa Binh, Nguyen Minh Thuyet, Do Ngoc Thong, Pham Thi Thu Huong, Nguyen Thi Hong Nam, Nguyen Thi Hong Van Each research project raises the issue from different perspectives, but the authors affirm that they understand that this activity requires the application of various skills In particular, the reader’s activeness and initiative play an important role in the text reading process Besides, it can be seen that most of the researches on text reading comprehension in our country today are mainly towards unimodal texts
2.2.2 Studies on teaching text reading comprehension
Trang 5Up to now, in Vietnam, there have been many researches and articles on teaching reading comprehension in many aspects, such as objectives of teaching reading comprehension and organization of teaching reading comprehension In the scope of the study, we focus on organization of teaching reading comprehension
- Researchers identified the active role of the process of teaching text reading comprehension is students
- Researchers figured out the process of teaching text reading comprehension, the application of specific skills, strategies and teaching methods for reading comprehension
However, the subjects of these studies are mainly teaching reading comprehension of literary texts For this reason, teaching methods and evaluating the results of text reading comprehension are mainly applied to teaching reading comprehension of literary texts
2.2.3 Studies on teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension
In our country, the research on multi-modal text is not much There are a few authors such as Do Ngoc Thong, Le Thi Minh Nguyet and Nguyen The Hung Researchers all find a meeting point when they think that multi-modal text is a combination of two or more different expression channels which include language, symbols, diagrams, figures, pictures and sound There are a number of works that mention the issues of teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension However, the research content on this issue is not much Up to now, there has been no specific and detailed research on teaching methods of multi-modal text reading comprehension in Philology in secondary schools
2.3 General comment
Multi-modal text reading comprehension has soon been introduced into the curriculum of many countries around the world such as USA, Australia, Korea, etc to meet the communication requirements in today’s booming world of science and technology In Vietnam, reading comprehension and teaching reading comprehension theories have gradually approached new perspectives Accordingly, researchers have paid attention to the issue of reading comprehension and teaching comprehension of a text with a combination of words and visual channels - a form of multi-modal text However, those works just stop at the initial research of this type of document There is no research on how to teach multi-modal text reading comprehension for secondary school students
Trang 6To achieve the purpose of the research, the study focuses on solving the following tasks:
- Studying and identifying some theoretical and practical issues about teaching reading comprehension in general and teaching multi-modal text reading
5 Scope of research
- Scope of research content: multi-modal text in the field of information documents which is shown mainly by the mode of text channel and still image
- Scope of survey location and subjects:
+ Scope of survey location: a number of secondary schools in Thai Nguyen, Cao Bang and Hoa Binh provinces
+ Scope of survey subjects: teachers and students in grade 6, 7, 8 and 9
- Scope of pedagogical experiment location and subject:
+ Scope of pedagogical experiment location: a number of secondary schools in mountainous, rural areas and cities in Thai Nguyen province
+ Scope of pedagogical experiment subjects: teachers and students in grade 8
+ Scope of pedagogical experiment content: text reading comprehension section of grade 8
6 Research method
6.1 Theoretical research method
- Method of retrospective documentary
- Method of analysis and synthesis
6.2 Practical research method
- Method of investigation and survey
- Method of experimental teaching
- Method of pedagogical observation
- Method of statistics and classification
7 Scientific hypothesis
If the research identifies the methods of teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension, it will help students know how to read multi-modal texts more effectively, meeting the new requirements on text reading comprehension for secondary school students in Philology
8 Significance of the study
8.1 In terms of theory
The study has i) summarized research results on domestic and foreign modal texts; ii) provided scientific bases for proposing teaching methods to read and understand multi-modal texts; iii) proposed teaching measures for multi-modal
Trang 7multi-text reading comprehension and multi-modal multi-text reading comprehension results for secondary school students
8.2 In terms of practicality
The way of teaching and learning to read and understand multi-modal text is specifically built The study is a good reference to help teachers and students in teaching and learning multi-modal text reading comprehension It also helps students acquire the skills of reading texts made up of many different expression channels
9 The structure of the study
In addition to Introduction, Conclusion and References, the study includes
03 chapters:
Chapter 1: Scientific basis of the study
Chapter 2: Teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension in Philology
in secondary schools
Chapter 3: Pedagogical experiment
CONTENT Chapter 1: SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF THE STUDY
b Classification
Understanding the concept of text has a great impact on the classification of texts The general and long-mentioned classification is to distinguish ‘oral expression’ from ‘written expression’ or spoken texts and written texts
According to PISA, there are two types of text: continuous text and non- continuous text Currently, this program classifies based on four criteria: medium, environment, text format and text type
According to the classification of texts associated with social purposes, texts
in schools are divided into three categories: informational text, literary text, and
discussion text This is also the way to classify texts in the new Philology general
education curriculum
Besides, there is also a classification based on the expression channel of the text Accordingly, texts in schools include unimodal text and multi-modal text Unimodal text is a text that is presented by an expression channel Multi-modal text
is a text that combines two or more expression channels, such as word channel, image channel (still/animation), sound channel
1.1.1.2 Multi-modal text
a Definition
Trang 8There are some definitions of multi-modal text However, in our opinion,
Nguyen The Hung’s definition is the most complete: Multi-modal text (in
distinction with unimodal text in terms of the number of expression channels of text) is a text that has a close coordination of two or more expression channels (including language channel, image channel, sound channel, video channel, activity channel, link and hyperlink channel ) to form a unified whole to achieve
a certain communication goal
- Multi-modal text strongly affects feelings and immagination of readers
- Expression channels in multi-modal texts are organized and arranged according to a certain intention to achieve high expression efficiency
- Multi-modal text is popular
- Multi-modal text is diverse
- Multi-modal text is scientific
- Multi-modal text is concise
c Roles
The development of society poses new requirements for workers One of the requirements that qualified workers need to meet at the present time is to have a minimum understanding of multi-modal texts to communicate and work
The introduction of multi-modal text into teaching is not only the basis for students to learn Philology well, but also a foundation for students to study well in other subjects (natural sciences and social sciences) With knowledge of multi-modal text, students can read different types of texts for different purposes, thereby receiving a wider and richer source of information
1.1.2 Theory of receiving multi-modal text reading comprehension
1.1.2.1 The role of the reader
As readers, Freebody and Luke identified four main roles, namely reader as text decoder, reader as text participant, reader as text user and reader as text analyst
On that basis, Serafini expanded the role of the reader as ‘reader – viewer’ He offered the following roles: reader - viewer as navigator, interpreter, designer and interrogator
1.1.2.2 Receiving unimodal and multi-modal texts
With unimodal text (traditional linguistic text), language is the only expression channel, so decoding the text involves applying tactics in word recognition, pronunciation, knowledge of vocabulary and grammar Meanwhile, multi-modal text includes many different expression channels such as word channel, image channel and sound channel Therefore, readers need to flexibly apply reading strategies to identify, decode and construct meanings from words, images, tables, diagrams, symbols, sounds and movements, etc
Trang 91.1.3 Modern teaching theory on receiving multi-modal text reading comprehension
1.1.3.1 Teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension according to competence development requirements
On the one hand, teaching text in general and teaching multi-modal text in particular need to meet the requirements of current teaching, which is towards the formation and development of learners’ necessary qualities and competences On the other hand, multi-modal text only really promotes its roles and strengths when
it is taught in the direction of developing learners’ competences Therefore, based
on the characteristics of multi-modal text and the requirements of teaching towards competence development, teachers need to organize teaching activities in a scientific and logical way to help students understand the text, know how to comprehend (know how to read) and have a method to comprehend (reading method) different multi-modal texts
1.1.3.2 Some methods used in teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension
Teachers need to flexibly apply teaching methods and techniques, such as research method, group discussion and problem solving In each of the above methods, teachers can apply some techniques in teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension, such as the technique of ‘active reading’, ‘KWLH’, ‘we know 3’,
‘brainstorming’, ‘stage’, ‘one-minute presentation’, ‘table cloth’, ‘mind map’, etc
1.1.4 Characteristics of secondary school students in receiving multi-modal text reading comprehension
Intellectual and psychological characteristics of secondary school students have a clear development in the aspects of attention, perception, memory and thinking, especially imaginative thinking These characteristics have a positive influence on the multi-modal text reading process
1.2 Practical basis
1.2.1 Multi-modal text in secondary Philology curriculum and textbooks
1.2.1.1 Survey on curriculums and textbooks in some foreign countries
In countries with developed economies and education system such as Singapore, the Netherlands, USA and Australia, multi-modal text have been identified as an important reading comprehension subject in schools
1.2.1.2 Survey on Philology curriculum and textbooks in Vietnam
a Survey on Philology curriculum
The current Philology general education program of Vietnam does not state the source or material for the text However, in reality, these texts are presented in writing, printed on paper with additional illustrations in some texts Thereby, we can see that multi-modal text - the type of text with a combination of expression channels has not been paid much attention in the current Philology general education program Recognizing the changes in international education trends, the 2018 general education program has made adjustments Accordingly, multi-modal text has become the subject of reading comprehension in the new Philology program
b Survey on Philology textbooks
Trang 10Philology textbooks in secondary schools in Vietnam do not have multi-modal texts Although a lot of texts have multi-modal elements such as paintings and images, we do not classify them as multi-modal texts because they are not intentionally integrated into the text by the author but supplemented by the compiler
of the textbooks to illustrate the text channel used in the text Readers still understand the content that the text conveys whether or not those images are Therefore, the texts
in the secondary school Philology textbooks are still unimodal texts Therefore, the current Philology teacher books and workbooks for grade 6, 7, 8 and 9 have not yet instructed teachers and students how to teach and learn multi-modal texts
1.2.1.3 Evaluation of survey results
Through analyzing the survey results, we found that the curriculum and textbooks in some developed countries such as Singapore, USA, Korea and Australia have immediately paid attention to multi-modal text from primary school Meanwhile, the current Philology curriculums and books (textbooks, teacher books and workbooks)
in secondary schools in Vietnam have not mentioned multi-modal text The 2018 Philology general education program initially became interested in multi-modal text when for the first time this term appeared in the program
1.2.2 The reality of teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension in secondary school
1.2.2.1 Investigation and referendum results
The survey location of the study is 9 secondary schools in Thai Nguyen, Cao Bang and Hoa Binh provinces In each school, we surveyed teachers of Philology and 4 classes in grade 6, 7, 8 and 9 With 54 questionnaires for teachers and 1094 questionnaires for students, we found that both teachers and students responded positively to the multi-modal text and made suggestions for teaching reading comprehension of this type of text
1.2.2.2 Survey results of lesson plans
Through surveying 150 secondary Philology lesson plans, we found that only 5/150 lessons have a few questions exploiting the supporting element in the text In spite of a limited number of lesson plans which are interested in illustrative elements, it proves that the teachers have carefully researched and studied the reading comprehension text to help students fully exploit the content and form of the text Thereby, it can be seen that because the textbooks do not have multi-modal texts, there
is no lesson plan to guide students how to read this type of text
1.2.2.3 Results of assessing students’ reading comprehension ability
Through the survey of 48 Philology tests in grade 6, 7, 8 and 9, the results showed that all the language used by the teacher is unimodal texts without pictures, diagrams, tables and symbols In addition, when we examined the Philology entrance tests for students from grade 9 to grade 10 (according to the OECD, it is the end of compulsory education) of a number of provinces such as Thai Nguyen, Hoa Binh, Cao Bang, Ria Vung Tau, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in recent years, we found that most
of the provinces used unimodal text as the language of the Philology tests Only a few tests by the Department of Education and Training of Ba Ria Vung Tau province and Ho
Trang 11Chi Minh City used multi-modal texts as the linguistic material for the Reading and Writing section
1.2.2.4 Assessment of the situation
Through analyzing the survey results and investigating the situation, we found that the majority of teachers are aware of the position of text reading comprehension in general and multi-modal text reading in particular for Philology and other subjects Therefore, they proposed to include this text in the new Philology general education program Currently, teachers’ teaching and evaluation are still confined to the current Philology curriculum and textbooks Besides, lesson plans are designed mainly to exploit the content of the text without paying attention
to the expression channels of the text Most of the regular and periodical tests use unimodal texts However, a number of localities have made innovations in assessing learning outcomes in Philology in general and students’ reading comprehension abilities in particular In recent years, the Department of Education and Training of Ho Chi Minh City has made changes in Philology entrance exams for 10th grade These changes have created a positive effect on students and the public Multi-modal text has become the main material in entrance exams and excellent student contests
Summary of chapter 1
As the scientific basis for the whole study, in this chapter, we synthesized and
proposed relevant theoretical issues, namely text and multi-modal text, theory of
receiving multi-modal text reading comprehension, modern teaching theory of receiving multi-modal text reading comprehension, characteristics of secondary school students in multi-modal text reading comprehension The above theoretical
and practical issues are the basis for us to propose methods of teaching multi-modal
text reading comprehension for secondary school students
Chapter 2:
TEACHING MULTI-MODAL TEXT READING COMPREHENSION IN
PHILOLOGY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS 2.1 Requirements for teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension in secondary Philology
2.1.1 General requirements of teaching reading comprehension
2.1.1.1 Requirements on goals
- Each text style has its own characteristics However, in order to form a complete text, it needs to ensure its integrity in terms of content and form At the same time, each text is created to contain the writer’s thoughts, feelings and attitudes Therefore, the first goal of teaching text reading comprehension is to organize students to read and understand the text
- To meet the requirements of modern society for each individual and community, to train and prepare a qualified workforce, the second goal of teaching
Trang 12text reading comprehension in schools is to form and develop reading skills for students
- Organize students to read and work with multi-modal texts;
- Organize students to learn the value of texts in the relationship between the content and form of text;
- Organize students to connect, relate and compare with cultural and social contexts, their own experiences to better understand the text and themselves
* Requirements for means
In addition to traditional media such as pictures, diagrams and tables, Philology in general and text reading comprehension in particular can use modern teaching facilities such as some animated movies and films adapted from literary works, CDs and video clips recording a number of plays from literary scripts so that students can compare the original text with the adapted text Music CDs that are taken from the poems are selected as teaching materials or some extended reading texts, seminars, literary critics and softwares to design electronic lectures to present knowledge scientifically and attractively
2.1.1.4 Requirements for assessment of reading comprehension results
- Evaluate the results of understanding a specific text;
- Evaluate how to read and understand the text
2.1.2 Ensuring the requirements of multi-modal text teaching reading comprehension
2.1.2.1 Characteristics of the information text
- Characteristics of information text seen from the style
- Characteristics of information text seen from the organization model
- Characteristics of information text seen from the forms of information texts
- Characteristics of information texts seen from the purposes of information texts
2.1.2.2 Exploitation of the role and effect of other factors
When teaching students to read multi-modal texts, teachers need to guide them how to detect and analyze the meaning of the symbol systems in the text through specific signs of the text
2.1.2.3 The relationship between the expression channels (word and figure)
Len Unsworth (2006) synthesized the conceptions of many researchers and concluded that image and word channel have three relationships, namely ‘identity of ideas, complement or connection’ Accordingly, learners need to base themselves on
Trang 13the content of each expression channel to determine the relationship between the image channel and the word channel in the multi-modal text
2.2 Measures to organize teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension in secondary Philology
2.2.1 Organize students to learn how to present information using various channels in multi-modal texts
2.2.1.1 Purpose of the measure
Multi-modal texts in the field of information have the main purpose of providing information to readers Therefore, in the process of teaching multi-modal text reading comprehension in the field of informational texts, the teacher needs to organize for students to learn how to present information by many diverse channels Thereby, students can see the visual and vividness in the information transmission of multi-modal texts
2.2.1.2 Implementation method of the measure
To guide students in learning how to present information using various channels in multi-modal texts, teachers need to organize specific activities The activities are clearly shown in the system of tasks (questions and exercises) that teachers transfer to learners With this method, teachers should organize the following activities:
- Organize students to recognize information from multi-modal texts:
+ Organize students to recognize information from the text channel;
+ Organize students to recognize information from the still image channel; + Organize students to recognize general information of multi-modal texts;
- Organize students to learn the effects of expression channels in transmitting information
2.2.2 Organize students to learn the effects of multi-modal texts on readers’ perception and feelings
2.2.2.1 Purpose of the measure
In addition to the purpose of conveying information visually and vividly to readers, multi-modal text also has a strong impact on students’ perception and feelings That strong impact is caused by the presence of a still image channel in which images (drawings and photos) are an important factor that positively influences their information acquisition
2.2.2.2 Implementation method of the measure
To implement this measure, teachers need to use a system of questions and exercises that require students to state their own perceptions and feelings when they read multi-modal texts Therefore, teachers need to organize activities for students
to clearly express their awareness, emotions and imagination when they read modal texts Teachers aslo point out the effects of expression channels in the process of affecting students’ perception and feelings
multi-2.2.3 Organize students to explore the layout of channels in multi-modal texts