Sử dụng tài liệu thực nhằm nâng cao kỹ năng đọc hiểu cho sinh viên chuyên ngữ trường cao đẳng công nghệ thành đô

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES TRẦN THỊ MAI HẠNH USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS TO IMPROVE ENGLISH

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ MAI HẠNH

USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS TO IMPROVE

ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ READING SKILL AT

THANH DO COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

(Sử dụng tài tiệu thực nhằm nâng cao kỹ năng đọc hiểu cho sinh viên

chuyên ngữ trường Cao Đẳng Công Nghệ Thành Đô)

MA MINOR THESIS

Hanoi - 2010

Field: Methodology Code: 601410 Course: 16

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

TRẦN THỊ MAI HẠNH

USING AUTHENTIC MATERIALS TO IMPROVE

ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ READING SKILL AT

THANH DO COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

(Sử dụng tài tiệu thực nhằm nâng cao kỹ năng đọc hiểu cho sinh viên

chuyên ngữ trường Cao Đẳng Công Nghệ Thành Đô)

MA MINOR THESIS

Field: Methodology Code: 601410 Course: 16 Supervisor: Phạm Minh Tâm, M.Ed

Hanoi - 2010

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

Table of contents iv

List of abbreviations viii

List of tables ix

Chapter 1: Introduction 1

1.1 Rationale for the study and research problem statement 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Research hypothesis and questions 2

1.4 Methods of the study 3

1.5 Scope of the study 3

1.6 Significance of the study 3

1.7 Design of the study 4

Chapter 2: Literature Review 5

2.1 Background of reading 5

2.2 Intensive reading and extensive reading 6

2.2.1 Intensive reading 6

2.2.2 Extensive reading 6

2.3 Authentic materials in EFL 8

2.3.1 Definitions of authentic materials 8

2.3.2 Types of authentic materials 9

2.3.3 Considerations for selecting authentic materials 9

2.3.4 Advantages of authentic materials 11

2.3.5 Disadvantages of authentic materials 12

2.4 The use of authentic materials in teaching reading 13

2.4.1 The stages of a reading lesson 14

2.4.2 Applying authentic materials in teaching reading 15

2.4.3 Authentic tasks 17

2.4.4 Task authenticity and input authenticity 18

2.5 Conclusive remarks 19

Chapter 3: Methodology 20

3.1 Research context 20

3.2 Research questions 20

3.3 Research approach 20

3.3.1 An overview of an action research 20

3.3.2 Rationales for the use of action research 21

3.3.3 Applying authentic materials in extensive reading program 22

3.4 Participants 23

3.4.1 The researcher- The teacher 23

3.4.2 The students 23

3.5 Research instruments 24

3.5.1 Pretest and Posttest 24

3.5.2 Questionnaires 24

3.6 Procedure of data collection 25

3.6.1 Planning 25

3.6.2 Pre- Questionnaire 26

3.6.3 Pretest 26

3.6.4 Posttest 26

3.6.5 Post-Questionnaire 26

3.7 Procedure of data analysis 26

3.7.1 Data from pretest and posttest 27

3.7.2 Data from the questionnaires 27

3.8 Conclusive remarks 27

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion 28

4.1 Initial data 28

4.2 Research question 1 29

4.3 Research question 2 30

4.3.1 Participants‟ attitudes towards the program 30

4.3.2 Participants‟ suggestions for the future program 32

4.4 Conclusive remarks 33

Chapter 5: Conclusion and Implications 34

5.1 Conclusion 34

5.2 Implications 34

5.3 Limitations of the study 35

5.4 Suggestions for the future research 36

References 37 Appendices I

Appendix 1 Pretest and posttest I

Appendix 2 Pre-questionnaire IX Appendix 3 Post-questionnaire X Appendix 4 Lesson plan XII Appendix 5 Authentic material XIV Appendix 6 Non-authentic material XVI Appendix 7 Result of pretest and posttest XXII

: English as second language

: English as foreign language

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Sumary of characteristics of intensive and extensive reading

reading……….22

Table 3: The level of students‟ interest in reading lessons and the needs and

1.1 Rationale for the study and research problem statement

Reading is one of the language skills that should be acquired by any students who learn English It can provide the students with a richness of interesting information in a pleasant way Before we produce or make information, reading is needed to get and analyze information Reading is the most crucial in getting certain information or knowledge available in magazines, newspapers, story books, brochures, and other reading materials The purpose of teaching reading is to enable students to read English in the written form and comprehend the written materials Reading will be successful if students may comprehend the written materials or the text well An effective reading activity involves active students to take apart actively in reading class whether in pre, while, and then in post-reading activities However, in many English classes, students seem to be not motivated and active in reading activities In this case, it is a challenge for teachers to consider techniques, materials, and atmosphere in teaching reading in which the students feel comfortable, curious, and motivated to learn the language enthusiastically

I was in charge of teaching English reading skill at class 5A, which has 30 major English second year students at Thanh Do College of Technology I saw that the students seemed

to feel bored and uninterested to learn English especially when they faced a reading text from their textbook The teaching and learning activities did not run effectively; because most of the students usually tended to keep silent when the teacher asked them to read the text individually in the silent reading, without knowing why they read and without caring what they were reading Some students also tended to disturb and cheat other friends then made the class noisy when they did exercises

Realizing the problem faced by the students, I thought that it was very important to make reading lessons more interesting and efective by employing creative and interesting materials A reading course can be made more interesting if a variety of texts is used The creative materials which still focus on the topics of subject that can be used here is authentic materials Berardo (2006) says that:

The use of authentic materials in the classroom is discussed, with the student benefiting from the exposure to real language being used in a real context Other aspects which prove positive

when using authentic materials are that they are highly motivating, giving a sense of achievement when understood and encourage further reading (p.1)

Authentic materials might be used more effectively to develop student‟s interest and motivation in learning reading comprehension They introduce life into the classroom so that they enable the students to comprehend the text easily because they are closed to their environment or their real world

From the fact mentioned above, it is of great urgency, scientific and realistic usage to lead

an in-depth investigation on the application of authentic materials in reading in Viet Nam

in order to affirm the effectiveness of a way to improve students‟ reading skill, and to create a relaxing and enthusiastic learning environment for students in reading lessons This has inspired me to conduct this study to find solution to the situation

1.2 Aims of the study

This research is designed to investigate the effectiveness of the use of authentic materials

on second year students‟ readings skill at the Department of English, Thanh Do College of Technology The aims of the study are to:

1 Evaluate the effectveness of the use of authentic on students‟ achievement in

reading comprehension in English

2 Investigate the students‟ attitudes towards using authentic materials in reading lessons

3 Propose some recommendations and suggestions for using authentic materials to improve reading skill by Vietnamese students

1.3 Research hypothesis and questions

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the study was designed to test the follow hypothesis:

H1: Students who take part in the course with the text book and supplementary authentic materials will make more improvement in reading proficiency measured by a proficiency test than those who do the course with the text book only

The acceptance of this hypothesis would result in the injection to the following null hypothesis:

Ho: There is no difference in reading proficiency as measured by a proficiency test between students who take part in the course with the text book and supplementary authentic materials and those who do the course with the text book only

In order to reach the conclusion on which hypothesis would be accepted, the answers to the research questions that are presented below would be found:

- To what extent is the use of authentic materials effective on the second year students‟ reading comprehension?

- What are the students‟ attitudes towards using authentic materials for reading?

1.4 Methods of the study

The method used in this study is an action research design which utilizes both qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques with an aim to answer the research questions The author is also the practitioner who developed the reading program for the study by using the authentic materials The data for analysis were collected from the Pre- questionnaire, Post-questionnaire, Pretest and Posttest

1.5 Scope of the study

Authentic materials are such a broad topic that cannot be wholly discussed within the framework of this paper Therefore, in this study, I will only focus on the impact of authentic materials on the second year students‟ reading comprehension

The sources of authentic materials that can be used in the classroom are infinite, but the most common are documents, newspapers, magazines, TV programs, stories, movies, songs and literature, web pages… For the research, the writer used authentic materials such as magazines, newspapers, and websites as the other sources for teaching reading comprehension besides the textbook as the guideline of the topic that will learn The materials would also be supported by the teaching techniques of reading and technology media in order to reach the purpose of reading

1.6 Significance of the study

The findings of the study will provide us a plenty of useful information First, the study will give us convincing information about the great value of using authentic materials in

improving students‟ reading comprehension Second, the practical aim of the study is to suggest some appropriate techniques to make the best use of the authentic materials, so it is possible to have further improvement in making English reading lessons more motivating Last, by doing this action research, the researcher can evaluate the actual use of authentic materials in her classes

1.7 Design of the study

This study consists of five chapters:

Chapter I introduces the rationale of the study, the aims, research questions, scope as well

as the significance and design of the study

Chapter II reviews the literature on the reading teaching in general and using authentic

materials in reading in particular

Chapter III provides the reader with the detailed description of the subjects and the data

collection instruments, and the procedure of the study The data collection instruments include the pretest and the posttest and the questionnaires The procedure of the study will

be also mentioned

Chapter IV presents the results and discussion of using authentic materials in reading, and

of the student‟s attitude towards authentic materials

Chapter V offers a discussion of the major findings from which some pedagogical

implications were derived from This chapter also points out some limitations of the study and provides future directions for further research which are not touched upon in the limit

of this thesis

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Background of reading

Reading has been investigated from numerous perspectives- by linguistics, psychologists, educators and second language researchers Different authors defined the term in different ways This is partly due to the complexity of reading act

Frank Smith (1985) defines “reading is understanding the author‟s thoughts” (p.102) Therefore, reading can be viewed as authentic materials cylindrical process of recognizing, understanding, comparing, and evaluating the information they encountered

From another view of reading, Alderson (2000) defines reading as “…an enjoyable, intense, private activity, from which much pleasure can be derived, and in which one can become totally absorbed” (p.28) Reading means different things to different people, for some it is recognizing written words, while for others it is an opportunity to teach pronunciation and practice speaking However reading always has a purpose It is something that we do everyday, it is an integral part of our daily lives, taken very much for granted and generally assumed to be something that everyone can do

William (1984, p.4) and Nuttall (1996, p.3), share the same view on the ground that reading accounts for understanding what has been written, according to them, reading is the act of reconstruction

Furthermore, Smith and Robinson (1980) state “reading is an activity attempt, on the part

of reader, to understand the writer‟s message The reader interacts with and tries to construct what a writer wishes to communicate.” (p.6)

Theories of reading have shifted from the traditional view which focus on the printed form

of the text to the cognitive view that emphasized the role of background knowledge in additionto what appeard on the prited page, and now to the metacognitive view which is based on the control and maipulation that a reader can have on the act of comprehending a text

Based on this theriotical framework, a variety of reading approaches and strategies have been developed in order to assist learners to anhance their reading competence However, ideas towards reading approaches are opposing, and it could not be concluded which of these appoaches works best The success of this approach or that is context-dependent This study, in an attempt to benefit the second year students at Thanh Do College of Technology, involves both intensive reading and extensive reading approaches, which are believed to be best suited to our students‟ needs and interests

2.2 Intensive reading and extensive reading

In this study, both intensive reading and extensive reading approaches are integrated in the course with the help of authentic materials to improve reading Therefore, it is necessary to

cover the theoretical background of the two

2.2.1 Intensive reading

Intensive reading is related progress in language learning which Nuttall (1996) defines:

“Intensive reading involves approaching the text under the guidance of a teacher or task which forces the students to focus on the text” Thus, intensive reading is usually a classroom-oriented activity in which students focus on the linguistic or semantics details of

a message to extract specific information Intensive reading calls students‟ attention to grammatical forms, discourse markers and other surface structure, rhetorical relationships and the like, so intensive reading aims at understanding not only of what texts means, but

of how the meaning is produced The “how” and the “what” are equally received, consequently, intensive reading trains primarily strategies to encounter with other text Intensive reading is usually confined to the classroom, and materials are usually short in length The main intention is to train students in the strategies needed for successful reading, for instance, predicting, guessing, concluding, etc Texts are studied closely so that the features of written English are familiarized gradually by students So intensive reading is a process of learning instead of acquisition

2.2.2 Extensive reading

Extensive reading refers to either „silent reading‟ in the classroom or reading accomplished unsupervised out of the classroom, and its aim is for pleasure and/or for practice Nuttall (1996) describes it as “the private world of reading for our own interest” and states further that reading extensively is the easiest and the most effective way to improve reading and it

is easier to teach in a climate where people enjoy the activities as well as value them for pragmatic reasons

William (1984) regards extensive reading as the “relatively rapid reading of long texts”(p.10) and emphasizes that it should normally be at the level of the student‟s reading

or below it This contrasts with careful intensive reading where the aim is often to stretch the student slightly

Nuttall (1996) regards an extensive reading program (ERP) as the single most effective way of improving reading skill in general Davis (1995) defines an ERP as: „ a supplementary class library scheme, attached to an English course, in which students are given the time, encouragement and materials to read pleasurably, at their own level, as many books as they can, without the pressure of testing or marks Thus, students are only competing against themselves, and it is up to the teacher to provide the motivation and monitoring to ensure that the maximum number of books is being read in the time available

The summary of intensive and extensive reading approaches is presented in the following table which is adapted from Welsh (1997)

Table 1: Summary of characteristics of intensive and extensive reading approaches

Intensive Reading Extensive

Language study and accuracy Purpose General understanding and

enjoyment and fluency

All learners study the same

material

What material All learners read different things

which interest them

Check by specific questions

and exercises

Comprehension Checked by reports/summaries

2.3 Authentic materials in EFL

2.3.1 Definitions of authentic materials

There are slightly different definitions of authentic materials in literature

According to Morrow, authentic materials convey a real language; a real speaker or writer produce authentic text to convey a real message (Morrow, 1997)

Authentic materials are defined by Nunan (1999) as spoken or written language data that has been produced in the course of genuine communication, and not specifically written for

purposes of language teaching

Bearman and Trant (1998) define authentic as “unaltered from the original” (p.2) Kilickaya (2004) give a common definition of authentic materials as “exposure to real language and use in its own community” (p.1) Dulay, Burt, and Krashen (1982) define authentic materials as “the natural communication task” (p.247)

In addition, Rogers (1988) defines it as “appropriate” and “quality” (p.467) in terms of goals, objectives, learner needs and interest and 'natural' in terms of real life and meaningful communication

Harmer (1991) defines authentic texts as materials which are designed for native speakers; they are real text; designed not for language students, but for the speakers of the language Authentic materials is significant since it increases students' motivation for learning, makes the learner be exposed to the 'real' language as discussed by Guariento & Morley (2001, p.347)

Anderson (1999) claims that authentic texts are the texts which have been written for native speaker of the language and not for second language readers Little, Devitt and Singleton (1989) define “authentic texts” as “a text that was created to fulfill some social purpose in the language community in which it was produced” (p.23) Using authentic materials can provide students with opportunities to expose to authentic language of the real world in the classroom

2.3.2 Types of authentic materials

Lots of authentic materials can be made use of in foreign language teaching These materials can be classified depending on their characteristics Authentic materials into four categories

• Authentic Listening-Viewing Materials

Songs, documentaries, radio and TV ads, or broadcasts, quiz shows, cartoons, movies, soap operas, sit-coms, professionally audio-taped short stories and novels, web pages

• Authentic Visual Materials

Photographs, paintings, postcards, pictures, stamps, stick-figure drawings, wordless street signs, wordless picture books, posters

• Authentic Printed Materials

Newspaper articles, song lyrics, restaurant menus, tourist information brochures, leaflets, receipts

• Realia (Real Objects) Used in EFL-ESL Classrooms

Masks, dolls, puppets, etc

In teaching reading, the authentic materials which are widely employed are documentaries, magazines, stories and novels, web pages, newspaper articles, song lyrics, restaurant menus, tourist information brochures, leaflets, receipts…

2.3.3 Considerations for selecting authentic materials

According to Shepherd (2006), we should consider three levels of students when selecting

the materials:

At lower levels:

Some possibilities include leaflets, timetables, menus, short headline type reports, audio and video advertising, or short news broadcasts The task should be simple and relatively undemanding, and it is important to pre-teach key vocabulary so as to prevent panic

At more intermediate levels:

This list could be expanded to include longer articles, four or five minute TV or radio news reports, a higher quantity of shorter items, or even whole TV programs, if your copyright agreements allow it Again pre-teaching is important, although your students should be able to deal with unknown vocabulary to some extent

At higher levels:

It's a case of anything goes At an advanced level students should have some tactics for dealing with new vocabulary without panicking, but it's still useful to have a few quick definitions to hand for some of the trickier stuff!

In addition, Nuttall (1996) gives three main criteria when choosing texts to be used in the classroom suitability of content, exploitability and readability

Suitability of content

Suitability of content can be considered to be the most important of the three, in that the reading material should interest the students as well as be relevant to their needs The texts should motivate as well as

Here, the teacher may have to find out the texts that interest most of the students, so that it will not actually bore them Then, beside of that, when the teacher chooses the material is not only interesting and informative for the students, but also worth spending time on When the teacher chooses the text it should be better if she or he discover that the text will tell the students things they don‟t already know; introduce them to new and relevant ideas, make them think about things they haven‟t thought before; help them to understand the way other people feel or think; and make them want to read for themselves

Exploitability

Exploitability refers to how the text can be used to develop the students‟ competence as readers The term exploitation here means as facilitation of learning A text that can not be exploited for teaching purposes has no use in the classroom Just because it is in English does not mean that it can be useful

Considering that reading for different purposes, the teacher should choose texts that can be used for different purposes A text might be chosen because it offers new language structures, information needed for learning lessons, and new vocabulary

Readability

Readability is used to describe the combination of structural and lexical difficulty of a text,

as well as referring to the amount of new vocabulary and any new grammatical forms present It is important to assess the right level for the right students

If the teacher does not know the students well, the teacher will need to find out about them

as soon as possible The teacher must find out how much language they know when the teacher selects suitable texts

The use of authentic materials in teaching learning process will make the students understand the lesson clearly and easily Here, the writer focuses on teaching reading comprehension of the narrative text by using Indonesian folktales In conducting the research, the write would like to use authentic printed materials, which are story books about folktale in her teaching

2.3.4 Advantages of authentic materials

Using authentic material in the classroom, even when not done in an authentic situation, and provided it is appropriately exploited, is significant for many reasons, amongst which are:

- Authentic materials provided exposure to real language and related more closely to students‟ needs Students were exposed to real world intercultural discourse (Kilickaya, 2004; Martinez, 2002; Morrison, 1989 & Peacock, 1997)

- Incidental or improper English often was not included in textbooks and the same piece of material could be used in a different way if the task was different (Dumitrescu, 2000; Martinez, 2002)

- In the English language, changes could be reflected in the materials so that students and instructors both understood the changes (Martinez, 2002)

- Authentic materials contained topics of interest to students and encouraged reading for pleasure, and they were practical and real because they provided valid linguistic data (Dumitrescu, 2000; Martinez, 2002 & Peacock, 1997)

- Authentic materials included resources and activities that instructors used in class Authentic materials contextualized language learning and were a valuable source of language input (Kilickaya, 2004; Kramsch, 1989; Spelleri, 2002; Swan, 1985; Vigil, 1987; Wong, Kwok, & Choi, 1995)

- Authentic materials were applicable and adaptable for classroom use (Chase, 2002)

- Authentic materials increased students‟ comprehension skills and oral and written language performance They significantly enlivened the ESL class, exposed students to cultural features, and generated a deeper understanding and interest in the topic (Kelly, Kelly, Offner, & Vorland, 2002)

- Authentic materials had a positive effect on increasing students‟ motivation and made

learning more enjoyable (Karpova, 1999; Katchen, 1993)

Numerous authors have used the idea of “exposure” to support the use of authentic materials in lessons because those materials benefited students by exposing them to the language (Martinez, 2002; Morrison, 1989) Dumitrescu (2000) noted that authentic materials could be applied to multiple tasks In other words, they were flexible, easily adapted to learning objectives, and were not bound by textbook format limitations Using authentic materials as teaching tools in ESL classes was effective and efficient because adult students directly addressed their critical needs Authentic materials offered real language, rich in context and culturally significant

2.3.5 Disadvantages of authentic materials

- Authentic materials might be too culturally based for students to understand and they could force readers to focus on the code The vocabulary might not fit the student‟s immediate needs and students might lack skills required to manage the vast amount of information ((Martinez, 2002; Peacock, 1997)

- Authentic materials often contained difficult language, unneeded vocabulary grammar, and too many structures, so the lower level students might have a hard time decoding the texts Students might be less motivated (Martinez, 2002; Peacock, 1997; Byrd, 1997)

- The preparation of the materials could be time consuming if special preparation was needed; the investment of time might not be feasible or realistic (Martinez, 2002; Peacock, 1997)

- The wide range of contents and topics were not accompanied by textual aids, so they might be too challenging and discourage some students The materials could be used in the older age group, but for the younger age group they might be irrelevant, inaccurate, or inappropriate because of the unfamiliar words, phrases, and idioms (Dumitrescu, 2000)

- No matter how authentic the conditions or realistic the cases that instructors used in a learning environment, they still could not be the same as a work environment (Herrington, Oliver & Reeves, 2003)

When authentic materials were compared to textbook-based materials, authentic materials required longer time frames and the designs were more complex Many instructors did not use authentic materials because the investment of time was not realistic or feasible in their

teaching situations (Dumitrescu, 2000) Many lower-level students felt anxious and frustrated when they faced unfamiliar materials

2.4 The use of authentic materials in teaching reading

Teaching reading is very important in order to make students master in English Students need to be introduced with as many reading materials as possible, because in the future it will help them to get many information and knowledge by the language Therefore, the appropriate materials for teaching is also needed to increase student‟s interest or motivate and improve their attitude toward English learning

In learning reading comprehension, the students are expected to comprehend a text Interesting materials is one of the creative ways of teaching that can increase the student‟s interest Authentic materials are useful for this case It also helps the students understand the lesson easily

Using a variety of effective text will increase the student‟s interest to learn English, as stated by Berardo (2006) that “The wide variety of different types of text means that it will interest the learner and may even encourage further reading or reading for pleasure” (p.64)

2.4.1 The stages of a reading lesson

The teaching reading can be divided into three stages, namely the pre-reading stage, the while-reading stage and the post-reading stage In each stage a certain amount of activities can be applied Teaching reading in such a way can provide students with the skills and strategies needed to become an efficient, effective, and independent reader

Pre-reading

The teacher spends some time introducing a topic, encouraging skimming, scanning, predicting, and activating schemata so that students can bring the best of their knowledge and skills to a text when they have been given a chance to “ease into” the passage．

Three strategies can be used in this stage:

- Establishing a purpose for reading

- Activating and building background knowledge

- Previewing the text to build expectations

While-reading

During the while-reading stage, the teacher‟s job is to help students to understand the specific content and to perceive the rhetorical structure of the text This stage requires the teachers‟ guidance to ensure that students assume an active, questioning approach to the material Such guidance can be supplied by a number of while-reading tasks The simplest technique for this purpose is to the major ideas of the text For maximum benefit, the questions should address three levels of understanding: the explicit, the implicit, and the applied The first solicits literally stated information that can be inferred, and the third necessitates relating new ideas to previous knowledge or experiences．

Post-reading

Comprehension questions are just one form of activity appropriate for post reading The teacher should also consider vocabulary study and ask students to identify the author‟s purpose, discuss the authors line of reasoning ，examine grammatical structures and steer the students toward a follow up writing exercise．

The last stage of the reading lesson is intended to review the content; work on bottom-up concerns such as grammar, vocabulary ，and discourse features; and consolidate w hat has been read by relating the new information to the learners knowledge ，interests and opinions．

Many of the devices introduced during the while reading stage can be used for the purpose

of review At this point it would be appropriate to put the students in pairs or small groups

to com pare and verify their responses to the questions or graphics and then check the results with the entire class Once the main ideas of the text have been reviewed ，work on discrete elements of the passage can be undertaken Exercises could focus on grammar points, vocabulary in context or word roots, or discourse markers

2.4.2 Applying authentic materials in teaching reading

One of the main ideas of using authentic materials in the classroom is to “expose” the learner to as much real language as possible Even if the classroom is not a “real-life”

situation, authentic materials do have a very important place within it It has been argued that by taking a text out of its original context, it loses its authenticity:

“As soon as texts, whatever their original purpose, are brought into classrooms for pedagogic purposes they have, arguably, lost authenticity.” (Wallace, 1992, p.79)

Even if true, the learner is still exposed to real discourse and not the artificial language of course textbooks, which tend not to contain any incidental or improper examples They also tend to reflect the current teaching trend Authentic materials also give the reader the opportunity to gain real information and know what is going on in the world around them Extracting real information from a real text in a new/different language can be extremely motivating, therefore increasing students' motivation for learning by exposing them to

'real' language (Guariento & Morley, 2001) They also reflect the changes in language use,

(again something that does not occur in textbooks, which become very dated, very quickly)

as well as giving the learner the proof that the language is real and not only studied in the classroom:

“Authentic texts can be motivating because they are proof that the language is used for real-life purposes by real people.” (Nuttall, 1996, p.172)

The wide variety of different types of text means that it is easier to find something that will interest the learners and may even encourage further reading or reading for pleasure An advantage of taking a complete newspaper or magazine into classroom, rather than photocopies of an article, is that students can actually choose what they want to read The more the learner reads, the better a reader he will become, not only improve his language level but also confidence If the text interests the learner it can also be related to his own experiences One of the aims of authentic materials is to help the students react in the same way L1 speakers react in their first language (L1) Learners who live in the target language environment, once outside of the classroom will encounter a variety of situations in which different reading purposes/skills are required We can claim that learners are being exposed

to real language and they feel that they are learning the 'real' language

So, how can teachers incorporate authentic materials into teaching and learning? The followings are some strategies:

Always start with needs assessment

The first step in using authentic materials is identifying students‟ needs and goals Teachers can do this in a variety of ways: scheduling one-on one intake interviews with students, conducting weekly learner focus groups and discussions, administering written needs assessment surveys, etc Regardless of the method of assessment, the key objective

is to pinpoint each student‟s goals

Invite students to participate in the process of identifying authentic materials

Students may be puzzled when teachers ask them to bring order forms, coupons, recipes,

and other non-school materials to class They may consider these materials inappropriate

for school, based on their earlier academic experiences or their cultural perspectives Teachers can engage them in conversations about the rationale for using authentic materials and ask them to collect and bring authentic materials to class to support their learning goals

Use authentic materials in authentic ways

It is important to use materials in authentic ways, not in traditional school-based ways The

purpose or function of authentic materials often will determine how teachers use them For example, it is far more beneficial to use a current newspaper to search for relevant information, such as what the weather will be tomorrow or the best place to buy new tires, than it is to use an outdated newspaper to locate proper nouns The first example shows authentic use of materials; the second is a school-based approach Keeping authenticity at the forefront, teachers can help students:

• Create and update personal calendars and address books,

• Write postcards they will mail after class,

• Make shopping lists they will use that evening, and

• Respond to e-mail from their children‟s teachers

Assess in authentic ways

Students generally like having their learning assessed in authentic ways If a student‟s learning goal is to match packing slips with invoices at work, a logical and authentic method of assessing progress is to simulate the task in the classroom The teacher can keep

a chart comparing performance on the same task week to week until the student masters

the skill Multiple-choice or fill-in-the blank tests are inauthentic ways to assess a skill

such as invoice matching Reproducing the task is a more meaningful way to assess learning because it measures how the student will perform the task in the real world It measures exactly what the student came to class to learn

2.4.3 Authentic tasks

Nunan (1999) defines authentic tasks as that take real-world behavior and learner need in

to consideration: “tasks which replicate or rehearse the communicative behaviors which will be required of them in real-world” (p.4) However, learners may have different expectations of classroom activities and their real-world parallels So, what makes a task authentic? Guariento and Morley (2001, p.350) note the important of student

“engagement” in a task as essential in determining task authenticity

Authentic tasks can be contrasted with pedagogic tasks (e.g controlled grammar practice activities such as gap-filling or transformation exercises), which focus on the development

of accuracy rather than language using

William Guariento and John Morley argue that the issue of task authenticity is in fact far more complex than Elliss‟ rather vague reference to “real operating conditions” and so it might be possible to identify principles to make tasks more authentic:

- Authenticity through a genuine purpose: One of the crucial aspects of task authenticity is whether real communication takes place and whether the language has been used for a genuine purpose

- Authenticity through real-world targets: A task might be said to be authentic if it has a clear relationship with real world needs

- Authenticity through classroom interaction: All if the everyday procedures the learning task types of data and the materials to be selected and worked on the actual needs interests and preferred ways of working of all the people gathered in the classroom all provide sufficient authentic potential for communication

- Authentic through engagement: Authenticity of task might be said to depend on whether or not a student is engaged by the task Unless students are genuinely interested in its topic and purpose and they understand its relevance then they are some how engaged by the task, authenticity may count for the most It suggests that

students should be given a role in task selection; learning tasks should be the product of negotiation

2.4.4 Task authenticity and input authenticity

Brown and Menasche (2005) distinguish between input authenticity and task authenticity They argue for degrees of authenticity by stating:

While allowing that learners must be encouraged to process authentic language in real situations, we think the necessity of authentic materials at all levels of learning and for all activities has been overstated Our view is that materials that are “not authentic” in different ways are more than just useful; they are essential in language learning Non- authentic materials are as valuable as authentic materials Indeed, there are some situations in which authentic materials are useless – especially when the learners‟ receptive proficiency is low (p.3)

Input and tasks each can have degrees or level of authenticity Brown and Menasche propose five levels for input from “genuine input authenticity”, “altered input authenticity”, “adapted input authenticity”, “simulated input authenticity” and

“inauthenticity” while nothing that no type is better then the other in their view They define three types of task authenticity: “genuine”, “simulated” and “pedagogical” and note that “there is probably no such thing as real task authenticity; that classroom are by their nature artificial The only genuine task authenticity for language learning may well be total immersion in the target language environment without an instructor

2.5 Conclusive remarks

This chapter reviews important issues in the theories of teaching reading, and authentic materials Theoretically, in this chapter, discussions on authentic materials in language learning as well as some considerations in teaching reading are presented In terms of authentic materials in language learning, the focus is on, authentic materials as supporting devices in language learning, as a motivating device in language learning In terms of teaching reading, the focus is how to use authentic materials to improve students‟ reading skill

In short, through the theoretical and practical consideration, in this context the teacher used her teaching method to elicit ideas in reading lessons had great effects on improving students‟ reading skill In the next chapter, the methodology of the study is presented

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research context

Founded in 2005, Thanh Do College of Technology is one of the first private Colleges in Viet Nam English Department is one of the major departments of the College At the College, English is compulsory subject in the curricula During a three-year course, English major students have 1080 formal classes of General English and a variety of syllabuses for ESP The text-book North Star is taught to the second year major students in their third semester, which enables them to improve their reading skill

The physical condition in the College can provide a supportive environment for language teaching and learning with favorable factors such as available rooms equipped with overhead projector, screen, video, CD and cassette player…

3.2 Research questions

This study seeks to answer the following research questions:

- To what extent is the use of authentic materials effective on the second year students‟ reading comprehension?

- What are the students‟ attitudes towards using authentic materials for reading?

3.3 Research approach

3.3.1 An overview of Action Research

Action research (AR) involves a self-reflective, systematic and critical approach to enquiry

by participants who are simultaneously members of the context in which the research takes place The aim of AR is to identify “problematic” (in sense of areas that can be problematised) situations or issues that participants consider worth investigating, and to undertake practical interventions in order to bring about informed changes in practice (Cohen & Manion, 1994)

The AR process has a number of steps or phases which progress as a spiraling and evolving process Kemmis and Mc Taggart‟s (1988) “classic” model of this process includes four steps:

1 Planning - a problem or issue is identified and a plan of action is developed in order

to bring about improvements in specific areas of the research context

2 Action - the plan is put into action over an agree period of time

3 Observation - the effects of the action are observed and data are collected

4 Reflection - the effects of the action are evaluated and become the basis for further cycles of research

To this model, Burns (2000) added a fifth step, dissemination, where the result of the

research is made known through presentations and publications to a wider audience

Burns (1994) also identified some essential features that help to distinguish AR from other forms of educational research:

1 It is small-scale, contextualized and local in character, identifying and investigating teaching-learning issues within specific situations

2 It involves evaluation and reflection aimed at bringing about continuing changes in practice

3 It is participatory, providing opportunities for communities of participants to investigate collaboratively issues of concern within their social situation

4 It is based on data collection and analysis which become the basis for changes in practice

3.3.2 Rationales for the use of action research

The problem I have mentioned was that my students were reluctant in taking part in during the reading lessons In order to solve the problem as well as improve my teaching skill of teaching reading, I really wanted to find out the causes of the problem And an action research could help me to do this for some reasons

First of all, according to Nunan (1993) an AR is first and foremost concerned with the identification of problems in a specific context

Secondly, it is stated by Wallace (1998) that AR is a process which collects data on your everyday practice and analysis it in order to make decision about what your future practice should be

Thirdly, AR can increase the teacher‟s understanding of classroom teaching and learning, and therefore, bring out improvement in classroom practices

These features were reflected in this study First, the researcher wanted to improve the current situation of English reading teaching The study also included the researcher‟s intervention on participants‟s reading comprehension Finally, the answer to the research questions needed answering as participants reflected on their own improvement, interest and motivation during the research

3.3.3 Applying authentic materials in extensive reading program

On the whole, the applying of authentic materials carried out at Thanh Do College of Technology The program exploited for reading source is mainly from magazines, newspapers, and websites The materials were also supported by the teaching techniques of reading and technology media in order to reach the purpose of reading

Table 2: An overview of an extensive reading

Week Title of reading text Activities

1 The world of

advertising

- Write summary of the passage

- Play role as an advertiser, write an advertisement for a product

2 A Miracle Cure - Tell true stories

- Discuss about the future for some serious diseases: AIDS, cancer

3 Speaking of gender - Play role as a woman and an advisor The woman gives

her problem and the advisor gives the advice for each case

- Write a paragraph about the gender problem in Vietnam

4 Breaking the surface - Write summary of the passage

- Write an advertisement for your own clinic or a cure for

a disease

5 Cars: Passion or

Problem?

- Narrate and debate

- Find some problems of cars that face Vietnam people today

6 Always in fashion - Cosmetic Surgery

- The important of Fashion in life today

7 Crime and

punishment

- Write summary of the passage

- Play role as Judge, give punishment for people in the text

8 Finding a spouse

Marriage custom in

the world

- Write summary of the passage

- Compare the marriage custom between countries in the world and between generations in Vietnam

3.4 Participants

3.4.1 The researcher- The teacher

The researcher - I am in charge of teaching English for the class I have been teaching English at Thanh Do College of Technology for four three years and I am currently taking

a master course in Department of Post-graduate Studies, Hanoi Foreign Languages College I have been teaching class 5A for 2 semesters and had a good relationship with the students and I often have talks with them in a friendly way The talks helped me a lot to find out the students‟ interests in learning English as well as their difficulties and problems I believe that whatever teachers do about the teaching method, it may have a great effect on students‟ learning

3.4.2 The students

Thirty major English students, among them twenty four students are female and six students are male in class 5A participated into the study in natural classroom settings in Foreign Language Department at Thanh Do College of Technology Almost students passed the university entrance exams with the score of at least 4.0 And after the first year

at this College, they all reached the intermediate level in English

3.5 Research instruments

The two data collection instruments used in the study are Questionnaires and Pre-test and Post-test

3.5.1 Pre-test and Post-test

The Pretest and posttest (see appendix 1) in this study were taken from test samples for major English students provided by www.canadavisa.com Administered to treatment group, the pretest and the posttest were the same test with different question orders The time allowance for each test was 60 minutes

The results of these tests statistically analyzed to measure the effectiveness of the program

in comparison with the traditional paper-based method The test consisted of 40 items and

is designed to test such specific reading skills as:

Skimming for general information

Scanning for specific information

Understanding the main ideas

3.5.2 Questionnaires

In second language research, questionnaires are used mostly to collect data on phenomenon which is not easily observed, such as attitudes, motivation, and self-concepts They are also used to collect data on the processes involved in using language and to obtain background information about the research subjects, such as age, previous background in language learning, number of languages spoken…

In this study, the questionnaires were to get the information on their ideas about the students‟ attitudes toward using authentic materials in reading lessons, and their suggestions for future programs after this study

The questionnaires were first pilot on ten second-year students form the Department After they had completed the questionnaires, they commented on the questionnaire design content, wording and lay out Their comments were fed into the preparation of the final version of the questionnaires

Questionnaires in this study include Pre-questionnaire that was distributed to all participants at the start of the investigation and Post–questionnaire that was delivered upon finishing the last reading lesson These questionnaires were designed in hope that the researcher would receive practical and situational information that she wanted to look for The Pre-questionnaire (see Appendix 2) for students is consists of 4 closed-ended questions which was designed to elicit information concerning the level of students‟ interest in reading lesson and their needs and expectations in the classroom

Question 1 aims at finding the students‟ interest in reading lessons

Question 2, 3, 4 examine their needs and expectations in using authentic materials in reading lessons

The Post-questionnaire (see Appendix 3) consists of 2 parts

The first part of the questionnaire comprises 10 closed-ended questions

Questions 1, 2, 3, 4 aim at examining the impact of the program on the subjects‟ motivation and their interest in the study

Questions 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 investigate students‟ attitudes towards the influence of authentic materials on their language abilities

The second part of the questionnaire includes items relating to students‟ ideas about the program and suggestions for the future reading program There are 5 closed-ended questions In this part, students were encouraged to give their ideas as well as suggestions

3.6 Procedure of data collection

3.6.1 Planning

The researcher prepared for the data collection instruments, which consisted of writing lesson plans and constructing tests

The researcher worked with the participants about the program, explained their main tasks, arranging schedule for all the participants

In this step, overall learning goals and objectives were set in line with the students‟ needs and expectations which were analyzed from the pre-questionnaire The researcher had to anticipate what problems might happen in the class and found ways to solve problems beforehand Before teaching activity, the teacher had to reflect on the events that had happened and then plan a revisited step After planning steps with sufficient preparation in terms of materials, expected outcomes, methods and problem predictions, the action was conducted where the students took part in the learning activities, played the role of active learners; while the teacher played the role of a guider, a facilitator and an advisor who also observed, gave feedback and provide necessary involvement and adjustment

The pre-test was conducted on the second week of the semester Thirty students took part

in the test They had 60 minutes to complete their test

3.7 Procedure of data analysis

The researcher analyzed the data collected and evaluated the results achieved, then changing to improve for the next cycle, in which good points would be made full use of, and bad points were gradually eliminated Moreover, it was a good idea for the researcher

to further develop to others in the future

Initially, the raw data were classified according to the two research questions Specifically, the data from pretest and posttest were used to answer the first research question The answer for the second research question was found through the analysis of the questionnaires

3.7.1 Data from the Pretest and posttest

The data collected from the pretest and post test results were computed and analyzed using Statistic package for the social science (SPSS), version 13

3.7.2 Data from the questionnaires

The data from the questionnaires were summarizes into tables to facilitate the synthesis and comparison of the data The percentage of participants‟ responses for each question was used to analyze and compare numeric figures

3.8 Conclusive remarks

This chapter has presented at full length the methodological framework of the study including the justification for the use of action research design in this study, the research questions, the pretest and posttest and the questionnaire used as tools of collecting data, the participants of the study, the process of data collection and the process of data analysis applied to seek the answer for the two research questions

The next two chapters will be the findings of the study as well as pedagogical implications and suggestions for the further studies as the result of the discussion of those findings