The effectiveness of edmodo to teach reading comprehension for 11th grade students at vung cao viet bac high school

Besides, the questionnaire given after the post-test showed that a large number of students appreciated the effectiveness of using Edmodo application and had positive attitude toward lea

THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-   -

HOANG THI PHUONG MAI

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EDMODO TO TEACH

READING COMPREHENSION FOR 11TH GRADE STUDENTS

AT VUNG CAO VIET BAC HIGH SCHOOL

M.A THESIS Field: English Linguistics

Code: 8220201

THAI NGUYEN - 2020

ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN

TRƯỜNG NGOẠI NGỮ -   -

HOÀNG THỊ PHƯƠNG MAI

HIỆU QUẢ CỦA VIỆC ÁP DỤNG ỨNG DỤNG EDMODO

ĐỂ DẠY ĐỌC HIỂU CHO HỌC SINH LỚP 11 TRƯỜNG

PHỔ THÔNG VÙNG CAO VIỆT BẮC

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ Ngành: Ngôn ngữ Anh

Mã số: 8220201

THÁI NGUYÊN - 2020

DECLARATION

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “The effectiveness of Edmodo to teach reading comprehension for 11th grade students at Vung Cao Viet Bac high school” is my own research and the substance of this research has not been submitted to any other universities or institutions

Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai Ph.D Hoang Thi Phuong Mai

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This thesis would not be completed without the help of many people, and I would like to show my heartfelt thanks to those for their great support, guidance, advice, and encouragement throughout the competition of this thesis

In the first place, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my beloved supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Thu Hoai for her valuable assistance, considerable encouragement as well as great inspiration while I was doing my research

I would like to express my gratitude to all my lecturers and staffs at School

of Foreign Languages-Thai Nguyen University whose support and consideration have enabled me to pursue the course

I would also like to express my sincere thanks to teachers and all students of Vung Cao Viet Bac High School for their cooperation and participation in the research

Last but not least, I owe a big thank to my parents who have always

encouraged me to complete this study

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out with the aim to investigate the effects of using Edmodo on the reading comprehension competence of grade 11 students The researcher conducted the study in 7 weeks with the participation of 80 students

of grade 11 They have been learning English since grade 3, but most of them had difficulties in learning English, especially reading comprehension The data

of the study was gathered through qualitative and quantitative methods The qualitative data was collected by analyzing result of students‟ questionnaire Quantitative data was obtained from the students‟ scores of pretest and posttest After intervention with Edmodo, the result of the post-test was remarkably higher than that of the pre-test This indicated that most of students improved their reading comprehension competence Besides, the questionnaire given after the post-test showed that a large number of students appreciated the effectiveness of using Edmodo application and had positive attitude toward learning reading comprehension Finally, further some implications, limitations and suggestions for further studies were included in this study

TABLE CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE CONTENTS iv

LISTS OF TABLES, CHARTS vi

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale 1

1.2 Aims of the study 2

1.3 Scope of the study 3

1.4 The Significance of the study 3

1.5 Design of the thesis 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Definitions of reading 5

2.2 Reading comprehension 6

2.3 Definition of Edmodo and Benefits of Edmodo 8

2.3.1 Definition of Edmodo 8

2.3.2 Benefits of Edmodo in learning languages 8

2.3.3 Features and tools on Edmodo 9

2.3.4 Teaching - Learning Process and Edmodo 11

2.3.5 Previous studies 12

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 14

3.1 Research method 14

3.2 Research design 14

3.2.1 Participants 14

3.2.2 Data Collection Procedure 14

3.3 Data collection instruments 19

3.3.1 Pretest and posttest 20

3.3.2 Questionnaire 20

3.4 Data analysis 21

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSION 22

4.1 Findings from pretest and posttest 22

4.1.1 The students‟ reading comprehension competence before using Edmodo 22

4.1.2 Students‟ reading comprehension competence after using Edmodo 23

4.1.3 Results of control group (G1) and experimental group (G2) in the Pre-test 23

4.1.4 Results of control group (G1) and experimental group (G2) in the post-test 24

4.1.5 Result of unchanged scores and lower scores in the tests 24

4.2 Findings from questionnaire 26

4.2.1 Students‟ interest in using Edmodo 26

4.2.2 Students‟ opinion on Edmodo 26

4.2.3 Students‟ opinion on kinds of reading tasks 27

4.2.4 Benefits of using Edmodo 27

4.2.5 Students‟ desire of using Edmodo 28

4.3 Discussion 28

4.3.1 The effectiveness of Edmodo in teaching and learning reading comprehension 29

4.3.2 Students‟ attitude toward using Edmodo 29

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS 31

5.1 Conclusion 31

5.2 Pedagogical implications 32

5.2.1 For English teachers 32

5.2.2 For students 33

5.3 Limitations of the study 34

5.4 Suggestions for further studies 34

REFERENCES 35 APPENDICES I

LISTS OF TABLES, CHARTS

TABLES

Table 3.1: The procedures of the study 15

Table 3.2: Syllabus in seven weeks 17

Table 4.1: Results of the Pre-test 23

Table 4.2: Result of the Post-test 24

Table 4.3: Result of unchanged scores and lower scores in the tests 25

CHARTS Chart 4.1: Result of the Pre-test 22

Chart 4.2: Result of the post-test 23

Chart 4.3: Students‟ opinion on Edmodo in English lessons 26

Chart 4.4: Students‟ opinion on Edmodo 26

Chart 4.5: Students‟ opinion on kinds of reading tasks 27

Chart 4.6: Benefits of using Edmodo 27

Chart 4.7: Students‟ desire of using Edmodo 28

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale

Nowadays, the information technology is developing faster and faster The introduction of web 2.0 has made a breakthrough for applications on the web environment It is increasingly evident that social networking sites play an important role in our life Moreover, social networking sites are also applied for education instead of only entertaining purpose One of the social networking sites is Edmodo Edmodo gives teachers the opportunity to create a sense of community in which they can build relationships with learners and communicate different kinds of information Research studies about Edmodo have already acknowledged its potentiality and have documented many evidences that Edmodo can greatly help develop learners‟ language skills, especially in developing learners‟ reading and writing skills or vocabulary mastery

For foreign language learners, developing language skills or mastering vocabulary are very important, but for students at high school, reading skill, especially reading comprehension is really essential because reading can support other skills in teaching and learning English Reading will offer plenty of information as well as a large number of language expressions and structures which are very useful for developing other skills For example, if the learners want to write

or speak, they will have to read first in order to search the ideas for writing or speaking No one can listen without reading, before listening; they must read the requirement carefully to know what to do Therefore, it can be said that reading plays the most essential role in learning foreign language

Constructing comprehension is difficult, particularly for English foreign language learners It is very important to improve their comprehension by using appropriate teaching strategy and applications especially reading comprehension Applying appropriately information technology in teaching foreign language is necessary This makes learners more motivated as well as helps teachers and students interact more easily and effectively There is a application that is very

popular right now whose name is Edmodo Concerning the case, Haygood et al (2012) define that Edmodo is a private micro-blogging service which provides a free and secure learning platform It looks similar to Facebook, but is much more private and safe for a learning environment because it allows only teachers to create and manage accounts, and only their students, who receive a group code and register in the group, can access and join the group This service is accessible through any mobile device with Internet capabilities including free apps providing a simple way for teachers and students in a virtual class to connect and collaborate Via Edmodo, teachers can send out quizzes and assignments, give feedback, receive completed assignments, assign grades, store and share content in the form of both files and links, maintain a class calendar, conduct polls, as well as send notes and text (SMS) alerts to individual students or to the entire class It also offers parent accounts in which they can view their children‟s homework assignments and due dates and receive updates on class and school events

Being a teacher of English at Vung Cao Viet Bac high school, which is a boarding ethnic school with a lot of ethnic minor students coming from mountainous areas in the country, I have been aware of the importance of reading comprehension skill and I found that the students at my school are really afraid of reading exercises Students had difficulties in finding the main idea of the text, supporting details, understanding the reference, and lacking of vocabulary If they saw a long text they did not want to read the text, they just answered the questions without reading the text first As a result, their score in reading comprehension is very low In our school, the maximum score for the reading comprehension part in the test is about 4 points, but the students‟ score for this one is only 0,5 or 1 points Therefore, I would like to conduct this study to help the teacher and the students to solve the problem as well as improve reading comprehension

1.2 Aims of the study

The study focused on identifying the effectiveness of Edmodo in teaching reading comprehension for 11th grade students at Vung Cao Viet Bac high school

as well as their attitude toward the application Edmodo

Based on the background of the research, the research will answer the following questions:

1 How effective is Edmodo in teaching and learning reading English comprehension at Vung Cao Viet Bac high school?

2 What are the students‟ attitudes toward using the Edmodo application in reading English comprehension ?

1.3 Scope of the study

The study focuses on experimenting the use of Edmodo to teach reading comprehension for 11th grade students (about 80 students) in a boarding ethnic school in Thai Nguyen (Vung Cao Viet Bac high school) in 2 months

1.4 The Significance of the study

The significance of this study was that via the results, the researcher could determine the effectiveness of using Edmodo on student‟s learning reading comprehension Then, the findings of the research could be a useful reference for other teachers who have made efforts enhancing students‟ ability in reading comprehension Finally, it would pave the way for further studies on how to improve reading comprehension skill for students in the future

1.5 Design of the thesis

This study is composed of five following chapters:

Chapter 1:“Introduction” presents the background, aims, research

question, the significance, the scope and the design of the study

Chapter 2 “Literature review” conceptualizes the framework of the study

through the discussion of issues and ideas on theories of teaching and learning reading comprehension and the implementation of Edmodo application

Chapter 3 “Methodology” presents the context, the methodology used in

this study including the context, the subject, the data collection instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis

Chapter 4 “Findings and Discussions” consists of a comprehensive

analysis of the data and a discussion on the findings of this study

Chapter 5 “Conclusion” offers a summary of the findings, implications,

limitations of the study and future directions for further study

In summary, this chapter provides the overview of the study including rationale of the study, aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study, significance of the study and design of the study The following chapter will present the theoretical framework of the study

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of reading

According to Nunan (2003) reading is a fluent process of readers combining information from a text and their own background knowledge to build meaning The goal of reading is comprehension In addition, Nunan stated that reading is an essential skill for learners of English as a second language For most of these learners it is the most important skill to master in order to ensure success not only in learning English, but also in learning in some content class where reading in English is required With strengthened reading skills, learners will make greater progress and development in all other areas of learning

Teixeira (2012) explains that reading as follow reading is a key language skill that has a significant place in the teaching and learning of foreign language Teixeira stated that this skill allows students to have access to ideas that is communicated by people in different locations and eras, gives the opportunity to broaden their horizons and increase their knowledge Moreover, reading in a foreign language is essential not only for promoting the students‟ personal and cognitive development, but also for improving their study and job prospects in a globalization society Due to the importance of reading, one of the priorities of language teaching should provide students with the tools they need to tackle text in variety of context and to define purposes more intensively

Patel (2008) defined reading as an active process which consists of recognition and comprehension skill Furthermore, Wren (2000) stated that reading comprehension is the ability to construct linguistic meaning from written representations of language

Finally, according to National Council of Researchers of English (2014) reading is a complex and purposeful socio cultural, cognitive, and linguistic process

in which readers simultaneously use their knowledge of spoken and written language, their knowledge of the topic of the text, and their knowledge of their culture to construct meaning with text Each of these types of knowledge impacts

the sense that readers construct through print Readers easily comprehend text with familiar language but are less successful at comprehending text with unfamiliar language Readers easily comprehend text on familiar topics but are less successful

at comprehending texts on unfamiliar topics At the same time, the interpretations readers construct with texts as well as the types of texts they read are influenced by their life experiences

Based on definitions above we can conclude that reading is fluent process of readers combining information from a text and their own background knowledge to build meaning, also an active process which consists of recognition and comprehension skill, this skill allows students to have access to ideas that is communicated by people in different locations and eras, give the opportunity to broaden their horizons and increase their knowledge, furthermore, reading is the most important skill to master in order to ensure success not only in learning English, but also in learning in any content class where reading in English is required

2.2 Reading comprehension

According to Rand (2002) reading comprehension is the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language It consists of three elements: the reader, the text, and the activity or purpose for reading Reading comprehension involves the ability in finding out main ideas, specific information, and word meaning

In second or foreign language-teaching situations, reading comprehension has been used for several reasons It is considered as an important language ability because

it enhances the process of language acquisition and helps students to read for a variety

of purposes Besides, written texts serve various pedagogical purposes Therefore, extensive exposure to linguistically comprehensible written texts can enhance the process of language acquisition In addition, suitable reading texts serve as good models for writing, and provide opportunities for introducing new topics, stimulating discussions, and studying the features of language Many foreign language students often have reading as one of their most important goals In fact, in most EFL academic

situations, the ability to read in a foreign language is all that students ever want to acquire Reading, then, is highly valued by students and teachers

Considering this sentence whether it can be read and comprehended: “Apple banana blue walk tree happy sing” Surely students are able to read each of the words in that sentence and understand what they meant independently An apple is a fruit that is usually round and red, green or yellow A banana is another fruit that is yellow Blue is a color and so forth However, when you look at the sentence as a whole, it does not make a sense This nonsense sentence demonstrates the difference between being able to read words and comprehend text According to Mikulacky (2007), he states that reading comprehension is more than just recognizing and understanding words True comprehension means making sense of what you read and connecting the ideas in the text to what you already know It also means remembering what you have read In other words, comprehending means thinking while you read; using what you read to complete reading tasks

The ability to read, no matter what the purpose of reading is, requires that readers extract information from the text and combine it with information and expectations they already have Therefore, reading is a meaning-construction process which involves an interaction between text and reader During reading, readers subconsciously try to interact with the passage in order to understand the text However, since in this interaction readers approach a text with differing background knowledge, interests, motivations, skills, and strategies, they arrive at different interpretations of the same text Developing reading abilities assists students in overcoming their reading problems and in becoming competent readers The extent of their knowledge about various reading strategies can contributes to students' reading ability

Thus, based on the explanation above the researcher can sum up that reading comprehension is the act of understanding what readers are being read It is an intentional, active, interactive process that occurs before, during and after a learner reads a particular piece of English writing Students can learn individually to complete reading tasks By the time of reading process, students become

autonomous in learning as well as in doing other duties Besides, students have more chances to interact with friends and teachers in discussion Without comprehension, reading is nothing more than tracking symbols on a page with eyes and sounding them out People read English or other document for many reasons but understanding is always a part of their purpose Reading comprehension is most important because without it, reading does not provide the reader with any information

2.3 Definition of Edmodo and Benefits of Edmodo

2.3.1 Definition of Edmodo

Edmodo is a social network based school environment (school-based environment) Developed by Nicolas Borg and Jeff O'Hara, Edmodo is intended for use for teachers, students and parents Edmodo is a "social learning platform" website for teachers, students, and parents It is marketed as the Facebook for schools As with any other social network, Edmodo is accessible free on the site www.edmodo.com or Edmodo application on Androi and iOS

Edmodo need internet connection by its user The user can login as teachers, students, or the parents with the simplicity to exchange the status based on the necessity The user can access Edmodo by using common tools in accessing internet from gadget to personal computer (PC) Edmodo bounces the distinguishing teaching experience in digital class from the planning, executing, till doing testing

In the planning process, teachers can arrange learning schedule, check the timeline, and get massage or reminder as the consideration to determine the best learning scenario Besides that, library feature assists teachers in preparing teaching material efficiently, effectively so it can be accessed by students just in time

2.3.2 Benefits of Edmodo in learning languages

Edmodo aims to help educators utilize social networking facilities in accordance with the conditions of learning in the classroom Edmodo is designed to create interactions between teachers and students that emphasizes rapid communication, polls, assignments, share ideas, and many more things As an educator, Edmodo provides a feature to share files, links, tasks and grade For

student, the feature in Edmodo are students can communicate directly with the teacher, discuss with other students, submit assignments directly and many more

Edmodo is different from many other education technology companies It is free used, however, not commercializing It could be seen as part of the mission to educate the users on privacy-related issues and could be created the web page to provide educators, students, and According to Gay and Sofyan (2017) Edmodo is

an online learning environment is an interactive process where the student is assisted by others (teachers or peers) to acquire knowledge or skill that cannot be acquired without assistance at that point in time

Through Edmodo, educators and students can share notes, links and documents Educators also have the ability to send alerts, events, and tasks for students and may decide to send something in a timeline that can be viewed by public In addition, Edmodo as online learning can benefit the students by promoting their self-regulated learning in a number of ways Having access to language-related resources and tools available through Edmodo, the learners can choose and work with materials in line with their preferences and goals at any time and from any places

2.3.3 Features and tools on Edmodo

Edmodo is a social platform for education It has the look of Facebook (one

of the most popular social networking sites) and most of the activity on Edmodo happens on the teacher‟s homepage Edmodo can be accessed via web browser and

a free smart phone application such as: IOS and Android Therefore, it can be used

in mobile activity as long as it is connected with internet connection Edmodo communities are built by teachers for specific group of students In relation to online activities using social networking site like Edmodo, teachers can utilize some features and tools on Edmodo in creating meaningful activity suitable for reading comprehension

Quizzes Tool

This feature can be used for drilling the learners in comprehending the text and it is really useful for post reading activity It allows the teacher to create

meaningful exercises in accordance with the materials which are discussed in the class This tool offers the teacher to create various quizzes, such as: true or false, multiple choice, and short answer Therefore, the students can be drilled in learning reading comprehension skills such as: grasping main idea, predicting, and guessing

vocabulary

Post Assignment Tool

This tool facilitates the teacher to submit the assignment/task and ask the students to post Task represents opportunities for learners to manipulate interdependent chunks of the target language

Link to Post Videos and Audios

It is suitable for pre –reading activity Teacher can post the videos or audios link from YouTube or other sites in Edmodo Moreover, this tool can be very useful

in order to activate students‟ background knowledge Besides, this tool may be of benefit for brainstorming or building students‟ information about the topic that will

be discussed in the following text The impact is that the students are ready to learn

in during reading activity

Group for Collaborative Learning

One of the benefits of using Edmodo is that the site has a facility to create a group in online learning Teacher can create large-student group or small group Students can be promoted to work on collaborative on another

Post Comment

Like other social networking sites, Edmodo is also equipped with facility to post comment in a wall In teaching reading comprehension, teacher can manipulate this site for creating meaningful activity in Virtual Learning, such as: making online games, posting question, or delivering problem that can be discussed with the students

Parent involvement

Motivation for students comes in many ways, one of them is from the parents At Edmodo, parents can see their child‟s activities, answer, and grades Parent involvement gives a great deal of motivation to do better because students

know that they parent read and see their work It can also promote good relationship among teacher, students, and parents

Sharing schedule

One more important feature of Edmodo is calendar Teachers can share the schedule of learning activities or their lesson planning on the calendar The schedule can be shared either to every classes and groups or just to certain class or group It gives benefit to both teacher and student Teacher can manage the planning for the all classes they teach and student can always see the calendar to know upcoming activities like assessment, group presentation, and assignment due date The events

or due date on the calendar will also occur in notification

2.3.4 Teaching - Learning Process and Edmodo

This part of the analysis aims to briefly suggest a way to bridge the gap between teaching learning process and Edmodo as a teaching media Teaching is not an easy work for the teacher in every grade and every subject The teachers have

to pay more attention to how the students have to be taught and what kind of media should be used in order that they can understand the material easily Choosing and using the proper media is one of the teachers‟ duty Therefore, using media in the teaching and learning process could influence the students‟ understanding and their involvement in the classroom Thus, the teacher ought to be selective and creative in selecting the media that will be used in teaching learning process

Edmodo is a portal that presents information in an engaging and motivating way that becomes a controlled environment suitable for peer tutoring It can be used

as one of teaching media that helps students in studying It is a media to stimulate the learners for arranging and collecting their ideas Buescher (2010) wrote through Edmodo, students are inevitably required to collaborate with others whether it is pair work, in small groups or within the class Moreover, Edmodo can encourage students to take the initiative for their learning by posting notes, uploading learning materials to the personal digital library, writing comments and much more Moreover, learners are keen to participate in the learning process when they are allowed to explore the multimedia resources that are compatible with their learning

preferences and needs The applications available on Edmodo facilitate collaboration and virtual teamwork among students and accelerate the learning process, making students proficient in handling tasks online-

2.3.5 Previous studies

In fact, there are many researchers have reported the effectiveness of using Edmodo in improving students ability in reading, making the teaching and learning process more effective

The first is Marimuthu et al (2013) designed a quantitative research to explore how a few such online learning communities could effectively function by engaging in discussions regarding their views based on a video of a public speaking presentation by using Edmodo as an online collaboration platform Results obtained showed that the creation of communities of inquiry (learning) through online facilities such as Edmodo are often viable platforms to encourage positive collaborative learning experiences among students at higher learning institutions It could be one such way where learning could be conducted collaboratively through virtual group discussions, which had adhered to the principles of the Community of Inquiry

The second is Alshawi & Alhomoud (2016) investigated the impact of using Edmodo on the students‟ motivation and teacher-students communication They explored the impact that Edmodo had on students' engagement in EFL learning as well as their motivation towards learning that language The results indicated statistically significant motivation towards language learning due to the use of Edmodo It also showed that the teacher-student's interaction is highly significant via Edmodo Furthermore, students mainly preferred quizzes and assignments on Edmodo when they were designed effectively Then, the results of this study may encourage teachers to integrate educational networks to create effective online learning classes for their students

The third is Kumelashvili (2016) also conducted a research that has the aim

to know the effectiveness of Edmodo in foreign language teaching The result shows that Edmodo could help students to learn a different model of the teaching

process and they could independently improve their computer skills Moreover, by using Edmodo, the students‟ motivation to learn foreign language increase Patel (2016) designed an experimental research to determine the effects of Edmodo on student‟s language efficiency and their comprehension ability in English Language The result shows that Edmodo can be a good pedagogical device which can stimulate curiosity, increase motivation and enrich the learning process

The fourth is Fauzi (2017) conducted an experimental study to investigate the effect of Edmodo on studetns‟ writing skill in recount text The result shows that using Edmodo was effective to teach recount text This study attempts to contribute

to the improvement of teaching writing by maximizing the use of ICT tools Using Edmodo, both students and teachers can have a safe online environment to conduct more effective and sustainable teaching and learning process

The fifth is Warawudhi (2017) conducted an action research to evaluate the use

of Edmodo in business reading class The result showed that Edmodo could be used as

a learning tool for out-of-class activities for business reading class Students could use the program as well as they were encouraged to get engaged to the lessons outside classroom by doing quizzes and making discussion with teacher for their group presentations Moreover, the students also reported positive attitudes toward Edmodo

in terms of users friendly function and interaction between students and teacher

Another research is Yunkul & Cankaya (2017) conducted an experimental research which had a purpose to develop a scale to determine students‟ attitudes towards Edmodo, a Social Learning Network (Edmodo Attitude Scale, EAS) The result showed that the factors were found to be collaboration, usefulness, instructor support and selfconfidence Consequently, the scale could be said to be a valid and reliable attitude scale that could be used in learning environments which involves the use of Social Learning Network (SLN)

The findings of the research proved that Edmodo gave significant effects toward students‟ reading speed Students‟ reading achievement who are taught through Edmodo is significantly higher than those who are taught through traditional methods In sort, the use of Edmodo for teaching reading comprehension

is more effective than common ways

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research method

In this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods were used collect data for the research Quantitative methods include pretest and posttest which were used to figure out the difference of the pretest and the posttest as well as assess students‟ progress in reading comprehension after the treatment Qualitative methods include questionnaire to explore the attitude of learners toward Edmodo application

3.2 Research design

3.2.1 Participants

The following study was carried out at Vung Cao Viet Bac high school, which is a boarding ethnic school with a lot of ethnic minor students coming from mountainous areas in the country The participants of the study includes only 80 students in grade 11 who are divided randomly into 2 groups: control group and experimental group At the beginning, all of the students have been learning English

as a foreign language All of the participants are ethnic minority students such as Nung, Dao, H‟mong, Kho Mu… In particular, some of them belong to a special few-people ethnic minority group such as Bo Y, Pu Peo, La Hu, Si La, Lu, Lo Lo Most of them are at low English proficiency levels They face difficulties in learning English, especially reading comprehension because of living in the mountainous and remote areas, they lack of facilities to support learning English They do not have any opportunities to communicate with native speakers Their main reason for learning English is that English is one of the compulsory subjects at school and in national examinations

3.2.2 Data Collection Procedure

The data collection was conducted within 7 weeks The procedure of the study is shown in Table 3.1 On the first week, students took the pre-test, and Edmodo were introduced to the experimental group Then the researcher taught reading comprehension to the control group in normal way while she applied

Edmodo in reading comprehension to the experimental one After 7 weeks, students took the post-test to check whether they improve their reading comprehension competence or not Then students in the second group were asked to complete questionnaire in week 7 Finally, data were collected to analyze and discuss before giving conclusions, implications and suggestions were made

Table 3.1: The procedures of the study

Week 1 Subjects were administered the Pretest

Introduce Edmodo to experimental group

- Step 1: Set up administrator rights to connect to Edmodo Set up a teacher account on Edmodo Create classes virtual corresponding to the selected modules for support the student

- Step 2: Train students how to create a individual account How to connect personal accounts to virtual classrooms and techniques using Edmodo for learning

- Step 3: Organize learning activities for students and Test and evaluate the learning results of students through the Virtual classroom on Edmodo

Week 2 Teaching reading comprehension in class and assign the

homework in normal way to control group

Blending teaching reading comprehension on class in Edmodo and assigning homework via Edmodo to experimental group

- Teachers design, package and transmit the learning content practice, create forums, self-study instructions on the system Edmodo Through the send function Notice (Note) of Edmodo,

we send the notice instruct students to access electronic documents such as: Video of E-learning lecture, documents in.pdf format,.ppt With this form, teachers can assign tasks to individuals Students complete the exercises on the system through the online test Through homework and tests, students

Time Activities

can compare and evaluate results by themselves If there is any problem that is not understood, students can trace it access to electronic materials on the system to consolidate lessons in class Besides teacher can organize forms of self-study in groups, seminars to assign group tasks for students Students can study

in groups but It is not necessary to meet each other but do the exercises together practice, or discuss an issue raised by the teacher through action herd At the same time, through the forum, students can exchange directly with teachers about problems in the learning process

- About test and evaluate learning results of students on the system Edmodo System: Adoption of guest test features Edmodo's online price, we ask real students display forms of multiple choice exercises, word completion, true/ false in the learning process

- The process of evaluating the tests: Because of the real roducts are submitted online and concentrated in one designated location

in Edmodo system so teachers are very convenient in anagement,

as well as commentary and evaluation The teacher can correct it directly correct errors in assignments, submit comments, give students feedback on assignments so that students will know the advantages and disadvantages of their assignments With good quality submissions, good practice, or papers containing common mistakes that students make, teachers can share online with the whole class to exchange and draw lessons experience Week 3 Teaching reading comprehension on class and assign the

homework in normal way to control group

Blending teaching reading comprehension on class in Edmodo and assigning homework via Edmodo to experimental group

Time Activities

Week 4 Teaching reading comprehension on class and assign the

homework in normal way to control group

Blending teaching reading comprehension on class in Edmodo and assigning homework via Edmodo to experimental group Week 5 Teaching reading comprehension on class and assign the

homework in normal way to control group

Blending teaching reading comprehension on class in Edmodo and assigning homework via Edmodo to experimental group Week 6 Students were administered the Posttest

Week 7 Students in experimental group were asked to fill in the

questionnaire

After week 7 Data were collected, scored and analyzed

Conclusions, implications and suggestions were developed

Syllabus in seven weeks Table 3.2: Syllabus in seven weeks

- Learn new words

- Redo reading tasks in notebooks

- Do the exercises in Edmodo

- Guessing meaning of words in context

- Identifying main idea

of the text

- Practicing passage comprehension

Weeks Units Content Objectives

At home:

- Learn new words

- Redo reading tasks in notebooks

- Do the exercises in Edmodo

- Identifying meaning of words in context

- Scanning for detail information

- Practicing passage comprehension

- Practicing Gap-filling task

At home:

- Learn new words

- Redo reading tasks in notebooks

- Do the exercise in Edmodo

- Guessing meaning of words in context

- Scanning for specific information

- Practicing passage comprehension

Weeks Units Content Objectives

Lesson A:

Reading

In class:

The reading introduces 3

of the author's hobbies including playing the guitar, raising fish and collecting stamps

At home:

- Learn new words

- Talk about your hobbies

- Do the exercise in Edmodo

- Dictionary skills:

explaining meaning of words in context

- Practicing passage comprehension

describes Gagarin's life and his achievements and dedication to space science

At home:

- Learn new words

- Redo reading tasks in notebooks

- Summarise the journey

to the moon in 1961

- Do the exercise in Edmodo

- Identifying main ideas

of the text

- Matching task: words and meanings

- Practicing passage comprehension

- Summarizing the journey to the moon

3.3 Data collection instruments

In order to collect data for the study, the following instruments were employed, including pretest, posttest and questionnaires

3.3.1 Pretest and posttest

A pretest and a posttest were designed in order to measure the achievement

in reading comprehension of students after they were exposed to Edmodo in English lessons The students‟ scores in the post- test were compared with that of students in the pre-test with the same level to determine the effectiveness of the use of Edmodo

in teaching reading comprehension Most of questions in both tests were taken from the reading part of the test A2 level of the Common European Framework for

Reference (CEFR) The pre-test (see Appendix 1) was conducted before the

treatment after students finished unit 9 and 10 in the textbook No special techniques were applied in teaching reading comprehension before In the pretest, students were assigned to answer 20 questions to check their competence in reading comprehension The pretest was divided into 4 parts Each part was composed of 5 questions Each correct answer was given 0,5 point and the maximum score is therefore 10 The test duration was 25 minutes The post-test (see Appendix 2) was conducted in the 6th week with the same design as the pretest The aim of this test was to measure students‟ capacity in reading comprehension after intervention The results of two tests were collected and entered SPSS software to analyze and compared Then based on the statistical description, the researcher could find out whether there was the difference in students‟ competence in reading comprehension before and after the use of Edomodo All tests will be assessed by English teachers

at researcher‟s high school

3.3.2 Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a useful tool for gathering information in research because

it is efficient in terms of cost, effort, and time for researchers In the study, the questionnaire was composed of 5 questions (see Appendix 3) which was constructed to assess learners attitudes toward the use of Edmodo Likert scale with five questions was used in students‟questionnaire including “strongly disagree”,

“disagree”, “neutral”, “agree” and “strongly agree”

The questionnaire was administered to 40 students, the researcher instructed participants how to respond to the questionnaire The questionnaire was translated

into Vietnamese to make it more accessible for the participants Because the many participants were in low level of English, they might not understand all the content

in English clearly, so if the questionnaire was written in their mother tongue, it would help them complete the questionnaire more easily During the process, the researcher only gave instructions if necessary, she did not interfere anything to affect participants‟ selection At last, the questionnaire was collected to analyse

3.4 Data analysis

The data was collected from the tests and questionnaire during 7 weeks Then, it was analyzed both quantitative and qualitative ways To start with, the results of pretest and posttest were entered into Excel, SPSS statistics software to analyse the colleted data to see the difference between posttest and pretests Base on the findings, the researcher could draw a conclusion on whether student‟s reading comprehension competence was enhanced or not Besides, the data collected from the test and questionnaires was also presented in form of bars, charts and figures with the support of Excel program Finally, the analyses of the questionnaires data were shown to provide information of what effects Edmodo can bring to learners as well as learners‟ attitude toward using Edmodo in teaching and learning reading comprehension

In summary, this chapter presented the methodological issues of the study It

shows how the research was carried out to address the research questions The data was collected via research instruments, namely pretest, posttest and questionnaire The participants, data collection procedures, and data analysis were also presented

in a descriptive way The next chapter will analyse data collection from the research instruments

CHAPTER 4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSION

This chapter presents the finding of pre-test and post-test on students‟ reading comprehension and findings from students‟questionnaire in terms of their attitudes toward Edmodo used in reading practice Results of tests were marked carefully, then data were gathered to analysed based on the puposes of the study Likert scale with five questions was used in students‟questionnaire including

“strongly disagree”, “disagree”, “neutral”, “agree” and “strongly agree” Results of pre-test, post-test and students‟questionnaire were synthesised and analysed to illustrate research questions in the study

4.1 Findings from pretest and posttest

4.1.1 The students’ reading comprehension competence before using Edmodo

(Experimental group)

Chart 4.1: Result of the Pre-test

Chart 4.1 shows 3 groups scores in the pretest of 80 students including Good (6.5-7.5), Fair (5.0-6.0), Very poor and inadequate (0-4.5), which based on marking scheme at school in national policy Overall, first results of students were very poor

in two groups 80% of students got very low scores from 0.5 to 4.5 points in the reading test The highest score belonged to the group of students who got mark from

6.5-7.5 with only 8% The rest students with 12% got score from 5.0 to 6.0 It can

be concluded that learners‟ reading comprehension competence was not good, therefore it was necessary to apply useful technology in teaching and learning

4.1.2 Students’ reading comprehension competence after using Edmodo

(Experimental group)

Chart 4.2: Result of the post-test

Chart 4.2 illustrates a positive change in the scores of students in the post test The percentage of students with very poor and inadequate (below 5) decreased considerably nearly a half in comparision with pretest while the percentage of good scores rose from 8% to 15% (6.5-7.5 points) There was a significant increase in the numbers of students who obtained the medium scores, (from 12% to 35%) It was interesting that there were 3% of students could get mark 8.5 (Excellent) In general, over 50% of learners got better mark in the post-test from 5.0-8.5 which indicates that using Edmodo could improve reading comprehension competence

4.1.3 Results of control group (G1) and experimental group (G2) in the Pre-test

Table 4.1: Results of the Pre-test

Groups N Total score Minimum Maximum Mean SD SE

As can be seen from table 4.1, both control group (G1) and experimental group (G2) had the same minimum score and maximum scores in pre-test, however there was slightly different in the result of mean score Group 2 got mean score with the result 3.17 and Group 1 had lower number The different gap between mean score of two groups was only 0.39

4.1.4 Results of control group (G1) and experimental group (G2) in the post-test

Table 4.2: Result of the Post-test

Groups N Total score Minimum Maximum Mean SD SE

Table 4.2 shows reading results of the Post-test in two groups After Group 2 applied Edmodo in reading practice during seven weeks while the teacher used teaching method as normal in Group 1 There were significant different in minimum score between two groups Experimental group had 2 points, but control group got 0.5 point Similarly, maximum scores of Group 2 also reached to excellent mark (8.5 points) and Group 1 was in good level (7.0 points) As a result, mean score of students in experimental group was higher than control group‟s It was nearly double mean score of Group 1 in the post- test It means that students‟ reading outcome has been improved through the period of applying Edmodo

4.1.5 Result of unchanged scores and lower scores in the tests

Table 5 shows the number of students who got the same score of reading in two tests and the number of students who had lower results in the second test It was clear that not all students made improvement in the posttest There were 4 students receiving lower scores from 1.0 to 1.5 points in the post-test, which was accounted for 5% of the total test takers Besides, three students got the same scores in both tests, namely number 17, 26 and 33

Table 4.3: Result of unchanged scores and lower scores in the tests

In conclusion, results of post-test mean scores were much higher than test mean scores Using Edmodo could enable most students to enhance their reading comprehension retention The improvement of reading omprehension was resulted in test score By comparing mean scores of control group and experimental group, the data showed positive progress of learners in reading However, the data also indicates that not all students could take advantages of Edmodo Some of students got lower scores in the posttest, which shows that they did not improve their reading comprehension retention Some did well in the both test, which indicates that Edmodo had influenced on their reading comprehension retention

pre-4.2 Findings from questionnaire

4.2.1 Students’ interest in using Edmodo

Chart 4.3: Students’ opinion on Edmodo in English lessons

As presented in Chart 4.3, most students (63%) chose strongly agree for their

interest in Edmodo application introduced by the teacher The total results of level

of agreement including agree and strongly agree was 80% while only 10% responded that they were not fond of using Edmodo, 10% of learners gave neutral for their answers and there was no strongly disagree anwer As a results, most students felt excited in reading practice via Edmodo

4.2.2 Students’ opinion on Edmodo

Chart 4.4: Students’ opinion on Edmodo

Chart 4.4 shows that a majority of students found learning reading comprehension much easier and more interesting by using Edmodo application It was an easy application for students in reading practice However, 25% of students thought that they faced difficulties when using Edmodo It was clear that students responded neutral for “Learning reading comprehension is much easier and more interesting by using Edmodo application”

4.2.3 Students’ opinion on kinds of reading tasks

Chart 4.5: Students’ opinion on kinds of reading tasks

Most students chose “agree” and “strongly agree” choices to show their opinions in terms of variety kinds of reading tasks during the time of using Edmodo Nearly 1 fifth of learners did not agree with diferent kinds of reading tasks given in each lessons There were 10% of the total numbers of learners giving neutral responses

4.2.4 Benefits of using Edmodo

Chart 4.6: Benefits of using Edmodo

70% of the students agreed with the benefits of edmodo in improving reading skills; becoming more autonomous in learning reading; having more interaction with teacher and classmates through discussion Only 10% in the total results did not find the advantages of Edmodo in reading comprehension and 10% of students gave neutral annwers

4.2.5 Students’ desire of using Edmodo

Chart 4.7: Students’ desire of using Edmodo

Regarding to use Edmodo to learn reading comprehension in next semesters, more than half of students strongly agreed to continue to use the application to learn reading Among the total of students, 25% of the students responsed their agreement in using Emodo next semesters There were 20% of the learners choosing disagree and neutral

To sum up, the data illustrates that most of the students had positive opinions towards the using Edmodo in learning reading comprehension They became more autonomous in learning reading as well as showed their interest in reading practice

attitudes toward the use of application in reading comprehension and their interest

in the learning process Detailed research results and discussions would be presented below

4.3.1 The effectiveness of Edmodo in teaching and learning reading comprehension

To highlight the differences between applying Edmodo in teaching reading and normal way of teaching reading which did not use application in the Internet The results of pre- test and post test in control group (Class A) and experiment group (Class B) show that most students got low score in the pre- test before using Edmodo in the Class B during the time of seven weeks Based on the situation of teaching and learning reading, the teacher tried to choose appropriate ways to help students improve their reading outcome It was Edmodo that was applied in reading practice with the pupose to help students have more chances to practice reading comprehentsion in Edmodo As a results, students got higher score in the post test after 7 weeks of treatment

The data illustrated a positive change in the scores of students in the second test Bad score (below 5 points) decreased nearly a half in comparision with pretest while the percentage of very good scores rose to 15% (6.5-7.5 points) Medium scores was increase three times from 12% to 35% in the post test and 3% of students could get mark 8.5 Overall a half of total students had better mark in the posttest from 5.0-8.5 which indicated that the use of Edmodo could improve reading comprehension The results showed the effectiveness of Edmodo in teaching and learning reading comprehension

4.3.2 Students’ attitude toward using Edmodo

Basing on data collected from students‟ questionnaire, mean distribution of the questionnaire for Students‟ interest in using Edmodo was 4.24 It meaned that students strongly agreed when expressing their interest of edmodo and had positive attitudes toward using Edmodo in reading comprehension and took more advantages of Edmodo in reading practice

It could be seen that the majority of students agreed that using Edmodo for learners to practice reading comprehension made learners interested in a newer way

of learning reading Most students shared opinions about level of preference of Edmodo which was considered as an easy application for students Students responded that they strongly agreed with the benefits of Edmodo which learners gained during the time learning In addition, with variety kinds of reading tasks designed by the teacher, it was a good way to help students practice more and more

in class and could redo tasks at home or anywhere by using mobile phones, tablets

or laptops connected the Internet Students thought that it was true to some extent

Besides, students appreciated benefits of Edmodo in improving reading skills; becoming more autonomous in learning reading; having more interaction with teacher and classmates through discussion As a result, 80% of students expressed their wish in using edmodo in following semesters

In conclusion, from the findings of data collection instruments including pretest, posttest and questionnaire, the researcher could draw the conclusion about the effectiveness of Edmodo on students‟ reading comprehension competence as well as their positive attitude toward Edmodo Results from students‟ questionnaire revealed that most students were satisfied with applying Edmodo in reading comprehension

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

In this chapter, based on the findings of the present investigation, some conclusions will be drawn out to summarise all the findings, implication, limitation

as well as suggestions for further studies

Firstly, based on the findings of the test mean score of post-test was much higher than that of the pretest By comparing results of tests, mean scores of control group and experimental group, the data showed positive progress of learners in reading It could be claimed that Edmodo application can effectively enhance students‟ reading comprehension competence after the treatment With the use of Edmodo, variety kinds of reading tasks and support of the teacher, students could make great progress in their score in English tests

Secondly, from the questionnaire, it can be seen that a majority of students showed their positive attitude to the use of Edmodo They expressed interest in reading practice with Edmodo and many different kinds of reading tasks Students become autonomous in learning reading comprehension Many of them were expecting to use more various Edmodo applications in the next English lessons and they appreciated the application of Edmodo in learning other subjects Hence, the conclusion can be drawn that teaching reading comprehension with Edmodo has made a positive change in the way students learn and improve their score in reading comprehension tests