Give students assignments before reading class to develop cultural background knowledge and facilitate teaching by KWL technique to grade 10th students in reading skill

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING CHU VAN AN HIGH SCHOOL THE INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE THE THESIS GIVE STUDENTS ASSIGNMENTS BEFORE READING CLASS TO DEVELOP CULTURAL BACKGROUND K

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

CHU VAN AN HIGH SCHOOL

THE INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE

THE THESIS GIVE STUDENTS ASSIGNMENTS BEFORE READING CLASS

TO DEVELOP CULTURAL BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE AND FACILITATE TEACHING BY KWL TECHNIQUE FOR GRADE 10TH STUDENTS AT CHU VAN AN HIGH SCHOOL

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale of the Study 1

1.2 Aims of study 2

1.3 Participants and Scope of the Study 2

1.3.1 The Participants 2

1.3.2 Scope and Significance of the Study 2

1.4 Methods of study 2

1.4.1 Classroom Observations 2

1.4.2 Questionnaire 3

1.4.3 Interview 3

1.4 4 method of statistics and analysis the figures: 3

1.4.5 Data Collection Procedure 4

1.5 The new things of study 4

2 CONTENTS 5

2.1 Literature review 5

2.1.1 The Nature of Reading 5

2.1.2 The advantages of reading comprehension 5

2.1.3 Teaching KWL technique 5

2.1.4 Relationship between the structure of Reading passage in Text book 10 and KWL 5

2.1.5 The Roles of the Teacher and the Students in a Reading Lesson which is taught by KWL technique 6

2.1.5.1 The Roles of the Teacher in a Reading Lesson which is taught by KWL technique 6

2.1.5.2 The Roles of the Students in a Reading Lesson which is taught by KWL technique 6

2 2 Current state of the study 6

2.2.1 The current state of teaching and learning Reading skills 7

2.2.2 An Overview of reading in Textbook “Tieng Anh 10” 9

2.2.3 An Overview of before you reading in Textbook “Tieng Anh 10” 9

2.3 Solutions 10

2.3.1 Improving Students’ Reading Interest and Motivation by Seeding career and job dreams to students 10

2.3.2 Arousing their passion for reading by educate them the life skills 12

2.3.3 Broaden background knowledge for students by combination with the background knowledge other subjects 12

2.4 Resached result 18

3 CONCLUSION 20

3.1 Lesson experience 20

3 2 Limitations and suggestions for Further Study 20

REFERENCES 21

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale of the Study

Nowadays, students desire to master English in order to prepare for a good base whichthey can go into the mingling modern world with confidence To satisfy students’expectation, educators have been trying our best to find out the modern methods and newtechniques to apply for teaching them properly However, it is not easy for Vietnamesestudents, especially, students in schools in the suburb area like Chu Van An In reality,many modern methods and new techniques have been applied in order to solve thecurrent state of teaching and learning English but almost students’ English quality of ourschool, in general, is not satisfactory The core reason of the problem is due to learners’poor vocabulary and limited cultural background knowledge It is also one of the mainreasons that causes obstacle on reading skill Experiencing many years of teaching

limited cultural background knowledge In fact, in English classes, especially in readingperiod, the reading passages are really challenging The majority of students having lowlevel of English are discouraged from seeing a long text because of major obstacles ofvocabulary, limited cultural background knowledge The rest with better level is familiarwith reading by scanning the text to complete the tasks with little understanding theeducational meaning of the reading In addition, it is very difficult for teachers to getcontrol of the activities among the students mixed various levels They often try toexplain the tasks so much, even they use Vietnamese equivalence to explain so as tomake sure their students to understand what they are teaching The application ofLearner-centered approach in class is malfunctional If those difficulties are notfound out and no solutions to overcome, it is certain that reading lessons can not

be successful and it even becomes worse In this situation, the teachers need totake a serious look at the teaching and learning of English in general and theteaching and learning of the reading skills in particular so as to suggest properways to enable the teaching and learning of the reading comprehension at highschool to be more effective From my experience, I realize that before reading class

we should give students appropriate assignments in order to encourage them to find outthe answers and naturally explore vocabulary and the background knowledge related tothe lesson Thanks to modern technology connected to internet at cost, this work should

be given by means of zalo, message, group pages outside class Along with givingstudents assignments before reading class, teaching technique of KWL in reading should

be applied to carry out the learner-centered approach in class It is admitted thateffect of teaching and learning English is dramatically improved Students’ attitudes toEnglish subject as well as reading are more positive, students’ activities in class are

obviously active That is the reason I offered “Give students assignments before

reading class to develop cultural background knowledge and facilitate teaching by KWL technique for grade 10 th students at Chu Van An high school in reading skill” It is hoped that this study may offer the English

teachers at schools in general and the English teachers at Chu Van An HighSchool in particular the ways to teach reading skills more effectively

1.2 Aims of study

The specific objectives of Innovative experience was written

- To identify the teachers’ major difficulties in teaching reading skills andexamine the causes

- To offer possible solutions to the difficulties

- To contribute more materials to reading part in “Tieng Anh 10”

- To share a little interesting personal experience to other co-workers who teachesEnglish

1.3 Participants and Scope of the Study

1.3.1 The Participants

The research was undertaken with the participation of 4 teachers (excluding theresearcher) The 5 classes chosen were 10A1,10A3, 10A9, 10A12, 10A13.(10A1, 10A12 are taught by the researcher, 10A3, 10A9, 10A13 are taught byother teachers) Of 5 classes, 100 students should be included in the survey byrandom

1.3.2 Scope and Significance of the Study

This study is limited to:

- Contents of reading comprehension in the textbook “Tieng Anh 10”,especially before you reading

- Teaching KWL technique

The findings and suggested solutions most appropriately applied to the

That is, the teachers and the students will be able to find ways to improve theirprocess of teaching and learning reading skills

1.4 Methods of study

The study was designed to use a number of methods to achieve its aims Firstly,classroom observation was carried out to investigate the reality of difficulties theteachers confronted in their teaching reading skills Then, two types of surveyquestionnaire were conducted with informants of teachers of English andstudents randomly selected from 5 classes at Chu Van An High School Inaddition to questionnaire, informal interviews with the informants were also done.Three measurement instruments were developed for data collection: (1)classroom observation, (2) questionnaire, (3) interview

1.4.1 Classroom Observations

The author myself teach them and observe the work to evaluate what is successful, what

is limited The author also comes to other classes to observe other teachers do the

students’ activities before and after the author offer my teaching innovation At the same time, author records all activities occurred in each class: the teacher’s

presentation on the reading lessons, the teacher’s questions and explanations, thestudents’ performance in English The observation checklists for a reading class were made The checklists included five criteria:

1 Teachers’ preparation

2 Teachers’ presentation

Questionnaire designed for teachers aimed at seeking information of workexperience, teachers’ attitudes towards the reading sections in the textbookEnglish 10, and the problems they confronted with in the process of teachingreading skills.

Questionnaire for students tended to survey on their perception about theimportance of reading skills in learning English as a compulsory subject atschool, their evaluation of their current speaking competence, and difficulties theyencountered in learning reading skills To elicit a reply for the difficulties theteachers at Chu Van An High School encountered in teaching reading skills to

open-ended questions are formulated:

Part I: open-ended questions

work experience

Part II Closed questions

importance of reading skill and the sections for reading skills in thetextbook “Tieng Anh 10”

(before you read, while you read, after you read)

reading teaching process with the textbook “Tieng Anh 10”

situations they meet

1.4.3 Interview

The interview, which were semi-structured, and 20-25 minutes in length each,focused on the critical issues arising from the observed lessons as well as issuesrelated to teachers’ difficulties in teaching reading skills

All the interviews were conducted in Vietnamese in order for the participants tofully articulate their views without being constrained by the use of a secondlanguage They were then fully transcribed, translated and analyzed by theresearcher to uncover the emerging themes

1.4 4 method of statistics and analysis the figures:

I collect all the copies I deliver students and teachers at 2 other times and compare the levels of motivation, students’ and teachers’ attitudes before using the ways of “Givestudents assignments before reading class to develop cultural background

knowledge and facilitate teaching by KWL technique for grade 10th students at Chu Van An high school in reading skill” Statistical Results reflected the reality

of problems that the teachers and students encountered in teaching and learning English reading skills

1.4.5 Data Collection Procedure

Data collecting methods used for the study comprised surveyquestionnaire, classroom observations, and interviews

Classroom observations were conducted for one lesson for each class infour times for four teachers Because the teachers were not comfortable withtheir lessons being video- or audio- recorded, the researcher took extensive fieldnotes of all the observed events in the classroom Each teacher was interviewedonce on the last day of classroom observation

Then, based on the classroom observations, the questionnaire wasdesigned for the students and teachers

It is noted that in order to make it easy in analyzing data, the total copiesdelivered and collected from the students of two classes which I teach were 55and the copies from the students of the three other classes were 45

Totally copies of 3 other teachers and students were returned andrespectively used for analysis

- I also investigate by asking students to do reading tests in the period of Test yourself B,

C, D, (Each time usually asked students to do two reading tests; the one was designed bymyself, the one was designed in a reference) in order to know how effective students areable to improve reading skill

1.5 The new things of study

- Giving students homework or encouraging them to prepare lesson before class arealways done by teachers after each period In fact, giving students assignments to prepare

at home for the next period with specific guides is rarely Nowhere have I seen anyteachers give students assignments before reading class to develop cultural

students at Chu Van An high school in reading skill to improve reading better As a

class to solve the current challenges in teaching and learning reading skill

With my renovative experience, I hope to support more useful materials which thestudents have collected for myself and my co-workers

2 CONTENTS

2.1 Literature review

2.1.1 The Nature of Reading

- Reading is when someone looks into a written text and starts to absorb theinformation from the written linguistic message In Longman Dictionary ofApplied Linguistic, reading is said as: “Perceiving a written text in order tounderstand its contents”

2.1.2 The advantages of reading comprehension

Reading brings us undeniable benefits such as improving our brain connectivity,enriching our vocabulary and comprehension, fighting depression symptoms Readinghelps us require knowledge to spread our outlook Reading also promotes ourcommunicative ability more flexibly In the process of teaching and learningEnglish, reading skill is closely related to writing, listening and speaking skills.Understanding relations will help learners succeed That is why English readingskill is specially taken care of in English subject, at every level Thanks to intensive study

of the importance of reading Text book “Tieng Anh 10”, reading is designed in the firstpart of each unit; This requires teachers know how to choose the propertechniques to help students comprehend and master the content of it

2.1.3 Teaching KWL technique

Ogle (1986) in Macceca (2007) stated that the KWL is a three-part strategy toencourage active reading that was first described Pre-reading (Know), duringreading (Want), and post-reading (Learned) During the pre-reading stage,students are asked to explain what they know about the topic, whereas studentscan be active directly related on their knowledge being discussed In the during-reading stage, students again are asked what they wonder or want to find out infurther reading, so it will gain the students positive attitude toward readingactivity, and they will be more focus on the text During the post-reading,students explain and write what they have learned from reading and otheractivities This activity is the core of reading activity, where the students canevaluate the text based own their knowledge

2.1.4 Relationship between the structure of Reading passage in Text book

10 and KWL

It can be understood from the state of Ogle (1986) in Macceca (2007) in readingpassage in “Tieng Anh 10” like this

- Pre-reading (Know) is the same before you read

- During reading (Want) is the same while you read

- Post-reading (Learned) is the same after you read

2.1.5 The Roles of the Teacher and the Students in a Reading Lesson which

To well play the roles, firstly, teachers are supposed to facilitate Secondly,

To assume the roles in teaching reading lesson by applying KWL technique, teachersshould focus on facilitating communicative process between all participants in theclassroom by giving specific assignments before class In addition, teachers must actinterdependent within the learning teaching group With KWL technique,teachers should work as organizers and feedback organizers at before you read

to see what students at the same time it is good chance for teacher to checkstudents’ responsibility for assignments

2.1.5.2 The Roles of the Students in a Reading Lesson which is taught by KWL technique.

- In communicative language teaching, the learners are regarded as the

centre of the lesson During the reading process the students play the roles ofactive readers and competent speakers and smart listeners

- To cope well with the problem, students should explore the topics related to thelesson before class in their own ways or do the assignments that their teacher theirteachers give to enhance their cultural background knowledge and vocabulary beforereading

2 2 Current state of the study

The fact that Chu Van An High School, where I works, is located in SamSon, the destination of tourists in summer, an active young city Livingcondition is in general considered rather good Almost children want to beimproved their English to face to the modern life pace, especially, someambitious students, harboured a dream to find a study abroad tour, or want to beaccepted to famous university entrance in Vietnam They hopefully find theirdream and best wishes at Chu Van An high school However, most of the grade

background knowledge They scarce of long reading lesson The rest with betterlevel of English, have certain vocabulary and background knowledge arefamiliar with scanning to complete the tasks educational meaning and culturalbackground knowledge in reading text Almost students are just familiar withsaying “yes” or “no” without providing any further information in English whenthey were asked

Teachers really confuse with improving reading skill for students when theytake on a class mixed gifted and poor students They often forget the learner-centered approach in class They dominate students’ activities by talking andexplaining very much even they use Vietnamese equivalence to explain thelesson I suppose that it is waste of time if reading without requiring cultural

knowledge and vocabulary This part gives some suggestions based on theopinions about the solutions of the teachers at Chu Van Anh High School(answers of question 4 in the interview) and on the author’s study on theory ofteaching and learning reading comprehension The suggestions include:Improving students’ reading interest and motivation to require vocabulary andcultural background knowledge and adapting materials.

2.2.1 The current state of teaching and learning Reading skills

For teachers: 5 teachers in total (one researcher, three other teachers participate

in the innovative teaching experience, the rest is eliminated) The findingsinclude:

Table 1: Teachers’ focus when teaching a reading text.

Categories Number of teachers Percentag

e

Table 2: The way teachers often do before and after class.

of teachers

Percentag e

Lead students to the lesson and teach them

vocabulary in their own ways

Ask Ss to prepare for reading lesson before class

without focusing on any specific questions

Give assignment before class and apply teaching

KWL technique

Base on the requirements from the after you read in

the textbook to organize class to do

Broaden students’ knowledge in their own ways such

as asking Ss to discuss, or retell or summarize the

text in their own understand.eg

Give assignments and ask Ss to practice more at

home

The ways teachers always do in the while you read

- Teachers ask students to work in different activities which are suitable for theTasks requested such as group-work, pair-work or individuals

- Teachers explain the tasks carefully (often use equivalent Vietnamese toexplain) Guide Ss to complete the tasks by smart strategies like scanning orskimming

- Teachers also play various roles as observers, controllers and prompters instudents’ activities.

- Teachers check and give feedback, make comment or give students’ marks

- Sometimes, teachers give students chance to play games to do the tasks andgive gifts to the winners

Table 3: Teachers’ expectation of the students in the post-reading

teachers

Percentag e

Understand and summarize the text in their own

Guessing the content of the text through the

topic of the reading

Table 6: Students’ expectation from teacher’s offers

participants

Percentages

Give students detail assignments to make

preparation before reading class

the duty

Want to receive teacher’s guides before

lesson several days through their message or

zalo or teachers’ pages

2.2.2 An Overview of reading in Textbook “Tieng Anh 10”

The textbook “Tieng anh 10” is designed under a theme-based approachwith 16 units Each unit is about a theme There are five parts in each unitarranged as follows: Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing, and LanguageFocus

Reading is the beginning part of each unit The aim of this is that throughreading and through developing reading skills such as skimming, scanning, etc.the students are provided with language input It is designed 3 stages; Beforeyou read, while you read and after you read The aim of this is that throughreading and through developing reading skills such as skimming, scanning, etc

To complete the Tasks, apply the vocabulary to understand the content of thereading, share the ideas in the reading with the real life

2.2.3 An Overview of before you reading in Textbook “Tieng Anh 10”

- Easy questions: They are designed in Yes/ No questions such as

Students usually response by saying Yes or No

Advantage: All students can answer

Disadvantage: when students say “no” they think that they have a correct answerthey don’t have to do anything anymore

Such questions

1 Have you heard of Marie Curie? (P32 Unit 3)

2 Have you ever visited a zoo or a forest? (P104 Unit 10)

3 Do we need to protect animals and forests? (P104 Unit 10)

4 Have you ever been to a national park? (P112 Unit 11)

The questions above can be easy to elicit the answers but it is too hard tocontinue elicit more with Wh-questions

- Higher level of questions

1 What do you know about her (Marie Curie)? (P32 Unit 3)

2 What do you think of the crop? (P 82 Unit 8)

4 What helps produces good crops? (P.82 Unit 8)

5 What animals are you interested in? Why? (P104 Unit 10)

6 What kind of film do you like to see? why? (P132 Unit 13)

Such questions above usually make students fall in the stress state As far as Ifollow, they can understand what to say in Vietnamese but they can expressnothing in English

All questions or suggestions are used to lead students to the passage If teachersdon’t have properly strategies in teaching before you read they can’t recognizeK(know) from students or they can’t make students improve K(Know) As aresult, they may fail in reading

2.3 Solutions

students at Chu Van An school as well as the textbook English 10

Basing on my innovative teaching experience I would like to offer “Give

students assignments before reading class to develop cultural background knowledge and facilitate teaching by KWL technique to grade 10 th students

at Chu Van An high school in reading skill” Because of undeniable things

- It brings advantages for teacher to apply the learner-centered approach in class and

it facilitate to apply the teaching KWL technique in reading lesson

- It is a convenient chance for teachers to know certainly what teacher gave students.During doing assignment, students develop vocabulary and knowledge naturally butcram

- With students’ useful findings also contribute to teacher’s available material store.Basing on my teaching experience, the grade 10 students really like to present or sharewith other classmates and teachers If teachers know how to give students bonus, theywill certainly make every effort to prepare at home and they are eager to participate incompetition in class activities As a result, the atmosphere is fun and happy Whenstudents represent or share their ideas in English, their speaking and listening will have agood chance to practice To make the lessons more academic, teachers should focus onthe fields like careers, life skills, meanings of various education

2.3.1 Improving Students’ Reading Interest and Motivation by Seeding career and job dreams to students.

Teachers should focus careers and jobs like: teachers, scientists, singers,musicians, environmentalists, famers footballers, actor/ actress/ comedian … inUnit 3, Unit 4, Unit 8, Unit 12, Unit 13, Unit 14

A: Reading Aims: To lead students to care some new words relate to the lesson before class,

and know more scientists beside Marie Curie At the same to seed their students’dreams and wishes in the bright future Teachers sent students assignments withthe following requirement in the message, zalo or group webs page

Requirement

1 Match the scientists with their specialisations