Using the web in teacher esp reading to seconds year english non majored students at the peoples police university ma

ABSTRACT Whereas the benefits of the Internet to the learning and teaching of ESP have been acknowledged by many researchers, educators and teachers, and the use of WebQuest or WebBlog h

NGUYEN THI THU

USING THE WEB IN TEACHING ESP READING

TO SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH NON-MAJORED STUDENTS

AT THE PEOPLE’S POLICE UNIVERSITY

A Thesis Submitted to The Department of English Linguistics & Literature

in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

USING THE WEB IN TEACHING ESP READING

TO SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH NON-MAJORED STUDENTS

AT THE PEOPLE’S POLICE UNIVERSITY

in terms of the statement of Requirements of the Theses

in Master’s Programs Issued by the Higher Degree Committee

Ho Chi Minh City, July 2010

NGUYEN THI THU

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Nguyễn Thị Thu, being a candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating

to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan or reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, July 2010

NGUYEN THI THU

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A thesis is never successfully completed in isolation I received help, cooperation, encouragement, critique, consolation and advice from many people who should be acknowledged

First of all, I owe my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Dinh Dien, Ph.D Associate Professor, who spent a lot of time reading my draft with great care and gave

me valuable advice on the thesis

Special thanks go to my former supervisor, Dennis F Berg, Ph.D Associate Professor, who gave me initial suggestions on carrying out the research

I would like to heartily express my deepest appreciation and gratitude to a very special teacher of mine, who worked very hard to give her expert guidance, knowledge, insight and time with enthusiasm and kindness

I am indebted to M.A Pham Thi Tuyet, the Dean of Faculty of Foreign Languages and many of my colleagues at the People’s Police University, who gave

me a great deal of encouragement and were willing to take on my work while I did

my research

The thesis would not have been possible without the cooperation of 22 students

in Class B2C1-D18, the People’s Police University, who were always eager and active in doing the questionnaires and taking part in the ESP reading course I heartfeltly acknowledge their contribution to my research

I am particularly grateful to my beloved elder sister, Ms Nguyen Thi Ha, for giving me innumerable spiritual and material support during the time I took the TESOL course and did the M.A research

Finally, my sincere thanks would go to my parents and my husband, who always take care of me, give me endless love and empowered me to complete the thesis

ABSTRACT

Whereas the benefits of the Internet to the learning and teaching of ESP have been acknowledged by many researchers, educators and teachers, and the use of WebQuest or WebBlog has been applied for educational purposes; there exists little empirical research which demonstrates how to make full use of these two Web-based tools in ESP instruction in a sound pedagogical way

This thesis, therefore, was aimed at finding out how effective the integration of WebQuest and WebBlog in the ESP reading course to second-year students at the People’s Police University (PPU) was in enhancing the students’ reading competence First, an action research which utilizes both quantitative and qualitative method was used to fulfill the aims of the study Data from questionnaires, pre-test, post-test and teacher’s observation sheet were analyzed and discussed It was found that most students’ reading skills were improved after the course Furthermore, they generally had positive attitude towards the employment of the Web-based course in their ESP program, and did not face serious problems during the course Based on the findings,

it is suggested that WebQuest and WebBlog should be utilized in the ESP reading course at the PPU Moreover, for an effective and successful Web-based ESP reading program; students’ background, needs and expectations; the aims and objectives of the reading program, the teaching facilities, and WebQuest and WebBlog hosting, etc should be seriously taken into consideration Finally, recommendations for the teachers of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, for the Board of Directors at the PPU, and for further research were given

2.4 Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) 16

2.4.2 The need for a better combination of Intensive Reading (IR), Extensive Reading (ER) and Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

20

2.5.1 An introduction of the Internet and the World Wide Web (www) 20 2.5.2 The advantages of the Internet in Second Language Learning 21

4.3.2 The revised plan for the next circle of the action research 109

LIST OF TABLES AND ABBREVIATION

TABLES

Table 2.1: Characteristics of IR and ER

Table 2.2: Different types of blog

Table 3.1: Students’ needs and expectations

Table 3.2: Outline of the reading course

Table 3.3: A summary of all instruments and participants used in

the action research Table 3.4: Procedures of the action research inn the study

Table 3.5: Differences between action research and traditional

research Table 4.1 Comparison of pre-test scores and post-test scores 1 Table 4.2 Comparison of pre-test scores and post-test scores 2 Table 4.3 Classification of pre-test scores and post-test scores Table 4.4 Students’ responses to Question 1 to Question 13 on

the post-questionnaire Table 4.5 Students’ responses to Question 14 on the post-

questionnaire Table 4.6 Students’ responses to Question 15 to Question 18 on

the post-questionnaire Table 4.7 Students’ responses to Question 19 on the post-

questionnaire Table 4.8 Students’ responses to Question 19 on the post-

questionnaire

ABBREVIATION

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Screenshot of the WebQuest for International Law Students Figure 2.2: Structure of a blog

Figure 2.3: Screenshot of a blog on Yahoo!360 Plus

Figure 3.1: Kemmis’s model (1985) of Action Research

Figure 3.2: Beatty’s model (2003) of Action Research

Figure 3.3: Susman (1983)’ model of Action

Figure 3.4: The model of Action Research in this study

Figure 3.5: Students’ gender

Figure 3.6: Students’ English proficiency

Figure 3.7: Students’ computer and Internet experience

Figure 3.8: Students’ computer and Internet experience (continued)

Figure 3.9: Screenshot of the WebQuest’ homepage

Figure 3.10: Screenshot of the ‘Introduction’ page

Figure 3.11: Screenshot of the ‘Task’ page

Figure 3.12: Screenshot of the ‘Process’ page

Figure 3.13: Screenshot of a typical worksheet in the WebQuest

Figure 3.14: Screenshot of the ‘Resource’ page

Figure 3.15: The screenshot of a weekly schedule in students’ blog

Figure 3.16: The screenshot of the online post-questionnaire on

as it is one of the best ways to improve their English, understand and use the information in up-to-date sources in their respective fields of study

To develop reading, one of the most useful resources is the Internet, with a large amount of varied authentic materials and easily accessible One of the main reasons for using authentic materials in the classroom is that once outside the controlled language learning environment; the learner will encounter the real world and the real language The role of the teacher is not to delude the language learner but

to prepare him the awareness and necessary skills so as to understand how the language is actually used

There is no denying that the scene of education is changing quickly and significantly Educators are trying to keep up with new developments which result in the change Nowadays, in the era of Information Technology (IT), teachers of ESP use computers and the Internet more and more frequently to facilitate teaching and enhance learning experience The Internet is blooming into a huge source of information which can be freely and easily accessed by both students and teachers

Charupan, Soranastaporn & Suwattananand (2001) believed that technology can be used to facilitate classroom instruction The Internet is a learning tool that fits well in

a content-based ESP syllabus

Furthermore, the Internet-based activities can take advantage of integrated teaching approaches To illustrate, collaborative and cooperative learning occurs when computer-assisted language learning (CALL) is used in language teaching and learning, (McCabe, 1998) Learners use websites on the Internet to perform cooperative tasks with their peers to complete work assigned by the instructor It is the learning and teaching on the Internet that enables the learner-centred approach (Kumari, 1998) Alexander & Elana (2005:129) also claimed, “The Internet helps to make ESP lessons more rewarding and encourages opening the new way to bring about creativity and enthusiasm for learning”

Another reason for the study was Krashen’s Input Hypothesis and Frank Smith’s slogan “learn to read by reading” (Krashen, 2002a), from which extensive reading approach, was developed and has been widely applauded

Moreover, when confronted by pedagogical questions, teachers seek answers

to the questions through various types of research and practice A recent trend in the research and practice is the creation or employment of innovative approaches that respond to the need for an underlying pedagogical framework to support the use of the Internet into the teaching and learning process In reality, the previous ESP-related studies in the context of Vietnam revolve mainly around paper-based syllabus designs, course designs, or syllabus valuation, etc There has been a lack of researches

on the integration of reading approaches and the Web to facilitate ESP learning As an instructor of ESP for several years, the author of this thesis personally feels the need and has the desire to integrate Internet-based projects in her ESP teaching Moreover,

the researcher, in her Master program in TESOL1, was deeply impressed by the lessons of Instruction Technology given online by Dennis F Berg, Ph.D – a visiting lecturer at the USSH in which he highlighted the benefits of using websites including WebQuest in ESL teaching; and some WebBlogs available on Yahoo360 and Yahoo360!Plus by ESL2 teachers for English teaching and learning The idea of making Web-based course supplements (Krajka, 2001a; Krajka, 2002) was also justified by the necessity of finding alternative ways of providing language input and materials for ESP instruction due to the inaccessibility of published commercial ESP materials for police students

All the above mentioned urged the writer to think of incorporating WebQuest3

- “an interesting development and a way to exploit the Internet for good language learning practice” (Stoks, 2002) and WebBlog 4– a Journal Writing used in the language classroom as a tool to enhance learning (Boswood, 1997) in the teaching of ESP reading to students at The People Police University The research is entitled:

Using the Web in teaching ESP reading to second-year English non-majored students at The People’s Police University

1.1.2 A brief overview of ESP teaching at the People’s Police University (PPU)

At one of the main Centers for Police Training like the PPU, the teaching and

learning of ESP have the following characteristics

high school A placement test was carried out before the English course in order to classify students into their actual level of English proficiency

The police students often take an ESP course for the second semester of the second or the first semester of the third year depending on the flexible curriculum for each year 90 periods out of the total 120 periods allotted for ESP is for ESP reading The ESP course lasts 6 weeks (3 days a week) or 9 weeks (2 days a week)

In addition, as the PPU belongs to the armed forces, all the students here have

to live in the dormitory during the five-year period except for summer holidays and Tet holidays Thus, it is the learning environment that supports students’ teamwork and project work

The ESP Course book

The ESP course book used at the PPU is “English for Police”, which was

written by Phung Viet Hoa (1997) This book has been in use since 1997 The topics

in this course book revolve around police-related knowledge and activities in which reading skill is mainly treated among the four skills

The Teaching Facilities

Each classroom at the PPU is spacious and well-equipped with neon lights, electric fans, a blackboard, chalks, a computer and a projector There has been a strong movement in the renovation of teaching methodology and the application of IT

in the teaching and learning at the PPU for the past five years Thus, an Internet system, two laps with 40 computers each and an electronic library with 30 Internet-connected computers have been provided to facilitate the teaching and learning English teaching aids also include cassette players and microphones for teachers It can be therefore concluded that the teaching facilities were in favor of the employment of a Web-based course in the teaching and learning of English in general and of ESP in particular

wifi-The teachers

Among 16 English teachers of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, the PPU, 12 have taught ESP They are aged from 27 to 49, 4 of which have M.A degree and 3 others are going to finish the M.A TESOL course These teachers have experience in teaching both General English and ESP, and have basic knowledge of laws and professional activities of the police force

Apart from the above mentioned advantages, there exist some problems hindering the success of the teaching and learning of ESP reading at the PPU The

main things can be mentioned here are: (1) There was a lack of authentic and

up-dated materials available in the ESP textbook; (2) the ESP instruction at the PPU is still limited to specialized lexicon, sentence structures or translating reading texts -

an approach which fundamentally ignores the learners’ personal interests; (3) most of the teachers do not have the habits of utilizing the Web and the available modern facilities provided in their ESP teaching; (4) Not enough attention is paid to developing interaction between teachers and students and among students themselves There is a lack of pair work and teamwork in an ESP lesson These factors often lead

to low motivation in students’ English studies and, in turn, poor performance later when they use English in their future profession Not surprisingly, the English professional communication skills of future police officers do not meet the requirements that are conditioned by their growing needs in the field of policing through reading professional journals or attending professional workshops at regional or international level

In the light of what has been cited above, together with the language needs and expectations of ESP students at the PPU, it seems justified to design, develop and apply a Web-based course in the teaching of ESP reading at the PPU

1.2 Statement of purpose

The study gears to investigate the employment of WebQuest and WebBlog in the teaching of ESP reading to second-year students at The PPU The specific purposes, thus, are:

- To determine if the WebQuest-based and WebBlog-based reading course has effect on the reading competence of the second-year students at the PPU

- To investigate the students’ attitude towards the integration of WebQuest and WebBlog in teaching English for Police students at the PPU

- To discover any possible difficulties of the students and teachers in the employment of this Web-based program and finally suggest some pedagogical implications for the teaching and learning of ESP reading

1.3 Research Questions

In order to fulfill the research aims, this study is conducted based on the following questions:

1 Does the utilization of WebQuest and WebBlog help improve reading skills

of second - year students at the PPU?

2 What is the students’ attitude towards the WebQuest and WebBlog-based learning and teaching of ESP reading?

3 What are the difficulties of the students and teacher at the PPU in the employment of WebQuest and WebBog in the reading course?

1.4 Significance of the Study

The study helps to investigate the effectiveness of using WebQuest and Weblog in the teaching of ESP reading at The PPU, which will encourage teachers to employ WebQuest and WebBlog in their ESP teaching

In addition, the study is expected to lay foundation for further utilizations of WebQuest and WebBlog in ESP teaching in particular and in language teaching in general at the PPU

1.5 Scope of the Study

Within the scope of the thesis, the author focuses the study on intensive reading and extensive reading, which aim at enhancing students’ accuracy and fluency

in ESP reading, not to follow all the reading approaches in the literature of reading Furthermore, the role of WebQuest and WebBlog in the study is to enhance students’ reading and motivate students rather than directly intervene with the reading process

Due to the time limit and work constraints, out of 398 second-year students doing the questionnaire, the study was done on a small scale, which involved only one group of 22 students of Criminal Investigation major, who the researcher was in charge of The reason for choosing such a small sample was accounted by the fact that doing an individual action research is a hard job, which requires a great deal of time and efforts of the researcher in different phases of the study The researcher and also the teacher, in her study, at the same time played different roles as an investigator in the preliminary stage; a planner and a designer in the planning stage; an organizer, a manager, an observer, a facilitator and an advisor during the action stage; and a reflector in the reflecting stage

The 22 participants of the study had finished two courses of General English before taking this ESP course Their English proficiency generally scattered from pre-intermediate to upper-intermediate The research covered 90 periods allotted for ESP reading in the academic year of 2009-2010 for one group of 22 non-majored students

at the PPU

In addition, the action research applied in this study was only restricted to the scope of the PPU as ESP teaching at the PPU has its own characteristics depending on the ESP textbook, the ESP curriculum, the ESP instructors and students and the teaching facilities Therefore, the recommendations will be the most appropriate in the setting of the PPU However, they may be useful to ESP teachers at different universities or foreign language centers in Vietnam

1.6 Method of the Study

This study applies the method of action research, which combines both qualitative and quantitative method

Unlike qualitative, quantitative or experimental methods, this type of research

is not popularly used in the setting of Vietnam concerning EFL teaching, the theory of action research and the reasons for choosing action research for the study will thus be described in more details in Chapter 3 and in Appendix K

In her action research, the author played the role as the practitioner who designed the WebQuest, guided students to use blogs, carried out the ESP program, observed and reflected it The instruments including (1) pre-questionnaire in the preliminary research, (2) pre-test and (3) post-test respectively before and after the Web-based course, (3) teacher’s observation sheet during the course and (5) post-questionnaire after the employment of the Web-based program helped to collect quantitative and qualitative data

1.7 Assumptions

The research was based on the following assumptions:

- The sample of students was representative of the vast majority of students at the PPU

- The research method and data collection was appropriate and reliable, which helped to find out the answers to the research questions

- The respondents understood all the items in the questionnaires and were honest in giving responses

1.8 Organization of the Study

The thesis is structured as follows:

Chapter 1 deals with the rationale of the study, the significance, the purposes,

the research questions, the scope, the method and the structures of the study

Chapter 2 describes previous studies related to the study It also discusses the

background of the research involving intensive reading and extensive reading; WebQuest and WebBlog, the definitions, characteristics and their benefits to language teaching and learning

Chapter 3 presents provides insight into the research design and methodology

used in the study The methodology is described in details of how the data will be provided and presented

Chapter 4 reports the results of the study through data collected and gives a

discussion on the findings in order to address the research questions The quantitative data results are presented in the form of statistical tables and discussions and the qualitative data are presented in the form of a discussion

Chapter 5 consists of the conclusions drawn out from the study, the

pedagogical implications for ESP teaching, the limitations of the study and some recommendations

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

The second part discusses CALL and the advantages the Internet brings to second language learning WebQuest and WebBlog and the use of these tools in second language learning are also presented Finally is the summary of previous studies which are relevant to the use of WebQuest or WebBlog in teaching ESP reading

2.2 The nature of reading

Reading is an integral part of people’s daily lives, taken very much for granted and generally something that everyone can do The definition of reading can be varied Reading was claimed as ‘comprehending what writers say and mean’ (Karllin, 1984: 2), ‘a matter of decoding a series of written symbols into their aural equivalents

in the quest for making sense of the text (Nunan, 1991: 64) or simply the

‘psycholinguistic guessing game’ (Goodman, 1967) Generally speaking, whatever reading is defined, its fundamental goal is to extract information from writing or print (Phirie, Tsimanyana & Masendu, 2000: 8) The central ideas behind reading are:

- the idea of meaning;

- the transfer of meaning from one mind to another;

- the transfer of a message from writer to reader;

- how we get meaning by reading;

- how the reader, the writer and the text all contribute to the process

(Nuttall, 1996)

Reading means different things to different people depending on the purposes

of reading Reading can have three main purposes, for survival, for learning or for

pleasure Reading for survival is considered to be in response to our environment, to

find out information and can include street signs, advertising, and timetables It depends very much on the day-to-day needs of readers and often involves an

immediate response to a situation In contrast, reading for learning is considered to be

the type of reading done in the classroom and is goal- orientated While reading for

pleasure is something that does not have to be done

Readers process texts in two ways, either top-down (letter recognition, word recognition, etc.) or bottom-up (prior knowledge, reader characteristics, etc.), and a

combination of the two approaches (orthography, semantic knowledge, texts, content,

organization, etc.) Bottom-up reading is often associated with poor or slow readers,

but can sometimes occur when the readers own schema knowledge is inadequate

Top-down processing is the opposite, where a global meaning of the text is obtained,

through “clues” in the text and the reader’s good schema knowledge This is often

associated with a good reader, who does not read word for word but quickly and

efficiently The most comprehensive description of the reading process is interactive

models, “…in which every component in the reading process can interact with any

other component…” (Alderson, 2000:18), combining elements of both bottom-up and

top-down models Reading is considered to be an interactive process (a conversation

between writer/reader, even though the writer is not present) and for it to occur both

processes are necessary, top-down to predict the meaning and bottom-up to check it

The two approaches are therefore complementary ways of processing a text

When a third variable is added, technology, the L2 reading process becomes even more sophisticated Our knowledge and experiences of the world around us also

influence how a text is processed; this is known as schema theory (Bartlett, 1932) A

common and simplified definition of schemata is "knowledge already stored in memory" (Anderson, 1984:255) Schema theory is an important consideration when integrating technology into L2 reading It operates actively and constructively, with our knowledge of the world being a continuous process that upon receiving new information interprets it on the basis of what is already known Good readers also have expectations or make predictions before reading that are reinforced, challenged

or modified after reading Schemata have also been described as “…cognitive

constructs which allow for the organization of information in the long term

memory…”(Widdowson, 1983:34) It can be said that content schemata influences

second language (L2) reading comprehension With the use of technology, prior knowledge can be activated before reading via visuals, graphics, and even streamlined videos Hyperlinks can be created to connect the reader to online information about authors, historical periods, geography, and more before the text is read

A number of reading approaches and strategies have been developed so as to help enhance students’ reading competence A part from schema theory, according to Grabe (1991), the other four most important areas of currently prominent research in reading are language skills and automaticality (i.e fast, effortless, and accurate word recognition/identification), vocabulary development, comprehension strategy training, and reading-writing relations He also claimed that component skills and knowledge areas in reading that many researchers attempt to understand and explain include automatic recognition skills, vocabulary and structural knowledge, formal discourse structure knowledge, content/world background knowledge, synthesis and evaluation skills/strategies As there is a variety of viewpoints in reading approaches, it is impossible to decide which one is the best

2.3 Intensive reading (IR) and extensive reading (ER)

IR and ER are two major approaches that have been used to develop reading skills The two approaches have their advantages to offer different stages of reading instruction In this research, WebQuest and WebBlog is used to teach ESP reading, which involves IR and ER An overview of the IR and ER is thus required

2.3.1 Intensive Reading (IR)

IR is commonly considered ‘text-based or skill-based’ reading The work of Palmer (1921) noted that “IR” means that the readers take a text, study it line by line, and refer at very moment to the dictionary about the grammar of the text itself or Haarman et al (1988) described IR as “the style we employ when we wish to have a very clear and complete understanding of the written text” Similarly, IR was pointed

as “reading a passage or a book slowly and carefully, paying attention to each word and every idea” (Seanan, 1997; Tsimanyana & Masendu, 2000: 31-32) Nuttall (1996: 38) claimed that “IR involves approaching the text under guidance of a teacher

or a task which forces the student to focus on the text”

IR activities include skimming a text for specific information to answer true or false statements or filling gaps in a summary, scanning a text to match headings to paragraphs, and scanning jumbled paragraphs and then reading them carefully to put them into the correct order The IR intentionally focuses on essential care vocabulary, patterns of text organization and types of text processing needed to adequately comprehend any text Thus, in IR, students are supposed to comprehend as fully as possible the text which is chosen by the instructor or in the reading course And IR deals with comprehension mostly at lexical and syntactic level According to Paran (2003: 40), IR is needed for four main reasons: to help learners comprehend written texts, to become more aware of text organization to better comprehend, to learn how

to use and monitor effective reading strategies, and to develop literacy skills necessary to generate productive expressions in L2

Bruce (2004:175) believed that fundamentally, IR involves translation as stating “The readers may pause to look up words in a dictionary The reader may also mentally or even physically translate the sentence into the reader’s first language (L1)

by writing down the translation of words, or speaking the translated sentence aloud.”

In short, IR seems to be suitable for those who have the desire to improve vocabulary and grammar to understand every unknown word and grammatical structure and to translate the reading passage for complete and detailed understanding

IR also helps to strengthen readers’ linguistic competence as well as knowledge and understanding

2.3.2 Extensive Reading (ER)

It was the view of Palmer (1964) that ER is considered as rapid reading The attention is paid to the meaning of the text itself not the language Hafix and Tudor (2006: 85-86) regarded ER as “the reading of large amounts of material in the second language over time for personal pleasure or interest, and without addition of productive tasks or follow up language work” The purpose of ER is for pleasure and information Thus, ER is also termed as “supplementary reading” Grabe and Stoller (2002) defined ER as an “approach to teaching and learning in which learners read

large quantities of materials that is within their linguistic competence” (ibid., 259)

Bamford (2000) discovered that a good number of ER programs use simplified books

or in other words grade readers as the basic reading materials

Day and Bamford (1998: 6-8) listed key characteristics of a successful ER program:

 Students read large amounts of printed material;

 Students read a variety of materials in terms of topic and genre;

 The material students read is within their level of comprehension;

 Students choose what they want to read;

 Reading is its own reward;

understanding;

 Students read their selection at a faster rate;

 Reading is individual (students read on their own);

 Teachers read with their students, thus serving as role models of good readers;

 Teachers guide and keep track of student progress

In the article in The Internet TESL Journal, Vol IV, No 12, December 1998 (http://iteslj.org/), Timothy Bell stated that ER programs help foster learners' progress

in reading development and improvement as:

- It can provide 'comprehensible input' (Krashen (1982); Elley and Manghubai (1983)

- It can enhance learners' general language competence (Grabe,1991:391) and Paran,1996:30))

- It increases the students' exposure to the language (Elley, 1991:404)

- It can increase knowledge of vocabulary (Nagy & Herman,1987)

- It can lead to improvement in writing (Stotsky, 1983 and Krashen, 1984)

- It can motivate learners to read (Bell & Campbell, 1996 & 1997)

- It can consolidate previously learned language (Wodinsky & Nation, 1988)

- It helps to build confidence with extended texts (Kembo, 1993)

- It encourages the exploitation of textual redundancy (Kalb, 1986)

- It facilitates the development of prediction skills (Nunan, 1991: 65-66)

Welsh (1997) summarized characteristics of ER and IR presented in the table below:

Reading

approach

Purpose language study and accuracy general understanding and

enjoyment and fluency

What material all learners study the same

material

all learners read different things which interest them

Comprehension checked by specific

questions and exercises

Checked by reports/summaries

Table 2.1: Characteristics of IR and ER

After making a comparison between these two reading approaches, Palmer (1964) also concluded that both types of the reading are important because the main goal of reading is to comprehend the printed pages

2.4 Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

This part is aimed to give an overview of CALL, its history and development and finally the effectiveness of Internet-based language learning It also discusses the need to combine IR, ER and CALL

2.4.1 A brief introduction of CALL

Computer-based materials for language teaching, often referred to as CALL, appeared in 1960s CALL is itself not a method and it focuses on learning not teaching CALL materials are tools for learning and are used to facilitate the language learning process The philosophy of CALL puts a strong emphasis on student-centered lessons that allow the learners to learn on their own using structured and/or unstructured interactive lessons CALL can be used to reinforce what has been learned in the classrooms It can also be used as remedial to help learners with limited language proficiency

CALL is an interdisciplinary field which was defined by Levy (1997) as “the search for and the study of application of the computer in language teaching and learning” (Bergenholtz, 2004) The theory underlying CALL lessons is behaviorist, cognitive, and constructivist approaches When the computer and computer-based resources such as the Internet are used to present, reinforce and assess material to be learned, CALL can be called an approach to teaching and learning foreign languages CALL can also be made independent of the Internet It can stand alone for example in

a CDROM format

CALL has also been known by several other terms such as Enhanced Language Learning (TELL), Computer-Assisted Language Instruction (CALI) and computer-aided language learning but the field is the same

Technology-Since its appearance, CALL has developed rapidly and therefore has been a great concern of theorists, researchers and practitioners The integration of Information Technology (IT) in education has played an essential role in facilitating second language teaching and learning

Since access to Information and Communication Technology (ITC) has become internationally more and more popular in all walks of life, CALL has developed beyond the use of computer programs to integrate the use of the Internet and Web-based tools

CALL has developed gradually over the past thirty years and Warschauer (1996) divided the development of CALL into three phases: Behavioristic CALL, Communicative CALL and Integrative CALL (Multimedia and the Internet)

Each stage corresponds to levels of technology as well as research in the field

of Educational Psychology and Applied Linguistics

Behavioristic CALL was grounded in Skinner's stimulus-response (S-R) theory

and Pavlov's famous classical conditioning experiments as well as the technological limitations of computers from the 1960’s to the early 1980’s Basically, students completed repetition and drill type exercises on the computer The computer was an at-home "mechanical tutor" (Warschauer & Healey, 1998), where students memorized word lists and completed fill-in the-blank exercises over and over again, echoing the Audio-lingual Methodology use in the classroom at this time As the instructor was the drill leader in the classroom, the computer was the drill leader at home Answers were either right or wrong, and reinforcement was given for 'correct' grammar A significant contribution of behavioristic CALL was that students could progress at their own pace outside of the classroom

Communicative CALL is based on the communicative approach that became

prominent in the late 1970’s and 1980’s At that time, behavioristic theories of Second Language Acquisition (SLA) were rejected, and innatist theories (Krashen, 1982) became the foundation of L2 teaching methodologies, such as communicative language teaching, that were utilized in the classroom In the communicative approach, the focus is on using the language rather than analysis of the language, teaching grammar implicitly through authentic communication It also allowed for originality and flexibility in student output of language Students no longer memorized lists, rather, they were encouraged to use the target language in meaningful situations where the instructor asked questions and students answered them The question was tailored to student interests and daily lives Accordingly, students used the computer as a means to answer questions posed by the instructor

It was the focus on language use in culturally authentic contexts that led to the

phase of "Integrative CALL" (Warschauer, 1996) where speaking, listening, reading and writing were integrated through the use of the computer across the stages of acquisition

Integrative/explorative CALL, starting from the 1990’s, tried to address the

criticisms by integrating the teaching of language skills into tasks or projects to provide direction and coherence It also coincides with the development of multimedia technology (providing text, graphics, sound and animation) as well as computer-mediated communication Integrative CALL is the foundation for current trends in technology-based language materials The new interactive technologies include developments such as accessing video so that students see and hear "real" culture and language (Bush, 1997) where students interact with each other (not just the instructor) at the computer in task-based contexts

The use of CALL activities in the classroom is becoming more and more important and will be certainly an essential part of English Language Teaching (ELT)

in the coming years due to the following reasons:

- Internet access – either in private homes or at Internet Wifi cafés is becoming increasingly available to learners

- Younger learners are growing with technology, and it is natural and integrated part of their lives For these learners, the use of technology is a way to bring the outside world into the classroom And some of the younger learners will

in turn become teachers themselves

- English, as an international language, is being used in technological mediated contexts

- Technology, especially the Internet, presents us with new opportunities for authentic tasks and materials, as well as access to a wealth of ready-made ELT materials

- The Internet offers excellent opportunities such as course books and resource books for teachers

- Learners increasingly expect language schools to integrate technology into teaching

- Technology offers new ways for practicing language and assessing performance

- Technology is becoming increasingly mobile It can be used not only in the classroom, lecture hall, computer room or self-access centre, in can also be used at home, on the way to school an in internet cafés

- Using a range of ICT tools can give learners exposure to and practice in all the four main language skills – speaking, listening, writing and reading

(Gavin Dudeney & Nicky Hockly, 2007)

2.4.2 The need for a better combination of Intensive Reading (IR), Extensive Reading (ER) and Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL)

Combining the benefits of more focused international IR with advantages of

ER and CALL can help us to arrive at a more well-integrated, balanced and effective foreign language program Rod and Susser (1989:1) did an early review of ER, comparing it with “skill-building textbook and procedures, suggesting that ER might

be as effective as a skill-building IR approach, “with the important advantage that is more interesting for the learners” Not only traditional text-based reading, but also well-integrated CALL environments that are interactive, intelligent, and Internet-

mediated can be much more effective than print media alone

2.5 The Internet and Second Language Learning

2.5.1 An introduction of the Internet and the World Wide Web (www)

Jeremy Harmer (2000) considered the Internet as ‘cyberspace, the information superhighway, the online community, the electronic library and the digital

revolution’ Jeremy added that the Internet has been seen as the most significant development in communication tools since the invention of the printing press and then condemns as the end of civilization The Internet is basically considered as a network

of people and information, linked together by telephone lines which are connected to computers

World Wide Web (www or web for short) is one of the most utilized application

programs which are used to transport information on the highway of the Internet What sets the Web apart is an easy-to-use interface to a complex network of

computers and data Www is a multimedia resource and communications tool based

on hypertext, and system of clickable links (Jeremy Harmer, 2000:05)

In fact, the term Web and Internet are used interchangeably However, this is not as inaccurate as it may appears at first look, because access to most of the older forms of the Internet is now built into the software for viewing the Web, called the browser – an application which provides a window to the Web

2.5.2 The Advantages of the Internet in Second Language Learning

Over the past few years, the Internet has been widespread in numerous fields and domains It has carried out great potentials for educational use, especially second language education In this sub-division, the author wishes to focus on the benefits of employing the Internet in the second language learning

Among the benefits of Internet use in the second and foreign language classroom, the most important are:

 Increased motivation and participation by students (Warschauer, 1996)

 More opportunities to interact with the target language and content area because students spend more time on task (Kasper, 2000b)

 Greater integration of reading and writing skills and opportunities to practice them in meaningful contexts

 The possibility to implement pedagogy based on problem solving and critical thinking (Warschauer, 1999)

 More self-paced autonomous learning that is learner-controlled rather than teacher-controlled (Mak, 1995)

In addition to the benefits just cited, the Internet provides the resources necessary to carry out authentic projects and analysis, and thus develop the communicative competence of ESP students Such resources allow teachers to design simulation activities and role-playing using authentic material In this manner, the Internet facilitates the use of a specific language in an authentic setting The Internet can also be used to acquire information from language resources for a variety of purposes For example, students can access current information from countries around the world They can obtain geographical, historical, social/cultural, economic, and political information from the countries in which the target language is spoken Such resources allow teachers to design simulation activities and role-playing using authentic material Kimball (1997) pointed out that “Internet-generated materials can

be flexibly arrayed to engage students with topics and cognitive tasks relevant to students’ professional futures.”

In short, the Internet not only helps students widen knowledge and outlook, strengthens experience but also enables them to live in a real world in which they are the creators rather than the receivers only With the above mentioned advantages of the Internet, it can be concluded that the Internet is an appropriate learning tool in a content-based ESP syllabus

2.6 WebQuest and WebBlog

WebQuest and WeBlog are learner motivational web-based teaching methodologies that have not still been fully implemented in foreign language teaching

in Vietnam There are different types of WebQuest, taking the form of mystery tasks, retelling of a situation, problem solving, judgment decisions, etc WebBlogs are online journals that may take many forms and be useful for either students, teachers

or general communication intra or inter departmental Both WebQuest and WebBlog resort to using the web for educational purposes When appropriately used, the web will surely transform the notion of teaching-learning: long-life education, change of settings and roles in the teaching-learning processes, etc The web, indeed, reinforces the reading and writing skills as well as promotes the skills of information searching and problem solving

In this research, a WebQuest is the instructor’s website in which the course is introduced, assignments are posted, reading sources together with step-to-step directions and web links are given and suggested, while a WebBlog plays the role of

an Internet-based tool for students to post their assignments and interact with one another and the for teacher to give students guidance and encouragement through comment posting

2.6.1 WebQuest

This sub-part presents a brief introduction of WebQuest, its definition and components, the theoretical and pedagogical base in the ESP reading

2.6.1.1 Definition

Bernie Dodge - an American Professor of Educational Technology at San Diego State University focused on the design, implementation and evaluation of computer-based learning environments since 1995 and created a learning model which has been widely used as an effective Internet-based educational tool at schools, colleges and universities for over a decade and is now one of the most popular and most effective Internet–based project models/ approaches This approach clearly describes the process of the partly online learning experience which challenges, motivates and engages learners

In an early article about this method, Bernie Dodge defined a WebQuest as follows:

“An inquiry-oriented activity in which most of all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web WebQuests are designed to use learners’ time well,

to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners’ thinking and levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation ” (Dodge, 2001)

Educators thought that the original definition was not enough to cover the meaning and theoretical underpinnings of the WebQuest concept March (2008), a co-creator of WebQuest, therefore conceptualized and expanded the definition of WebQuest as follows:

“A WebQuest is a scaffold learning structure that uses links to essential resources on the World Wide Web and an authentic task to motivate students‘ investigation of a central, open-ended question, development of individual expertise and participation in a final group process that attempts to transform newly acquired information into a more sophisticated understanding The best WebQuests do this in a way that inspires students to see richer thematic relationships, facilitate

a contribution to the real world of learning and reflect on their own metacognitive processes.”

In a WebQuest, learners work in groups, where members have to analyze and master a particular aspect of an issue Each member becomes an ‘expert’ in their role, later contributing to an in-depth understanding of the given aspect of the final group task

2.6.1.2 Structures of a WebQuest model

WebQuest should be designed with a purpose in mind for students to perform when surfing the net For this reason, a typical WebQuest usually follows a structural pattern:

1 Introduction This stage is used to give a brief introduction of the

WebQuest It involves background information on the topic of the WebQuest and in the language context, often introduces key vocabulary and concepts which learners will need to understand in order to complete the task involved

2 Task The task section explains clearly and accurately what the learners will

have to do as they work their way through the web quest

3 Process: This part guides the learners through a set of activities and research

tasks, using a set of Internet-based resources

4 Resources: The resource stage lists useful Web sites that will help learners

to complete the task as well as widen their knowledge in the field of concern

5 Evaluation: This part explains clearly how the final outcome will be graded

and evaluated It can involve learners in self-evaluation, comparing and contrasting what they have produced with other learners, and giving feedback on what they feel they have learnt and achieved

6 Conclusion: This section helps to close the quest It reminds the students

about what they have learned, and perhaps encourages them to extend the experience into other fields (Gavin Dudeney & Nicky Hockly, 2007)

The structure of a WebQuest is flexible depending on the topic, the content, the subjects of the WebQuest and the author’s purposes in designing the WebQuest However, according to Dodge (2001), a WebQuest should contain the following parts:

(1) an introduction that sets the stage and provides some background information; (2)

a task that is interesting; (3) set of information sources needed to complete the task

Information sources might include web documents, experts available via e-mail or real-time conferencing, searchable databases on the net, and books and other

documents physically available in the learner's setting; (4) a description of the process the learners should go through in accomplishing the task; (5) some guidance on how

to organize the information acquired, which can take the form of guiding questions, or directions to complete organizational frameworks such as timelines, concept maps, or

cause-and-effect diagram; and (6) a conclusion that brings closure to the quest,

reminds the learners about what they have learned, and perhaps encourages them to

extend the experience into other domains These components are considered to be

obligatory in a WebQuest.The image below is the screenshot of an ESP WebQuest for International Law Students designed by The Department of International Relations, Belarus State University, Belarus, Minsk, 2004

Figure 2.1: Screenshot of the WebQuest for International Law Students

2.6.1.3 WebQuests – a pedagogical perspective

A WebQuest combines the benefits of the constructivist approach, based learning approach, project-based approach and cooperative learning

inquiry-Constructivist approach

WebQuests emerge among the many technological tools available as an example of a powerful means for supporting the principles of constructivism (Matusevich, 1995, Dodge, 1997, March, 2008) in language teaching

A WebQuest is in fact a constructivist lesson format Mary (1998) stated constructivism as ‘both a philosophy and a theory of learning’ By changing the focus

of the classroom from teacher dominated to student-centered using a constructivist approach we could yield positive results A major theme in the theoretical framework

of Bruner (Bruner, 1990) is that learning is an active process in which learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current/past knowledge The key concept of this approach is that learning is an active process of creating rather than acquiring knowledge When Internet technology is integrated into the course curriculum, students are enabled to learn by constructing their perceptions of complex concepts (Watson 1999) Using WebQuest, learners have to activate the mental processing which results in understanding and the creation of meaning from their own experiences (Grand, 2002) It is the constructivist learning approach and the profound influence of technology on education that require the utilization of authentic activities

to give the learning situation a purpose and meaning (Reeves et al., 2002; Matejka, 2004; Baccarini, 2004) If technology is use effectively as a tool for creative work, students can be more autonomous, collaborative and reflective than in classroom without the utilization of technology

Inquiry-based learning

Torrus (2005) believed: “a WebQuest for teaching and learning a second

language is an inquiry oriented activity placed in a relevant thematic context, in which the development of the task implies using web resources and developing high order thinking processes in a collaborative environment At the same time, it provides the students the opportunity to learn and put into practice some linguistic skills, supported

by a set of linguistic and procedural scaffolding

The process of inquiring begins with gathering information and data through applying the human senses In fact, memorizing facts and information is not the most important skill in today's world as facts change, and information is easily accessible

by modern technology Inquiry is seeking appropriate resolutions to questions and issues rather than seeking the right answer only Teachers therefore should develop their student’s inquiry skills and nurture the attitude of seeking information and to encourage and enable individuals to continue the quest for knowledge throughout life

As an old adage states, "Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I understand.” The last part of of this statement is the essence of inquiry-based learning

Project-based learning (PBL)

PBL is an instructional student-centered educational approach in which students work in teams to explore real-world problems and create presentations to share what they have learned (Warschauer., 2000)

PBL first began in 1918 with an article called “The Project Method”, by

Kilpatrick Although Kilpatrick was influenced by John Dewey who advocated that schools should reflect society, in the late 1800s, he was more interested in group