Improving college students vocabulary knowledge through short story reading action reasearch at university of economic and technical industries

- investigate how short story reading improves vocabulary learning of the second year non-English major college students at UNETI; - discover students’ attitudes towards short stories as

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI UNIVERSITY

VU DIEU THUY

IMPROVING COLLEGE STUDENTS VOCABULARY KNOWLEDGE THROUGH SHORT STORY READING:

ACTION RESEARCH AT UNIVERSITY OF

ECONOMIC AND TECHNICAL INDUSTRIES

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT

OF REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN TESOL

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN DUC HOAT, Ph.D

Hanoi August, 2009

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that the thesis entitled “Improving college students’ vocabulary knowledge through short story reading: action research at University of Economic and Technical Industries” and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL is the result of my work, except where otherwise acknowledged, and that this thesis of any part of the same has not been submitted for higher degree to any other university or institution

The research reported in this thesis was approved by the Hanoi University

Signed:

Dated:

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am deeply indebted to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Duc Hoat, for the wholehearted guidance he gave me while I was doing this research I am truly grateful to him for his precious ideas and knowledge, valuable comments and instructions, his considerate assistance and encouragement and constant support Without these, the thesis could not have been completed

I would also acknowledge my great gratitude to all the lecturers and to the organizers for this Master course at Hanoi University

Furthermore, I am very thankful to the learners of class KT51 at UNETI for their willingness to participate in this study Without their help, this project could not have been so successful

Last, I am deeply grateful to my beloved people, my parents, my husband and son for their support and encouragement which were extremely important for the completion

of this thesis

ABSTRACT

In an attempt to improve vocabulary knowledge of the second year non-English college students, the researcher decided to carry out an action plan with 35 students of class KT51, Accounting section, UNETI Before the experiment, the data collected through questionnaire and pre-test helped to confirm the assumptions that the lack of vocabulary really existed

Based on the findings from the initial data and procedures of action research on extensive reading, the teacher created an action plan using short story reading activity outside class within 6 weeks Data were collected from reading journals, post-test and attitude questionnaire Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) tests using a 5-point scale asked students to demonstrate their knowledge of specific words in written form Then data were computed and analyzed by means of descriptive analysis and Paired

some progress in vocabulary learning and their positive attitude towards reading in English was significantly improved The findings also indicated that extensive reading can be used widely in English language learning in universities and colleges in Vietnam Through the experience of implementing this research, some recommendations were given for the teachers and learners

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II ABSTRACT III TABLE OF CONTENTS ERROR! BOOKMARK NOT DEFINED LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES VI LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VII

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1

1.2 THE AIMS OF THE STUDY 2

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY 3

1.4 OUTLINE OF THE THESIS 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 VOCABULARY LEARNING AND TEACHING 5

2.1.1 The importance of vocabulary learning 5

2.1.2 Implicit and explicit learning of vocabulary 6

2.2 GRADED READERS AS A SOURCE OF EXTENSIVE READING 8

2.2.1 Definition of extensive reading 8

2.2.2 Characteristics of extensive reading 9

2.2.3 The benefits of extensive reading in foreign language learning 12

2.2.4 Graded readers as a source of extensive reading 15

2.2.4.1 Definition of Graded Readers 15

2.2.4.2 Typical levels of graded readers 16

2.2.4.3 Extensive reading and Graded Reading 17

2.2.5 Application of Extensive Reading at UNETI 18

2.3 PREVIOUS STUDIES ON EXTENSIVE READING IN EFL 19

2.4 SUMMARY 21

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 22

3.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 22

3.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTICIPANTS 22

3.3 SETTING 23

3.4 RESEARCH DESIGN 23

3.4.1 Definition of action research 23

3.4.2 Process of action research 24

3.4.3 Data collection instruments 26

3.4.3.1 Questionnaire 27

3.4.3.2 Reading journal 29

3.4.4.3 Vocabulary Tests 29

3.5 SUMMARY 32

CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 33

4.1 INITIAL DATA 33

4.1.1 Results from learners’ pre- questionnaire 33

4.1.2 Analysis of results of the pre-test 40

4.1.3 Findings from the initial data 41

4.2 ACTION PLAN 41

4.2.1 The aim of the action plan 41

4.2.2 The action plan procedures 41

4.2.3 Data collected in action stage 44

4.2.3.1 The students’ self-assessment to the level of difficulty of the stories 45

4.2.3.2 Students’ opinion on the length of the story 46

4.2.3.3 Students’ attitude towards the stories 47

4.3 POST DATA 49

4.3.1 The comparisons in the pre-test and post-test results 49

4.3.2 Data collected from attitude questionnaires 52

4.4 EVALUATION OF THE ACTION PLAN 55

CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 57

5.1 RECOMMENDATIONS 57

5.2 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 59

5.3 CONCLUSION 59

REFERENCES 61

APPENDIX 1: READING JOURNAL 66

APPENDIX 2.1: QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) 67

APPENDIX 2.2: PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA 69

APPENDIX 3: THE ATTITUDE QUESTIONNAIRE 71

APPENDIX 4: LIST OF STORIES 72

APPENDIX 5: PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST RESULTS 73

APPENDIX 6: PRE AND POST -TEST 74

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 2.1: The vocabulary levels in the Oxford Bookworms series……….16

Table 4.1: Results of the pre- test of 35 subjects……….……… 40

Table 4.2: Action plan procedures……….………43

Table 4.3: Pre-test and post test results……….49

Table 4.4: Comparison of the mean scores for the pre and post tests……… 50

Table 4.5: The students’ attitude questionnaire……….53

Figure 3.1: Action Research Cycle………24

Figure 3.2: The Vocabulary Knowledge Scale from Wesche and Paribakht ……… 30

Figure 3.3: The VKS scoring categories – meaning of scores……… 31

Figure 4.1: Learners’ length of learning before entering UNETI……….33

Figure 4.2: The learners’ self-assessment of their vocabulary knowledge ………… 34

Figure 4.3: Students’ opinions on time for learning vocabulary in class……… 34

Figure 4.4: Students’ methods when meeting a new word………35

Figure 4.5: Students’ answer on reading materials in English……… 36

Figure 4.6: Kinds of materials students often read……….……… …37

Figure 4.7: Difficulties of students while reading……….37

Figure 4.8: The causes of the learners’ lack of reading habits in English……….38

Figure 4.9: Learners’ attitude towards reading short stories in English………39

Figure 4.10: Kinds of short stories chosen by students……….39

Figure 4.11: Students’ self-assessment to the level of difficulty of the stories……….45

Figure 4.12: Students’ opinions on the length of the story……… 46

Figure 4.13: Students’ attitude towards story reading activity……… 47

Figure 4.14: Learners’ positive attitude towards story reading ………48

Figure 4.15: The difference between pre-test and post- test result………51

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AR: Action Research

ER: Extensive reading

EFL: English as a Foreign Language

ESL: English as a Second Language

ELT: English Language Teaching

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

This first chapter presents the background to the study, the aims of the study, the scope and significance as well as the organization of the thesis

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Vocabulary plays an indispensable role in the process of learning a foreign language Traditionally, vocabulary has not been a particular subject for students to learn, but has been taught within lessons of speaking, listening, reading and writing Krashen (1989:439) stated that ‘a large vocabulary is, of course, essential for mastery of a language’ as ‘without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed’ (Wilkins, 1972:111) Students at University of Economic and Technical Industries (UNETI) clearly realize the importance of vocabulary in learning English and improving vocabulary knowledge has been one of the objectives of many learners at the university

The University of Economic and Technical Industries (UNETI) was originally a vocational high school, founded 50 years ago Currently, it became a university training three different levels: university, college and lower college with various departments At UNETI, English is a compulsory subject to all students For college system, students learn English for 3 semesters New Headway series (Liz and John, 2000) have been used as the course books for the students In the first semester the students learn New Headway Elementary consisting 14 units in 60 periods And in the second semester, they will learn the first 7 units of New Headway Pre-Intermediate The last 7 units of the books are learned in the third semester In each semester they learn 60 periods in 15 weeks, 4 periods a week With the limited time

in class, the periods for learning English are not much The students are required to learn all four language skills, the time for vocabulary learning is very little

However, they have to cope with many difficulties in learning vocabulary Many students complain that they do not know how to remember words and their meanings for a long time and use them properly in different contexts They still maintain their old learning habits such as writing down words on note-books, learning words by heart, heavily depending on wordlist in textbook or passively

waiting for teacher’s explanations for new words Most of the learners at UNETI often acquire new vocabulary from short passages in textbooks and they only think

of vocabulary learning as knowing the primary meaning of new words and they ignore all other functions of the words They do not have a habit of learning vocabulary in contexts which help them to know how to use vocabulary appropriately

The real situation leads to the assumption that the students lack of vocabulary knowledge This hinders their language skills, reading comprehension as well as communication ability The teacher’s task here is how to help students learn vocabulary more effectively

Many studies on “extensive reading” have showed considerable benefits for learners both in terms of learning gains and motivation and seems to be becoming ever more popular in the ELT world Extensive reading has been proclaimed as, ‘the single most effective way to improve language proficiency’ (Maley, 2005: 354, cited in Brown, 2008) Extensive reading can lead to students’ improvement in the areas of reading, writing, vocabulary learning, and overall proficiency while also increasing motivation (Day & Bamford, 1998) Extensive reading offers the potential for reinforcing and recombining language learned in the classroom A large amount of comprehensible input provided by extensive reading materials may increase opportunities to be exposed to words previously learned It reinforced the learners’ existing knowledge of vocabulary and building new stock of vocabulary for students

Inspired by the studies on extensive reading in the second language classroom, the author decided to try out the method ‘extensive reading’ by way of action research Through this small scale research, the teacher hopes that using short stories will improve college students’ vocabulary learning at UNETI

1.2 THE AIMS OF THE STUDY

The study was carried out with the aim to increase learners’ vocabulary knowledge The specific aims of the research are as follows:

- investigate how short story reading improves vocabulary learning of the second year non-English major college students at UNETI;

- discover students’ attitudes towards short stories as an extensive reading activity

1.3 SIGNIFICANCE AND SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Developing learners’ knowledge of vocabulary has attracted attention of many researchers and extensive reading has proved to be useful and effective for the learners not only in vocabulary but also other aspects More importantly, extensive reading can create a reading habit in English which may help them self-study to enrich their knowledge not only during the time at university but for their lifetime This small-scaled study, however, limits itself to story reading or graded reading, a special kind of extensive reading Due to the limit of time and the level of learners,

a number of stories Stage 1 in series of The Oxford Bookworms Library have been chosen for students to read And action research was carried out only in one class where the researcher was teaching

Carrying out the study, the author hopes that its finding can help teachers in general and the English teachers at UNETI understand the benefits of reading stories in increasing learners’ vocabulary as well as in English language learning

1.4 OUTLINE OF THE THESIS

The thesis is divided into five chapters as follows:

Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the statement of the problem, states the aims of the study, the significance and the scope of the study, and the outline of the thesis

Chapter 2, Literature Review, provides the basic concepts of the importance

of vocabulary, extensive reading, graded readers and previous studies relating to the field

Chapter 3, Methodology, describes the research method, the rationale for the method and data collection instruments Detailed information about the participants

of the study and research procedures is also provided

Chapter 4, Results and Discussion, presents the results from the initial data, the findings from these results, and provides information on the plan of action as well as the evaluation of the action plan

Chapter 5, Recommendations and Conclusion, draws conclusions and gives some recommendations from the study It also states the limitations of the study and makes suggestions for future research

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter presents some general theories related to vocabulary learning, definition of extensive reading and graded readers, previous studies on extensive reading in EFL

2.1 VOCABULARY LEARNING AND TEACHING

2.1.1 The importance of vocabulary learning

“Vocabulary is a core component of language proficiency and provides much of the basis for how well learners speak, listen, read and write Without an extensive vocabulary and strategies for acquiring new vocabulary, learners often achieve less than their potential and may be discouraged from making use of language learning opportunities around them such as listening to the radio, listening to native speakers, using the language in different contexts, reading, or watching television.” (Richards and Rernandya (2002, p255)

Vocabulary is a very important element that links the four skills of speaking, listening, reading and writing all together Vocabulary knowledge is generally considered an important factor in the comprehension of language and the number of words acquired is strongly related to competence language use In other words, in order to enhance overall English proficiency, ESL students need to attain a certain level of vocabulary knowledge

Some theorists state that the lexical level is the most important as it makes basic communication possible The acquisition of vocabulary has assumed a more central role in learning a second language They also argue that errors of grammar can still lead to understanding but lack of vocabulary will interfere with communication McGinnis and Smith (1982: 236) believed that “without words students can seldom understand what is being communicated to him nor can he express his thoughts to others” Rubin & Thompson (1994) also shared the same view that “one cannot speak, understand, read or write a foreign language without knowing a lot of words Vocabulary learning is at the heart of mastering a foreign language” (p.79)

Carter (2001) has emphasized the importance of vocabulary acquisition to L2 acquisition that words have a central place in culture, and learning words is seen by many as the main task (and obstacle) in learning another language Failing to acquire survival level vocabulary, the learners are unable to understand the target language To any language learners, vocabulary learning is an essential element in their language learning Cook (1996) states that virtually all second language learners and their teachers are well aware of the fact that learning a second language involves the learning of large numbers of words Second language teachers find that the major obstacle in teaching English is not learning the grammar but in helping learners master sufficient vocabulary so that they can engage in meaningful conversations and read materials other than the textbook In view of this, the initial stage of language learning should be devoted almost entirely to vocabulary work Together with the acquisition of four language skills, L2 learners try their best to master a large stock of L2 vocabulary and their vocabulary knowledge has been improved intentionally and incidentally This matter will be discussed in details in the following section

2.1.2 Implicit and explicit learning of vocabulary

Explicit and implicit learning are the two approaches to vocabulary acquisition Explicit learning means that the students learn vocabulary directly or intentionally

by means of word lists, word-building exercises, paired translation equivalents And implicit vocabulary learning method where learners learn words indirectly or incidentally such as exposure to words in the context of reading real texts so that learners can infer words from context and thus learn words incidentally through reading Hulstijin et al (1996) defined incidental vocabulary acquisition as

“learning in the absence of intention to learn” This does not mean that the learners

do not notice the target words but the learners’ attention is focused on

“understanding the passage as a whole” and memory for the new word comes as a natural result of this process

Whether vocabulary is best learned through direct study or incidentally through reading has been much discussed Nation (2001) believes that direct vocabulary

instruction has a place in SLA and should be directed towards the high frequency words of the language He puts forward several points supporting the notion First,

he notes that non-native speakers beginning their study of English generally know very few English words Because the high frequency words of the language are so important for language use and consist of a relatively small number of words (about 2,000), it is practical and feasible to directly teach a substantial number of them Second, direct vocabulary learning is a way of trying to bridge the gap between second language learners’ present proficiency level and the proficiency level needed

to learn from unsimplified input Third, direct vocabulary study is a way to speed up the second language learning process (p.157)

However, there are still limitations with explicit vocabulary learning Nagy et al (1985) believes that teaching vocabulary directly is time wasting His major argument is that there are a large number of words in English and therefore a large amount of time is needed to deliberately and explicitly teach vocabulary He concludes that direct teaching can only account for a very small proportion of vocabulary Direct teaching of vocabulary cannot provide sufficient source of vocabulary for learners, since even the most ambitious vocabulary teaching programs typically do not cover more than a few hundred words per year Moreover, there are many aspects to learn in order to master vocabulary Some linguistists state that knowing an L2 word involves not only the ability to recognize its translation, audio and visual forms but also the knowledge to use the word communicatively in the context of meaning interaction They explain that lexical knowledge include knowledge of form (pronunciation, spelling word deviations, position in grammatical constructions, collocations (co-occurring words), functions (frequency and appropriateness, and association (Nation, 1990)

It seems that it is impossible for learners to learn all these aspects of words by explicit learning alone Nagy et al (1985) warns that direct instruction can deal effectively with only some aspects of word knowledge and not effectively with others For example, when teachers explicitly teach students to analyze word parts, students may be able to remember the spelling and also the pronunciation of the words (productive knowledge) more easily but regarding collocational and

grammatical behaviour of words, it may be better for learners to read in context Hence, Nation and Coady (1988) take the position that L2 learners have to learn vocabulary implicitly This can be done in the form of extensive reading According

to Schmitt (2000) reading extensively should be structured in the vocabulary program It is important for at least two reasons: meeting a word in different contexts expands what is known about it and the additional exposures help consolidate it in memory

For second language learners, both the explicit and implicit approaches are necessary in learning vocabulary There needs to be the proper mix of the explicit teaching and activities from which incidental learning can occur because both methods be used together to supplement each other

2.2 GRADED READERS AS A SOURCE OF EXTENSIVE READING 2.2.1 Definition of extensive reading

Extensive reading has since acquired many other names: Krashen (1993, cited in Bamford and Day, 1997) terms it “free voluntary reading”, Grabe (1991) and others use the term “sustained silent reading”, while Mikulecky (1990, cited in Day and Bamford, 1998) calls it “pleasure reading”

Originally, Palmer (1917, quoted by Bamford and Day, 1997) chose the term

“extensive reading” to distinguish it from “intensive reading” – the careful reading (or translation) of shorter, more difficult foreign language texts with the goal of complete and detailed understanding Extensive reading, in contrast, is generally associated with reading large amounts with the aim of getting an overall understanding of the material Readers are more concerned with the meaning of the text than the meaning of individual words or sentences Robb and Susser (1989, p.3)

define “extensive reading” as a language teaching/learning procedure because it is

reading (a) of large quantities of material or large texts; (b) for global or general understanding; (c) with the intention of obtaining pleasure from the text Further, because (d) reading is individualized, with students choosing the books they want to read; (e) the books are not discussed in class” Day and Bamford (1998) defined extensive reading in a second language (L2) as “an approach to the teaching and

learning of second language reading in which learners read large quantities of books and other materials that are well within their linguistic competence” (p viii) Parrot (1993) says that extensive reading is usually for one’s own pleasure This is a fluency activity, mainly involving the information content For Lewis and Hill (1985), extensive reading means students have a general understanding of the text without necessarily understanding every word As pointed out by Richards et al (1992), extensive reading means reading in quantity and in order to gain a general understanding of what is read It is intended to develop good reading habit, to build

up knowledge of vocabulary and structure, and to encourage a liking for reading

In summary, extensive reading implies fast reading of a large amount of longer, easy-to-understand material, with the reading done mostly outside of the classroom and at each student's own pace and level There are few, if any, follow-up exercises, because the aim is for overall understanding rather than word-by-word decoding or grammar analysis The characteristics of extensive reading will be described in greater details in the next section

2.2.2 Characteristics of extensive reading

In extensive reading, English language learners read large quantities of books and other material that are well within their linguistic competence They read for information and enjoyment, with the primary goal of achieving a general, overall understanding of the reading material Students select which books they are interested in reading, and read at their own speed Day and Bamford (2002) identify ten characteristics of successful extensive reading programs:

1 The reading material is easy The teacher should make sure that students read

material that contains vocabulary and grammar within their linguistic competence When students find no more than one or two difficult words on a page, then the text

is appropriately easy; it is well within their reading comfort zone Hu and Nation (2000, cited in Day and Bamford, 2002) suggest that learners must know at least 98% of the words in a fiction text for unassisted understanding In addition, reading easy material helps the affective dimension of learning to read The students

discover that they can read FL material, and as they read more and more material, they see themselves as readers in the target language

2 There must be a wide variety of materials on a wide range of topics Having

variety allow students to find material they want to read Different kinds of reading material also encourage a flexible approach to reading Students learn to read for different reasons (e.g., entertainment, information, passing time) and in different ways (skimming, scanning, more careful reading)

3 Students choose what they want to read Self-selection of reading material

means that learners can select texts as they read, that is, they can choose texts they expect to understand, to enjoy or to learn from Students are free to stop reading material that is boring, too difficult or that turns out not to be of interest

4 Learners read as much as possible This is the "extensive" of extensive

reading, made possible by the previous principles The most critical element in learning to read is the amount of time spent actually reading There is no upper limit

to the amount of reading that can be done The more the students read, the greater the benefits

5 The purposes of reading are usually related to pleasure, information, and general understanding and are determined by the nature of the material and the

interest of the students Students are encouraged to read for a variety of real-world reading purposes from entertainment to finding specific information Also in common with real-world reading, 100% comprehension is not usually the goal Only sufficient understanding to achieve one’s purpose is required

6 Reading is its own rewards Because the goal is for students to experience

reading, they are not required to demonstrate their understanding by answering comprehension questions However, teachers may need to ask students to engage in follow-up activities after reading for a number of reasons: 1) to discover what the students understood and experienced from reading; 2) to keep track of what students read; 3) to monitor the student’s attitude toward reading; and 4) to link reading with other aspects of the curriculum

7 Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower Because students read

material that they can easily understand, they begin to read faster Over time, they move from word-by-word decoding to fluent reading Students are advised against using dictionaries as it interrupts the reading process, making fluent reading impossible When encountering unknown vocabulary items, students are advised to either ignore the word or guess the meaning

8 Reading is individual and silent Silent, individual extensive reading

contrasts with the way classroom texts are used as vehicles for teaching language or reading strategies or (in traditional approaches) translated or read aloud It allows students to discover that reading is a personal interaction with the text, and an experience that they have responsibility for Thus, together with freedom to choose reading material, individual silent reading can be instrumental in students discovering how foreign language reading fits into their lives Extensive reading means learners reading at their own pace It can be done both in the students' own time when and where the student chooses, or inside the classroom when part or all

of a classroom period is set aside for silent, self-selected reading

9 Teachers orient and guide their students Students need careful introduction

to extensive reading The teacher could begin by explaining the benefits of ER – it leads to gains in vocabulary knowledge as well as reading, writing, and oral fluency The choice of easy materials, self-selection and reading for overall understanding could be discussed Teachers can keep track of what and how much their students read, and the students’ reactions to what was read Teachers may also wish to point out that there are no tests or comprehension questions

10 The teacher is a role model of a reader for students - an active member of

the classroom reading community who demonstrates what it means to be a reader and the rewards of being a reader Example is the most powerful instruction If the teacher read the same material that the students read, and talks to them about it, this gives the students a model of what it is to be a reader and also makes it possible for the teacher to recommend reading material to individual students In this way, the teacher and students form an informal reading community, experiencing together the value and pleasure that may be derived from the written word

2.2.3 The benefits of extensive reading in foreign language learning

Reading is good for you The research supports a stronger conclusion, however: Reading is the only way, the only way we become good readers, develop a good writing style, an adequate vocabulary, advanced grammar, and the only way we become good spellers (Krashen, 1993, p23, cited in Rosszell, 2006)

Reading, in general, can enhance learners’ language knowledge and especially, research has shown that extensive reading offers a wide range of learning benefits to second language learners It can help students improve vocabulary, reading skills, writing, and speaking, as Brown & Gakuin (2000) remark:

…… Student readers benefit a great deal from extensive reading

As there are components for developing fluent reading and true comprehension such as a large sight vocabulary (those words that

a child can recognize at sight in reading), a large general vocabulary (common vocabulary), knowledge of how the target language is used, knowledge of various text-types, and increased knowledge of the world in which we live (p.3)

Firstly, gains in vocabulary are among the most commonly cited benefits of extensive reading Nutall (1982) maintains that “an extensive reading program is the single most effective way of improving both vocabulary and reading skill in general” Extensive reading has been shown to be a highly successful way of reinforcing, confirming and deepening knowledge of vocabulary and expressions hitherto only imperfectly known, and of developing an implicit understanding of when and how words are used, by experiencing language in context (Coady, 1997) When students read widely, they will get ideas on what they have read and remember vocabulary on that topic Nation (1990) also has the same point of view when saying that “if the small amount of learning of a word is not soon after reinforced by another encounter, then that learning will be lost”

Moreover, extensive reading can help students remember vocabulary and grammar structures they have just learned Reading widely may be one of the best ways to increase the repetition of seeing the same vocabulary In the book “Working with words”, Gainns & Redman (1985) pointed out two basic theories about remembering words One theory suggests that information which is not activated

regularly disappears in time from memory This means that unless new words are practiced and revised they will soon be forgotten Learners can practice and revise new words in order not to forget them in different ways and reading is one of the most effective ways When reading they see words that they have just learned The more they see the word the better they can remember it Bell (1998) shares the same idea when saying that extensive reading helps consolidate previously learned language

Secondly, extensive reading can improve students’ reading speed and reading comprehension Robb & Susser’s (1989) experiments prove that extensive reading can help students read faster Reading is a skill Like many other skills, it needs a lot

of practice to be perfect One way to improve reading ability is by reading a lot (Day and Bamford, 1998) Students only read a lot when they feel interested And when do students feel interested in reading? The answer is that when the reading text is about something they really want to read or are really interested in Moreover, when learners read extensively texts that are of the same level, or are slightly below, their reading abilities will enhance fluency, recover lost confidence and begin to provide enjoyment in reading Also the experience of extensive reading will show many students that they need to drop the habit of literal translation – reading, a bad routine formed in traditional high school classes This habit limits the speed at which students read and reduce the efficiency with which they are able to comprehend

Bell (2001) did a research to measure the reading speed and comprehension in two groups of learners exposed to “intensive” and “extensive” reading programs Results indicate that subjects exposed to extensive reading achieved both significantly faster reading speeds and significantly higher scores on measures of reading comprehension Wodinsky and Nation (1988) stated that graded readers provide much more favourable conditions for reading and vocabulary learning than unsimplified texts do Sometimes reading difficult texts in the classroom does not interest students These texts are designed to present grammar structures, to give students input for a discussion or to improve reading skills (skimming, scanning…) Each text used in the classroom is for a certain purpose of language teaching and

learning Therefore, the language used in these texts is not as natural as those read outside the classroom And not all the topics of the reading texts in the classroom can interest students Once the reading text is not attractive enough for students, they will be lazy to read and learn less effectively Meanwhile, extensive reading is used in the class, which means they encourage their students to read what they really want to read, or know about Students are free to choose what they can read, they do not have the feeling of being forced This will help increase their motivation

to learn As a result, the more they read, the better their reading ability will be Thirdly, many researchers have found extensive reading to have a positive effect on listening, writing and other areas of language competence Extensive reading provides input for speaking and writing skills Once students have a large vocabulary and ideas on some topic, it will be much easier for them to write or speak about that topic as one of the main reasons preventing students from speaking and writing is that they do not have ideas Moreover, extensive reading of high-interest material offers the potential for reinforcing and recombining language learned in the classroom When reading extensively, students automatically receive the necessary reinforcement and recycling of language required to ensure that new input is retained and made available for spoken and written production

Finally, extensive reading helps to increase motivation and create a good habit of reading Constantino (1994), Mason & Krashen (1997), and Hayashi (1999) report that reading extensively increase motivation to read and the development of a positive attitude toward reading If reading is a “pleasure” like playing music or watching television, it still takes time to be interested in By having students read extensively what they are interested in, teachers can help them to spend more time reading and make it a habit Having a good reading habit is very important for students, who are expected to mainly self-study in their university course Moreover, by eliminating follow-up checks and exercises and encouraging students

to go for understanding the general meaning rather than detailed comprehension, students are gradually weaned off word-by-word decoding at the sentence level, something Japanese students find very difficult, as shall be seen Then the goal is to turn "learning to read into reading to learn."

In conclusion, the research on extensive reading shows that there is a wide range of learning benefits from such activity According to Asraf and Ahmad (2003), the effects of extensive reading are thus both cognitive as well as affective Not only does it lead to improvement in reading, writing, and vocabulary acquisition but it also leads to a positive attitude towards reading, which would help to increase students' language proficiency in the long term Grabe and Stoller (1997) stated that students need to read extensively If both the teachers and the learners know this, they will make full use of it

2.2.4 Graded readers as a source of extensive reading

Graded readers – a special design of extensive reading was used as the author found that these books would be simple enough for the students to read and understand The researcher shares Hsueh-chau’s and Nation (2000; cited in Asraf and Ahmad, 2003) view that graded readers do not require as much background knowledge as academic texts or newspaper do, and hence, are likely to represent the most favourable conditions for reading

2.2.4.1 Definition of Graded Readers

Graded Readers refer to texts that have been adapted or 'graded' to suit the comprehension level of the intended reader Examples include stories that have been simplified for children, or in the EFL classroom, material that has been written

to enable the student of English to read material suitable for his or her level of English ability (Oxford University Press)

According to Hill (2008), graded readers are books written for learners of English using limited lexis and syntax, the former determined by frequency and usefulness and the latter by simplicity Most series increase the permitted lexis and syntax in stages from beginning to advanced, with each stage presenting a more demanding reading task, not only in language but also in length and format

There are two types of graded reader: the rewrite and the simple original These terms have long since replaced ‘simplified reader’ to reflect the change in practice from reducing a text to recreating it and the addition of original writing Simensen

(1987, pp.42-43, cited in Susser and Robb, 1990) distinguishes three types of graded reader: (a) authentic readers, not written for pedagogic purposes; (b) pedagogic readers, specially written for EFL/ESL students; and (c) adapted readers, which have been adapted from authentic texts Hill and Thomas (1988, p.44) define

a graded reader as a book “written to a grading scheme”, whether it is a simplified version of a previously written work or an original work written in simple language Nation (2001) believes that graded readers are an effective resource that should not

be ignored, especially as they provide the following benefits They can be a means

of vocabulary expansion; by reading them learners increase their vocabulary size The students can learn remaining words through guessing from context or dictionary use under conditions which do not place a heavy learning burden on them Graded readers can be a means of establishing previously met vocabulary; learners can enrich their knowledge of known vocabulary and increase the fluency with which the vocabulary is retrieved

2.2.4.2 Typical levels of graded readers

Graded readers are typically divided into several levels (Nation, 2001)

Table 2.1: The vocabulary levels in the Oxford Bookworms series

vocabulary of around 400 words Some of the titles available at this level are White

Death, Mutiny on the Bounty, The Phantom of the Opera, and One Way Ticket

Level 2 adds another 300 words making a total of 700 words; all of the books at level 2 are within this vocabulary Some topic words not in the vocabulary and proper nouns are also allowed Some of the titles are simplifications and

abridgements of well known works (Sherlock Holmes Short Stories, Dracula) while

others are original pieces specially written for the series This has prompted some to call graded readers ‘language learner literature’ (Day and Bamford, 1998) The Bookworms series includes fiction, a series for younger readers, and ‘factfiles’ non-fiction titles

2.2.4.3 Extensive reading and Graded Reading

Graded Reading is also known as Basal Reading or Simplified Reading The rationale behind using graded materials is to allow the reader to read without difficulty Graded Reading therefore involves the reading of material which has been made easy to read The material can be graded (i.e., simplified) according to the use of high frequency vocabulary rather than vocabulary a native speaker might use; simplified phrasing or sentence structure; the use of illustrations; and so on Extensive Reading is often called Graded Reading and vice versa, and the terms are often used interchangeably However, Waring (1997) states important differences between the two First, Graded Reading uses specially prepared materials while Extensive Reading can, but need not do so Second, Extensive Reading requires fluent reading while Graded materials can be used for extensive or intensive reading Third, Extensive Reading sees pleasure as a goal leading to increased motivation Graded Reading has a specific purpose: for readers to read enough material at one level to develop sufficient fluency and other forms of linguistic knowledge to enable them to move to a higher level The ultimate goal of Graded Reading is to do so much of it that the learner can deal with native level texts fluently

2.2.5 Application of Extensive Reading at UNETI

Day and Bamford (2002) stated that the ten principles of an extensive reading program will give teachers food for thought and reflection as they consider their belief about how best to help their students become proficient foreign-language readers These principles should be applied flexibly in different teaching context Therefore, based on the teaching situation and conditions, the researcher of this study decided to use extensive reading and apply some of the principles above of

ER

Firstly, the reason why learners were encouraged to read graded readers was related

to principle 1 ‘the reading material is easy’ ‘Easy’ means materials with vocabulary and grammar well within the students’ linguistic competence Researchers suggest that learners need to be familiar with at least 95% of the running words in a text if they want to comprehend and thus learn from the text Fry (1991:8, cited in Day and Bamford, 2002) suggests that “Beginning readers do better with easier materials” Therefore, the teacher decided to use Stage 1 out of 6 graded language stages of the series the Oxford Bookworms Library as a source of extensive reading for non-English major college students at UNETI

Secondly, one of the difficulties for the learners at UNETI is the availability of the reading materials In the teaching context in Vietnam in general and at UNETI in particular, the desire that learners choose their readers from the library is not practical, especially short stories like graded readers Due to the lack of reading materials, the teacher had to find the graded readers in bookshops and provided to students Of course, the students are encouraged to select and to read materials from graded readers as well as other resources and read as much as possible But the teacher shares the view of Day and Bamford (2002) that a book a week is probably the minimum amount of reading necessary to achieve the benefits of extensive reading and to establish a reading habit So at first the students are required to read a story a week

Thirdly, the participants in this study are asked to read extensive reading materials only outside class because in class they had to finish the tight syllabus and extensive

reading was not included in the curriculum Moreover, most EFL classes at UNETI attempt to teach all "4-skills" The fact that "extensive reading" can be done outside the classroom is a significant advantage since precious class time can be spent on aspects where the presence of a teacher is required

Finally, teachers orient and guide the students by explaining the benefits of extensive reading at first, giving advice that they should follow the general storyline and grasp the main ideas of the text Because the goal is for students to experience reading, they are not required to demonstrate their understanding by answering of comprehension questions or other follow-up tasks as part of the activity

Some specialists say graded readers can serve the purpose of extensive reading as reading for pleasure And each story has its own beginning and ending so the students might be attracted in finding out the end of the story The teacher hoped that graded readers as a source of extensive reading will help the students relax after hard lessons as well as develop other skills, especially vocabulary

2.3 PREVIOUS STUDIES ON EXTENSIVE READING IN EFL

The past two decades have seen a considerable amount of research investigating the effects of reading on students’ vocabulary acquisition Many scholars have agreed that much second language vocabulary is learned incidentally while learners are engaged in extensive reading

Nation (2001) states that incidental learning of vocabulary through meeting words

in reading has numerous benefits It requires less teacher effort and classroom time, which can be used in other strands of language learning He also argues that although research shows only small amounts of incidental vocabulary learning occur from reading but these small amounts become big if learners read large quantities of comprehensive text (p149) Nagy and Herman (1987) concluded in their research that teachers should promote extensive reading because it can lead to greater vocabulary growth than any program of explicit instruction alone ever could (cited in Coady and Huckin, 1997, p 225)

Pigada and Schmitt (2006) did a research on the topic “Vocabulary acquisition from extensive reading” This case study of a learner of French explores whether an extensive reading program can enhance lexical knowledge The study assessed a relatively large number of words (133), and examined whether one month of extensive reading enhanced knowledge of these target words' spelling, meaning, and grammatical characteristics The measurement procedure was a one-on-one interview that allowed a very good indication of whether learning occurred The study also explores how vocabulary acquisition varies according to how often words are encountered in the texts Overall, the results showed that extensive reading appears to lead to substantial vocabulary learning, but it is not consistent across all word knowledge types

A Vietnamese researcher, Pham Thi Van Phuong (2008) did a case study on exploring the vocabulary development through extensive reading practice without formal instructions The subject of her research is the 44-year-old government official practicing extensive reading for a period of nearly three months The study aims to find out whether extensive reading lead to vocabulary development in this type of subject in terms of the number of words and word knowledge (word meaning and using) The study results demonstrated that extensive reading really helps improve vocabulary

Nguyen Thi Lam Anh (2008) in her MA thesis studied the effects of guided extensive reading on EFL learners’ vocabulary learning at Military Political Academy She did an action research to find out whether guided extensive reading helps improve learners’ vocabulary acquisition The data collection instruments of the thesis are reading journal, questionnaire, pretest and posttest The findings from the study revealed that learners gained some progress in vocabulary learning Furthermore, learners’ positive attitude towards reading in English was significantly improved

In conclusion, much research provides good evidence that vocabulary is learned incidentally from reading, at least to some extent, but there are still large gaps There has not been much research about effectiveness of graded reading on students’ vocabulary learning in colleges and universities in Vietnam Particularly,

there has been no research about graded reading related to learners at UNETI up to now Given this gap, the researcher would like to do this research with the use of graded readers to improve students’ vocabulary acquisition by way of action research In this study, the Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) tests were used to adjust the students’ knowledge of specific words from total unfamiliarity to the ability to use the word with grammatical and semantic accuracy in a sentence

2.4 SUMMARY

The literature helps the readers have a better understanding on extensive reading as well as graded reading It can also be seen that extensive reading bring about many benefits to the learners such as improving student’s vocabulary, writing, speaking….Most of the researchers who have done research on extensive reading strongly recommend that extensive reading should be used as a second language teaching procedure, and in many countries, extensive reading has become part of the ESL curricula Inspired from these researches, the author of this study would like to improve student’s vocabulary learning through story reading by the way of

an action research The method of the research will be presented in details in Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the purpose of the study, research questions, setting, subjects, research method and data collection instruments will be presented in detail

3.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research aims at answering the following questions:

1 How does short story reading as extensive reading improve students’ vocabulary acquisition?

2 What are the students’ attitudes towards short stories as an extensive reading activity?

The hypothesis is that short story reading will help learners to enhance their vocabulary knowledge It is also assumed that short story reading can improve attitudes towards reading in general and language learning in particular

3.2 DESCRIPTION OF THE PARTICIPANTS

The subjects participating in the study are 35 college-level students from class

attend the experiment because they either were suspended or dropped out of

the age of about 19 to 23 Among them, 80% are female, 20% are male They come from different provinces in Vietnam Before entering UNETI, the majority of learners had learned English at school, while there are still learners who have never learned English or any other foreign language before They had already learnt 60 periods of English during the first year and the material is New Headway Elementary Now they are in their second year and continue with New Headway Pre-Intermediate by Liz & John Soars (2000) The participants can take part in this program after mastering some basic grammar and vocabulary

3.3 SETTING

The study was carried out at UNETI where the writer is teaching English College students were chosen as subjects of the research because the time on learning English in class is not much At UNETI, all the subjects, excluding English, are conducted in Vietnamese, therefore, students learn and use the language only during their English lessons In terms of English vocabulary teaching, the students mainly learn vocabulary items presented in the texts in their English textbooks by heart and are always asked to check the Vietnamese meaning of any unfamiliar vocabulary from the dictionary

3.4 RESEARCH DESIGN

There are some research methods offered to be used in the field of applied linguistics such as experimental method, case study However, because of its outstanding advantages discussed below, Action Research (AR) was selected as the research method for this study In the following section, the definition of AR, the rationale for choosing AR as a research method for this study and the AR procedure will be explained in details

3.4.1 Definition of action research

Action research is now becoming a popular tool for teacher and curriculum development It is a teacher-initiated classroom research which seeks to increase the teacher’s understanding of classroom teaching and learning and to bring about improvements in classroom practices (Kemmis and Mc Taggart, 1988)

Wallace (1998) defined that an action research is done by systematically collecting data on teachers’ every day practice and analyzing them in order to come to some decision about what teacher future practice should be According to Wallace (1998), action research can be helpful for two reasons: (1) it can have a specific and immediate outcome which can be directly related to practice in the teacher’s own context; and (2) the ‘findings’ of such research might be primarily specific, that means it is not claimed that they are necessarily of general application and therefore the methods might be more free-ranging than those of conventional research Nunan (1992) stated that action research is “problem focused”, mainly concerned with a

single case in a specific situation, and tries to find solutions to the problem in focus

It not only encourages teachers to compare methods and ideas with critical eye and

to adopt these ideas into their teaching environment but also engages them in their teaching in a deeper way

The main aim of action research is to identify “problematic” situation or issues that participants consider worth investigating and to undertake practical interventions in order to bring about informed changes in practice It should be done by all teachers

at any times it is necessary

3.4.2 Process of action research

There have been some different models of AR given by the researchers who have studied or used in their studies It is said that AR should be seen as flexible and that researchers may have different processes in different situations An AR has a number of steps or phrases, which progress as a spiraling and evolving process A typical action research consists of the cycle of activities demonstrated in Figure 3.1 adapted from Somekh in Mc Bride & Sckotak (1989) as below:

Social situation

Figure 3.1: Action Research Cycle (Somekh in Mc Bride & Sckostak, 1989)

The AR of this study was carried out in a circle step by step in 15 weeks Based on the principles and procedures of AR demonstrated in Figure 1, the following stages were done one after another

a Identifying a problem (during week 1)

Researcher’s teaching experience, her discussion with the learners and the colleagues helped her find that one of learners’ biggest problems is lack of vocabulary knowledge (More details about it were discussed in the statement of the problem) Therefore, this aspect was selected to be the research focus in this study

b Collecting data (week 2):

A questionnaire for learners was used to confirm the students’ problem, the causes

of the problem and set up a potential solution to help improve learners’ vocabulary knowledge

A pre-test on Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) is used to adjust the level of the students (More details about it will be described in “Data collection instruments”)

c Analyzing data (week 3- 4):

The information collected from questionnaire, pre-test was analyzed to form a hypothesis, which will be discussed in detailed in section 4.1- The initial data

d Planning action (week 5-6):

Basing on the findings from the initial data, the results of pre-test and the literature review on the ways to help students enhance vocabulary, the solution chosen in the case was to use extensive reading, particularly short story reading in the form of graded readers More details will be presented in 4.2.2

e Implementing the action plan (week 7 to week 12):

The action plan implementation lasts about 6 weeks, with the participation of the researcher and 35 college learners at UNETI

- Choosing the reading materials: Short stories from The Oxford Bookworms Library published by Oxford University Press were selected as extensive reading materials This series offers a wide range of original and adapted stories, both classic and modern, which take learners from elementary to advanced level through six graded language stages In the context of the class, the students had just finished the textbook New Headway Elementary, the researcher chose stories in Stage 1 (400 headwords) for the students to read to make sure that reading materials were suitable for the student’s level

of proficiency (Post elementary)

- Handing out the materials: these stories were given to students to read outside the class hours Each week the students were assigned to read a story

- Following up activities: In order to check whether the students actually read materials at home, the researcher asked them to write reading journals (brief summaries and their opinions of the materials) The students can also be encouraged to share the results of their reading with each other in small group or as whole class

f Collecting post-data (week 13):

A post-test on Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) and attitude questionnaire were used to collect data to find out whether graded reading increased learners’ vocabulary knowledge and improve their attitude toward English language learning

g Analyzing post data (week 14 - 15):

The action research was evaluated based on the results collected from the post data From the findings of the action research evaluation, some recommendations for further research were made

3.4.3 Data collection instruments

To answer the research questions of the study, the data was collected through questionnaires, reading journals and tests on Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS)

3.4.3.1 Questionnaire

The questionnaire was chosen as a data collection instrument in this study This section discusses the rationale for choosing questionnaires and describes the questionnaires designed for this study

To begin with, it was believed that questionnaires could help to reveal much information needed to the study As commented by Richard (1994, p.10),

“Surveys and questionnaires are useful ways of gathering information about affective dimensions of teaching and learning, such as beliefs, attitudes, motivation, and preferences, and enable a teacher to collect a

questionnaires can help the researcher save time and easily get quick, focused results from a lot of people”

Another important advantage of this tool is that the collected data are relatively easy

to be summarized and reported because all the informants answer the same questions Moreover, with the characteristics of giving less pressure for an immediate response, questionnaires could allow respondents to answer in their own time, at their own pace, thus motivate them to work on it Finally, using questionnaires is quite inexpensive

To conclude, the researcher chooses to use written questionnaires because they are easy to do; they do not cost much money, time and effort; still considerable data and different ideas can be collected in a relatively short time Questionnaires used in this study were designed by the researcher based on information the researcher wanted

Question 4 attempts to explore the ways students often do when meeting new words

so that the teacher can give useful instructions to students

Question 5 aims to survey whether the learners ever read materials in English If students choose Yes, they continue with questions 6 and 7; if No, answer question 8 Question 6 and 7 explores kinds of materials students often read and the difficulties they face up to when reading

Question 8 asks the reasons why the students do not have the habit of reading English materials

Question 9 and 10 asks the feeling of students if the teacher asks them to read short stories this term and kinds of stories that they like reading

A five-point Likert scale is used for question 3, 4 with 1 = always, 2 = often, 3

=sometimes, 4 = rarely, 5 = never

This questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese in order to make sure that the participants understand all the questions

b Questionnaire 2 (Attitude Questionnaire –Appendix 3)

The researcher would like to discover the learners’ attitudes towards short stories as

an extensive reading activity Investigating the learners’ attitudes towards extensive reading is a way to verify the results found from the study and can help the researcher know whether the methods used are suitable or not In order to collect data on their attitudes, an attitude questionnaire was administered to the learners after the treatment

The attitude questionnaire used in this research consists of 10 closed questions A five-point Likert-scale (comprising 5 for “Strongly agree”, 4 for “Agree”, 3 for

“Not sure”, 2 for “Disagree” and 1 for “Strongly disagree”) was used to score the items The five - point rating scale is used in this study because it is “very popular with educational researchers and have been shown to work well” (Johnson and

Christensen, 2000: 134) The participants were asked to tick the items they chose into the respective columns

Questions 1 asks them what they think about the reading materials given

Questions 2, 3 and 4 are designed to discover the learners’ sense of improvement in their reading after the experiment

Question 5 and 6 ask the students whether the story reading activity helped to expand their vocabulary and improve other skills or not

Question 7 asks the learners to give their opinions about the follow-up activities Question 8, 9 and 10 aim at getting information about the learners’ reading habits with an aim to discover whether the extensive reading helps change their reading habits or not 3.4.3.2 Reading journal

The second tool used in this study was reading journal (Appendix 1) Before going

to the English class, learners had to complete the reading journal This form aimed

at getting concrete information on their opinions about the content of the material, their attitudes towards short stories as an extensive reading activity as well as the difficulties they meet during reading the materials It helped the researcher monitor learners’ reading so she could offer orientation, guidance, and decide what needed

to be modified in the next circles of the action Moreover, such documentation also provided ample material for the teacher to assess learners’ achievement over period and enabled learners not only to record their ideas and responses but also to see their own progress

3.4.4.3 Vocabulary Tests

Test was considered a good instrument to get information, as “it can provide information about general ability level of the students about specific problems that the students may be having with the language, and about their achievement in previous programs” (Brown, 1995, p.48) To investigate the learner’s progress after the action plan implementation, Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) tests (pre-test

and post-test) was used The pre-test and post-test would be exactly the same to ensure the level of difficulty of the two tests

The Vocabulary Knowledge Scale (VKS) (Paribakht & Wesche, 1997, cited in Coady & Huckin, 1997) had previously been developed by the researchers to

instrument uses a 5-point scale combining self-report and performance items to elicit self-perceived and demonstrated knowledge of specific words in written form The scale ratings range from total unfamiliarity, through recognition of the word and some idea of its meaning, to the ability to use the word with grammatical and semantic accuracy in a sentence (see Figure 3.2) Learners are presented with a list

of target words and asked to indicate their level of knowledge for each, and for report levels III-IV, to demonstrate this knowledge VKS scale differences are large enough to be self-perceived yet small enough to capture gains during relatively brief instructional periods

self-Figure 3.2: The Vocabulary Knowledge Scale from Wesche and Paribakht (1993)

I: I don't remember having seen this word before

II: I have seen this word before but I don't know what it means

III: I have seen this word before and I think it means (synonym

or translation)

IV: I know this word It means (synonym or translation) V: I can use this word in a sentence e.g.: _ (if you

do this section, please also do section IV)

VKS scoring accepts self-reported word knowledge of categories I and II for scores

of 1 and 2 and requires a demonstration of knowledge for higher scores The possible scores for a word on this instrument and their relationship to the self-report categories are given in Figure 3.2

Figure 3.3: The VKS scoring categories – meaning of scores

As illustrated in Figure 3.3, wrong responses in self-report categories III, IV or V will lead to a score of 2 A score of 3 indicates that an appropriate synonym or translation has been given for self-report categories III or IV A score of 4 is given

if the word is used in a sentence demonstrating the learner’s knowledge of its meaning in that context but with inaccurate grammar, or a mistakenly conjugated or derived form is given A score of 5 reflects both semantically and grammatically correct use of the target word, even if other parts of the sentence contain errors The pre-test (see Appendix 6) was given to the students at the beginning of the experiment The test took about 50 minutes and was done with the supervision of the researcher The test included 50 words chosen randomly from Glossary at the end of each story Students’ vocabulary knowledge was measured through 5 categories and scored from 1 to 5

The post-test was carried out after the time of action plan implementation with the researcher’s presence The purpose of the post-test was to measure the vocabulary knowledge after the experiment, from which the researcher could see whether there was any significant progress All the test papers were collected and marked by the

teacher under the VKS scoring categories The scores of the tests are recorded and the data are analyzed to determine whether the differences between the test scores are statistically significant

3.5 SUMMARY

In this chapter, the research method of the study- action research- as well as the

reasons why action research was chosen and its procedure have been presented There is also detailed presentation of the data collection instruments and the reasons for choosing such instruments – the questionnaires, reading journal, and tests The information about the participants of the study was also provided