Varying pre reading activities to improve the reading comprehension of the first year english majored students at foreing language department, phuong dong university an action rearch

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI UNIVERSITY LE ANH HUY VA R YIN G PRE-READING ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE READING COMPREHENSION OF THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT FOREIG

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HANOI UNIVERSITY

LE ANH HUY

VA R YIN G PRE-READING ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE READING COMPREHENSION OF THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT, PHUONG DONG UNIVERSITY: A N ACTION RESEARCH.

SUBM l l IBD IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE RHQTTreEMENTS

OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN TESOL

SUPERVISOR: HOANG THI X U A N HOA, M A

Hanoi 12/2006

First and foremost, I would like to express my special thanks to Ms Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, M A, my supervisor for her invaluable advice, generous assistance and continual encouragements in completion of this research

I also like to give my deepest thanks to all the English teachers in the Foreign Languages Department, Phuong Dong University for their helps and advice when I do this work

My earnest appreciation goes to the first year English majored students at Foreign Languages Department, Phuong Dong University in class 1272A1, 1272A2, 1272B1, 1272B2 who have actively participated in my study I truly enjoyed the moment working with them during the project

I am also in debt of my lecturers at the post-graduation department at Hanoi University for their knowledge contributions and constructive comments and criticism so that I can accomplish this thesis successfully

Last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to members of my family, especially my wife who have constantly supported, inspired and encouraged me to carry out successfully the thesis

It is assumed that i f the students are well-prepared, especially from the pre-reading stage, their reading tasks w ill be completed more successfully and obstacles while reading w ill not hinder their understanding any longer

The overall purpose o f the study is to investigate the effectiveness of various pre-reading activities applied by the researcher at Foreign Language Department, Phuong Dong University Thus, survey questionnaires and class observations are used to investigate the teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards pre-reading activities, and to examine the students’ preferences for these activities

The results o f the study show that both teachers and students are fully aware of the sheer importance o f pre-reading activities to the students’ comprehension Several activities are reported to have been used at the pre-reading stage Among them, giving a brief introduction

of the text and using pre-reading questions are found to be the most frequently used but not interesting ones Using visual aids and games is detected rarely employed by the teachers; however, they are in greatest favour by the students The data from the classroom observation also highlight the impact of using activities before asking the students to read the text Finally, teachers as well as students found it quite necessary to improve the pre-reading activities in the textbook they are using

Hopefully, the thesis can be considered as a small contribution to the ongoing process of renovation for teaching at the Foreign Language Department, Phuong Dong University

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

PDU: Phuong Dong University

FLD: Foreign Language Department

Ր Լ : Foreign Language

EFL: English as Foreign Language

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

AR: Action Research

L2: Second Language

SLA: Second Language Acquisition

T: Teacher

Sts: Students

LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS

Figure 1: The process of reading comprehension

Figure 2: The process of doing action research

Chart 1: Students’ attitude toward reading skill

Chart 2: Factors affecting students’ reading comprehension

Chart 3: The teacher’ s way of starting a reading lesson

Chart 4: Students’ opinion about the pre-reading activities that the teacher applied

Chart 5: The frequency of using different kinds of pre-reading activities

Chart 6: Students’ preferences for these pre-reading activities

Chart ᄀ Students’ comment on the pre-reading activities in the textbook.

Chart 8: Students’ suggestions to improve pre-reading activities in the textbook

Chan 9: The icsults o f the pic-tcst

Chart 10: Factors affecting students’ reading comprehension

Chart 11: The teacher’s way o f starting a reading lesson

Chart 12: Students，opinion about the pre-reading activities that the teacher applied

Chart 13: The results of the post-test

Chart 14: Pre-test and post-test comparison

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOW LEDGEM ENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

LIST OF A BB R E V IATIO N S iii

LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS V CHAPTER 1: IN TR O D U C TIO N 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.2 Aims o f the study 2

1.3 Research Questions 2

1.4 Scope o f the study 3

1.5 Method of the study 3

1.6 Significance o f the study 4

1.7 Outline of the study 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE R E V IE W 5

2.1 Theoretical background o f reading s k ill 5

2.1.1 Definition o f reading 5

2.1.2 Factors in teaching and learning reading 6

2.2 Reading comprehension 7

2.2.1 Reading comprehension 7

2.2.2 Factors affecting students’ reading comprehension 9

2.3 The pre-reading stage 13

2 3 1 S ta g e s o f a r e a d i n g l e s s o n 13

2.3.2 The pre-reading stage 14

2.3.4 The important role o f pre-reading activities 15

2.4 Different kinds o f pre-reading activities to apply 16

2.4.1 Giving a brief introduction of the text 16

2.4.2 Giving pre-reading questions 18

2.4.3 Pre-teaching new words in the reading te x t 18

2.4.4 Predicting the content of the text 19

2.4.5 Using discussion about the topic of the text 20

2.4.6 Explaining the instructions of the text 20

2.4.7 Using a brainstorming w eb 21

2.5 Previous research in the fie ld 21

2.5.1 Foreign research 22

2.5.2 Vietnamese research 23

CHAPTER 3: THE METHODOLOGY 25

3.1 What is action research? 25

3.2 Action research questions 26

3.3 Data collection instruments 26

3.3.1 Questionnaires 26

V

3.3.2 Interviews 27

3.3.3 Observations 28

3.3.4 Pre-test and post-test (appendix 7 ) 28

3.4 The setting and the participants 29

3.4.1 The setting 29

3.4.2 The subjects 29

3.4.3 The observer 30

3.5 Action research procedure 30

3.5.1 Identifying a problem 31

3.5.2 Collecting data 31

3.5.3 Analyzing data and generating hypothesis 31

3.5.4 Planning action 31

3.5.5 Implementing the action plan 32

3.5.6 Collecting data to monitor change 32

3.5.7 Analyzing data and evaluating the change 33

Summary 33

CHAPTER 4 THE RESULTS 34

4.1 The pre-data 34

4.1.1 Data from questionnaire 1 (appendix 1) 34

4.1.2 Data from the interview (appendix 3) 41

4.1.3 Data from observation (appendix 4 ) 42

4.1.4 Pre-test (appendix 7A ) 43

Summary 44

4.2 The post data 44

4.2.1 Data from observation (appendix 5 ) 44

4.2.2 Data from questionnaire 2 (appendix 2) 45

4.2.3 Post test (appendix 7B) 48

4.3 Action research evaluation 49

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION 51

5.1 Major findings 51

5.1.1 Major findings from the pre-data 51

5.1.2 Major findings from the post data 51

5.2 Recommendations

3.2.1 Varying pre-reading activities 52

3.2.2 Using pre-reading activities appropriately and fle x ib ly 52

3.2.3 Encouraging the students, internal factors 53

3.2.4 Improving the pre-reading activities in the m aterial 54

5.3 Limitation and suggestions for further study 54

5.4 Conclusion 55

REFERENCES 56

APPENDIXES 58

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

The acquisition of reading skills in a foreign language is a priority for millions of learners

in Vietnam This is understandable as teaching English in Vietnam aims to provide the students with the abilities to understand written materials What is more, English is taught and learned in a non-native environment so reading is not only an important means to gain knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place According to Carrell (1983:1)，'fo r many students, reading is by far the most important o f the four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or foreign language.’ This is also true for the first year students at the Foreign Language Department (FLD), Phuong Dong University (PDU) because the reading skill offers them a wide range of interesting information as well as a variety of language expression and structures, which are o f great usefulness for developing other skills

When studying in a reading lesson, students often experience the lack of careful preparation for comprehending reading Actually, preparation stage is an essential element

in language learning in general and in learning reading in particular For each reading state, careful preparation is necessary and needs to be provided, especially for the very fiis i minutes o f the lesson- the pre-reading stage To enhance the students1 reading comprehension, it is supposed to count on the teachers1 organization of pre-reading activities

It stands to reason that a good pre-reading stage can arouse the students1 interests in reading as well as can provide them some language preparation, which can be helpful clues

to their reading comprehension It is also evident that exploiting pre-reading activities effectively for this stage is challenging for teachers because they have to take things into consideration such as the objectives of the lesson, the setting, the students’ level, the students’ needs, etc when delivering the activities For the first-year students at the Foreign Languages Department (FLD), Phuong Dong University (PDU), the reading teachers have

to do the same things to increase the students’ comprehension of reading with the ultimate goal is to help them to improve their reading skills Despite the teachers’ effort, sometimes, the students，comprehension o f intensive reading is still low and the reading lesson is said

to be a boring and difficult one This fact has encouraged the author to investigate into

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different pre-reading activities applied by the teachers and to give some suggestions forhandling the pre-reading activities It is hoped that the study w ill be helpful for the author and other reading teachers in some way to find appropriate pre-reading activities to stimulate their students in a reading lesson.

However, with the limitation of time the author intends to investigate the pre-reading stage not while or post-reading ones despite the fact that they are the main phases of the teaching process

1.2 Aims o f the study

The study aims to find out whether various pre-reading activities help to improve reading comprehension of the first year English majored students at Foreign Languages Department, Phuong Dong University and to give some suggestions for applying these effective activities in the university’s teaching and learning reading comprehension skill The specific aims of the research are as follows:

1 To examine the students’ problems and causes o f the problems in reading lessons

2 To examine the students’ preferences for pre-reading activities

3 To examine whether varying pre-reading activities in the reading textbook helps toimprove the students’ reading comprehension

1.3 Research Questions

The study was carried out in order to find out the answers to following research questions together with sub-questions:

1 What }s the students ’problem and the cause o f the problem in reading lessons?

2 What are the students ’ attitude and preferences fo r pre-reading activities?

a How do they fin d the teacher， s pre-reading activities?

b What do they think o f the pre-reading activities in the reading textbook?

c What pre-reading activities do they like most to comprehend the reading text more effectively?

3 Does varying pre-reading activities in the reading textbook help students to comprehend the reading better?

1.4 Scope of the study

The research aims at applying different pre-reading activities in teaching reading lessons to the first year English majored students at the Foreign Language Department (FLD), Phuong Dong University (PDU) The subjects of the study were 34 first year English majored students are from the class 1272 B They are at the ages o f between 18 and 20 Hopefully, the findings o f the study may be applied in teaching reading to English majored students at the Foreign Language Department (FLD), Phuong Dong University (PDU) They can be also applied to the reading teaching to EFL students in other universities and colleges in Vietnam

1.5 Method o f the study

Methodology:

- Action research design is used by the researcher since it ’s the problem in my own classroom and I would like to improve my students5 learning and my own professional performance It is a practical action research one because its purpose is to research a specific school situation with a view toward improving practice, to focus on a small-scale

research project, to focus lidiiow ly oil a specific problem and to be undertaken by

individual teacher within a university

Data collection instruments:

Survey questionnaires: This instrument allows the researcher to collect factual information about the subjects and their learning situation Furthermore, it is rather useful to summarize, analyze, and report the collected data as all informants submit the answers to the same questions

Interviews: The main purpose of this data collection instrument is to make sure that the information collected from the questionnaire has its validity and reliability

Class observation: The teacher w ill observe the classes in the study to see the way the teacher organized the pre-reading activities and also the students’ learning attitude, their participation, the way they join the pre-reading activities in reading lessons

Pre-test and Post-test: Through these two tests, the researcher can find the difference in the students’ reading comprehension, compare the results before and after the time of doing an action plan.

1.6 Significance of the study

The study highlights the important role o f using different kinds o f pre-reading activities in developing the reading skill in general and the reading comprehension in particular

Pedagogically, the findings of the study are believed to be useful for reading teachers to be aware o f the essential role of different pre-reading activities to the students’ comprehension

in a reading lesson Furthermore, the suggestions for pre-reading activities, which are based

on the theoretical background and the current situation of using them at the FLD, PDU, hopefully can help the students to improve their reading skills as well as the teachers to upgrade their teaching activities in relation with the process o f renovation for teaching at the FLD, PDU currently

1.7 Outline o f the study

The thesis is divided into five parts: the introduction, the literature review, the methodology, the results and the conclusion

Chapter 1，The introduction, introduces the basic information such as the background to the study, aims, research questions, scope, outline and significance of the study

Chapter 2，Literature Review, provides the basic concepts of the reading comprehension and the importance of pre-reading activities, factors affecting comprehension in learning reading and previous studies relating to the field

Chapter 3，Methodology, presents the methodology used in the study including the subjects, the settings, instrumentation, procedure, data collection and data analysis

Chapter 4，The results, presents and discusses the steps of the action research and the analysis of the pre-data and post data It also gives the evaluation of the action research

The last chapter, Chapter 5, The conclusion, offers the major findings from pre-data and post-data analysis, some recommendations, suggestions for further research and limitations

of the study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2-1 Theoretical background o f reading skill

2.1.1 Definition of reading

Reading is a completely individual activity which takes place in all different ways from newspapers, magazines, written texts, telephone directory, labels on medicine bottles, notices, etc The ability to read is such a natural part of human beings that they seldom try

to define reading However, there are still different points o f view on the definition of reading

U r，s preliminary definition is 'reading means reading and understanding’ (19%: 138) According to Harmer (1989: 153)，'reading is an exercise dominated by the eyes and the brain The eyes receive messages and the brain then has to workout the significance of these messages.，Roe, Stoodt and Bums (1987: 2) defined reading in a more extensive way:

Reading is understanding written language

Reading is a complex mental process

R e a d in g is th in k in g

Reading comprehension is reconstruction, interpretation and evaluation

of what author of written content means by using knowledge gained from life experience

A ll in all, what all the linguists had in common is that reading involves a variety of skills and reading usually means comprehending written language so when understanding breaks down, reading actually has not occurred

Reading is very important to our life Almost all o f us read every day However, the reasons for reading differ from one person to another As a result, the ways we read are also different In other words, the purposes of reading determine the ways or the styles of reading Nuttall (2000: 38) indicates two main types of reading, namely, intensive and extensive reading For him, these are not just two contrasting ways of reading but an infinitive variety o f interrelated and overlapping strategies Actually, intensive and extensive readings are complementary and both are necessary

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In short, reading is necessary to every learner and undeniably an important skill in comparison with others In addition, it is notable that intensive and extensive reading should not be seen as in being opposition but need to be paid equal attention for the sake of the students Similarly, for second or foreign language learners, both intensive and extensive reading are of great importance as they act as a means to gain knowledge but also

to develop learners’ language skills

2.1.2 Factors in teaching and learning reading

a Reading texts

Texts play an important role in teaching and learning reading because they are a means to introduce new lexical, phonetic as well as grammatical items o f the target language and they are also means to help students to enrich their background knowledge Thus, the teacher needs to take the following points into consideration (Grellet, 1981: 20) when choosing appropriate authentic texts to suit with different reading activities:

The language of the text

The content o f the text

Vocabulary and grammatical structures

Types o f reading activities

b Teacher’ s roles

Concerning the roles of a reading teacher, Moore (1992) points out that there are three categories: instructional expert, organizer or manager and counselor However, Mahon (1986: 98-99) states that the teacher is the most important element in a reading class, for her attitude influences students and their performance The teacher of this component [reading] should provide her students:

1 an anxiety-free atmosphere so they w ill feel free to experiment with a new readingstyle;

2 practice so they w ill master new strategies;

3 pressure in the form of persuasion and timings

But Mahon leaves out one essential element of the teacher’s role, that of a model reader.Nuttall (1982: 192) says: 4 showing that you are a reader means carrying books around with you，referring to books as you teach, reading out brief passages that may interest students,

talking about what you are reading at the moment, and handling books as if you loved them， What is more, Nuttall states that ‘teacher’s job as providing, first, suitable texts and second, activities that w ill focus the students’ attention on the text.’ In order words, students must develop their own skills with the guidance of the teacher Still another aspect

of this is the teacher as a model thinker Reading is problem solving and the teacher can serve as a model by thinking aloud as she introduces new reading skills and strategies

Taking risks: The students have to take the risk of making mistakes because a mistake is an opportunity to learn

Learning not to cheat oneself: Learning to read is learning to give the students enormous advantage in life It may lead to better jobs, to personal development, interest and enjoyment Students who do not want to learn to read can easily cheat but they are only cheating themselves Nobody else w ill suffer but they are wasting their opportunities

message from a written text It is the interaction between the text and the reader There is,thus, an essential interaction between language and thought in reading The writer encodes thought as language and the reader encodes language to thought with the movement of his eyes and brain And according to Harmer (1989)，reading is seen as an exercise dominated

by the eyes and the brain The eyes receive messages and the brain then has to work out the meaning o f these messages This is known as decoding，，the message This process of reading is illustrated in the following diagram:

Figure 1: Davies and Whitney (1979, 20)，

The process o f decoding language to thought or working out the meaning o f a reading text

is considered to be reading comprehension In this process, the reader has to make an effort

to extract the required information from the printed text as efficiently as possible This means the reader has to employ the various ways to facilitate his/her understanding the text For example, we apply different reading strategies when looking at a TV page for a particular program and when carefully reading an article of special interesting medical journal Finding the interesting television program on the TV page and understanding new information contained in an article involves different purposes In each case the reader has

to apply the theory reading in a different way In the former, a competent reader w ill normally ignore the irrelevant information and read what interest him/her most In the later, there is not enough to understand the gist o f the article so more detailed comprehension is necessary

In short, for various reading purposes, we need different ways to comprehend a written text

It is essential for readers to realize what they are reading and why they are reading And careful preparation for the reading task may be of great help to the students in comprehending the reading texts as well as in increasing the effectiveness of a reading lesson

2.2.2 Factors affecting students’ reading comprehension

It is very important to look closely at the factors affecting the extent to which learners comprehend a reading lesson and to obtain the best achievement in second language acquisition (SLA) Oxford (1990) presents a series of factors influencing learning strategies choice They are: motivation, students’ need, teachers’ teaching methods, materials and students’ background knowledge

2.2.2.1 Motivation

Whenever we have a desire or need for something, we are in the state of motivation Motivation is some kind of internal drive that encourages somebody to pursue a course of

action (Harmer, 1989)

Harmer (1989) separates motivation into two main categories: extrinsic motivation which

concerning with what that takes place inside the classroom O f extrinsic motivation, he distinguishes “ instrumental motivation” which occurs when the learner’ s goal is functional (e.g to get a job or pass an examination), and “ integrative motivation，，, which occurs when the learners wish to identify the culture of the L2 group He considers physical conditions, method, the teacher and success to be factors related in intrinsic motivation Another linguist, Ellis (1992: 300)，pays attention to another kind o f motivation - “ task motivation，

- the interest felt by the learner in performing different learning tasks

It is the fact “ task motivation，，is essential in every aspect o f SLA, better task motivation can bring better language acquisition

More highly motivated learners use a significantly greater range of appropriate reading strategies than less motivated learners Motivation is closely related to a reading purpose, which is another key to strategy use For each reading purpose, a reader often reads in his/her own way For instance, a reader tends to use extensive reading skills rather than intensive ones when he/she reads for pleasure According to Harmer (1991: 119):

Motivation is some kind of internal drive that encourages somebody to pursue a

course of action If a reader perceives a goal and if that goal is attractive enough,

he will be strongly motivated to do whatever is necessary to reach that goal

And i f readers are aware of the aim and have the right attitude towards their learning, and learning, then, w ill take place That is to say, they w ill become much more flexible and creative in selecting suitable reading strategies for themselves

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2.2.22 Students9 need

It is an awareness of learners’ needs to learn reading skill among the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) Learners w ill be more interested in doing pre- reading activities when they are aware that careful preparation before reading is of vital importance in reading comprehension and enhancing students’ motivation in doing reading activities Moreover, in the modem time of communication, students are overloaded with so many materials that can build up their reading speed with a required level of comprehension To obtain this goal, they tend to develop more extensive reading skills than intensive ones This means students seem to scan and skim a lot and skip unimportant items

in the material

2.2.23 Teachers9 teaching method

The Schema Theory Model

The role o f background knowledge in language comprehension has been formalized as

schema theory which has one o f its fundamental tenets that text, any text, either spoken or

written, does not by itself carry meaning Rather, according to schema theory, a text only provides directions for listeners or readers as to how they should retrieve or construct meaning from their own, previously acquired knowledge This previously acquired knowledge is called the reader’s background knowledge, and the obviously acquired

knowledge structures are called schemata.

Schema theory based on the belief that "every act o f comprehension involved one's knowledge o f the w orld as w e ir Thus readers develop a coherent interpretation of the

information a reader brings to a text Carrell (1997) claim that Schema theory has provided numerous benefits to ESL teaching and, indeed, most current ESL textbooks attempt background information activation through pre-reading activities

According to schema theory, comprehending a text is an interactive process between the reader’s background knowledge and the text Efficient comprehension requires the ability

to relate the contextual material to one’s own knowledge Comprehending words, sentences and entire texts involves one’ s knowledge of the world as well The process of interpretation is guided by the principle that every input is mapped against some exciting schema and that all aspects of that schema must be compatible with the input information

This principle results in two basic modes of information processing, called bottom-up and

top-down mode

Bottom-up processing

Recently, the bottom-up approach has played a significant role both in first and second language research and theory Camboum (cited from Nunan, 1991: 63) states that it is the basis o f vast majority of reading schema The central notion behind the bottom-up approach

is that reading is basically a process of decoding a series o f written symbols into their aural equivalents He illustrates how the process is supposed as follows:

Print—> Every letter —> Phonemes and—> Blending —> Pronunciation —► Meaning

discriminated graphemes matched

In this model, the reader processes each individual letter as it is encountered by matching these letters with the phoneme form words These phonemes are blended together to form words And a message is built up Richards (1990: 63) states:

The process of comprehension begins with message received, which is analyzes at

successive levels of organization - sounds, words, clauses, sentences- until the

intended meaning is arrived at

Comprehension is thus viewed as a process of decoding, and the reader’s lexical and grammatical competence in language is the basis for bottom-up processing

Top-down processing

In top-down approaches, on the other hand, refers to the use of existing knowledge in understanding the meaning o f a message Background knowledge may be previous knowledge about the topic o f discourse, it may be situational or contextual knowledge or it may be knowledge stored in long-term memory in the form o f schema and script This approach refers to the interaction process between the reader and the text The reader brings to the interaction their knowledge of the subject at hand, expectations, motivation, interests and attitudes towards the content o f the text rather than decoding each symbol or even every word

This has become known as interactive reading Bottom-up and top-down approaches can be

mobilized by conscious choice, and both are important strategies for readers

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In short, schema theory suggests that we need to utilize information not explicitly contained in the text to comprehend more texts The knowledge we carry around in our head is organized into interrelated patterns These are constructed from our previous experience of the experimental world and guide us as we make sense of new experiences They also enable us to make predictions about what we might expect to experience in s given context.

Given the fact that discourse comprehension is a process of utilizing linguistic cues and background knowledge to reconstruct meaning, these schemata extremely important particularly to second and foreign language learners And there is no doubt that pre-reading activities are of great help in arousing learners’ background knowledge However, deciding the right activities for the right students and at the suitable time is not easy to all teachers of reading Therefore, teaching methodology plays a very important role in language teaching

in general and in teaching reading in particular

2 2 2 4 Materials

Material is considered to be one o f the kernel elements in the model of language teaching and learning O ’Malley and Chammot (1990: 210) state that:

The objectives of language materials are to develop academic English language

skills though content-based instructions, to develop understanding and skills in

content areas, and to teach students learning strategies that will help them become

autonomous learners of both language and content

Because o f this, appropriate reading materials must effectively assist students in developing their reading skills Teachers are advisable to design or at least know how to select suitable reading materials accompanied with a relevant range of exercises for students In other words, the topic o f reading materials must be o f students’ interest This is because:

The high-interest topics and thematically linked reading effectively build

students* background knowledge and vocabulary for later reading With their

increased knowledge of a topic, students will have more to talk, write and think

about as they acquire English

(Baker de Gonzalez and Blau in ''Pearson Education ESL”，2000)

The authenticity o f the materials must be also taken into account Nunan (1996:216) states:

One of the great advantages of beginning with authentic written texts is that

classroom work in referenced against the type of language which learners will

encounter outside the classroom

Dealing with authentic texts may increase students’ interest and motivation as well It is noted that in order to help the beginners make it easy when dealing with authentic materials, the teacher may explain some difficult structures and encourage to develop reading skills to solve problem if possible or set reading tasks which are not too difficult This is a positive way to get students accustomed to authentic texts.

22.2.5 Students9 background knowledge

Everyone knows that students from disadvantaged backgrounds or are not well prepared before reading often have the toughest time understanding the text Insufficient background knowledge is a chronic cause of low achievement

High-connection lessons provide students with opportunities to make connections between

their linguistic, cultural, world knowledge and experience and the topics, skills and competencies at hand Background knowledge may include community knowledge, local knowledge, personal experience, media and popular culture sources

Low-connection lessons introduce new content, skills and competencies without any direct

or explicit opportunities to explore what prior knowledge students have of the topic, and without any attempts to provide relevant or key background knowledge that might enhance students' comprehension and understanding o f the 'new’ material being offered

2.3 The pre-reading stage

2.3.1 Stages of a reading lesson

It is a common knowledge that a reading lesson consists o f three important stages: pre- reading, while-reading, and post-reading Obviously, each stage has its own characteristics and time allocation

• Pre-reading stage

This stage is carried out before the students begin reading the texts Obviously, it plays an essential part in the whole process o f a reading lesson According to Williams (1984: 37)，the purposes of the pre-reading stage are:

To introduce and arouse interest in the topic

To motivate learners by giving a reason for reading

To provide some language preparation for the text

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Normally, pre-reading phase often lasts from eight to twelve minutes depending on each lesson Before delivering activities for this stage, the teacher needs to take the objectives of the lesson，the situation of teaching and learning, the students’ needs into account.

• While-reading stage

Williams (1984: 38) states that while-reading stage is the main part o f a reading lesson with the following specific aims:

To help understanding of the writer’s purpose

To help understanding of the text structure

To clarify text content

The teacher, at the while-reading stage, needs to help their students comprehend the text thoroughly while the students have to apply to the best their reading skills like skimming, scanning, guessing, etc to understand the text as well as the writer’ purposes conveyed through the reading text Apparently, time allocation for this is nearly two thirds of the whole lesson

• Post-reading stage

It is the last step o f a reading lesson so it is the time for students，production What they produce w ill reflect how well they comprehend the text In W illiam s’ view (1984: 39)，4he post-reading stage is aimed at consolidating or reflecting upon what has been read and relating the text to the learners’ own knowledge, interests or views， Normally, it takes ten

or fifteen minutes to complete all activities at this stage

To conclude, these above-mentioned stages are essential for a reading lesson Additionally,

it is not necessary to carry out all these stages mechanically on every occasion However, being aware o f the benefits o f the first - the pre-reading stage - the researcher intends to explore more about it

2.3.2 The pre-reading stage

A ll language use in real life occurs in situations, which allow the language user to rely heavily on anticipation and context Therefore, it is difficult to ask students to read an unseen text with no preparation Preparation involves activities organized before the students read the text such as pre-reading questions, pre-teaching vocabulary, etc Undeniably, these activities play a decisive role in the whole process of teaching a reading

text for the fact that 4a good beginning makes a good ending， Pre-reading activities employed by the teacher can arouse students’ interests in the topic and make them want to read the text In addition, Lewis and H ill (1992) emphasize that pre-reading activities should be used to make it easier for students to understand the text and to help them focus their attention on it as they read (p 10) Generally speaking, there are three major reasons for preparing the students to read: to establish a purpose for reading a given text, to activate existing knowledge about the topic and to establish realistic expectations about what is in the text.

To achieve these aims, it is advisable for the teacher to conduct a good pre-reading stage A pre-reading stage is considered to be good i f in this stage:

1 The students are provided with language items necessary for them to understand the text

2 Students are interested in the topic and eager to explore it

3 A ll activities o f the procedure are treated in a reasonable way

4 The teacher is able to cope with all problems that arise in the lesson

Actually, the teacher can employ various activities to organize the pre-reading stage There has been lots o f research into the pre-reading stage such as D off (1988)，Lewis & H ill (1992)，Williams (1986), Nuttall (1989)，Nuttal (2000)，Moore (1992)，etc They have suggested several activities for the teacher to employ during the first stage of the reading lesson

2.3.4 The important role of pre-reading activities

According to D o ff (1998: 171):

“ Usually to, students read a text not because they want to, but because the

teacher tells them or simply because it is there - it is the next activities in the text

book So to help them to read, it is important to give the students some reasons for

reading and to give them information they want to find the answer to •，’

Helping students to read can be in two ways:

Giving a few questions for students to think about as they read and discuss the answer afterwards These are called “ guiding questions” or “ signpost questions”

Organizing an activity before students read the text, which arouses their interest in the topic and makes them want to read Activities of this kind are called “ pre-reading activities” or

“ pre-reading tasks，

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Pre-reading stage plays a decisive role in the whole process of teaching reading comprehension Pre-reading activities are said to be useful in reading class because they have been referred to as instruments teachers can use in class to activate students’ background knowledge Clearly, in this stage, the teacher plays an important role as a motivator to stimulate students’ interest in reading According to Steven (1998: 93)

“ Pre-reading activities must accomplish both goals: building new background

knowledge as well as activating existing background knowledge A teacher of

reading may thus be view as a teacher of relevant information as well as a teacher

of reading skills.，，

Pre-reading activities aim at introducing the text to the students and help them make careful preparation before reading a text It is advisable for the teacher to create a reading motivation and a positive attitude towards reading for students so that they can achieve a high level o f comprehension and become confident and effective reader

In conclusion, from the above researchers’ opinions, it is clear that the pre-reading stage is very essential in the process of teaching reading Its purposes are to instruct and around interest in the reading topic and to provide some background knowledge for the text It also creates motivation before students read the text Thus, this helps increase the effectiveness

o f reading lessons

2Л Different kinds o f pre-reading activities to apply

2.4.1 Giving a brief introduction of the text.

This means the teacher gives a brief (two or three sentences) introduction to the content of the text Needless to say, introducing the text briefly is beneficial to the readers because of the following reasons First, it can recall any information that they may already know about the topic Second, an introduction may increase their interest in the topic and thereby motivate them to read the text Finally, i f the text is introduced, it w ill also review or introduce the relevant vocabulary for that topic Being aware of these strong points, the teacher should deliver a good introduction From Nuttall’s view (2000: 157)，a good introduction should have the following qualities:

It makes the students want to read the text

It helps the students to relate the text to their own experience, aims, and interests

It involves the students actively

It does not tell the students anything they can find out by reading the text

It is usually short.

Obviously, there are several ways to give a brief introduction o f the text including using introductory sentences, visual aids, games, title and subtitles o f the text, etc

A Using introductory sentences

It is the shortest and easiest way for the teacher to introduce the text as it goes straight to the subject matter In fact, most of the teachers employ this technique and a large number

of students are interested in listening to introductory sentences However, using introductory sentences for all reading texts can lead to monotony as it is in the form of the teacher’s monologue As a matter of fact, it is advisable to present introductory sentences for difficult and unfamiliar topics

B Using a short story

the topic of the text Consequently, after comparison between

Teachers, sometimes, may tell a short story or an anecdote related to

More interestingly, students can show their own stories i f they have,

the story, students may be w illing to read the text in order to have a

the text and the story

c Using visual aids

Visual aids are something visible such as pictures, photographs, real objects, flashcards or charts Visual aids can be used at any stage of a lesson as they provide something for learners to look at, to keep their attention and to make the class more interesting Not surprisingly, using visual aids at the first stage of a reading lesson to introduce the text is of great usefulness However, to make the stage more effective, visual aids should be clear enough, related to the topic of the text and of the students’ interests

D Using the title and subtitles of the text

Teachers can make use of the title and subtitles of the text or quotations appeared in the text to arouse the students，motivation in reading the passage The title w ill be exploited by gathering different experiences relevant to the topic from the students Nevertheless, it is advisable to investigate into easy topics so that title can be fully exploited

E Using games

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It is common knowledge that games are of great usefulness to language teaching since games encourage learners to sustain their interests and work as well as help the teacher create contexts in which the language is useful and meaningful Games such as hangman, crosswords, etc can be helpful to introduce the text.

2.4.2 Giving pre-reading questions

Pre-reading questions or guiding questions are comprehension questions asked either orally

or written on the board before the students read the text It is evident that these questions are necessary to students because ‘they give the students a reason to read and to lead them

to the main points o f the text，(Doff, 1988: 61) Guiding questions, obviously, should be concerned with the general meaning or with the most important points of a text and not focus on minor details More importantly, pre-reading questions should be fairly easy to answer and not too long When guiding questions are given, the students need to make use

of their guessing ability to give answer because it is one way of motivating them to read the text and the reading itself is more purposeful Guiding questions can be o f the following types such as multiple-choice questions, yes/no questions and 4wh’ questions

2.4.3 Pre-teaching new words in the reading text

Teachers sometimes pre-teach certain new or difficult words occurring in the text as these words may make the students difficult Ю undcrsiand the icAt This can be helpful to the readers to the way that they can learn words in groups and force their concentration on one topic However, it is unnecessary to present all the new words in a text because they can guess the meanings from the context- an important skill when dealing with reading What

is more, Nuttall (1989) suggests that when introducing the text the teacher needs to present key language items in the context of the introduction since it is more effective than presenting them as isolated items Therefore, it is essential to present new words, especially items o f great difficulty to the students’ comprehension, prior asking them to read the passage When presenting new items, various ways are suggested as follows

A One minute speeches

For this technique, the teacher needs to introduce the title of the reading passage first Then the teacher assigns ten key words including both known and unknown words (for the unknown, it is best to provide with a short explanation) from the reading text Students are required to work in groups Each of them takes turn to pick a work and must give a minute speech on that topic When the activity ends, the students must be eager to read the passage

to see how similar their speeches are to the text and how the new items appear in the text Actually, it is an effective way to present new items as they are not presented in isolation but in connection with other skills.

B Using visual aids

Visual aids are o f great help in stimulating the learning of a foreign language As a result, using visual aids is considered to be one of the most efficient activities used in teaching new items since it is a way to show the meaning of the words visually through real objects, drawing, pictures, mining, gestures and facial expressions

c Using language games

Games can be used with a wide range of students and the only key to make games acceptable to any group of students is suitability For teaching the reading skill, using games is not an exception More importantly, games can be employed to pre-teach new vocabulary items at the first stage of a reading lesson There are several games for the presentation o f new items including matching, puzzles, etc

D Using synonyms and antonyms

A word can be defined and understood i f the students know its opposite or similar words Therefore, the presentation of antonyms and syiiüiiyiiis aie helpful clucs, cspccially for

d ifficult words in a text with unfamiliar topic

E Using definition or explanation

The common way to teach the meaning of many abstract words, which may hinder the students，understanding, is to provide its definition or explanation The only requirement is that the definition and explanation of the new words or structures should be short and easy

to understand

2.4.4 Predicting the content of the text

Before being asked to read the passage, it is good for the students to make a prediction about the content of the text It stands to reason that prediction assists the students to activate their background knowledge relevant to the topic and to give them a reason for reading Consequently, the students，motivation is created The teacher can make the students anticipate the content by posing questions, setting the tasks, using key works andphrases or using the title or pictures in the text

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A Using questions

The students’ motivation w ill surely be increased when they are given a number of questions to predict the content of the text These questions should be brief and general to let the students to speak out what they can guess about the text Sometimes, the students can make their own questions about the things they would expect to read from the text

B Using the title or pictures

Some texts have a title or pictures, which are o f great aids for the teacher to make the students to think about the content of the text However, it is better not to extend prediction until all details in the text are mentioned

c Using key words and phrases from the text

By drawing attention on some important words and phrases, the students can be able to bring to their minds not only vocabulary but also ideas which may occur in the reading passage The words and phrases chosen should be familiar to the students so that they do not feel discouraged to unlock the content of the text And just few words and phrases are enough for the students’ anticipation

2.4.5 Using discussion about the topic of the text

Discussing in pairs and in groups before reading a passage is a necessity for the students as

it encourages them to think about the topic and to increase their interests in the text To do this, the class should be divided into pairs or groups of three or four basing on the difficulty level of the text The group can be of mixed ability with both the active and the shy Clearly, having a short discussion is useful not only for the students’ interaction with each other but also for their improvement in the speaking skill Moreover, discussion may be taken when the students are equipped with guiding questions or discussing points

2.4.6 Explaining the instructions of the text

Normally, students w ill get confused i f they are required to read the text without any preparation or knowing what they are asked to do during the reading session As a result, giving explanation for reading enables the students to know what they have to look for, to direct their attention and concentration to the key points and to divide suitable time for each reading exercise Giving explanation or giving reasons for reading may last for a few minutes and often in the form of the teacher，monologue It can be done by setting the

tasks for reading, introducing the purposes of reading or explaining the requirements of thetasks.

2.4.7 Using a brainstorming web

It is kind o f group work activity Each group must take a brainstorming web and write the title o f the article in the center Then a group leader must be appointed so as to complete the following duties: make sure everyone speaks English only; make sure everyone in the groups contributes (speaks); be the writer for the group in fillin g the brainstorming webbelow:

In the circles, groups write everything they already know about the topic and everything they think might be in the passage They can add as many circles as needed Actually, a brainstorming web reminds the students o f what they have already known and gets their minds ready to take the new information as well In other words, a brainstorming web can activate the students’ schemata as well as stimulate their interests and curiosity

2.5 Previous research in the field

There have been many researches on reading comprehension and pre-reading activities Researchers have found pre-reading activities are of great usefulness to the learners’ reading comprehension ability However, there are only a few of them studying the effect

of using different pre-reading activities for different kinds of reading texts Here are some

of the researches focusing on reading, reading activities, pre-reading activities or even pre­listening activities that the author have found through the libraries or Internet

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2.5.1 Foreign research

ỉsmail Hakki ERxten & Míige Karakas, did an interesting study to find out whether/how different reading activities w ill affect readers’ comprehension of short stories The participants in a quasi-experimental research design were given two different sets of activities while reading the short story The experiment group were given a set of previewing, predicting, keywords, scanning, skimming, clarifying, summarising, question and answer, and drawing conclusions activities while the control group did brainstorming, predicting, surveying, reciprocal teaching, evaluating, inferring, re-reading, thinking aloud, discussion, and summarising activities Both groups were given a post-test, which comprised questions seeking factual information and required interpretation of the text The statistical analysis indicated that the experiment group students outperformed the control group on fact-finding questions while the control group did better on interpretation questions The study suggests that activities be used for better comprehension of short stories However, they need to be chosen carefully according to the reading tasks set by the reading teacher

Different researchers such as Taglieber, Johnson and Yarbough (1988: 456)，Moorman and Blanton (1990:176)，Lazar (1993:83)，Chen and Graves (1995:664) have provided definitions of pre-reading activities Lazar for example, defines pre-reading activities as activities that help students with cultural background, stimulate students’ interest in the story and pre-teach vocabulary Chen and Graves define pre-reading activities as “ devices for bridging the gap between the text’s content and the reader’s schemata，

Focusing on L I reading instruction, Taglieber, Johnson and Yarbough (1988) point out the motivational aspect o f pre-reading activities According to these writers, pre-reading activities activate or develop prior knowledge, provide knowledge o f the text structure and also establish a reason for reading

Jecksembieva (1993) studied “ pre-reading activities in EFL/ESL reading textbooks and Turkish school teachers’ attitude toward pre-reading activities，，and concluded that pre- reading activities contributed to comprehension of the texts, thus the teachers found the activities to be useful in the classroom setting

Ur (1996) emphasises that the aim of pre-reading activities is to provide anticipation and activate reader，schema The purpose of including these activities is to develop a better self- awareness of the relation between the reader’s meaning and the author’ s meaning; and helpreaders understand the teacher’s expectations and views

Arda (2000) studied “ the role of content schema related to pre-reading activities and stated the effectiveness of the activities on readers’ comprehension of the texts These reading activities can promote interaction between the reader and the text, which is, as Widdowson terms it, “ authentic” ( Wallace 1992).

Wilfredo Sequero in his study "Warming-up for Reading11 stated that “ Teaching reading is not an easy task due to the complex nature of the reading process His shows an example of one of the most useful activities he has devised for his students at the USB The name of this activity is "Warming- up for Reading" (WFR) He explains how using WFR tackles skills, strategies, and other relevant aspects that, according to the literature, are supposed to

be central to reading

2.5.2 Vietnamese research

Many Vietnamese researchers had interests in doing research on the topic of pre-reading activities to motivate students as well as to improve students’ reading comprehension And many of their researches have had great contribution to the teaching and learning English

in Vietnam as well as in the renovation and reform of teaching and learning in Vietnam Here are some o f the up to date typical researches:

To Thi Ngoc Nga, (2004) in her study “ Pre-reading techniques to motivate second year students to improve their reading skills at the English department, Hanoi national university，，，investigated pre-reading techniques applied by the reading teachers at her university and the teachers’ and students 'attitude toward pre-reading techniques The results o f her study show that that both teachers and students are fully aware of the sheer importance of pre-reading techniques to the students，motivation Several techniques are reported to have been used at the pre-reading stage It is apparent that when the sts are provided with pre-reading activities, they could have less difficulty to understand the reading text In her study, she did not compare the effectiveness of different pre-reading activities to apply for different reading texts The researcher o f this study would like to focus on the effect of the varying of the pre-reading activities from the text book on students9 reading comprehension

Nguyen Thi Thiet (2003) did a research on the topic “ Pre-reading activities to improve the effectiveness o f reading lessons for ESP students in posts and telecommunications institute

of technology: an experiment.” to investigate whether teaching reading to the ESP learners

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at her universities with pre-reading activities included is better than doing it without them The experiment she carried out had great success The pre-reading activities she applied increased the effectiveness of reading lessons and the students’ motivation in learning reading The focus of her study was on ESP reading lesson and the application of pre- reading activities to help sts understand the reading text better The results of her study was not a controversial ones because it seemed to be obvious that when we provide sts with careful preparations, the sts would comprehend the reading text better, not only in ESP reading lessons.

Pham Thi Thanh Thuy (2003) did a study on “ Reading difficulties in EFL as perceived by teachers and first year students of the English department, Hanoi National University” The study only gives an analysis of some difficulties in reading and the sources of these difficulties as perceived by the first year students of English at English department, Hanoi National University This is done with the purpose o f helping teachers to foresee the problems and find out ways to solve The study also looks into the teachers’ perceptions as well as emphasis given to these areas of difficulties in their teaching Then it compares and contrasts the difficulties perceived by the teachers with those perceived by the students themselves The findings of the study show that there is a discrepancy between the two, and the teachers give inappropriate teaching time and effort to particular areas of difficulties This is one of the thing that hinders the effective teaching and learning o f reading at the

English Department, Hanoi National Uiiivcisity.

To Thi Thanh Van (2004) in her M A thesis studied the effect o f extensive reading to improve the reading comprehension skill o f the third year students at Hanoi University of Business and Management She did an experimental study to find out whether extensive reading helps improve the student’ s reading ability She had two groups of students in her experiment called “ experimental group” and “ control group，， The experiment was carried out for 16 weeks and after that she did the data analysis and found out the result that extensive reading really helps the students develop their reading skill

CHAPTER 3: THE METHODOLOGY

This chapter consists of five parts First, there w ill be the definition and characteristics of

an action research Second, the research questions w ill be presented Third, it is the description of the data collection instruments Forth, there w ill be the description of the setting where the study takes place and the description of the participants The last part w ill

be the procedure o f the study

3-1 What is action research?

Action research is now becoming increasingly popular in language education It is a process in which some decisions about the teachers’ future practice result from problem identification and analysis on daily practice

Action research involves a self-reflective, systematic and critical approach to enquiry by participants who are simultaneously members o f the context in which the research takes place The aim o f action research is to identify ‘problematic’ situations or issues that participants consider worth investigating in order to bring about informed changes in practice (Cohen & Manion, 1994)

Bum (1994) identified some essential features that help to distinguish action research from other forms of educational research:

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

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

3 It is participatory, providing opportunities for communities o f participants to

investigate collaboratively issues of concern within their social situation

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

Action research is selected for this research because of the following reasons:

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Action research is advantageous in many ways Glanz (1991) points out that, in the first place, it is feasible because the research is done by the practitioner (the researcher) in his/her own practical context and situation Although it is done in reasonable time, action research brings immediate benefits to teaching practice In addition, he states that action research directly affects a teacher’s practice and enables him/her to renew the classrooms and promote instructional improvement Finally, all the stages of action research are implemented in a strict order which allows educators to systematically address to topics and issues that affect teaching and learning in the classroom.

With the above important reasons, an action research was selected to fu lfill the study

3.2 Action research questions

This action research aims at answering the following research questions:

1 What are the students' problems and causes o f the problems in reading lessons?

2 What are the students ' attitude and preferences fo r pre-reading activities?

a How do they fin d the teacher，5 pre-reading activities?

b What do they think o f the pre-reading activities in the reading textbook?

c What pre-reading activities do they like most to comprehend the reading text more effectively?

3 Does varying pre-reading activities in the reading textbook help students to comprehend the reading better?

3.3 Data collection instruments

3.3.1 Questionnaires

Questionnaires are an effective way of information gathering about some aspects of learners “ such as beliefs, attitudes, motivation and preferences，，as pointed out by Richards(1990)

It is very convenient to carry out questionnaires Firstly, the researcher does not have to spend much time and money on them and they can analyze the data from questionnaires

quickly Secondly, students can complete the information very easily Thirdly, the attitudes can be gathered by questionnaires.

Questionnaire 1 was given to the students to investigate the causes o f the students’ low comprehension in reading lessons after the teacher identified the problem Thirty four questionnaires were given to the students and then collected in class after about 30 minutes Questionnaire 1 consists of 8 questions (appendix 1)

Question 1 collected information about the students’ attitude toward the reading skill

Questions 2-5 collected information about the real learning and teaching reading situation

in class 1272B Question 2 investigated factors that students think may affect their reading comprehension in reading lessons Question 3 sought for the information about the kinds of pre-reading activities that their teacher often applied in reading lessons in the previous term Question 4 asked the students to give their opinion about the pre-reading activities that their teacher often used in the class Question 5 collected the information on how often their teacher used different kinds of pre-reading activities to teach them in the pre-reading stage

Question 6 asked the students’ preferences for the kinds o f pre-reading activities that they find most effective to comprehend the reading text Questions 7 and 8 were made to find

out the students’ comments on the pre-reading activities in their material and what should

be done to improve them with the hope that the researcher can suggest some improvement

to better the material to increase the students’ comprehension for reading

3.3.2 Interviews

К vale (1996) states that interviews are particularly useful research method for getting in- depth information about a specific research issue or question He supposes that this is a personal form o f research and the interview works directly with the respondents, the information about opinions or impressions are often generally more easily to collect through oral interviews

Nunan (1993) characterized interviews in terms o f their degree o f formality In an unstructured interview, the interviewee is allowed to talk freely with little intervention from the interviewer In a semi-structured interview, the interviewer does not prepare questions

in advance but can control the scope of the talk by raising a topic or an issue

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Predetermined questions are only needed in a structured interview which is mostly a

“ questions and answers，session

In this study, one interview was carried out with the previous reading teacher of Class 1272B1 In this interview, the researcher would like to ask about the teacher’s preparation for the students before reading and to investigate the difficulties she met in her teaching reading in general and in Class 1272B1 in particular

3.3.3 Observations

Observations are referred to as a way of information collection about teaching and learning rather than an evaluation although observations and evaluations are related They are not like supervision, inspection or teacher-training They concern our own professional development and the improvement of teaching and learning in our own classrooms (Wallace, 1998) suggests that choosing an observation scheme which is suitable with the purpose o f the research helps the observer to describe students’ work more precisely and collect information more easily

Classroom observation was chosen as one o f the tools to conduct the study as according to Wallace (1998: 103)，it is a good method to do action research He also pointed out that:

“ the focus of the observation can be ourselves as teacher: the techniques we

use, management procedures and so on lh e ÎOCUS can be on our students: Ihe

way they work, the way they interact, theừ on-task and off-task behaviors and so

on.”

Four observations were carried out during the lessons to investigate whether the reading teachers applied the three pre-reading activities in the text book or not; whether he/she used other pre-reading activities outside the text book or made any modifications to the activities

in the textbook to teach her students They were also used to investigate whether the pre- reading activities that the teacher used help the students to comprehend the reading text effectively or not (Appendix 4)

3.3.4 Pre-test and post-test (appendix 7)

The pre-test is the test of checking comprehension of chapter 5 taken from the teacher’s book After each chapter, there is a chapter test to check the students’ reading comprehension o f the chapter The test consists of five parts The first part is to check new vocabulary items from the reading in the chapter The rest four parts is to check reading

comprehension o f the reading text in the chapter The students take the test before the time

of action plan implementation

The post-test is also the test of checking comprehension of chapter 8 taken from the teacher’s book A fter each chapter, there is a chapter test to check the students’ reading comprehension o f the chapter The test consists of five parts The first part is to check new vocabulary items from the reading in the chapter The rest four parts is to check reading comprehension o f the reading text in the chapter The students take the test after the time of action plan implementation

The format o f the test and the kinds of exercises are designed the same for each chapter test Only the information asked and checked are different according to the different reading topics in each chapter So the researcher could be sure that the tests are relatively equal in the level o f difficulty

Through these two tests, the researcher can find the difference in the students’ reading comprehension; compare the results before and after the time of doing an action plan

3.4 The setting and the participants

3.4.1 The setting

The study was carried out at Foreign Languages Department, Phuong Dong University, Hanoi, Vietnam, where the researcher has been teaching English for 7 years The FLD served as an appropriate research setting as the author was employed in the same department and had constant access to students Further, the training programme followed

at the department included a long Reading Comprehension Course

3.4.2 The subjects

The subjects in the study are the first year English majored students at Foreign Languages Department, Phuong Dong University where I am working The students selected for my study are all the first year English majored students of class 1272B1 The class 1272B1 has

34 students aged between 18 and 20 They come from different provinces in Vietnam to study at FLD, PDU in Hanoi They have, on average, an intermediate level of English language proficiency They have already studied reading skill for one term ( 45 hours of reading lessons ) and have finished the first 4 chapters of the reading text book “ Interaction

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1 : reading，， In the second term, they continued with the reading text book “ Interaction 1: reading，，.

3.4.3 The observer

The observer of the research was a nine-year experienced teacher of reading in FLD, PDU She was invited to observe reading lessons of the class 1272B1 during the time the reseacher implemented the action plan after being introduced to the aim o f the reseach and being familiar with the observation work-sheet

3.5 Action research procedure

THE PROCESS OF DOING ACTION RESEARCH

3.5.1 Identifying a problem

What was the studentsy problem ?

After teaching reading to Class 1272B1 for two weeks, the researcher realized that the students were not motivated in the reading lessons As a result, most o f them could not answer the comprehension questions after reading so they did not comprehend the reading effectively after reading lessons

3.5.2 Collecting data

What were the causes f o r the students9 problem ?

In this step, the main causes for the students’ low comprehension in reading lessons were identified with questionnaire 1 for the students as presented in 3.3.1，the class observations and interviews with their previous reading teacher as in 3.3.2 was conducted to check the reliability o f the information from the questionnaires

3.5.3 Analyzing data and generating hypothesis

What was the research 9S hypothesis?

After the information from questionnaire 1 for the students, the class observations, the

interview with the previous reading teacher o f class 1272B1, the previous reading teacher, the cause o f the students，low comprehension in reading lessons was that the students were not well prepared for their reading in the pre-reading stage in class Theoretically, one o f the things a teacher can do to help students with the problem is conducting the same pre- reading activities in the text book Therefore, the researcher planned to check the assumption that i f the students were better prepared f o r th e ir reading in the pre-reading stage, th e ir reading comprehension was expected to increase.

3.5.4 Planning action

What was the plan o f action steps?

As the students，problem in reading was low comprehension, an action plan of varying some pre-reading activities was developed to aim at increasing the students，reading comprehension based on the theoretical background o f the role o f pre-reading stage and students，preference for pre-reading activities It was expected that the pre-reading

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activities designed for the students to work in could help the students be well preparedbefore completing their reading tasks In the action plan, the students were provided with different kinds o f pre-reading activities that they prefer to do and find most useful to help them to understand the reading texts The selection of pre-reading activities or the combination of pre-reading activities to be done depended on the characteristics of the reading texts and reading tasks, students’ knowledge, interests and levels of proficiency (Appendix 6A, 6B)

3.5.5 Implementing the action plan

How were the action steps implemented?

The action plan was implemented for six weeks from week three to week eight in the second term The subjects were the students o f Class 1272B1 at Foreign Languages Department, Phuong Dong University The teacher was the researcher of the study Besides, one more teacher was invited to observe the class during the time of action plan implementation During the six weeks of the action plan implementation the students were provided with different kinds of pre-reading activities that correspond with the characteristics o f the reading texts and reading tasks, students’ knowledge, interests and levels of proficiency (Appendix 6B: a detailed lesson plan)

3.5.6 Co l l e c t i n g data t o m o n i t o r change

What was the students9 reading comprehension like after action plan implementation ?

After six weeks o f action plan implementation, some data about the students’ attitude and opinion about the pre-reading activities applied during the reading lessons were gathered through questionnaire 2 and the class observation checklists in which the students’ comprehension was objectively assessed by another observer She had an observation sheet for her observation including the way the teacher taught the students, the pre-reading activities the teacher applied and the students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s activities, their involvement in the activities, their reading comprehension performance and their interaction with each other while completing the reading tasks