A STUDY ON USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

1 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY ĐẶNG THỊ THANH THÙY A STUDY ON USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS FOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Code: 60.14.01.11 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION SUPERVISOR: Dr Nguyen Thi Kim Anh Nghệ An i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis could not have been completed without the help, encouragement and support of a number of people who all deserve my sincere gratitude and appreciation First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor Dr Nguyen Thi Kim Anh for her invaluable guidance, helpful suggestions, encouragement in writing this paper I would like to thank all the teachers in the English group of Ben Thuy secondary School, for their help in answering surveys, direct interviews, their suggestions to this research, and their willingness to share their relevant problems with me I also wish to give my thanks to students at Ben Thuy secondary school who have actively participated in doing the surveys and responding to my interviews I would like to send my thanks to my lecturers, my friends and my classmates for their sincere comments and criticism In the end, I would like to show my big gratitude to my beloved people, my parents, who have constantly inspired and encouraged me to overcome difficulties to complete this study Finally, a special word of thanks goes to my readers for their interest and comments on this study i ii ABSTRACT The aim of carrying out this study were twofold: (1) using graphic organizers helps to increase students’ reading comprehension (2) the graphic organizers help to improve students’ motivation to learn reading skills This research was conducted at the seventh grade of Ben Thuy secondary school in Vinh city The study involved 60 students in two classes of seventh grade The instrument used were tests (pretest and posttest) and questionnaires Based on the findings, it is recommended that the teachers need to use graphic organizers to teach reading skills This study believes that using graphic organizers can help students to concentrate on specific information and answer the questions more detailed In addition, the teachers should use various graphic organizers to motivate students and encourage students to read More importantly, these strategies were extremely beneficial to classroom instruction The thesis also provides implications for English language teaching iii Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT i ABSTRACT ii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale .1 1.2 Aims of the Study 1.3 Research questions .4 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Methods of the study 1.6 Organization of the study .5 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Reading and reading comprehension 2.1.1 Reading 2.1.2 Definition of reading comprehension 11 2.1.2.5 Techniques to teach reading 26 2.2 Graphic organizers .29 2.2.1 Definitions of graphic organizers .29 2.2.2 Roles of graphic organizers .29 2.2.3 Types of graphic organizers employed in the research 30 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY .34 3.1 An overview of Ben Thuy secondary school 34 3.2 Learners and learning requirements 34 3.3 Teachers and teaching methods 34 3.4 Materials .35 3.5 Procedures 36 3.6 Tools for Data collection 36 3.6.1 The questionnaires 36 iv 3.6.2 Tests 37 3.7 Data analysis 40 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 42 4.1 Findings 42 4.1.1 Students’ attitude towards the importance of learning reading comprehension at school 42 4.1.2.Student’s reading habits 43 4.1.3.Student’s difficulties when learning reading skill 43 4.1.4.Students’ opinions about teaching and learning reading 44 4.1.5 The frequency of using strategies designed by teachers 45 4.1.6 General English test results .45 4.1.7 Pre-test and post test result 46 4.2 Summary and discussion of the main findings 49 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATION 53 5.1 Conclusion 53 Implications for more effective reading lessons 55 5.3 Limitations 55 5.4 Suggestions for further research 56 CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Nowadays, English has become an international communicative language It is widely used in many parts of the world Therefore, learning English has been considered a very important duty of many students One of the most important skills in learning English as well as other language is reading skill Reading skill not only helps students get more information and widen their mind but also enables them develop language skills such as speaking, listening, writing Reading comprehension is one of the most important skills for understanding the content that is actually being read Reading is something that you can on your own and that greatly broadens your vocabulary, thus helping you in speaking (and in listening and writing) Reading is therefore a highly valuable skill and activity, and it is recommended that English learners try to read as much as possible in English Having good reading comprehension skill is also necessary for passing academic achievement tests and for being able to read effectively for one's career On the other hand, having poor reading comprehension skills can make it difficult for readers to understand the texts they read, identify themes in stories, associate what they read with prior knowledge and grasp the main idea of a text Many teachers find that their teaching style does not match the learning style of some of their students The good step is that using graphic organizers to prepare and present lessons can have a powerful effect on the students While the lesson presentation follows the natural teaching style, students can create a graphic organizers that matches their learning style Instead of trying to fit a mould, they can take notes that feel natural, are easily remembered and suited to their individual style This makes the best teacher in the world Many teachers and lecturers are already adapting graphic organizers to create powerful classroom presentations, innovative handouts, and an unforgettable experience for their students Others are using advanced graphic organizers to tackle larger classroom projects like innovative long range educational planning or weekly lesson management that really meets the needs of individual students It is undeniable that the English language has gained more and more significance in every aspect of society in general and in education in particular Realizing the importance of English in education, many policies and renovations have been promulgated in teaching and learning English during the recent years In an attempt to innovate Vietnamese education to meet the demand of the society in the process of integration and development, the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training has reformed English textbooks concentrating on the four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing for secondary school students since the school year 2006-2007, With this reform, both teachers and students have certain advantages and disadvantages in mastering the four skills in the process of teaching and learning English Of the four skills, reading, in general, is considered the most difficult not only students but teachers to master In reading section in the textbook “English 7”, students are asked to perform tasks of various kinds such as make out the main ideas, understand the main topic, sentence, paragraph, etc However, it seems that some of the reading tasks in the new textbooks have not supported students’ language acquisition appropriately Besides, teachers also face certain difficulties in teaching reading skills For many years, teaching reading comprehension was based on a concept of reading as the application of a set of isolated skills such as identifying words, finding main ideas, identifying cause and effect relationships, comparing and contrasting, and sequencing Teaching reading comprehension was viewed as a mastery of these skills My students think that it is very difficult to learn reading skill I think one of the most powerful tools can be used to improve our reading comprehension is graphic organizers Using graphic organizers that show the relationships between concepts visually and using group reading and tutoring can also help students develop their reading comprehension skills When I have graduated university, I applied for a job at Ben Thuy secondary school I teach English subject as a second language There are four skills each lesson but my favorite skill is teaching reading because from the text, students can be easy to use words, structures, sentence to communicate with many people There is some difficulty in the reading text, They not understand how to answer the questions So this is a problem that I should worry and find out the way to help them I think that whenever reading, they also understand all the information Some of them may not have had enough time to read, they read very quickly but little result I think it depends on the level of reading They have not used right skill It made them get little information Being a teacher of English at secondary school for eleven years, there searcher has understood the reality of teaching reading in English The researcher realizes that the secondary school students in general and 7th form students in particular not acquire reading skill efficiently They seem to follow these requirements of reading tasks in each lesson in order without achieving the objectives of the lesson through completing the main tasks with appropriate skills Because of the practicality in teaching English reading, this study was carried out, entitling “A study on using graphic organizers to improve reading comprehension skills for secondary school students” The purpose of the study is to find out if graphic organizers can help students read more effectively The study is intended to investigate types of activities teachers use in their reading classes and the efficiency of these activities as well In addition, it also seeks to find out to what certain extent these activities have influence on students’ study achievements Finally, through the study, some suggestions are offered so that teachers can use graphic organizers for doing tasks in the textbook appropriately to improve students” reading skill Hopefully that the results of this study would be shared with any colleagues who had the same problem or anyone who is interested in this study 1.2 Aims of the Study The study aimed to help students develop reading comprehension We find out the value of the students” comprehension reading level in the Text There were some benefits of teaching comprehension by using graphic organizers Graphic organizers provide an effective study technique when applied to written materials the value of level reading comprehension of students with the text (If there is any) Improving the motivation how the reading sections in the textbook “English 7” have been taught at secondary schools with particular reference to use graphic organizers 1.3 Research questions The study aimed to seek the answers to the following questions: - Will the graphic organizers help to increase student’s reading comprehension? - Will the graphic organizers help to improve students’ motivation to learn reading skill? 1.4 Scope of the study This study was carried out at Ben Thuy secondary school in Vinh City The research focuses on how graphic organizers affect these students’ reading comprehension in reading lessons From the findings of the research suggested activities will be given to improve teaching English reading to 7th graders students 1.5 Methods of the study The main methods are questionnaires, pre and post tests 1.6 Organization of the study The thesis consists of five chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction includes rationale of the study, the aims, scope, methods, and organization of the study Chapter 2: Literature Review In this chapter, all the theoretical issues related to the topic of the study are presented It is concerned with the issues relevant to the topic of the research: reading and reading comprehension, approaches and techniques to teach reading Chapter 3: Methodology This chapter presents the background information of the subjects of the study, the instrument used to collect the data, the procedure of data collection and the procedure of data analysis Chapter 4: Findings and Discussions This chapter aimed at describing data analysis in detail and a thorough discussion of the findings of the study Some explanations and interpretations of the findings are also presented in this chapter Chapter 5: Conclusion This part summarizes the main points based on the results of the study This part will also introduce some suggested solutions to improve the English self-study of students Further research is also recommended in this chapter 57 13 Nunan, D (1999) Second Language and Teaching and Learning Boston: Heinle and Heinle 14 Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Learning Cambridge University Press 15 Nunan, D 1989 Understanding Language Classroom: A guide for Teacher Initiated Action New York: Prentice – Hall 16 Nuttall, Christine (1982) Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language Oxford: Macmilian Publishers Limited 17 Nuttall, Christine (1996) The virtuous circle of the good reader Oxford: Macmilian Publishers Limited 18 Sagor, R 1992 How to Conduct Collaborative Action Research USA: Association Supervision and Curriculum Development 19 Silberstein, S (1994).Techniques and Resources in Teaching Reading Oxford: Oxford University Press 20 Swans, M (1975).Practical English Usages Oxford: Oxford University Press 21 Tierney, R.J & Pearson P.D (1994).Learning to Learn from Text: A framework for Improving Classroom Practice Oxford: Macmilian Publishers Limited 22 Tsui, A.B 1993 Helping Teacher to Conduct Action Research in Their Classrooms IN D 29.Freeman, with S Cornwell (Eds).New Ways in Teacher Education Alexandria VA: TESOL 23 Tyler, B J., & Chard, D (2000).Using readers’ theater to foster fluency in strugglingreaders.Reading and Writing Quarterly, 16(2).163-168 24 Wallace, C (2007) Vocabulary: The key to teaching English language learners to read Reading Improvement, 44(4), 189+ 25 Wallace, M.J 1998 Action Research for Language Teacher.CUP 26 William, E (1990) Reading in the Language Classroom Oxford: Macmilian Publishers Limited 27 Williams, E (1984) Reading in The Language Classroom London: Macmillan Publisher Ltd 58 28 Wolf, M., & Katzir-Cohen, T (2001) Reading fluency and its intervention Scientific studies of reading, 5(3), 211-239 29 Wood, F.B., Flowers, L., and Grigorenko, E (2001) On the functional neuroanatomy of fluency or why walking is just as important to reading as talking is In M Wolf (Ed.), Dyslexia, fluency, and the brain Timonium: York Press 59 APPENDIX A PRE-TEST Task 1: Read the total passage once and record your reading time Task 2: Select the answer which is most accurate according to the information given in the passage READING TIME COMPREHENSION Read the article about Dimitris Are sentences 1-7 'Right' (A) or 'Wrong'(B)? If there is not enough information to answer 'Right' (A) or 'Wrong'(B), choose 'Doesn't say' (C) Dimitris is 17 years old and lives in an apartment in the centre of Athens He lives with his parents, his younger brother and two sisters He’s a student at high-school and has been studying English for three years He also speaks a little German and French He’s not sure whether he will need English in the future but he’s planning to take an English exam as it will help him get into University Dimitris describes himself as being a bit lazy and likes to spend most of his time talking and watching TV rather than working However, he also thinks he’s a good friend and is always happy to listen if people need someone to talk to He usually spends his time going out with friends and likes to go to the cinema He really likes playing and watching football and his ambition is to play for Panathanaikos though he doesn’t think this is ever going to happen Questions Dimitris lives in a flat A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say He is younger than his brother A Right B Wrong Dimitris studies German and French at school C Doesn’t say 60 A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say Dimitris says he doesn't like to work hard A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say He likes to help his friends A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say He enjoys watching films A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say He thinks it's possible he will play for Panathanaikos A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say 61 APPENDIX B POST-TEST Task 1: Read the total passage once and record your reading time Task 2: Select the answer which is most accurate according to the information given in the passage TIME READING COMPREHENSION Read the passage and choose the best answer A, B, C or D People usually sing because they like music or because they feel happy They express their happiness by singing When a bird sings, however, its song usually means much more than that the bird is happy Birds have many reasons for singing They sing to give information Their songs are their language The most beautiful songs are sung by male birds They sing when they want to attract a female bird It is their way of saying that they are looking for a wife Birds also sing to tell other birds to keep away To a bird, his tree or even a branch of a tree is his home He does not want strangers to come near him, so he sings to warn them If a bird cannot sing well, he usually has some other means of giving important information Some birds dance, spread out their tails or make other signs People sing because …………… A She feels happy C they want to tell a story B they love music D they know many songs What is one of the main reasons why birds sing? A They are in a bad temper B They want to give information C They are sad D They can sing many songs Which birds sing the most beautiful songs? A Male birds B Young birds which attract male birds 62 C Female birds which attract male birds D Female birds According to the passage, a bird sings …………… A to stop sadness B to tell strangers to keep away C to warn about the approach of people D to tell other birds to come quickly What is birds' language? A Their information B Their songs C Their singing D Their male birds Most birds usually …………… if they cannot sing well A give information in another way B warn other birds to go away C find a wife D fly in the sky What is the main of the passage about? A People like music B People or birds sing for many purposes C Birds like music D Birds only sing for fun 63 APPENDIX C : GENERAL TEST Time: 60 minutes 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 APPENDIX D THE QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDENTS The questionnaires aim at grasping the feeling and attitude of students toward reading comprehension and these strategies which are used in reading comprehension Your assistance in completing the questionnaire is highly appreciated All the information provided by you is solely for the study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Part I: Give some information of yourself Age: ……………………………………………… Gender: male Female Part II: Please circle your choice(s) in answering each of the following questions Question 1: How important is reading comprehension? A very important B important C not very important D not important at all Question 2: How often you read? A always C sometimes B often D never Question 3: What are difficulties when learning reading skill? A Students’ lack of motivation B Student’s lack of background knowledge C Time limitation D Students’ limitation of vocabulary and grammatical structure E Students’ lack of appropriate reading strategies Question 4: What you think about teaching and learning the reading comprehension skill in your school? 71 A Topics are unfamiliar and difficult to understand B Students’ vocabulary is poor C The teaching methods of teachers are suitable D The types of reading exercise are various E the length of passage is proper Question 5: How often students use strategies designed by teachers? A C Always Sometimes B Usually D Never ... recommended that the teachers need to use graphic organizers to teach reading skills This study believes that using graphic organizers can help students to concentrate on specific information and answer... that demand students evaluate the information in some way, to draw conclusions or actually to put it to some practical use Having information sources that have conflicting information can also be... linked to and arranged around a central concept or subject using a nonlinear graphical layout that allows the user to build an intuitive framework around a central concept A mind map can turn a long