(SKKN 2022) Using mind mapping technique in teaching post-reaching to improve reading comprehension ability of the eleventh grade students at Nhu Xuan II high school

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING NHU XUAN II HIGH SCHOOL NHU XUAN II HIGH SCHOOL THE INITIATIVE EXPERIENCE THE THESIS: SOME METHODS FOR TEACHING VOCABULARY IN PREREADING HELPING CLASS 11C2 AT NHU XUAN II HIGH SCHOOL BE MOTIVATED IN THE READING LESSONS EXPERIENTAL INITIATIVE USING MIND MAPPING TECHNIQUE IN TEACHING POST - READING TO IMPROVE READING Author: Pham Thi LienABILITY OF THE ELEVENTH COMPREHENSION Occupation: Teacher AT NHU XUAN II HIGH SCHOOL GRADE STUDENTS Field ( Subject): English THANH HOA, 2018Pham Thi Lien Author: Position: Teacher Field (Subject): English THANH HOA, 2022 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Objects of the study 1.4 Methods of the study CONTENTS 2.1 Theoretical background 2.2 Practical background 2.3 The method: Using mind mapping technique in teaching postreading to help students be motivated and improve their reading comprehension ability 2.3.1 Steps to make mind mapping implementation in the classroom easy and effective 2.3.2 Some examples about using mind mapping in post – reading grade 11 2.4 Results of applying the method CONCLUSION, SUGGESTIONS 3.1 Conclusion 3.2 Suggestions LIST OF RECOGNIZED EXPERENTIAL INITIATIVES Page 1 2 3 4 14 16 16 16 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale As you know, English is an international language which is used by a lot of countries all over the world It also becomes main language in communicating among different people in different countries in the world In Vietnam, English is one of core subjects for all children in school education system from primary level Students continue to learn English at secondary education and they learn it with four skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing along with language focus to prepare the best knowledge for their most important examination of graduating or use the knowledge for higher education In today’s trend of international integration, English is considered as a means for learners to have fastest access to the world’s cultures and knowledge The teaching and learning of English need to be renewed in accordance with positive learning methods to be more suitable and meet the needs of society The core content of English teaching and learning helps students build and develop communication skills through practicing listening, speaking, reading, writing and linguistic skills It is clear that to communicate effectively in one language, English reading skill should be developed along with the other skills so that these integrated skills will enhance communication achievement Methodology used in teaching second language has experienced many changes for decades; however there is no single best method, and no one method that is best for a particular classroom From my teaching at Nhu Xuan II high school, I see both my students’ interests and difficulties in learning English, especially in reading skill Meanwhile, reading skill has been becoming a very important part in the examination for many years Reading skill also plays a key role of enriching English vocabulary for learners so that they can master the language easier When teaching my students, I see that apart from organizing good activities for pre - and while - reading in order to help students be motivated and the tasks well, teachers also need to stimulate students to improve their reading comprehension and presentation capabilities in post – reading by giving or suggesting suitable and interesting tasks One of those that I have already applied during my teaching in many reading lessons for my students at Nhu Xuan II high school with good results is using mind mapping technique With my own thought and my own experience in teaching English at Nhu Xuan II high school for many years, I strongly try to give my own bright experience: “ Using mind mapping technique in teaching post - reading to improve reading comprehension ability of the eleventh grade students at Nhu Xuan II high school” With the thesis I hope that I will contribute my little experience to help my students like and improve their reading skill in the next courses 1.2 Aims of the study The aim of the research is to help improve reading comprehension ability of the eleventh grade students at Nhu Xuan II high school by applying mind mapping technique To achieve the above aim, the present research attempts to set the following objectives: - To help students be motivated and more interested in post-reading stage in reading lessons - To help students improve their reading skill and work effectively in the reading lessons 1.3 Objects of the study The subjects chosen for the research include 36 students in class 11A at Nhu Xuan II High School (to compare with 36 students in class 11B not applied the method) The research was carried out during the reading lessons of the two terms of the academic year 2021 – 2022 at Nhu Xuan II High School 1.4 Methods of the study The method employed in the study is action research, in which mind mapping technique would be used directly in the classes that I am teaching so that I can have the clearest class observation Besides, both comparison and analysis methods are applied into this research These methods are cooperative to each other to see students’ general attitudes towards mind mapping technique, their perception on the effectiveness of mind mapping technique on their reading levels as well as reading skill and the effects of mind mapping technique on their reading scores CONTENTS 2.1 Theoretical background Mind maps are an invention of Tony Buzan who is also known as the Master of Memory It is a simple system of learning which aids understanding of the subject matter through concepts and connections Mind mapping is a technique that can increase one’s ability in note taking It not only includes the key words of information or ideas but also implements the use of colors and drawing, thus mind mapping project become fun and enjoyable A mind map is a diagram, a graphic organizer that helps students visualize what they are reading and detect connections between individual pieces of information Mind mapping provides a clear overview of a topic It enables students to see the bigger picture and enhances memory because mind maps encourage the use of single keywords instead of whole sentences, students are able to review core concepts and ideas at a glance The use of mind maps in class is useful when working on all sorts of skills In teaching English in general and reading comprehension in particular, especially in post – reading, mind mapping can make students recall the new words and background knowledge that they have just learned in pre- and while reading By using mind maps, students will be stimulated to draw their summary of the reading text by their own way with colors, images which helps them remember the new words and the main ideas of the text easily Moreover, teachers can use this technique to help students develop their presentation capabilities for the next period: speaking lesson 2.2 Practical background I began teaching class 11A with 36 students when they were at grade 10 in the the academic year 2020-2021 At that time I taught reading skill based on the design of the textbook with three stages: pre-, while- and post - stage and sometimes four stages consisting warm-up I didn't change anything in the textbook In post -reading stage, I followed the task in the textbook too and I saw clearly that my students were not really interested in doing it They thought that completing the tasks in while – reading was enough in reading comprehension In addition, when I asked them to tell the main theme of the reading and main ideas mentioned in the text, many of them could not answer or have the correct answer From the fact as mentioned above, when being in charge of teaching them in the the academic year 2021-2022, I think I need to redesign the exercise in post-reading with a more interesting activity to promote students' reading comprehension This activity should be moderate, not too difficult or too easy to in the limited time (often from 10 to 15 minutes) so that they will be excited and eager to it And it’s more important that through this activity, students can have a brief look about what they have learned and known about the reading An what is more, they can improve their reading comprehension day by day 2.3 The method: Using mind mapping technique in teaching post-reading to help students be motivated and improve their reading comprehension ability 2.3.1 Steps to make mind mapping implementation in the classroom easy and effective Before applying the use of mind mapping in teaching post - reading to encourage students to use a mind map to create an overview of the reading text, teachers should use the follow steps to make mind mapping implementation in the classroom easy and effective: - Teach students how to make a mind map + Start with a blank sheet of paper + Write down the main topic or the keyword at the centre of the page This can also be a diagram or image of the central topic that you are studying + From the central figure or keyword, draw branches radiating in different directions to signify subheadings + Add sub – branches radiating from these branches to show subheadings of each branch + Use curved lines rather than straight lines to encourage creative thinking + Every time you add another word or image, draw a branch from the key words to connect it + Label the branches and sub-branches clearly and make sure that the images represent the subject matter clearly + Branches may interconnect, depending on the strength of associations between them Use arrows to connect linking ideas + Make your map as colorful and beautiful as possible because color helps with clarify and recognize chunks of information easily - Give students the freedom to create their own mind maps By making a mind map with their own way, students can easily remember the information they draw - Help students make their mind maps if they can not by themselves With good students, they can create a mind map about what they have already read easily basing on the tasks done in while – reading With students at low and medium level who can not create a mind map by themselves, teachers should prepare a list of questions that help them dig into the details by mapping out different arms of the map - Have students share their mind maps with their friends and teachers If students share their mind maps with their friends and teachers, they can provide feedback for improvements - Give general feedback on students’ work and provide a mind map example prepared about the reading text in the lesson if necessary Giving feedback to help students know how well they performed and try to improve their work basing on the teacher’s sample - Encourage students to create such a mind map for each book, article or reading text they read, and collect all maps in a designed folder they can refer back to Through practicing mind mapping frequently, students habitually provide an overview for any article or text they meet so that they can collect new words and information about the topic From this habit, their vocabulary and knowledge will be improved quickly - Encourage students to use their mind maps to give a brief presentation about the reading text they learned Using a mind map to present the main content of a reading text is a good way to help students retell the new words and main ideas about what they remember from their lesson Teachers should encourage students to this if time is allowed or for checking old lesson in the next period 2.3.2 Some examples about using mind mapping in post-reading grade 11 + Unit 1: FRIENDSHIP Suggested questions for helping students make their mind maps to summarize the main ideas of the reading text: - What is the passage mainly about? - How many qualities for a friendship to be close and lasting? What are they? - Why is each quality necessary and important to true friendship? Suggested mind map: + Unit 4: VOLUNTEER WORK Suggested questions for teaching post -reading by using mind mapping technique: - What is the passage mainly about? - Who mentioned in the reading take part in volunteer work in the USA? - Where they often volunteer work? - Whom volunteers often help? - What activities they often as volunteer work? 10 Suggested mind map: 11 + Unit 7: WORLD POPULATION Suggested questions that teachers can use to teach post – reading with mind mapping technique: - What is the passage mainly about? - How is the population of the world changing? - What about the resources to support this population? - What are the reasons for this rapid growth of the world population? - What is the responsibility of governments and international organizations? 12 13 Suggested mind map: 14 + Unit 8: CELEBRATIONS Suggested questions that teachers can use to teach post – reading with mind mapping technique: - What is the passage mainly about? - When is Tet? - How long is Tet nowadays compared with it in the past? - What are the main activities before and during Tet? 15 + Unit 11: SOURCES OF ENERGY Suggested questions that teachers can use to teach post – reading with mind mapping technique: - What is the reading text mainly about? - How many sources of energy are mentioned in the text? What are they? - What is our major source of energy? - What are alternative sources of energy? - What are the advantages and disadvantages of each alternative source of energy? 16 Suggested mind map: 17 2.4 Results after applying the method After the school year 2021 - 2022 applying the method with 36 students in class 11A in reading lessons with the reading texts given in English 11 textbook, I saw my students’ positive attitude and results They seemed to be more interested in learning the lesson They were also more active and eager to the task because they had chances to create their thoughts and understanding about the reading text By making a mind map, students also reviewed the new words they met in the text and had a brief note about the text We had a good lesson for both students and the teacher In order to assess the effectiveness of this method in teaching reading skill, I carried out a survey to test 36 students’ attitude and results in class 11A before and after I applied the method To make a comparison, I also did a survey to 38 students (at the same level) in class 11B without applying the method Their attitude and results towards the implementation of mind mapping technique in post-reading of reading lessons were shown as follows: 18 Table 1: The results of students’ interests towards the application of mind mapping technique in post-reading stage: Class 11B (38 students) 11A (36 students) The use of mind mapping technique No How much they like post-reading stage Very much Not very Not at all much Number (%) Number (%) Number (%) 18, 23 60, 21,1 Before After 15 Yes 16, 41, 21 17 58, 47, 25,0 11,1 Table 2: The results of students’ ability in remembering the new words and main ideas of the reading text before and after implementing mind mapping technique in post-reading: Class 11B (38 students) 11A (36 students) The use of mind mapping technique No Before Students’ abilities in remembering the new words and main ideas of the reading text Very good Good Not good Number (%) Number (%) Number (%) 10, 13 34, 21 55, 3 8,3 16 44, 17 47,3 Yes After 10 27, 19 52, 19,4 8 As can be seen from the two tables above, the implementation of mind mapping technique in teaching reading skill has brought positive impact on students’ learning attitude Before using this method, most of my students could traditionally complete all the tasks in the textbook with the instruction or help from their teacher However, they easily forgot the vocabulary, the topic as well as the main ideas of the lesson To a certain extent, after each lesson, students seemed to know the floating part in an “ice berg”, not really understand the deeply sinked part in the lesson, in other word, it is the core value of the lesson Moreover, the implementation of mind mapping technique also helped my students enhance their reading comprehension ability day by day After each lesson, they seemed to be more and more interested and confident in making their own mind map for the reading text Moreover, their ability of remembering the vocabulary as well as the main content of the reading was improved and became beter and better 19 It is a matter of the fact that when applying mind mapping technique in teaching in general and teaching post-reading stage in particular, my students enjoyed doing the task to create their outcomes, they seemed to be very eager for each lesson because they have chances to review their lesson and be creative CONCLUSION, SUGGESTIONS 3.1 Conclusion Like speaking, listening, writing skill and language focus, reading is an important and essential part in teaching and learning English Together with other skills, reading is also being taught with three stages, pre-reading, whilereading and post-reading However, in these stages, pre-reading stage affects students' reading most with a lot of reasons I have just mentioned in the thesis such as helping students build their confidence, avoid being afraid of new words or making students' attractiveness… When students can overcome difficulty in vocabulary, they are very excited with what they will read and next As I mentioned in the thesis, because the tasks provided in post-reading in the textbook didn't always work effectively, so with thoughts of changing this stage to make it more effective than it ever before Hopefully, the study will 20 contribute into the success of teaching reading skill at high schools in general and at Nhu Xuan II high school in particular Firstly, after doing this research, I will master the theory, techniques and have much knowledge after learning other researchers for the field that helps me know how to motivate my students join in post-reading activities and make them feel confident and excited about reading tasks by using mind mapping effectively Secondly, hoping with the possitive results of the study, my students will become eager and interested in post-reading stage They will have more passions for English, especially for reading skill Then they can improve their English reading ability Last but not least, I hope that the findings in this research can support my colleagues at Nhu Xuan II high school and other teachers in their teaching They can combine the traditional teaching methods and mind mapping technique to make post-reading activitives become various and the students have more chances to express their ideas and creativeness 3.2 Suggestions In the end of this chapter, there will be several suggestions for the teacher and the writer The thesis is written to share my experience in teaching postreading stage The teacher can apply different ways for different reading texts and they depend on the teacher’s own ways I hope that each teacher will have good ways to teach post - reading in particular and teach English in general From my point of view, to teach post-reading stage effectively, teachers should follow these things: - Teacher should pay attention to students' abilities, students' knowledge and students' participation in each class - To make the lesson successful, teachers have to create students' interest and attractiveness by having a good preparation for the questionnaire and images to encourage students to create their mind maps - A part from using mind mapping technique in teaching post – reading to help students improve their reading comprehension, teachers should also encourage them to use their mind maps to make a short presentation about the reading text - Teacher should manage the time well to be sure that there is enough time for students’ work - The most important factor to make post-reading stage successful is that teacher should prepare suitable activities for the stage by choosing suitable techniques in teaching it For the lessons using mind mapping technique, teachers need to have suitable questions and images about the reading text to encourage students to make mind maps on their own HEADMASTER'S CONFIRMATION Thanh Hoa, 15th May, 2022 21 I insist that this experiental initiative be my own writing, not copy the others' contents Pham Thi Lien 22 REFERENCES Book: “Những vấn đề chung đổi giáo dục Trung học phổ thông môn tiếng Anh” ( Bộ Giáo dục Đào tạo) – NXB Giáo Dục Textbook: “Tiếng Anh 11” ( Bộ Giáo dục Đào tạo) – NXB Giáo Dục Ingemann, M (ny) The Power of mind mapping! Retrieved July 14, 2008, from http://www FortuneWell.com Mind map in Wikipedia Retrieved July 11, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map “Top ten” principles for teaching reading Ray Williams Nuttall, C 1982 Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign language London: Heinemann Study.com www.teachingenglish.com Busyteacher.org 10 Mindmup.com DANH MỤC SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM ĐÃ ĐƯỢC HỘI ĐỒNG SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM NGÀNH GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO HUYỆN, TỈNH VÀ CÁC CẤP CAO HƠN XẾP LOẠI TỪ C TRỞ LÊN Họ tên tác giả: Phạm Thị Liên Chức vụ: Giáo viên Đơn vị công tác: Trường THPT Như Xuân II TT Tên đề tài SKKN Cấp đánh giá xếp loại (Ngành GD cấp huyện/tỉnh; Tỉnh ) Kết đánh giá xếp loại (A, B, C) Năm học đánh giá xếp loại Ngành GD cấp tỉnh C 20182019 Ngành GD cấp tỉnh C 20192020 Ngành GD cấp tỉnh C 20202021 Some methods for teaching vocabulary in pre-reading to help the eleventh grade students be motivated in the reading lessons Using mind-mapping technique in teaching pre- writing to help the twelfth grade students organize their writing process and better their writing Applying Project - Based Learning to improve English speaking skills for the tenth grade students at Nhu Xuan II high school ... of the study The aim of the research is to help improve reading comprehension ability of the eleventh grade students at Nhu Xuan II high school by applying mind mapping technique To achieve the. .. for teaching vocabulary in pre -reading to help the eleventh grade students be motivated in the reading lessons Using mind- mapping technique in teaching pre- writing to help the twelfth grade students. .. about the reading An what is more, they can improve their reading comprehension day by day 2.3 The method: Using mind mapping technique in teaching post -reading to help students be motivated and improve