(SKKN HAY NHẤT) using graphic organizers to improve reading comprehension skill for grade 12 students at leloi high school

THANH HOA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING LE LOI HIGH SCHOOL  INITIATIVE USING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION SKILL FOR GRADE 12 STUDENTS AT LE LOI HIGH SCHOOL The writer: Lê Bá Đạo Position: Teacher The field of study: Foreign language THANH HOA, 2021 UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION The rationale of the study………………………………….….…… ………………….……… The objectives of the stud ……………………………………………… ………… …….…….1 The method of the study……… …………………………………………………………….… The scope of the study.……………………… ……… ………………………………….… … The design of the study.……………………… ………… …………………………….… … DEVELOPMENT PART1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I Reading Comprehension ……………………………………………………… The nature of reading comprehension………………………………… ………… …….2 The factors influencing reading comprehension……………………… …….…… 2.1 External factors…………………………………………………………………… …………3 2.2 Internal factors……………………………………………… …………………… ……… 3 Reading comprehension skill………………………………………………………………… 3.1 Main idea……………………………………………………… ………………… ………… 3.2 Explicit information………………………………….…………………… ….…….…… 3.3 Vocabulary…………………………………………………………….…………… ………… 3.4 Inference……………………………………………… AI Graphic Organizers …………………………………………………………… Definition of Graphic Organizers……………………………………… Types of Graphic Organizers………………………………… ……… The Benefits of Graphic Organizers to reading comprehension….……… Graphic Organizers in the Classroom Activities ………………….… …….…… PART 2: PRACTICAL BACKGROUND The background of the study…………………………………………………………… The problems faced by students and teacher in learning and teaching reading comprehension at Le Loi High high school ………………….… …….8 2.1 The problems faced by students in learning reading comprehension 2.2 The problems faced by teachers in teaching reading comprehension ……………………………………………………………………………………… The method employed in teaching reading comprehension skill to the grade 12 students at Le Loi High high school …………………….…………………9 PART 3: THE SOLUTIONS 3.1 The Purposes of the Solutions ……………………………………………………………10 3.2 The Time & the Participants of the Study …………………………………………11 3.3 Reading Materials …………………………………………………………….………………… 11 3.4 The Procedures of the study ……………………………………………………………… 11 3.4.1 Problem Identification ………………………… ………………………………… 11 3.4.2 Analyzing the causes…………………………………………….………………… 12 3.4.3 Planning ……………………………………………………………….……………………12 3.4.4 Acting …………………………………………………………….………….……………… 15 UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3.4.5 Observing ……………………………………………………….……….………………….16 3.4.6 Reflecting ……………………………………………………………… ………………… 16 3.4.7 Revising the plan …………………………………………………………….…………16 Technique of Collecting Data…………………………….….……………… …………… 16 Techniques of Analyzing Data……………………………… ………………………… …16 PART 4: RESULT AND DISCUSSION Results of the study ………………………………………………… ………………………… 16 Discussion……………………………………………………………………………………………….17 2.1 The strength …………………………………………….……….… … ………………… 17 2.The weaknesses ………………………………………………………….……………… 18 CONCLUSSION Conclusion………………………………………………………………………… ………………….18 Implication ……………………………………………………………………….………….……… 19 Suggestion……………………………………………………………………… ………….………….19 3.1 For English teachers…………………………………………………….……….………….19 3.2 For the students …………………………………………………………………….……… 19 3.3 For the school ……………………………………………………………………….…….……20 REFERENCES APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: THE PRE-TEST APPENDIX 2: THE POST-TEST APPENDIX 3: OBSERVATION SHEET APPENDIX 4: TEACHING DIARY UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com A INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study It has been long known that English is one of the decisive factors for people's success at the age of globalization Since Vietnam’s admission to the world trade organization (WTO), English has become increasingly important as a means of global communication and as bridge to mankind's knowledge To students, nowadays, English is not only a core subject in the curriculum at school but also key to gain access to the information world that proves of great value to all of them That is the reason why in the new textbooks (introduced in 2006 - English 10, 2007- English 11 and 2008- English 12 by the Ministry of Education and Training), four skills including reading, speaking, listening and writing are put in priority and integrated Of four language skills mentioned above, reading is considered to be the most challenging one The reasons for this are various, such as uninteresting topics, complicated words/phrases/edioms, students' poor vocabulary or lack of background knowledge and cultural understanding Twelve graders at Le Loi High School have encountered such a lot of difficulties when dealing with reading lessons However, after 10 years of teaching English 12, I also discover that the reading tasks themselves are also a factor affecting students’ reading comprehension Moreover, students themselves feel scared when doing a long and difficult reading task because the reading lessons are not exciting enough to get students involved in their learning The reality poses a question to teachers about how to encourage students to learn and improve their reading skills so that they will be able to pass the English paper in the coming national examination in which reading skill acomplishes large proportion One of the possible solutions for such problems is using graphic organizers because these organizers can help students clarify and organize information into categories (main idea, supporting details, topic sentence, facts, opinion, etc), organize information in a paragraph for better understanding, construct meaning of difficult words and sentence dividing into lexis and understand the context by associating with prior knowledge Furthermore, graphic organizers are considered as wonderful techniques to make students actively engaged in their learning Because organizers include words, visual images, illustrative shapes, meaningful labels and logical displays, they are effective for a variety of students with different language levels and different multiple intelligences, especially for those with a visual modality preference For the aforementioned reasons, the author decided to choose the study entitled “using graphic organizers to improve reading comprehension skill for the grade 12 students at Le Loi High high school” The objectives of the study The study aimed at seeing whether the graphic organizers are beneficial for my students Specifically, the aims include: To identify whether and to what extent Graphic Organizers can improve grade 12 students’ reading comprehension skill in identifying the main UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com idea, dealing with vocabulary, fact and opinion, and making inferences To describe the situation when Graphic Organizers are used in reading classes The method of the study When conducting this paper, I have uterlized these following methods - Collecting information about the theme - Practicing teaching - Observing and assessing - Exchanging experience with colleagues The scope of the study Due to the limited knowledge, energy and time, the researcher was unable to carry out the investigation on a large scale This action research was only conducted for only weeks with the four reading lessons and in the context of 46 twelveth-grade students at Le Loi High School in the academic year 2020 2021 only Hence, the results of the study is only limited to the above teaching context and participants The design of the study The research study is organized into three parts as followed: Part provides basic information including the rationale, objectives, method, scope and design of the study Part reviews the related literature on reading comprehension presents the effectiveness of using graphic Organizers in teaching and learning reading comprehension as well as deals with some difficulties faced by teachers and students before applying the technique Part involves the result analysis as well as the discussion of the data and draws the conclusion, implication on the subject matter and suggestions for further research B DEVELOPMENT PART I THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I Reading Comprehension The nature of reading comprehension Grellet (1998: 3) states that reading comprehension is understanding a written text or extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible In addition, White (1997: 22) states that comprehension involves recognizing the significance of the message, understanding the intentions of the writer, and going beyond what is written to guest at hidden, unstated or implied meaning Moreover, Howel (1993: 182) writes that comprehension is the act combining information in passages with prior knowledge in order to construct meaning Another definition comes from Merisuo and Storm (2006) states that reading comprehension is a complex process: the reader constructs meaning by UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com interacting with text using his or her previous knowledge and experience and the information that can be found in the text From the theories above, it can be concluded that reading comprehension is a complex process in which the reader interacts with the text and employs his/her previous knowledge, experience and information to extract the significant information/important information, understand the intentions of the writer, and goes beyond what is written to guess at hidden, unstated or implied meaning on the text Thus, it is essential for language teachers to help students become effective readers The Factors Influencing Reading Comprehension Dallman (1982: 165) points out the factors influencing the reading comprehension as follows: 2.1 External Factors: - Difficulty of material: difficult material that is beyond the students’ level is one of the major causes of lack of comprehension - Intelligence: a students’ ability to comprehend in reading is sometimes limited by his mental ability enabling him to carry The intelligence of the reader will influence the capacity of the reader in comprehending passage - Teacher’ s method: methods of teaching that concentrate on the recognition of individual words without neglecting attention to meaning assists the students’ quality in comprehending the text 2.2 Internal Factors: - Motivation is one of the important factors of learners in reading comprehension - Self-esteem has important role in developing reading comprehension It is a human being personality that is active, highly confident Reading Comprehension Skill Spears (2000: xxvi) states there are eight important reading comprehension skills that help learners to read more systematically They are comprehending the main idea, determining the author’s purpose, distinguishing between the main idea and supporting details, making inference, distinguishing facts and opinion, analyzing structure, annotating, paraphrasing and summarizing The main concern of the research is about how to find the main idea, explicit information, vocabulary, and inference Therefore, I would like discussing further on those aspects: 3.1 Main Idea Spears (2000: 17) defines main idea as the author’s main point, a sentence, or perhaps two that state what the whole thing is about The main idea may take place in the beginning of the paragraph, the end of the paragraph, combination between the beginning and the end of the paragraph, or even omitted from the entire paragraph 3.2 Explicit information Spears (2000: 12) defines explicit information is a single piece of information or fact about something 3.3 Vocabulary UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com According to Schwartz and Raphael (1985: 39) vocabulary is the knowledge of words and words meaning Knowledge of words is critical to reading comprehension, because it support to comprehension Students are expected to learn the meaning of new words They acquire these words by reading books, magazine, newspaper or hearing them read aloud from books by other 3.4 Inference McNeil (1992: 77) defines inference as the derivation of some idea that is not directly stated To infer, Caroll in McNeil suggests that there are three important ways to infer They are from subtleties of verbal expression, reasoning, making involvement of the reader’s experience to determine how the character in the text might feel AI Graphic Organizers Definition of Graphic Organizers There are many definitions about graphic organizers Among them are from Bromley et al, Sousa, and Zwiers Bromley, et al (1995:7) defines graphic organizer as a visual representation of knowledge It is a way of structuring information, of arranging important information aspects of a concept or topic into a pattern using label Besides, Sousa (2005:192) states that graphic organizers as valuable tool for organizing and representing knowledge and for illustrating relationship between concepts In addition, Herley in Zwiers (2004:17) states that graphic organizers are drawings that use geometric shapes or tables to show connections between pieces of information Types of Graphic Organizers Graphic organizers come in many different forms, each one is best suited to organizing a particular type of information Mcgill, Murphy, and Freeman (2009) state that graphic organizers are generally labeled as conceptual, hierarchical, cyclical, and sequential The first, conceptual organizers help students show their learning or knowledge of a central idea Concept maps, KWL charts, and Venn diagrams are only a few conceptual graphic organizers KWL charts will help the student organize his or her prior knowledge and the information that he or she wants to learn before new learning begins Then, after learning has taken place the student will chart what he or she has learned Venn diagrams are used to compare and contrast two objects, topics, characters, etc Second, a hierarchical organizer is used when a student needs to break down broad concept into sub concepts Some of these organizers include the branching diagram, classifying chart, and topic/subtopic web Students could use this type of graphic organizer to explain the food chain Third, the student will use a sequential graphic organizer when he or she needs to explain the sequence of events Storyboards, T-charts, and cause and effect organizers are all sequential This type of organizer could be used when telling the beginning, middle, and end of a story UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com The last, there are times when it would be best to use a cyclical organizer These organizers may be better known as the circle organizer or the circle diagram These could be used to show life cycles or the water cycle In Figures to 4, examples of some graphic organizers that are used for interpreting a text with a specific objective are shown Figure 1.1 is a graphic organizer that could be used to classify the author’s purpose in a reading comprehension passage This could be further developed based on the requirements for different passages Figure is a graphic organizer that could be used to classify the main idea and supporting details in a passage Figure & are graphic organizers that could be used for classifying information in a passage as fact or opinion and comparison or contrasting respectively Figure Author’s purpose Figure Main Idea & Supporting Figure Main Idea & Supporting UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Details Figure Fact and Opinion Figure Compare and Contras UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Implement various graphic organizers to teach English especially reading comprehension Provide adequate facilities to support the success of the teaching learning process XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG ĐƠN VỊ Thanh Hóa, ngày 18 tháng năm 2021 CAM KẾT KHÔNG COPY Lê Bá Đạo 20 UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com REFERENCES Bromley, K., Irwin- DeVitis, L & Modlo, M (1999) 50 graphic organizers for reading, writing & more: Reproducible templates, student samples, and easy strategies to support every learner New York: Scholastic Professional Books Irwin-DeVitis, L and Pease, D (1995) Using graphic organizers for learning and assessment in middle level classrooms Middle School Journal, 26 (5), 5764 Langford, P A., Rizzo, S K., & Roth, J M (2003) Improving student comprehension in content areas through the use of reading strategies Illinois: M.A Research Project, Saint Xavier University and Skylight Professional Development (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No ED478769.) Chi Fan, Y (2010) The Effect of Comprehension Strategy Instruction on EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension Asian Social Science, 6(8), 19-29 http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ass.v6n8P19 Griffin, C C., & Tulbert, B L (1995) The Effects of Graphic Organizers on Students’ Comprehension and Recall of Expository Text: A review of the Research and Implication of Practice Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 11(1) http://dx.doi.org/0.1080/1057356950110106 Anderson, N (1999) Exploring second language reading: issues and strategies Heinle & Heinle 53-56 Hoang Van Van, 2006, English textbook 12, Education Publishing House UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Appendices Appendix 1: The pre- test Passage1: Read the following passages and answer the following questions: Water is a very important part of our environment It is found covering nearly three quarters of the Earth’s surface It is fun to splash in and it is also needed for life In fact, we can survive much longer without food than without water to drink Every living thing needs water Without it, plants and trees will not grow; fish, clams, dolphins and other aquatic life will have nowhere to live; and animals like otters who find their food in the water will have nothing to eat And you know that when we drink water, there are some nutrients and minerals dissolved in the water? Fluoride is commonly added to drinking water in the United States to help prevent cavities from forming in our teeth Plants “drink” water as well by absorbing it through their roots Minerals and other nutrients enter the plant with the water When we eat plants, some of these same nutrients give us energy to run, play and think The three forms of water are solid, liquid and gas Did you guess right? Solid water is frozen and known as ice When water is boiled, or the sun heats the surface of a body of water, its molecules can absorb enough energy to evaporate into the air—that is, to become a gas called water vapor Up in Earth’s atmosphere, water vapor cools and collects into clouds When enough clusters of cloud particles stick together, they tumble back down to Earth as rain, snow, hail, or sleet This process of water evaporating, condensing and falling to Earth is the water cycle Water on the Earth can flow above the ground in a stream or river It can run underground, too And water can also be frozen into large glaciers Whichever form it is in, it can be a powerful force, changing the shape of the land as it erodes mountains and carves valleys We cannot survive on Earth without water—so we must all our part to take care of it People use the fresh water of lakes and rivers for drinking, washing, cooking and growing food.Did you know that most of the world’s population does not have direct access to clean water? We are very lucky tolive in a country where clean water is “streaming” from our faucets It is up to us to be responsible users of the water available on Earth UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com S.No Type of Reading Question Identifying the main idea Finding the supportin details Understanding vocabulary UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Distinguishing fact from opinion Making 10 Appendix 2: The post- test Passage2: Read the following passages and answer the following questions: Each day, your teeth are attacked by millions of bacteria They form a clear coating on your teeth called plaque When you eat, they eat too, gobbling up sugar and making acids that burn holes in your teeth You can taste the acid that bacteria make about an hour after you have eaten something sweet The acid tastes sour The best way to prevent plaque is to brush for two minutes at least two times a day using toothpaste and a toothbrush Your teeth have three main layers Enamel covers the outside, dentin is in the middle, and pulp is on the inside Enamel only covers the part of your tooth that sticks out of your gums, called the “crown” The part below your gum line is the“root” Enamel is the hardest material in your body, and that’s a good thing considering what you eat Chewing food is a tough job, so your teeth must have enamel to protect them Dentin makes up most of your tooth It is also hard and bony, but not as hard as enamel It protects the nerves and blood vessels in your tooth’s pulp When bacteria eat through the enamel on your teeth, they form cavities.Cavities are bad, because they give bacteria a place to hide Inside of the cavity, bacteria will continue to eat and to make acid that burns its way even deeper into your teeth If a cavity gets deep enough UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com into your tooth, it will begin to hurt because the nerves in your tooth pulp will be exposed Dentists can fix most cavities, but it is not an easy process First, they drill away the rotten part of your tooth Then they can fill the hole left behind The ceramic material used to fill the hole is your tooth is like glass: it is hard like your enamel, but it can break easily So, it is best to avoid cavities when you can Most toothpaste has fluoride, a chemical that hardens your tooth enamel Your drinking water may also have fluoride in it Using fluoride helps to prevent cavities by making it harder for acids to burn through your teeth Preventing cavities by brushing for two minutes at least twice a day with toothpaste and a toothbrush is a good way to make sure that you will still have your teeth when you are older It will also give you something to smile about S.No Type of Reading Question Identifying the main idea UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Finding the supporting details Understanding vocabulary Distinguishing fact from opinion UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat @agmail.co m easily d enamel is the hardest material, but it is good for eating 10 Making inferences It will also give you something to smile about What does ‘it’ signify in the above extract from the passage? UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat @agmail.co m APPENDIX 3: OBSERVATION SHEET Observer:………………………………………………… Dates: ………………………… Teacher:………………………………………………… Observed class: ……………… Number of students:……………………………… The observed lesson:…………………………………… Types of activities: (circle one) original/ modified Instructions: This sheet is for observing the class as a whole, not individual student Complete this sheet when the tasks are drawing to close Circle one number for each statement below Add your comments at the bottom of the sheet if you wish Mark how involved in the task the students are: Not very involved very involved Mark the level of students’ concentration on the learning task: Low The students are enjoying the task Not really The students are paying persistent attention to the learning tasks Not really The students find the modified activities interesting Not really The modified reading tasks are appropriate for the students Not really Comments: ………………………………………………………………………………… UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………… APPENDIX 4: TEACHING DIARY Unit:…………………………… I Effectiveness of the modified listening tasks and the lesson: Effectiveness of the modified reading tasks - Students’ involvement in tasks: ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… - Students’ interest in the task: ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… - Students’ satisfaction with the task: ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… Effectiveness of the lesson: ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… II Difficulties students met in the lesson: Task difficulty: ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… Length of the task: …………………………………………………………………… ………… III General evaluation: UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… UAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ... reasons, the author decided to choose the study entitled ? ?using graphic organizers to improve reading comprehension skill for the grade 12 students at Le Loi High high school? ?? The objectives of... and 12 as poor at using English In my study, students from class 12A2 were trained with using graphic organizers in reading lessons to decode information from reading passages 3.3 Reading Materials... aimed at seeing whether the graphic organizers are beneficial for my students Specifically, the aims include: To identify whether and to what extent Graphic Organizers can improve grade 12 students? ??