Rationale for the Study
On the global basis, the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is generally recognized as an international benchmark of proficiency in English Scores on IELTS are widely used as a part of recruitment or admission procedures set by educational institutions, employers, professional registration bodies and government immigration agencies IELTS candidature, in particular, has witnessed a rapid growth in recent years with over 1.5 million test-takers every year including thousands of Vietnamese candidates To meet the demands of the IELTS preparation market and help more and more candidates succeed in the IELTS test, private language schools in big cities like Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City which offer corresponding IELTS preparation courses are developing at an accelerating rate
The IELTS test consists of two modules: the Academic and General training modules As the Academic module is designed for those seeking admission to undergraduate and postgraduate courses like all the participants involved in this essay, this study focuses on the Academic reading module
From personal observation, the researcher realized that many Vietnamese learners of English, in general, and pre-intermediate students at American English School (AMES), a private English language school in Hanoi, Vietnam, in particular, after several years of learning English, turn out to be word-by-word readers That is to say, students construct the meaning of the text by decoding at word and sentence levels When encountering long and complicated reading passages of the IELTS Academic reading module, students are confused about the way to achieve understanding and gain information from the text They tend to read very slowly making an attempt to understand the meaning of every single word, or they hardly show any effort to guess meanings of unknown lexis from reading context In addition, they frequently try to translate the reading passages into Vietnamese As a result, many of them fail to finish the test under the constraint of time In other cases, students lose marks for not paying attention to the number of words required for the reading task One possible explanation for the above-mentioned problems is that they are not equipped with adequate and efficient reading strategies even though students have already acquired a range of vocabulary and grammar after years of learning English
Teaching and learning to read effectively under the test condition is a central issue in most IELTS reading preparation courses in language schools However, there is a dearth of studies analyzing the progress of these EFL learners after taking such courses in Vietnam As a result, this study is an attempt to investigate whether the intensive reading preparation course can be effective in raising the learners‘ awareness, encouraging their use of the strategies and improving their IELTS band scores of the Academic Reading module This will hopefully give an insight into the potential of explicit strategy instruction in extending the range of reading strategies that learners can employ in the domain of IELTS reading and it can also assist teachers and educators in reviewing IELTS teaching methodology and EFL teaching in general.
Aims and Objectives of the Study
This research is carried out with the aim of assessing the level of learners‘ improvements on academic reading performance in the IELTS test after taking the intensive preparation course at American English School (AMES) In other words, by comparing the input and output of one learner and comparing the outputs among learners, the research will evaluate the effectiveness of the IELTS reading course at AMES which is based on explicit reading comprehension strategies and test-taking strategies; whether it could offer candidates an efficient preparation and improve chances for learners to gain high scores in the real test
Conjugant with the above-mentioned aim, there are a number of research objectives required to work on They are presented as follows:
- Define reading comprehension, reading strategies, reading strategy instruction, describe their characteristics, and present several models of
- Indicate the purpose, format and components of the IELTS test with their highlights
- Investigate factors related to the Academic Reading Module involved in the IELTS test with the necessary reading strategies to achieve higher band score in this module
- Apply and analyze the process of teaching IELTS reading strategies to improve learners‘ reading performance
- Explore the learners‘ attitudes towards IELTS reading strategy instruction
- Give recommendations to other teachers of English on how to teach students to employ IELTS reading strategies efficiently to improve their scores in the IELTS Academic Reading Module.
Research Questions
In accordance with the aforementioned objectives, the study seeks to answer these following research questions:
1 To what extent does the explicit reading comprehension strategy instruction help to improve learners’ use of strategies under the test condition?
2 To what extent do learners improve their IELTS band scores of Academic Reading module after completing the test preparation course with explicit reading strategy instruction at AMES English Language Center?
3 What are students’ attitudes towards the explicit strategy instruction in IELTS Reading preparation course?
Methodology of the Study
It has been decided that the study will make use of both quantitative and qualitative data This is to serve the ultimate goal of identifying the level of improvements the students acquire after taking the reading course with explicit strategy instruction at AMES Quantitative data are to be collected with the medium of two questionnaires supplying the researchers with figures to analyze learners‘ thoughts and approaches In addition, the reading scores of the pre-tests and post- tests were also utilized as they provided a quick and easy way of looking at their improvements made by IELTS learners Meanwhile, qualitative data will be obtained through the means of an interview after the post-test The detail of the methodology applied in the study is discussed in Chapter 2 of Part B.
Scope of the study
American English School (AMES) takes pride in many years of experience in training high quality English according to international standards AMES provides English language training for all school & university students, working people and large enterprises in Vietnam AMES English training programs include:
English for preschoolers, young learners & junior, IELTS, TOEFL iBT, TOEIC, and teacher training course (TESOL)
For the IELTS preparation program, AMES offers courses for two different age groups: IELTS preparation for teens (12-15 years old) and IELTS preparation for adults (over 16) This study focuses on the second course of intensive 160-hour IELTS preparation with the goal of achieving 6.0+ output Although candidates taking the IELTS test are assessed for four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing, in order to match the scope and time, the research will focus only on the level of progress of the students with the Reading module.
Significance of the study
In Vietnam, there are thousands of IELTS tests taken in one year However, there is a significant limitation in terms of number as well as publication of studies carried out in this field This research is hence conducted with the hope of contributing to the knowledge of IELTS trainers who want to have a closer view into how their trainees would actually perform in the Reading Academic module for better IELTS preparation instruction The paper consequently suggests some practical recommendations to people of interest who plan to sit for the test so that they could make more efficient use of reading strategies in the IELTS test.
Organization of the study
It is necessary to provide an overview of the research to the audience so that the information and discussion can be well kept track of According to the aims and objectives that have been discussed and presented in the sections above, the study will consist of three parts which relate to the following issues:
Part A: Introduction presents a brief introduction of the rationale, the aims and objectives, scope, significance, methods and organization of the study
Part B: Development, the main part of the study and is composed of three chapters as follows:
Chapter 1 : Literature Review provides the theoretical knowledge and results from the recent studies for the issues relevant to the field under investigated
Chapter 2 : Methodology describes the processes of sampling, designing research instruments, collecting and analyzing data employed in the study
Chapter 3 : Results and Discussion presents the discussion of the findings of the study
Part C: Conclusion summarizes the main findings, presents the limitations of the study, and suggestions for further studies
In addition, the study also includes the sections of References which displays the sources of referenced information and Appendices which presents the survey questionnaires, and the pre- and post-test papers.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Reading and reading comprehension
In our daily life nowadays one can easily recognize the presence of reading and its role Reading can live up to the personal purpose of gaining information or for leisure Scholars agree that reading is a mental process which can be complicated This process is activated with the engagement of the reader, the text, and the interaction between the reader and the text (Rumelhart, 1997), and happens when this interaction creates or recreates meaningful discourse (Silberstein, 1994)
Whether the meaning is recreated and to what extent or in which way primarily depends on the reconstruction of the reader – the cognitive subject of the text, as a language user (Goodman, 1967)
Regarding learning processes in general and particularly language learning, reading accounts for a prerequisite and fundamental part as it aids the learning of other skills When it comes to learning English as a second language (ESL) or as a foreign language (EFL), reading is deemed as the most crucial language skill to learners (Robertson, 1983) This is because reading does not only provide the tool for acquiring knowledge but also aids the enrichment of language proficiency (Krashen, 1985)
Reading can be approached in different ways, and the three most commonly used reading models are bottom-up model, top-down model and interactive model
Bottom-up reading model is heavily focused on the text while the reader has a rather passive role The reader in this model reconstructs the meaning based on recognizing and decoding words of the text (Barnett, 1989) As a result, reading process follows a pattern from part to whole, or bottom-up Meaning interpretation mainly rests on morpho-phonemic and morpho-syntactic processing (Eskey, 2005), as opposed to the lack of consideration for sentence- context effects and previous knowledge of text topic, which is the drawback of this model (Samuel and Kamil, 1988)
Top-down reading model refers to a more reader-driven approach of reading
On the contrary to bottom-up model, in top-down model the reader reconstructs the meaning not only based on letter and word recognition but also in relation with syntactic cues and semantic cues available (Goodman, 1967) Using top-down model, the reader also put into practice his or her prior knowledge together with the use of written text at a higher level, with predicting, sampling, confirming, and correcting in reading comprehension (Barnett, 1989) Hence, the interaction between the reader and the text in this approach is of higher level than in botto m- up one
Although being two mostly complete opposites, bottom-up and top-down reading processes have their each essential role in EFL/ESL reading Koda (2005) asserted that the level of bottom-up and top-down processes is used in a specific reading context is determined by the text‘s nature, the reader‘s reading purposes, their available background knowledge of the text topic, their language proficiency as well as their attitudes and interest in reading that text
As two contrasting reading models gaining in popularity, the criticism towards them accumulated, necessitating the advent of the third one, the interactive reading model This model emphasizes on the role of both the reader and the text
Interactive reading model was devised in order to combine the higher-level processing and the lower-level processing in acquiring knowledge from various sources in reading process Meaning is reconstructed from the use of three different cueing systems, namely graph phonic, syntactic and semantic systems (Rumelhart, 1977)
Basically, reading comprehension refers to the understanding of a reader with a text Grellet (1981) suggested a definition of reading comprehension in his work ―Understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible‖ (p 3) The RAND Reading Study Group defined reading comprehension as ―the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language‖
From some perspectives, reading comprehension can be viewed as a product of the combined use of some particular language components such as spelling, phonological and orthographic awareness, phonics knowledge and listening comprehension, vocabulary and verbal intelligence b) However, there are two essential components of reading comprehension that elude decoding and listening comprehension, which are fluency and strategies Fluency, according to Wolf and Bowers (1999), concerns with the speed of word recognition so that the reader can process the joint meaning between the previous and later words Strategies, however, helps the reader in dealing with rather long and/or complex text, as well as when difficulties or obstacles arise in reading process.
Reading Strategies
When language learners encounter language learning tasks like reading, they can apply several different language learning strategies to complete the tasks
Therefore, as part of language learning strategies, reading strategies have all of the characteristics of language learning strategies
Since the late 1970s, second or foreign language learners have been taught to use different reading strategies in order to improve their reading comprehension ability Reading strategies are defined as "the mental operations involved when readers purposefully approach a text and make sense of what they read" (Barnett,
1988) These processes may include skimming, scanning, guessing the meaning of unknown words from context, making inferences about the text, etc In fact, reading strategies show how readers conceive a task, what textual cues they attend to, how they make sense of what they read, and what they do when they do not understand
According to Anderson (1991), reading strategies are deliberate, cognitive steps that learners take in acquiring, storing, and retrieving new information Although the distinction between reading ‗skills‘ and reading ‗strategies‘ is not always clear, and sometimes they are used interchangeably, in this study the term reading strategies refer to those mental processes that readers consciously choose to use in accomplishing reading tasks (Cohen, 1986)
Based on various criteria, scholars have categorized reading strategies differently Many identify two broad categories of strategies including those employed to create meaning of a text as a framework for global understanding and those employed to monitor comprehension and take action as needed On the other hand, other researchers in reading strategies studies have used different strategies types when classifying reading strategies For instance, Sheorey & Mokhtari (2001) used a cognitive framework to group reading strategies into three sub-categories:
Global Reading Strategies, Problem-Solving Reading Strategies and Support Reading Strategies Their classification scheme is followed by many researchers:
(i) Global Reading Strategies: generalized, intentional reading strategies aimed at setting the stage for the reading act Examples of this type of strategies are
―having a purpose in mind, evaluating what to read or ignore, noting text characteristics, guessing what the material is about, etc.‖
(ii) Problem-Solving Strategies: localized, focused techniques used when problems develop in understanding textual information These strategies provide readers with action plans that allow them to navigate through the text skillfully
Examples of these strategies include re-reading for better comprehension, going back when losing concentration, adjusting speed of reading when the text becomes difficult or easy, pausing and thinking about reading, etc In general, in a second- language context, it is believed that readers often have to use more problem-solving strategies to construct the meaning of a text, due to limited linguistic knowledge
(iii) Support Reading Strategies: provide the support mechanisms aimed at sustaining responses to reading Examples of these strategies are use of outside reference materials such as dictionaries, taking notes, highlighting key information to better comprehend the text, etc
2 Strategy use and reading results
The relation between using strategies while reading, especially in reading comprehension tests In a study conducted by Carrell (1989), it was found out that high-scoring students did a better job at using global strategies; this is a similar result to those of Block (1992) and Al-Melhi (1999) Meanwhile, Anderson (1991) revealed that the strategies the efficient and less efficient students used were almost the same However, the key factor lay in the frequency of applying those strategies in their reading process Also, the results were determined by when and how these students implement reading strategies Skilled readers employ a range of appropriate strategies, moving from one to the other as they read to get the meaning of the text (Cohen, 1998) while less successful learners use strategies in a random, unconnected and inconsistent manner (Chamot et al., 1996)
Therefore, the key to teaching reading strategies is through a combined strategies-instructional approach rather than as discrete strategies taught independently of one another (Hudson, 2007) In addition, it has been indicated in several studies that using efficient and appropriate strategies depends clearly on the reader‘s characteristics (gender, age, relevant background knowledge and proficiency level), the text to be read (topic familiarity, the language of the text, text layout and structure, the length of the text) and the nature of the question items asked about it.
Strategy Instruction
1 Strategy instruction in previous literature
Generally, reading strategies can be learned and acquired, and if a learner has been trained to acquire specific techniques of taking tests, that learner is expected to score significantly higher in tests than learners with same proficiency level in the subject area that have not learned any strategies (Bachman & Palmer, 1996; Cohen, 1998; Phakiti, 2003; Rogers & Harley, 1999) The aforementioned studies revealed that strategy explicit instruction along with the use of such strategies lead to development in test-takers‘ performance, particularly reading comprehension results, for learners with different proficiency levels
As learning strategy instruction has been receiving a great interest among scholars, there are a significant number of studies either proposing or recommending the procedures of strategy instruction Winograd and Hare (1988) introduced five components needed in an effective strategy instruction, including
(1) description of the strategy, (2) explanation of the strategy‘s importance and benefits when in use, (3) demonstration of use, (4) clarification of utilization context, and (5) teaching of how to evaluate the success of strategy use By a same vein, Beckman (2002) suggested a few steps for reading teachers to follow in order to achieve effective reading strategy instruction:
(i) Describe the strategy: Students obtain an understanding of the strategy and its purpose—why it is important, when it can be used, and how to use it
(ii) Model its use: The teacher models the strategy, explaining to the students how to perform it
(iii) Provide sample assisted practice time: The teacher monitors, provides cues, and gives feedback Practice results in automaticity so the student does not have to ―think‖ about using the strategy
(iv) Promote student self-monitoring and evaluation of personal strategy use
Students will likely use the strategy if they see how it works for them; it will become part of their learning schema
(v) Encourage continued use and generalization of the strategy Students are encouraged to try the strategy in other learning situations
In general, there has been a consensus that three primary steps involved in strategy instruction are Orientation, Modelling, and Application (Winograd and
Hare, 1988; Duffy, Roehler, and Herrmann, 1988; Grant, 1994) In the first step, Orientation, the students are informed about the strategy, what it is and why it should be used At the stage of Modelling, the students are demonstrated how to use the strategy by observing the teacher performing each step and simultaneously thinking aloud of strategy implementation Finally, Application enables the students to carry out the execution of the strategy learned either in groups or individually By this way, they can find out themselves how effective the strategy can be and how efficiently their use of the strategy is This stage can also enforce the confidence of the students with strategy utilization and gives them incentives for further implementation
In terms of cycle, strategy instruction was devised by Macaro in his 2001 book Learner strategies in second and foreign language classroom, and is presented in Figure 2 below (adapted from Macaro, 2001, p 176)
Figure 1 Learner strategies training cycle
It can be seen from these models that it is of uttermost necessity for teachers to include awareness raising in the procedures of learning strategy instruction
Researchers agree that this step should be incorporated with the introduction of the strategy so that the students are able to gain the perceptions and cognitive acquisition of the strategy Besides, it is worth noting that self-monitoring and evaluation should be given appropriate attention in strategy instruction procedures After all, the responsibility of learning had better be shifted to the learners With regards to teachers‘ role in strategy instruction, focus is put on modelling and scaffolding
1 Raise the awareness of the students 2
Exploration of possible Stratgies available
3 Modelling by teacher and/or other students
Combining strategies for a specific purpose or task
Application of strategies with scaffolded support
Evaluation by students (and teachers)
Monitoring strateggy use and rewarding effort
3 The roles of modelling and scaffolding in strategy instruction
Modelling plays a tremendous role in the cycle of stategy instruction (Winograd and Hare, 1988; Duffy, Roehler, and Herrmann, 1988; Grant, 1994)
Modelling means that the teacher demonstrates a new approach to or concept in learning so that students can observe and learn (Eggen and Kauchak, 2001) In other words, any time in the class a teacher demonstrate a concept or approach, modelling occurs (Haston, 2007) With regards with the students, modelling is the process of accomplishing new knowledge or information or skills via observation, instead of direct experience (Holland and Kobasigawa, 1980) Assessing the value of modelling, studies point out that modelling is one of the most effective modes of learning when one person wishes to acquire a new idea or skill (Bandura, 1986), for the reason that students are not only shown a new concept but they can also observe how the teachers approach the problem To put it in another way, the students are enabled to observe the teacher‘s thought process in modelling (Salisu and Ransom,
2014) And this is one of the key points in learning reading
Another substantial component of the strategy instruction cycle is scaffolding Scaffolding entails the teacher to offer support to an appropriate extent so that learners are able to gain advances in their learning process To put it in another way, by scaffolding teachers first model the strategy use, provide explanations and examples; once the students get more hold of the strategy, teachers lessen their involvement by just giving a prompt or a hint, thereby enabling the students to have more control and responsibility with learning (Rubin, 2014)
4 Contextualization and explicitness in strategy instruction
According to Macaro (2001), learning strategy instruction is characterized by some features, among which the most important are contextualization, and explicitness Contextualization indicates that strategies need to be instructed in the context of a language course, otherwise training would achieve no ends
In addition, explicitness is another essential component in learning strategy training Explicit strategy instruction is a term, according to Van Keer (2004), coining to ―the purposive activities of a teacher to make children fully aware of the active character of the reading process and of the importance of comprehension- fostering and monitoring activities‖ (p 38) In the same vein as Macaro, Cohen and colleagues (1996), and Chamot (2004) both stressed the importance of explicit training in effective language learning strategy instruction (Jurkovic, 2010)
Furthermore, in terms of teaching reading comprehension, Coyne et al (2009) made a conclusion that there is a relation between learner outcome and explicitness in teachers‘ reading strategy instruction, particularly among less efficient readers.
The IELTS Reading Test
IELTS, or International English Testing System, as Hughes (2003) mentioned is a typical example of proficiency tests The function of the IELTS test like other proficiency tests is to screen test-takers for language ability regardless of any training they may have experienced in that language Therefore, it is believed to be a helpful testing tool in a number of circumstances to decide whether a student is likely to cope with a course of specialist study (Harrison, 1983) Specifically, IELTS is widely accepted as a proof of English language skills used for recruitment or admission purposes set by educational institutions, employers, professional registration bodies and government immigration agencies (Hallows, Lisboa and Unwin, 2006) IELTS is jointly managed by the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations (Cambridge ESOL), the British Council and IDP: IELTS Australia
According to British Council, the number of IELTS tests taken in the last year alone is over 2.9 million The high-stakes nature of the test, coupled with its rapid growth, has attracted a burgeoning international industry in test preparation courses and text books
As there is no requirements for age, the candidates of IELTS can vary from schoolchildren who may want to study overseas, university students who do courses in English, to people who are already in employment but may seek for promotions
These differing purposes of taking the test are satisfied with two versions:
Academic and General Training and test-takers can choose either of them Both share the same Listening and Speaking modules, and differ in the other two, namely Reading and Writing modules In this study, the focal point is on the IELTS Academic reading Hereby, IELTS mentioned in the following parts is implied as IELTS Academic The IELTS procedure and components, then, can be visualized by the following chart
Candidate listen to a number of recorded texts These include a mixture of monologues and conversations and feature a variety of English accents
The recording is heard only once, and candidates are given time to read the questions and write down their answers
Reading (Time: 60 minutes) There are three reading passages with tasks Texts are taken from books, magazines, journals and newspapers, all written for a non-specialist audience At least one of the texts contains a detailed argument
The first task requires candidates to write a description of at least 150 words This is based on material found in a chart, table, graph or diagram and demonstrates their ability to summarize the key features of the input
For the second task, candidates write a short essay of at least
250 words in response to a statement or question They are expected to demonstrate an ability to present a position, construct an argument and discuss issues
Speaking (Time: 11-14 minutes) The test is a face-to-face interview Candidates are assessed on their use of spoken English to answer short questions to speak at length on a familiar topic, and also to interact with the examiner
(Information for Candidates, Introducing IELTS to test takers)
Figure 2 The IELTS Academic Procedures and Components
IELTS scores range from band 0 to band 9, each of which corresponds to a descriptive statement which summarizes the candidate‘s English language competence There is no pass or fail score, each of the skills is assessed distinctively and then added to make up the overall band
Academic Reading module, as its name suggest, deals with issues which are of great importance to those who want to enter undergraduate or postgraduate courses or seeking professional registration There are three reading passages totaling approximately 2,500 words; each of them is followed by 13 to 14 items or questions, adding up to 40 questions (Cullen, French & Jakeman, n.d.) The passages can be taken from a variety of authentic sources of information, including journals, books, magazines and newspapers, and topics vary widely, but are all of
―academic nature‖ The 40 items are a selection of various question types, including short-answer questions, completion of a specific structure (note, summary, sentence, flowchart, or table), labelling a diagram, matching headings for identified paragraphs, multiple-choice, classification, identification of writer‘s views/ claims – YES/NO/NOT GIVEN, identification of information in the text – TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN, and matching lists/phrases (Black & Capel, n.d.)
The candidates are required to complete this module within 60 minutes
Regarding scoring, one correct answer equals one point, making up a certain number out of 40, and this ratio is then converted into a band score from 0 to 9 with half scores With this band score, the test taker‘s capability of English, hereby Reading skill, can be interpreted as of ‗Did not attempt the test‘ (band 0), to ‗expert user‘ (band 9) (Cambridge, n.d.) The following table depicts the number of correct answers needed to get the desired band score
Table 1 How IELTS Academic Reading module is scored
It should be kept in mind that the purpose of the test is to assess one‘s ability of language, not their academic or professional knowledge of a specific field The candidates are not required to possess specialized background knowledge to succeed in the IELTS Reading test (Garbutt & O‘Sullivan, 1991)
Ying (2011) suggested that the IELTS reading test requires the candidate to acquire both reading strategies and test-taking strategies
As a proficiency test, IELTS assesses test takers‘ ability of reading comprehension To accomplish that purpose, candidates are highly recommended to obtain a number of reading strategies, of which the two most dominant are expeditious reading and careful reading (Ying, 2011) Expeditious reading refers to the concept of reading quickly yet effectively, and involves skimming for the general idea, scanning for specific items (Schwartz, 1984, as cited in Ying, 2011)
Meanwhile, careful reading denotes reading slowly and thoroughly in order to get hold of details from the text It is an indispensable strategy for test takers to make inferences, such as to identify the writer‘s views and some other detailed information (Hughes, 2000, as cited in Ying, 2011) In terms of reading strategies required for the IELTS Reading test, there are a number of studies showing that expeditious reading and careful reading play important roles in processing the test
For instance, Bax (2013) concluded that test takers who employ expeditious reading strategies, especially to detect the part of text that contains information for the question items as quickly as possible are more likely to succeed than those who do not On the other hand, the study by Krishman (2011) claimed that the IELTS Reading test rather focuses on careful reading, or thorough reading, at the local level whereas assessment of expeditious reading is overlooked to some extent, which implies that candidates are suggested to obtain the former reading skill However, Chalmers and Walkinshaw (2011) pointed out that the two reading skills are deployed with the same weight by candidates In other words, expeditious reading is utilized first to situate the part of information, and then careful reading is applied to find out the answers to the tasks involved (Chalmers & Walkinshaw, 2011)
Test preparation
According to Messick (1982), test preparation is defined as ―any intervention procedure specifically undertaken to improve test scores, whether by improving the skills measured by the test or by improving the skills for taking the test, or both‖
By the same token, Wikipedia (2017, para.1) regards test preparation (abbreviated Test Prep) or exam preparation as ―an educational course, tutoring service, educational material, or a learning tool designed to increase students‘ performance on standardized tests‖ Briggs (2009) claimed three elements typically at the core of any method of test preparation: content review, item drill and practice, and an emphasis on specific test-taking and general test-wiseness According to Robb and Ercanbrack (1999), in recent times there have been abundant preparation programs for academic aptitude and language proficiency tests, which constitute a vast industry within the private educational sector Students attend such programs with a strong desire for successful performance in the tests, and the higher the stakes of a test, the greater the desire for guided test preparation and practice To sum up, these definitions capture the ultimate goal of test preparation which is to improve students‘ test scores
There are many ways to categorize language test preparation Based on the nature of the preparation instruction, Anastasi (1981) grouped test preparation into three broad categories The first is called test-taking orientation, which helps examinees become familiar with the testing procedures and overcome anxieties due to the strangeness of the test The second kind is coaching, which usually involves intense and short-term practice on similar item formats offered by either commercial companies or by school-based programs, and the third category is training in broadly applicable cognitive skills, which contributes to overall improvement of cognitive ability and thus to enhanced test performance
Powers (2012) identifies two test preparation kinds which include test familiarization and coaching Test familiarization is quite similar to test orientation given about 30 years ago by Anastasi (1989) because it is to supply test-takers-to-be with general skills for test taking and to get them familiarized with the procedures required to take a particular test Participants of this kind of test preparation are exposed to the kinds of item formats they will encounter, the guidelines of guess making and time management Powers (2012, p.2) suggests that preparation of this sort is generally considered desirable as it is supposed to get individuals to master the mechanics of test taking; as a result, it will allow them to focus on, and accurately demonstrate, the skills and abilities under tested Meanwhile, the other is named coaching which is typically associated with short-term efforts aimed at teaching test-taking strategies or ―tricks‖ to enable test takers to ―beat the test‖; that is, to take advantage of flaws in the test or in the testing system (e.g., never choose a particular answer choice if a question has these characteristics…)
Montgomery & Lilly (2012) use the delivery mode to understand and study test preparation; test preparation can be school-based, commercial-based, computer- based, and book-based School-based test preparation is integrated into the curriculum and offered by classroom teachers within school settings Commercial- based test preparation is fee-charged short-term instructions operated by commercial agencies with the claim of effectively increasing students‘ test scores
Computer-based test preparation is test preparation whose content is administered through a computer, where students have control of the speed, and the amount of test preparation they choose to engage in Book-based test preparation is structured on commercial publishers‘ practice books and test publishers‘ official guides
3 Previous studies on improvements of learners at test preparation language courses
As test preparation courses started to proliferate to live up to the demands of IELTS candidates, interest in assessing the effectiveness of these courses rose in response However, studies carried out up to date show little or no impacts of pre- test preparation and reading score In fact, the gains in test results are more frequently rather explicit in Listening module, which could be put down to the fact that students have more practice during the courses (Elder and O‘Loughlin, 2003;
Read and Hayes, 2003) Other researchers found relations between preparation courses and improvements on writing scores, in both Academic and General Training modules (Green, 2007; Rao et al., 2003) As a result, there seems to be a dearth in research specifically examining the impacts of test preparation courses on IELTS Academic Reading among non-native candidates so far.
Review of previous studies on reading comprehension strategies among
In Vietnamese educational system‘s mainstream curriculum for English learning, reading is always considered as an indispensable component Students are exposed to reading from an early stage of education, and reading is used as a tool for acquiring other language skills Despite this fact, reading comprehension strategies and strategy instruction have yet to be paid proper and sufficient attention
Studies conducted so far show that students of different levels lack reading comprehension strategies Pham (2016) found out that 7 th graders in one school of Hanoi do not have the capability of reading comprehension, thus having difficulties understanding the meaning of the reading text and struggle with answering questions related This is not much better among university students Le (2004) recognized this issue with his students, both English majors and non-majors, reporting their common response ―I read the text carefully, trying to remember as much as I can I answer the questions when I have finished reading the text If I cannot answer any question, I have to read the text again‖ (p 10) In other studies, Vietnamese tertiary students are found to use strategies in reading at a medium level and frequency (Nguyen, 2013), and this includes Vietnamese students studying higher education abroad (Hoang, 2016)
In an attempt to seek reasons for this lack of reading comprehension strategy used among Vietnamese students, Ho (2013) unveiled that there is a great stress on vocabulary and understanding vocabulary in reading texts Teachers spent most of their class time explaining new words, and students depended heavily on the use of dictionary to help them understand the text and do related exercises
From these previous findings, the researcher found it necessary to carry out a study to investigate the effects of reading comprehension strategies and test-taking strategies on reading results in general and particularly on the results of IELTS Reading test.
METHODOLOGY
Context of the study
The study was conducted at AMES English Language Center, a school providing English courses to learners of various purposes With examination language courses, AMES offers intensive IELTS preparation courses for the four modules of the test: Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing The ultimate goal of the IELTS preparation courses in AMES is to help the test-takers get ready with the test, in terms of examination techniques, which complies with the requirements of the IELTS preparation course according to the official checklist The Reading preparation course investigated in this study aims to teach learners a range of reading strategies and test-taking strategies officially entailed in the IELTS Reading Test, thereby fulfilling the candidates‘ expectations
2 The IELTS Intensive Reading Course
The IELTS Intensive Reading Course at AMES English Language Center is designed for students who have already obtained the level of IELTS Reading band score 4.0 or above (equivalent to B1 level of CEFR), and students who have finished the 30-hour Basic Reading Course at the center In Basic Reading Course, students are taught fundamental reading strategies, namely Identifying key words;
Previewing and Predicting; Skimming for main ideas; Scanning for specific information; Guessing unknown vocabulary; Understanding text organization; and
Identifying facts and opinions The lectures last for 12 hours and students‘ practice is expected to take up another 18 hours
The Reading Preparation Course is a four-week block of 42 hours in total
Every week students study three and a half hours, including two hours of instruction in-class and an hour and a half of self-practice in the Independent Learning Center with the assistance of tutors if needed
The Cambridge IELTS collection, i.e Cambridge IELTS 10, 11, 12 is used as core teaching materials This collection is printed by an authorized publishing house (Cambridge University Press) It contains authentic IELTS papers from Cambridge ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), providing sample examination practice
The teachers also design their own lesson plans for classroom activities
During the four weeks of the course, the general aim is to familiarize candidates with the test, moving from teaching strategies to practicing the test items itself On the first day, the teacher outlines the course and gives students a general overview of the IELTS reading test Then different question types in the test are gradually introduced, providing the students with tactics and strategies on test-taking and giving them the opportunity to practice As most of the students are non-English major upper secondary school and college students, and have English proficiency at Intermediate Level according to The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR), the teacher teaches them in both English and Vietnamese
The procedure of a typical lesson follows the Beckman‘s (2002) suggestions of steps for the teacher to conduct an effective reading strategy instruction, including 5 main stages At the first stage, with a warm-up activity, teachers at AMES provide their students with an understanding of the reading task being discussed, its definition with its particular features Then, the combined strategies needed for the task are under investigated – why they are important, when they can be used and how to use them Modelling plays a crucial role in most lessons with teachers‘ clear illustration of who to perform the strategies step-by-step After that, the teacher usually gives her students sample practices of the question item assisted with practice time in groups and/or individually The teacher monitors, does the scaffolding by provides cues, and gives feedback During this practice time, students are required to say it out loud how they follow the strategies that can help them find the correct answers to the target question items since they will likely use the strategy more frequently and efficiently if they see how it works for them
Practice results in automaticity so the student does not have to ―think‖ about using the strategy For further practice outside of the classroom, the teacher also encourages her students to continuously use and generalize the strategies Students are encouraged to try the strategies in other learning situations, both at home and in the Independent Learning Center
Lesson Lecture Topics Teaching points Duration
Introduction to the IELTS test
Introduction to IELTS Reading – Academic Module
2 hours of lecture 1.5 hours of practice
Task Type 2 – Notes – Table – Flow chart Completion
Organizing words or each type
The amount of information needed
2 hours of lecture 1.5 hours of practice
Organizing words or each type
The amount of information needed
2 hours of lecture 1.5 hours of practice
Task Type 4 – True/False/Not Given
Two types of key words
The amount of information needed
2 hours of lecture 1.5 hours of practice
Distinguishing main ideas from supporting ideas
2 hours of lecture 1.5 hours of practice
Organizing words or each type
2 hours of lecture 1.5 hours of practice
Task Type 7 – Finding information in paragraphs
Understand types of information needed to match
2 hours of lecture 1.5 hours of practice
9 Task Type 8 – Pick from a list
The amount of information needed
2 hours of lecture 1.5 hours of practice
2 hours of lecture 1.5 hours of practice
Organizing words or each type
The amount of information needed
2 hours of lecture 1.5 hours of practice
Duration of training: 42 hours over 4 weeks (10.5 hours/week)
Table 2 IELTS Reading Course with explicit strategy instruction
Research Questions
The review of previous literature indicates that explicit reading strategy instruction can offer a solution to tackle the afore-mentioned problems In this study, the researcher wishes to conduct a thorough investigation into the effects of reading and test-taking strategy instruction on the performance and results of students‘ reading, especially in IELTS Reading, in the context of AMES English Language Center Accordingly, the three research questions are as follows:
1 To what extent does the explicit reading comprehension strategy instruction help to improve learners’ use of strategies under test condition?
2 To what extent do learners improve their IELTS band scores of Academic Reading module after completing the test preparation course with explicit reading strategy instruction at AMES English Language Center?
3 What are students’ attitudes towards the explicit strategy instruction in IELTS Reading preparation course?
Methodology
It has been decided that the study will make use of both quantitative and qualitative data This is to serve the ultimate goal of identifying the level of improvements the students acquire after taking the reading course with explicit strategy instruction Quantitative data are to be collected with the medium of two questionnaires, pre-test and post-test Meanwhile, qualitative data will be obtained through the means of an interview after the post-test
The research sample comes from two out of three classes of the intensive IELTS preparation course (for adults) at AMES English Language Center, more specifically at AMES Ba Dinh Branch It should be noted that the two classes are run by the researcher - a teacher of six years teaching IELTS Reading The number of students attending these two classes is 30 students, of which 19 are females and
11 are males, and their age ranges from 16 to 23 years old The learners come from non-English major upper secondary schools and colleges in Hanoi and are required to have English proficiency at Level B1-Intermediate (CEFR), equivalent to band score 4.0 to 5.0 in IELTS (see Figure 3) based on the placement test before taking any preparation courses in AMES The expected outcome of the course is that the learners will achieve IELTS band score of 5.0 to 6.0 (equivalent to CEFR level B2)
The first part of the questionnaire after the pre-test helped to reveal background information about the participants in terms of their jobs, level of exposure to English and reasons for taking the IELTS test Table 3 provides the first two categories of information, from which we can see that about half of the subjects are students, and nearly two-thirds of them have regular exposure to English reading This could be an advantage for them in acquiring reading strategies
Using English reading for study 6 20.0
Not using English reading for study 3 10.0
Using English reading for work 11 36.7
Not using English reading for work 10 33.3
Table 3 Occupation and exposure to English of learners
Based on the information presented in Table 4, it can be seen that the most common reason for the participants to take the IELTS Test is to study abroad, with
10 out of 30 students, or 33.3% This is conjugant with the intended aim of the test- to assess the readiness of the candidates for academic purposes (Harrison, 1983)
Moreover, IELTS is widely accepted as a proof of English language skills used for recruitment or admission purposes (Hallows, Lisboa and Unwin, 2006), with a percentage of 43% among the selected reasons Nevertheless, there are learners who wish to take the IELTS Test to raise their overall language level (23%)
Reasons for taking the IELTS Test
Improving English language proficiency level 7 23.3 23.3 56.7
Finding a job in Vietnam or abroad 6 20.0 20.0 76.7
Table 4 Reasons for taking IELTS Test of the learners
2 Instruments a Pre-test and post-test
The aim of the pre-test is to identify learners‘ entrance level of English proficiency, the reading module in particular before they were enrolled in the course Meanwhile, the post-test will help the researcher identify how much the learners have improved their IELTS reading test-taking strategies and band scores immediately after they finish the preparation course at the center The contents of these reading tests are compiled by AMES academic development team based on globally standardized IELTS materials by an authorized publishing house and organization: Cambridge University Press, British Council and then revised by former IELTS examiners working at the center The reading texts were carefully chosen from less popular IELTS Preparation materials (provided by British Council for valued parrnership and business development) so that it helps to assure the objectivity of the test In fact, none of the participants reported encountering the reading passages before As a consequence, the level of difficulty and quality of these two tests are assured to be closely similar to those of an official IELTS test b Questionnaires
The participants are required to complete two questionnaires One is administered after the subjects finish their pre-tests and the other after they finish the post-tests Both of the questionnaires were designated in English as students of the course have reached the B1 level of CEFR or IELTS Reading band score 4.0 and above However, during the procedure of administering the questionnaires, the researcher encouraged them to raise questions at any point they were not clear about c Questionnaire after pre-test (Questionnaire A)
The questionnaire after the pre-test is divided into two parts Part One focuses on personal information of the students, including age, gender, home and school location, and background education These questions are easy and straightforward, which kept the students keep moving on to Part Two Part Two – Reading Strategies is consisted of two smaller sections The first one deals with specific information on how often each of the students uses different reading strategies These strategies were adapted and developed from the checklist proposed by Farr, Pritchard and Smitten (1990), Rupp, Ferne and Choi (2006) and Cohen &
Upton (2007) They were already classified into the three groups, which are
General Strategies, Text-related Strategies, and Question-related Strategies with an aim of facilitating the data analysis procedure The questions on reading strategies are presented in close-ended form, more specifically they are constructed with the use of Likert scales, with number 0 represents the smallest frequency – never (0%), and number 5 represents the largest frequency, i.e always (100%) Second, there are two open-ended questions at the end of the questionnaire addressing any problems students encounter while completing the reading tasks of the pre-tests d Questionnaire after the post-test (Questionnaire B)
The questionnaire after the post-test (Questionnaire B) begins with the table of 18 Likert-scale question items similar to Part Two of the questionnaire after the pre-test (Questionnaire A) This is because these two instruments were created in order to evaluate the changes in reading strategies among students before and after the course Also, the following part of Questionnaire B involves more open-ended than in the other one as the research wishes to highlight the focus on the differences only The five opened questions enabled the researcher to gain further insights into students‘ progress in reading strategy use in reading performance as well as their attitudes towards the explicit strategy training delivered throughout the course e Interview
Two out of 30 students were selected randomly and were asked questions about whether they were familiar with the strategies before the instruction, whether researchers' modeling of the strategies helped them follow the strategies more easily, which strategies they found most useful, and how they felt about the usefulness of the strategy instruction program and its effect on their reading performance in the IELTS Reading This would provide an in-depth understanding about students' attitudes towards the explicit instruction on reading strategies, thus helps with seeking the answer for Research Question 3 f Procedures of data collection
The survey will be designed and distributed to the subjects by the researcher in order to ensure the understanding of the participants in every item of the questionnaire Once reviewed and accepted by the supervisor, the researcher will make 30 copies of the questionnaire to disseminate to the learners of three IELTS test preparation classes at AMES English Center They will be instructed thoroughly so that all of the questionnaires will be completed properly and as objectively as possible These papers will be collected after that for the purpose of analysis procedure.
Procedures of data analysis
The detailed process of data analysis is as follows:
Stage 1: Collect and analyze the general information of the learners
Stage 2: Collect and analyze learners' feedback on questions related to IELTS reading test-taking strategies
Stage 3: Collecting and analyzing the results of the entry and exit test after completing the course
The data collected will be investigated in the chapter of Results and Discussion.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Results addressing research question 1: Improvements on IELTS reading
In the second part of Questionnaire A, question 1 explores the learners‘ knowledge and usage of the IELTS reading strategies before taking the course so as to answer Research Question 1 This question is consisted of 18 close-ended items which asked the students to mark their typically used strategies while doing an IELTS reading test, using a form of Likert scale with 6 scales from 0-5, equivalent to from never to always
Before the course After the course
Mean SD Mean SD Gain
1 Read the instructions carefully Be attentive to word limits 2.5 1.137 3.1 1.269 0.6
2 Manage my time on each section of the reading test 2 0.91 2.5 1.106 0.5
3 Set a purpose of reading to answer the questions only rather than trying to comprehend the entire reading passage
4 Don‘t expect to read and understand every word 2.43 1.357 2.87 1.332 0.44
5 Make predictions about what I am going to read by looking at the title, any visual aids, and headings that go with the passage
6 Relate information from the passage to what I already know about the subject area 1.9 0.995 2.37 1.129 0.47
7 Look for how the passage is organized by underlining or highlighting any key topic, signal words/phrases
8 Pay special attention to the first one or 1.9 0.923 2.23 1.135 0.33 two sentences of each paragraph for main idea
9 Try to predict where the author/ writer‘s points are leading 1.93 0.907 2.37 1.402 0.44
10 Look for context clues to guess the meaning of unfamiliar or difficult vocabulary
11 Try to summarize after I read by writing brief summarizing words in the margin 1.83 0.834 2.23 0.971 0.4
12 Read the questions carefully to understand what the questions as a whole mean Underline or highlight key words in the questions
13 Look for words and phrases in the passage with similar/ related meanings to the key words in the questions, identify a paraphrase of each statement
14 Scan the passage quickly for numbers, names, dates and words around the relevant parts of the passage to get the answer
15 Answer the questions I know first 2.63 1.402 2 1.702 -0.63
16 Make sure I can find evidence in the passage to answer the question, try not to rely on my general/ prior knowledge
17 Always look for answers that are grammatically correct and sound consistent with the idea in the passage
18 Return to a difficult question later and guess if I cannot find the answer Don‘t leave any questions unanswered
Table 5 Comparison of reading strategies used by learners before and after the Reading Intensive Course
Table 5 presents the data obtained from the closed-response ranked scale items related to the thirty participants‘ experience with reading strategies used in IELTS reading process In general, it can be seen that there is an overall considerable rise in the ratings of the strategies listed, indicating that the course attendees‘ frequency of using reading strategies increased post-instruction.
Reading strategies with highest and lowest ratings before and after the course
The data from before the course section show that the learners‘ two most equally frequently used reading strategies prior to taking the Reading Intensive Course included strategy 14 ―scan the passage quickly for numbers, names, dates and words around the relevant parts of the passage to get the answer‖ and strategy
16 ―make sure I can find evidence in the passage to answer the question, try not to rely on my general/prior knowledge‖ (mean = 2.37) These are followed by item 13
―look for words and phrases in the passage with similar/ related meanings to the key words in the questions, identify a paraphrase of each statement‖, also used widely among the learners before they took the course (mean = 2.67) This strategy, notably, was the one with highest rating when the learners have completed the course (mean = 3.33) The second place belonged to strategy 18 ―return to a difficult question later and guess if I cannot find the answer Don‘t leave any questions unanswered‖ (mean = 3.17) and also popular was strategy 1 ―read the question carefully, be attentive to the word limit‖ (mean = 3.1) (Table 6)
On the other end of the spectrum, the strategy used the least among the subjects before the instruction took place was item 11 ―try to summarize after I read by writing brief summarizing words in the margin‖ (mean = 1.83) Besides, it was also not common for learners to use strategy 3 ―set a purpose of reading to answer the questions only rather than trying to comprehend the entire reading passage‖, strategy 6 ―relate information from the passage to what I already know about the subject area‖, or strategy 8 ―pay attention to the first one or two sentences of each paragraph for main idea‖ (mean = 1.9) The results from Questionnaire B provided that the strategy with lowest frequency of use after the course ended was number 15
―Answer the questions I know first‖ (mean = 2), and number 8 and 11 shared the second lowest ranking with mean = 2.23: ―pay special attention to the first one or two sentences of each paragraph for main idea‖, ―try to summarize after I read by writing brief summarizing words in the margin‖ (Table 7)
Reading strategies with highest ratings before and after the course Before the course After the course
―Scan the passage quickly for numbers, names, dates and words around the relevant parts of the passage to get the answer‖ (mean = 2.7)
―Look for words and phrases in the passage with similar/ related meanings to the key words in the questions, identify a paraphrase of each statement‖ (mean = 3.33)
―Make sure I can find evidence in the passage to answer the question, try not to rely on my general/prior knowledge‖
―Return to a difficult question later and guess if I cannot find the answer
Don‘t leave any questions unanswered‖ (mean = 3.17)
―Look for words and phrases in the passage with similar/ related meanings to the key words in the questions, identify a paraphrase of each statement‖, also used widely among the learners before they took the course (mean 2.67)
―Read the instructions carefully Be attentive to word limits‖ (mean = 3.1)
Table 6 The highest rated reading strategies before and after the course
Reading strategies with lowest ratings before and after the course Before the course After the course
―Try to summarize after I read by writing brief summarizing words in the margin‖ (mean = 1.83)
―Answer the questions I know first‖
―Set a purpose of reading to answer the questions only rather than trying to comprehend the entire reading passage‖
―Pay special attention to the first one or two sentences of each paragraph for main idea‖ (mean = 2.23)
―Relate information from the passage to ―Try to summarize after I read by what I already know about the subject area‖ (mean = 1.9) writing brief summarizing words in the margin‖ (mean = 2.23)
―Pay attention to the first one or two sentences of each paragraph for main idea‖ (mean = 1.9)
Table 7 The lowest rated reading strategies before and after the course
Reading strategies with highest and lowest gains and gains in groups of strategies36 I Results from the open-ended questions
Concerning the gains in strategies under the survey, or in other words, how improved the learners were in using the strategies necessary for reading IELTS, Table 8 illustrates data about the highest and lowest gain obtained after the course of Intensive Reading
Reading strategies with highest and lowest gains Strategies with highest gains Strategies with lowest gains
―Look for words and phrases in the passage with similar/ related meanings to the key words in the questions, identify a paraphrase of each statement‖ (gain = 0.66)
―Answer the questions I know first‖
―Read the instructions carefully Be attentive to word limits‖ (gain = 0.6)
―Make sure I can find evidence in the passage to answer the question, try not to rely on my general/ prior knowledge‖ (gain = -0.27)
―Set a purpose of reading to answer the questions only rather than trying to comprehend the entire reading passage‖
―Make predictions about what I am going to read by looking at the title, any visual aids, and headings that go with the passage‖ (gain = -0.2)
Table 8 Reading strategies with highest and lowest gains after the course
The findings show that the learners have made the greatest improvement in a strategy associated to scanning skill - ―Look for words and phrases in the passage with similar/ related meanings to the key words in the questions, identify a paraphrase of each statement‖ with gain = 0.66 The other two strategies found with high gains both fall into the category of general strategies It should be noticed that learners got more aware of the purpose of reading and set the goal before they started with the reading process Previous studies have proven that reading purpose plays a crucial role in reading comprehension and reading success Linderholm, Cong and Zhao (2008) suggests that the consideration of a reading purpose behind a reading activity fosters students to utilize different skills and strategies to fulfil a set goal
Average of mean (post-instruction)
Table 9 Average of mean and gain of reading strategies in groups
As Table 9 demonstrates, the participants of the course were most competent at using question-related strategies, with mean average of 2.64 Strategies that are concerned with text, on the other hand, were used much less common among the learners of IELTS, with mean average of 2.09 This result is conjugant with findings from Le (2004) and Nguyen (2013) that Vietnamese students have a low likelihood of using strategies in reading on a frequent basis It is general strategies, however, that witnessed the highest gain after the instruction course, with average of gain equals 0.54
III Results from the open-ended questions
3.1 The reading strategy/strategies used most often before and after the course
Part Three of Questionnaire A and Part Two of Questionnaire B reveal information about the reading strategy/strategies that participants utilized the most while they were doing the pre-test and post-test The answer most frequently given for Questionnaire A is ―underlining key words in questions‖ (57%) and ―scanning for names, numbers or dates in the passage to answer the questions‖ (40%) This is in harness with the students‘ answers for closed questions in the above part
3.2 The biggest problems before the course and the biggest improvements after the course
When asked about the biggest issue that they encountered in the pre- instruction IELTS Reading Test, half of the students shared the answer of dealing with unknown vocabulary The inter-relationship between students‘ vocabulary knowledge and their reading comprehension has been demonstrated in a good number of studies, such as Baumann, Kame‗enui & Ash, 2003; Becker, 1977;
Davis, 1942; Whipple, 1925 (Mazlum et al., 2015) This is also one of the causes for the next common problem – time constraint of the test Another reason that the students found the IELTS Reading Test difficult was the trouble related to understanding the author‘s ideas or implications (Figure 4)
Figure 3 Students' biggest problem with IELTS Reading Test before the course
In Part Two Questionnaire B, the researcher asked the learners to provide what they think they have made improvement on after the course of instruction, and the three most popular were reading speed, question familiarity and text organization (Figure 5)
Figure 4 Students' biggest improvements in reading after the course
Biggest improvement of Reading after the course
Reading speed Question familarity Text organization Others
Biggest problem with IELTS Reading
Dealing with unknown vocabulary Time limit
Understand the author's pointsOthers
Results addressing research question 2: Improvements on IELTS band scores
As mentioned in chapter 2 – Methodology, learners were given a sample IELTS Reading test at the beginning of the course and another one at the end These test papers were marked by the teachers, and then their scores were informed to the learners The learners, then, provided their received scores in their questionnaires
As such, the raw score data for each learner in the study is displayed in the following table
Learner Pre-test Post-test Gain
Table 10 IELTS reading pre- and post-test scores
The first column from the left in Table 11 displays the numbered names of the participants Each column thereafter indicates the IELTS reading score gained by each learner At a glance, as can be seen from table 11, almost all the learners have improved their scores between the pre- and the post-tests However, the extent of the improvements is not the same among them Specifically, compared to the score gained in the placement test (the pre-test), 10 candidates in the course (33.33%) gradually increased their score in the post-test by 1.5 points More than 26% of the learners (8 participants) improved their reading score in the post test by 1.0 and only four of them increased 2.0 IELTS reading score after the course (13.33%) (Figure 7)
From the researcher‘s observation, the extent of score improvement occurred due to the fact that the learners‘ frequency and amount of practice outside the class usually vary Also, their behavior on the test day can be a reason which accounts for this difference Concerning the only subject that made no improvement in score post-instruction, qualitative data unearths that the student had a poor attendance record of the course and little practice time outside the class due to the lack of time
On top of that, he struggled with the instruction both in form of modelling and in words These further findings help the researcher make some suggestions in the following section
Figure 5 Number of students with different gains in the IELTS Reading Test
Gain on IELTS Reading Band Score
In a word, section 3 chapter 3 has discussed the learners‘ pre- and post-test results in order to find out the improvements (if any) in their scores According to the analysis, IELTS learners, on average, have made a 1.0-2.0 point improvement for their IELTS reading score.
Results addressing research question 3: Learners‘ attitudes towards the explicit
towards the explicit reading strategy instruction
1 Results from open-ended questions in questionnaires
1.1 Students’ expectations and level of satisfaction
When asked about expectations about the course, most of the students responded the general idea of improving the IELTS Reading band score Some of them (7 students) wanted to better their vocabulary bank serving the purpose of reading, but a greater number (12 students) wished to get familiar with the question types in IELTS, especially the rather difficult ones including Summary Completion, T/F/NG and Matching Heading as well as Matching Information This is also the main focal point of the instructional course of reading – differentiate types of exercises and their particular features, and then acquire specific skills suitable for each type of questions In addition, the course was to provide learners with essential understanding and vocabulary for the Reading Test Another point of teaching included in the course is to make sure that the students know how to manage time during the Reading Test Accordingly, it can be said the aims of the course were similar to what the course takers desire to achieve It is also noteworthy that these aims were to made clear to the students before they begin with learning, as the researcher did
After the course finished and the post-test was done, Questionnaire B assessed how satisfied the students were with the course in general and with the explicit instruction of reading strategies in particular The data collected revealed that out of 30 subjects, 25 responded ―Yes‖ to the question ―Did the course meet your expectation?‖ Regarding the other 5 who said ―No‖, 2 of them referred to the reason of instructional language In other words, from their point of view, all of the instructions, including in modelling and written in the handouts, should be in Vietnamese, not English, for the sake of students‘ better understanding The remaining 3 recommended that course of IELTS Reading should not be so intensive Rather, it should be stretch to 6 or 8 weeks so that students can have more time of practice at home and not get so stressed with learning (Figure 8)
Figure 6 Students' satisfaction with the course and reasons for dissatisfaction
1.2 Students’ attitudes towards explicit instruction of reading strategies
With regards to students‘ attitudes towards the instruction given in the course, generally speaking most of them agreed that the course was unique in the way that they had never attended in any course with instructions in so much depth and so much illustration from the teacher A vast majority of participants welcome this novel method of instruction Additionally, two responded that the activities involved in the class were enjoyable and stimulating On the other hand, there was one suggesting that the ratio between group work and individual work should be altered According to this student, as students definitely have to do practice test as homework, all of the exercises in the class had better be completed in groups, given that each lesson is lengthy and demanding
Are the students satisfied with the IELTS Reading Course?
YesNoLanguage of instructionToo intensive
2 Results from qualitative data – Interview with high-score and low- score achieving students
To further examine the acquisition and evaluation of course takers towards the new method, an interview was carried out after the post-test was undertaken and assessed As the researcher can observe from the test results (presented in Table 11), S3 and S21 had the same input of 5.0 Reading band score However, after the course, S3 accomplished 7.0 and S21 got no improvement The results from the qualitative data (see Appendix 6) points out that whereas S3 attended classes fully, followed all of the instructions and participated actively in activities in class as well as did practice tests at home, S21, due to time constraint, were not able to attend all of the classes and do practice tests Besides, S21 asserted that the language used for instruction (English) was difficult for him to fully understand how to do tasks, as well as revise the lessons Therefore, S21 recommended that Vietnamese should be used as language of instruction instead Meanwhile, S3 suggested that more courses like this should be organized in the future.
Summary
In conclusion, after an intensive preparation program, the learners have well mastered the IELTS reading strategies, which have resulted in their significant improvements in IELTS reading scores Responding about the explicit instruction given, the students felt welcome as they could see that the improvements they achieved in reading process as well as in new reading band score are mainly attributed by teacher‘s careful modelling and instructions for each type of questions present in the IELTS Reading Test
This part will present the summary, the implications, the limitations of the study, and the suggestions for further studies
This study has investigated the improvements made by IELTS learners after an intensive preparation program by carrying out a research project at AMES English center The study aimed at addressing the three research questions regarding learners‘ improvements of reading outcome after studying at IELTS reading preparation classes in relation with the improvements in terms of IELTS Reading band scores, and more importantly, the learners‘ attitudes towards the explicit instruction of reading strategies for IELTS Reading Test Based on the data collected from the pre- and post-tests, the survey questionnaires for learners and the interviews from two chosen subjects at AMES English Center, answers to the three aimed research questions have been gained
For research question 1, the results from the learners‘ survey questionnaires suggest that IELTS learners were well aware of the reading and test-taking strategies for dealing with the IELTS reading task, and more than that, they put these strategies learned into practice condition of the post-test
For research question 2, the pre- and post-tests have shown that, in general, IELTS learners with 4.0-5.5 points in the pre-test have made a 0-2.0 point improvement after the reading preparation course
From these results we can see that the intensive course of Reading has helped students enhance their reading strategies awareness and use, and thus helped them improve their band score in IELTS Reading test
Finally, for research question 3, the participants of the study generally found the explicit instruction of reading strategies of great use and high practicality They also felt fascinated as this method of teaching is relatively new, as opposed to the traditional instruction The students asserted that more courses like this should be carried out at AMES English Center However, on the other hand, some suggested that the course should be less intensive, or in other words, it should spread into more weeks with more time of home practice and also less stress and adversity for both teacher and students Another recommendations collected from the study was that Vietnamese as first language should be used appropriately during the process of instruction so that the best understanding and recall can be achieved
Based on the findings of the study, there are some implications in the research as follows First and foremost, the findings for the three research questions have confirmed the relationship between reading test-taking strategies and reading test scores Specifically, learners‘ improved their reading test-taking strategies have resulted in their improved test scores Therefore, it is suggested that teachers pay adequate attention to the explicit instruction of knowledge and usage of reading test-taking strategies in teaching test preparation lessons to their learners In addition, the study has shown that test preparation has a significant effect on test scores; as a result, test candidates are advised to spend time and effort making revision and doing practice tests before taking a standardized test like IELTS
The study has offered some insightful findings, yet, like many other studies, there are still some limitations With regard to sample size, the study is limited in the fact that the responses from only 30 learners at AMES English center make it difficult to generalize the improvements made by all IELTS learners after a test preparation course at other centers Moreover, in terms of methodology, no observation or self-diary was carried out This could be a reason for not thoroughly comparing the improvements on reading test-taking strategies between before and after attending the course
Based on some limitations of the study, there are some suggestions for further researchers Firstly, this study has researched only IELTS learners at AMES
English Center As a result, similar projects can be carried out at other language schools in Hanoi and in Vietnam as a whole Next, the participants of the project were those with a pre-test score of between 4.0-5.5 points Therefore, further research may focus on the learners who get a different starting score In addition, other studies might be on the same issue but employ other methodologies like case study or class observation
Al-Melhi, A (1999) Analysis of Saudi college students‘ reported and actual reading strategies along with their metacognitive awareness as they read in English as a foreign language Michigan State University
Anderson, N J (1991) Individual differences in strategy use in second language reading and testing Modern Language Journal 75: 460-472
Bachman, L F., & Palmer, A (1996) Language Testing in Practice Oxford
University Press, Oxford Bailey, I (2009) International Students’ Expectations of a Twelve Week IELTS
Preparation Course The School of Languages and Social Sciences
Retrieved July 3, 2017, from http://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10292/832/BaileyI.pdf?se quence=4&isAllowed=y
Bandura, A (1986) Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall
Barnett, M A (1989) Language learner reading: Theory and Practice New
Jersey: Prentice Hall Regents Englewood Cliffs
Bax, S (2013) Readers’ cognitive processes during IELTS reading tests: evidence from eye tracking British Council, London Retrieved July 3, 2017, from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/D069%20ELTRA%
20report_FINAL_WEB%20ONLY.pdf Black, M & Capel, A (n.d.) Objective IELTS Advanced Cambridge London, UK
Block, E L (1992) See how they Read: Comprehension Monitoring of L1 and L2
Briggs, D C (2009) Preparation for College Admissions Exams NACAC
Discussion Paper The USA: Educational Testing Service
Brown, A and P Dowling (2001) Doing research/reading research: A mode of interrogation for teaching London: Routledge Falmer Carrell, P L (1998) Can reading strategies be successfully taught? The Language
Teacher (online), 22/3 Retrieved March 13, 2018, from http://www.jalt-
Chalmers, J & Walkinshaw, I (2014) Reading strategies in IELTS tests:
Prevalence and impact on outcomes English Australia Journal Retrieved
July 3, 2017, from https://research- repository.griffith.edu.au/bitstream/handle/10072/67266/101818_1.pdf%3bs equence=1
Chamot, A U., Barnhardt, S., El-Dinary, P., & Robbins, J (1996) Methods for teaching learning strategies in the foreign language classroom In R
Oxford (Ed.), Language Learning Strategies Around the World: Cross- cultural Perspectives (pp 175-188) Manoa: University of Hawaii Press
Clapham, C M (1996) The development of IELTS: a study of the effect of background knowledge on reading comprehension Cambridge: Cambridge
Cohen, A D (1998) Strategies in learning and using a second language London:
Coyne, M D., Zipoli Jr., R P., Chard, D J., Fagella-Luby, M., Ruby, M., Santoro,
L E.,& Baker, S (2009) Direct instruction of comprehension: Instructional examples from intervention research on listening and reading comprehension Reading and Writing Quarterly, 25(2), 221-245
Duffy, G G., Roehler, L R., & Herrmann, B (1988) Modelling mental processes helps poor readers become strategic readers The Reading teacher, 41, 762-
Eggen, P and Kauchak, D (2001) Educational Psychology: Classroom
Connections 5 th ed New York: Macmillan
Elder, C & O‘Loughlin, K (2003).Investigating the relationship between intensive
English language study and band score gain on IELTS.IELTS Research
Reports, 4 Retrieved March 30, 2018, from http://www.ielts.org/researchers/research.aspxon Eskey, D E (2005) Reading in a Second Language In E Hinkel (Ed.), Handbook of research in second language teaching and learning (pp 563-580)
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc Ferrance, E (2000) Action Research Themes in Education Brown University
Garbutt, M & O‘Sullivan, K (1991) IELTS Strategies for Study: Reading,
Writing, Listening & Speaking at University and College National Centre for English Language Teaching and Research Sydney Retrieved July 3,
2017, from http://opac.vimaru.edu.vn/edata/DHHH/2016/12/28/IELTS.pdf Goodman, K S (1967) Reading: a psycholinguistic guessing game Journal of the
Gough, P and Tunmer, W (1986) Decoding, reading, and reading disability Remedial and Special Education, 7, 6–10
Grant, R (1994) Comprehension strategy instruction: Basic consideration for instructing at-risk college students Journal of Reading, 38, 42-48
Green, A (2007) Washback to learning outcomes: a comparative study of IELTS preparation and university pre-sessional language courses Assessment in Education, 14(1), 75-97
Grellet, F (1981) Developing reading skills New York: Cambridge University
Hallows, R., Lisboa, M., Unwin, M (2006) IELTS Express Upper Intermediate
Haston, W (2007) Teacher Modelling as an Effective Teaching Strategy Music
Hine, G S (2013) The Importance of Action Research in Teacher Education
Ho, V C (2013) A study of reading comprehension problems in English encountered by first year students of Faculty of Vietnamese Studies at HNUE Vietnam National University Hanoi Retrieved April 20, 2018, from http://foe.hnue.edu.vn/Portals/1/Ho%20Chung.pdf
Hoang, N M (2016) The relationship between reading strategy use and reading proficiency of Vietnamese students in the UK Northumbria University
British Council ELT Master‘s Dissertation Awards: Commendation
Retrieved April 20, 2018, from https://englishagenda.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/attachments/disser tation_design_for_publication_2016_northumbria_university.pdf
Hudson, T (2007) Teaching Second Language Reading Oxford: Oxford
Hughes, A (2003) Testing for Language Teachers Cambridge University Press
IELTS (2007) The IELTS handbook Cambridge: University of Cambridge Local
Examinations Syndicate, the British Council, IDP Australia
Jurkovic, V (2010) Effect of Explicit Language Learning Strategy Instruction on
Language-test and Self-assessment Scores English Language Teaching, 3(1) doi:10.5539/elt.v3n1p16
Koda, K (2005) Insights into second language reading: A cross-linguistic approach, Cambridge University Press, New York
Krashen, S (1985) The input hypothesis: issues and implications London:
Krishman, S D (2011) Careful versus Expeditious Reading: The Case of the
IELTS Reading Test Academic Research International 1(3), p 25-35
Le, N T (2004) Improving Students‘ Rates of Reading Comprehension: Using key words can help students break slow and ineffective reading habits
Retrieved April 20, 2018, from http://www.nzdl.org/gsdl/collect/literatu/index/assoc/HASHc4e8.dir/doc.pdf Linderholm, T., Cong, X., & Zhao, Q (2008) Differences in low and high working memory capacity readers‘ cognitive and metacognitive processing patterns as a function of reading for different purposes Reading Psychology, 29(1), 69-85 doi:10.1080/02702710701568587
Macaro, E (2001) Analyzing Student Teachers‘ Codeswitching in Foreign
Language classrooms: Theories and Decision Making The Modern Language Journal, 85, 4
Messick, S (1982) Issues of effectiveness and equity in the coaching controversy:
Implications for educational and testing practice Educational Psychologist,
Montgomery, P., & Lilly, J (2012) Systematic reviews of the effects of preparatory courses on university entrance examinations in high school-age students
International Journal of Socia Welfare, 21, 3-12
Nguyen, T B H (2013) English Learning Strategies of Vietnamese Tertiary
Students University of Tasmania Retrieved April 20, 2018, from https://eprints.utas.edu.au/17105/2/Whole-Nguyen-Thesis-_2013.pdf
Nosrati, V (2015) Reading Test-taking Strategies in General Training IELTS
Department of English Allameh Tabataba‘i University, Tehran, Iran
Retrieved July 10, 2017, from http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.6n.5p.134 Phakiti, A (2003) A closer look at the relationship of cognitive and metacognitive strategy use to EFL reading achievement test performance Language
Pham, L A (2016) A Study On Using Short Stories In Teaching Reading Skill At
Nguyen Khuyen Secondary School Vietnam National University Hanoi
Retrieved April 20, 2018, from http://repository.vnu.edu.vn/bitstream/VNU_123/9954/1/04051001294.pdf Powers, D E (2012) Understanding the Impact of Special Preparation for
Admission Tests ETS Research Report No RR-12-05
RAND Reading Study Group (2002) Reading for understanding: Toward and R &
D program in reading comprehension Washington, DC: RAND Education
Rao, C., McPherson, K., Chand, R., & Khan, V (2003) Assessing the impact of
IELTS preparation programs on candidates‘ performance on the general training reading and writing test modules IELTS Research Reports, Volume 5
Robb, T & Ercanbrack, J (1999) A study of the effect of direct test preparation on the TOEIC scores of Japanese university students TESL-EJ, 3(4)
Robertson, D (1983) English Language use, needs, and proficiency among foreign students at the University of Illinois at Urban, Champaign Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Illinois
Rogers, W., & Harley, D (1999) An empirical comparison of three-and four- choice items and tests: Susceptibility to testwiseness and internal consistency reliability Educational and Psychological Measurement, 59(2),
Rubin, J., 2014 Teaching Language – Learning Strategies The encyclopedia of applied linguistics
Rumelhart, D (1977) Toward an interactive model of reading In S Dornic (Ed.),
Salisu, A & Ransom, E.N (2014) The Role of Modeling towards Impacting
Quality Education International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences,
32, 54-61 SciPress Retrieved April 20, 2018 from https://www.learntechlib.org/p/176307/
Samuel, S J., & Kamil, M L (1988) Models of the reading process " In P L
Carrell, J.Devine & D E Eskey (Eds.), Interactive approaches to second language reading (pp 22-36) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Sheorey R & Mokhtari, K (2001) Differences in the metacognitive awareness of reading strategies among native and nonnative readers
Silberstein, S 1994 Techniques and Resources in Teaching Reading Oxford:
Van Keer, H (2004) Fostering reading comprehension in fifth grade by explicit instruction in reading strategies and peer tutoring British Journal of Educational Psychology, 74, 37- 70
Winograd, P & Hare, V C (1988) Direct instruction of reading comprehension strategies: The nature of teacher explanation In C.E.Weisnstein, E.T
Goetz, & P.A Alexander (Eds.), Learning and Studying Strategies: Issues in assessment instruction and evaluation, 121-139 San Diego: Academic
Wolf, M., & Bowers, P (1999) The double-defict hypothesis for the developmental dyslexias Journal of Educational Psychology 91, 3, 415-
Ying, Z (2011) IELTS Preparation Course in China: The Reading Comprehension
Task Kristianstad University Sweden Retrieved July 3, 2017, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionidF9E3E0593781FA20902B46888E3D2?doi.1.1.455.7597&rep=rep1&type=pdf
PLACEMENT TEST FOR IELTS PREPARATION COURSE INTERNATIONAL ENGLISH LANGUAGE TESTING SYSTEM Academic Reading
Do not open this question paper until you are told to do so
Write your name and candidate number in the spaces at the top of this page
Read the instructions for each part of the paper carefully Answer all the questions
Write your answers on the answer sheet Use a pencil You must complete the answer sheet within the time limit
At the end of the test, hand in both this question paper and your answer sheet
There are 40 questions on this question paper Each question carries one mark
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1–13, which are based on Reading Passage 1 below
“For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.”
– Rudyard Kipling, The Law for the Wolves
A wolf pack is an extremely well-organised family group with a well-defined social structure and a clear-cut code of conduct Every wolf has a certain place and function within the pack and every member has to do its fair share of the work The supreme leader is a very experienced wolf – the alpha – who has dominance over the whole pack It is the protector and decision-maker and directs the others as to where, when and what to hunt However, it does not lead the pack into the hunt, for it is far too valuable to risk being injured or killed That is the responsibility of the beta wolf, who assumes second place in the hierarchy of the pack The beta takes on the role of enforcer – fighter or ‗tough guy‘– big, strong and very aggressive It is both the disciplinarian of the pack and the alpha‘s bodyguard
The tester, a watchful and distrustful character, will alert the alpha if it encounters anything suspicious while it is scouting around looking for signs of trouble It is also the quality controller, ensuring that the others are deserving of their place in the pack
It does this by creating a situation that tests their bravery and courage, by starting a fight, for instance At the bottom of the social ladder is the omega wolf, subordinate and submissive to all the others, but often playing the role of peacemaker by intervening in an intra-pack squabble and defusing the situation by clowning around
Whereas the tester may create conflict, the omega is more likely to resolve it
The rest of the pack is made up of mid- to low-ranking non-breeding adults and the immature offspring of the alpha and its mate The size of the group varies from around six to ten members or more, depending on the abundance of food and numbers of the wolf population in general