TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENT Page Part I Introduction 3 1 Reasons for the study 3 2 Aims of the study 3 3 Methods of the study 4 4 Scope of the study 4 5 New features in the study’s result 4 Part II Co[.]
TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I Part II I 2.1 2.2 2.3 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 5.1 5.1.1 5.1.2 5.2 6.1 6.1.1 6.1.2 6.2 CONTENT Introduction Reasons for the study Aims of the study Methods of the study Scope of the study New features in the study’s result Content Theoretical and practical background The importance of reading skill Stages of reading Pre-reading While-reading Post -reading What are graphic organizers? Types of graphic organizers employed in the study Cause & effect map Problem & solution map Compare & contrast matrix KWL chart Network tree Venn diagram Research context Setting and Participants Students Teachers Textbook and Reading materials Data analysis and discussion Data analysis and discussion of the students’ survey questionnaire Students’ attitude towards reading skill Students’ difficulties when learning reading Data analysis and discussion of the teachers’ survey questionnaire Page 3 4 4 4 5 6 7 9 10 11 11 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 13 14 skkn II Solution III Results and discussion Part III Conclusion References 15 27 28 Appendices skkn PART I: INTRODUCTION I Reasons for the study Reading is an essential skill for English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) For many, reading is the most important skill to master With strengthened reading skills, ESL/ EFL readers will make greater progress and attain greater development in all academic areas In Vietnam, English is taught and learned in a non – native environment so reading is not only an important means to gain knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place According to Carrell (1984:1): ―for many students, reading is by far the most important of the four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or a foreign language This is also true to the students at Ha Huy Tap High School since the reading skill offers them a wide range of interesting information as well as a variety of language expressions and structures which are of great usefulness for developing other language skills When dealing with a reading lesson, students find it hard to overcome some challenges in the classroom In addition to that, teachers are facing to their own problem as well when a new text book are introduced It means that most of their previous traditional methods should be changed to adjust to their new teaching object and new textbook One of the effective solutions to help both of them is using graphic organizers Graphic organizers actually have the power and potential to enhance the learning ability of students in all age groups Use of graphic organizers as visual tools for visual learners of comprehension will make comprehending a reading text easy and fun for students Through the use of graphic organizers, students are able to gain a better understanding of the underlying concepts that can be found within what is being read, allowing them to isolate text that is not important to their learning This will also enable teachers to determine main ideas so that they can help students entire stories from their reading It is hoped that this study will provide classroom English teachers as well as their students with an in – depth understanding about how and what they should with with graphic organizers in reasearch entitled “APPLYING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS IN TEACHING READING NEW TEXTBOOK – TIENG ANH 10” to keep the students much more involved in the reading process skkn II Aims of the study This study is aimed at giving out a brief overview on graphic organizers, gaining an insightful look into the application of graphic organizers with a view to motivate students’ reading at Ha Huy Tap high school III Methods of the study The study was carried out on the basis of material collection, survey questionnaire and class observation, aimed to determine whether graphic organizers are able to enhance students’ motivation o r have a positive affect on the ability of students to make sense of what they read The author used data collection instrument to gather information about the students involved, monitor the progress of the students when they used graphic organizers throughout the research, and determine the effectiveness of the graphs based on survey questionnaire and class observation IV Scope of the study In general, reading lessons are not so exciting as students expect or many of them not want to answer comprehension questions according to their favorite learning styles Therefore, within this study, my purpose is to carry the research on using grapic organizers to motivate and enhance student thinking skills through the reading text by using images or visual illustrations instead of responding the questions given in the textbook V New features in the study’s result In my innovation, there are a lots of interesting graphic organizers which have high effectiveness and wide application And these available activities, which were suitably adapted for all levels of students, can help create environment for students to develop student’s reading skill and for teachers to use flexibly in their teaching Part II CONTENT I THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL BACKGROUND The importance of reading skill Reading is a very important language learning skill It helps students improve all parts of the English language – vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and skkn writing Improve and use their reading skills and they will improve all English skills In a second language classroom, reading plays a significant role in building both linguistic and background knowledge for other language skills Hoang et al (2006:191) even consider reading as the most effective means of improving students’ language competence Particularly, when there is a lack of language environment, reading is even more significant since it helps enlarge students’ background knowledge and vocabulary as well as supports other skills (Pham, 2005 cited in Hoang et al., 2005:515) Stages of reading A reading lesson can be divided into three stages which are prereading stage, while- reading stage and post-reading stage Each of these stages carries its own features and purposes and requires different techniques and strategies (William, 1984:37) A reading lesson can be divided into three stages which are pre-reading stage, while-reading stage and post-reading stage Each of these stages carries its own features and purposes and requires different techniques and strategies (William, 1984:37) 2.1 Pre-Reading Pre-reading stage has been considered as an effective learning tool to better comprehend reading texts and to avoid possible failure in understanding and extracting information during the reading processes They are commonly used to prepare students to understand what they are about to read Many studies have found pre-reading activities as facilitative for comprehension of texts as it links the learner's prior knowledge with understanding the text in hand It is claimed that such pre- reading activities are challenging and motivating in the sense that they challenge students to recall their previous knowledge Ringler, L H., & Weber, C K (1984) called pre-reading activities enabling activities as they elicit prior knowledge, provide background and focus attention They pointed out that such experiences involve understanding the purposes for reading and building the necessary knowledge needed for dealing with the content and the structure of the material In this early stage, teachers are expected to motivate students to read, especially by activating or building students‟ background knowledge of the subject and familiarizing them with some of the language needed in coping skkn with the text According to Williams (1984:37), the purposes of the pre-reading stage are: - To introduce and arouse interest in the topic - To motivate learners by giving a reason for reading - To provide some language preparation for the text Normally, pre-reading phase often lasts from two to ten minutes depending on each lesson Before delivering activities for this stage, the teacher needs to take the objectives of the lesson, the situation of teaching and learning, the students‟ needs into account 2.2 While-Reading While- reading stage is the main part of a reading lesson Without this stage, the students will lose the chance to deal with the text to understand the writer‟s purpose and clarify the text’s content in detail Williams (1984:38) points out the aims of the while- reading stage: - To help to understand of the writer‟s purpose - To help to understand of the text structure - To clarify the text He also gives the teacher some questions to ask himself in order to deal with the above mentioned aims: What is the function of this text? How is the text organized or developed? (e.g.: a narrative, an explanation with various examples, an argument and counter argument) What content or information is extracted from the text? What may the reader anger or deduce from the text? What language may be learned from the text? What reading styles may be practiced? It is clear that, question (1) deals with the aims of understanding, the writer’s purpose, and question (2) helps to recognize the text structure and the rest help to clarify the text content The answers to these questions will be a guide for the teacher in this stage Depending on their answers, the teacher will choose suitable activities for students which focus them on exploiting the meaning of the text, and develop their reading skills Concerning the while- reading stage‟s activities, in his skkn research, William (1984:39) has a more generating idea: “While- reading work should begin with a general or global understanding of the text, then move eto te smaller units such as paragraphs, sentences and words 2.3 Post-reading The post reading stage is the final but not the least important stageof a reading lesson because it is the time for students to apply what theyhave got from the text into real life communication In William’s opinion( 1984: 39) , the post reading stage aims at: - to consolidate or reflect uopn what has been read - to relate the text to the learner’s own knowledge interest or views In summary, each of the reading stage carries its own aims and activities It is very effective if these three stages are combined flexibly and appropriately for an efficient reading lesson In the while- reading stage, it is neccesary to help students improve and develope sub- reading skills such as skimming, scanning or reading for details If the students can acquire these skills, it is easier for them to understand efficiently the significance of the text To acquire these skills, students may be instructed to take part in various tasks or activities acording to each skill There are numerous tasks or activities in this stage The teacher should be flexible in choosing them for their reading lessons What are graphic organizers? skkn A graphic organizer is a visual frame used to represent knowledge and understanding of a subject matter by arranging important aspects of a concept or topic into logical pattern using labels There are many types of graphic organizers namely maps, graphs, charts, diagrams, or clusters Each of these patterns can be expressed in different layouts but they have similar purposes that portray the relationship between facts, terms or ideas within a learning task In reading lessons, graphic organizers can be efficiently used in all lessons for students of all ages to check not only students, understanding but also motivate and improve their critical thinking In the words of Krasnic [6; p.24] students are able to clear their thoughts and sharpen their thinking by organizing and connecting key concepts related to what they are reading from the text This process can help students to enhance their critical thinking, a kind of cognitive activity appearing in many of cognitive process of language learning Types of graphic organizers employed in the study During my teaching process, four basic graphic organizers namely cause & effect map, problem & solution map, compare & contrast matrix, and KWL chart will be described The value of these organizers will be discussed and followed by their application in English reading lessons at upper secondary schools in Vietnam 4.1 Cause & effect map A cause and effect map is one of the effective organizers used to show relationships of all factors (causes) that lead to the given situation (effect) It is usually preceded by cause and effect analysis The teacher uses this organizer to help students realize that there are many causes that contribute an effect It also graphically displays the connections of the causes to the effect to each other Students can this task individually, in pairs or in groups and then share what the information in the diagram with the others skkn 4.2 Problem & solution map The critical thinking necessary to problem-solve by posting and evaluating solutions is an important skill the students need throughout their lives Being able to write clearly and persuasively about proposed solutions is as important as being able to think clearly and logically in formulating solutions This reading guide helps students organize and write about problems and proposed solutions This activity is also applied into a writing class where students are aware of the relevant problem and discuss reliable methods Students can this task individually and then share what the information in the diagram with their partner or their group members 4.3 Compare & contrast matrix skkn The compare and contrast matrix has a wide variety of classroom applications English teachers can use it as a means of comparing different historical events, geographical regions, cultural and traditional differences or political systems Students are able to clearly see similarities and differences between more than one by using this type of graphic organizer. This reading activity can be done in the whole class, in groups or individually 4.4 KWL chart A K-W-L [7; p.1] chart helps students understand what they know (K), what they want to know (W), and what they learned (L) when reading or researching a topic This is an effective visual tool to improve students by tapping their prior knowledge and letting them set their own purposes for learning By analyzing the L column, both the teacher and students can evaluate students’ grasp of knowledge or content Then the teacher can make plans to enrich concepts or to remedy misconceptions KWL What I What I want What I Know to know learnt 10 skkn ... graphic organizers in reasearch entitled ? ?APPLYING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS IN TEACHING READING NEW TEXTBOOK – TIENG ANH 10” to keep the students much more involved in the reading process skkn II Aims of... thinking, a kind of cognitive activity appearing in many of cognitive process of language learning Types of graphic organizers employed in the study During my teaching process, four basic graphic. .. Pre -Reading? ? Pre -reading stage has been considered as an effective learning tool to better comprehend reading texts and to avoid possible failure in understanding and extracting information during