Microsoft Word 120 Ta Minh Phuong doc Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN 978 604 82 2981 8 649 EFFECTS OF PRIOR KNOWLEDGE ACTIVATION THROUGH BRAINSTORMING ON READING COMPREHENSION O[.]
Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN: 978-604-82-2981-8 EFFECTS OF PRIOR KNOWLEDGE ACTIVATION THROUGH BRAINSTORMING ON READING COMPREHENSION OF FIRST-YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS IN THUYLOI UNIVERSITY Ta Minh Phuong Thuyloi University, email: phuongtm@tlu.edu.vn INTRODUCTION In any settings of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching and learning, reading is considered with a strong emphasis as a crucial skill for most learners A large number of educators refer to reading with its significant role for success in educational and professional circumstances Due to such essential positions, reading comprehension is highlighted as one of the primary objectives of English teaching and learning at Thuyloi University (TLU) Working as a General English (GE) teacher, I am constantly in a search for what may facilitate my students’ reading comprehension enhancement The significance of already-stored data activation through pre-reading techniques has been emphasized in a vast amount of research to increase SL/FL reading comprehension (Ajideh, 2003; Gilakjani & Ahmadi, 2011; Nergis, 2013) On the pedagogical perspective, brainstorming has been recommended to be a useful and effective strategy in pre-reading phase for activating students’ schema The process of brainstorming is described by Ur (1996) as a “simple pooling of ideas” In the common view of the utility of brainstorming, it proves to be helpful in eliciting readers’ preexisting knowledge and experience to the given reading passage (Alemi & Ebadi, 2010) Feathers (2004) supports the view by claiming that “during a brainstorming session, information that is already known is brought forward and becomes more accessible” and that “brainstorming provides plenty of materials for making prediction” Additionally, brainstorming assists to activate students’ schema in the sense that they will in advance be provided and aware of the ideas, vocabulary, culture, and genre structures to be most probably encountered in the passage to be read For what have been mentioned above, the brainstorming activity was implemented in the present work of research as a technique to activate learners’ prior knowledge for reading comprehension Although there has been a considerable amount of research conducted into the effect of pre-reading activities on reading comprehension, there are still few qualitative studies of how learners respond to such teaching practices Due to the crucial role of background knowledge activation in reading comprehension, the present study seems to be necessary and beneficial Table1 Class Descriptions First-year non-English major Elementary to Pre-intermediate Amount of 30 students Aged 18-20 General English II - hours/ week Subject weeks and a half in total Reading - 1period/ week Focused Extra reading materials given by skill the teacher Second semester of academic year Time 2018-2019 649 Year level Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN: 978-604-82-2981-8 METHOD The present researcher carried out this study with the aim of investigating whether the employed brainstorming would help to increase students’ engagement and enjoyment to the pre-reading stage which plays a crucial role in preparing readers with relevant schema for better reading comprehension So as to inform this inquiry, the author figured out the qualitative approach to be the methodology of choice, which facilitates an understanding of how and why the practice worked or did not work in the specified context from the generated data about the students’ interest and involvement and from the perspectives of the students on the usefulness of the strategy to their comprehension in reading focus groups, semi-structured interviews, diaries kept by students and teacher’s observation field notes were the utilized instruments for obtaining data RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Student engagement The most noticeable aspect from the overall dataset is the fact that the students believed that they engaged more in the brainstormingintegrated lessons A number of students found that the brainstorming activities gave them freedom and courage to express themselves openly with no fear to be blocked One student’s description is representative: “…now, I find reading is not boring any more I can activate my mind actively I can participate in class discussions I can express my ideas freely and I enjoy reading class.” (Interview 2) Brainstorming was viewed by most of the respondents as a much easier and more comfortable start for a reading lesson, thus enabling to increase learners’ engagement One student states: “Instead of requiring us to complete boring exercises in the textbook, recently the teacher just invited us to think of several words or any ideas relating to the topic that she gave It was much easier and more relaxed, of course I could” (Interview 1) Another student speaks of brainstorming activity: “At the beginning of reading lessons… towards to last-term class…I started to sleep… (the sound of laughing can be heard in the focus group) … honestly speaking… however in brainstorming I get to stay awake since the provided topic triggers plenty of thinking in my mind So I listen to my friends and also share my ideas” (Focus group 3) 3.2 Classroom atmosphere The data included a variety of comments on the atmosphere of the brainstormingintegrated class, showing the benefit of the applied strategy on creating a joyful and ebullient learning atmosphere One student states: “My classmates kept pouring their ideas The flow of opinions seemed to be nonstop, the atmosphere became a bit competitive but exciting I like that” (Interview 5) Another student adds: “There was no restriction imposed, and the class seemed to be more talkative” (Interview 6) Another focus group participant concurs: “Sharing ideas with other friends or the whole class enabled us (learners) to get closer and closer to each other We were eager to listen to others’ ideas.” (Focus group 1) “It was so fun when someone said something funny, and the whole class laughed”, wrote a student, “study pressure, stress or boredom no longer existed It put us in a good mood for stepping into the reading stage.” (Diary code 1b) (D.c.1b) Nevertheless, a couple of participants provided the following significant comments: “The class was a little bit chaotic in the session Sometimes students interrupted or spoke over each other” (Interview 3) “I was a bit embarrassed when other friends laughed at my ideas I didn’t want my opinions to be judged like that” (D.c.5c) 3.3 Students’ readiness to get into the reading act A number of students found that the applied brainstorming technique provided them with a good start for being ready to step into the reading comprehension stage In particular, they found the employed brainstorming activity useful because of several stated 650 Tuyển tập Hội nghị Khoa học thường niên năm 2019 ISBN: 978-604-82-2981-8 reasons (1) it helped to keep their spirits up, (2) oriented their purposes of reading and (3) equipped readers with necessary preparation, thus making them more confident to get into the reading process Following are some of the comments made on this issue: A lot of fun was created in the brainstorming sessions, making us less tense but more relaxed before coming into the long reading text (D.c.4a) The activity made my brain more active; I got ready to read not only with my eyes but also, more importantly with my brain (D.c.2e) caused intimidation to the quiet or shy students Even though there existed a common practice of raising hands for taking a turn speaking, there were no clear rules for participants to listen to another who was currently expressing an idea There were some loud and dominant individuals who were overactive in the sessions and thus unintentionally influenced weaker participants Consequently, learners’ benefits from the applied technique were not the same 3.4 Facilitation of prior knowledge activation through brainstorming for reading comprehension Similar to previous studies that seek to investigate the effect of schema activation on learners’ attitudes towards reading and their performance on reading comprehension, the findings of the present research indicate that the schema activation technique called brainstorming contributes to the increase on learners’ engagement, a fresh and joyful learning atmosphere, learners’ readiness for the reading act and facilitation for their reading comprehension Nevertheless, this research also reveals that not all students can benefit fully from this teaching practice Thus, a set of ground rules for a better brainstorming conduct are necessary Students in this study gave much credit to the utility of brainstorming in activating their prior knowledge which was potentially important in increasing their reading comprehension Below are a few remarkable statements related to this theme: At first I was quite worried because I had no idea of London as the most cosmopolitan city ever However, the pool of information and vocabulary items acquired through brainstorming enabled me to read faster and felt at ease with the content of the text (Interview 4) Now I understand that it can take more time if I go straight into reading the text without thinking a little bout its topic in advance Once we prepare in mind what we’ve known about it, we can make sense of the lines better (D.c.3d) In summary, the findings from this study indicate the usefulness of background knowledge activation through brainstorming in increasing students’ engagement, creating an enthusiastic learning environment, preparing for their reading act and enhancing their reading comprehension However, some of the drawbacks identified in carrying out brainstorming sessions should be taken into consideration The conducted brainstorming sessions were occasionally seen to be a bit chaotic by some students It was reported that several participants spoke over and sometimes interrupt each other This situation then CONCLUSION REFERENCES [1] Ajideh, P 2003 Schema Theory-Based PreReading Tasks: A Neglected Essential in the ESL Reading Class The Reading Matrix, 3(1), 1-14 [2] Alemi, M., & Ebadi, S 2010 The Effects of Pre-reading Activities on ESP Reading Comprehension Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 1(5), 569-577 [3] Feathers, K M 2004 Info Text: Reading and Learning Ontario: Pippin Publishing Corporation [4] Gilakjani, A.P., & Ahmadi, S M 2011 The Relationship between L2 Reading Comprehension and Schema Theory International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 1(2), 142-149 [5] Ur, R 1996 A Course in Language Teaching Practice and Theory Cambridge University Press 651 ... preparing for their reading act and enhancing their reading comprehension However, some of the drawbacks identified in carrying out brainstorming sessions should be taken into consideration The conducted... the findings from this study indicate the usefulness of background knowledge activation through brainstorming in increasing students? ?? engagement, creating an enthusiastic learning environment,... their performance on reading comprehension, the findings of the present research indicate that the schema activation technique called brainstorming contributes to the increase on learners’ engagement,