Effects of preceding activities on reading of high school students at the practical high school ho chi minh city university of pedagogy

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES à ả EFFECTS OF PRECEDING ACTIVITIES ON READING OF HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS AT THE PRACTICAL HIGH SCHOOLHO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF PEDAGOGY A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Submitted by NGUYỄN THỊ TÚ Supervisor LÊ THÒ THANH THU, Ed D Ho Chi Minh City, 2005 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled “Effects of pre-reading activities on reading of high school students at the Practical High School- Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy” is my own work This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institution Ho Chi Minh City, December 22, 2005 Nguyen Thi Tu i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to gratefully acknolwedge the invaluable and generous assistance given to me by my thesis supervisor, Dr Le Thi Thanh Thu, over the lengthy period of the researching and writing of the thesis I could not have finished this thesis without her encouragement and constant guidance I am greatly indebted to all my teachers for their dedication and helpful instruction during the course My special thanks to all those who helped me in the study, in particular, Ms Hoang Thuy Nguyen, Ms Tran Thi Binh, for their help with the useful advice on the questionnaire and the tests and all the students in the study for their cooperation Last but not least, thanks may be sent to my family To my parrents who devote all their lives to the children’s education ii ABSTRACT This thesis examined the effects of pre-reading activities on reading comprehension For a long time, pre-reading activities have been proved useful in reading classes This study investigates the reading attitudes and practices of pre-reading activities of the high school students, particularly the high school students in grade 12 at the Practical High School- Ho Chi Minh City University of Pedagogy to measure the influences of pre-reading activities on reading comprehension and suggests a way in which reading may be more effectively taught Evidence was collected through a survey questionnnaire and an experiment of four tests given for test scores of 91 students T-test analysis tool then was used to help analyze the data collected from the questionnaires and the tests The findings revealed that the students a positive attitude toward reading comprehension and pre-reading activities as well as high frequency of prereading activity provision The pre-reading activities investigated in the study, vocabulary preteaching; pictorial context; pre-questioning ; and combined pre-reading activities, in general, have the positive effect on students’ reading comprehension The technique of combined pre-reading activities defines its meaningful superiority Vocabulary pre-teaching has the similar influence Pictorial context shows its positive effect Pre-questioning seems not to help students’ reading comprehension much iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of tables viii List of figures ix Abbreviations x CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND AND THE PROBLEM 1.1.1 Background 1.1.2 The problem 1.2 AIM OF THE STUDY AND OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS 1.2.1 Objective of the study 1.2.2 Research questions 1.2.3 Significance of the study 1.2.4 Organization of the remainder of the study 1.3 SUMMARY iv CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 MECHANISM OF READING 2.1.1 Reading as a process 2.1.1.1 Reading as a cognitive process 11 2.1.1.2 Reading as “bottom-up”, “top-down” and interactive process 12 2.1.2 Reader’s process of comprehending a text 14 2.2 SCHEMA THEORY 16 2.2.1 Definition 16 2.2.2 Schema thoery and reading comprehension 16 2.3 THE EFFECTS OF PRE-READING ACTIVITIES ON READING COMPREHENSION 19 2.4 THE EFFECTS OF VOCABULARY PRE-TEACHING; PICTORIAL CONTEXTS AND PRE-QUESTIONING ON READING COMPREHENSION 2.4.1 Students’ difficulties in reading comprehension 22 2.4.2 Pre-questioning and Reading Comprehension 25 2.4.3 Vocabulary Pre-teaching and Reading Comprehension 27 2.4.4 Pictorial Context and Reading Comprehension 29 2.5 RATIONALES FOR CHOOSING FOUR PASSAGES FOR TESTING 33 2.6 SUMMARY 37 v CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 38 3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN 38 3.2 THE MAIN STUDY 39 3.2.1 Subjects 39 3.2.2 Intruments 40 3.2.2.1 The pilot study 40 3.2.2.2 Test components 42 3.2.2.3 Questionnaires 44 3.2.3 Data collection procedures 45 3.2.3.1 Test and questionnaire administration 45 3.2.3.2 Coding and statictical analysis 47 CHAPTER 4: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 49 4.1 QUESTIONNAIRE ANALYSIS 49 4.1.1 Responses to survey questionnaires 49 4.1.2 Summary 55 4.2 ANALYSIS OF TEST SCORES 56 4.2.1 Correlation between pre-reading and non pre-reading activity test scores 56 4.2.2 Descriptive statistics: Effect comparison between pre- reading activities 60 vi 4.3 FINDINGS FROM QUESTIONNAIRES AND TEST SCORES & IMPLICATIONS 63 4.3.1 Findings 63 4.3.2 Implications 65 CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS 70 5.1 RECOMMENDATIONS 70 5.1.1 Recommendations for reading comprehension 70 5.1.2 Recommendations for high school reading teaching 72 5.2 LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH 78 5.3 CONCLUSION 79 REFERENCES 80 APPENDIX Four readings and tests given to students in the experiment 88 APPENDIX Questionnaire (in Vietnamese translation) 99 APPENDIX Questionnaire 103 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Factors involved in selecting an EFL reading passage 33 Table 3.1 The results of English in grade 11 39 Table 3.2 The Englist test result in the first semester of grade 12 39 Table 4.1 The importance of reading according to G1& G2 50 Table 4.2 The frequency of the subject students’ pre-reading activities 51 Table 4.3 The frequency of teachers’ pre-reading activities 52 Table 4.4 The benefits the subjects get from each pre-reading activity 54 Table 4.5 Students’ attitudes toward pre-reading activities 55 Table 5.1 Topics of grade 12 74 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Reading process 10 Figure 4.1 Reading test score of G1 and G2 for Vocabulary pre-teaching of the passage “Mercury and the woodman” 56 Figure 4.2 Reading test score of G1 and G2 for Pictorial Context of the passage “The perfect crime” 57 Figure 4.3 Reading test score of G1 and G2 for Pre-questioning of the passage “ The Witch of the Wall street” 58 Figure 4.4 Reading test score of G1 and G2 for Combined reading activities of the passage “ King Arthur and Robin Hood” 59 ix TEST I Read the passage carefully For questions 1-8, choose the answer (a, b, c or d) which you think fits best according to the passage: What was in the middle of the table in the living room? a 20 glasses of milk b a big ice statue of a couple kissing c a big stone statue with a couple kissing each other d 20 glasses of beer What made her cry? a Her baby was seriously ill b Her husband decided to leave her because he was in love with someone else c Her parents didn’t come to visit her on that special day d She wasn’t pleased with her family life According to the passage, Booby can be referred to a Henry’s lover b Alice and Henry’s son c Alice’s friend d Alice’s lover What did the police want to look for? a the murder b the murder weapon c the evidence to accuse Alice of killing her husband d the murder’s hiding place What does “it” refer to? a the whole ice statue b ice c an arm of the big ice statue d the table What can “sobbed” be closely related in meaning with? a cried loudly and hurtfully b screamed c whispered d talked and cried at same time II Read the passage again and decide whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F): Alice killed her husband with an ice statue The room was getting hotter and hotter because the police turned the heating on The police thought that a burglar had killed Henry The story was named “The perfect crime” because the police could arrest the criminal right-handed 92 READING & TEST The Witch of the Wall Street Hetty Robinson learnt all about money when she was very young As a child, she read the financial pages of newspaper to her wealthy father Her father died when Hetty was 30 years old and she inherited $1 million When she herself died in 1916, she left a fortune of almost $100 million to her two children Hetty made her money on the new York stock exchange She was a financial genius She made money so easily that people called her the Witch of the Wall Street But although she was one of the richest women in the world, she was very mean She counted every cent and she spent as little as possible She didn’t own a house, because she didn’t want to pay property taxes So she and her children lived in cheap hotels She spent almost nothing on clothes, and wore the same long black dress everyday She washed it herself, but to save soap she only washed the bottom of the dress, where it touched the ground Other people had their own offices, but Hetty used a desk in the bank where she kept her money, because it didn’t cost anything She sat in the bank and ate her sandwiches while she bought and sold stocks and shares If the bank complained, she just moved all her money to another bank Hetty’s family paid the price for her meanness When she was 33 she married a millionaire, Edward Green and they had two children Green, however, lost all his money, so Hetty left him When her son, Ned, injured his knee, Hetty didn’t want to pay for a doctor, so she took him to a free hospital for poor people Unfortunately the doctor knew that Hetty was rich and he asked for money Hetty refused and took the boy away His leg didn’t get better and two years later doctors removed it But eventually Ned got his revenge At the age of 81 Hetty got an argument with a shop assistant about the price of a bottle of milk She became so angry that she had a stroke and died So Hetty’s meanness finally killed her Ned inherited half his mother’s fortune, and he spent it even all on parties, holidays and expensive jewellery He even bought a chamber pot covered with diamonds! 93 TEST I Read the passage carefully For questions 1-8, choose the answer (a, b, c or d) which you think fits best according to the passage: How did Hetty Robinson learn all about money when she was young? a By being taken to the stock exchange by her father b By collecting kinds of money and currency all over the world c By reading the financial pages of the newspaper to her father d By helping her mother with her business Why was she called the Witch of the Wall Street? a She was a financial expert b She was a successful business woman c She made money without slight difficulty d She made a lot of money without spending it How did she wash her dress? a She sent it to the laundry b She had her au pair wash it c She washed it herself d She washed only the bottom of the dress herself to save soap Why did Hetty Robinson leave her husband? a He was unfaithful b He was irresponsible and poor c He was not a millionaire d He lost all his money What does this mean when the author says “Ned got his revenge”? a Ned decided to save as much money as his mother did b Ned was inherited a lot of money and put it a Swiss bank c Ned wasted all of his mother’s money on his own useless activities d Ned continued his mother’s business of buying and selling stocks and shares The tone of this passage could be best described as a humorous b objective c persuasive d neutral II Read the passage again and decide whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F): She left a fortune of almost £100 million to her two children She didn’t own a house because she didn’t want to pay electricity and water bills Ned’s knee was removed when she refused to spend money on treating it She died when she argued with her son about his spending too much money 94 READING & TEST 4: King Arthur and Robin Hood 95 KING ARTHUR AND ROBINHOOD Exercise 1: This text contains a story about King Arthur (a King of England against Saxons in the and 6th century) and Robin Hood- a hero under the rule of King Richard (1189-99) What questions you have that you think the story will answer? th Exercises 2: The following pictures relate to the content of the text Describe the content of the pictures and make a guess about the content of the reading passage KING ARTHUR ROBIN HOOD VOCABULARY 96 Exercise 3: Match the words with the suitable explanations and examples: A a man of high social rank who To base on /beɪs/ Ex: The money economy is ………on coins and paper notes To defend /dɪˈ fend/ Ö defense (n) = defence (n) /dɪˈ fens/ Ex: Soldiers have been sent to …… the borders had the duty to fight for his King B an unusual, exciting or dangerous experience/ journey magic /ˈmỉʤɪk/ Ư magician (n) = sorcerer (n) C = injury /məˈʤɪ∫n/ Ư magical (n)/ˈmỉʤɪk/ Ex: David Copperfield is a ………… D to protect sb/sth from attack E a substance that causes death if you drink or eat it knight /nɑɪt/ F the secret power of making impossible things just by saying special words wound (n) /wu:nd/ Ö wounded (a) /ˈwu:ndɪd/ Ex: She was seriously wounded by the knife G To defeat / dɪˈfi:t/ Ex: Holyfield defeated Mike Tyson in rounds adventure /ədˈvenʧər/ Ö adventurer (n) /ədˈvenʧərər/ Ex: Columbus is an adventurer injustice (n) / ɪnˈʤ stɪs/ Ex: We are building a country with little injustice bow and arrow /bəʊ ənd ˈærəʊ/ H to win against sb in a war or a competition I to use an idea, a fact as the point from which sth can be developed J a person who greatly hates sb or acts and speaks against sb 10 enemy (n) /ˈenəmɪ/ Ex: The American invaders were the enemies of the Vietnamese people in Vietnam war K unfair treatment 11 poison /ˈpɔɪzn/ Ex: Some mushrooms contain a deadly i 97 TEST I Read the passage carefully For questions 1-8, choose the answer (a, b, c or d) which you think fits best according to the passage: 1- Who are the legends of King Arthur based on? a a Celtic magician called Merlin b a Celtic leader in the 5th and 6th century c a Saxon invader d Pendragon 2- What did the Lady of the Lake give King Arthur as an award? a a magic sword called Cornwall b a golden sword c a magic sword named Excalibur d a silver sword 3- What should “this” in line 30 be understood? a The sword was caught by a hand and never came out b Mr Belvedere survived and rescued King Arthur c Sir Belvedere threw the magic sword into the water of a lake d Sir Belvedere took the sword below the surface 4- What did the author say about the facts behind the legend of Robin Hood? a They were absolutely certain b They were never uncertain c They were uncertain d They were made up 5- According to the passage, what is the author’s attitude towards Robin Hood? a with love b with annoyance c with great dislike d with respect 6- How did Robin Hood die? a by being shot by the sheriff of the Nottingham b by being poisoned by the sheriff of Nottingham c by being sentenced to death d by being buried II Read the passage again and decide whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F): Guinevere’s knights spent time hunting pigs, havign feasts and singing ballads King Arthur managed to pull a sword from a rock to prove his right to be King An “outlaw” means someone who always obeys the law Robin Hood robbed the rich by capturing them in the forest and taking all their money 98 APPENDIX 2: THE QUESTIONNAIRE (In Vietnamese translation) MỘT SỐ CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT Chào em học sinh, Những câu hỏi nhằm thu thập liệu cho đề tài nghiên cứu “nh hưởng hoạt động tiền đọc hiểu lên việc đọc hiểu học sinh phổ thông” Xin em vui lòng bớt chút thời gian trả lời giúp câu hỏi sau cách đánh dấu chéo (x) vào câu trả lời chọn ghi rõ vào khoảng trống chừa sẵn Các câu trả lời em quan trọng cho thành công đề tài Chúng sử dụng thông tin vào mục đích nghiên cứu mà xin hứa không tiết lộ thông tin cá nhân em Phần I: THÔNG TIN CÁ NHÂN Họ tên: Giới tính: Em học phổ thông năm liên tiếp (lớp 10 + 11) ở: - Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh … - Tỉnh: Thị xã … Vùng ngoại ô 99 Phần II: VỀ VIỆC HỌC KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH Em đánh giá kỹ đọc hiểu trường phổ thông: Rất quan trọng … … … … … Không quan trọng Đối với em, trứơc đọc đoạn văn em có thử đoán nội dung đoạn văn không: 1- Có … 2- Không … Trước đây, đặc biệt lớp 10,11 em làm để tìm hiểu nội dung đoạn văn: Hoạt động Có Không 1- Đoán nội dung tựa đề Rất thường … … … … 2- Học từ vựng quan trọng Rất thường … … … 3- Giáo viên cho em tự đặt câu hỏi đọc (nêu biết đặt câu hỏi em muốn tìm thông tin) Rất thường … … … … … 4- Xem hình ảnh liên quan đoán nội dung Rất thường … … … 5- Tổng hợp hoạt động 2, 3, Rất thường … … … … Rất thường … … … Rất thường … … … … 6- Các hoạt động khác mà giáo viên hướng dẫn hay tự giác em thực hiện: - … … 100 Trong chương trình phổ thông (đặc biệt lớp 10, 11), trứơc đọc đoạn văn, giáo viên có cung cấp cho em hoạt động sau không Nếu có, mức độ thường xuyên bao nhiêu: Hoạt động 1- Đoán nội dung tựa đề 2- Học từ vựng quan trọng 3- Giáo viên cho em tự đặt câu hỏi đọc (nêu biết đặt câu hỏi em muốn tìm thông tin) Có Không Rất thường … … … … Rất thường … … … … Rất thường … … … … 4- Xem hình ảnh liên quan đoán nội dung Rất thường … … … 5- Tổng hợp hoạt động 2, 3, Rất thường … … … … Rất thường … … … Rất thường … … … … … 6- Các hoạt động khác mà giáo viên hướng dẫn hay tự giác em thực hiện: - … Lợi ích hoạt động nêu câu việc hiểu đoạn văn: - Làm tăng khả tư duy, tự suy nghó vấn đề … - Khơi dậy tò mò nội dung đoạn văn hay đọc … - Làm em có động lực, mục đích trước đọc đoạn văn … - Tăng hoạt động nhóm, đưa quan điểm tranh luận … 101 - Làm cho em không bở ngỡ tiếp xúc với đoạn hay Các lợi ích khác: Em không thấy lợi ích … … Em có thích tiến hành hoạt động tìm hiểu nội dung trứơc đọc hay đoạn không: Rất thích … … … … … Không thích Nếu em đánh vào ô “Không thích”, xin vui lòng đưa lý sao: - 102 APPENDIX 3: THE QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTIONNAIRE Dear research participants, This questionnaire aims at collecting data for a study entitled “The effects of pre-reading activities on reading comprehension of high school students” Please read all the options and choose replies by putting an (X) next to them To widen response questions, please write your answers in the space provided Your answers are very important to the success of the study They are for research purposes only and I promise no identified information will be released Part I: ABOUT YOU: Student’s name: Are you : Male … Female … You got your high school education (especially grades 10 and 11) in: Ho Chi Minh city: … a town: … the countryside: … Part II: ABOUT YOUR READING COMPREHENSION: What is your attitude towards the importance of reading comprehension of English in high school education? Very important … … … … … Not important at all Before you read any passage or text, did you guess the content of that passage or text? Yes … No … Did you the following activities before reading a certain passage? 103 Activities Yes No 1- Guess the content by the title Very often … … … sometimes … 2- Learn the important vocabularies of the passage or a text 3- Your teacher asked you to ask questions about the text or the passage ( state what you had known and ask about what you would want to know) 4- Guess the content by a series of pictures related to the content Very often … … … sometimes Very often … … … sometimes Very often … … … sometimes … … … 5- Combination of activities Very often … … … sometimes 2, 3, and … 6- other activities that your teacher asked you to or you did it by yourself: - … … Very often … … … sometimes Very often … … … sometimes In high school reading, especially in grade 10 and 11, before asking you to read a passage or a text, did your teacher provide you with the following activities? If your answer is Yes, state how often you are provided with these activities: 104 Activities Yes No 1- Guess the content by the title Very often … … … sometimes … 2- Learn the important vocabularies of the passage or a text 3- Your teacher asked you to ask questions about the text or the passage ( state what you had known and ask about what you would want to know) Very often … … … sometimes Very often … … … sometimes … … 4- Guess the content by a series of pictures related to the content Very often … … … sometimes 5- Combination of activities 2, 3, and Very often … … … sometimes … Very often … … … sometimes … Very often … … … sometimes … 6- other activities that your teacher asked you to or you did it by yourself: - … The usefulness of the activities given in question for your reading a certain passage or text: - Improve your thinking, making you think about a matter … - Arouse your curiosity about the content of a certain text or passage … - Motivate you and provide you with the aim before reading … - More groupwork, work with your friends and argue about you own ideas … - Make you cetain about what you are going to and avoid feeling nervous … 105 Other benefits: You don’t see any benefits of these activities … Do you like being provided with pre-reading activities before you read a certain text or passage? Very much … … … … … Not at all If you think that you don’t like it at all, state your reasons: - 106