Viet Nam National University - HCM CITY University of Social Sciences and Humanities ****************** A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Submitted by NGUYỄN THỊ TOÀN NGỌC Supervisor TÔ MINH THANH, Ph D HO CHI MINH CITY - 2007 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: SELF-INSTRUCTION IN DEVELOPING READING SKILLS FOR STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION In terms of the Statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programs Issued by the Higher Degree Committee Ho Chi Minh City, June 2007 NGUYỄN THỊ TOÀN NGỌC RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I, hereby state that I, Nguyễn Thị Toàn Ngọc, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the library for care, loan and reproduction of thesis Ho Chi Minh City, June 2007 NGUYEÃN THỊ TOÀN NGỌC ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my course lecturer and supervisor, Dr TOÂ MINH THANH, for her explicit guidance and valuable support to the completion of my thesis Without her whole-hearted guidance, I could not have finished the thesis I am also grateful to all my teachers for valuable and helpful instructions during the three-year Tesol course (2003 – 2006) I should also like to express my special thanks to the library staff of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities who help me with my search for reference materials In addition, I am grateful to my colleagues, especially Mr Ian Venn, Lecturer in B.A English studies, and Mr Lê Hoàng Quân, M.A of TESOL, New York USA, who were willing to participate in the questionnaire and give me helpful advice Thanks also to my students for their cooperation in giving truly response to the questionnaire Finally, my special thanks to my husband for his unfailing support ABSTRACT This thesis aims at discovering the non-majored English students’ level of selfinstruction at the University of Technical Education (UTE) and the teachers’ perceptions towards this matter It advanced suggestions about what to innovate the situation To get these purposes, the research was carried out by means of two questionnaires The former, which included 20 items addressing different factors of self-instruction such as learners’ needs, learners’ motivation, learners’ strategies, learners’ self-confidence and learners’ autonomy, administered to first and secondyear students The latter was designed for 10 English teachers who have experience of over years at the UTE In addition, there was an interview for the subject teachers because their viewpoints did contribute to the complete picture of students’ future professional needs The findings proved that the students at the UTE had a low level of selfinstruction, namely in reading skills The results also showed that they lacked effective learning strategies Based on these findings, some recommendations were made to improve the students’ current situation Implications from the research results focused on building students’ selfinstruction by: Encouraging students’ intrinsic motivation and self-confidence; Helping students discover their own learning styles; Showing students the variety of available strategies; Enhancing the ability of cooperation and group cohesion; Emphasizing the application of technology in the students’ own learning LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 1st sts : First-year students 2nd sts : Second-year students EM : Extrinsic motivation ESP : English for Specific Purposes IM : Intrinsic motivation UTE : University of Technical Education LIST OF FIGURES *********** Figure 2.1 Skill learning 25 Figure 4.1 Students' needs for the four basic language skills 43 Figure 4.2 Arrangement of the students' expectations of improvement in reading 45 Figure 4.3 (a) & (b) Students’ opinions of extensive reading 46 Figure 4.4 Proportion of students’ motivations for learning reading 48 STUDENTS’ NEEDS Figure 4.5 Frequently applied reading techniques 50 Figure 4.6 Students’ frequency of reading extra English materials 51 Figure 4.7 Self-learner’s basic strategies 53 Figure 4.8 Students’ opinions of the importance of their major subjects to language learning 55 STUDENTS’ AUTONOMY Figure 4.9 Students’ abilities to organize their own study time 56 Figure 4.10 Students’ efforts into trying to understand difficult things 58 Figure 4.11 Students’ ability to question the matter in hand 58 Figure 4.12 Students’ awareness of their learning styles 60 Figure 4.13 Students’ awareness of self-assessment 61 & 4.14 Figure 4.15 Preference in teaching and learning reading 64 Figure 4.16 Teachers’ opinions of the out-of-class extensive reading task 65 LIST OF TABLES ************** Table 1.1 The first stage of the English course at the UTE 11 Table 2.1 The traditional and contemporary trends in Education 16 Table 2.2 Self-learners’ basic strategies 23 Table 2.3 Efficient and inefficient reading 31 STUDENTS’ NEEDS Table 4.1 Students’ needs for the four basic language skills 42 Table 4.2 Students’ expectations towards reading .44 Table 4.3 Students’ opinions of the relationship between English and other subjects 45 Table 4.4 Students’ opinions of reading skills .46 STUDENTS’ MOTIVATIONS Table 4.5 Students’ motivations for learning reading 47 Table 4.6 Students’ preparations for reading tasks 48 STUDENTS’ STRATEGIES Table 4.7 Students’ preferred learning strategies 49 Table 4.8 Frequently applied reading techniques 50 Table 4.9 Self-learner’s basic strategies 52 STUDENTS’ SELF-CONFIDENCE Table 4.10 Factors positively influencing students’ reading tasks 54 Table 4.11 Factors negatively influencing students’ reading tasks 54 TABLE OF CONTENTS ************* Page Certificate of originality i Retention and use of the thesis ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv List of abbreviations v List of figures vi List of tables viii Table of contents x INTRODUCTION 1- 0.1 STATEMENT OF THE PURPOSE 0.2 PREVIOUS RESEARCHES IN RELATED FIELDS 0.3 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 0.4 ASSUMPTIONS OF THE STUDY 0.5 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 0.6 DELIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 0.7 DEFINITIONS OF TERMS 0.8 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS CHAPTER 1: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 10 - 13 1.1 DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGLISH COURSE AT THE UTE 10 1.2 DESCRIPTION OF PHYSICAL SETTING 11 1.3 TEACHING STAFF 12 1.4 STUDENTS’ PROFILES 12 1.5 SUMMARY 13 INTRODUCTION Self-instruction is an important part contributing to students' acquisition It helps students with not only reaching the current educational aims but also meeting requirements for further education It comes as no surprise to hear that we are in "the age of the learner" In class the teacher is responsible for only part of the time, and the remainder is for the learner According to Dickinson (1991: 2), ”self-instruction must be judged by its effectiveness as a learning mode - that is, it must be judged by the success of learners in learning a foreign language.” Self-instruction contains such elements as learners' awareness of needs and goals, attitude, motivation, and autonomy Autonomy is achieved slowly, through struggling towards it, through careful training and careful preparation on the teacher’s part as well as on the learner’s part This process allows the development of learner independence and responsibility This study aims firstly at identifying the elements of self-instruction and secondly at finding out how self-instruction is involved in the students' development of reading skills at the UTE It suggests effective ways of helping students to improve themselves in the learning process 0.1 STATEMENT OF THE PURPOSE In contemporary approaches to language teaching and learning, learners are encouraged to develop an ability to carry out creative and imaginative learning projects outside the language classroom They should develop independence and learn What is the extensive reading task assigned to your students like? a) Enjoyable / Interesting b) Difficult Your own opinions: Do you encourage your students to practise reading extensively? Yes, why? No, why? What you often to teach reading comprehension? d) Explaining all new words/expressions and structures in advance e) Giving students some help when necessary f) Providing students with reading techniques Your own ideas: Which of the following reading techniques would you like your students to gain? (please number your choice: 1: very necessary, 2: necessary, 3: rather necessary) p) Inference (making use of syntactic, logical and cultural clues to discover the meaning of unknown elements q) Understanding the relations between a number of sentences r) Skimming (read quickly to get general idea) s) Scanning (read quickly to get specific information) t) Improving reading speed Others: Where can your students can find English materials? m) Libraries n) Internet o) Bookshops Other: 10 Which abilities your students need to develop reading skills? a) The ability to decide what knowledge and skills to learn b) The ability to translate learning needs into learning objectives c) The ability to allocate and organise time for learning d) The ability to determine task objectives e) The ability to use reference materials (dictionaries, grammar books etc.) f) The ability to work co-operatively with others to achieve learning objectives Others 11 How can you enhance your students’ confidence in self-reading? i) Make them believe that they will be successful if they try their best j) Give encouragement to their tasks k) Tell them to read their familiar subjects l) Advise them to use their knowledge as technical support Your own opinions: 12 What discourage(s) your students from undertaking the reading task? a) Lacking knowledge of learning strategies b) Being afraid of failing in understanding p) Their low proficiency in English q) Differences between English culture and Vietnamese culture Your own ideas 13 Have you ever taught your students how to improve their reading skills by themselves? Yes No If yes, you prefer to assign them intensive or extensive activities? Why? 14 Do you think your students can recognize what learning style(s) they are? Yes No If no, how can you help them assess themselves? 15 How can you make your students take their responsibility in the learning process? Thank you very much for your time and thoughtful answers! APPENDIX CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN ********************** 1- Thầy / Cô phụ trách môn chuyên ngành gì? Và Thầy / Cô giảng dạy bao lâu? 2- Thầy / Cô có nghó sách chuyên ngành tiếng Anh quan trọng giúp em sinh viên hiểu thêm chuyên môn không? 3- Nếu em sinh viên cần em tìm thấy nguồn tài liệu nầy từ đâu? 4- Trong trình giảng dạy Thầy / Cô có thường yêu cầu sinh viên đọc thêm tài liệu tiếng Anh hay không? Sinh viên thực yêu cầu nầy dễ dàng không? 5- Thầy / Cô có nhận xét trình độ đọc hiểu tài liệu chuyên ngành tiếng Anh sinh viên trường ta? 6- Theo xu hướng giáo dục nay, ngừơi học học từ thầy, từ bạn mà phải học từ thân Vậy Thầy / Cô có đề nghị để giúp em tự phát triển thêm khả đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh Xin chaân thành cám ơn q Thầy / Cô dành thời gian để trả lời cho câu hỏi nầy! APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TO THE TEACHER SUBJECTS ******************** The interview is designed to find out if there is a need of building up reading skills for the students at the University of Technical Education The interview also aims at discovering the subject teachers’ perception towards their students’ ability to read material written in English Teachers subject’ background and experience 1- What subject you take charge of? And how long have you been teaching this subject? Teachers subject’ perceptions towards the English technical books 2- Do you think that technical English books are important and useful for students to complement their major subjects? Teachers subject’ perceptions towards material sources 3- Where can the students get the materials if they need? Teachers subject’ habit in asking students to read English materials 4- Do you often ask your students to read English materials during the course? Can the students meet your requirements easily? Teachers subject’ evaluation of the students’ ability to read English material 5- Could you make some comments on your students’ ability to read technical English materials? Teachers subject’ suggestions English 6- In response to the contemporary trend, which highlights the fact that learners learn not only from their teachers and their friends, but from themselves as well, what are your suggestions to help the students enhance their self-instruction in developing skills needed for reading English materials? Thank you very much for your time and your thoughtful answers! APPENDIX Multiple Intelligences Test Please respond to the six statements in each of the eight intelligence sections When you have finished you will be asked to count and total each section Instructions: Write 2, or next to every sentence = YES / ALWAYS = SOMETIMES / VERY LITTLE / RARELY = NO / NEVER SECTION ONE 1) I like to read books, magazines or newspapers 2) I often write notes and letters to my friends and family 3) Sometimes I think about how, or with what words, someone said something 4) I like to tell jokes or stories _ 5) I like to talk about things I read 6) When writing or speaking I choose my words carefully _ SECTION TWO 1) I can arithmetic easily in my head 2) I am good at doing a budget _ 3) I am good at chess, checkers or number games 4) I am good at solving problems _ 5) I can remember phone numbers and dates easily _ 6) I like to organize things SECTION THREE 1) I like houseplants 2) I have or would like to have a pet 3) I know the names of many different flowers _ 4) I know the names of many wild animals 5) I like to be outdoors _ 6) I notice the trees and plants in my neighborhood SECTION FOUR 1) I often see clear images when I close my eyes 2) I am sensitive to colors 3) I frequently use a camera to record what I see around me 4) I really enjoy drawing and painting pictures _ 5) I appreciate the art in movies and music videos _ 6) I can think better when my house is clean and visually pleasing _ SECTION FIVE 1) I play as least one sport or physical activity on a regular basis 2) Using the computer is very funny and interesting _ 3) I like to dance _ 4) My best ideas come when I am walking, jogging or doing some other physical activities _ 5) I like building things with my hands 6) I enjoy expressing my ideas using my hands, my facial expression, etc _ SECTION SIX 1) I prefer group activities rather than doing this alone 2) When I have a difficult problem, I soon ask another person for help _ 3) I prefer many close friends rather than just a few _ 4) I get energy from being with people _ 5) I enjoy projects (for school or work) where I must interview others 6) I like hearing other people’s ideas and thoughts _ SECTION SEVEN 1) I regularly spend time alone thinking about important life questions _ 2) I prefer few close friends who know everything about me 3) I get energy from first being alone for a while _ 4) I have a special hobby that I keep to myself _ 5) I have many dreams and goals that I think about a lot _ 6) I think about my past actions SECTION EIGHT 1) I have a pleasant singing voice _ 2) I can tell when a musical note is off key 3) I listen to the radio, cassettes or compact discs a lot _ 4) I play or want to play a musical instrument _ 5) My life would be poorer if there were no music _ 6) When birds or other animals/insects sing, I listen carefully _ To view your stronger and weaker areas of the intelligences, please tally each section and record it below: SECTION ONE: SECTION TWO: SECTION THREE: SECTION FOUR: SECTION FIVE: SECTION SIX: SECTION SEVEN: SECTION EIGHT: Verbal/Linguistic Logical/Mathematical Naturalist Visual/Spatial Bodily/Kinesthetic Intrapersonal Interpersonal Musical Total Points= Total Points= Total Points= Total Points= Total Points= Total Points= Total Points= Total Points= ∗ Research on the Internet using www.google.com and searching for more Multiple Intelligences information APPENDIX Questionnaire to survey past experience by Wright, (1987: 134) Please read the questions carefully and answer as many as you can Did your last language teacher always explain every point to you? YES / NO / DON’T KNOW Did you have to guess rules/meanings youself? YES / NO / DON’T KNOW Did your last language teacher ever ask you to work in pairs or groups? YES / NO / DON’T KNOW Did your last language teacher usually stand in front of the class when he/she was teaching? YES / NO / DON’T KNOW Did your last language teacher speak the foreign language most of the time in a lesson? YES / NO / DON’T KNOW Did you ever have to speak/write about yourself in the English lesson or as homework? YES / NO / DON’T KNOW Did yoy get an extra task or a bad mark if you did not your homework? YES / NO / DON’T KNOW Did you have to correct/mark the work of another pupil? YES / NO / DON’T KNOW Did your teacher ever ask for your opinion about what to in the lesson or how you would like to learn? YES / NO / DON’T KNOW Did you often use other materials in the lesson (or only the textbook)? YES / NO / DON’T KNOW What did you especially like or dislike about the way you were taught? © Cambridfe University Press 2000 APPENDIX An illustration for the students’ task to find their own materials APPENDIX 10 ************************** W W Jacobs Retold by Diane Mowat OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS APPENDIX 11 An illustration for the students’ self-finding their favorite materials: Songs STUDENTS’ CODE CLASS NGUYEN NGOC PHUONG KHOI 06102549 06102CTU & BD PHAM THI THU HONG 06102226 06102CTU & BD STUDENTS’ NAME 12- 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 HAPPY NEW YEAR CRY ON MY SHOULDER HEAL THE WORD HELLO HOW CAN I TELL HER HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE I HAVE A DREAM IF WE HOLD ON TOGETHER LOVE TO BE LOVED NEVER HAD A DREAM COME TRUE ONLY LOVE PAPA SEASON IN THE SUN SLEEPING CHILD SOLEDAD SUPERSTAR TAK MR TO YOUR HEART YESTERDAY ONCE MORE APPENDIX 12 APPENDIX 13 An illustration for self-help groups STUDENT’ NAME STUDENT’ CODE NGUYEN HUU HUNG 03110102 CLASS 0004032 APPENDIX 14 Presented by Dickinsion (1991: 5-8) to answer the question “What is self-instruction?” are the following examples: