The impact of phrase reading on bentre college english majored students l2 oral reading fluency and reading comprehension submitted to the faculty of english linguistics lite

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE  THE IMPACT OF PHRASE READING ON BENTRE COLLEGE ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS’ L2 ORAL READING FLUENCY AND READING COMPREHENSION Submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By LE HUNG VU Supervised by NGUYEN THU HUONG, PhD HO CHI MINH CITY, OCTOBER 2012 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE THE IMPACT OF PHRASE READING ON BENTRE COLLEGE ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS’ L2 ORAL READING FLUENCY AND READING COMPREHENSION Submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By LE HUNG VU Supervised by NGUYEN THU HUONG, PhD HO CHI MINH CITY, OCTOBER 2012 i ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to express his sincere appreciation and gratitude to those who have advised and assisted throughout this research project First of all, I send my greatest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thu Huong, for his encouragement and guidance throughout the research I owe him for his time reading the drafts, helping with the statistical analyses of the data as well as discussing the results with me His kind support, explanation, and comments have encouraged me to complete this project Without his excellent academic guidance and support, my thesis would not have been possible Secondly, I would like to thank all of my students, who took part in this research, for their great efforts to complete various tests and questionnaires This thesis would not have been completed without their outstanding cooperation I also would like to acknowledge my colleagues and friends who directly or indirectly contributed to my thesis My deep gratitude goes to Le Huu Ly and Cu Nhut Suong for their invaluable support, resources, and professional editing for my thesis I owe my thanks to Solis Montufar Adelina and Jefferson Day, two Fulbright English Teaching Assistants at Ben Tre College, who helped me with designing, recording, grading oral reading fluency tests, and proofreading the thesis My appreciation also extended to Mr Le Van Hoang and Ms Tran Thi Thu, for their support in grading the tests and revising the English and Vietnamese versions of the questionnaire Finally, I wish to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my mum, dad, family members whose prayers, love and best wishes were a source of inspiration, encouragement and motivation for me as I was successfully completing this study ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: THE IMPACT OF PHRASE READING ON BEN TRE COLLEGE ENGLISH-MAJORED STUDENTS’ L2 ORAL READING FLUENCY AND READING COMPREHENSION in terms of the statement of the Requirements for the Theses in Master’s Program issued by the Higher Degree Committee This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institutions Ho Chi Minh City, October 2012 LE HUNG VU iii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, LE HUNG VU, being the candidate for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s theses 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 purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of the thesis Ho Chi Minh City, October 2012 LE HUNG VU iv TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY iii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS X LIST OF TABLES Xi LIST OF FIGURES .Xiii LIST OF CHARTS Xiii ABSTRACT XIv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study 1.2 Aims of the study .4 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Research hypotheses 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theoretical concepts 2.1.1 Phrase reading 2.1.2 Reading fluency .10 2.1.3 Oral reading fluency .11 2.1.4 Reading comprehension 13 2.2 Empirical research 18 2.2.1 Studies on the impact of phrase or chunk reading on reading fluency and reading comprehension 18 v 2.2.2 Studies on the relationship between reading fluency and reading Comprehension 20 2.3 Conceptual framework 23 2.4 Chapter summary 24 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 26 3.1 Study setting 26 3.2 Participants 26 3.2.1 The control group 27 3.2.2 The experimental group 28 3.3 Design of the study 28 3.4 Instruments 29 3.4.1 Tests 29 3.4.1.1 Proficiency test 29 3.4.1.2 Oral reading fluency test 30 3.4.1.3 Silent reading fluency test 31 3.4.1.4 Reading comprehension test 32 3.4.2 Questionnaires 34 3.4.3 Reliability of the questionnaire 36 3.5 Procedures 36 3.5.1 Pre-treatment stage 37 3.5.2 Treatment stage 37 3.5.3 Post-treatment stage 39 3.5.4 Data collection 39 3.6 Methods of analysis 39 3.6.1 T-test 39 3.6.2 Bivariate correlation 40 3.6.3 Frequency count and percentage 40 3.6.4 Scoring criteria 40 3.6.4.1 Scoring criteria for the OPT 40 vi 3.6.4.2 Scoring criteria for the ORF test 41 3.6.4.3 Scoring criteria for the SRF test 42 3.6.4.4 Scoring criteria for the reading comprehension test 43 3.7 Chapter summary 44 CHAPTER : RESULTS 45 4.1 Statistical analysis of test results on reading speed 45 4.1.1 Statistical analysis of test results on ORF 45 4.1.2 Statistical analysis of test results on SRF 46 4.2 Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension 47 4.2.1 Statistical analysis on comprehension of main ideas 49 4.2.2 Statistical analysis on comprehension of details 50 4.2.3 Statistical analysis on word choice performance 51 4.3 Statistical analysis of test results on the relationship between language proficiency and reading comprehension 53 4.4 Statistical analysis of test results on the relationship between ORF and reading comprehension 54 4.5 Statistical analysis of questionnaire results of students’ views on phrase reading 56 4.5.1 Statistical analysis of students’ problems with phrase reading 56 4.5.1.1Statistical analysis of students’ problems of phrase identification………… 56 4.5.1.2 Statistical analysis of students’ problems of eye fixations 57 4.5.2 Statistical analysis of students’ positive attitudes towards phrase-reading instruction 58 4.5.2.1 Statistical analysis of students’ positive attitudes on the application of PR.58 4.5.2.1.1 Statistical analysis of students’ positive attitudes on the application of PR on reading speed and reading comprehension 58 4.5.2.1.2 Statistical analysis of students’ positive attitudes on the usefulness of PR………………………………………………………………………………………………… 59 4.5.2.2 Statistical analysis of students’ positive attitudes on the impact of PR 60 vii 4.5.2.2.1 Statistical analysis of students’ positive attitudes on the impact of PR on reading speed and reading comprehension 60 4.5.2.2.2 Statistical analysis of students’ positive attitudes on the impact of PR on future career 61 4.5.2.2.3 Statistical analysis of students’ positive attitudes on the impact of PR on the creation of motivation 61 4.5.2.3 Statistical analysis of students’ positive attitudes on the possibility of the application of PR 62 4.5.3 Statistical analysis of students’ views on the conditions for successful use of PR………………… 63 4.6 Chapter summary 64 CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS 65 5.1 Research question 65 5.1.1 Significance of eye fixation 65 5.1.2 Comprehension 66 5.2 Research question 67 5.3 Research question 78 5.4 Research question 69 5.5 Chapter summary 69 CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 70 6.1 Summary of key findings 70 6.2 Implications 71 6.3 Limitations 72 6.4 Recommendations for further research 73 6.5 Chapter Summary 74 REFERENCES 75 viii APPENDIX 1: PROFICIENCY TEST 81 APPENDIX 2A: ORAL READING FLUENCY PRETEST 86 APPENDIX 2B: ORAL READING FLUENCY POSTTEST 86 APPENDIX 3A: SILENT READING FLUENCY PRETEST 87 APPENDIX 3B: SILENT READING FLUENCY POSTTEST 89 APPENDIX 4A:READING COMPREHENSION PRETEST 92 APPENDIX 4B:READING COMPREHENSION POSTTEST 101 APPENDIX 5A: QUESTIONNAIRE (ENGLISH VERSION) 110 APPENDIX 5B: QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) 114 APPENDIX 6: LESSON PLAN (EXPERIMENTAL GROUP) 118 APPENDIX 7: INDEPENDENT SAMPLE T-TEST 120 ix 107 108 109 APPENDIX 5A  ENGLISH VERSION QUESTIONNAIRE This questionnaire aims at collecting data for a study entitled “The Impact of Phrase Reading on Ben Tre College English-Majored Students’ L2 Oral Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension” Please answer this questionnaire to the best of your knowledge either by ticking the appropriate box (√) or by writing your answers in the space provided if you have other ideas Your responses will greatly contribute to the success of the study The data collected will be used for the research purposes only, not for other purposes Thank you for your time and help I Personal Information: Name: ………………………………………………… Your gender:  male  female Age: ……… Years of studying English in high school: …… years II Questions: From questions 1-7, please answer by putting a check (√) into the boxes (5= strongly agree, 4=agree, 3= not sure, 2= disagree, 1= strongly disagree) When applying phrase-reading strategy, you find it easy to identify… a noun phrases with postmodifiers b noun phrases with premodifiers c prepositional phrases d verb phrases e infinitive phrases f adjective phrases Others: ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 110 when applying phrase-reading strategy, you … a not fix your eyes on separate words b can identify the structure of a phrase more easily c can identify the beginning and end of a phrase d can read faster (compared with the time prior to the treatment) e think your reading speed is the same as that prior to the treatment f can understand more easily (as a result of the fixation zone) g can read aloud more fluently (without pauses or hesitation) Others: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… You like phrase-reading strategy because … a it helps you read faster b it helps you comprehend the gist of a text easily c it helps you comprehend the meaning of a sentence better d it helps you enlarge your eyes' fixation zone e it helps you get more information at a reduced time f you don't always read back phrases to understand g you not experience headache when applying this strategy h your eyes not strain when applying this strategy i you can improve your ability of reading j you can identify phrases easily (as a result of identifying word categories) Others: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 111 According to you, if you want to use this strategy successfully, you need to … a be able to identify word categories b identify the beginning and end of a phrase c practice more outside the classroom d be aware of the role of punctuation Others: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… In general, you think that the phrase-reading strategy… a has developed your speed of reading b has improved your comprehension of ideas Others:…………………………………………………………………………………………………… To you, this strategy is beneficial, if you want to … a become a public figure (e.g a teacher, an MC, a newsreader, etc.) b become a good reader Others: ………………………………………………………………………………………………… The phrase-reading strategy,… a motivates your English reading (you like to study reading more) b motivates you to read outside the classroom (e.g at home) c has improved your knowledge of phrases structures Others: ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 112 Please circle (one option from a to d) and write your comments (if you happen to have) in the space provided In general, after acquiring the strategy, … a you like it and would like to apply it in the future b you like it but not want to apply it c you will apply it although you don't like it d you don't like it and will not apply it in the future e please provide your ideas if you think you cannot apply this strategy:…………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you for your co-operation 113 APPENDIX 5B  TRANSLATED VERSION BẢNG KHẢO SÁT Bảng thăm dò ý kiến nhằm để thu thập thông tin cho đề tài nghiên cứu “The Impact of Phrase Reading on Ben Tre College English-Majored Students’ L2 Oral Reading Fluency and Reading Comprehension” (Tác động việc đọc theo cụm từ khả lưu loát việc đọc thành tiếng khả đọc hiểu ngôn ngữ hai sinh viên chuyên Anh trường cao đẳng Bến Tre) Xin vui lòng trả lời câu hỏi cách đánh dấu kiểm (√) viết ý kiến trả lời bạn vào khoảng trống cho sẵn Các câu trả lời bạn góp phần to lớn cho thành công đề tài Chúng cam đoan thông tin sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu Xin chân thành cảm ơn bạn I Thông tin cá nhân: Tên: …………………………………………………… Giới tính:  Nam  Nữ Tuổi: ……… Số năm học tiếng Anh trường phổ thông: …… năm II Câu hỏi: Từ câu 1-7 , vui lòng đánh dấu kiểm (√) vào khung viết ý kiến trả lời bạn vào khoảng trống cho sẵn (5= Hoàn toàn đồng ý, 4=đồng ý, 3= Khơng chắc, 2= Khơng đồng ý, 1= Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý) Khi áp dụng kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ, bạn có thấy dễ nhận diện … a cụm danh từ với từ bổ nghĩa đứng sau b cụm danh từ với từ bổ nghĩa đứng trước c cụm giới từ d cụm động từ 114 e cụm động từ nguyên thể f cụm tính từ Ý kiến khác: ………………….………………………………………………………………… Khi áp dụng kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ, bạn … a Không dán mắt vào từ b Có thể nhận diện cấu trúc cụm từ dễ dàng c Có thể nhận diện từ đầu từ cuối cụm từ d Có thể đọc nhanh so với lúc chưa dạy đọc theo cụm từ e Nghĩ tốc độ đọc bạn giống với lúc trước dạy đọc theo cụm từ f Có thể hiểu dễ dàng g Có thể đọc thành lời trơi chảy Ý kiến khác: …………………………………………………………………………………… Bạn thích kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ … a kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ giúp bạn đọc nhanh b kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ giúp bạn nắm ý đọc dễ dàng c kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ giúp bạn hiểu nghĩa câu tốt d kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ giúp bạn mở rộng không gian quét mắt e kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ giúp bạn đọc nhiều thông tin khoảng thời gian hạn chế f bạn đọc lại cụm từ để hiểu nghĩa g bạn không cảm thấy đau đầu áp dụng kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ h bạn không cảm thấy bị căng mắt áp dụng kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ i bạn cải thiện khả đọc bạn 115 j bạn nhận cụm từ cách dễ dàng Ý kiến khác: …………………………………………………………………………………… Theo bạn, muốn vận dụng kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ thành công, bạn cần … a nhận diện từ loại từ b nhận diện từ đầu từ cuối cụm từ c thực hành nhiều bên ngồi lớp học d nhận thức vai trị dấu câu Ý kiến khác: ……………………………………………………………………………………… Nói chung, bạn cho kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ… a cải thiện tốc độ đọc bạn b cải thiện khả hiểu bạn Ý kiến khác:……………………………………………………………………………………… Đối với bạn, kỹ thuật hữu ích bạn muốn … a trở thành người cơng chúng (VD: giáo viên, người dẫn chương trình, người đọc tin, v.v…) b trở thành người đọc giỏi Ý kiến khác:…………………………………………………………………………………… Kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ… a tạo cho bạn có động đọc tiếng Anh (Bạn thích đọc hơn) b tạo cho bạn có động đọc tiếng Anh bên lớp học (VD: đọc nhà) c cải thiện kiến thức cấu trúc cụm từ bạn Ý kiến khác:…………………………………………………………………………………… 116 Vui lòng khoanh tròn (một năm câu từ a đến d) viết ý kiến bạn (nếu bạn nghĩ ra) vào khoảng trống cho sẵn Nói chung, sau lĩnh hội kỹ thuật đọc theo cụm từ … a bạn thích kỹ thuật áp dụng tương lai b bạn thích kỹ thuật khơng muốn áp dụng c bạn áp dụng kỹ thuật dù bạn khơng thích d bạn khơng thích kỹ thuật khơng áp dụng Vui lịng ghi ý kiến bạn bạn nghĩ áp dụng kỹ thuật này: ……………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………………………… XIN CHÂN THÀNH CẢM ƠN SỰ CỘNG TÁC CỦA CÁC BẠN 117 APPENDIX LESSON PLAN - EXPERIMENTAL GROUP      Subject Class Topic Time Date : Grammar : English K8 : Noun phrase with post-modifiers : 10 minutes : 21/09/2011 I Aim: Teacher helps students know how to identify noun phrases with post-modifier II Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to identify the noun phrases with post-modifiers and apply this technique into reading activities to improve reading fluency and comprehension II Method of teaching: Communicative approach Time III Procedure: 3‟ Teacher’s activities Content  Warm up: -Identify the noun phrases with premodifiers It's 10 A.M Angela gets out of bed, brushes her teeth, and washes her face She walks into the kitchen, makes a cup of coffee, and sits down at her computer She logs on to her university's Website and checks an e-mail from her economics professor about an assignment that is due on Tuesday - Teaches sts structures of - listen and noun phrases with post- take notes modifiers  Noun phrase with postmodifier structures: NP = headN + PP E.g the man with blue eyes NP = headN + AP E.g something new NP = headN + Participle Phrase E.g the boy playing in the yard NP = headN + InfP - Writes a reading passage on the board and asks sts to identify the phrases they learned (Noun phrase with pre-modifiers) 4‟ Students’ activities - Gives correction to students  Presentation: 118 E.g the man to answer this question NP = headN + Subordinate Adjective Clause E.g the woman who is crying 3‟  Practice: - Shows some sentences including complex noun phrases to the class - Asks sts to recognize the complex noun phrases in the sentences - Calls on sts to read the phrases they recognize to the class loudly - Look at the The road back is dense with traffic poster and Something strange happened last recognize night the phrases I love the place where I grew up The girl playing in the ground is my daughter She loves the monitor in your class - Gives correction to students  Production: - Asks students to apply the - Read the - Reading text “The city that’s doing something right” (P 27 – strategy that they have learned text Interactions – Reading) to reading activities with the text “The city that’s doing something right” 119 APPENDIX INDEPENDENT SAMPLE T-TEST Group Statistics ORFpretest ORFpostest SRFpret est SRFpostest RCpret est RCpostt est COMpretest COMposttest CODpretest CODpostest WCPpretest WCPpost test Group Experiment Group Control Group Experiment Group Control Group Experiment Group Control Group Experiment Group Control Group Experiment Group Control Group Experiment Group Control Group Experiment Group Control Group Experiment Group Control Group Experiment Group Control Group Experiment Group Control Group Experiment Group Control Group Experiment Group Control Group N 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 22 120 Mean 5.9818 6.0182 7.6545 6.1136 7.6409 7.8659 8.4727 7.8864 5831 5896 6831 6026 5227 5773 6682 5545 6212 6152 6909 6182 5864 5636 6864 6273 Std Dev iat ion 60130 54040 63899 58170 62538 53282 52001 58740 09233 12455 09286 10939 16015 21587 13934 20407 13075 15524 10600 12203 12458 15900 15825 15176 Std Error Mean 12820 11521 13623 12402 13333 11360 11087 12523 01969 02656 01980 02332 03414 04602 02971 04351 02788 03310 02260 02602 02656 03390 03374 03235 In depend ent Samples Test Lev ene's Test f or Equality of Variances F ORF pretest ORF postest SRFpret est SRFpostest RCpretest RCpostt est COMpretest COMposttest CODpretest CODpostest WCPpretest WCPpost test Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Equal v ariances assumed Equal v ariances not assumed Sig .798 325 059 638 3.581 898 2.469 2.692 780 795 2.224 010 377 571 809 429 065 349 124 108 382 378 143 923 t-t est f or Equalit y of Means t df Sig (2-tailed) Mean Dif f erence St d Error Dif f erence 95% Conf idence Interv al of t he Dif f erence Lower Upper -.211 42 834 -.03636 17236 -.38420 31148 -.211 41.530 834 -.03636 17236 -.38432 31159 8.364 42 000 1.54091 18423 1.16912 1.91270 8.364 41.635 000 1.54091 18423 1.16902 1.91280 -1.285 42 206 -.22500 17516 -.57849 12849 -1.285 40.967 206 -.22500 17516 -.57876 12876 3.506 42 001 58636 16726 24882 92390 3.506 41.391 001 58636 16726 24868 92405 -.196 42 845 -.00649 03306 -.07320 06022 -.196 38.727 845 -.00649 03306 -.07337 06038 2.632 42 012 08052 03059 01878 14226 2.632 40.921 012 08052 03059 01874 14230 -.952 42 347 -.05455 05731 -.17020 06111 -.952 38.742 347 -.05455 05731 -.17049 06139 2.157 42 037 11364 05268 00732 21995 2.157 37.085 038 11364 05268 00690 22037 140 42 889 00606 04327 -.08126 09339 140 40.820 889 00606 04327 -.08134 09346 2.110 42 041 07273 03446 00318 14227 2.110 41.194 041 07273 03446 00314 14231 528 42 600 02273 04306 -.06418 10964 528 39.726 601 02273 04306 -.06433 10978 1.264 42 213 05909 04675 -.03525 15343 1.264 41.926 213 05909 04675 -.03525 15343 121