INTRODUCTION
Rationale
At the present time there is no doubt that English has become the international standard of communication in commerce, science, transportation, medicine, culture, education, banking, tourism, aviation and so on Therefore, English has been assumed as a mandatory subject at all state schools from the third onwards Of four English skills, reading is supposed to be one of the most important language skills because it is the main source of language input, and it is very necessary to improve other language skills like speaking and writing So many linguists have already paid much attention to the reading strategies at home and abroad for a long time However, the strategies for 12 graders to perform reading section at GCSE exam are often neglected and few scholars do an investigation among them Actually, reading is also very important for them, since they need to read lots of reading texts and do different kinds of reading questions.
As a result, improving reading proficiency is imperative for students and it is beneficial to their daily reading as well as examination Researchers always emphasize the significance of classroom teaching and teachers’ guidance of reading practice It is students themselves that should be responsible for their own study This study will make research among the 12 graders who is preparing for the final examination, aiming to find out their situation of using reading strategies and analyze the effectiveness of the use of reading strategies This study intends to have some academic significance, especially for 12 graders, helping them to consciously use the reading strategies to improve their reading proficiency at the coming examination I, therefore decided to do the research on “Some strategies for 12 th graders at Quy Hop High School to overcome challenges in reading comprehension section at GCSE exam” in hope that the findings and solutions mentioned in this study will make a significant contribution to improve the result of the reading skill at Quy Hop high school as well as those at other high schools.
The foremost purpose of this study is on finding out the types of reading comprehension questions at National exam.
The second purpose is to propose some strategies for 12 th graders to deal with different questions and achieve higher results at GCSE exam.
The new factors of the study
In this study, I focused on analyzing the structure of reading comprehension in the national high school exam and specifically guiding the skills to do this type of exercise and provide students with exercises related to various topics that are common in textbooks The topic will help students access reading comprehension more easily and effectively in the national high school exam in general and international certification exams such as TOEFL, TOEIC, IELTS, B1, B2.
Scope of the study
This study focuses on finding challenges in the reading section as well as giving strategies to help 12 graders overcome them effectively The study is limited on GCSE examination.
Organization of the study
The study is well organized with 3 main parts: the rationale of the study, the content or the solutions of the problems, and the conclusion I hope that the study provides a useful access to most of the teachers in teaching language.
CONTENT
Theoretical background
There are different ways of definition of reading According to Wikipedia,
[1] reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch As we read, we use our eyes to receive written symbols (letters, punctuation marks and spaces) and we make use of our brain to convert them into words, sentences and paragraphs that communicate something to us Reading can be silent (in our head) or aloud (so that other people can hear). Reading is a receptive skill - through it we receive information But the complex process of reading also requires the skill of speaking, so that we can pronounce the words that we read In this sense, reading is also a productive skill in that we are both receiving information and transmitting it.
Smiths (1971, p.135) [2] stated that reading is “a psycholinguistics process by which the reader, language user, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display” In his opinion, readers not only learn how to read the text, to master grammatical structures…but also understand the content expressed in the text.
One more definition offered by Garmer (1989, p.153) [3] showed us his opinion and two above authors have a lot of things in common “reading is an exercise dominated by the eyes and the brain The eyes receive messages, and the brain then has to work out the significance of these messages”
Having the same point with Smiths, Peter, E (1990, p.2) [4] said that
“reading is a process whereby one looks at and understands what has been written” According to William, in the reading process, there are also two parallel activities: looking and understanding Therefore, readers have to “encode” meanings of a word depending on the context in which it appears.
According to Richard and William (1987:15), [5] reading is best described as “an understanding between the author and the reader Reading is much more than just pronouncing words correctly or simply knowing what the author intends; it is the process whereby the printed page stimulates ideas, experiences and responses that are unique to an individual.
To sum up, each person can get a different definition of reading and we cannot tell which is better because each of them focuses on one important matter of reading However, we find that there is a close relationship between reading and understanding Therefore, being a language teacher, we have to understand the nature of reading thoroughly to help our students read effectively.
In Wikipedia, reading comprehension is defined as the ability to process text, understand its meaning, and to integrate with what the reader already knows. Fundamental skills required in efficient reading comprehension are knowing meaning of words, ability to understand meaning of a word from discourse context, ability to follow organization of passage and to identify antecedents and references in it, ability to draw inferences from a passage about its contents, ability to identify the main thought of a passage, ability to answer questions answered in a passage, ability to recognize the literary devices or propositional structures used in a passage and determine its tone, to understand the situational mood conveyed for assertions, questioning, commanding, refraining etc and finally ability to determine writer's purpose, intent and point of view, and draw inferences about the writer.
Reading comprehension skill plays a very crucial role in teaching and learning to read a foreign language It gets the nature of communication, in which reading activity acts as a means of communication between the writer and the reader.
Reading comprehension results in the fact that readers know which skills and strategies are appropriate for types of texts and understand how to apply them to accomplish reading purposes Kimney (1975, p.1) [6] stated that “A student is good at comprehension we mean that he can read accurately and efficiently, so as to get the maximum information of a text with the minimum of understanding” It is obvious that the student can show his understanding only by doing some tasks such as summarizing the text, answering questions, making true or false etc.
Prellet (1981: 3) [7] states that reading comprehension or understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible The author means that reading comprehension is an activity which aims at decoding the meaning of word combination in the text in the most efficient way.
In short, reading becomes meaningless without comprehension since only reading comprehension can appreciate how much readers understand the text.Therefore, how to help students have effective reading comprehension methods is considered to be the most important part in reading teaching.
Types of reading
We read different texts in different ways According to the manner of reading, we have aloud reading and silent reading Depending on the purpose of reading, we can categorize reading into skimming, scanning, intensive reading and extensive reading.
“Reading aloud involves looking at a text, understanding it and also saying it Its’ purpose is not just to understand the text to convey the information to someone else” (Doff, 1988:70) [8] In fact, it must be recognized that reading aloud is primarily an oral matter so that for those who teach and learn foreign languages, it is closer to “pronunciation” than it is to “comprehension” While it is perfectly proper to try to improve the skill of reading aloud, it clearly cannot be done using an unfamiliar text the content and language of which stretches the linguistic capabilities of the learners to the utmost Therefore, it must be admitted that the usefulness of reading aloud is limited First of all, “reading aloud is not an activity we engage in very often outside the classroom” (Doff, 1988:67) [9]. Actually, in daily life, few people are required to read aloud as a matter of daily routine, radio newscasters, clergymen, perhaps actors To the huge majority, its significance is minimal Secondly, “the readers is often merely mouthing meaningless language because of lack of rehearsal and time to understand what he has to read aloud ” (Abott and Wingard, 1981: 82) [10] It means that when reading aloud, the readers’ attention is focused on the pronunciation, not on the understanding of the text Moreover, in the classroom, only the reading student is working at a time, others are either not listening at all or listening to a bad model.
In addition, some students’ speed of reading is very slow, so it takes a lot of time in class.
In short, reading aloud can be applied for those who begin learning a foreign language to establish the connection between sound and spelling Hence, reading aloud might be a good way to practice pronunciation.
Silent reading is the activity we usually engage in when we read books, newspapers, advertisements Silent reading is more often used in both real life and classroom, and “it is the method we normally use with our native language, and on the whole the quickest and most efficient” (Lewis, 1985:110) [11] Because reading is a very personal skill so silent reading is a more effective skill for reading comprehension because firstly learners do not need to read all the words in the text, secondly they can read at their own speed and if they do not understand the sentence, they can go back, thirdly students can not only attain the main ideas in a short time but also understand its details thoroughly to answer the questions, and finally the teacher can check his/her learners’ understanding easily and add reading materials and exercises suitable to their ability.
In short, silent reading is the most useful and practical way to develop the students’ reading ability However, it is more beneficial when the teacher sometimes combines it with reading aloud to improve students’ pronunciation and intonation because reading aloud also has its own advantages.
According to purposes, reading is categorized into four types: skimming, scanning, extensive and intensive reading.
Skimming is reading through the content of the article, not delving into the content of any paragraph You do this reading quickly by reading through the title to see the content of the article, reading the topic sentences and concluding sentences, paying more attention to the important nouns through which to grasp the main content.
When paragraphs are too long and time is limited, skimming helps you read the main content as well as the point of view that the author wants to state in each paragraph.
- Read the title of the article, then read the opening paragraph to identify the main content in the article.
- Read the topic sentences of each paragraph, these topic sentences are usually the first or last sentence of the text.
- Read into the paragraph, pay attention to answering the questions who, what, which, where, when, and why Important words in paragraphs are often in the form of nouns, verbs or adjectives, even concatenating words.
- In addition, you need to understand the logic of the article by relying on the following words: because (because), firstly (first), secondly (secondly), finally (last), but (but), then (then), includes (including) and other time-only words. These words will help you recognize which way the passage is presented: listing, comparison – contrast, time – order, and cause – effect
To sum up, skimming is a very useful reading comprehension skill for students, and it is advisable to apply at the first stage of teaching reading with the hope that it can help them to have an overview of what they are reading Moreover, it will be easier for them to deal with the other tasks that followed.
Scanning is the quick reading of the article with the purpose of finding data, specific information needed for answering questions Scanning is extremely important in the IELTS reading test because sometimes through skimming you have grasped the main ideas but to answer the reading section question you need to pay attention to the author's use of words Otherwise, it will be very easy to be fooled Scanning is applied to types of articles such as True – False – Not Given, Multiple choices, Complete the summary
Scanning is applied when you need to search for specific information such as proper names, figures, dates or phrases without knowing the content of the text.
Analyze the organization of the article before starting scanning.
Always be oriented and keep in mind what information you are looking for The more specific data you can shape, the less time you'll have to waste.
It should be determined which paragraph of the article the information is in according to the memory obtained after the skimming section and scanned one turn to locate exactly where the information to be found The information can be arranged in rhyme or chronological order so the table can base this on this for easier identification.
Stop before the information to find and read the sentences related to that information to come across what the author is trying to ask the reader and answer the question You need to pay attention to the complex sentence structures used in the article because it is easy to confuse you.
Note: When scanning, you should quickly look at many lines at the same time When you find information, stop and read the entire sentence or paragraph containing the information You can read in the shape of the letter "Z" which means reading the first and last lines in a horizontal row, in the middle reading diagonally Or reading in the shape of the letter "U" means reading quickly to the end and then reading again By reading like that, you can pay attention and immediately find information that is especially necessary for the answer.
Intensive reading is also widely used in a reading class It is an effective way to explore the text, to go deeply into the meaning and the organization of the text. Intensive reading “involves approaching the text under the guidance of a teacher or a task which forces the students to focus on the text” (Nuttall, 2000:38) [12] In the view of Brown (1990:297) [13] intensive reading “is usually a classroom-oriented activity in which students focus on the linguistic or semantic details of a passage”. Grellet, F (1981:4) [states that “Intensive reading means reading short text to extract specific information This is an accuracy activity involving reading for detailed” The objective of intensive reading is to achieve a full understanding of the text not only of what it means but also of how the meaning is produced. Through intensive reading, the reader must arrive at a profound and detailed understanding of logical arguments, the rhetorical arrangement, the pattern of the text, the attitude and purposes of the writer and his linguistic means to achieve his purposes In other words, intensive reading is reading for accuracy which is essential to the students’ comprehension.
Types of reading comprehension questions
The National examination is held annually in July All schoolteachers who teach National Examination subjects will be very busy to prepare it, including English teachers They expect that their students will get success and be able to do the test well One of the important things to do by the teachers is to know the types of the questions that will raise on the test, so it will be easy for them to teach their students what should be learned to face the test Besides the educational curriculum, teachers need to make sure that the questions are used to help students interact with the text This can be done by making sure that students keep the text in front of them while answering questions on the text They should always be able to refer to the reading passage, for we are interested in teaching reading comprehension, not memory skills (Day, 2005) Furthermore, Gurus (2013) speaks out that there are 9 types of reading comprehension 9 questions:
Question 1: Identify the information stated in the article (Factual information) Question 2: Identify information that is not stated in the article (Negative fact) Question 3: Define the meaning of words in context (Vocabulary in context) Question 4: Find a word or phrase that is spoken of or referenced to
Question 6: Find the main idea
Question 7: The question that defines the author's attitude (tone)
Question 8: Determine the purpose of the lesson.
The types of reading comprehension questions are interesting and important to be studied because there are many uses to help students respond to a variety of types of comprehension test that are very crucial to get success in passing on their national examination test The problem of the research is:
“What are the common types of reading comprehension questions of English national examination for 12 graders?”
“What are the strategies for each type of questions?”
Practical basis
According to the structure of the English test in the National High School Exam, there are 50 multiple-choice questions in which the reading comprehension test in the exam is 17 questions occupying a very important place in the structure of the test Understanding its role is the success of a test, more than anyone, teachers must be guides so that students can do the test more effectively Reading comprehension is an important skill not only because it takes up a lot of points in the structure of the national high school exam, but reading skills also help students access information and help them learn more new words and structures to serve other skills such as writing and speaking skills For high school students, doing well in reading comprehension skills can be said to be half- successful, because doing well in reading comprehension means that you will learn a significant number of new words that contribute a significant part to the success of other types of exercises With the characteristics of my students, the quality of students' input is relatively low, so there are still many difficulties.
Hence, to help 12 graders not get paralyzed scores and improve the quality of output in addition to other easy-to-earn knowledge sections, the reading comprehension section is extremely important for teachers to teach students.
Solutions and discussion
2.5.1 General guiding procedure for doing reading comprehension excercises
Below is the general procedure for dealing with reading comprehension questions:
1 First, read the whole passage twice without translating it into Vietnamese or answering the given questions immediately.
2.Read the topic of the passage This is the briefest summary of the content of the article If the passage does not have a topic sentence, skim the passage once to get a sense of the topic of the passage.
3 Read the question first, do not rush to read the answer options Because once we know what type of question to answer, it will be easier to find the answer.
4 Read each question and answer options carefully, underline each keyword and focus on the keywords in the passage to find the answer.
5 Have different strategies depending on the type of question.
6 It is not necessary to do it in turn from beginning to end, but the easy one is done first, the difficult one is left last.
2.5.2 Guiding techniques to different types of reading comprehension questions
A Question 1: Identify the factual information
The answer to this question is the information already stated in the article. This type of question usually asks about detailed information that the author mentions in the reading Usually, the correct answer is just to repeat the information in the article in a different way So, the readers need to pay attention to synonyms
+ According to the passage, _ which of the following is true of X ?
+ In the paragraph _the authors stated that X
+ According to the paragraph _, when/where/how does _X _ happen?
+ According to the passage, which of the following is one of the reasons X ?
Answer The answer is found in the sequence of the reading.
Techniques + Find keywords in question (or in the answers if the question does not show the key words)
+ Skim to find the right paragraph containing keywords to read the information carefully
+ Carefully read the sentences containing the keywords and ideas in the question
+ Use the method of eliminating definitely wrong answers and choosing the best one.
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
Different cultures follow their own special customs when a child’s baby teeth fall out In Korea, for example, they have the custom of throwing lost teeth up on the roof of a house According to tradition, a magpie will come and take the tooth Later, the magpie will return with a new tooth for the child In other Asian countries, such as Japan and Vietnam, children follow a similar tradition of throwing their lost teeth onto the roofs of houses.
Birds aren’t the only animals thought to take lost teeth In Mexico and Spain, tradition says a mouse takes a lost tooth and leaves some money However, in Mongolia, dogs are responsible for taking teeth away Dogs are highly respected in Mongolian culture and are considered guardian angels of the people Tradition says that the new tooth will grow good and strong if the baby tooth is fed to a guardian angel Accordingly, parents in Mongolia will put their child’s lost tooth in a piece of meat and feed it to a dog.
The idea of giving lost teeth to an angel or fairy is also a tradition in the West. Many children in Western countries count on the Tooth Fairy to leave money or presents in exchange for a tooth The exact origins of the Tooth Fairy are a mystery, although the story probably began in England or Ireland centuries ago According to tradition, a child puts a lost tooth under his or her pillow before going to bed In the wee hours, while the child is sleeping, the Tooth Fairy takes the tooth and leaves something else under the pillow In France, the Tooth Fairy leaves a small gift In the United States, however, the Tooth Fairy usually leaves money These days, the rate is $1 to $5 per tooth, adding up to a lot of money from the Tooth Fairy!
(Trích mã đề 401- Đề thi THPTQG 2017)
Question 3 According to the passage, where is a child’s lost tooth thought to be taken away by a mouse?
A In Mexico and Spain B In Mongolia
C In Japan and Vietnam D In Korea
Question 4 According to paragraph 2, parents in Mongolia feed their child’s lost tooth to a dog because .
A they know that dogs are very responsible animals
B they believe that this will make their child’s new tooth good and strong
C they think dogs like eating children’s teeth
D they hope that their child will get some gifts for his or her tooth
Key words: where, lost tooth, taken away by a mouse
Birds aren’t the only animals thought to take lost teeth In Mexico and
Spain, tradition says a mouse takes a lost tooth and leaves some money. However, in Mongolia, dogs are responsible for taking teeth away.
Key words: paragraph 2, parents, Mongolia, feed , lost tooth, a dog
Dogs are highly respected in Mongolian culture and are considered guardian angels of the people Tradition says that the new tooth will grow good and strong if the baby tooth is fed to a guardian angel Accordingly, parents in Mongolia will put their child’s lost tooth in a piece of meat and feed it to a dog.”
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, c, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 39 to 43
As Australia's largest and oldest city, Sydney carries many traces of its history Time seems to stand still in the city's old streets and in its many magnificent, ancient buildings, such as the Sydney Town Hall, the Queen Victoria Building, and St Mary's Cathedral To explore the city's present and past, head for The Rocks - the oldest neighbourhood in Australia and Sydney, where sandstone houses built in the 18 th century still stand You can stroll through the pretty streets, visit a traditional pub for some craft beer, and try delicious local dishes.
Sydney is blessed with natural gifts that few cities can rival This city is full of greenery Parks and nature reserves mingle with urban areas Thanks to this, you need not travel far to see rare species in numerous city zoos; or enjoy fresh air and a range of plants from all comers of the world, all gathered in boundless parks. For those visitors keen to explore the sea, Sydney is heaven with over 70 spectacular bays and beaches These include beautiful Bondi Beach, which is said to be the loveliest on the planet, where visitors can sunbathe, and play various water sports.
Sydney is said to be a miniature world of attractions, captivating visitors It is a must-go destination on every tourist's bucket list, should they visit the beautiful land of Australia.
(Adapted from Heritage) (Trích mã đề 411- Đề thi THPTQG 2022)
Question 40: According to paragraph 1, The Rocks .
A has the most beautiful streets in Australia
B offers the most delicious local dishes
C has traces of houses destroyed in the 18 th century
D is the oldest area in Sydney and Australia
Question 43: Which of the following is TRUE about Sydney according to the passage?
A Visitors prefer Sydney's beaches to its parks
B Tourists have to travel long distances to reach Sydney's zoos.
C In Sydney, urban areas are mixed with parks and nature reserves
D Sydney was established in the 181h century.
Key words: paragraph 1, The Rocks
Suggestion: It is stated in paragraph 1
To explore the city's present and past, head for The Rocks - the oldest neighbourhood in Australia and Sydney, where sandstone houses built in the
Sydney is blessed with natural gifts that few cities can rival This city is full of greenery Parks and nature reserves mingle with urban areas.
Answer C In Sydney, urban areas are mixed with parks and nature reserves
C is true: “mingle with” = “be mixed with”
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 44 to 50
When I saw her name on the screen, it took me right back to the moment she had moved away with her family ten years before We had been such close friends at primary school To begin with, she and I had not hit it off, perhaps because we were both timid We had quickly got over that, though, and as time went on, we had become really good friends, until you almost never saw one of us without the other.
And now after so much time apart, there was her name She had sent me a friend request I knew she had been living abroad, and her profile picture showed her on the beach I had been expecting her to look different after ten years The girl in the photo was the same old Lauren, though.
Nowadays, it is easy to find old friends thanks to social networking sites. There are lots of stories about long lost friends getting back in touch after years apart It was odd because I had been thinking about our friendship too and now here she was!
She told me about the place where she had been living for the past ten years, and I told her about things that had happened to me Before long, the years melted away and we were the same two girls who had spent so much time together Of course, true friends are loyal and listen to you when you are down And they are the people you have fun with But deep down, I realised that the truest friends are those you are most yourself with And that is something that never changes That is what Lauren and I learned that day, the day we realised our friendship was so precious and had never really ended in the first place.
(Adapted from Optimise) (Trích mã đề 411- Đề thi THPTQG 2022)
Question 46: According to paragraph 2, the author .
A was unaware of Lauren living in another country
B thought Lauren's appearance had changed over time
C did not recognise Lauren in her profile picture
D did not accept Lauren's friend request at once
Suggestion: It is stated in paragraph 2
And now after so much time apart, there was her name She had sent me a friend request I knew she had been living abroad, and her profile picture showed her on the beach I had been expecting her to look different after ten years The girl in the photo was the same old Lauren, though.
Answer A: keyword: unaware of Lauren living
Suggestion: I knew she had been living abroad A is untrue
Answer B: keyword:thought Lauren's appearance had changed over time
Suggestion: I had been expecting her to look different after ten years.
Answer C: keyword: did not recognise Lauren in her profile picture
Suggestion: I knew she had been living abroad C is untrue Answer D: keyword: did not accept Lauren's friend request at once
Suggestion: The girl in the photo was the same old Lauren, though.
B Question 2: Identify information that is not stated in the article (Negative fact)
Normally, this type of question will have 3 options containing information mentioned in the article and 1 option not mentioned in the article In this question often appear the words "not mentioned" "not stated" ", “all following options are true Except" or " not true".
- All of the following are mentioned in the passage_X _
- According to paragraph, all the following are true _
- Which of the following is NOT mentioned as _X _?
- According to paragraph, which of the following is NOT true of _X _
- The author’s descriptionof X _mentions all the following
Answer The answer will be information that does not appear in the lesson or the answer is wrong in comparíon with the lesson.
- Identify keywords after carefully reading the questions and options given
- Scan the paragraph containing the keyword.
-Remove the correct choices compared to the reading
- Choose the option that is incorrect or not mentioned in the reading.
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
The survey on the urgency and feasibility of proposed solutions
The purpose of this survey is to gather information on the urgency and feasibility of proposed solutions aimed at helping 12th graders overcome challenges in the reading comprehension section of the National High School Examination The survey aims to assess the level of difficulty that students face in this section, as well as the effectiveness of proposed solutions in addressing these difficulties The survey may also collect data on the current methods used to teach reading comprehension and any other factors that may impact students' ability to perform well on this section of the exam The information gathered through this survey can be used to guide the development of targeted interventions and strategies aimed at improving students' reading comprehension skills and ultimately their performance on the National High School Examination.
The survey content focuses on 02 main issues:
1 Are the proposed solutions really urgent to the current research problem?
2 Are the proposed solutions feasible to the current research problem?
2.6.2.2 Survey methods and rating scales
The method used for the survey is Exchange by questionnaire; with a scale of 04 levels (corresponding to scores from 1 to 4):
Not urgent; Less urgent; Urgent and Very urgent Not feasible; Less feasible; Feasible and Very Viable.
- Calculate the average score according to software Average
- Survey the urgency and feasibility of the proposed solution
Please take the time to carefully read and objectively answer the following questions accurately and objectively by checking ( X ) uniquely in the box of the selected option.
Question 1: According to the teacher, is it really necessary to apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section
Not urgent Less urgent Urgent Very urgent at university entrance exam in the present time?
Question 2: Is it feasible apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section at university entrance exam in the current time?
Little feasible Feasible Very feasible
We urge you to please take the time to read carefully and answer the following questions correctly by ticking (X) uniquely in the box of the selected option.
Question 1: In your opinion, is it really necessary to apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section at university entrance exam in the present time?
Less urgent Urgent Very urgent
Question 2: In your opinion, is it feasible to apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section at university entrance exam in the present time?
Little feasible Feasible Very feasible
1 English teachers of 3 high schools in the district 26
2 12 grade students, at two experimental classes at the work school
2.6.4 Survey results on the urgency and feasibility of proposed solutions 2.6.4.1 The urgency of the proposed solution
Assess the urgency of the proposed solution
According to you, is it really necessary to apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section at university entrance exam in the present time?
In your opinion, is it really necessary to apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section at university entrance exam in the present time?
Table 3: Calculate average score X by Average software
According to you, is it really necessary to apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section at university entrance exam in the present time?
In your opinion, is it really urgent apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section at university entrance exam in the current time?
From the data obtained in the table above , the following observations can be drawn:
Table 1 is likely a survey or questionnaire for teachers, asking for their opinion on the necessity of applying strategies to improve 12th graders' performance in the reading comprehension section of university entrance exams. The table shows the number of respondents who chose each degree of urgency (Not urgent, Less urgent, Urgent, Very urgent) for this solution Out of 26 respondents, 20 of them considered it very urgent to apply such strategies.
The average scores of the four levels are:
Table 2 is likely a survey or questionnaire for students, asking for their opinion on the necessity of applying strategies to improve their own performance in the reading comprehension section of university entrance exams The table shows the number of respondents who chose each degree of urgency (Not urgent, Less urgent, Urgent, Very urgent) for this solution Out of 75 respondents, 55 of them considered it very urgent to apply such strategies.
The average scores of the four levels are:
Both tables suggest that the majority of respondents, whether they are teachers or students, believe that it is important to apply strategies to improve performance in the reading comprehension section of university entrance exams. Furthermore, the high number of respondents who considered it very urgent suggests that this is an important and pressing issue.
2.6.4.2 Assess the feasibility of proposed solutions
In your opinion, is it feasible to to apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section at university entrance exam in the present time?
Little feasible Feasible Very feasible
In your opinion, is it feasible to apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section at university entrance exam in the present time?
Little feasible Feasible Very feasible
Table 3: Calculate average score by Average software
In your opinion, is it feasible to to apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section at university entrance exam in the present time?
In your opinion, is it feasible to to apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in reading comprehension section at university entrance exam in the present time?
From the data obtained in the table above, the following observations can be drawn:
The table represents the results of a survey conducted among 26 English teachers The survey aimed to determine the feasibility of applying strategies to improve the reading comprehension section of the university entrance exam for 12 graders.
The table includes two columns The first column is labeled "Solutions to discuss" and refers to the potential strategies that can be implemented to improve the reading comprehension skills of 12 graders However, no specific strategies are mentioned in the table.
The second column is labeled "Degree" and represents the degree of feasibility of the strategies mentioned in the first column The degree of feasibility is categorized into four levels: "Not feasible," "Little feasible," "Feasible," and
According to the table, all 26 English teachers participated in the survey. None of them chose "Not feasible" as an option, one teacher selected "Little feasible," two teachers selected "Feasible," and the majority of 23 teachers selected
"Very feasible." This implies that most English teachers believed that it is possible to apply some strategies for 12 graders to get higher results in the reading comprehension section of the university entrance exam in the present time.
The average scores of the four levels are:
Table 2 represents the responses of students to a survey on the feasibility of applying strategies for 12 graders to improve their reading comprehension skills and achieve higher results in the university entrance exam.
The table includes two columns: "Solutions to discuss" and "Degree" The first column refers to the potential strategies that can be implemented to improve the reading comprehension skills of 12 graders, however, no specific strategies are mentioned in the table.
The second column labeled "Degree," indicates the degree of feasibility of these strategies, categorized into four levels: "Not feasible," "Little feasible,"
According to the table, 75 students participated in the survey None of them selected "Not feasible" as an option, 5 students selected "Little feasible," 10 students chose "Feasible," while the majority of 60 students selected "Very feasible." This indicates that most students believed that it is possible to apply some strategies for 12 graders to improve their reading comprehension skills and achieve higher results in the university entrance exam.
The average scores of the four levels are:
With an average feasibility score of 3.83 for teachers and 3.73 for students drawn from the survey results, it can be believed that the proposed solution is very feasible when put into practice.
The effectiveness of the research
Table 1 - Test results before applying the techniques
After giving the pre-test to examine the quality of students, I began to take the following process:
Stage 1: Guiding students how to do all the types of reading questions
After this period, students were really eager to learn I observed that students did their assignments faster, and the majority of students made progress in their thinking abilities Specifically, after students took the reading comprehension test, their results increased incredibly The number of good, credit students increased, the number of low level students decreased rapidly.
Stage 2: Reinforcing exercises according to topics
After a period of organizing instructions and teaching for students, I saw that the student's learning results improved sharply So, I took the second test to check the result and give them more exercises to reinforce their skills.
* Purpose: To help students remember the rules that have been learned and have the ability to use them flexibly in each specific sentence
Table 2 - Results obtained after the stage 2 of the study
CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION
Conclusion
To sum up, I have applied two main techniques to help 12 graders overcome reading questions on the National high school examination: learn techniques to 9 forms of reading questions and practice reading according to 12 topics as mentioned above After a period of applying the techniques to solve exercises and practice reading comprehension tests for students, I have recorded remarkable results
+ Before applying this study, most of my students are very afraid to do reading comprehension They often leave this part to the last time and circle a random answer to get probabilities without caring about the content of the questions However, after the specific instructions as above, most of them memorize the types of questions in the reading comprehension test and easily apply rules to do homework They have improved their vocabulary, sentence structure and teamwork skills, so they love English more and achieve high academic results The percentage of good and credit students increased, and the percentage of weak students decreased remarkedly
+ From the above conclusions, it is shown that for students to do well in reading comprehension exercises, it requires the efforts of both teachers and students Teachers must always explore, learn, hone their knowledge to help students practice and find for themselves the best learning method suitable for themselves From there, they will be eager to learn and love to learn to improve their knowledge In general, reading comprehension is a difficult type of exercise in the structure of the national high school exam, to do this exercise well requires a practical process
In my own experience, one of the factors that help students do reading comprehension more successfully is a solid number of new words So, when practicing this skill, they should combine it with learning new words For each reading comprehension, students do not need to learn too many new words, we only choose a few important words and common words that are likely to be repeated a lot in the readings to learn Every day we learn about 5 new words or structures, in only a short time we have a significant number of new words
+ One of the indispensable skills when we take the test is to divide time properly With a reading text consisting of 6 and 7 questions, you should only give it 8-10 minutes When practicing this skill at home, first you can spend a lot of time on it by doing and looking up the dictionary at the same time, but gradually you have to make it out of the dictionary
Suggestions
It is recommended that managing board create favorable conditions of modern facilities and equipment for English classrooms at Quy Hop High School so that students have more favorable conditions in practicing skills In addition, it is necessary to buy and add high school exam preparation references in English to the library so that students can practice more on weekends at school, and increase self-study time to improve the quality of output for students.
2 Smiths (1971, p.135) Learning Reading Strategies by Triggering Reading Motivation Educational Studies
3 Garmer (1989, p.153) The Comprehension Strategies of Second Language Readers
4 Peter, E (1990, p.2) Learner Strategies Oxford: Oxford University Press
5 William (1987:15), An Investigation of Reading Strategies among non- English Major Graduates.M.A thesis Capital Normal University
6 Kimney (1975, p.1) The Study of Second Language Acquisition Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press
7 Prellet (1981: 3) Reading: A Psycholinguistic Guessing Game Journal of the Reading Specialist.
8 Doff, (1988:70) Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics: A Handbook for Language Teaching
9 Abott and Wingard, (1981: 82) The reading process In A Berget, & H A. Robinson (Eds.), Second school reading: What research reveals for classroom practice Urbana, IL: ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading and Communication
10 Lewis, (1985:110) A Study of Chinese EFL Learners’ Reading Strategies. M.A thesis Su Zhou University.
11 Lương Văn Thùy Công phá đề thi THPT QG Tiếng Anh NXB Đại Học Quốc Gia Hà Nội năm 2019_2020
12 Nghiêm Thị Bích Dịu 5 Đề thi thử THPT QG Faculty of LanguageEducation ULIS-VNU năm 2018- 2019
Exercise 1 Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
Visitors to London are struck by the proud splendor and glamour of one of the world's oldest capitals, admiring iconic sites like Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster and Buckingham Palace However, visitors seeking a glimpse into the city's everyday life should not miss Portobello Market, which is the most-visited market in London.
This vibrant market has been featured in a number of films, documentaries and bestselling books, the most famous being the film ''Notting Hill'' starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, which brought Portobello Market to the attention of audiences all over the world.
Portobello Market is divided into different sections selling second-hand items, clothing, jewellery, souvenirs and vegetables The most sought-after area is devoted to antiques Visitors may feel overwhelmed as there are over 1,000 booths manned by antique dealers from throughout England It's a great fun to browse through antique cameras, watches, pottery and paintings that date back 300 years. They are sold at different prices, so it's possible to find a few good bargains It seems that both buyers and sellers look forward to the weekends when they can meet and escape the city's fast pace at Portobello Market.
When tired from exploring the market, visitors can drop into the nearby food courts to savour an Indian curry, Italian pizza or sandwiches from Europe It's a great pleasure to drink a cappuccino while listening to street performers These represent the lively fun of Portobello Market, offering exciting experiences that keep people coming back.
(Adapted from ''Heritage'' - Vietnam Airlines in-flight magazine)
Question 1 What is the passage mainly about?
A The film ''Notting Hill'' B The city of London
Question 2 According to the passage, Portobello Market has been featured in all of the following EXCEPT
A films B documentaries C books D songs Question 3 The word ''they'' in paragraph 3 refers to
Question 4 Visitors to the antique area may feel overwhelmed because _
A they can meet all sorts of people from England
B all the antiques are sold at the same price
C there are a large number of antique shops there
D all the antiques are more than 300 years old
Question 5 The word ''savour'' in paragraph 4 mostly means
Exercise 2 Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions
Most people think that lions only come from Africa This is understandable because in fact most lions do come from there but this has not always been the case If we went back ten thousand years we would find that there were lions roaming vast sections of the globe However no, unfortunately only a very small section of the lion‘s former habitat remains.
Asiatic lions are sub-species of African lions It is almost a hundred thousand years since the Asiatic lions split off and developed as a sub-species At one time the Asiatic lion was living as far west as Greece and they were found from there, but in a band that spreads east through various countries of the Middle East, all the way to IndiA In museums now, you can see Greek coins that have clear images of the Asiatic lion on them Most of them are dated at around 500 B.C However, Europe saw its last Asiatic lions roaming free to thousand years ago Over the next nineteen hundred years the numbers of Asiatic lions in the other areas declined steadily, but it was only in the nineteenth century that they disappeared from everywhere but in India.
The Gir Wildlife Sanctuary in India was established especially to protect the Asiatic lion There are now around three hundred Asiatic lions in India and almost all of them are in this sanctuary However, despite living in a sanctuary, which makes them safe from hunters, they still face a number of problems that threaten their survival One of these is the ever-present danger of disease This is what killed more than a third of Africa‘s Serengeti lions in 1994, and people are fearful that something similar could happen in the Gir Sanctuary and kill off many of the Asiatic lions there.
India‘s lions are particular vulnerable because they have a limited gene pool The reason for this is interesting – it is because all of them are descended from a few dozen lions that were saved by a prince who took a particular interest in them He was very healthy, and he managed to protect them otherwise they would probably have died out completely.
When you see the Asiatic lion in India, what you sense is enormous vitality. They are very impressive animals and you would never guess that they this vulnerability when you look at them.
Question 6 According to the passage, ten thousand years ago………
A lions did not live in small forests
B lions came mainly from Africa
C lions roamed much more than nowadays
D there were much more lion habitats than nowadays
Question 7 The phrase “split off” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to …
C developed into different species D changed the original species
Question 8 The word “vulnerable” in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to
A weak B careless C cautious D easily protected Question 9 The Asiatic lion ………
A was looking for food mainly in the Middle East
B was searching for food in a wide range of countries
C was searching for food mainly in India and Africa
D was looking for food mainly in India
Question 10 The author refers to all of the following as characteristics of the Asiatic lion EXCEPT that……
Exercise 1 Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
Telecommuting is some form of computer communication between employees’ homes and offices For employees whose job involve sitting at a terminal or word processor entering data or typing reports, the location of the computer is of no consequence If the machine can communicate over telephone lines, when the work is completed, employees can dial the office computer and transmit the material to their employers A recent survey in USA Today estimates that there are approximately 8,7 million telecommuters But although the numbers are rising annually, the trend does not appear to be as significant as predicted when Business Week published “The Portable Executive” as its cover story a few years ago Why hasn’t telecommuting become more popular?
Clearly, change simply takes time But in addition, there has been active resistance on the part of many managers These executives claim that supervising the telecommuters in a large work force scattered across the country would be too difficult, or, at least, systems for managing them are not yet developed, thereby complicating the manager’s responsibilities.
It is also true that employees who are given the option of telecommuting are reluctant to accept the opportunity Most people feel that they need regular interaction with a group, and many are concerned that they will not have the same consideration for advancement if they are not more visible in the office setting. Some people feel that even when a space in their homes is set aside as a work area, they never really get away from the office.
Question 1 With which of the following topics is the passage primarily concerned?
A The advantages of telecommuting B A definition of telecommuting.
C An overview of telecommuting D The failure of telecommuting.
Question 2 The phrase “of no consequence” means _.
A of no use B of no good C unimportant D irrelevant
Question 3 The author mentions all of the following as concerns of telecommuting, EXCEPT _.
A the opportunities for advancement B the different system of supervision.
C the lack of interaction with a group D The work place is in the home.
Question 4 The reason why telecommuting has not become popular is that the employees _.
A need regular interaction with their families.
B are worried about the promotion if they are not seen at the office.
C feel that a work area in their home is away from the office.
Question 5 When Business Week published “The Portable Executive”, it implied that _.
A systems for managing telecommuters were not effective.
B there was resistance on the part of many managers about telecommuting.
C the trend for telecommuting was optimistic.
D most telecommuters were satisfied with their work.
Exercise 2 Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions.
Of all modern instruments, the violin is apparently one of the simplest It consist in essence of a hollow, varnished wooden sound box, or resonator, and a long neck covered with a fingerboard, along which four strings are stretched at high tension The beauty of design, shape, and decoration is no accident, the proportions of the instrument are determined entirely by acoustical considerations. Its simplicity of appearance is deceptive About 70 parts are involved in the construction of a violin Its tone and its outstanding range of expressiveness make it an ideal solo instrument No less important, however, is its role as an orchestral and chamber instrument In I combination with the larger and deeper-sounding members of the same family, the violins form the nucleus of the modem symphony orchestra.
The violin has been in existence since about 1550 Its importance as an instrument in its own right dates from the early 1600’s, when it first became standard in Italian opera orchestras Its stature as an orchestral instrument was raised further when in 1626 Louis XIII of France established at his court the orchestra known as Les vinq-quatre violons du Roy (The King's 24 Violins), which was to become widely famous later in the century.