Using interactive fiction in extensive reading action research for english major freshmen at a university in central vietnam

HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DOAN NGOC AI THU USING INTERACTIVE FICTION IN EXTENSIVE READING: ACTION RESEARCH FOR ENGLISH-MAJOR FRESHMEN AT A UNIVERSITY IN CENTRAL VIETNAM MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts, University of Foreign Languages, Hue University THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 HUE UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES DOAN NGOC AI THU USING INTERACTIVE FICTION IN EXTENSIVE READING: ACTION RESEARCH FOR ENGLISH-MAJOR FRESHMEN AT A UNIVERSITY IN CENTRAL VIETNAM MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 8140111 SUPERVISOR: DR PHAN QUYNH NHU THUA THIEN HUE, 2021 ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ ĐOÀN NGỌC ÁI THƢ NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG SÁCH TƢƠNG TÁC (INTERACTIVE FICTION) TRONG HOẠT ĐỘNG ĐỌC MỞ RỘNG DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI MỘT TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở VIỆT NAM LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƢƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 8140111 NGƢỜI HƢỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS PHAN QUỲNH NHƢ THỪA THIÊN HUẾ, 2021 STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a degree in any university I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, my thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself Signed: Date: / / i ABSTRACT This research aimed to explore the attitude of Vietnamese English-major freshmen towards the use of interactive fiction (IF) in extensive reading, as well as to examine the students‘ perception on the IF impacts on their reading skills Action research was adopted as the research method, with the population of 40 freshmen of English major at a university in central Vietnam and the researcher acting as the teacher delivering the reading lessons using IF for one course of 15 weeks The research instruments consisted of the teacher‘s journals and three questionnaires for the students Data collected were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively with the use of SPSS, version 18 and thematic content analysis The findings revealed that most of the student participants engaged in the study had a positive attitude towards the use of IF in extensive reading Evidence accumulated through this study indicated that IF could boost students‘ motivation to read in English outside their reading classes Furthermore, a vast majority of the students held the perception that IF including illustrations, sounds, and manipulation, matched with their diverse learning styles better They strongly believed that reading IF brought about benefits to not only their linguistic knowledge, reading skills but also their reading strategies and critical thinking skills The findings represented an important implication for teaching aspects in a sense that IF can be integrated into specific areas of language teaching (e.g grammar, vocabulary) Also, regarding learning aspects, it is suggested that IF can help enhance students‘ self-studying skills and study habits i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Phan Quynh Nhu, my supervisor, for her patient guidance, enthusiastic encouragement and useful critiques at every stage of the development of this study Secondly, I wish to thank Assoc.Prof Dr Truong Vien for his advice and ideas to this thesis I would also like to express my sincere thanks to all of the college librarians for their enthusiasm Also, I am indebted to 40 first year students from Reading 2-Group 11 at Hue University of Foreign Languages for giving me the chance to my research conveniently and providing me with the most favorable conditions to collect the needed data My grateful thanks are also extended to my beloved friends Daniel, Hoang Nguyen, Phuong Huyen, Thien Trang, Phuong Nam, Harvey, and Hoang Anh and colleagues from my M.A class Hanh An, Nha Quan, Thao Trinh, and Vu Khanh whose assistance keeps my progress on schedule and give me so much motivation to finish my work Finally and always, my heartfelt thanks go to my family, especially my mother, for always supporting me to pursue my goals I would also like to thank my dearest niece Anh Minh-Kitty for showing me how to be patient My family’s encouragement is indispensable for the fulfillment of my thesis ii List of Tables Table 3.1 Demographic information of student participants Table 3.2 Description of Questionnaire Table 3.3 Description of Reliability Statistics of Questionnaire Table 3.4 Procedure of the research Table 4.1 Students‘ attitudes towards the learning activities with IF Table 4.2 Students‘ attitudes towards the IF used in the reading class Table 4.3 The changes of the classroom situation before and after research implementation Table 4.4 Students‘ attitudes towards the IF used as extensive reading material Table 4.5 Perceived impacts of IF readings on students‘ reading abilities iii List of Figures Figure 2.1 A CYOA book Figure 2.2 A map illustrating how interactive fiction storylines work Figure 3.1 An illustration of the action research model Figure 4.1 Students‘ motivation on the reading activities before action research Figure 4.2 Students' time spent on reading in English after school per week before the research implementation Figure 4.3 Students' time spent on reading in English after school per week after the research implementation Figure 4.4 Students‘ self-perceived benefits Figure 4.5 Students‘ self-perceived obstacles iv List of Abbreviations Abbreviation Meaning CEFR The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages EFL English as Foreign Language ESL English as a Second Language ER Extensive Reading HUFL Hue University of Foreign Languages IF Interactive Fiction L2 Second language/ Target language v Table of Contents STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP i ABSTRACT i List of Tables iii List of Figures iv List of Abbreviations v Chapter Introduction 1.1 Contextual Background 1.2 Rationale 1.3 Aims of the study .6 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Organization of the study Chapter Literature Review 2.1 Reading approaches: Intensive reading and Extensive reading .9 2.2 Extensive Reading 11 2.2.1 Definition of Extensive Reading 11 2.2.2 Characteristics of Extensive Reading 13 2.2.3 The Benefits of Extensive Reading 15 2.3 Interactive Fiction 17 2.3.1 Definition 17 2.3.2 Interactive Fiction in Language Learning 18 2.3.3 Choose Your Own Adventures and Interactive Fiction Database 20 2.4 Motivation 23 2.4.1 Types of Motivation 23 vi Tôi thử đọc nhiều loại IF lên lớp sau 21 kết thúc khóa học Việc sử dụng IF tài liệu đọc mở rộng khuyến 22 khích tơi trì thói quen đọc tiếng Anh IF phù hợp nên sử dụng tài liệu đọc thêm 23 lớp tài liệu học lớp học Tơi dễ dàng tìm nguồn IF phù hợp trình độ 24 tiếng Anh 25 IF phù hợp với phong cách học tơi* IF có kèm hình ảnh, âm yêu cầu cần thao tác (lật chọn trang sách, click/gõ chọn định), * Các loại phong cách học: Visual learners: Những người có khuynh hướng hình ảnh thích học qua việc quan sát hình ảnh Auditory learners: Những người có khuynh hướng âm thường thích truyền tải kiến thức thơng qua nói nghe thường làm cơng việc tốt sau nghe hướng dẫn từ chuyên gia Kinesthetic learners: Những người có khuynh hướng thích hoạt động: Sờ, cảm giác, cầm, nắm, di chuyển hoạt động động khác 26 Sau làm quen với IF, bạn dành thời gian để đọc tiếng Anh tuần? a 0h b ½h - 1h c 1h - 2h d 2h - 3h e > 3h 27 Tại IF thúc đẩy, khơng thúc đẩy bạn trì thói quen đọc tiếng Anh?(Xin giải thích rõ) _ _ 28 Sau đọc IF tài liệu đọc mở rộng lớp học, bạn nghĩ kỹ đọc bạn tiến theo khía cạnh đây? Bạn vui lịng đọc kỹ câu phát biểu bên chọn () cột phù hợp 1= không, = ít, IF giúp tơi tiến về: 3= trung bình, (1) (2) 4= nhiều, (3) (4) 5= nhiều (5) a Tốc độ đọc b Kỹ đọc lấy thông tin chung (Read for general information) c Kỹ đọc kỹ lấy thông tin cụ thể (Scan for specific information) d Kỹ đọc chi tiết 98 (Read for details) e Kỹ đọc hiểu toàn diện (Overall reading comprehension) f Vốn từ vựng 29 Bạn vui lòng cho biết thêm lợi ích khác bạn có từ trải nghiệm đọc IF suốt khóa học Đọc vừa qua (Bạn nhận xét về: hướng dẫn giảng viên, lượng từ vựng nhóm từ, nguồn tài liệu, chiến lược đọc, hiểu biết văn hóa, niềm vui đọc, phát triển kỹ đọc, ngữ pháp/cấu trúc câu, tiếng Anh ngày, … ) _ _ _ 30 Bạn vui lòng cho biết thêm khó khăn bạn gặp phải hoạt động đọc có liên quan đến IF (ở lớp Đọc/ngồi lớp) (Bạn nhận xét về: hướng dẫn giảng viên, lượng từ vựng nhóm từ; nguồn tài liệu, ngữ pháp/cấu trúc câu, thiếu hiểu biết văn hóa, thiếu hứng thú đọc, thiếu kỹ đọc/chiến lược đọc,….) _ _ _ CẢM ƠN BẠN VÌ ĐÃ DÀNH THỜI GIAN TRẢ LỜI BẢN HỎI NÀY! 99 APPENDIX E TEACHING JOURNAL Date: Lesson: Total number of  from the Motivation self-report: Which students stood out today? Who captured my attention? Why? What worked really well today? What did not work or could have been more effective? What was missing or needed? What is important for me to in the next lesson? Anything else? 100 APPENDIX F Reading Log Interactive fiction Reading Log Name: Please hand this in every week! Class: Week Name of the book/story How many endings did you reach? Any comments? 104 APPENDIX G STORY MAP OUTLINE Name: _ Date: _ Title of story Author of story Numbers of endings you reached _ Setting (Where? When?) Characters (Who?) Problem (What is the problem?) Solution (How is the main problem solved?) 105 STORY MAP Name: _ Date: _ Title of story Author of story This story takes place _ _ _is a character in the story who _ A problem occurs when _ _ After that _ _ Next, _ _ _ The problem is solved when _ _ _ The story ends when _ _ 106 APPENDIX H Book report form Name: _ Date: _ Student #: Class: Book name: _ Author: _ Genre: This story was: Too easy Just at the right level Too difficult Please explain where and when the story takes place: Who are the main characters? (There may be more than one.) Who is your favorite character? Why? Please describe your favorite scene in the story (2 to sentences): On which page(s) does this occur? Book evaluation: This book was very good This was a good book It was so-so It wasn’t very good Your personal opinion: I thought it was very interesting It was interesting I have no opinion I thought it wasn’t very interesting Please write some comments about this book For example, did you like it, did you dislike it, and why you think so (2 to sentences): 107 APPENDIX I Changes in Students’ motivation during the action research Question: Do you like the lesson today? -Answer:  for “Absolutely yes” and “Yes”,  for “No idea”, and  for “Nope” and “Hell no” Code I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 I6 I7 I8 I9 I10 I11 I12 I13 I14 I15 I16 I17 I18 I19 I20 Student Informant Informant Informant Informant Informant Informant Informant Informant Informant Informant 10 Informant 11 Informant 12 Informant 13 Informant 14 Informant 15 Informant 16 Informant 17 Informant 18 Informant 19 Informant 20 Week                     Week                     Week                     Week                     Week                     Week                     Week                     Week 10                     108 Code Student I21 Informant 21 I22 Informant 22 I23 Informant 23 I24 Informant 24 I25 Informant 25 I26 Informant 26 I27 Informant 27 I28 Informant 28 I29 Informant 29 I30 Informant 30 I31 Informant 31 I32 Informant 32 I33 Informant 33 I34 Informant 34 I35 Informant 35 I36 Informant 36 I37 Informant 37 I38 Informant 38 I39 Informant 39 I40 Informant 40 Total number of  Percentage Week                     33/40 82.5% Week                     22/40 55% Week                     22/40 55% Week                     28/40 70% Week                     38/40 95% Week                     37/40 92.5% Week                     31/40 77.5% Week 10                     22/40 55% 109 APPENDIX J SAMPLE OF STUDENT’S MOTIVATION REPORT FORM 110 APPENDIX K SAMPLE OF STUDENT’S STORY MAP OUTLINE 111 APPENDIX L SAMPLE OF STUDENT’S STORY MAP 112 APPENDIX M SAMPLE OF STUDENT’S READING LOG 113 APPENDIX N SAMPLE OF STUDENT’S BOOK REPORT FORM 114 115