However, reading especially the post- reading stage in Vietnamesehigh schools still cannot be conducted successfully due to many reasons.Noticing the previous reasons, the study on” cond
Phạm Hằng Nga Graduation paper CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale English which has been used all over the world as the international language; therefore, acquiring the ability to master English is considered important by a number of non-native speakers The first reason that urges people to study English is the fact that English provides them the accesses to the world English has helped people from different countries with different mother tongues to communicate with each others; as a result, the understanding, the closer relationship and cooperation between them are increased Particularly now when Vietnam has officially become a member of WTO, English is a significant tool to connect Vietnamese to other people from all over the world Moreover, because of the applications of English in various aspects, studying English is one of the best ways to approach the knowledge and update information It is widely used to transmit information not only in the hard forms such as books, newspapers but also soft forms on the Internet data Vietnamese government also recognizes the importance of English so English has been one of the compulsory subjects In addition, among the requirements for many occupations, English is said to be needed; therefore, it is necessary for non native speakers especially Vietnamese to mater English It takes a great amount of time and effort to be skillful at studying a language in general as well as English because there are many things that need to be paid attention to Reading is regarded as one of the most important skills that non native speakers need to obtain because it plays important roles in the learning process In many people’s points of view, Phạm Hằng Nga Graduation paper reading is an useful way to broaden one’s knowledge Reading provides information in various ranges from science to entertainment Furthermore, through English, language competences can also be improved especially the vocabulary, grammar, structures and expressions especially in the real contexts built by the native speakers According to a large number of educators’ opinions, reading is advised to be taught in three stages: pre-reading, while-reading and postreading Each of these stages is thought to be closely related and very important to help learners develop language competences After the first two stages, post- reading is conducted to help the students to reflect the knowledge of the reading texts Through this stage, the teacher can also evaluate the result and the student’s comprehensions Other activities can also be performed based on the content of the text, the topic and the students’ interest Moreover, in the current situation when the new textbook have just been introduced and applied to high schools in Vietnam some recent years in which the materials are suggested to be taught in three stages like the standard method, it is essential to carry out this stage However, reading especially the post- reading stage in Vietnamese high schools still cannot be conducted successfully due to many reasons Noticing the previous reasons, the study on” conducting effective postreading stage to eleventh form students at high schools in Hanoi” is carried out with the expectation to help both students and teachers to have effective reading lessons 1.2 Objectives of the study This research paper is conducted with the biggest purpose is helping learners and teachers to achieve successful English classes However, due to Phạm Hằng Nga Graduation paper the limitation of time and ability, the study mainly concentrates post reading with the aims to: Obtain information about the applications of post- reading techniques in high schools at eleventh form in Hanoi Analyze the post- reading techniques currently used while teaching reading to eleven form students in Hanoi Suggest some useful techniques to conduct effective post- reading stage while teaching reading to eleventh form students at high schools in Hanoi 1.3 Methodology The data that are used in this research paper is collected mainly from survey questionnaire With the survey questionnaire, the attitudes teachers’ and students to post-reading and the techniques can be shown Besides, the application as well as the attitudes can be revealed Based on the analysis of these data and the findings from other related studies, the suggestions to apply techniques are introduced 1.4 Scope of the study An effective reading lesson depends on three stages which are closely related to each other However, within the limitation of a graduate paper, this research mainly focuses on the post-reading techniques and the useful techniques for it Besides, the focus of this study is students at 11 th grade in high schools in Hanoi and their English teachers Phạm Hằng Nga Graduation paper 1.5 Significance of the study The first significance of this study is to raise the awareness of the importance and the real situation of teaching reading especially the post reading Besides that, the students can also raise the interest in the post reading With the suggested techniques, they can obtain some effective ways to study English As for the teachers, they can recognize the problems in teaching post reading Based on the suggestions, they can perform a more effective post- reading As a result, the teaching quality can be improved in general 1.6 Design of the study This research paper consists of five chapters The first chapter is the introduction This chapter provides the readers with general information about the study including the rationale, objectives, methodology of conducting the paper, scope, significance and time frame The second chapter is called literature review In this chapter, the theory and the information related to the topic are displayed as the background for this research paper It covers the knowledge about reading comprehension, classification of reading, the process of reading and teacher’s and learners’ roles in the post- reading stage The next chapter deals with the collection and analysis of the data from the survey and class observation of 11 th high school students in Hanoi The results and the implications of them are also presented in this chapter According to the information in the previous chapter, chapter four introduces the techniques that can be used to conduct successful postreading stage for students at grade eleventh in high school in Hanoi The Phạm Hằng Nga Graduation paper advantages and disadvantages of these techniques are also discussed so that the teachers as well as the students can make best use of them The final chapter is conclusion which summary all the content of the whole research paper The recommendation for improvement is also included in this chapter 1.7 Time frame From September 10th to October 6th, after permission to carry out the graduate paper from English Department and permission for the support of the supervisor are accepted, the topic, and the method of the study are completed with the suggestions from the supervisor Within the period from October 7th to 31st, a specific title for the research paper is obtained The detailed outline is written within a month after that From December to May is the most important period when the whole paper is conducted By th, May, the graduation will have been completed and submitted Phạm Hằng Nga Graduation paper CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 What is reading? Reading is the action taken in every day life It is considered an important skill for foreign language learners While usually conducting it, many people will get confused when being asked to define reading This is because it is quite complicated to give a complete definition An enormous number of people have been looking for the answers for this The definition given by Manthony (1974, p 92) is: Reading is an active, interactive, productive and cognitive It involves an active search for information and interactive with the text, it requires the constant constructive involvement of the reader in what he is doing; and it demands the use of high order mental abilities It can be referred that reading can be performed actively In reading the reader have a great number of interactions with the text and from that he or she can gain some information or knowledge However, to understand the text correctly and easily, the reader may have to depend on the background knowledge about the matter concerned with in the text Harmer (1989, p 153) acknowledges reading as a process in which the eyes and the brain cooperate in continuous actions including receiving the message and working out the significance of the message He also added the role of controlling the speed of the action of the reader:” a reading text moves at a speed of the reader” On the other hands, a very interesting definition was conducted by Smith (1985, p 102)in which he says: ”Reading is understanding the Phạm Hằng Nga author’s thought” Graduation paper and “understanding print or even receiving communication can hardly be said to explain reading” “It means that wethe reader- read the author mind not the author’s words The reader tries to figure out not only the things expressed by the written word in the text but also the ideas that the writers imply With the purpose to obtain the nature of reading, there must be the interaction between the writer and the reader So while reading, in order not to have the wrong interpretation of what the writer really wants to express through the text, it is necessary for the reader to put the message in the right context and in the connection with other words around A number of definitions of reading have been given Although, it is impossible for these definitions to cover all characteristics of the reading process, an amount of necessary information which is necessary for the general understanding has been obtained 2.2 What is reading comprehension? With the purpose of conducting effective reading lessons, it is not only important for both teacher and students to have a general definition of reading but it is also necessary for them to understand what reading comprehension is, one of the main processes in the English learning classroom Reading comprehension is said to be the ability of getting the required information from the text in a precise and effective way with the amount of misinterpretation as inconsiderable as possible In order to understand the text thoroughly, it is advisable for the readers to pay attention to the background knowledge and the context of the reading passage Phạm Hằng Nga Graduation paper Swan (175, p 1) expresses: If we say that a student is good at comprehension we mean that he can read accurately and efficiently, so as to get the maximum information from a text with the minimum of understanding We may also mean (tough it is not quite the same) that he is able to show his understanding by reexpressing the content of the text, for instance, or paragraph in answering to question, or summarizing the text An effective description of reading comprehension is thought to be an understanding between writer and reader which concentrates on the reader’s capacity to understand the text Each person’s exclusive background knowledge also has great influence on this process Reading cannot just be considered as knowing how to pronounce the alphabet characters It is also more complicated than simply acknowledge the author’s intentions Reading comprehension is the process provoking the ideas, experiences and responses which are various from individual to individual (Richard & Thomas, 1987, p 9) Grellet (1981, p 3) also points out that:” Reading comprehension or understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as effectively as possible” The importance of reading comprehension is emphasized more when it is said that:” reading without comprehension is the meaningless” (Karlin & Kartin, 1982, p 2) Understanding is considered crucial for the reading process; therefore, in teaching reading, it is important that the teacher can students can acknowledge thoroughly this matter so that they can provide proper application during the reading lessons Phạm Hằng Nga Graduation paper It can be concluded that through the reading comprehension process, the readers can guess the meanings and the implied messages which are expressed by the printed text In addition, mastering the language competence such as the vocabulary, grammatical structures is another purpose of this process which requires a great amount of time and effort 2.3 The importance of reading comprehension in learning a foreign language: Reading is one of the four basic skills that are taught in the English learning language classroom; as a result, it can be referred that the importance of reading especially reading comprehension is definitely undeniable The first role of reading comprehension is the matter that it provides readers enormous sources of knowledge which are necessary for other skills A huge amount of information about every aspect of life can be obtained through the reading process; therefore, the readers’ background can be developed The students can possess large sources of materials which can be used when they are performing writing, speaking and listening skills They will encounter less difficulty because they get familiar and confident with the topic which is being mentioned Reading not only provides the readers with materials but it also supplies language competence for the students The readers are supplied with vocabulary, grammatical structures and expressions They can learn directly from the reading text the ways to express the ideas naturally like the native speakers In other words, reading provides effective models for the language learners to follow Particularly, when learning reading, the learners can also study the native culture, Phạm Hằng Nga Graduation paper customs and traditions hence, cultural shock which is a serious problem for foreign language learners is avoidable Specific information about the importance of reading is discussed more by Bright & Gregor (1970, p 52) First, through reading, the students are provided with the real circumstances of the learning process The little the reading is, the little the language learning will be It is undeniable that within several first years, the English learning students have to conduct the reading automatically and actively if they cannot have the opportunity to study in the native speaking environment It is also vital for them to perform the replacement between imaginary and practical experience Second, reading has strong effects on other skills in particular and English study in general The amount of reading affects the further education Speedy, effective and imaginary reading is supposed to be the requirement of all significant skills Third, reading skill also influences the general knowledge It is said that reading is the solution to the lack of background information or the cultural shock problem Enhancing the quantity of reading will develop the students’ receptive knowledge in many parts In addition, the number of books that they can understand also increases As Byrne (1988, p 46) believes, reading is definitely beneficial for English learners because it provides them a skill which they can totally perform independently For instance, it is a permanent technique that opens the access to employment Due to the above reasons, it is necessary for reading comprehension to be taught at schools It is also suggested that the both the teacher and