Trang 1 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES HA THI HAI HUYEN APPLYING THE FLIPPED CLASSROOM MODEL TO IMPROVE ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS OF THE 12TH GRADE STUDENT
INTRODUCTION
Rationale of the study
The year 2020, the world marks the profound impact of the epidemic when COVID-19 is complicated globally The epidemic has affected all aspects of social life, including educational activities in schools, so the schools were temporarily closed In Vietnam, following the direction of the Ministry of Education and Training, with the view that students do not go to school but do not stop learning, schools have conducted online teaching for students
In the context of the strong 4th technology revolution, teaching combined with the use of information technology to promote learning outside the classroom is an increasingly popular trend, in education around the world, especially at the high school level Based on that, they have given forms such as reading and summarizing material about new lessons, answering questions, or completing worksheets to check learners' understanding This method has developed a model of a “flipped classroom” which is applied in teaching different subjects, especially in English at the high school level
In such a situation, Yen Hung High School is one of the high schools that have organized online teaching However, organizing online teaching for students also faces many difficulties One of the challenges is how teachers can organize online teaching effectively and attract students In the course of teaching English, the researcher noticed that students at Yen Hung high school always encounter difficulties related to all four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, especially with reading skills, and students can’t achieve high marks when doing reading comprehension tests Current teaching and learning English at Yen Hung high school has not yet made progress and revealed many limitations although the teachers have applied new teaching methods when dealing with reading comprehension tests, and used modern techniques such as projectors, and active boards
Reading is considered one of the most important language skills Through reading, students can develop their other language skills such as writing and speaking besides improving their language components, for instance, vocabulary and grammar Nunan (1991, p 82) has argued that “there is a constant interplay between listening, speaking, reading, and writing, besides that it is clear that in a lesson ostensibly labeled ‘reading’, opportunities exist for the language learners to develop the other language skills” Therefore, to encourage and advance the student’s ability in reading, teachers have to teach reading integrated with other language skills
Reading is not a favorite subject for some students It can be seen from the way they behave when given a passage to read Generally, in many schools, the teachers just ask the students to read and translate the passage As a result, the teachers have to spend a lot of time encouraging them to become interested in reading Reading comprehension is very important in all areas of learning including in acquiring a language Students need to read books, articles, and other materials to master any subject areas that they learn, and they need to have good reading comprehension to do so whether it is in their first or their second language If students cannot comprehend their reading materials well, they will not be able to achieve high achievements (Iwai, 2011) Therefore, students need to master reading comprehension
Moreover, the teaching of reading comprehension is one of the methods used to help students to answer questions related to finding the main idea of a text, getting specific information, comprehending the reading passage, understanding the vocabulary, references, inferences, and so forth
It appears that the techniques and strategies now used by teachers for teaching reading comprehension are not very effective to enable students to become competent readers The teachers usually teach reading by asking the students to read the text orally and to find the meaning of any unfamiliar words from a dictionary and afterward they are asked to answer questions based on the text they have just read to measure their comprehension Moreover, the students often do not have enough time to practice reading, because the Curriculum only provides them with
45 minutes in one session for each subject, including English Consequently, not all students have time to grasp the language
The question now arises as to how to find the best way to improve the reading comprehension skill of the 12th-grade students at Yen Hung high school, Quang Ninh Province, hence this study.
Aims of the study
The main objective of this research is based on the statement of the problem which is written to find out whether the flipped classroom model gives positive effects on students’ reading comprehension skills at Yen Hung high school, Quang Ninh Province in the academic year 2021-2022 This study tried to achieve the following aims: The first aim is to investigate students’ changes in their perceptions of the flipped classroom and the second aim is to improve the reading comprehension skill of the 12th-grade students at Yen Hung high school, Quang Ninh province
With the above-mentioned aims, the study tried to answer the following research questions:
1 What are the students’ changes in their perceptions of the flipped classroom?
2 To what extent does the implementation of the flipped classroom improve students’ English reading comprehension skills?
Significance of the study
The result of this research should provide literature and information on the implementation of using flipped classroom model towards student learning success in the reading class Hence, the model was seen as an important factor in determining the success or failure of learning Then, this information is also useful for other researchers who want to investigate the same model in different ways in the future
1.3.2 Practical aspect a For the students as the subject of the research, they can be conscious of their learning styles and pay more attention to them in controlling their learning achievement, especially in reading comprehension in any environment or situation b For the teachers, the researcher hopes that it can be used as one way to develop learning methods such as the flipped classroom model in teaching reading in dealing with this pandemic c For the readers, it may offer perspectives on how the flipped classroom model may affect students’ reading comprehension skills.
Scope of study
The researcher intended to start with an overview of the current situation of students’ learning English reading comprehension skills, then analyzed the effects of the flipped classroom model on students’ reading and made some recommendations on the effective use of it to motivate students to practice reading English more As an action research project, the study was conducted with the researcher’s students in her class with the participation of 31 students of class 12A1 They were chosen because it was assumed that the 12th-grade students had to prepare a lot of knowledge and skills to take the graduation exam in July 2022.
Organization of the thesis
The graduation thesis consists of five chapters, organized as follows:
Chapter I Introduction This chapter mentions the background and rationale to conduct the study and states the aims, significance, scope, and organization of the graduation thesis
Chapter II Literature Review Overview of the literature including relevant theoretical background and reviews of related studies concerning the flipped classroom and teaching reading comprehension skills
Chapter III Methodology This chapter states the subjects of the study, research instruments, data collection, procedures of data collection, and data analysis
Chapter IV Findings and Discussions This chapter analyzes and discusses the results collected from the survey questionnaire and tests
Chapter V Conclusions and Recommendations This chapter summarizes the main points discussed in the previous parts, presents the limitations of the thesis, and provides some suggestions for further research.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Review of Related Theories
2.1.1 Reading Comprehension and Reading Comprehension Skills
Reading comprehension is a complex interaction among automatic and strategic cognitive processes that enables the reader to create a mental representation of the text Reading comprehension is defined as the level of understanding of a text Reading comprehension is the process of understanding written text or information presented by the author and is affected by many factors These are factors within the readers, factors within the written message, and factors within the reading environment, Francisco (2019) In addition, reading comprehension practices influence academic performance and therefore there is a significant correlation between reading comprehension practices and academic performance
The improving number of international communication skills, traveling and studying in abroad, students need to learn four skills listening, speaking, reading, and writing for their success But reading comprehension is one of the main important elements for their English language learning Research shows that reading comprehension is a complex process and students usually have difficulties in constructing meaning from writing text (Grabe & Stoller, 2019) The general study suggests that those who start to learn the English language are most likely to have serious difficulties in constructing meaning and understanding the texts This difficulty has been focused on by investigators for a long time and in recent years, they suggested that the metacognitive reading strategy is an effective factor that fosters reading comprehension among readers (Salataki & Akyel, 2002)
Comprehension of the text is the main goal of the readers Puskorius (2011) stated that comprehension in reading is the understanding that one acquires from the text It is the process in which meaning is constructed and is a main goal of reading instruction for students According to Syatriana (2011), reading comprehension means understanding what has been read It is an active thinking process that depends not only on comprehension skills but also on students' experience, and prior knowledge comprehension involves understanding the vocabulary seeing the relationship among words and concepts, organizing ideas, recognizing the author’s making judgments, and evaluating Along the same line, reading comprehension is defined by Badr El Deen (2011) as the ability to communicate a text leading to an integrated process that involves decoding vocabulary and sentences, employing prior knowledge relevant to the text, and using cognitive and meta-cognitive strategies to make sense and to get the target message the author wants to convey While many middle school, high school, and college students – and even adults - have learned to read, some will struggle with reading for meaning; and, as with learning to read, these students need explicit strategies to use during the process of reading to support them with gaining, using and remembering information from their texts Strong readers use strategies that work for them and can identify which strategy to use for different types of texts Those struggling with reading can improve their reading comprehension skills by being taught strategies, as well as when and how to use them with different types of texts
Effective reading comprehension requires not only accurate reading skills but also automatic and fluent reading ability Many struggling university-level students have difficulty moving to a level of automaticity and fluency that allows them to comprehend what they are reading The principle of reading comprehension is the cognitive tasks involved in reading as well as the various activities teachers use in teaching reading comprehension (Roeble & Shiue 2013)
Reading comprehension is the ability to understand a reading well and can summarize it Reading comprehension skills are the students’ ability to conclude and understand the content and main ideas for reading correctly The goals of reading for the student are to 1) determine the main idea, sentence, paragraph, or discourse; 2) determine core points; 3) understand the flow and instructions; 4) determine the organization of reading materials; 5) determine visual images and other images of reading; 6) conclude; 7) predict meaning and conclusion; 8) summarizing the discourse read; 9) distinguish between facts and opinions, and 10) get information from various sources, such as encyclopedias, atlases, maps, or digital annotation tools (Azmuddin et al., 2020)
To get students' reading comprehension skills, the instructor can provide a reading comprehension test This test is a test of the ability to read information submitted by other parties through written means The reading skill test aims to measure students' ability to understand the content or information read in the reading Therefore, the discourse test must contain information that demands student comprehension (Irwansyah & Nurgiyantoro, 2019) Another reading ability test is students' understanding of the information they get with the intelligence to remember and evaluate (Febrina et al., 2019)
Reading intelligence test results call for students' ability to analyze specific information in an essay they read They observe, identify, and differentiate messages and opinions, and so on A cognitive activity required in this task is more than just understanding the discourse content Another required reading comprehension is a more critical understanding and detail to determine a more specific section from an essay This reading ability test can relate to and generalize discourse concepts through synthesis skills These skills are to generate new communications, predict, and solve problems comprising synthetic-level cognitive activities These are high-level and complex activities (Lazarus, 2020; Salem,
2.1.2 Reading Types and Reading Purposes
Reading types and purposes are closely linked to comprehension Each personality type will select what they want to accomplish during or after reading According to Clarke & Silberstein (1977), they are:
1 Skimming: to get the author's overall idea;
2 Scanning: to get a specific fact or piece of information;
3 Intensive or thorough reading: to get a comprehensive understanding of a reading text, in this case, reading for detail;
4 Critical reading: to evaluate information to see where it fits into one's system of belief
These types of reading are also known as reading strategies, and they are used to gather information and determine the best ways to do a reading assignment While several types of reading are identified by Brown (2004):
1 Perceptive Reading: Letters, sentences, punctuation, and other graphemic symbols are all components of broader stretches of discourse in perceptive reading tasks Processing from the bottom up is inferred
2 Selective Reading: The evaluation procedures utilized are largely to blame for this categorization To assess one's reading comprehension of lexical, grammatical, or conversational qualities of language over a short period, picture- cued tests, matching, true/false, multiple-choice, and other common activities are utilized Sentences, short paragraphs, and fundamental charts and graphs are examples of stimuli Furthermore, concise responses are essential
3 Interactive Reading: To maintain the processed material, an interactive task seeks to distinguish relevant aspects (lexical, symbolic, grammatical, and conversational) within reasonably brief texts Such jobs typically require top-down processing, while bottom-up output may be required in some circumstances
4 Extensive Reading: Rather than asking test-takers to "zoom in" on small information, the aim of the evaluation is typically to tap into a learner's overall comprehension of a document For the most part, top-down processing is believed Based on the statement above, we know there are four types and strategies of reading: scanning, skimming, intensive and critical reading As well as, perceptive reading, selective reading, interactive reading, and extensive reading In perceptive reading, students are instructed to explore each letter, word, and symbol separately Selective reading is a method for determining a passage's grammar or paragraph structure Students must read a variety of books and extract information from them to participate in the interactive reading Extensive reading, on the other hand, entails longer texts, which necessitates students' capacity to absorb the full book
In addition, Harmer (1998) explains that the purpose of reading concerns the teaching of reading into purpose:
1 Reading for information: This activity teaches how to recognize and analyze different types of text that carry information Each text type overall stresses different issues
2 Reading for meaning: The goal of this activity is to educate students on how to recognize and evaluate the relationship between form and content in a text
3 Reading for enjoyment: This is useful for teaching text recognition and reading techniques for those texts that are frequently connected with reading for pleasure
First and primary, effective reading necessitates the existence of a reading goal In this case, the reader understands why he/she is reading a book One method of generating a reading goal is to direct the learner's attention to a certain cognitive ability Those engaged in reading education have proposed many lists of cognitive abilities, but they all include most of the following (Greenwood, 1981):
1 to anticipate both the form and the content;
2 to identify the main idea (s);
3 to recognize and recall specific details;
4 to recognize the relationship between the main idea(s) and their expansion (example, lists, etc.);
5 to follow a sequence, such as events, illustrations, stages of arguments;
6 to infer from the text (to read between the lines);
8 to recognize the writer’s purpose and attitude
According to Brown (2004), teaching is showing or supporting someone in learning how to do something, giving directions, directing in the study of something, supplying knowledge, causing to know or to understand Teaching reading facilitates students in comprehending texts and provides them with many 25 practice opportunities Students are encouraged to participate in a variety of comprehension-enhancing activities, the most well-known of which are reciprocal teaching, cooperative learning, and reading recovery The main goal of teaching reading is to have students apply their prior knowledge to aid their comprehension of the material
Outside variables have an impact on this fundamental ability The cognitive abilities of the reader, including visual processing, processing speed, logic, and reasoning abilities, can all affect their comprehension of writing Your ability to comprehend what you read can be used to infer your general speaking abilities, critical thinking abilities, attention to detail, ability to pay attention, and even your concentration level
A learner may self-reflect after reading a paragraph in a book about the ideas covered in the paragraph Her main cognitive objective is to decipher the writing A typical metacognitive understanding monitoring technique is self-questioning If she discovers that she is unable to respond to her inquiries or that she does not comprehend the subject matter being covered, she must then decide what needs to be done to ensure that she reaches the cognitive objective of comprehending the text To be able to respond to the queries she had raised, she might decide to go back and read the passage again She may decide that she knows the subject matter if, after reading the text again, she can now satisfactorily respond to the questions
To guarantee that the cognitive goal of comprehension is achieved, the metacognitive strategy of self-questioning is used (Abbas Gilakjani, 2016)
Previous studies
Previous studies have been conducted to examine the impact of flipped classroom in teaching English language skills, such Previous studies have been conducted to examine the impact of the flipped classroom in teaching English language skills, such as Hung (2015) who investigated the effects of the flipped classroom in terms of academic achievement, learning styles, and students’ engagement of English language learners The findings of the study showed that the structure of learning materials with WebQuest contributed positive implications on the student’s perception of the learning environment but the direct effect of the learning environment on the academic outcomes was indescribable
Another study by Hashemifardnia et al (2018) focused on exploring the impact of flipped classrooms of junior high school students on reading comprehension without focusing on particular reading sub-skills and critical thinking skills Their study claimed that students who received flipped instructions could have self-paced learning to study outside the classroom The findings of the paired and independent samples t-tests revealed a significant difference between the experimental and control groups' post-tests On the post-test, the experimental group outperformed the control group by a significant margin (p < 0.05) In this study, students benefited from flipped classrooms; these gains can be attributed to executive coaching based on knowledge schema formed before class through pre- learning
The third research entitled “Implementation of Flipped Classroom on Experiences in Online Learning During Pandemic Covid-19 for a Project Base Vocational Learning Guide”, which is written by Sarwa, Rosnelli, Triatmojo, and Priyadi, in 2021 Based on best practices and the flipped classroom concept, the goal of this study is to establish a realistic structure for Blended Learning implementation The Blended Learning Framework, which is based on the findings of the inventory of best practices in online learning and is combined with the framework as an alternative to vocational learning scenarios, is developed using the findings of the inventory of best practices in online learning
The fourth study is written by Karimi and Hamzavi (2017) The research entitled “The Effect of Flipped Model of Instruction on EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension: Learners’ Attitudes in Focus” This study aims to determine the impact of the flipping model of instruction on EFL students' reading comprehension abilities as well as their attitudes toward the flipped model of instruction The study is experimental research in which the experimental group received a flipped learning model, while the control group received a conventional learning model The study's two groups were then given the researcher-created reading comprehension test as a posttest The ANCOVA results show that the flipped model of instruction has a major positive impact on EFL students' reading comprehension ability Furthermore, frequency tests reveal that EFL students in the experimental community have a favorable attitude toward the attitude-flipped model of instruction and agreed that it is beneficial to them in a variety of ways
The fifth study entitled “The Use of Flipped Classroom Model in Reading Comprehension” which is written by Fahmi, Friatin, and Irianti in 2020 Their thesis is focused on inquiring how a teacher uses a flipped classroom to teach the reading narrative text and to find out what students think about the teaching method
A total of 23 students and 1 English teacher in a vocational high school in Cilacap participated in this study The study finds that by utilizing the flipped classroom model, the teacher implements four basic stages in teaching reading narrative text Students, on the other hand, have a favorable attitude toward all stages and activities in the flipped classroom Students consider the flipped classroom to be a pleasant learning method that helps them become more active learners and overcome their weaknesses
Another research is written by Huang and Hong (2016) The research entitled
“The effects of a flipped English classroom intervention on students’ information and communication technology and English reading comprehension” The focus of this research is to see how a flipped English classroom intervention affects high school students' ICT and English reading comprehension in Taiwan At the start and end of the research, all participants complete a high school student questionnaire that rated their ICT and English reading comprehension In addition, four target students from the EG with the lowest ICT pretest results are chosen to be monitored regularly and interviewed after the post-test The results show that throughout the intervention, the EG students' ICT and English reading comprehension increased significantly The results of the interviews and observations are supported by quantitative findings
The last study entitled “The Effect of Flipped Classroom on Iranian EFL Learners' L2 Reading Comprehension: Focusing on Different Proficiency Levels” which is written by Abaeian and Samadi in 2016 The effect of the flipped classroom on the reading comprehension performance of Iranian EFL learners of various competence levels is investigated in this study The participants were chosen from a group of about 120 people that knew the PET proficiency test criteria for upper-intermediate and intermediate learners Each level of proficiency's primary participants is divided into experimental and control groups randomly To compare the means of the independent groups (experimental vs control & intermediate experimental vs upper-intermediate experimental) for the post-test, independent-sample t-tests were utilized Finally, according to the findings, the experimental groups outperformed the 12 control groups, as well as intermediate students, who benefit more from the flipped technique than upper intermediate students
To conclude the studies above state that the flipped classroom model significantly improves students’ reading comprehension and gives a positive perspective from the students They also add that flipped classroom model is an interactive, positive, beneficial, and fun learning model Based on the previous studies above, the flipped classroom technique improves students' performance and competence levels in several areas of the English language During the Covid-19 pandemic, the researcher comes up with the idea for the study, which is to implement a flipped classroom with a modification to the performance of students in reading comprehension, in Indonesia at the Higher Education level This is a form of quantitative approach which is experimental research The researcher decided to find out whether the flipped classroom affects students’ reading comprehension So that, the researcher will know the answers to the problems that arise in the current situation.
METHODOLOGY
Method of the study
The researcher taught three classes: 12A1, 11A3,11A2 at Yen Hung High School, but only class 12A1 was selected as the participant because of the limitation of time to conduct the study The class had 31 students and they were subjected to the flipped classroom such as the modern techniques
This study employed action research It is a reflective process that allows for inquiry and discussion as components of the “research.” Often, action research is a collaborative activity among colleagues searching for solutions to everyday, real problems experienced in schools, or looking for ways to improve instruction and increase student achievement Rather than dealing with the theoretical, action research allows practitioners to address those concerns that are closest to them, ones over which they can exhibit some influence and make a change
In this study, the researcher underwent the following action research framework by Kemmis and McTaggart (2000) Kemmis and McTaggart suggested a model with four stages which could follow a spiral path and could be repeated according to the scope purposes and outcomes of the research:
• To develop a plan of critically informed actions to make improvements,
• To act to implement the plan,
• To observe the effects of the critically informed action in the context in which it occurs ,
• To reflect on these effects as the basis for further planning, subsequent critically informed action, and so on, through a succession of stages
Figure 2: Action research spiral (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2000)
Subjects of the study
The participants were 31 students in class 12A1 at Yen Hung high school, Quang Ninh province.
Data collection instruments
To achieve research objectives and answer research questions, in this study, quantitative research methodologies were used There were two research instruments: questionnaires and tests
Questionnaires are considered to be a low-cost research tool that can help to collect data from a large number of respondents in a short period spite its disadvantages including dishonest responses and inflexibility to participants (Gay, Mills, & Airasian, 2012) A questionnaire was employed in this research as an efficient instrument to investigate learners’ perceptions because of its feasibility to deliver, respond, and produce reliable data (Gay et al., 2012)
The questionnaire includes three clusters related to the flipped classroom model with a total of 15 items The questionnaire uses the five-point Likert scale ranging from (1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) neutral, (4) agree to (5) strongly agree The first part includes a clear statement of research objectives and instructions in answer to the questionnaire The second part contains items divided into three clusters: own-pace learning, learners’ participation, and reducing limitations of class (adopted from Basal, 2015 as cited in Yang & Chen, 2019) The researcher used the questionnaire as the instrument to investigate students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom The survey questionnaire was delivered to students of class 12A1 at Yen Hung High School in the second semester of the school year 2021-2022
The researcher made the reading test the main instrument used in this study There were pretest and posttest The tests were administered to the group of the study The pretest was designed with the contents from the English 12 textbook from unit 1 to unit 8 And the same instrument was used as a posttest designed with the contents from unit 9 to unit 16 of the English 12 textbook
A pretest was used for the group before starting the lessons The purpose of doing a pretest is to get a reading score from the students before doing the treatment
After all the lessons accomplish, the group was given the posttest The posttest was administered after finishing giving treatment The purpose of doing a posttest is to get the students’ reading scores after doing the treatment In the post- test, the students were evaluated individually like in the pretest The form of the posttest is similar to the pretest.
Weekly schedules and research procedures
This part presents details about activities as well as the procedures that the researcher followed to conduct this research
Due to the time constraint and the fact that there was a strict syllabus to follow, the researcher could only implement activities focusing on the major part of the textbook that require more reading, namely Reading
The table below shows the topics, requirements, preparation, activities, and five reading strategies of eight lessons that the researcher had to complete during the eight weeks of the research It also gives information about the procedures the researcher followed in this period, which mainly involves the preparation process and the reading activities
Table 1: The timetable of the action implementation
Task requirement Preparation Reading activity
Guess meaning from the context
Scan for the specific details
- Look at the pictures and discuss about each picture
- Read the passages and do tasks
- Activate and use background knowledge
- Read for general ideas and specific ideas
- Find evidence in the passage
- Generate and ask the questions about the passage
Guess meaning from the context
Decide on True or False statements
- Look at the pictures, discuss and answer about them
- Read the passages and do tasks
- Activate and use background knowledge
- Read for general ideas and specific ideas
- Decide the following statement True, False or Not Mentioned
- Generate and ask the questions about the passage
Task requirement Preparation Reading activity
- Work in groups: find the name of the books
Guess meaning from the context
Read for the specific information
- Look at the picture and answer the questions
- Read the passage and do the tasks
- Activate and use background knowledge
- Read for general ideas and specific ideas
- Complete the sentences using information from the passage
- Work in groups and discuss
Give Vietnamese equivalents to words and phrases
Scan for the specific details
- Look at the picture and answer the questions
- Read the passage and do the tasks
- Activate and use background knowledge
- Read for general ideas and specific ideas
- Give Vietnamese equivalents to words and phrases
- Scan the passage and complete the sentences
Task requirement Preparation Reading activity
- Works in groups and then discuss
- Look at the picture and answer the questions
- Read the passage and do the tasks
- Activate and use background knowledge
- Read for general ideas and specific ideas
- Choose the best word to complete the sentences
- Decide the following statement True, False or Not Mentioned
Guess meaning from the context
- Look at the pictures and answer the questions
- Read the passage and do the tasks
- Activate and use background knowledge
- Read for general ideas and specific ideas
- Give Vietnamese equivalents to words and phrases
- Generate and ask the questions about the passage
Task requirement Preparation Reading activity reading passage
- Look at the pictures and answer the questions
- Read the passage and do the tasks
- Activate and use background knowledge
- Read for general ideas and specific ideas
- Choose the best word to complete the sentences
- Decide the following statement True or False
14 Review Read the passage and choose the best answer Read the passage and fill the word in blank
- Do the reading comprehension exercises according to the national high school graduation exam template
- Read for general ideas and specific ideas
As previously mentioned, this research followed the four steps of action research proposed by Kemmis and McTaggart (2000), which includes planning, implementing, observation, and reflection Information on how the researcher underwent each step is specified in the following part
In this stage, the researcher prepared detailed lesson plans for each class period Such information regarding the lexical items to provide students, types of reading activities to be conducted, instructions to give, and procedures to follow In preparing the material for the pre-classroom session, the teacher dealt with preparing the video, designing the PowerPoint material, and reading questions The researcher used one video for every meeting session that is available on the Internet from Youtube The subsequent activity that the teacher did after preparing the material was sharing it with the students The researcher shared the materials through email or Zalo chatting group that was created specifically for the English class She shared the materials 3 days before the meeting She also instructed the students to finish and submit the reading task and the students’ notes before the in- classroom session Moreover, the students were required to take notes about what they didn’t understand in the already shared materials
For acting, the researcher carried out the lesson plans and conducted the teaching activities step by step via Zoom The implementation of reading lessons lasted for eight weeks For the in-classroom session, the first stage that the teacher did was reviewing the online materials Initially, the teacher checked the students in case some of them did not learn the material or submit the task Then, the researcher reviewed the materials based on the previously submitted tasks, which were the reading questions and the students’ notes as in the notes, students wrote the things they didn’t yet understand During class time, students were required to complete reading comprehension questions and other reading activities During this stage, the researcher took the role of a teacher who provided the instructions, monitored the class activities, motivated interaction, facilitated students, and provided constructive feedback to students
In the final stage, the reflection, students were asked to provide feedback on other student’s answers Students also received feedback from the teacher about their strengths, and weaknesses together with some advice on how to solve their problems After each reading lesson, students were also required to complete a learning log in which they briefly reported on what reading activities they did in the lesson and what they learned from the lesson The researcher then collected these logs and analyzed them to get more information on students’ learning This helped the researcher better evaluate the results of the classroom activity, and students’ improvement and based on that, necessary adjustments could be made in the following lessons
3.4.3 The procedure for using flipped classroom
Table 2 The procedure for using flipped classroom for teaching English reading comprehension skills
The researcher sent lesson video, Power-point lesson plans and guided reading files by email or Zalo chatting group The students watched and read them and prepared themselves for the classroom activities
Students discussed and answered the questions The teacher engaged students in doing some activities and tasks The teachers responded to their tasks
The researcher continued supporting students learning via by email or Zalo chatting group then they took a quiz so the researcher could evaluate what they learned
The pretest was carried out in the 7 th week of the school term
From week 8 th to week 15 th , in the reading lessons the researcher taught students and practice reading comprehension skills
The questionnaire was distributed to the students in the 16 th week of the school term The researcher collected students’ handouts after 3 days
The posttest was done in the 17 th week of the school term.
Data analysis
The data collected through the questionnaire and the two tests were analyzed using Microsoft Excel application Microsoft Excel is popular and low-cost, so it is quite practical for a school teacher doing research
The results were analyzed with the support of figures, tables and charts
Table 3 Analysis and Statistical tools
1 Students’ perception of the flipped classroom Frequency
2 Comparison on the performance of the group T-test
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Analysis of the information collected from the survey questionnaires
4.1.1 Students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom model
Table 4: The number and percentage of the students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom model
I can review the reading lessons from videos, Power- point lesson plans and guided reading files to refer to vocabulary or concepts 0 0.00 3 9.68 3 9.68 12 38.70 14 45.16
I can review the reading lessons from videos, Power-point lesson plans and guided reading files to refer to reading strategies 0 0.00 0 0.00 7 22.58 17 54.84 7 22.58
I feel more confident to ask for clarifications in class after watching the instructional from videos, Power-point lesson plans and guided reading files at home 0 0.00 0 0.00 5 16.13 16 51.61 10 32.26
The flipped instruction allows me to prepare for my class in advance 0 0.00 2 6.45 7 22.58 11 35.48 11 35.48
Through the videos, Power- point lesson plans and guided files, I have enough time to acquire the sentence structures 0 0.00 3 9.68 5 16.12 14 45.16 9 29.03
I actively participate in reading activities at home through from videos, Power- point lesson plans and guided reading files 0 0.00 4 12.90 4 12.90 12 38.71 11 35.48
7 I actively participate in reading activities in class 1 3.23 3 9.68 5 16.13 12 38.71 10 32.26
I feel I am more in charge of my learning through the flipped instruction 2 6.45 0 0.00 4 12.90 12 38.71 13 41.94
I follow the teacher’s recommendations both in class and at home 0 0.00 0 0.00 6 19.35 18 58.06 7 22.58
I voluntarily participate in reading activities without the teacher’s recommendations 2 6.45 5 16.13 0 0.00 13 41.94 11 35.48
11 Classroom time was used effectively 0 0.00 3 9.68 7 22.58 10 32.26 11 35.48
In class, I do further practice on reading strategies that I have learned at home through from videos, Power-point lesson plans and guided reading files 0 0.00 3 9.68 6 41.94 15 48.39 7 22.58
I discuss what I have learned and things I don’t understand with my friends and teacher in class 4 12.90 0 0.00 5 16.13 13 41.94 9 29.03
14 Online resources are helpful in learning English 1 3.23 3 9.68 4 12.90 14 45.16 9 29.03
The flipped instruction made it easier for me to comprehend reading passages 0 0.00 2 6.45 6 41.94 11 35.48 12 38.71
Table 4 shows the number and percentage of the students’ perceptions of the flipped classroom model As we can see in the table, each shown in the table was applied by different number of students
Referring item number 1 “I can review the reading lessons from videos, Power- point lesson plans and files to refer to vocabulary or concepts.”, 14 students (45.16%) strongly agreed, 12 students (38.7%) agreed, 3 students (9.68%) didn’t give their opinions, only 3 students (9.68 %) disagreed and no student (0%) strongly disagreed For item number 2 “I can review the reading lessons from videos, Power-point lesson plans and guided reading files to refer to reading strategies.”, 17 students
(54.84%) agreed and 7 students (22.58%) strongly agreed The remaining number of students chose to be neutral
For item number 3 “I feel more confident to ask for clarifications in class after watching the instructional from videos, Power-point lesson plans and guided reading files at home.”, through the above data, we can see that most students felt that after being studied before the previous lesson at home, they were more confident when asking and answering knowledge related to the lesson We can all analyze the data in the agreed and strongly agreed columns which accounted for a lot of percentages (the total percentage of 2 columns is 83.87%) For the remaining percentage, students chose to be neutral; No student chose to disagree and strongly disagreed
For item number 4 “The flipped instruction allows me to prepare for my class in advance.”, all the students commented that when they participated in the flipped class, they spent more time at home preparing and absorbing better However, 2 students disagreed with this item (6.45%) But comparing to the number of students who agreed with 19 students (61.29%), the number is not much
For item number 5 “Through the videos, Power-point lesson plans and guided files, I have enough time to acquire the sentence structures”, in this section, no student chose to strongly disagree; only 3 students chose to disagree (9.68%), the students chose to be neutral at 16.12% (5 students) And the number of students who chose to agree was 14 students and 9 students chose to strongly agree (the total of students are 74.19 %)
For item number 6 “I actively participate in reading activities at home through from videos, Power-point lesson plans and guided reading files.”, a large number of students agreed or strongly agreed at 74.19% (including 12 students who chose to agree and 11 students who chose to strongly agree) The remaining number chose to disagree or didn’t give opinions at 25.8%
For item number 7 “I actively participate in reading activities in class.”, Most of the students had a choice of either agree or strongly agree with a total of 22 students (70.97%) Some students disagreed and strongly disagreed at nearly 13% Only 5 students chose to be neutral
For item number 8 “I feel I am more in charge of my learning through the flipped instruction.”, 13 students (41.94%) strongly agreed, 12 students (38.71%) agreed, 4 students (12.9%) didn’t give their opinions, only 2 students (6.45 %) strongly disagreed and no student (0%) disagreed
For item number 9 “I follow the teacher’s recommendations both in class and at home”, In this survey question, we can see that none of the students chose the answer strongly disagree or disagree A large number of students agreed (18 students), and the remaining percentage was divided equally between “strongly agree” and “neutral”
For item number 10 “I voluntarily participate in reading activities without the teacher’s recommendations”, This is the only question that no students chose
“neutral”, students were divided into two groups, the group that chose to disagree was generally 7 students (22.58%) The higher percentage belongs to the group of students who chose to agree in general, 24 students (77.42%)
For item number 11 “Classroom time was used effectively”, there were 21 students agreed that class time when using flipped classroom had a very positive effect (67.74%) 7 students gave the answer as “neutral” because of a relatively large amount of knowledge, and the application of the flipped classroom makes it difficult for them to absorb knowledge Only 3 students who disagreed with the application of the reversed class because the class time was not reasonable
For item number 12 “In class, I do further practice on reading strategies that I have learned at home through from videos, Power-point lesson plans and guided reading files”, Most of the students agreed with the lessons using the flipped classroom, they practiced the knowledge and skills they had learned through the videos and PowerPoint that the teacher had sent at 70.97% (22 students) 6 students chose a neutral answer and only 3 students chose to disagree, some students thought that the fact that the teacher sent the reference content first would make students boring
For item number 13 “I discuss what I have learned and things I don’t understand with my friends and teacher in class”, a large number of students chose to agree or strongly agree at 70.97% (including 13 students who chose to agree and
9 students who chose to strongly agree) The remaining number chose to strongly disagree or choose to be neutral, at 29.03%
For item number 14 “Online resources are helpful in learning English”, a large number of students have chosen the answer to agree or strongly agree, the reason is that the students noticed that the results of the tests after each application of the taught content and methods increased at 74.19% Only 4 students chose the neutral answer because they thought that during the time of applying the reverse method, their learning results did not change significantly (12.9%), and the remaining 4 students did choose to disagree because they feel that the traditional learning method will help them catch up more knowledge than the flipped classroom method
For the last item number 15 “The flipped instruction made it easier for me to comprehend reading passages”, no student had chosen to strongly disagree Only 2 students had chosen to disagree (6.45%), and 6 students have chosen to be neutral (41.94%) Most of the remaining students chose to agree and strongly agree at 74.19%
Analysis of the information collected from pretest and posttest
The reading test had a total of 20 questions, the score for each question was 0.5 and the wrong answer was zero The test results were processed by SPSS software with Cronbach alpha.642 reliability, proving that the scale was eligible to use the survey One sample t-test was done to check the overall GPA and the difference between pretest and posttest
Table 8: Distribution of Pretest Scores
In table 8, we can see the average score is 4.74 None of the students scored 9 or 10 There was 1 student (3.23%) who got 8 The average number of students (5, 5.5, 6, 6.5) was 14 (45.16%) The rest with scores below average (2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5) are 14 students (45.16%) The number of students with high scores is less than the number of students with average score It is not surprising because most of the students only focus on learning English grammar and neglect to improve their vocabulary, and they do not like to read English and do not have the skills to solve the reading passages, so their scores are low
Table 9: Distribution of Posttest Scores
As we can see in table 9 after applying the flipped classroom in reading lessons, the students seemed to get improvement in reading skills and get better marks in the post-test It can be seen that students' results in the posttest were partly improved There were no students who got a mark of 2 compared with the pretest results although there were still two students (6.45%) get the lowest mark (mark 2) The total number of the students who got marks below-average mark (3, 3.5, 4, 4.5) was 10 students (32.26%), much less in compared with that of the Pretest The number of students gaining marks 5, 5.5, 6, and 6.5 decreased from 14 to 12 students (38.71%) Whereas, there were 03 students achieving mark 07 (9.68%) However, surprisingly, there were 03 students getting marks 8 and 03 students getting marks 8,5 and 9, which were not seen in the result of the Pretest
4.2.3 Comparison of Data on the Pretest and Posttest Scores of the Students
Chart 1 Distribution of Pretest and Posttest Scores
Chart 1 shows the distribution of the pretest scores and posttest scores of the students It is evident from the chart that the scores in the posttest have increased as compared with the scores in the pretest The highest score which used to be 8 has increased to 9 and lowest score which used to be 2 has also increased to 3 This indicates that the students have acquired learning based on the flipped classroom (See Appendix 5)
4.2.4 Test of Difference between the Pretest and Posttest Scores of the Students
Table 10: Test of Difference between the Pretest and Posttest Scores of the students Students
Mean Difference t computed t tabulated Remarks
Table 10 shows the comparison of the mean score of students in the pretest and posttest The difference between the means in the pretest and posttest using the flipped classroom is significant when tested at α = 0.05 The computed value of t is equal to 6.49 which is higher than the tabulated t-value which is equal to 2.04 (See Appendix 6) Therefore, with a 95% level of confidence, it can be implied that the mean score of students in the pre-test is lower than the post-test using the flipped classroom or there is a significant difference between the mean scores of students in the pretest and post-test using the flipped classroom α = 0.05 This indicates that the students have gained mastery of the subject matter when exposed to this modern instruction The increased level of performance of the students in the post-test scores also shows that there are improvements in the amount of learning and retention (Peter, 2000) The concepts of verbs were not only re-learned, moreover, using the flipped classroom, but the students were also able to practice and rehearse the application of the principles through the drill activities In this method, the students relearned the principles, acquired information, and learned the application of the concepts of verbs, thus, an increase in the level of language performance.
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Summary of major findings
The purpose of the study was to ascertain the impact of the flipped classroom model on students' reading comprehension and determine whether it had a beneficial impact 31 students from class 12A1 at Yen Hung High School in Quang Ninh province served as the study subjects Questionnaires, pretests, and posttests were the main data-gathering tools
The researcher used the flipped classroom model to teach the reading and conducted four main stages of flipped classroom learning The researcher prepared online materials and shared them with the students during the pre-classroom session Sharing the material stage also included assigning reading questions to students and taking notes from them She examined the online materials that had already been shared in the classroom session and provided feedback based on the student's activities and collaborative work during the in-class session
After the implementation, the data collected were summarized and analyzed to look for the answers to the two research questions:
1 What are the students’ changes in their perceptions of the flipped classroom?
2 To what extent does the implementation of the flipped classroom improve students’ English reading comprehension skills?
Regarding the first question “What are the students’ changes in their perceptions of the flipped classroom?”, students’ perceptions were shown in the result of the questionnaires Through the survey with questions, the number of students who chose the answer agree and strongly agree accounted for a very large percentage The remaining number of students who answered neutral or disagree was very small
Concerning the second research question: “To what extent does the implementation of the flipped classroom improve students’ English reading comprehension skills?”, the data collected from the T-test has clarified the impacts of the flipped classroom model on students’ reading comprehension skills The benefits were shown through the marks compared in T-test Before applying the flipped classroom model, the low scores were much, the high scores were little However, after applying the flipped classroom model, the problem became different because of the increase of average marks and good marks and the decrease of bad marks The implementation of the flipped classroom model has proved to make positive
According to the research results, students have received a lot of positive results from the flipped classroom model, providing interesting experiences, such as teacher-student interaction, and providing some videos, material for pre-classroom reference, collaborative work, discussion, and teacher evaluation It can be argued that being guided through the use of the flipped classroom method can help students learn English faster, especially with more time to study theory and practice revision exercises and build for students the spirit of independent research in knowledge compared to normal classroom teaching methods
In addition, teachers can create new, new, and personalized ways of doing things to increase the effectiveness of flipping in their classrooms and modify it to address situations, needs, and situations students' interests Therefore, the writer concludes that the flipped classroom model has a significant positive effect on the reading comprehension ability of students at Yen Hung High School in the 2021-
Recommendations
Considering the results that had been reached, the writer would like to give some suggestions which could be done to support this research, as follows
This study may modify the teaching approaches towards blended learning and teaching concerning enhancing learners’ reading skills In the new age of technology, traditional approaches may prove their hindrances relating to class time
In contrast, the flipped model may free up teachers’ time in class for further activities to consolidate prior knowledge or improve learners’ academic performance
Teachers need to understand and be able to use online teaching technologies such as computers, phones, and online learning software As a result, teachers must be well-versed in technical knowledge to effectively run online classes and, at the same time, be able to quickly resolve minor issues that may arise during the teaching process without requiring assistance from IT They should spend some time getting acquainted with online instructional technology
Teachers will occasionally run into technological difficulties, such as being unable to connect to videos, unable to forward or share reference links, and so on
As a result, in the event of an incident, a backup plan, supplementary exercises, and activities, among other things, must be prepared ahead of time When there is a difficulty with technology, be open about how pupils are managed They can provide a rule document, for example, that defines what students should do if they are unable to submit
The teachers can create and develop a strong relationships with students It makes students feel more at ease while also demonstrating the teacher's attention When interacting with pupils, the teachers choose video chat over texting and encourage learners to take an active role in their education by conducting group discussions, providing ideas, and asking questions, among other things They should use nonverbal communication such as emoticons and other symbols
They should increase interaction by having a group conversation They can introduce new themes relating to the knowledge to be learned, revisit topics that have not been thoroughly explored previously, and have students discuss them in groups, encouraging them to share their ideas and perspectives This strategy aids in the development of student's critical thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving skills If pupils are not interested or have a passive learning attitude, the teachers should keep an eye on their participation in learning activities and contact them individually
The use of a variety of teaching ideas and methodologies not only aids in excellent student support but also improves the efficiency of online teaching and learning Teachers must be regularly updated with the latest teaching approaches to adapt to the world-new of today's modern digital classroom since the flipped classroom method is still in the construction and development stage to find the most effective principles
The flipped instructional model in reading comprehension classes may be beneficial for them as it helps to provide knowledge before class It can be seen from the post-test scores of the students that there is a significant increase in their learning outcomes Therefore, it can be supposed that students’ reading performance in similar high school contexts may profit to some extent
Students should be given additional time to practice reading at home as well as at school, and students should self – learning at home Self-study in reading skills, according to various research, is the ability to do skillfully and effectively self-learning operations and actions using collected information about activities and self-study Self-study enables people to organize their work and self-study activities scientifically and rationally, saving time and improving learning quality Student's ability to learn and assimilate new information is greatly aided by self-study skills Because each class is limited in time and the teacher cannot impart all of the information to students, self-study will assist them in deepening their understanding and so recalling more information When self-studying, they'll have to put in the effort to understand new material, which will foster creative thinking These characteristics will help the students learn and improve their English reading skills
Students should work harder to have a bright future and to be good students The primary goal of learning is to establish a target for striving and effort Studying to nurture knowledge and learning for a specific goal orients each person's required knowledge
Researchers in future studies should take the time to delve deeper into the implementation of the flipped classroom model in all its aspects and consider its application using the various frameworks proposed by other experts to study They can conduct a flipped classroom model that focuses on different topics, abilities, and educational levels as well as conduct research more thoroughly in the future to investigate the effect of the flipped classroom model on other language skills such as writing, listening, and speaking.
Distribution of Pretest and Posttest Scores
Chart 1 shows the distribution of the pretest scores and posttest scores of the students It is evident from the chart that the scores in the posttest have increased as compared with the scores in the pretest The highest score which used to be 8 has increased to 9 and lowest score which used to be 2 has also increased to 3 This indicates that the students have acquired learning based on the flipped classroom (See Appendix 5)
4.2.4 Test of Difference between the Pretest and Posttest Scores of the Students
Table 10: Test of Difference between the Pretest and Posttest Scores of the students Students
Mean Difference t computed t tabulated Remarks
Table 10 shows the comparison of the mean score of students in the pretest and posttest The difference between the means in the pretest and posttest using the flipped classroom is significant when tested at α = 0.05 The computed value of t is equal to 6.49 which is higher than the tabulated t-value which is equal to 2.04 (See Appendix 6) Therefore, with a 95% level of confidence, it can be implied that the mean score of students in the pre-test is lower than the post-test using the flipped classroom or there is a significant difference between the mean scores of students in the pretest and post-test using the flipped classroom α = 0.05 This indicates that the students have gained mastery of the subject matter when exposed to this modern instruction The increased level of performance of the students in the post-test scores also shows that there are improvements in the amount of learning and retention (Peter, 2000) The concepts of verbs were not only re-learned, moreover, using the flipped classroom, but the students were also able to practice and rehearse the application of the principles through the drill activities In this method, the students relearned the principles, acquired information, and learned the application of the concepts of verbs, thus, an increase in the level of language performance
This chapter summarizes the main points, presents the major findings, recommendations, and limitations of the thesis, and provides some suggestions for further research
The purpose of the study was to ascertain the impact of the flipped classroom model on students' reading comprehension and determine whether it had a beneficial impact 31 students from class 12A1 at Yen Hung High School in Quang Ninh province served as the study subjects Questionnaires, pretests, and posttests were the main data-gathering tools
The researcher used the flipped classroom model to teach the reading and conducted four main stages of flipped classroom learning The researcher prepared online materials and shared them with the students during the pre-classroom session Sharing the material stage also included assigning reading questions to students and taking notes from them She examined the online materials that had already been shared in the classroom session and provided feedback based on the student's activities and collaborative work during the in-class session
After the implementation, the data collected were summarized and analyzed to look for the answers to the two research questions:
1 What are the students’ changes in their perceptions of the flipped classroom?
2 To what extent does the implementation of the flipped classroom improve students’ English reading comprehension skills?
Regarding the first question “What are the students’ changes in their perceptions of the flipped classroom?”, students’ perceptions were shown in the result of the questionnaires Through the survey with questions, the number of students who chose the answer agree and strongly agree accounted for a very large percentage The remaining number of students who answered neutral or disagree was very small
Concerning the second research question: “To what extent does the implementation of the flipped classroom improve students’ English reading comprehension skills?”, the data collected from the T-test has clarified the impacts of the flipped classroom model on students’ reading comprehension skills The benefits were shown through the marks compared in T-test Before applying the flipped classroom model, the low scores were much, the high scores were little However, after applying the flipped classroom model, the problem became different because of the increase of average marks and good marks and the decrease of bad marks The implementation of the flipped classroom model has proved to make positive
According to the research results, students have received a lot of positive results from the flipped classroom model, providing interesting experiences, such as teacher-student interaction, and providing some videos, material for pre-classroom reference, collaborative work, discussion, and teacher evaluation It can be argued that being guided through the use of the flipped classroom method can help students learn English faster, especially with more time to study theory and practice revision exercises and build for students the spirit of independent research in knowledge compared to normal classroom teaching methods
In addition, teachers can create new, new, and personalized ways of doing things to increase the effectiveness of flipping in their classrooms and modify it to address situations, needs, and situations students' interests Therefore, the writer concludes that the flipped classroom model has a significant positive effect on the reading comprehension ability of students at Yen Hung High School in the 2021-
Considering the results that had been reached, the writer would like to give some suggestions which could be done to support this research, as follows
This study may modify the teaching approaches towards blended learning and teaching concerning enhancing learners’ reading skills In the new age of technology, traditional approaches may prove their hindrances relating to class time
In contrast, the flipped model may free up teachers’ time in class for further activities to consolidate prior knowledge or improve learners’ academic performance
Teachers need to understand and be able to use online teaching technologies such as computers, phones, and online learning software As a result, teachers must be well-versed in technical knowledge to effectively run online classes and, at the same time, be able to quickly resolve minor issues that may arise during the teaching process without requiring assistance from IT They should spend some time getting acquainted with online instructional technology
Teachers will occasionally run into technological difficulties, such as being unable to connect to videos, unable to forward or share reference links, and so on
As a result, in the event of an incident, a backup plan, supplementary exercises, and activities, among other things, must be prepared ahead of time When there is a difficulty with technology, be open about how pupils are managed They can provide a rule document, for example, that defines what students should do if they are unable to submit
The teachers can create and develop a strong relationships with students It makes students feel more at ease while also demonstrating the teacher's attention When interacting with pupils, the teachers choose video chat over texting and encourage learners to take an active role in their education by conducting group discussions, providing ideas, and asking questions, among other things They should use nonverbal communication such as emoticons and other symbols
They should increase interaction by having a group conversation They can introduce new themes relating to the knowledge to be learned, revisit topics that have not been thoroughly explored previously, and have students discuss them in groups, encouraging them to share their ideas and perspectives This strategy aids in the development of student's critical thinking, reasoning, and problem-solving skills If pupils are not interested or have a passive learning attitude, the teachers should keep an eye on their participation in learning activities and contact them individually
The use of a variety of teaching ideas and methodologies not only aids in excellent student support but also improves the efficiency of online teaching and learning Teachers must be regularly updated with the latest teaching approaches to adapt to the world-new of today's modern digital classroom since the flipped classroom method is still in the construction and development stage to find the most effective principles
The flipped instructional model in reading comprehension classes may be beneficial for them as it helps to provide knowledge before class It can be seen from the post-test scores of the students that there is a significant increase in their learning outcomes Therefore, it can be supposed that students’ reading performance in similar high school contexts may profit to some extent