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Trang 1 TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM THÁI NGUYÊN KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ NGUYỄN VĂN LỰC Trang 2 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN VAN LUC USING QUESTION-ANSWER R
TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM THÁI NGUYÊN KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ NGUYỄN VĂN LỰC SỬ DỤNG CHIẾN LƯỢC MỐI QUAN HỆ HỎI - ĐÁP ĐỂ CẢI THIỆN KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU SUY LUẬN CỦA HỌC SINH LỚP 12 TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG THPT Ở THÁI NGUYÊN Ngành: LL & PPDH bộ môn Tiếng Anh Mã số: 8.14.01.11 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ Cán bộ hướng dẫn: 1 TS Nguyễn Thị Hồng Minh 2 TS Nguyễn Thị Hương Thái Nguyên, tháng 11 năm 2023 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES NGUYEN VAN LUC USING QUESTION-ANSWER RELATIONSHIP STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE INFERENTIAL READING SKILLS FOR 12th GRADERS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN THAI NGUYEN Major: English teaching theories & methodologies Code: 8140111 MASTER THESIS Supervisor: 1 Nguyen Thi Hong Minh, Ph D 2 Nguyen Thi Huong, Ph D Thai Nguyen, November 2023 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that the research paper titled “Using Question-Answer Relationship strategies to improve inferential reading skills for 12th graders at a High School in Thai Nguyen” is entirely original work that I have conducted on my own According to the references section, I used a few sources The data and results in the thesis have not been published in any other research Thai Nguyen, 2023 Student Nguyen Van Luc i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to send my special thanks to those who have helped and supported me during the process of implementing this research Firstly, I would like to express my gratitude to the administrators of the Faculty of Foreign Language of Education at Thai Nguyen University of Education for giving me a chance to conduct this MA thesis Secondly, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to my supervisors, Dr Nguyen Thi Hong Minh and Dr Nguyen Thi Huong - who have given me whole-hearted help with invaluable guidance, comments and critical feedback, tireless support, and useful reference during the process Therefore, I could accomplish my study successfully Next, I would like to express my thanks to all the staff and School Administrators at Nguyen Hue High School who helped me during my practice as well as allowed me to carry out the survey Besides, I want to send my big thanks to the students who have participated in this project Without their assistance, I would not have been able to collect valuable data for the research Finally, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my family, whose continuous encouragement, support, and love helped me pass through insurmountable difficulties during my research Thai Nguyen, November 2023 Nguyen Van Luc ii ABSTRACT This study sought to determine how the Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) approach affected participants’ performance on reading tasks involving inference The study examined high school students’ attitudes about inferential reading tasks and how the Question-Answer Relationship (QAR) approach used in inferential reading affected students’ achievements in terms of scores in order to concentrate on the overall objective stated above An action research methodology was applied with the participation of 42 students from Nguyen Hue High School in Thai Nguyen The study used purposive sampling and administered pre-test and post-test tests to gather data on students’ understanding of texts and improvement after 7 weeks of exposure to Question-Answer Relationship Strategies (QAR Strategies) The tests measured students’ ability to understand texts and their application of QAR Strategies to inferential tasks The questionnaire was used to obtain information about some necessary personal participants and find out the QAR Strategies used by students while interviews were conducted to clarify the questionnaire’s content Data was collected both quantitatively and qualitatively using SPSS version 22 to analyze data from both pre-test and post-test The results showed that teaching high school students to read using QAR Strategies was an effective method, demonstrating the effectiveness of these strategies in improving students’ reading comprehension Keywords: Question Answer Relationship (QAR), Strategies, Reading Comprehension iii TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES .v CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Rationale of the study .1 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 3 1.3 Scope of the study 3 1.4 Research question 3 1.5 The significance of this study 3 1.6 Structure of the study 4 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 5 2.1 Theoretical background 5 2.1.1 Reading comprehension .5 2.1.2 Inferential comprehension 6 2.1.3 Types of Inferences 7 2.1.4 The Question-Answer Relationship Strategies (QAR Strategies) .9 2.1.5 Procedure of QAR .10 2.1.6 The effectiveness of QAR Strategies on students' reading inferential comprehension .14 2.2 Previous studies 144 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 16 3.1 Research setting 17 3.2 Research design 16 3.3 Participants of the study 17 3.4 Data Collection Instruments 18 3.4.1 Questionnaire .18 iv 3.4.2 Interviews 19 3.4.3 Tests 20 3.5 Data collection procedures 21 3.6 Data analysis 23 3.6.1 Quantitative analysis 23 3.6.2 Qualitative analysis 23 CHAPTER IV: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 25 4.1 Findings for the 1st research question 25 4.1.1 Students’ attitudes toward learning English 25 4.1.2 Students’ attitudes toward inferential reading tasks 26 4.2 Findings for the 2nd research question 30 4.2.1 Before the treatment 30 4.2.2 The impact of the QAR strategies on students’ post-treatment inferential reading assignments 32 4.3 Discussion .36 4.3.1 The attitudes of students toward inferential reading tasks 36 4.3.2 Effects of the QAR strategies on students’ reading inferential tasks 37 4.4 Summary .38 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 40 5.1 Summary .40 5.2 Implications and suggestions for further studies 42 REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES TABLES Table 2.1 The QAR framework 10 Table 3.1 Interviews code 23 Table 4.1 Students’ reasons for learning English .25 Table 4.2 Students’ attitudes towards inferential reading 27 Table 4.3 Students’ self-assessed English inferential reading proficiency 30 Table 4.4 Result of Pre-test 31 Table 4.5 Result of Post-test .32 Table 4.6 Pre-test and post-test performance .33 Table 4.7 Paired sample t-test 33 Table 4.8 Descriptive Statistics Test of question types on pre-test and post-test .34 Table 4.9 Individual strategies used by respondents 35 FIGURES Figure 4.1 Students’ training in inferential reading strategies 26 Figure 4.2 Students’ attitudes toward becoming proficient in inferential reading .27 Figure 4.3 Distribution of Pre-test score percentage 31 Figure 4.4: Distribution of Post-test score percentage 32 v CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study Reading particularly is a mental process that involves understanding, analyzing, and interpreting the message literally conveyed through written media, contrary to popular belief It is a cognitive process that links the reader’s direction to the medium, allowing them to deduce, memorize, retell, or particularly write something into their brain, which for the most part is quite significant Reading definitely is done for a reason, as the reader basically has a mental map or vision of the goal before focusing on important information This prepares the reader’s intellect and attention to concentrate on precisely defined goals, enabling them to literally respond to queries and remember material in a subtle way In summary, reading provides access to information that influences people’s quality of life Understanding a section of a text can be challenging due to the combination of demanding and entertaining implications.“ Reading between the lines, often referred to as applying supplementary knowledge, is necessary to understand the written discourse’s entire meaning Not only does the text convey meaning, but readers also create meaning in their minds as they read This requires the reader to blend textual content with prior information, instinct, and imagination to make accurate judgments It’s possible that the author may not always provide accurate descriptions of a topic, person, object, or event The text emphasizes that books definitely provide readers with hints and advice, which they can extrapolate from based on the information provided or their actual past knowledge The reader’s ability to infer conclusions significantly influences the understanding of a paragraph, as it is a vital general skill that significantly influences the interpretation of the text in an actual way Without particular instruction, students have a harder time responding to inferential questions about a text compared to literal ones” (Hansen & Pearson, 1983) Psycholinguistic reading comprehension theories emphasize inferring as a crucial step in reading comprehension It involves the interaction between textual information and the reader’s past knowledge Inferential comprehension involves intelligent assumptions by combining literal content with prior knowledge, instinct, and 1 imagination Authors may not always provide accurate descriptions, but they provide cues or suggestions for readers to use from the information or their own past knowledge This process requires the ability to read lines and make intelligent assumptions According to Barrett (1974), “Although inferential understanding requires thinking and imagination beyond the printed page, literal comprehension concentrates on concepts and information that are expressly expressed in the text” This research project aims to help Nguyen Hue high school students improve their inferential reading comprehension, a crucial skill for drawing conclusions about unstated information Students struggle with key elements such as identifying supporting details, sequence, cause-and-effect relationships, figurative language interpretation, drawing conclusions, predicting outcomes, determining mood, and understanding the author’s point of view The project aims to address these challenges and improve students’ reading skills Ivey and Guthrie (2008) actually found that “Middle and particularly high school students struggling with reading often have fairly few really positive experiences, leading to a lack of enthusiasm Despite studying English for nearly a decade, many students lack motivation and pay little attention to inferential reading tasks in a subtle way Inferential reading assignments are often overlooked in teaching reading skills, and unsuccessful readers may not consistently use their prior knowledge” In order to comprehend the meaning of the content, “Many students need some of the more sophisticated comprehension abilities” (Hogan, Bridges, Equity, & Cain, 2011) These skills enable students to form an image in their minds of what the text means These abilities include inferential skills, which are highly valued in this manner of thinking Furthermore, it is crucial to remember that "Strategies were valuable- neutral, not in themselves good or bad, but were used either effectively or ineffectively by individuals and by groups" (Grenfell & Erler, 2007, p.91) As a teacher-researcher, it is a duty and hopes to help students use effective strategies to apply in inferential reading This has given me the desire to conduct the research: “Using Question-Answer Relationship Strategies to improve inferential reading skills for 12th graders at a High School in Thai Nguyen” 2