VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGE AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIESFACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES wlles VŨ THI KIM CUC ADAPTING READING TASKS IN THE ENGLISH TEXTBOOK 10I
INTRODUCTION ng niên 10 1.1 C01502 217
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The study was designed to encourage 10th graders to enhance their reading skills through the modifications of reading tasks in the new English 10 textbook To be precise, this study focused on finding out the effectiveness of the adapted while- reading tasks in the new English 10 textbook and investigated students’ opinions about the adaptations Based on the research, recommendations on how to teach reading skills effectively and motivate students to read can be drawn out.
The subjects of the study are forty students from 10A1 class in a local school in Ha Nam There are 20 female students and 20 male students In terms of students’ language level, most of may be supposed to A2, but in reality, the students’ reading skills may be not expected to A2 level It means that students have a lot of difficulty in performing reading tasks.
The study endeavors to answer two questions:
1 To what extent can the adapted while- reading tasks enhance students’ reading Skills?
2 What are the students’ opinions about the adapted tasks in the English 10 textbook?
This study was believed to help the students’ reading ability to be improved because the researcher could find out an effective way to make her teaching process
12 more easily Moreover, the researcher gave more suggestions for adapting reading tasks and learning tasks, as a result, students of class 10A1 are likely to be motivated in learning and reading skill so that their reading achievement could be improved.
This thesis was carried not to cover all kinds of materials adaptation because this is a board aspect investigated by many authors The author’s attempt was only to adapt some simple while- reading tasks in the textbook English 10 I-Learn Smart World to make adapted tasks more challenging and make them more interested in English lessons, thus, improving their reading achievement The study focused on one class of grade 10 students so the results of the study could not be applied for all students at A Kim Bang high school The research was carried out during the second semester of the school year at class 10A1.
This employed Action research to attain its aims as Action research can be a valuable method for the teachers to develop their profession and gain a deep understanding of themselves as teachers, their students, and the teaching context (Burns, 2009) Furthermore, she states that Action research allows the educators to identify a "problematic" situation or the gaps between the real teaching context and the targeted situation Then, the educators gather the data systematically and intervene in the issues deliberately to bring about changes and improvements. Hence, the researcher decided to use Action research as a research design in this thesis To be specific the study chose Action research to measure the changes in the students' reading scores before and after the adaptations in the while-reading phase in the new English 10 textbook After that, students' perspectives on the adapted reading lessons would be investigated The data were gathered by utilizing a pretest, posttest, and questionnaire The pre-test and post-test included one reading passage with a length of 250 words and ten multiple-choice questions The pre-test would be delivered to the participants before the intervention, and the post-test was
13 distributed after the four adapted reading lessons The questionnaire consisted of four parts: Section A (Overall Evaluation), Section B (Organization), Section C(Adapting techniques), and Section C (Materials and Resources) The questionnaire was monolingual questions and was in Vietnamese to avoid misinterpretation The questionnaire was handed out after the post-test.
Structure of the tH€S1S óc HH HH ng HH Hệ 14
In addition to the Introduction and the Conclusion part, the thesis was composed of three chapters:
Chapter 1 Introduction: This section introduces the rationale, objectives, subjects, research questions, scope, and the research method of the study.
Chapter 2 Literature Review: This chapter provides a theoretical foundation for the issues relating to reading skills, reading tasks, and the adaption of reading tasks in the English 10 textbook.
Chapter 3 Research Methodology: This chapter presents the choice presents the choice of the research design and the data collecting instruments such as tests and questionnaires Besides, a thorough description of the data collection procedure and how the data were analyzed will be provided.
Chapter 4 Findings and discussions: This chapter examines and analyzes the collected to investigate the improvement in the students’ reading skills and their opinions of the adaptation The suggestions of how to teach reading skills effectively will also be offered during the discussion section.
Chapter 5 Conclusion: In this section, the researcher recapitulates the study, suggests some implications of the study for teaching and learning reading skills in high school, acknowledges the limitations of the study and proposes some recommendations for further studies.
LITERATURE REVIEẨW LH HH ng nến 15 2.1 Reading and teaching reading SkIẽè . - ¿5 2S SE EEsseeeeereeerseeeree 15 2.1.1 The definition of T€ad1nE - - c1 1199311991119 111 ng kg ky 15 2.1.2 Types Of T€aCẽITE - Á- G011 TH HH HH Hy 15 2.1.4 The review of the task-based approach - - +c xxx skissirerrrke 17 2.2 Reading taskS HH TH HH HH re 19 2.2.1 The definition of reading {aSKS - 5 11 111211 vn vn vn rry 19
Characteristics of reading faSÌKS s6 vn HH giết 19 2.3 Task adaptation 0n nc aaỪỘỆDẶỒ 20 2.3.1 The definition of adapfafIOI - s5 + S111 1191 HH HH nệt 20 2.3.2 Reasons for adapfafION s2 HT H grưy 21 2.3.3 The review of adapting techniques - 5c 111v vs rrreeree 22
The main features of reading tasks have been discussed by various linguists. According to Skehan (1998:95), reading tasks aims at reading purpose that may happen both in their study and everyday life In addition, the input is mainly in the form of printed or written words while the quality of the outcome of a reading task is the key factor to evaluate students’.
Nunan's (1999) opinion on features of characteristics of reading tasks is relatively similar to Skehan's viewpoint Nunan (1999) suggests five criteria for a good reading task as follows First and foremost, reading tasks typically take advantage of authentic and challenging texts Second, reading tasks provide readers with a clear rhetorical or topical framework for facilitating the analysis of the text for the students Third, they frequently include both an oral reading of the text by the teacher or a student followed by silent reading and rereading of the text These activities motivate learners to read the text several times and think deeply about the
19 meanings Next, good reading tasks involve students in direct analysis of the text instead of indirect question answering Answering direct questions about the texts not only requires them to reread the text to fulfill the tasks but also boosts students’ memory in terms of vocabulary and grammar Finally, reading tasks with visual and diagrammatic presentation sparks the reading comprehension process of the students.
Skehan's (1998) opinion on features of characteristics of reading tasks is relatively similar to Nunan's viewpoint He supports that reading tasks are designed for their study and everyday life The input of reading tasks can be in the form of printed and written words; whereas the outcome of the reading tasks is the key factor to evaluate the learners' performances The completion of tasks improves students’ performances in real-world circumstances.
The term "adaptation" has been defined in a variety of ways by different scholars Adaptation is referred to as changing the original materials to be more appropriate to learners (Tomlinson, 1998) In regarding to adaptation techniques, Madsen and Bowen (1978: ix-xi) indicate that adaptation is the action of employing
“one or more of a number of techniques: supplementing, editing, expanding, personalizing, simplifying, modernizing, localizing, or modifying cultural/situational content” Having the same standpoint, Richards (2017) indicates that textbook adaptation happens when the teacher makes changes to the book, so the teaching materials become approachable to a particular class.
In short, three definitions by Tomlinson (1998), Madsen (1978), and Richards (2017) focus on the 13 purpose of the adaptation which is to apply adapting techniques to modify the original book and design a new version to fit the learning materials to the teaching context and the learners.
According to McDonough Shaw, and Mashuhara (2003 cited in Pratiwi et al., 2020), adaptation means modifying the certain materials to meet the need of students, teachers, and the administration's purpose This perspective points out that
20 the material is not only appropriate to the learners, and the teachers but the purposes of the institution also Gabrielatos (2000) states that the adapting process can be taken in different parts of the book including "aims, topics, texts, visuals, guidelines and explanations, exercises, activities or tasks, games, quizzes, and questionnaires.". This viewpoint indicates that the teachers can adapt every part of textbooks if they realize those parts are inappropriate to the learners and the learning process The adaptation does not limit to the text or the content of the book.
Despite the textbook writer’s great effort to make in order to fulfill the needs of the intended users, there is a gap between the published materials and the real demands of users Teachers have to adapt the materials they are using if they want their teaching to be more effective and more interesting In fact, a coursebook can never be totally an effective tool in following without any adaptation because of its intrinsic deficiencies such as linguistic inaccuracies, out-of-datedness, lack of authenticity or lack of variety Therefore, adaptation is necessary to "maximize the appropriacy of teaching materials in context, by changing some of the internal characteristics of a coursebook to better suit our particular circumstances." (McDonough & Shaw, 1993, p 85) of given materials “To be more specific, in their book Materials and Methods in ELT (1993), they offer a list of reasons for adaptation: (1) the original materials did not have enough grammar coverage, (2) grammar exercises of particular difficulty are inadequate, (3) the grammar is arranged unsystematically, (4) reading passages includes many demanding words, (4) comprehension questions are not appropriate to students’ levels, (5) pronunciation section lacks guidance, (6) listening exercises are inauthentic, (7) activities are too tedious and too little As a result, good teachers need to strive for congruence among several variables including materials, methodology, learning objectives, students’ demands, and levels, the teaching context, and the teachers’ personalities and teaching styles (Tomlinson, 2003).
In addition, Hamidi (2015) reinforces that adaptation arises as a requirement as it mitigates the learners' problems and facilitates the learning process. Specifically, Misirli (2010) lists one of the primary reasons for the adaptation is the lack of grammar input When students have a goal such as attending international tests, the provision of grammar in the textbook might be inadequate for them It means that the teachers are compulsory to offer them more grammar knowledge and exercises Furthermore, she points out that the lack of communicative tasks and the discrepancies in the language competence of the materials, activities, and the learners drive the teachers to modify Regarding the educational context, another specific motive for textbook adaptation is related to the course objectives (Ebrahimpourtaher & Hamidi, 2015) The need for adaptation appears as a measure to facilitate the learning process by addressing the emerging obstacles in the learning process As a result, the learners can internalize the content effectively.
Concerning the role of motivation in language learning, McGrath (2002:67) acknowledges that one of the practical reasons for adaptation is “to maintain learners’ interests by varying what might be a rather repetitive diet’ It is motivation that affects the extent of students’ involvement and performance in language learning.
In short, task adaptation is practical in learning and teaching as it makes the materials useful and suitable for different levels of learners, demands, and contexts; therefore, teachers need to be flexible in providing materials to students Madsen and Bowen (1978) compare the job of a teacher to that of a writer who meticulously monitors the learning process and responds to all of the learners’ voiced and unvoiced demands To fulfill their needs and make students active in learning, it is necessary for the teachers to adapt the textbook to any educational context.
2.3.3 The review of adapting techniques
When the gaps between published teaching materials and the needs and objectives of the classroom are recognized, the teacher has to address the practicalities of adapting the material to meet her class objectives more closely Mc
Donough & Shaw (1993) offered lists of techniques that may be used when adapting materials better to fit a specific class such as adding, omitting and modifying The first technique is “adding” which indicates that the teachers extend or expand the existing materials by providing more similar tasks to increase the quality and effectiveness The second one “omitting” relates to deleting the current materials The “modifying” technique consists of two sub-groups: rewriting and reconstructing which are both about the internal changes of the material As a consequence, rewriting is done to make the material more interesting to the learners, while reconstructing happens when the teachers reorganize the sequence of the given tasks to suit the classroom size or the students' levels.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Series 27 3.1 Research COnteXt - óc TH HH HH HH Hiện 27 3.2 Participant nh
Research procedure .- G1 g grưy 35 3.6 Data collection procedure 0n
Figure 1 Cyclical Action research model based on Kemmis and McTaggart (1988)
In this thesis, the action research model of Kemmis and McTaggart (1988) was employed to explore the effectiveness of the adapted while-reading tasks on students' reading skills There were five main steps in this study as follow:
To confirm the suspicion, the researcher created an activity on Padlet called
“Share and Care” where student can anonymously share their difficulties in reading lessons From the students’ responses, the researcher confirmed that the majority of the students were not interested in reading lessons, and they stated that the reading tasks in the textbook are too challenging to understand Besides, the teacher had informal conversations with students during breaks to discover their problems. Furthermore, the researcher had informal talks with senior colleagues to ask for their advice.
From the students’ replies and the advice of the experienced teachers, the researcher determined some major deterrents that students faced in studying reading skills One of the significant possibilities of the students’ demotivation in the reading tasks in the textbook was inappropriate to their current language competence The reading texts contained a large number of new words and difficult
35 grammar structures, which deterred students from interpreting the information correctly Moreover, due to the time constraint of each reading lesson, the completion of all given tasks was demanding for the students.
The researcher hypothesized that the existing problem in reading skills could be mitigated by adapting reading tasks in the textbook The researcher intended to provide students with four adapted reading lessons in two months.
The intervention was carried out in the second term of the academic year
2023 The researcher offered four adapted reading lessons from Unit 5 to Unit 9 in the English 10 textbook The detailed process was illustrated below:
First, the researcher informed students about the scope of the study and asked them to join in The participants partook in the pre-test in class under the teacher's supervision.
Next, the adapted lessons were delivered every two weeks for two months. The adapted reading lessons were taught by employing the task-based approach. Each lesson lasted forty-five minutes and consisted of three phases: Pre-reading, while- reading, and post-reading phase The pre-reading and post-reading tasks in the English 10 textbook remained, but the while-reading tasks were modified based on the adapting strategies framework of McDonough & Shaw's (2013) The specific techniques used in each lesson were demonstrated in the Appendix.
Then, students were retested in the post-test Next, the teacher assessed students' performances in the post-test and compared them with their pre-test scores.
After the accomplishment of the post-test, students were invited to partake in the questionnaire which investigated their opinions of the adapted reading lessons. Before doing the questionnaire, students were instructed on how to choose each option in the form Students had 20 minutes to complete the questionnaire under the teacher’s supervision.
Next, the researcher analyzed the data for findings The pre and post-tests were counted manually to generate the correct percentages, then the data of two
36 tests were compared to find out the improvement of students’ reading skills The findings were categorized into four groups: Very good (>80%), Good (>50%,
The data from the questionnaires were analyzed quantitatively with the descriptive statistic, for instance, frequency count, to answer the second research question about students' opinions on the adapted reading lessons The proportions of the students' choices illustrated their agreements, disagreements and other viewpoints on each question were quantified carefully.
The author wrote a report for the study If the results are positive, it means that the adaptation is appropriate However, if the outcomes are limited or negative, the researcher would change the initial hypothesis and prepare for the second cycle or further research.
The data were collected in chronological steps as follows:
* Announce the research, its aim and significance to the class
* Ask the participants for their permission.
+ Provide four adapted reading lessons to the students
* Students attend the post-test and complete the questionnaire
Figure 2 The data collection procedure chart The aforementioned steps are clarified as below:
First, the researcher announced to forty students of class 10A1 about the research, its aims, and its significance To enhance the students' involvement in the
37 study, the researcher sent a printed leaflet of the research aims and some sample items, explained the significance of the study, and assured the confidentiality of the students' answers The researcher asked the students for their permission to take part in all parts of the research The researcher gave them their consent and students replied with their approval The researcher allowed students to ask and explained their concerns about the study.
All of the participants partook in a pre-test which includes 10 questions and lasted 20 minutes Students were told to complete the tests individually and independently as the score of the test would not affect their school report However, they were expected to accomplish the tests at their best The researcher supervised the pre-test completion process During the test, students were prohibited to consult their peers' work and use any materials.
Four adapted reading lessons were delivered to the students every two weeks for two months.
After the intervention, students were invited to attend a post-test which was about the knowledge they have learned in four practicing lessons The same procedure as the pre-test was conducted After the post-test, the researcher delivered a questionnaire form to the students to collect their thoughts about the adapted reading lessons they have attended Students were encouraged to complete the questionnaire on their own and were not allowed to copy their friends’ opinions. Students completed the questionnaire in ten minutes and the researcher collected all the paper.
The researcher collected the data from the tests and questionnaire From the result of the data, the researcher decided to conduct the next cycle.
Data analysis procedure 5 1 TH HH rưy 39 1 Pre-test and DOSf-f€SẨ .- -.G c HH TH TH HH HH tre 39 2 QUESTIONMAITE ha
In this study, the researcher collected quantitative data The data gained through tests and questionnaires were analyzed quantitatively using the descriptive approach.
3.7.1 Pre-test and post-test
The pre and post-tests were utilized to explore students' improvement in reading skills after four adapted reading lessons The pre and post-tests included one reading passage and ten multiple-choice comprehension questions The tests’ scores were analyzed with the help of Microsoft Excel To be specific, first, the tests were manually checked and marked The overall mark for each test was ten marks, and each correct answer would be given one mark Next, the researcher transferred the scores into Excel to find the correctness proportions which were then sorted into four groups: Very good (>80%), Good (< 80%, >50%), Average (50%), Below average (< 50%) After that, the proportions of each categories of the pre-test and post-test were arranged in one table to compare The discrepancy between the percentages in each group of score would present the improvement in the participants’ reading skills.
The questionnaire was used to discover students’ perspectives of the four adapted reading lessons The questionnaire with closed items offered the researcher quantitative data which were analyzed with descriptive statistics and frequency counts by using Microsoft Excel It is regarded as the simplest and most useful method of descriptive statistics and the data can be presented in an accessible way to the audience (Lin S Norton, 2009) In detail, after collecting the students’ answers, the researcher manually put their answers into Microsoft Excel sheet. Then, the number of students choosing each option would be automatically counted and transferred to percentages Eventually, the results of the questionnaire were presented in a table in the findings and discussion chapter The proportions of the participants expressing their agreements, disagreements, and other options on each item were carefully quantified by the researcher.
The procedure for analyzing the students’ dairies consists of reading and re- reading the text The researcher took into account some features such as the frequency of mention, distribution of mention and the strength of the expression related to the topic.
PART IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
The findings of the research are presented according to the following questions:
1 To what extent can the adapted while reading tasks enhance students’ reading Skills ?
2 What are the students’ opinions about the adapted tasks in the English 10 textbook?
The pre and post-test were employed as one of the data collection instruments It aims to discover the changes in students' reading skills The pre-test and post-test that included ten multiple-choice questions were delivered to forty 10" graders at a high school in Ha Nam The results obtained from the tests were illustrated in tables for comparison.
Table 1 Students’ improvement in their reading scores
Scores Pre-test results Post-test results
Std Std Error Difference Sig (2- Mean Deviation Mean Lower Upper t df tailed)
The data from the table showed that the majority of students in class 10A1 got low reading scores in the pretest To be more detailed, only one student
41 achieved more the 8 correct answers out of 10 questions, accounting for 2.5% of the overall students in the class There were 7 seven students who got Good scores (from 6 correct answers to 7 correct answers) and 12 students who got Average scores (5 correct answers) in the pretest which made up 17.5% and 30 %, respectively However, it is seen that the most popular category was the Blow average group with 50% of the whole students, which was the same as the sum of the other three groups Half of the students in class 10A1 could not get 5 correct answers in the pretest.
The data in the pretest did not make the researcher surprised as the current students’ language proficiency was Al+ and their reading competence was limited.
The post-test was given to the students to determine if there was any improvement in the students’ reading skills After four adapted reading lessons, the data for the first three groups (very good, good, and average) experienced an upward trend, while the number of students in the Below average decreased considerably It means that most of the students move up to the higher levels in the reading scores of the posttest It is worth noticing that there were changes in the number of students in each category Three students got more than 8 correct answers in the posttest, showing an increase of 5% compared to the figure of the pretest Regarding the second and the third groups, there were slight rises in two categories, 2.5% for both two groups of students Furthermore, the number of students with less than 5 correct answers reduced significantly from 50% to 40% However, the Below average group still placed the first position among the four groups.
The questionnaire was delivered to the students who completed the post-test.
It aims to explore students’ perception of four adapted reading lessons which they have attended in the previous month The questionnaire was administrated to 40 students in class 10A1 and they completed the questionnaire under the teacher's supervision The results of the questionnaire were illustrated below:
4.2.1 Overall opinion of the adapted reading lessons
Items for overall students’ viewpoints of the adapted reading lessons were straightforward The details were demonstrated in the table.
Table 2 Summary of students’ overall viewpoints about the adapted reading lessons (N = 40)
Items SD D NA/NS A SA Mean
I feel more motivated in 3 5 8 20 3 the adapted reading 372 lessons than in the | 75% | 12.5% | 20% | 50% | 7.5% traditional lessons.
The adapted reading lessons help me to understand the new 3 5 7 19 6 3.77 knowledge better than the | 7 so, | 19.5% | 17.5% | 47.5% | 15.5% traditional lessons.
The adapted reading 2 2 3 18 10 lessons fulfill the 4.00
Lo f th objectives of the reading 5% 5% 20% 45% 259 lessons.
I can understand and 0 3 5 20 J2 complete the reading tasks ¡in th dapted 4.15 asks nme 204016 0% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 50% | 30% lessons.
I can comprehend the 1 4 7 19 9 instructions in the adapted 3.95 lessons 2.5% 10% 17.5% | 47.5% | 22.5%
I enjoy the activities in 4.05 the adapted lessons 25% | 7.5% | 12.5% | 45% | 32.5%
I hope to attend more 4.05 adapted reading lessons 5% 15% 15% 52.5% | 20%
There is no need to adapt 10 20 5 2 3 the reading tasks in the 1.93
The figure describes that students' overall perception of the adapted reading lesson was relatively optimistic, ranging from 20% to 52.5% It can be seen that 60% of the participants agreed that the adapted reading lessons were more intriguing than the previous reading lessons Nearly a quarter of the students (17.5%) did not sure about their feelings about the adapted lessons and 22.5% of them disagree that the adapted lessons motivated their attitudes Regarding the second item, the majority of the respondents (57.5%) acknowledged that the adapted reading lessons make the new knowledge accessible and suitable to their levels, whereas nearly one-third of them (28%) refused this statement Furthermore, it is worth noticing that students believe the adapted reading lessons provide them with the necessary knowledge and meet the objectives of the reading lessons (70% agreement and 10 % disagreement) In terms of the students' understanding of the adapted lessons, 57.5% of the subjects reported that they understand and accomplish the adapted reading tasks effectively However, the other students did not have a clear answer and even disagreed with this opinion Moreover, more than half of the students (55%) concurred that the instructions used in the adapted lessons were useful and easy to understand Regarding students' engagement in the adapted reading tasks, it is positive that more than half of the students enjoyed the activities in the reading lessons (22.5% strong agreement and 32.5% agreement), therefore 60% of the participants hoped to have more adapted reading lessons in the future.
Although the students' motivation and engagement were enhanced in the adapted reading lessons, there was a considerable percentage of students who did not enjoy the adapted reading lessons and 27.5% of the respondents reported that it was unnecessary to modify the reading tasks in the textbook These students might not recognize the changes in the reading tasks in the textbook and did not involve in the reading activities This phenomenon can be explained that the adapted lessons were limited, so they could realize their advantages.
Pupils were asked to express their points of view about the sequence and organization of the reading tasks in the adapted lessons The table demonstrates the results.
Table 3 Summary of students' opinions of the structure (N = 40)
Items SD D NA/NS A SA
I cannot realize the changes in 12 13 7 3 2 the sequences of the reading tasks 30% | 32.5% | 17.5% 7.5% 5%
The structure of the adapted 7 5 5 15 8 lessons is logical 17.5% | 12.5% | 12.5% | 37.5% 20%
The structure of the adapted 5 2 8 13 12 lessons makes me understand better 12.5% 5% 20% 32.5% 30%
The data in the table illustrates that the majority of the participants (63.5% agreement) recognized the changes in the sequences of the reading tasks, and 17.5% of the students did not have a clear answer to this question On the other hand, 15% of the respondents reported that they could not realize any changes regarding the arrangement of the reading tasks in the adapted lessons Furthermore, most of them (57.5%) concurred that the organization of the adapted reading lessons was logical and easy to follow However, one-third of the participants thought that the organization of these lessons was hard to follow, and 12.5% of them had a neutral opinion With regard to the third item, it is optimistic that 62.5% of the participants agreed that the adapted lessons help them attain the new reading knowledge better, which highly surpassed the figure for the disagreed, 17.5%.
The figure from the table showed that most of the students recognized the changes in the adapted reading lessons and believed that the modification was logical and useful However, it is noticeable that the proportions in the agreed group of each item did not outweigh these in other categories It can be explained that the researcher utilized the English 11 textbook as the main teaching resource, and the appearance of new reading tasks was infrequent Also, they attended four adapted reading lessons.
Therefore, the changes were not evident and some of the participants could not recognize the adaptation.
4.2.3 The students' evaluation of the adapting techniques in the reading lessons
Six questions were delivered to students to investigate their opinion about the
45 adapting techniques used in the adapted reading lessons The data were illustrated in the table below.
Table 4 The students‘ evaluation of the adapting techniques in the reading lessons
Items SD D |NA/NS| A SA | MEAN
The modifications of some 5 4 8 13 10 reading tasks make lessons 3.57 more understandable 12.5% | 10% 20% | 32.5% | 25% ,
The reordering of the 7 5 8 13 7 reading tasks 1n the 3.40 textbook makes the lessons | 17.5% | 12.5% | 20% | 32.5% | 17.5% ‘ easy to follow.
The replacement of some 6 5 7 14 8 difficult reading tasks with 3.50 other tasks is useful 15.5% | 12.5% | 17.5% | 35% 20%
The deletion of some 2 5 4 16 10 reading tasks is necessary 3.67
The addition of some 3 5 7 16 9 reading tasks helps me to 3.70 practice and improve my | 7.5% | 12.5% | 17.5% | 40% | 22.5% reading skills.
The simplification of some 4 5 6 15 10 reading tasks makes the 3.65 tasks appropriate to your) 10% |125% | 15% | 37.5% | 30% level.
The results demonstrate that the modifications of the reading tasks in the English
10 textbook were useful and necessary to the students To be specific, more than half of the participants opined that the adaptation helped them understand the reading lessons effectively One-fifth of them were not sure about the influence of the modification and only 20% of the students refused the positive impacts of the adapted reading tasks With regard to the "reorder" technique, half of 40 students believed that the reordering of the reading tasks in the textbook made the
46 organization of the lesson more logical 55% of the respondents concurred that the
"replace" technique was necessary to replace the demanding tasks with more accessible ones The "simplify" technique and "delete" technique were considered the favorite adapting techniques by the participants with 67.5% agreement and 65% agreement, respectively It is can be explained that students’ current language proficiency is lower than the targeted students' language level in the textbook, therefore, the deletion of some reading tasks both quantitatively and qualitatively and simplification reduced their stress in learning Moreover, a large number of respondents opined that the addition of reading tasks helped them practice and improve their reading skills.
Table 5 The students' evaluation of the Materials and Resources in the adapted reading lessons (N@)
Items sD | D |NANSL A SA | MEAN
The images used in adapted 3 7 4 17 9 lessons seem visual and 3.65 appropriate to me 7.5% | 17.5% 10% 42.5% | 22.5%
The images used in the adapted lessons help me to 4 6 7 16 7 guess and remember the new 3.57 words and get a general idea | 10% 15% 17.5% 40% 17.5% about the reading texts.
The use of handouts makes 4 6 6 16 8 the lessons interesting to me 3.60
The instructions 1n the 0 3 5 20 12 handout are clear 4.15
The content in the handout is 3 5 5 16 11 appropriate for my English 3.75 level 7.5% | 12.5% | 12.5% 40% 27.5%
The content of the reading 3 4 5 19 9 texts in the handout is 3.90 similar to the reading topic 7.5% 10% | 12.5% | 47.5% | 22.5%
The data shows that the images and handouts used in the adapted lesson exerted positive outcomes on the students 'reading skills 65% of the participants agreed that the images used in the adapted reading lessons were visual and related to the reading topic More than half of the students concluded that the usage of images helped them guess the new words, remember them, and interpret the reading texts On the other hand, 17.5% of them had a neutral opinion and a quarter of them disagreed with this idea Regarding the employment of handouts, 60% of the students believed that the appearance of handouts intrigues their motivation in learning, while 25% of them did not share the same viewpoint The researcher supposed that the use of handouts made the students motivated as they wanted to use and discover new tasks besides the usual tasks in the textbook The instructions in the handouts were reported to be clear, so 80% of the students can follow the guide effectively Only 7.5% of the respondents disagreed with this item It is worth noticing that a large number of the participants agreed that the reading texts were suitable to their levels and the topic of them was similar to the unit's topic, with 67.5% agreement and 70% agreement, respectively.
From students’ dairies, most of them agreed that the lessons are more suitable to their level and they felt more motivated in learning reading skill Some students thanked the researcher for interesting lessons because the lessons helped her reduce her stress when learning reading She added that she was stressed because she cannot finish the tasks as required Reflecting on the benefits of the adapted tasks, a large number of the students agreed that adapted tasks give them more confidence and motivation in learning reading skill Tasks provided them effective ways to facilitate their reading comprehension In more detail, adapted reading tasks helped them: vé raise their motivation vY create greater self-confidence
Vv save their time reading
Y engage actively in reading process
Y increase their understanding of the text content
Following was the typical piece of writing that supported this assumption.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS eo 41 4.1 Pretest and posttest ÍIndITỉS - - - + x1 v1 TH vn ng net 41 4.2 Questionnaire findings .- - - - - c1 1113111311119 1 91111 1111 1 1 HH ng 42 4.2.1 Overall opinion of the adapted reading lessOMs ô5+ +-<<++++sss+ 43 `ằ
The students’ evaluation of the adapting techniques in the reading lessons
Six questions were delivered to students to investigate their opinion about the
45 adapting techniques used in the adapted reading lessons The data were illustrated in the table below.
Table 4 The students‘ evaluation of the adapting techniques in the reading lessons
Items SD D |NA/NS| A SA | MEAN
The modifications of some 5 4 8 13 10 reading tasks make lessons 3.57 more understandable 12.5% | 10% 20% | 32.5% | 25% ,
The reordering of the 7 5 8 13 7 reading tasks 1n the 3.40 textbook makes the lessons | 17.5% | 12.5% | 20% | 32.5% | 17.5% ‘ easy to follow.
The replacement of some 6 5 7 14 8 difficult reading tasks with 3.50 other tasks is useful 15.5% | 12.5% | 17.5% | 35% 20%
The deletion of some 2 5 4 16 10 reading tasks is necessary 3.67
The addition of some 3 5 7 16 9 reading tasks helps me to 3.70 practice and improve my | 7.5% | 12.5% | 17.5% | 40% | 22.5% reading skills.
The simplification of some 4 5 6 15 10 reading tasks makes the 3.65 tasks appropriate to your) 10% |125% | 15% | 37.5% | 30% level.
The results demonstrate that the modifications of the reading tasks in the English
10 textbook were useful and necessary to the students To be specific, more than half of the participants opined that the adaptation helped them understand the reading lessons effectively One-fifth of them were not sure about the influence of the modification and only 20% of the students refused the positive impacts of the adapted reading tasks With regard to the "reorder" technique, half of 40 students believed that the reordering of the reading tasks in the textbook made the
46 organization of the lesson more logical 55% of the respondents concurred that the
"replace" technique was necessary to replace the demanding tasks with more accessible ones The "simplify" technique and "delete" technique were considered the favorite adapting techniques by the participants with 67.5% agreement and 65% agreement, respectively It is can be explained that students’ current language proficiency is lower than the targeted students' language level in the textbook, therefore, the deletion of some reading tasks both quantitatively and qualitatively and simplification reduced their stress in learning Moreover, a large number of respondents opined that the addition of reading tasks helped them practice and improve their reading skills.
Materials and ReSOULCES .- 4G + TH nh nh ng tr 47
Table 5 The students' evaluation of the Materials and Resources in the adapted reading lessons (N@)
Items sD | D |NANSL A SA | MEAN
The images used in adapted 3 7 4 17 9 lessons seem visual and 3.65 appropriate to me 7.5% | 17.5% 10% 42.5% | 22.5%
The images used in the adapted lessons help me to 4 6 7 16 7 guess and remember the new 3.57 words and get a general idea | 10% 15% 17.5% 40% 17.5% about the reading texts.
The use of handouts makes 4 6 6 16 8 the lessons interesting to me 3.60
The instructions 1n the 0 3 5 20 12 handout are clear 4.15
The content in the handout is 3 5 5 16 11 appropriate for my English 3.75 level 7.5% | 12.5% | 12.5% 40% 27.5%
The content of the reading 3 4 5 19 9 texts in the handout is 3.90 similar to the reading topic 7.5% 10% | 12.5% | 47.5% | 22.5%
The data shows that the images and handouts used in the adapted lesson exerted positive outcomes on the students 'reading skills 65% of the participants agreed that the images used in the adapted reading lessons were visual and related to the reading topic More than half of the students concluded that the usage of images helped them guess the new words, remember them, and interpret the reading texts On the other hand, 17.5% of them had a neutral opinion and a quarter of them disagreed with this idea Regarding the employment of handouts, 60% of the students believed that the appearance of handouts intrigues their motivation in learning, while 25% of them did not share the same viewpoint The researcher supposed that the use of handouts made the students motivated as they wanted to use and discover new tasks besides the usual tasks in the textbook The instructions in the handouts were reported to be clear, so 80% of the students can follow the guide effectively Only 7.5% of the respondents disagreed with this item It is worth noticing that a large number of the participants agreed that the reading texts were suitable to their levels and the topic of them was similar to the unit's topic, with 67.5% agreement and 70% agreement, respectively.
From students’ dairies, most of them agreed that the lessons are more suitable to their level and they felt more motivated in learning reading skill Some students thanked the researcher for interesting lessons because the lessons helped her reduce her stress when learning reading She added that she was stressed because she cannot finish the tasks as required Reflecting on the benefits of the adapted tasks, a large number of the students agreed that adapted tasks give them more confidence and motivation in learning reading skill Tasks provided them effective ways to facilitate their reading comprehension In more detail, adapted reading tasks helped them: vé raise their motivation vY create greater self-confidence
Vv save their time reading
Y engage actively in reading process
Y increase their understanding of the text content
Following was the typical piece of writing that supported this assumption.
I think that the adapted task in the lesson today is easier for me to do and help me understand the reading passage So I feel motivated in learning reading skill. Before this lesson, I was often afraid of long and complicated reading tasks in the textbook I often tried to do the tasks from the beginning to end in each lesson and when I didn’t understand any words, I felt discouraged In some tasks, I copied from my friends’ work or from For better English 10 learning so when being asked to explain my answer, I just kept silent or shyly said “I don’t know, teacher” Thanks to adapted task I felt more confident I believe I can do the task; therefore I can understand the text more easily and better I would like to thank my teacher for her effort in helping us learn reading lesson more actively.
However, a few students still complained that the tasks are quite long while some students suggested that the adapted tasks should be more animated They believed that the attractive images could help them remember the vocabulary more effectively.
The similar answer about the students’ awareness of the adapted tasks with their benefits could be found in another student’s diary.
In this lesson, I learnt and practiced reading the passage and complete the information into a table Well, my first impression is that I don’t have to answer the questions boringly as usual Moreover, I don’t have to do a long true or false task I don’t know why but I felt comfortable I think this task is very useful because we can exchange the information by sample structures provided We are at low level of English, but we really love practicing this language Speaking some short but understandable sentences can satisfy us.
In providing suggestions for reading task adaptation, most students agreed that reading tasks should be shortened more as the time is so limited in class.
Beside, a few students revealed that there should be more adapted tasks in reading lessons so that they can improve their reading achievement gradually.
In brief, the results indicated that most of the students were generally aware of the benefits of adapted tasks that helped them “make learning easier, more enjoyable” and create “greater self-confidence” (Oxford, 1990) However, some of the students could not recognize the nature of the adaptation They just preferred short tasks with limited requirements so the appearance of task, to some extent, affected their learning motivation at the first sight Anyway, in comparison with the results of the preliminary investigation, there was significant improvement in the students’ awareness of the task adaptation.
The researcher concluded that based on the analysis of data, there has been a slight improvement in students' reading skills due to the application of adapted reading tasks The finding proves that the initial hypothesis of the researcher that the low reading scores resulted from the inappropriate reading tasks in the English
10 was precise Furthermore, the strategies employed in four adapted reading lessons were helpful and necessary to the participants However, it is admitted that the percentage of students with average and below-average scores was still large and accounted for half of the overall students It was explainable that the invention took place in a short period (two months), and the number of adapted lessons was small (four lessons) To enhance students’ reading skills, it is necessary to offer students more adapted lessons and exercises to train their reading strategies.
Regarding to questionnaire, the author obtained a deep insight into students’ perspectives on four adapted reading lessons Generally, most students in class 10A1 recognized and named the adapting techniques in the adapted reading lessons. The majority of them agreed that the tasks in the adapted reading lessons were accessible and appropriate to their levels They also reported that their motivation and engagement in the adapted lessons were enhanced Furthermore, the two most preferable adapting techniques for the participants were simplifying and deleting.
The application of other adapting techniques also exerted optimistic results when students can follow and complete the reading tasks efficiently In addition, the use of extra materials such as handouts and images made the lessons intriguing and engaging to the pupils.
In a nutshell, the data from the questionnaire, pre-test, post-test and students’ dairies enabled the researcher to answer the two research questions on the impact of adapting reading tasks on students’ reading achievement Firstly, the students’ attitudes towards reading tasks were revealed Secondly, it was found that task adaptation would be effective in helping students feel more motivated in learning reading and improve their reading achievement.
DIATI€S Qui TT gu 48 Đo on
This section presents the recapitulation and the limitations of the research. Besides, suggestions for further studies will be discussed to offer other researchers a future path for this study.
In English Language Teaching, textbooks are widely used as one of the main teaching and learning resources because they can provide the instructors and learners with systematic and useful knowledge However, the use of textbooks in different teaching contexts requires the teachers’ flexibility to adapt the printed tasks to fulfill the real demands of learners Furthermore, it is proved that in English classrooms, reading is an effective means of learning which enables the learners to attain new knowledge and expose to the language environment Students encountered several difficulties in improving their reading skills This study aims to motivate 10" graders at a high school in Ha Nam province to improve their reading skills through the adaptations of reading tasks in the English 10 I-Learn Smart World textbook and suggest some solutions on how to teach reading skills and encourage students to read more The study was carried out on 40 10-grade pupils in a high school in Ha Nam The students' proficiency ranges from Al+ to A2 level and they have been studying English for ten years This research was conducted within the second term of the 2022-2023 school year.
The researcher chose an action study to provide the students with four adapted reading lessons, examine the effectiveness of the modifications on the reading tasks in the English 10 textbook and investigate students’ perspectives about the adaptation in the adapted reading lessons By using pretest, posttest, and questionnaire, the data were gathered over 4 months The pretest and posttest included a reading passage with a length of 250 words and ten multiple-choice questions The topics of the reading texts were similar to the topics that students have learned Students had 20 minutes to complete the tests under the teacher's supervision.
CONCLUSION HH ệt 52 5.1 vo on e
This section presents the recapitulation and the limitations of the research. Besides, suggestions for further studies will be discussed to offer other researchers a future path for this study.
In English Language Teaching, textbooks are widely used as one of the main teaching and learning resources because they can provide the instructors and learners with systematic and useful knowledge However, the use of textbooks in different teaching contexts requires the teachers’ flexibility to adapt the printed tasks to fulfill the real demands of learners Furthermore, it is proved that in English classrooms, reading is an effective means of learning which enables the learners to attain new knowledge and expose to the language environment Students encountered several difficulties in improving their reading skills This study aims to motivate 10" graders at a high school in Ha Nam province to improve their reading skills through the adaptations of reading tasks in the English 10 I-Learn Smart World textbook and suggest some solutions on how to teach reading skills and encourage students to read more The study was carried out on 40 10-grade pupils in a high school in Ha Nam The students' proficiency ranges from Al+ to A2 level and they have been studying English for ten years This research was conducted within the second term of the 2022-2023 school year.
The researcher chose an action study to provide the students with four adapted reading lessons, examine the effectiveness of the modifications on the reading tasks in the English 10 textbook and investigate students’ perspectives about the adaptation in the adapted reading lessons By using pretest, posttest, and questionnaire, the data were gathered over 4 months The pretest and posttest included a reading passage with a length of 250 words and ten multiple-choice questions The topics of the reading texts were similar to the topics that students have learned Students had 20 minutes to complete the tests under the teacher's supervision.
The questionnaire was written in Vietnamese to avoid misunderstanding and gain valid results The questionnaire consisted of four sections: Section A on the Overall perception of the adapted reading lessons, Section B on the Organization of the adapted reading lessons, Section C on the evaluation of the adapting techniques, and Section D on the use of Materials and Resources Items in each section were supposed to get deep insights into students’ opinions of the adapted reading tasks. Each item was accompanied by five rating ranges: Strongly Agree, Agree, Not Sure, Disagree, Strongly Disagree The form of the questionnaires was straightforward.
The study's results illustrate that the adaptations of reading tasks in the English 10 textbook exert positive influences on students’ reading skills The findings demonstrate that students’ reading scores in the posttest were higher than those in the pretest The number of students who got more than average scores increased and the proportion of students with lower than average scores dropped considerably The data from the questionnaire show that more than half of the participants agreed that the adapted reading lessons helped them understand the new knowledge and enhanced their motivation in reading A large number of respondents realized the changes in the adapted lessons and they reported that the changes made the lessons logical and appropriate to their level Concerning the adapting technique, students thought that the "delete" and "simplify" strategies helped them to practice and improve their reading skills These results are consistent with the findings of the previous study done by Vu (2013).
According to the findings of this research, the researchers investigated that grade 10 students in the local high school possessed limited reading skills Their weak reading competence can be seen through their scores in the pre and post-tests. The researcher has encountered several problems discovering methods to enhance their reading skills and nurture their interest in reading lessons The results of the study drew some practical implications in teaching reading skills effectively for the researcher and other teachers in this high school.
To commence with, the reading tasks 1n the English 10 I-Learn Smart World textbook might be boring and simple because they are repetitive for students; therefore, it is indispensable for the teachers to adapt the original tasks The adapting techniques such as deletion, addition, replacement, reordering, and simplification should be implemented flexibly by the teachers based on students’ levels and the specific teaching context Furthermore, authentic materials such as pictures should be substituted to make the reading task more intriguing and attractive The reading strategies to deal with some common reading tasks should be taught and frequently revised by the teachers, which reduces the difficulties in the comprehension process Vocabularies and grammar structures related to the reading texts should be provided to the students.
The improvement in students’ reading scores was negligible, and the number of students who could not get average scores was still high Therefore, the following suggestions should be implemented to improve English teaching and learning Frequent practice in reading and the engagement of students in the reading lessons would support students to possess reliable reading competence and improve students reading skills.
First, it is expected that the teachers should equip their students with both linguistics knowledge and reading strategies to deal with common reading tasks; therefore, they can interpret the reading texts and complete the reading questions effectively The importance of teaching students both linguistic and schematic knowledge in enhancing students' reading skills was proved by Lou (2013).
Second, it is expected that enhancing students’ engagement in the reading lessons can boost students reading skills Teachers should combine interactive activities and visual materials in the reading lessons, which makes students be focused during reading lessons Furthermore, the teachers can employ various teaching techniques in reading comprehension lessons, so students can understand the new knowledge better and avoid boredom For the students, it is vital to raise their awareness of their roles in the reading lessons Reading is learned rather than
54 taught, so students should be active and responsible for their learning The teachers can explain to the students about their roles and encourage them to read attentively at school and read at home Supplying the students with reading comprehension tests and reading exercises at home might be utilized as an extrinsic motivation for students to practice reading skills more at home.
Third, it is admitted that adapting techniques in teaching English is necessary for the researcher's context, especially in teaching reading skills For the teachers, it is conducive to involve students in the adaptation process by guiding the students on how to use these techniques and helping them practice directly According to Tomlinson and Masuhara (2004), the adapting process is not only for the materials writers, publishers, and instructors but the learners also Therefore, when students absorb knowledge about adapting techniques, they can mitigate the problems they encounter when consulting English books at home At school, students can propose some suggestions for the teachers to modify the reading tasks more intriguingly For teachers, it is supposed that the teachers can use adapting techniques flexibly and effectively As reading tasks cannot be appropriate for all learners in different contexts, adaptation transforms the unsuitable tasks into approachable tasks for the learners, which improves their learning efficiency Adaptation involves various techniques such as reordering the tasks, dividing the tasks into small activities, simplifying, adding, and modifying, which are carefully chosen based on the learners' demands Therefore, designing a suitable task for the learners requires the teachers to have a thorough understanding of adapting techniques, evaluate the learners' language competence, their needs, and other teaching conditions, and modify the original tasks This process is time-consuming and demanding but rewarding.
There are few limitations in this research.
First and foremost, with a small sample, the data collected did not represent all the 10” students of the researcher’s high school As a result, the findings cannot be generalised to the broader population of students at this school.
Second, the data collecting instruments in this study did bear some limitations To specify, whether pretest and posttest measured students’ reading ability or how reliable test is Although pretest, posttest, and questionnaire contributed a lot to the data gathering, it may have been better if more data had been collected.
Thirdly, the intervention period was quite short with four adapted lessons, consequently, some students may not fully engage in the intervention and experience the adaptation longer The researcher recommends that given more time and resources might be offered to students to attain more insights in students’ reading scores.
Through the results of the research, the following suggestions for adapting tasks are presented with a view to improve the teaching and learning English at A Kim Bang high school.
5.4.1 Involving students in the adaptation process
Task adaptation is indispensable in teaching English at A Kim Bang high school, especially in teaching reading skill Therefore, helping students practice efficient strategies while reading is very useful It is beneficial that teachers should guide their students how to use these techniques in each lesson, and help them practice those strategies directly Moreover, students should be involved in the task adaptation, which help them solve problems they can encounter in learning reading lessons According to Tomlinson and Masuhara (2004:15), many people can adapt materials including teachers, materials writers, publishers and learners Therefore, students should be motivated in the adaptation process The authors state that
“learner-centred teaching has been widely advocated so it seems to make sense to involve learners in the process of materials adaptation ”.
5.4.2 Increasing students’ taking active part in learning
First and foremost, reading is learnt rather than taught and only students can to the learning So their first responsibility is to be active and take charge of what