skkn 11. sử dụng tư liệu trên internet để nâng cao khả năng đọc hiểu của học sinh (nguyễn thị hồng thúy - thpt mỹ hào)

Sở giáo dục đào tạo hng yên trờng trung học phổ thông mỹ hào Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Sử dụng t liệu Internet để nâng cao khả ®äc hiĨu cđa häc sinh Teaching experience Improving reading comprehension by using Internet-based reading materials Họ tên: Nguyễn Thị Hồng Thuý Chức vụ: Phó Hiệu trởng Giáo viên tiếng Anh Đơn vị công tác: trờng THPT Mỹ Hào Mỹ Hào, tháng năm 2010 Table Of Contents PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale …………………………………………………….………… 1.2 Aim and objectives of the study ………………………….…………… 1.3 Scope of the study ……………………………………….……………… 1.4 Schedule ……………………………………………………….……… 1.5 Method of the study …………………………………………….……… 1.6 Time of fulfillment …………………………………….…….………… PART 2: DEVELOPMENT …………………… ………………………… 2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW ……………………………………………… 2.1.1 Definitions of reading ………………………………………………….7 2.1.2 Internet-based reading materials ……………………………………….8 2.2 THE STUDY ………………………………………………………… 14 2.2.1 The contexts of the study ………………………………… ……… 14 2.2.2 Data gathering and analysis ……………………………………… 15 PART 3: CONCLUSION ………………………………………………… 17 3.1 Pedagogical implications ………………………… ………………… 17 3.2 Conclusion ………………………… ………………………………… 17 REFERENCE ……………………………………………………………….18 PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Of the four language skills, reading seems to be the most important one because in the learning process, it helps students develop other skills and provides knowledge on the target language Educational researchers have found that “there is a strong correlation between reading and academic success” In other words, a student who is a good reader is more likely to well in school and pass exams than a student who is a weak reader Moreover, reading is very necessary for daily life Reading can help us to achieve some clear aims For example, we read a road sign so that we know where to go We read the instructions on a ticket machine because we need to know what to next Being aware of the importance of learning reading, authors of new English 10 have choosen interesting topics for reading lessons with the aim to promote students in reading and improve their reading comprehension However some of them are not familiar with students genre and reading in the text book only is not enough to enhance students interest in reading and reading comprehension Successful reading depends on the interaction of reading stratergies for processing the text, background knowledge and linguistic competence Thus besides the reading texts in the textbooks students need to read more outside the classroom to enrich their vocabulary as well as their background knowledge That means students must read extensively In the last ten years educational circles have witnessed a dramatic shift from seeing the computer as an adjunct or source of supplementary educational material to treating it as a platform where effective teaching and learning can be promoted Computer assisted teaching and learning have become increasingly indispensable components of mainstream education This is particularly true for language teaching and learning With the recent advances in the computer technology, especially in terms of the Internet, authentic target language is no more than a click away The Internet offers large amounts of authentic language in many languages The Internet provides opportunities to obtain instant and more interactive feedback compared to traditional media such as textbooks, audio cassettes, etc and an environment where autonomous self-study language learning can be realized much more efficiently and effectively Rich multimedia components, low-anxiety, studentcentered learning environments, interest-driven materials are other assets the Internet provides At least in the areas of reading comprehension, preliminary studies indicate that web-based activities may be probably beneficial Considering this wide spectrum of benefits of online language learning, we can claim that online activities will pave the way for better learning gains for reading In fact, in Vietnamese high schools, teaching and learning reading are mostly based on textbooks Therefore, the sutents don’t seem to be interested in reading lessons Many of them find reading difficult and boring and even some are afraid of reading After reading a text, they don’t understand much about its content or they misunderstand the author’s ideas As a high school teacher, I think that something has to be done about raising students’ interest in reading and helping them comprehend the texts better When seeking for materials to design the lessons, I realise that internet is a useful source of information for high school students to increase their background knowledge Here, I want to share ideas about the dificulties that the students in High schools in general, in my school in particular encounter in reading lessons, how internet-based reading materials are useful in improving high school students’ reading comprehension skills and how to organize internet-based reading activities effectively I will present three types of internet-based reading activities that can help improve high school students’ reading comprehension skills 1.2 Aim and objectives of the study This study aims at improving the quality of teaching/learning English reading as second language in the upper secondary education for Vietnamese students by using internet-based materials To achieve this aim, the study sets out to obtain the three following specific objectives: To investigate the situation of learning reading with internet-based materials among high school students in My Hao high school To find out how effective are internet-based materials in improving high students’ reading comprehension 2 To offer recommendations for the application of internet-based materials to improve the students’ reading comprehension 1.3 Scope of the study Internet-based reading materials play more and more important part in raising the effectiveness of teaching and learning foreign languages in general, English in particular This study focuses on the role of Internet-based reading materials in helping improve reading comprehension skills for students in My Hao High school and offers some suggestions for the intergration of internet-based materials in high school teaching and learning curricular in Vietnam 1.4 Schedule To achieve the given aim, this study is intended to be fulfilled in months, from February to May, 2010: February, 2010: making schedule, preparing detailed research proposal, seeking for concerning materials March, April: Collecting data, analyzing and processing data, drawing conclusions May: Writing research 1.5 Method of the study With the aim of finding out the role of Internet-based reading materials in helping improve reading comprehension skills for students in high school, a survey approach is adopted for this study Participants will be 43 students of class 11A12 of My Hao high school First, interviews will be conducted on a group of 20 grade 11A12 students These students will be randomly selected among the students of class 11A12 All the interviews will be audio-taped and fully transcribed Data will be analyzed qualitatively to identify the situation of learning reading, the difficulties they encounter in the reading lessons Then all 43 students will be guided to use internet-based reading materials for a month Questionnaires will be conducted after that to find out if internet-based materials help improve reading comprehension skills 1.6 Time of fulfillment: By May 20th, 2010 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT 2.1 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1.1 Definitions of reading 2.1.1.1 What is reading ? Reading is a huge topic It is a receptive skill Reading can be defined as a process, which involves a reader, a text and a resultant interaction between the two Reading is the process of constructing meaning from written texts It is a complex skill requiring coordination of a number of interrelated sources of information Reading is a holistic act Success of reading comes from practice over long periods of time And also, there may be more than one interpretation of a text The interpretation depends on the background of the reader, the purpose for reading, and the context in which the reading occurs 2.1.1.2 Extensive reading So many studies have been conducted to find out ways to improve reading effectiveness Recently, there have been a lot of reseaches about the effect of extensive reading in improving students’ reading comprehension Research suggests that one of the best ways to help students increase their language proficiency is to encourage them to read extensively Krashen (1993), as a result of an examination of research on inschool reading and "out of school" self-reported free voluntary reading conducted in many different countries, concludes that free voluntary reading or sustained independent reading results in better reading comprehension, writing style, vocabulary, spelling, and grammatical development The students who reported reading more English books experienced significantly greater improvement in reading ability and vocabulary knowledge than those who reported reading less The students also reported that the extensive reading program helped them to improve their English Extensive reading is believed to be not only more pleasurable, but also more beneficial for language acquisition than instruction in grammar Colin Davis suggested that any classroom will be the poorer for the lack of an extensive reading programme and will be “ unable to promote its students’ language developement in all aspects as effectively as if such a programme were present”, he also claimed that such a programme will make students more possitive about reading, improve their overall comprehension skills, and give them a wider passive and active vocabulary Strong (1996) also stated that “extensive reading of literature can encourage students to develope possitive attitudes toward reading” 2.1.2 Internet-based reading materials 2.1.2.1 Reasons for choosing Internet-based materials for extensive reading Materials for extensive reading are available everywhere But internet-based materials seem to be the most suitable for high school students There are several reasons for choosing Internet-based materials First of all, in recent years, the use of the World Wide Web (WWW) as a resource for language learning materials has gained increasing popularity among language teachers and learners The Internet can now be used for supplementing and reinforcing what we in the classroom as well as providing rich opportunities whereby students can start learning languages on their own Moreover, students generally have positive feelings about learning languages via the Internet I have interviewed some of my students about their attitudes towards learning English through websites Despite some difficulties encountered, they found that students had an overall positive attitude to using websites in their learning of English Secondly, the Internet facilitates individualization of instruction and introduces a more interesting platform to learn by incorporating multimedia into the process Thirdly, it enhances the accessibility of information, language materials in this case, as well as offering various ways to connect with the target speech community Unlike traditional textbook-based teaching, language material on the Internet can be updated periodically Recent literature on methodological and pedagogical considerations requires language learners to become active participants in the process rather than passive recipients of information In this age of information explosion, language learners are encouraged to be explorers and creators of language, and assessors of their own linguistic progress Two other important aspects are the issues of learner autonomy and motivation Learner-oriented online language teaching materials demand that the individual background of learners, their needs, and learning styles are accommodated In other words, learner-directed language instruction provides learners with the control of choosing material, sequencing it, as well as deciding on the pace of delivery Communicative language teaching and learner autonomy have become increasingly important for language teachers in the last few decades Students are no longer expected memorize lists of grammar rules and vocabulary items but to understand and convey meaning with an adequate knowledge of the form, use, and appropriacy of the language They not need to be spoon-fed all the time Mistakes are natural in the language acquisition process and learners are encouraged to be willing to learn and to take responsibility for their own progress Finally, students at this age are curious and they like reading something new, atractive and linked with modern technology Internet-based materials are plentiful with various topics 2.1.2.2 Internet-based reading materials improve reading comprehension Thanks to the ever expanding flexibility and versatility of IT in performing many jobs, most of the language teaching authorities support using it in facilitating teaching in general, teaching English in particular With recent advancements in software technology, multimedia computing and extensive use of the Internet, computers have become so widespread in schools Internet technology is a medium of global communication and a source of limitless authentic materials With the emergence of the Internet technology, e-mail, list-serves, streaming audio-video, chat rooms, audio-video and message boards, language learners now have more chances to improve their language competence Easier access in terms of distance and time considerations, self-paced language study, low affective filter, increased motivation, opportunities to access and use authentic language, and hence enhanced learner autonomy are among the advantages of using the web in language teaching and learning Internet-based reading provides language learners with a much better opportunity for initiative in language learning, enhancement of learning strategies Engagement in meaningful authentic exercises promotes enthusiasm and motivation on the part of the learners Internet-based reading helps create relaxed (in terms of learner anxiety) environments Internet-based reading establishes a basis for reflecting on the experience of language learning, self-correcting, self-evaluating, and searching for information on any linguistic and/or socio-cultural aspect learners might want to learn more about right on the spot, something that cannot be realized easily in traditional type of media The Internet as a resource can enrich and expand language instruction The teachers can integrate the Internet into a language curriculum The most compelling reason is definitely the convenience in accessing and obtaining an endless supply of authentic materials in target languages The WWW has brought the world to the fingertips of each learner Applying the WWW to foreign language teaching also provides the opportunity to meet the Standards in several ways 2.1.2.3 Types to internet-based reading Here are three different types to internet-based reading, which can help students improve their reading comprehension skills using the materials from the Internet a Teacher-determined lessons The reading activities and materials of this type are comparable to the computer as an online electronic workbook The teacher prescreens and selects reading materials or cultural readings from Internet-based, designs comprehension activities, and makes them available through his/her Web page By pre-selecting and preparing the readings, the instructor tailors the contents and tasks to the students' proficiency level The tasks are designed to support the reader's comprehension process focusing on textual, linguistic and cultural features Reading is a silent process that is best done individually The learners get to explore authentic reading materials outside of class at their own pace This frees up classroom time that can be spent more effectively getting students involved in communicative language learning activities Furthermore, depending on the instructional program design, students' answers may be forwarded to the instructor Students' responses to reading tasks are limited by the capacity of the teachers’ packages Tasks can be true/false, matching, or multi-choice answers, or short answers To create such activities, skills and expertise in language pedagogy, instructional design, and some programming are required The latter may include experience with HTML editors, HTML or Internet-based authoring packages such as Half-Baked Software, or WebCT Other technological skills such as the use of scanners and graphic programs are recommended b Teacher-facilitated lessons Internet-based reading activities that have gained most wide-spread attention and popularity among language teachers and students are those in which the instructor provides a set of learning tasks that engage the learners in exploring reading materials in their authentic environments The instructor determines a particular topic and set of goals for his lesson, such exploring English wedding, American education The teacher prescreens and selects a set of sites to ensure its contents are appropriate for their pedagogical goals Through a particular task design, the instructor facilitates the students' reading process and guides the learners to explore a variety of pre-selected resources, thus providing a clear goal to be accomplished by the students Furthermore, the tasks should be designed so that they are not so broad that students wander aimlessly through the material yet open enough to provide multiple paths, outcomes, and interpretations, which can form the basis for classroom interaction In this way, the teacher controls the navigational scope and the number and kind of Internet sites that the students access Despite the restriction, the learner has some autonomy as the tasks provide the learner a choice in the sites he or she accesses and explores Task types usually include comparisons, gathering factual information, descriptions, and short summaries The outcome of the student assignments is clearly defined, but open-ended The teacher's role can best be described as a guide and facilitator The students follow the teacher's lead but get to explore the contents themselves Teachers should list the most popular search engines such as Google, Yahoo c Learner-determined lessons Learner-determined lessons follow an approach to integrating Internet-based resources that is entirely learner-centered The learners determine the topics, reading materials, and the way they go about exploring the readings themselves They decide on the process and the product, formulate the goals, identify Internet-based resources, and make a decision on how the outcomes should be evaluated In this way, the students take on the roles of self-directed and autonomous learners, and take full charge and responsibility for their outcomes The teacher only gets involved in the role of a facilitator offering support and guidance throughout the process as much as necessary Types of assessment may include teacher-, self-, or group-assessment Assessment of learner outcomes may be teacher-directed or student-determined Examples are short writing assignments, essays, or mini-projects or presentations that show the students' analytical and interpretative skills of cultural readings and texts The technological skills required to implement this approach are minimal If the teacher is to provide guidance to his/her students on searching the Internet, then knowledge about Web browsers, search engines and their effective use are indispensable There is no doubt, the vast amount of authentic resources on the Internet provides learners an opportunity to improve their reading skills Yet, to make the integration of WWW-based activities a successful learning experience, it requires effective organization and presentation of that information 2.1.2.4 Considerations in using Internet-based materials As pointed out above, there are numerous convincing arguments in favor of integrating Internet-based materials into a foreign language curriculum At the same time, several arguments can be made that ask for a more cautious approach when using the Internet The Internet is not an ideal way of delivering instruction, and there are numerous challenges to overcome First, there are still many limitations on interactivity and bandwidth Second, the hyper-linked structure and presentation of information on the Internet may easily cause students to get lost Third, we have no control over the quality and accuracy of the contents of the information In other words, the use of the Internet resources completely depends on reader judgment, which presupposes solid language proficiency and critical reading skills Fourth, little theoretical and empirical research actually exists that demonstrates how to make use of Internet-based materials or how to design tasks that allow the learners to explore these materials and yield expected learning outcomes In the same vein, little is known about students' attitudes towards the integration of Web-based readings in the foreign language curriculum 2.2 THE STUDY 2.2.1 The contexts of the study 2.2.1.1 The students, their learning conditions The subjects of this study are the students of class 11A12 It is a selected class It has 43 students (36 females and males) The students are interested in learning English All of them desired to enter a foreign language college after they finish school They have been learning English for years Generally, they are at the same proficiency level However, during the years in lower secondary schools, the main method that their teachers often used to teach them is the Grammar-translation one Furthermore, they were not provided with modern facilities that are necessary for their learning such as cassettes ….Therefore, the students are not very active in class 2.2.1.2 Setting My Hao High school was founded in 1961 it is located in My Hao district, a highly developed industrial area It has got good teaching and learning traditions It is considered one of the best high schools in Hung Yen province Especially, having upgraded to a national standardized high school, in recent years the school management board has considered the application of IT in not only managing but also in teaching and learning to make real innovation on its way to develop The school has a local network with nearly 100 computers granted to learning activities The computers are connected to the LAN, providing access to the Intranet and Internet 25 computers of these are installed with software called Magic Class, which supports teaching and learning English Many other softwares are installed to help the teachers prepare E-lessons more easily Online lessons are useful sources that help motivate students in learning English 2.2.2 Data gathering and analysis 2.2.2.1 Interviews The interview data showed that 70% of the students are not interested in reading lessons The main reasons why students are not interested in reading lessons are their lack of background knowledge as well as vocabulary about the topics they are reading Some topics are unfamiliar, some others are boring so the students find it difficult to understand them Some students say that there are texts that they have read several times without understand anything Moreover, time for reading lesson at high school is limited There are English classes every week In five or six classes, there is only one for reading, it means that there is not much time for reading In extra classes at school the teachers tend to pay more attention to grammar exercises The students have opportunities to practise vocabulary but in separated sentences, not in reading texts Because teaching reading is time consuming, the teachers often neglect it Large class size adds to the difficulties the students encounter in the reading lessons Another important reason is their lack of motivation ‘Practice makes perfect’, that is the reason why teachers have to find ways to enhance students to read more so that they can improve their reading ability 2.2.2.2 Questionnaire The questionnaire data showed that internet-based reading materials to some extent can improve reading comprehension skills Having observed the students during the experimental time, I found that the students maintained a high level of interests in reading electronic texts The new learning environment motivated them and encouraged them to read More than half of the students indicated that learning reading on the internet was really enjoyable For them, it was much better than reading paper texts Approximately two thirds of the students thought internet-based reading materials can promote their autonomy in learning Electronic material can be made in a way that students are exposed to important lexical, grammatical and cultural information multiple times Students can access to internet-based material at any time and in any location 25 0f 43 students said that they could learn and remember new words better and more easily However, one third of the students had difficulties in using internet Some were not skillful in using softwares, some couldn’t find suitable texts, therefore, they wasted a lot of time They suggested that internet-based materials be downloaded and copied for them PART 3: CONCLUSION 3.1 Pedagogical implications The study indicates that computer-based material can lead to improve reading comprehension Teachers and curriculum designers need to consider the role of internetbased reading material in the development of My Hao high school students’ reading comprehension in particular and the English proficiency in general The government and education administrators should provide high schools with more modern facilities so that students can access to internet more easily 3.2 Conclusion Above are some of my experiences in using internet-based materials for extensive reading that can help students in high schools improve their reading comprehension I have presented three different types of lessons that engage students in developing reading skills by exploring authentic Internet-based materials None of these is absolute, but to some extent, they can help teachers and students gain their teaching and learning goals Once again, in light of the literature, we can argue that internet-based reading materials with built-in dictionaries and audio/visual aids and the integration of the opportunities the Internet offers, such as the links to interesting sites, further supplementary material on socio-cultural issues of the target speech community, pave the way for greater gains in reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, etc REFERENCES Blake, J (1997) The virtual global village: The world wide web, instructional technology and the communicative language classroom Retrieved April 15, 2010, from http://www.mtsu.edu/~itconf/proceed97/village1.html#anchor778030 Brandl, K (2002) Integrating Internet-based reading materials into the foreign language curriculum: From teacher- to student-centered approaches Language Learning & Technology, (3), 87-107 Chun, D M., & Plass, J L (2000) Networked multimedia environments for second language acquisition In M Warshauer & R Kern (Eds.), Network-based language teaching: Concepts and practice (pp 151-170) New York: Cambridge University Press Hoang, V.V et al (2007) Tieng Anh 10 Educational publisher Kim, M (2002) The use of computer in developing L2 reading comprehension: Literature review and its implications ERIC Digest: 472 671 Retrieved April 11, 2010, from the ERIC database Kung, S-C & Chuo, T-W (2002) Students' perceptions of English learning through ESL/EFL websites TESL-EJ 6, (1), Retrieved March 20, 2010, from http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/tesl-ej/ej21/a2.html Su, W Q & Kinshuk (2002) Web-based computer assisted language learning In Proceedings of the Distance Education Association of New Zealand Conference (DEANZ), 99-107, Wellington, New Zealand Warschauer, M (1996) Computer-assisted language learning: An introduction Warschauer, M., & Healey, D (1998) Computers and language learning: An overview Language Teaching, 31, 57-71 XẾP LOẠI CỦA NHÀ TRƯỜNG NGƯỜI VIẾT Nguyễn Thị Hồng Thúy ... 2.1.2 Internet- based reading materials 2.1.2.1 Reasons for choosing Internet- based materials for extensive reading Materials for extensive reading are available everywhere But internet- based... include teacher-, self-, or group-assessment Assessment of learner outcomes may be teacher-directed or student-determined Examples are short writing assignments, essays, or mini-projects or presentations... Types to internet- based reading Here are three different types to internet- based reading, which can help students improve their reading comprehension skills using the materials from the Internet