MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY
NGUYEN THI HAI LAM
APPLYING CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION TO MOTIVATE THE READING INTEREST TO STUDENTS
AT VINH MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
UNG DUNG DUONG HUONG DAY TIENG ANH HƯỚNG VÀO NỘI DUNG NHAM KÍCH THÍCH HỨNG THÚ HỌC ĐỌC
CHO SINH VIÊN TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Y KHOA VINH
Master Thesis in Education
Trang 2MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
VINH UNIVERSITY
NGUYEN THI HAI LAM
APPLYING CONTENT-BASED INSTRUCTION TO MOTIVATE THE READING INTEREST TO STUDENTS
AT VINH MEDICAL UNIVERSITY
UNG DUNG DUONG HUONG DAY TIENG ANH HUGNG VAO NOI DUNG NHAM KÍCH THÍCH HỨNG THÚ HỌC ĐỌC
CHO SINH VIÊN TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Y KHOA VINH
Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 601410
Master thesis in Education
Supervisor: Ngo Dinh Phuong, Associate Prof Dr
Vinh, 2013
Trang 3STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I, Nguyen Thi Hai Lam, hereby would like to acknowledge that this study is mine I confirm that this work is submitted in partial fulfillment for the degree of master program in Vinh University and has not been submitted elsewhere in any other form for the fulfillment of any other degree or qualification
Author:
Trang 4ACKNOWLED GEMENTS
First of all I would hike to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor
Associate Prof Dr Ngo Dinh Phuong, for his excellent guidance, comments and enthusiastic encouragement during the completion of the thesis
Secondly, I would ike to thank my colleagues and my student doctors from classes Y2A and Y2B - Vinh Medical Unwersity for their help in doing the investigation and
trying the new way of learning reading tasks
My sincere thanks also go to my classmates for their encouragement and insightful
comments in completing the thesis
I wish to thank Sister Mat for her very useful advice in developing the thesis
Trang 5ABSTRACT
Trang 6TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents
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CHAPTER2 LITERATURE REYVILIEWV e-5-s<e<ceeeseerseeerserseee 6 2.1 Teaching and learning foreign lang11age s55 xc>xscerxexxerxerrrrxe 6 2.2 Communicative language teaching 2.3 Integration of four skills 2.4 Content-based Instruction
Trang 72.5.3 Bottom-up and top-down approaches to reading oo eect eee 25 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY cccssssssssssssssssssssssssssnssnssssssessnsssssssssossnsseseee 28 Ea na 28 3.2 Research setting 29 3.3 Sampling and population ceccceceeceeseceeseeseeseseeeesseesesesseeessesssneessneeessneneeneeee 29 K0 v00 on .ẽ 29
3.4.1 Data collection instrumenfafiOH -¿-s- + + 2x£xxzke£xerxkrrverkerkerxee 29 3.4.2 Data collection proC€dUT€S 5:5 52 2212 12E1212%22121221212212111317112 xe 32 Ea 33 Es¬ š 34 Ea ái co nh cố 34 E9 on ố 35 ESC- sáo ố 35 K0 0i csa can 39 CHAPTER4 FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS -<< 41 LAN Al 4.1.1 Need AnalySIS r€SUÍ( 522v x22 E2 3x2 tre 41 4.1.2 uc 5 45 4.1.2 Classroom obserVation TeSUÏI 55+ +2 ‡teExtrkkrkertirrrsrrrrkerree 57 4.2 Pilot teaching - - +52 St ST x1 TH 1 11g 60 4.2.1 Designing 060) 5 60
Trang 8Figure 4.1 Figure 4.2 Figure 4.3 Figure 4.4 Figure 4.5 Figure 4.6 Figure 4.7 Figure 4.8 Figure 4.9 Figure 4.10 Figure 4.11 Table 3.1 Table 3.2 Table 4.1 Table 4.2 Table 4.3 Table 4.4 Table 4.5 Table 4.6 Table 4.7 Table 4.8 Table 4.9 Table 4.10
LISTS OF TABLES AND FIGURES
Percentage of English learning preferences
The most difficult language skill when learning English The most frequently used language skill in doctors' career The students’ interest level in reading class time
Pretest Result of Experimental Group Y2A Pretest result of control group Y2B
Posttest result of experimental group Y2A Posttest result of control group Y2B
Differences of testing results between two tests - Y2A Differences of testing results between two tests - Y2B
Classroom Observation Report - Experimental group vs Control group
The trial plan to be used for experimental group Y2A The trial plan to be used for control group Y2B English learning preferences
Pretest result (Experimental group Y2A) Pretest result (Control group Y2B)
Posttest result of experimental group Y2A Posttest result of control group Y2B
Comparison of levels of Students’ marks between pre-test and posttest Control group Y2A
Comparison of levels of Students’ marks between pre-test and posttest Control group Y2B
Trang 9CBI Class Y2A Class Y2B EFL ESL Ho Hị 1€ VMU LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Content-based instruction the experimental group the control group
Trang 10CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Rationale
Trang 11information and therefore they get many obstacles to recall it The learning results, consequently, does not satisfy the learners and teachers as well
Taking this fact into consideration, the author shows her endeavor to shed a light on finding any kind of learning strategy that can lead her to make her students responsible for their own knowledge and motivated to keep learning in spite of all the obstacles they would find in their way Motivation is the key to do any activity It is important to find a motivation or anything that makes us keep doing something with the same enthusiasm as we started until finishing it The author decides to change the current-used teaching methodology by content-based instruction Content-based learning is a methodology to learn a foreign language by studying a specific subject in that language One day, author brings to class another thing to teach Teacher is more than a language teacher She acts as a teacher of public health care worker The author decides to teach what students knew in their language by contextualizing the long text with many medical jargons When teacher shows a picture of a dehydrated baby, students are immediately involved the language lesson by asking questions and giving answer about the dehydration, the knowledge of the text they already knew when they learned their school subjects Hence, the students make greater connections with the language
Keeping students motivated and interested are two important factors underlying content-based instruction The author catches this idea and makes it into a research namely “Applying content-based instruction to motivate the reading interest to students at Vinh Medical University” to see how students become interested in reading lesson with CBI to make progress and to see whether CBI can be applied more frequently in motivating reading skill for students in Vinh Medical University
1.2 Aims of the study and Research questions
The thesis was conducted with the aim of finding out an effective way to motivate the reading interest to student doctors at Vinh Medical University
Trang 121.2.1 Can the application of content-based instruction motivate students’ reading interest so that they can make better progress in medical reading tests?
1.2.2 Is there a significant difference between the reading learning progresses of the experimental class and the control one?
1.2.3 What are students’ attitudes toward CBI?
These three research questions were formulated as three research hypotheses: 1.2.1 Students would be more motivated and interested in learning reading
skill under the application of CBI approach so that they can score higher marks in medical reading tests
1.2.2 Students who took part in learning reading class with CBI approach would make better reading progress than those who did not participate in such a reading teaching method
1.2.3 Students show positive attitudes toward the teaching strategies with CBI application which can facilitate students’ medical reading comprehension
1.3 Research methodology
Trang 13checklist and invited other teachers of English from her faculty to join the classes for a full observation to evaluate students’ learning attitude in the reading class 1.4 Scope of the study
Due to time constraint, the study was conducted on students who are doctors in the future at VMU where two classes Y2A and Y2B were chosen at random to be the subject samples Student doctors of these two classes have just finished the General English course Therefore their English proficiency level is pre-intermediate They attend the clinical practice classes at school and at hospital At the moment, they are following a medical English course whose main language-used skill is reading skill which is dominantly used for their further study and scientific researches in the future CBI was applied in teaching and learning reading as an effective way to motivate the interest of reading skill to make higher progress in learning reading
1.5 Significance of the study
The study is significant for the following reasons:
Firstly, the study helps the author suggest an effective way to motivate the interest of reading so that students of the experimental group can make better progress with higher scores
Secondly, the study is endeavored to shed lights on developing reading skill for student doctors at VMU
Thirdly, the study also helps increase the effectiveness of teaching reading under the application of CBI
Finally, the study will be the initial suggestion for future studies on the similar issues not only student doctors but student nurses and other specialist students at VMU 1.6 Organization
The study consists of the following parts:
Trang 14Chapter two covers all the literature review relevant to the study containing: teaching and learning foreign language, communicative language teaching, integrations of the four skills and teaching reading
Chapter three presents a sample of reading syllabus designed basing on the principles of CBI as well as interactive reading techniques After that, the author took an investigation of applying the syllabus into school curriculum The chapter is a detailed description of the study methodology which includes the need analysis, the setting, sampling procedure, data collection and data analysis
Chapter four deals with the findings and discussions of the study
Trang 15CHAPTER2 LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter reviews theories related to theories of teaching and learning foreign language, also presenting that of content-based instruction under the communicative language teaching: the definition, the main characteristics, the models and the CBI syllabus It is also given to the thesis some background perception of reading teaching, the process of reading as well as models of reading
All of these serve as a basis for measuring the effectiveness of CBI application to improving the learners’ reading proficiency which is carried out and presented in the next chapter
2.1 Teaching and learning foreign language
According to Brown, teaching cannot be fully defined beyond the regime of learning By having notion of the way the learners learn can the teacher specify his philosophy of education, his style of teaching, as well as his approach, methods, and techniques used in classroom Importance of a judicious definition of teaching may uncover the governing principles for selecting certain methods and techniques of teaching Teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learner to learn, setting the conditions for learning Learning is the retention of information and skill, the retention implies storage systems, memory, and cognitive organization, learning involves active, conscious focus on and acting upon events outside and inside the organism Learning is relatively permanent but subject to forgetting Teaching and learning share a close-knit relation in which one can be understood by referring the other
There have been many definitions over the concepts of teaching and learning However, those definitions fall short in covering aspects of such complicated concepts Brown has delivered more appropriate definitions of learning and teaching According to Brown, learning is:
Trang 16e Retention of information and skill
e Retention implies storage systems, memory, and cognitive organization e Learning involves active, conscious focus on and acting upon events
outside and inside the organism
e Is relatively permanent but subject to forgetting
e Involves some forms of practice, perhaps reinforced practice e Isachange in behavior”
Brown views teaching in accordance with learning: teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learner to learn, setting the conditions for learning Teaching cannot be fully defined beyond the regime of learning By having notion of the way the learners learn can the teacher specify his philosophy of education, his style of teaching, as well as his approach, methods, and techniques used in classroom Importance of a judicious definition of teaching may uncover the governing principles for selecting certain methods and techniques of teaching Teaching and learning share a close-knit relation in which one can be understood by referring the other
2.2 Communicative language teaching
Trang 17-communication that has a function over and above that of language learning itself hThis innovative approach derives from multidisciplinary perspectives such as linguistics, psychology, educational research, but its central concept is communicative competence, which was originally introduced in the early 1970s by the sociolinguist Hymes as a_ response to the perceived limitations in Chomsky’s competence/performance model of language (Savignon et al, 2002; Nunan 1999) It was further developed in the early 1980s by Canale and Swain, who hold that communicative competence refers to “the underlying systems of knowledge and skills required for communication.” (1983) Their model can be summarized as follows: - Grammatical competence: using a structured comprehensible utterance (including grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling)
- Socio-cultural competence: using socially-determined cultural codes in meaningful ways, normally called “appropriacy”
- Discourse competence: shaping language and communicating purposefully in different genres, using cohesion and coherence
- Strategic competence: enhancing the effectiveness of communication, and compensating for breakdowns in communication
This is a very useful socio-linguistic model telling us what natural communication involves Although this model does not show how to teach in a class-room setting, it can serve as guidelines for language instruction It should be noted that CLT is a broad approach to teaching rather than a teaching method with a clearly defined set of classroom practices “There is no single methodology or fixed set of techniques in CLT.” (Savignon et al, 2002) As such, it is usually defined as a list of general principles of features, one of which is Nunan’s (1991) most recognized five features of CLT:
1 An emphasis on learning to communicate through interaction in the target language
Trang 183 The provision of opportunities for learners to focus, not only on language but also on the learning process itself
4 An enhancement of the learner’s own experiences as important contributing elements to classroom learning
5 An attempt to link classroom language learning with language activities outside classroom
Owning to these five features CLT is documented as learner-generated It places importance on both the students’ needs and desires and the relation between language in class and in real life Both content-based and task-based programs see more successful realization of communicative principles In addition, Nunan believed that learner was to “master the structures of the language, and in this process, considerations of meaning were seen almost as peripheral” CLT has been “generalized umbrella terms to describe learning sequences” with an aim to enhance student’s ability to communicative CLT sets purposes of making communicative competence the goal of language teaching and developing procedures for the teaching of the four language skills that knowledge the interdependence of language and communication In CLT learners are stimulated to involve themselves in meaningful communication using the target language It is advisable that students have a purpose for communicating, and focus on the content rather than language form, and use a variety of language rather than a language structure Added to this, activities in CLT appear to direct students to real or realistic communication In such communication, the success in achieving communicative tasks is acknowledged to be more significant than the accurate use of the language CLT has, in fact, been acknowledged to leave “an indelible mark on teaching and learning” Its results are realized in the utilization of communicative activities in classrooms all over the world
2.3 Integration of four skills
Trang 19separate skill areas; listening, reading, speaking, and writing Listening and reading are known as the receptive skills; while speaking and writing are known as the productive skills Most teachers try to incorporate all four skill areas into their planning, though some classes may focus more on one set of skills or the other, due to the course and learner objectives (Oxford, 2001)
Thus, a reading lesson has now been taught in a correlation with speaking, listening and writing skills Brown demonstrated that a lesson of reading might include:
e “a pre-reading discussion of the topic to activate schemata
e Listening to a lecturer or a series of informative statements about the topic of a passage to be read
e a focus on a certain reading strategy, say, scanning e Writing a paraphrase of a section of the reading passage”
Content-based instruction is defined as one of the models to help teacher maintain an integrated-skills focus in his teaching The model distracts the learners from the isolation of the skills of language, and focuses them on the meaningful purposes of using language
2.4 Content-based Instruction
2.4.1 Definition and characteristics of Content-Based Instruction 2.4.1.1 Definition
According to Krahnke Content-based instruction “Is the teaching of content or information in the language being learned with little or no direct or explicit effort to teach the language itself separately from the content being taught”? (Krahnke, 1987)
Trang 20This method focuses on communication, “the language that is being taught could be used to present subject matter, and the students would learn the language as a by-product of learning about real world - content” (Widdowson, 1978: 16)
While students acquire a real knowledge about the world through the different subjects they learn they are also developing the four skills, speaking, reading, writing and listening Students also learn using real material where the language is not reduced to the basic unit or to sentence level The information is presented in the same way as in their mother tongue Most of the books students use to learn these subjects are designed for native speakers and this factor helps students to learn more and not only a specific vocabulary and grammar structure
This method motivates students because they receive relevant information in another language and this constitutes a goal in itself, students learn two things at the same time and they do not question the importance of learning them
Not all the subjects are suitable to be used for content-based instruction purposes they depend on the students’ needs and interests
2.4.1.2 Characteristics
Trang 21discussions, do topic-related readings, and acquire a great deal of language in the process (Krashen 1991)
In CBI, instructors make every attempt possible shelter input so that it will be comprehensible to students Native speakers of the L2 are generally excluded from the classroom, which ensures that instructors will speak at a language level comprehensible to the non-native speaker When addressing non-native speakers, instructors make speech adjustments, which often include simplification, well formedness, greater formal explicitness, and added redundancy Instructors also make use of facial expressions, gestures, and body language to help make input more comprehensible They rely extensively on graphic organizers such as tables, maps, flow charts, realia, timelines, and Venn diagrams to help students place information in a comprehensible context Last but not least, they sometimes provide students with readings in their native language for background knowledge Such a sheltered environment is conducive to a lowering of the affective filter (Krashen
1985a, 1985b)
The term of content-based instruction refers to an approach to integrate content and language learning (Brinton, Snow & Wesche, 1989) CBI is supported by the second language acquisition research One central principle which supports the theory of second language acquisition is that “people learn a second language more successfully when they use the language as a means of acquiring information, rather than as an end in itself’ (Richards & Rogers, 2005) According to Met (1991), natural language acquisition occurs in context, which is never learned divorced from meaning, and CBI provides a context for meaningful communication
to occur To further understand the essential characteristics and instructional
Trang 222.4.2 Models of Content-based Instruction 2.4.2.1 Theme-based Model
Theme-based language course is structured around themes or topics such as “pollution” or “women’s rights, “immigration” or “business”, etc Language analysis and practice evolve out of the topics that form the framework for the course A topic might be introduced through a reading, vocabulary developed through guided discussion, audio or video material on the same topic used for listening comprehension, followed by written assignments integrating information from several different sources
Major principles underlying theme-based model contain automaticity, meaningful learning, intrinsic motivation, and communicative competence (Brown, 2001) Its primary purpose is to help students develop second language competence within specific topic areas The topics chosen can be several unrelated topics or one major topic Language instructors are responsible for language and content instruction (Brinton et al., 1989) The theme-based model is mainly employed in adult schools, language institutions, and all other language programs It is suitable for low to advanced learners
2.4.2.2 Sheltered Model
The content of the courses is taught by area specialist to a group of ESL learners who have been grouped together for this purpose Since the ESL are not in a class with native speakers, the instructors will be required to present the content in a way which is comprehensible to second language learners and in the process use language and tasks at an appropriate level of difficulty Instructor will choose texts of a suitable difficulty level for the learners’ language capacities
Trang 23language and context to make the information comprehensible Characteristics of sheltered instruction include comprehensible inputs, warm and _ affective environments, high levels of student interaction, student-centered, hands-on tasks, and comprehensive planning (Echevarria & Graves, 2003) In the sheltered model, content courses are taught in the second language by a content area specialist to a group of ESL learners having been grouped together (Richards & Rogers, 2005) or a language teacher with content-area knowledge (Gaffield-Vile, 1996)
2.4.2.3 Adjunct Model
Students are enrolled in two linked courses, one a content course and one a language course, with both courses sharing the same content base and complementing each other in terms of mutually coordinated assignments Such a program requires a large amount of coordination to ensure that the two curricula are interlocking and this may require modifications to both courses
Adjunct model constitutes a more sophisticated pattern for the integration of language and content It aims at connecting a specially designed language course with a regular academic course In the adjunct model, students enroll in two linked courses simultaneously - a content course and a language course The content instructor focuses on academic concepts while the language instructor emphasizes language skills using the content-area subject as a background for contextualizing the language learning process (Brinton et al., 1989) The rationale of this model is that the linked courses can assist students developing academic coping strategies and cognitive skills which can be transferred to other disciplines The adjunct model is suitable for high intermediate to advanced levels (Brinton et al., 1989)
Trang 242.4.3 Content-Based Language Teaching
CBI allows for creating environments where learners can be effectively involved in using the target language for various communicative and meaningful purposes CBI is defined as - the integration of language teaching aims with subject matter instructional (Snow, 2001) Grabe and Stoller (1997) indicate that combining the development of language with content knowledge enhances the learning process They argue that content-based language instruction is supported by research done within the framework of educational and cognitive psychology and point to Anderson‘s research (1990, 1993) on learning and processing which emphasizes the importance of coherent and meaningful information for better learning and recall Similarly, Singer (1990) emphasizes that when learners are exposed to thematically organized materials they learn and remember better the information presented In CBI, materials are naturally presented around certain topics focusing on coherent and meaningful information as well as relevant language learning activities in a context CBI continually provides opportunities for learners to use their knowledge of content area and target language in increasingly complex tasks Integration of language and content provides a meaningful context for learners to foster their academic and cognitive development as well as the skills and proficiency in the target language
Trang 25instruction in the target language The immersion model has been adapted in the United States to enrich the school programs in terms of educational, cultural and linguistic levels, to establish a racial balance and to achieve bilingualism in minority populations Many programs at secondary school and university levels have been designed to address the needs of learners with limited English proficiency (Cantoni - Harvey, 1987; Crandall, 1987, Crandall & Kaufman, 1998; Met, 1998; Snow & Brinton, 1988; Snow & Kambhi-Stein, 1997, Wegrzecka-Kowalewski, 1997) Models of content-based programs are distinguished from each other by the setting, by the instructional level and by the degree of emphasis on language and content (Snow, 2001) Some of these models offer the majority of the education through the foreign language while the amount of time the foreign language is used for instruction might be much less in other models of content-based language teaching They are also different from each other in terms of the degree of emphasis on language and content since some are more content-driven and others are more language-driven Another variable is the setting; that is, whether the target language is used naturally in the environment or it is taught as a foreign language in educational institutions
2.4.4 Principles for Content-Based Instruction
Trang 262.4.4.2 Integrate skills
Content-based instruction is defined as one of the models to help teacher maintain an integrated-skills focus in his teaching The model distracts the learners from the isolation of the skills of language, and focuses them on the meaningful purposes of using language
Rather than isolate skills in skill specific classes (e.g., "English Grammar", "Writing", "Listening and Speaking"), CBI practitioners use an integrated skills approach to language teaching, covering all four language skills as well as grammar and vocabulary This reflects what happens in the real world, where interactions involve multiple skills simultaneously Also, unlike other approaches that dictate a specific skill sequence within each lesson (1.e., starting with listening, then reading, then writing, etc.), there is no set sequence of skills to be taught in CBI Instead, a lesson may begin with any skill or, alternatively, with a focus on grammar or vocabulary As we have seen in principle one, it is the content itself that influences the decisions about selection and sequencing
2.4.4.3 Involve students actively in all phases of the learning process
Trang 27keeping with the multiple roles assumed by learners, the CBI teacher also assumes multiple roles She may serve as the primary resource for students, particularly where issues of language or culture are concerned But she also serves as the organizer of tasks, the controller or facilitator of student-centered activities, the prompter of student responses, and the assessor (both formal and informal) of student efforts
2.4.4.4 Choose content for its relevance to students’ lives, interests, and/or academic goals
The choice of content in CBI courses ultimately depends on the student and the instructional setting In many school contexts, content-based language instruction closely parallels school subjects Thus, in a middle school context, topics may be drawn from social science, history, and/or life science areas that students are studying in their subject matter classes Similarly, in the college or university setting, students may enroll in linked or adjunct language and content classes, with dual instructors covering the same content from a different perspective and with differing instructional objectives In other settings, topics may be drawn from students' occupational needs or be determined by general interest inventories In fact, this principle is often criticized as a potential weakness of CBI since determining what is of relevance or interest to students is notoriously difficult for both teachers and materials or curriculum developers However, because the introduction to content in CBI stretches over an extended period of instructional time, teachers have various opportunities to engage students' interest and to capitalize on students' prior knowledge about a given topic This mandates for the teacher to sell the students on the content that has been selected is an important basis of CBI teacher training
2.4.4.5 Select authentic texts and tasks
Trang 28define authentic texts as those that are "not originally constructed for language teaching purposes" (1987) Thus, an extract from a content area textbook, a cartoon, the lyrics to a popular song, or a short story would all qualify as authentic texts However, as Hutchinson and Waters note, bringing an authentic text into the classroom alters its original purpose, which was not to teach language, but rather to inform (in the case of the textbook), entertain (in the case of the cartoon), or perhaps both (in the case of the song or die short story) In other words, the use of an authentic text in a language classroom implies that it has been removed from its original context and that its purpose in the language classroom is quite a different one indeed
2.4.4.6 Draw overt attention to language feature
The purpose of CBI is to expose learners to authentic input with the goal of their being able to use language for communicative purposes Texts form the primary input provided by the teacher (through the classroom language) and peers (in pair or group work) All of these provide comprehensible input However, CBI departs from some other approaches to language teaching in its belief that comprehensible input alone will not lead to successful language acquisition (Brinton and Holten, 2001) Instead, it makes use of awareness-raising tasks to draw attention to specific language features found in the authentic texts
2.4.5 Content Based Syllabus
Trang 29Content Based Syllabus
e is intended to design a type of instruction in which crucial goal is to teach specific information and content using the language that learners are also learning
e learning occurs concurrently with the content learning e isnot really a language teaching syllabus at all
e primary purpose is to teach content using the language e language teaching is organized around the content teaching e subject matter is primary and language happens concurrently
e The learning theory associated with content based instruction is an acquisition theory that accounts for learning without explicit instruction e Teaching techniques are adjusted so that students can comprehend
content; after comprehension, language acquisition occurs (Krashen
1985)
e For adults with adequate support and monitoring mechanism, it is applicable outside of the classroom
e It can be supported by traditional, form focused works such as; spelling, vocabulary development, intensive writing activities
Examples of Content Based Syllabus e Extensive reading of literature e Social studies, science, medicine
e Inchemistry class linguistic adjustments are made to make the chemistry more understandable
Content should be chosen both according to students’ needs and teachers’ comfort Students:
e read authentic materials
e debate, make group projects, learn cooperatively e integrate writing skills
Trang 30Teachers
e can find it tiring and time consuming to prepare materials e can be discouraged by limited content knowledge
Positive characteristics of Content Based Syllabus
e It allows students to learn subject matter and language simultaneously e Language is learned in the context of its use
e Students learn exactly what they need to learn
e Content material makes students be interested in and motivated
e Content based syllabus can meet students’ needs linguistically and culturally with appropriate curriculum and teachers’ pedagogical training Negative characteristics of Content based Syllabus
Applications
If students cannot carefully monitored or given appropriate feedback, lack of language proficiency can come out
Teachers need appropriate training and experience to implement Often problematic with low level adult students
Testing can be difficult
Adults may require some analytic and formal instruction (Because, while young learners use clues and try to gain access to the information, Adults do not frequently let themselves learn new information)
Easily applicable in primary and secondary schools
Content based instructions can be beneficial for adults in one language and content learning settings: refugees, immigrants, etc Vocational schools
Content based instruction does not guarantee successful communication ability especially productive ones (Mohan 1979)
Trang 31e Meaning and comprehension is emphasized in both
e Students are waited to perceive language subconsciously while concentrating on task and content consciously
e Yet, as compared with Task Based Syllabus that is concerned with communicative and cognitive process, Content Based Syllabus deals with information
e While in Task Based Syllabus, learner should achieve goal by using the language; in Content Based
e Syllabus, acquisition of language form is subordinated to the acquisition of knowledge
2.4.6 Other Researches on Content-Based Language Instruction and Reading Comprehension
Trang 322.5 Teaching Reading 2.5.1 Definition of Reading
It is common knowledge that defining reading in just a single sentence is not
«
Trang 33Research in reading has shown that schema plays an important role in helping the reader to comprehend a text
Reading is also defined basing on the matter of interaction between the thought and the language, between the reader and the text, between the eyes and the brain as Carrell, Devine & Eskey denote that there exits an important interaction between language and thought in reading Carrell, P.L.; Devine, J & Eskey, D E (editors) (1988) This is due to the fact that the writer represents the linguistic surface and the reader has to decode the meaning behind Likewise, reading is considered as a sort of conversation between the reader and the text Bamett, M A (1989) et Carrell, P L & Eisterhold, J C (1983) Harmer claims that reading is a mission carried out by the eyes and brain, in which the eyes receive messages and the brain interpret them Harmer, J (1983) Whatever definitions about reading are, they help to reveal the characteristics and nature of reading
2.5.2 The Process of Reading
Trang 34reader who gets the sounds from the printed page and reading process has two correlated directions The writer encodes from the sounds to orthography and the reader decodes from orthography to sounds and a similar process from sound to meaning MacLeish, A (1968)
2.5.3 Bottom-up and top-down approaches to reading 2.5.3.1 Bottom-up
According to Paran and Alderson the bottom-up process of reading is described as a serial model in which the reader orderly manipulate such activities: starting with printed word, recognizing graphics stimuli, decoding them to sound, recognizing words, and decoding meanings Alderson, J.C (2000), Paran, A (1997) In other words, the reader has to manage with each letter when he encounters There should be a matching between these letters, or graphemes with the phonemes of the language and reader are supposed to know this Words are forming basing on the coordination of these phonemes and only by translating from one form of symbolic representation to another can the meaning be exhibited Tran Ba Tién (2002) Hence, bottom-up model is a “data-driven operations” which have many calls on “sophisticated knowledge of the language itself’ Brown, H.D (2001) In fact, by developing a “piece-by-piece mental translation” of the text information, the reader can undergo a mechanical pattern Grabe, W and Stoller, L F (2002) In this process, reader is supposed to notice the letters, then the words and grasp the meaning conveyed by the writer by create a link from those they have noticed In a word, reading process is fundamentally a matter of “decoding a series of reading symbols into their aural equivalents” Tran Ba Tién (2002) The following is an manifestation that illustrate for the working of bottom-up model (by Cambourne, cited in Nunan, D (1991)
Trang 35Nunan, D (1991) Additionally, there is a contrast to this process in recent research into human memory and speech processing Nunan, D (1991)
2.5.3.2 Top-down
Top-down model is described as conceptually driven It accounts for the fact that reader uses their own intelligence and experience to comprehending a text In contrast to bottom-up model, reader should utilize his background knowledge if he has a wish to understand the text The starting point may involve a set of hypotheses or predictions or even expectation about the text meaning, and then there should be tasks for reader to sample information as well as to discover if his predictions and expectations should be confirmed or dismissed Hence, according to Tran Ba Tién reading is no longer a process of decoding form, but a process of reconstructing meaning and only when other means defeated, does the reader adduce to decoding process Tran Ba Tién (2002) Alderson believed that the focus of top-down approach is the crucial role of schemata, and the reader’s contribution to the incoming text The following is the illustration of top-down model (by Cambourne, cited in Nunan, D (1991)
Trang 36typical reading strategies and reading teacher had better varying the techniques to suit different tastes
Trang 37CHAPTER3 METHODOLOGY
In this chapter, the author presents the methodology for implementing the study in terms of research methods, population, data collection and analysis as well as the research procedures Firstly, a general method that had been used to implement the research was given The more detailed descriptions of how the author sampled the population and how data was collected and analyzed were then introduced Author also mentioned clearly the research procedures that she carried out in her paper At the end of the chapter author also mentioned the reliability and validity that she tried to reach in her study
3.1 Research methods
Both quantitative and qualitative methods are employed in the implementation of the study
Trang 383.2 Research setting
The research was conducted from the first of January to the end of March 2013 at Vinh Medical University English is taught as a subject of foreign language in the school curriculum The core for this course is Let’s exam the text edited by English sub-faculty, approved by specialists in medical area and has been used in Hanoi Medical University for years Student doctors at Vinh Medical University are following the course book under the traditional teaching method That is the reason why students find less motivation in the reading class time Students need something interesting to motivate their reading class, something should be new and strange to attract students to go to the class
Also, author implemented her research in such a place where reading skill is very necessary in the career of the staff doctors This fact added to the demand for developing reading skill to student doctors who will become staff doctors in the future 3.3 Sampling and population
The subjects in this study were 88 student doctors from class Y2A to be chosen as the experimental group and 85 from class Y2B treated as the control one from Vinh Medical University in Nghe An province located in the middle of Vietnam
These students have just finished their General English course and have been following clinical practice course in the hospital in Vietnamese Their English proficiency level in the research is pre-intermediate and clinical understanding in mother tongue is the same one as intermediate They are all following medical course in English as a required course
3.4 Data collection
3.4.1 Data collection instrumentation
Trang 39and staff doctors were conducted so as to obtain more information in identifying the need for developing reading skill at VMU Last but not least, the course book namely “Let’s examine the text”, a medical course book is being taught in Vinh Medical College edited and pressed by Hanoi Medical College in 2000, plays so important role in implementing the trial experiment with CBI approach in improving the reading proficiency level It is edited by English sub-faculty, approved by specialists in medical area which has been used in Hanoi Medical University for years There are 30 units in this book Half of the book has just been taught at the first semester with not very high scoring of the student doctors
3.4.1.1 Pre- and post-test
Each test has 20 items designing into four types of exercise: choosing the best answer, True or False statements, give brief description of signs or symptoms of some diseases (or answer the comprehension questions) and fill in the missing words (or word formation: prefix, suffix and stem) The pre-reading test was conducted during the first week of the course to figure out the subjects’ reading proficiency level before instruction After 8-week training, a post-reading test with the same types of test items was employed to investigate the learning outcomes In consideration of a standardized language proficiency test with high validity and reliability (Perkin et al., 1989; Read, 2000), the reading test items were adopted from the exercise part at the end of each unit
Trang 40also used to reject the Null Hypothesis and accept the alternate hypothesis, then identify the claim and decide whether the test is left-tailed, right-tailed or two-tailed 3.4.1.2 Class observations
The effectiveness of the application with CBI into school curriculum has been proved with the results of pre- and post-test
In order to investigate the students’ learning attitude in the CBI reading class, author would like to carry several classroom observations She designed a classroom checklist and invited six teachers from English department to join her language classes to do the observations A pre-meeting among teachers and author was done with the aim of informing the purpose of the classroom observation which was stated that author is carrying out her graduation thesis in master program She endeavored to shed light on trying a new method of teaching and learning under the context of CBI with the hope of motivating the interest of reading to student doctors The trial had been done and showed the successful result However, author would like to learn more about the learning attitude of the students in the language class under CBI application Each teacher of English had been given classroom checklists and been asked to observe on at least three occasions, and the observer(s) should remain in the classroom for the full class period
Description of classroom observation checklist
Classroom observation checklist has been designed with many kinds of purpose, for instance: observe the classroom to find out the instructor’s performance, or to discover whether other factors inside a classroom (like color of walls, luminance of the lights, so on) affect to the learning result or not, and so forth Here in this thesis, author designed a classroom observation checklist to observe the learning attitude in the CBI and non-CBI language classes, after that, the comparison between those two classes should be carried out