A study on the techniques for teaching reading skill to large English classes at the People''s Police Academy = Nghiên cứu các thủ thuật dạy kỹ năng đọc

4 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ………………………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i1 ABSTRACT i3 TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 6i LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES 7i Part A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Methods of the study Scope of the study Design of the study Part B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Large Classrooms 1.1.1 Class size 1.1.2 Advantages of large classes 1.1.3 Disadvantages of large classes 1.2 ELT in large classrooms 1.2.1 Advantages and disadvantages of ELT in large classrooms 1.2.2 Reading in ELT 1.2.3 Reading in large classrooms 10 CHAPTER 2: PRACTICAL RESEARCH 12 2.1 Background of the study 12 2.1.1 Description of the English course and its objectives in the PPA 12 2.1.2 Description of the students at the PPA 13 2.1.3 Description of the teachers at the PPA 13 2.1.4 Description of the physical setting 13 2.2 Design and methodology 14 2.2.1 The participants 14 2.2.2 Research instruments 15 2.2.3 Data analysis 15 2.3 Presentation of statistical results 15 2.3.1 Questionnaire for Teachers 15 2.3.1.1 Methodology 15 2.3.1.2 Results 15 2.3.2 Questionnaire for students 20 2.3.2.1 Methodology 20 2.3.2.2 Results 21 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 28 3.1 Findings 28 3.1.1 Difficulties from teachers 28 3.1.2 Difficulties from students 28 3.1.3 Objective factors 29 3.2 Recommendations 30 3.2.1 Teaching reading strategies 30 3.2.2 Encouraging extensive reading among students 33 3.2.3 Adapting materials and varying tasks and activities 33 3.2.4 Using reading games and role-plays 34 3.2.5 Using visual aids 34 3.2.6 Large class management 35 Part C: CONCLUSION 39 Conclusion 39 Limitations of the study 40 Suggestions for further studies 40 REFERENCES …………………………………………………………………………41 APPENDICES …………………………………………………………………………… I LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as foreign language ELT: English language teaching ESL: English as second language PPA: the People‟s Police Academy LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Chart 1: Students‟ attitudes towards the position of reading skill Chart 2: Students‟ opinions on the reading activities Chart 3: Students‟ participation in reading lessons Table 1: Teacher‟s years of teaching English Table 2: Teachers‟ attitudes towards the position of reading skill Table 3: Numbers of students in English classes Table 4: Difficulties in teaching large reading classes Table 5.1: Personalization techniques Table 5.2: Techniques of organizing activities Table 5.3: Techniques of Material adapting and supplementing and Assessment Table 6: Students‟ opinions on the reading texts Table 7: Frequency of chances for practicing the macro-skills though the given tasks Table 8: Students‟ reasons for poor participation in reading lessons Table 9: Students‟ attitudes to the advantages of large class Table 10: Students‟ attitudes to the disadvantages of large class Table 11: Students‟ preferences for reading techniques Part A INTRODUCTION Rationale Nowadays English is becoming one of the most popular languages worldwide In different countries, different people at different ages learn English for their own purposes Learning to use a language freely and fully is a lengthy and effortful process In Vietnam, learning English language is interested by young people, especially students at universities for many reasons such as being able to get better jobs in foreign companies, having opportunities to study abroad or having chances of being promoted and so on In recent years, because of the phenomenal expansion in students‟ enrollment in Vietnamese universities, English language classes are bound to be large because of this expansion Although large classes facilitate a common background for students and are economically desirable, they pose a number of challenges to teachers As a matter of fact, teaching English is said to be not effective at universities in Vietnam in general and at the People‟s Police Academy (PPA) in particular The importance of teaching English reading skill is undeniable in the context of Vietnam This is attributed to many reasons Generally speaking, teaching English in Vietnam supplies students with the abilities to understand the materials in the written form and to communicate in English Furthermore, English is taught and learnt in a foreignlanguage environment where students have little opportunity for using English in daily life In such context, reading is not only a means to obtain knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place In other words, learners “read to learn” (Burn et al, 1998:11) Taking the same view, Carrell (1981:1) confirms that “for many students, reading is by far the most important of the four skills in a second language, particularly English as a second or foreign language” This is particularly true to the students at the PPA They know that if they read well, they will receive lots of information especially in their future job However, there is also a fact that we – the teachers of English cannot deny That is, many EFL learners find reading the toughest or most boring of the four practical skills, especially in large classes Some call this an effective “sleeping pill”, others exaggerate that reading teachers are those who can talk in other people‟s sleep The phenomenon that some students claim they feel tense before a reading class, stressed, confused and sometimes being neglected is not rare in many colleges and universities It is urgent for reading teachers to something to improve the situation, especially on Vietnamese regional and global participation nowadays All these facts have inspired the author to carry out the thesis titled “A study on the techniques for teaching reading skill to large English classes at the People‟s Police Academy” It is hoped that the study will be helpful for the author and other teachers in some ways Aims of the study The aims of the study is to investigate the real situation of teaching and learning reading in large classes at the PPA, to be more presice, the difficulties in teaching and learning reading in large classes experienced by the teachers and students so that suggestions can be given to help improve the situation The specific aims are as follows: - Investigating the problems encountered by teachers and learners in teaching and learning reading in large classes at the PPA - Suggesting some feasible techniques to improve the quality of teaching and learning reading in large classes at the PPA Methods of the study In order to achieve the mentioned aims, a quantitative method is used which consists of the following tasks: - Collecting data from 150 students of D34 who are learning English at the second term and from 16 teachers of English in 2009 - Assessing dominant difficulties in teaching and learning English - Evaluating the techniques that best fit teachers and students Scope of the study Due to the limit of time, the study mainly focuses on the problems in teaching and learning reading in large classes at the PPA It also give some possible suggested techniques and activities that may improve the situation Several aspects relating to reading activities for large classes are not the focus of the study 10 Design of the study The study is divided into three parts: The first part, INTRODUCTION, presents rationale for the study and hightlights the aims, scopes and methods of the study The second part, DEVELOPMENT, consists of three chapters Chapter accounts for a variety of linguistic concepts most relevant to the research topic such as definitions of large class, ELT in Large Classrooms, Reading in ELT and Reading in Large Classrooms Chapter focuses on the analyses on the real situation of teaching and learning reading in large classes at the PPA, learning requirements, teaching methods, materials and assessments This chapter also deals with the subject, instruments for data collection and data presentation as well Chapter takes a close look at problems in reading in large class at the PPA and it provides suggestions to these problems The last part of the study, CONCLUSION, sum up the issued addressed in the study and points out the limitations and make some suggestions for further study 11 Part B DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter briefly covers the theories related to the study: Large classrooms, ELT in large classrooms 1.1 Large Classrooms 1.1.1 Class size Large is of course a relative term, and what a large class is will vary from place to place In some private language schools, a group of twenty students may be considered large Teachers who are used to groups of fifteen to twenty students might find a group of thirty to be rather threatening Teachers with a large group of forty or fifty students may be relieved when they have only thirty (Nolasco & Arthur, 1998) According to Smart (2006), large classes are classes of more than 30 learners in elementary, secondary, adult or tertiary settings Large classes are thought to be classes where learners vary considerably in language and literacy skills and are in need of great personal attention and encouragement to make progress Haynes (1997) defines that any class with over 40 learners can be considered a large class Richard Watson Todd (2006) gives a table which shows the numbers of students mentioned in articles about large classes for English language teaching: Some minimum sizes of large classes Author Barker (1976) Chimombo (1986) Dixon (1986) Finocchiaro (1989) George (1991) Hayes (1997) Holliday (1996) Hubbard et al (1983) Li (1998) Long (1977) Minimum size of large class 55 50 40 65 60 50 50 45 50 60 12 Nolasco & Arthur (1986) Safnil (1991) Samuda & Bruton (1981) Touba (1999) 40 60 40 60 All indicated that an average perception of a large class may be around fifty students In my teaching situation, there are 40 – over 50 students, in some classes, the number can be up to 60 students, in non-major classes, which are considered a large language classes It is believed that there are always two sides in everything, and large class size is not an exception Large classes have both advantages and disadvantages Unfortunately, the former is outweighed by the latter This will be reviewed and critically discussed in the two parts that follows 1.1.2 Advantages of large classes According to a survey carried out by Wulff, Nyquist and Abbot (1987) on 327 first year university students, 05% of the students would like to have fewer than 25 students per class wile 41% of the students preferred to have 100 students in a class The data result also showed that the students perceive that large classes are best places to meet with other students There is more variety of people to communicate with, to compare notes, to have fun and to form study groups together For other students, large classes are essential for the students to allow them to form a meaningful interaction in the classroom It is also suggested that “students may work by themselves in the large classroom, as a large class gives them a feeling of independence so that learning was assisted by reliant self and having to study and learn themselves” (Wulff, Nyquist and Abbot,1987) A lot of students suggest that large classrooms provide a relaxed environment Because there is no high pressure for them to perform or to be noticed by the teacher at all times The content of the lessons conducted in a large class usually provides general information which is easy for the student to understand when they study in a large classroom As it is stated that “It is usually good for any person to learn, as the content is less detailed, more general and broader” (Wulff, Nyquist and Abbot, 1987, p.22) 13 It is also imperative to ensure that in large classes students understand the materials well The use of repetition in the class may “act as a map to help them know where the class has been and where it is going” (Carbone, 1998, p.21) Moreover, in large class, students can share many different ideas and interesting life experiences This stimulates the students and enlivens those parts of our lessons where students can discuss and learn from each other During project work, students can learn to share responsibility and help each other This also brings diversity and speeds up the work In short, although it is believed that teaching in large classes is big a challenge for the teacher, it still has a few advantages for both teachers and learners Because of these advantages, when teaches have to give lectures to large classes, it is advisable to make the best of these good points to have good teaching result 1.1.3 Disadvantages of large classes Large classes are popular in many countries and it is indeed a pressing matter to many EFL teachers Many teachers have realized the negative influence that large class size can have on the quality of teaching and learning The teaching of large classes is truly challenging and requires more conscious effort and planning in order to make learning and teaching more effective in such an environment Many experts believe that small classes achieve better results than large ones Most EFL teachers reject teaching in large classes as they often mean heterogeneous ages and abilities with many difficulties in learning and individually giving and getting attention A large class makes teachers difficult to motivate students‟ participation, difficult to make interaction with students, and difficult to give feedback to them Conant (2003) states that teaching large classes is demanding and difficult Among other things, as the size of a class increases, the challenges associated with building a participation-based class culture intensify Sometimes students not prepare as well for a large class because they believe they will not be called upon Perhaps the sheer size of the room is intimidating and inhibits some from speaking Maybe students are not as motivated to share their thoughts and observations because no formal incentives exists (e.g their grade is not participation-based) Whatever the reasons is, it is clear that as the size of a class increases, it is more and more difficult to keep everyone involved in the lesson 41 3.2.4 Using reading games and role-plays Pre-reading activities can be the good ways to lead the students into the reading tasks Similarly, post-reading activities will be effective to help students have a summary of the reading text Students general get engaged and motivated if they have chances to participate in games and role-plays in both pre-reading and post-reading activities Games and role-play are effective learning tools The teacher can use cooperative games in which the participants work toward a common objective or competitive games in which the participants compete against each other to be winners Some interesting read-and-do games can be: games with flashcard or picture cards, matching games, stepping-stones, rhymes and songs, reconstructing the story, treasure hunt, scrambled lines At the post-reading stage, the teacher should try to create other situations for role-plays and dialogues; change the context of that tedious role-play in the textbook to another one The teacher may have students change the tone of their voices and dress differently, reinventing the character, while role-playing Another nice technique is to attribute students‟ names to the characters in role-plays and skits 3.2.5 Using visual aids Reading can be daunting if learners are overloaded with new words and complex sentence structures that they not understand This may hinder their overall understanding of the text Well-chosen pictures, cards and other visual aids, as well as realia in general, are usually of great help in this situation Moreover, visual aids can be used to stimulate and draw students‟ attention Multimedia aids using sound colour, and/or animations have an even greater effect to attract and maintain students‟ attention, particularly in large classes where the impersonal situation makes students feel less involved Visual aids should be a support for, not the focus of, your lecture They also should not replace your personal interaction with the students Visuals can be from the coursebook, magazines, by drawing simple pictures or copying from the Internet It is motivating to have students suggest a before and after sequence to the situation illustrated by cartoons or pictures They willingly give their prediction and then read the text or story to check their guess Before taking any kind of 42 visual into the class, we should make sure that a visual item is big enough to be seen, unambiguous unless the ambiguity is deliberate and productive 3.2.6 Large class management * Personalization Personalizing the class may help maintaining good result Teachers may use various methods to give students individual assistance It is important to establish an atmosphere which conveys the professor‟s interest in and accessibility to students and encourages students to participate To this task, it is necessary for the teachers to make the class feel small, to encourage questions and to be available Teachers also need to try to learn students‟ names, to relate lectures and discussions to student experiences, and to pay attentions to individual students * Setting up pair and groupwork It cannot be denied that pairwork and groupwork are very important The time that students spend in English lessons is usually short, they roughly have about 45 minutes during each reading lessons And with large classes, students will not have many chances to talk to the teachers Hence, having opportunities to work in pairs and in groups means that students have more time to talk in English to their peers and/or to teachers, given that the teachers will move around the class to check and to participate with their students in these activities Pairwork and groupwork activities not only give students far more chances to speak in the target language but also encourage them to be more involved and to concentrate on the task assigned When working in pairs or in groups, students will be more self-confidents to take part in learning activities without being afraid of making mistakes or being judged by teachers More importantly, students have psychological space and opportunity to be who they are The followings are use full hints towards managing pairwork and groupwork:  The may ask students to work in mixed-ability groups, in which the more able learners can help the others to master the work so that the teacher need not teach some parts Students may also be asked to work in the same ability groups, in which the teacher can leave the groups of faster learners to get on with the work on their own She or he can give extra help to individual learners in the slower groups 43  Using group leaders or monitors is also helpful when teachers try to manage pair and groupwork  The teachers need to move around the classroom to see what progress learners are making and what problems are coming up to give prompt advice, encouragement and extra individual help where is needed  It is important to monitor time and group size The time allotted must be proportional to the task, but five minutes can be enough to work on a well-defined problem Keeping the time limited also forces groups to focus on their tasks and solve them quickly Group size is also proportional to participation  It is also necessary for the teachers to make specific and concrete instructions If not, group members must try to decide what it is they are supposed to and time is wasted in confusion, complaining and often socializing instead of working on the assigned tasks * Getting attention and participation In order to draw students‟ attention, the teachers are advised to use the following strategies:  Increase eye contact with students  Stimulate and sustain interest in learning materials: the teachers can organize attention-grabbing activities; the teachers can elicit information of the texts from students by using questioning techniques, developing responses from students, relating the texts to students‟ personal world, using prediction, discuss about the characters and using grids and charts; and Games never let the students and teachers down The advantage of educational games is that they motivate a person to perform the work tasks that lead to the development of a particular skill  Create a positive classroom atmosphere: to so the teachers have responsibilities to start and end class on time; treat all students with courtesy and respect; be open to constructive input from students in the course; ensure that opportunities to participate are enjoyed equally by all students in the course  Build rapport with the students and recognize the individuality of each student It is important to appear approachable in large classes The teachers should move among them when talking; Increase students‟ access to them by getting to class 44 early to listen to their questions, comments, or complaints; Begin by inviting students to call out something they know or recall about a topic; Display the responses as an introduction to the day's activities; Address some of the anonymity students feel in large classes; Try to learn some names, and call on those the teachers know by name; Learn something about as many students as possible; Have students complete information cards about themselves career goals, hometown, special skills or interests, expectations for the course, or previous experience with course content; Ask for a few volunteers each day to help with demonstrations and activities and through this process learn some student names; Employ seating charts, take pictures of small groups of students in the classes, or make a videotape containing a brief auto-biographical sketch of each student  Increase students‟ participation by asking for student volunteers to help in teaching or conducting demonstrations, repeating encouragement for students to participate, or increasing the wait time between when a teacher asks a question and gives answers to the question, or asks it in a different way * Giving and checking instructions Giving and checking instructions effectively in a large class are very important In simplistic terms, a teacher‟s instructions may be broken down into organizational and instructional categories Organizational instructions tell the students what they are going to be doing Instructional ones tell the students how to the activity They must be concise, intelligible and relevant And to avoid misunderstanding, it is advisable for teachers to follow some of the following techniques:  ask one group to demonstrate to the class what they are going to next  give one idea at a time  keep instruction brief – by restricting your instruction to a single salient point, it is possible to remain succinct  use key words or phrases – these help to encapsulate a more lengthy explanation in a concise and readily understood and repeatable form  make instruction relevant – to a large extent your instructions will be based on your observation and assessment of the students‟ performance * Having goods assessment 45 The teacher should give feedback regularly and appropriately It is also important that the teacher needs to specify and provide appropriate rewards or punishments for performance and behaviour in the class Three types of rewards can operate in the classroom They will not operate, however, unless attempts are made to make them operate They are:  Instructor rewards – recognition of a good performance verbally or through earning specific points towards a grade  Peer rewards – recognition from peers that the student does a good job This can be done informally or students can be asked to formally give written comments to a peer for some participation activity  Self-rewards – We all evaluate our performances, and the personal satisfaction from a well done job is rewarding For this to operate in the classroom, students need to know what specific participation jobs they must accomplish 46 Part C CONCLUSION Conclusion There is no denying that the ability and skills of reading comprehension play an important role in language acquisition, enriching our general and specialized knowledge, and especially bringing us pleasure Therefore the teaching and learning of English reading skills is of great importance However, there are many problems facing the teaching and learning English reading, especially in a large class which has been the norm for several decades and it will continue for more years ahead With the hope to find out the ways to improve the teaching and learning of reading skill to students at the PPA, the researcher carried out this study She has tried her best to reach what she aimed her study at Chapter – Literature Review – accounts for a variety of linguistic concepts most relevant to the research topic such as definitions of large class, Methods to Effective Teaching in Large classrooms, ELT in Large Classrooms, Reading in ELT and Reading in Large Classrooms Chapter – Practical Research – In this chapter, the author presented the results of the two survey questionnaires designed to find out the problems that teachers and students at the PPA encountered in teaching and learning reading skill in large classes The last chapter – Findings and Recommendations – consists of author‟s findings of the difficulties of the teaching and learning speaking skill at the PPA The difficulties can be grouped into:  Difficulties from teachers‟ side This include time limitation and class management  Difficulties from students‟ side They are students‟ low level of English language proficiency, students‟ low motivation and passive learning style  Objective factors include class size, the lack of time and the lack of teaching aids Another very important part of this chapter is the suggested techniques which help overcome the major difficulties as well as improve the quality of teaching and learning reading skill in large classes at the PPA They are:  Teaching reading strategies  Encouraging extensive reading among students 47  Adapting materials and varying tasks and activities  Using reading games and role-plays  Using visual aids  Large class management Limitations of the study Although the researcher has made efforts toward carrying out this study, due to the limitation of time, lack of resources and the researcher‟s ability, drawbacks are unavoidable As not all the students at the PPA involved in the survey questionnaire, to some extent, the results may not be generalized for all students Also, the researcher only used survey questionnaires as the main instrument for her data collection In order to make the obtained results more reliable, the researcher should apply different instruments for data collection Despite of the unavoidable limitation, the researcher believes that this study is beneficial to the teaching of reading skill in large classes at the PPA and this will result in students‟ progress Suggestions for further studies This study only focuses on the teaching of English reading skill in large classes at the PPA The study has only mentioned a very small part of the issues related to the teaching and learning of reading skill in large classes There are some suggestions for further researches concerning the teaching and learning English at the PPA: - A research on techniques and activities to effectively manage large classes - An action research on the effectiveness of some techniques and activities in teaching English - How teachers are using technology to teach reading in large classes, issues and problems 48 REFERENCES Aronson, R.J (1987) Six keys to effective instruction in large classes: Advice from a practitioner In M Weimer (Ed), New directions for teaching and learning: Teaching large classes well San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Wiley Bailey, K.M and Savage, L (1994) New ways in teaching reading Teachers of English to Speakers of other languages, Inc Brock Wetherly Rogers & Burnette Wolf Hamil (2008) The First Year Teacher in a Critical Needs School: Teaching the Content Area Or Solving Students’ Problems? National forum of teacher education journal, Vol.18, number Burns, P.C., Rose, B.D & Ross, E.P (1998) Teaching Reading in Today’s Elementary Schools, (Fourth Edition), House Miffin Company Boston Cao Xia (2006) How to manage a large class well ELT Journal, Vol III, No.12 (serial No 36) Carbone, Elisa & Greenberg, J (1998) Teaching large classes: Unpacking the problem and responding creatively in Kaplan, Mattew(ed) To improve the academic resourses for falcuty, instructional and organizational development A publication the professional and organizational development Network in higher education Vol 17, p.311-326 Carbone, E (1998) Teaching large classes: Tools and strategies Volume 19 California: SAGE Publications, Inc Conant, J.S (2003) Discussion teaching in large class settings: Teaching tips Great ideas for teaching marketing Carrell, P.L (1981) Culture-specific schemata in L2 reading comprehension In R Orem & J Haskell (EDs), Selected Papers from the ninth Illinois TESOL/BE annual convention and be first Midwest TESOL conference Chicago, 123-132 IL: TESOL/BE 10 Eastman, M (1948) Enjoyment of laughter New York: Simon & Schuster 11 Grellet, Frankse (1983) Developing reading skills: a practical guide to reading comprehension exercises, Cambridge 12 Hayes (1997) Helping teachers to cope with large classes Retrieved June form ELT Journal Volume 51/2 Oxford University Press 49 13 Harmer, J (2001) The practice of English Language Teaching 3rd ed London: Longman 14 Isaacson, R.L., Mckeachie, W.J., and Milholland, J.E (1963) “Correlation of teacher personaliry variables and student ratings” Journal of educational psychology, 54, 110117 15 Islam, R (2001) Reflections on large class teaching – Charles Sturt University 16 Nolasco, Rob, Arthur & Lois (1998) Large classes Macmillan Publishers, p.4-5 17 Konare, B (1994) “Reading comprehension in large classes: A practical classroom procedures”, English teaching forum 18 Richard Watson Todd (2006) The classroom language of larger and smaller classes rEFLections, Vol9_Reflections_Special issues_large classes 19 Sekiwu Denis (2009) Strategies of coping with effective teaching and learning in large classes in Secondary Schools in Kampala District 20 Siberstein, S (1987) Let‟s take another look at reading: Twenty-five years of reading instruction English teaching forum, 25, 4, pp.28-35 21 Smart, G.D (2006) The brighter side of teaching large multilevel classes Cambridge University Press 22 Underwood, Mary (1987) Effective class management: A practical approach, London, New York 23 Ur, P (1998) A course in language teaching: practice and theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 24 Wangsa, O (2004) An Investigation of the relative effectiveness of reading and speaking vs listening and speaking in large classroom in China University of Surrey 25 Wulff, D.H., Nyquist & Abbott, R.D (1987) Students‟ perceptions of large classes in M, G Weimer Teaching large classes well San Francisco; Jossey Bass, 1987, p.26 50 APPENDICES Appendix SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS This survey is intended for our study “A study on the techniques for teaching reading skill to large classes at the People’s Police Academy” Your assistance in completing this questionnaire is highly appreciated All the information you give will be used for the research purpose only How long have you been teaching English? _ years You are teaching English classes with the numbers of students: a 10 – 15 students b 20 – 25 students c 30 – 35 students d 35 – 40 students e more than 40 students Which English language skill your students use most frequently in their future job? a Listening c Reading b Speaking d Writing What difficulties you have with your reading classes? (more than one options are accepted) a Feeling out of control and trapped by the problems of classroom management b Being frustrated by the huge amount of written work c Creating effective learning for all, finding suitable materials d Activating all students, especially, silent or weak ones e Others: ……………………………………………………………………………… What you often in your large reading classes? 51 Solutions Personalization a Showing personal interest in students (remember, use students‟ names, encourage them to talk about themselves and about the topics that concern them) b treating all respectfully, fairly c being humorous, enthusiastic, considerate, caring Activities d varying activities and tasks e setting up a clear goal for students to read f Asking students to tasks in a set time g encouraging pair/groupwork (discussion, debate, news casting) h using visual aids (pictures, maps, mimes) i using reading games k using music, songs l using newspapers, stories m stimulating students‟ imagination, prediction n activating students‟ background knowledge o developing efficient reading strategies p role-play q asking students to correct given summary r creating a quiz on the reading content s encouraging extensive reading among students Material adapting and supplementing t making reading tasks more interesting and suitable to the students‟ level, interests u providing fun, colourful texts from magazine, newspaper, book, self-designing tasks Assessment v giving feedback regularly and appropriately x applying rewards and punishment policy Thank you for your cooperation 52 Appendix SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS This survey is intended for our study “A study on the techniques for teaching reading skill to large classes at the People’s Police Academy” Your assistance in completing this questionnaire is highly appreciated All the information you give will be used for the research purpose only Which English language skill you use most frequently in the future job? a Listening b Speaking c Reading d Writing How you find the reading texts in your textbook “Lifelines-Elementary”? 2.1 Level of language difficulty: a too easy b too difficult c right level of difficulty 2.2 Topics: a interesting b adequate c boring d unfamiliar Do the activities/tasks in reading session encourage you to learn reading? a yes b no During a classroom reading lesson, you have a chance to practice writing, listening, and speaking skills besides reading skill through the reading tasks given in the textbook? a usually b sometimes c seldom d never How often you participate in reading lessons? a very often b often c sometimes d rarely e never If you choose c, d, e, please specify the reasons why you not participate in reading lessons by ticking the appropriate letters (You can tick more than one) a Your vocabulary is poor b You lack of some necessary grammar structures c You don‟t know how to express your ideas 53 d You lack of some background knowledge e It is not a must for you to participate f The ways teachers monitor the activities were not appropriate g Uninteresting, unfamiliar and too difficult topics which are inappropriate to your level of English h The class is too large so groups are usually too big i The class is too large so it is too noisy for practicing reading j The class is too large so teacher could not monitor activities k The class is too large so the teacher could not give sufficient feedback l The class is too large so you feel not get sufficient individual care m There are many other students in class and you will not be called upon n The teacher‟s instructions are not helpful o Others: ……………………………………………………………………………… Do you want to learn in a class which has: a 10 – 15 students b 20 – 25 students c 30 – 35 students d 35 – 40 students e more than 40 students What you think are advantages of large classes? a large classes are the best places to meet with other students b there is more variety of people to communicate with, to compare notes, to have fun and to form groups together c you may work by yourself because the large class gives you a feeling of independence d you can share many different ideas and interesting life experiences e you can discuss and learn from each other f you can learn to share responsibility and help each others g Other(s), please specify ……………………………………………………………… What you think are disadvantages of large classes? a little chance for teachers to check your individual performance b little time for you to express your ideas c lack of teachers-students interaction d noise and distraction prevent you from paying attention to the lessons 54 e decreasing motivation (especially to lazy students) f Other(s) (please specify) …………………………………………………………… 10 In reading sessions, you prefer your teacher: Activities Personalization a Showing personal interest in students (remember, use students‟ names, encourage them to talk about themselves and about the topics that concern them) b treating all respectfully, fairly c being humorous, enthusiastic, considerate, caring Activities d varying activities and tasks e setting up a clear goal for you to read f asking you to tasks within a set time g encouraging pair/groupwork (discussion, debate, news casting) h using visual aids (pictures, maps, mimes) i using reading games k using music, songs l using newspapers, stories m stimulating students‟ imagination, prediction n activating students‟ background knowledge o developing efficient reading strategies p role-play q asking students to correct given summary r creating a quiz on the reading content s encouraging extensive reading among students Material adapting and supplementing t making reading tasks more interesting and suitable to the students‟ level, interests u providing fun, colourful texts from magazine, newspaper, book, self-designing tasks Assessment 55 v giving feedback regularly and appropriately x applying rewards and punishment policy Thank you for your cooperation ... English reading skill in large classes at the PPA The study has only mentioned a very small part of the issues related to the teaching and learning of reading skill in large classes There are some... let the students and teachers down The advantage of educational games is that they motivate a person to perform the work tasks that lead to the development of a particular skill  Create a positive... 2001:5) There are many types of reading such as reading for survival, reading for learning and reading for pleasure Reading for survival is any reading that response to our environment, such as reading