An investigation into the reading strategies used by grade 10 students at Lê Viết Tạo High School = Nghiên cứu các chiến lược đọc hiểu Tiếng Anh của học sinh lớ

On the basis of the information obtained from teachers and students‟ perceived use of English reading strategies, suggestions on how to improve English reading for grade 10 students at L

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

Nghiên cứu các chiến lược đọc hiểu của học sinh lớp 10 trường

trung học phổ thông Lê Viết Tạo

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

Hanoi, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

Nghiên cứu các chiến lược đọc hiểu của học sinh lớp 10 trường

trung học phổ thông Lê Viết Tạo

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: TÔ THỊ THU HƯƠNG, PhD

Hanoi, 2014

DECLARATION

I hereby state that I - Đinh Thị Thu Hiền, being an M.A candidate of the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, ULIS, VNU, certify my authorship of the study entitled:

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE READING STRATEGIES USED

BY GRADE 10 STUDENTS AT LÊ VIẾT TẠO HIGH SCHOOL

The thesis is the study of my own research and the substance of the thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to any other universities or institutions

Hanoi, August, 2014

Đinh Thị Thu Hiền

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude and love to my supervisor, Dr Tô Thị Thu Hương for her guidance, comments, and especially her encouragement throughout the whole research process

I am also grateful to all teachers at the Postgraduate Department, ULIS, VNU, whose lectures and guidance have contributed to my understanding of the problem and led to the completion of this thesis My words of thanks would also go

to the teachers who will spend their time reading and commenting on this thesis

Especially, I wish to express my appreciation to my students grade 10 and English teachers at Lê Viết Tạo High School, who have been really helpful and cooperative in the implementation of the study

Last but not least, I would also like to take this opportunity to send my love

to my family who have been encouraging and supporting me wholeheartedly

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the perceived reading strategies by grade 10 students

at Lê Viết Tạo High School in replication of the study conducted by Mebratu Mulatu Bachore (2014) The population of the study comprised 180 grade ten students and three English teachers at Lê Viết Tạo High School The data were obtained through not only students' questionaire consisting of 30 items probing three categories: Meta cognitive, cognitive and Affective/social reading strategies but also teachers‟ interviews

On the basis of the information obtained from teachers and students‟ perceived use of English reading strategies, suggestions on how to improve English

reading for grade 10 students at Lê Viết Tạo High School are made

LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Planning and evaluating strategies

Table 2: Strategies of monitoring and tackling challenges of comprehension Table 3: Strategies of extracting and working on ideas from a text

Table 4: Strategies of using noting features and supplementary aids

Table 5: Guessing and deciding on ideas from a text

Table 6: Social/ Affective reading strategies

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

 EFL: English as a foreign language

 ESL: English as a second language

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF TABLES iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale for the study 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 The research questions 2

4 Significance of the study 2

5 Scope of the study 3

6 Method of the study 3

7 Organization of the thesis 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 Definition of reading 4

1.2 Reading process 5

1.2.1 Interactive model 5

1.3 The importance of reading in foreign language learning 6

1.4 Factors involved in reading comprehension 7

1.4.1.Teacher‟s role 7

1.4.2 Students‟ role 8

1.4.3 The reading texts 8

1.5 Reading strategies 9

1.5.1 O‟Malley and Chamot‟s (1990) language learning strategies 9

1.5.2 Classification of Language Learning Strategies 9

1.5.3 The importance of strategies in the learning process 10

1.5.4 Reading strategies in teaching second language reading 11

1.5.4.1 Definition of reading strategies 11

1.5.4.2 Classification of Reading Strategies 12

1.5 Studies on reading strategies 15

1.6 Summary 16

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 17

2.0 Mebratu Mulatu Bachore‟s (2014) study 17

2.1 Participants 17

2.1.1 Teachers of English 17

2.1.2 The 10th – form students 18

2.2 Data collection instruments 18

2.2.1 The questionnaire for the students 18

2.2.2 The structured interview for teachers 19

2.3 Data collection procedures 19

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 20

3.1 Data analysis 20

3.1.1 Questionnaire for the students 20

3.1.2 Interview 31

3.2 Discussion 33

PART C: CONCLUSION 37

1 Summary 37

2 Limitations and suggestions for further study 37

LIST OF REFERENCES 39 APPENDICES I APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 VI APPENDIX 3 VII

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

To have a good command of English, students are required to master four closely related language skills, namely listening, speaking, writing, and reading Among four skills, reading is considered to be the most important because it not only provides students with knowledge but also helps develop other language skills According to Krashen (1993), reading is extremely important in learning English

He emphasizes reading is the only way to “become a good reader, develop a good writing style, an adequate vocabulary, advanced grammar”, and the only way to

“become a good speller” That is to say, teaching and learning reading effectively is

a central issue in a language classroom

Traditionally, researchers have agreed that reading was a passive or receptive process in which the reader attempted to decode the intended meaning of the author through recognizing the letters and words as meaningful units, the reader was merely a recipient of information from the printed pages and brought nothing to the text ( Barnett, 1988) However, modern research on reading has found the reading

process active rather than passive as well as individualized and complicated

Many studies such as “Teaching How To Learn- Learning Strategies in ESL” (Willing, 1989), “Teaching Second Language Reading” (Hudson, 2007), “New Ways in Teaching Reading” (Day, 1993) and Reading Through Context: How Real and Perceived Strategy Use Affects L2 Comprehension (Barnett, 1988) have indicated that the use of appropriate strategies may improve reading comprehension

My teaching experiences at Lê Viết Tạo High School have pointed out some

problems students encounter in English reading lessons When dealing with reading lessons, students, especially grade 10 students often lack reading strategies which are essential for them to overcome the challenges in the classroom Many researchers indicate that EFL students find it difficult to comprehend the texts and achieve their goal of reading success (Rumelhart, 1977; Stanovic, 1980) Recent researchers have also found that becoming more aware of what readers do when

they read, becoming conscious of their own reading processes is a power tool for improving reading efficiency To become better readers, students need to become aware of how they are reading and what they could do to improve it

As a teacher of English, I myself think that it is essential to conduct a research on reading strategies used by grade 10 as well as to provide them with some efficient strategies to improve their English reading As a result, I decide to

choose the thesis entitled: “An investigation into the reading strategies used by grade 10 students at Lê Viết Tạo High School” for my MA Degree

2 Aims of the study

The major purposes of this study are:

* To investigate what English reading strategies being used by grade 10 students at Lê Viết Tạo High School

* to suggest some English reading suggestions that help students improve their English reading comprehension

3 The research questions

1 What English reading strategies are often used by grade 10 students at Lê

Viết Tạo High School?

2 What effective English reading suggestions could be suggested to help 10th

- grade students at Lê Viết Tạo High School improve their reading comprehension?

4 Significance of the study

This study has been carried out to search for a better and more effective way

to develop students‟ reading skills Its findings hopefully would help the 10th-form students find out the suitable way for improving their reading skills Regarding teachers, the study would raise their awareness concerning the topic and provide them with useful pedagogical suggestions in deciding to use the new teaching method to better develop their learners‟ reading skills Finally, with regard to researchers, those who happen to share the same interest in the topic could certainly rely on this research to find reliable and useful information for their related studies

in the future

5 Scope of the study

To improve reading (skills and comprehension) for Lê Viết Tạo High School 10th – form students, the teachers can make use of various techniques and a number

of things should be done However, in this study, the author only focuses on the perceived English reading strategies by the 10th – form students and opinions of English teachers of Lê Viết Tạo High School to suggest some reading strategies that can be applied in teaching and learning English reading so as to help the students to become effective readers

6 Method of the study

To achieve the aims mentioned above, data were collected through the survey questionnaire and interviews Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to obtain information on reading strategies used by 10th – form students

7 Organization of the thesis

The study is divided into three parts: part A: Introduction, part B: Development and part C: Conclusion

Part A: Introduction consists of the rationale, aims and objectives, significance, scope, method and organization of the study

Part B: Development consists of three chapters Chapter 1 (Review of literature) provides the theoretical background of the study Chapter 2

(Methodology) describes Mebratu Mulatu Bachore‟s (2014) study, the participants,

data collection instrument/ procedures Chapter 3 (Results of data analysis and discussion) offers some major findings, some suggestions for improving students‟ reading

Part C: Conclusion consists of conclusions, the limitations and suggestions for further study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter briefly discusses the theoretical background related to the study Review of aspects of reading in foreign language relevant to the study will be

included in: Definition of reading, reading models, the importance of reading in

foreign language learning, factors in teaching and learning reading, reading strategies and summary

1.1 Definition of reading

For English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) students, reading is an essential skill to master There are numerous definitions of reading which range from simple to complex ones, from readers‟ passive role to their active one Anderson (1999: 1) confirms that “the more exposure student has to language through reading, the greater the possibilities that overall language proficiency will increase” Anderson (1999:1) defines reading as “an active, fluent process which involves the reader and the reading material in building meaning” Aebersold & Field (1997:15) share the same view on reading as “reading is what happens when

a text is looked at and meaning is assigned to the written symbols in that text The text and the reader are the two physical entities necessary for reading process to begin It is, however, the interaction between the text and the reader that constitutes the actual meaning” Goodman (1971: 135) regards reading as “a psycholinguistic process by which the reader, a language user, reconstructs, as best as he can, a

message encoded by a writer as a graphic display” Rumelhart (1977) also considers

reading involving the reader, the text and the interaction between the reader and the text Reading is not just extracting meaning from a text but a process of connecting information in the text with the knowledge the reader brings to the act of reading It

is seen as an active cognitive process in which the reader‟s background knowledge plays a key role in the creation of meaning (Tierney and Pearson 1994) Reading is

an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in

comprehension The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode meaning The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine what that meaning is Reading can also be defined as “a fluent process of readers combining information from a text and their own background knowledge to build meaning The goal of reading is comprehension…The text, the reader, fluency, and strategies combined together define the act of reading” (Anderson, 2003: 68)

In short, each author defines reading from different perspectives However, most of the definitions reveal some common features, that is, the close relationship between reading and understanding; and the reading process which involves the reader, the text, and the interaction between the reader and the text.Therefore, being

a language teacher, we must understand the nature of reading thoroughly to help our students read effectively

1.2 Reading Models

Reading researchers, in the last 40 years, have been studying the link between the reading process (what goes on in the mind of the reader) and how to teach reading Although there are many models of reading, reading researchers tend

to classify them into three kinds: Bottom-up, Top-down and Interactive For the purpose as well as the limitations of both bottom-up and top-down models, the study only refers to the Interactive model

1.2.1 Interactive model

Interactive model is currently accepted as the most comprehensive description of the reading process Grabe (1991: 378, cited in Aebersold & Field 1997:18) focuses on two conceptions of interactive approaches The former relates

to the interaction that occurs between the reader and the text The latter relates to the interaction between bottom-up and top-down processes They are occurring, either alternatively or at the same time, which depend on the type of text, the reader‟s background knowledge, language proficiency level

Interactive model combines elements of both bottom-up and top-down models Murtagh (1989:102, cited in Anderson, 1999:3) stresses that the best second language readers are those who can “efficiently integrate” both bottom-up and top-down processes

While reading, in order to check whether that is really what the writer says, a reader continually shifts from one focus to another, now adopting a top-down approach to predict the probable meaning, then moving to the bottom-up approach(Nuttan, 1996: 17) Successful reading requires skill not only in top-down but also in bottom-up processing (Silberstein, 1993: 8) With the same opinion, when Anderson (1993: 3) observed his students in the reading class and reflected on these three models “I can see that an interactive model is the best description of what happens when we read”

An interactive model supports the idea that good readers use both processes, top-down and bottom-up, when they encounter text in order to comprehend Grabe (1991: 378) illustrates this nicely when he points out that: reading is interactive, firstly, the reader makes use of information from his/her background knowledge as well as information from printed page Secondly, in the sense that many skills work together simultaneously in the process

To sum up, interactive model is the best one that can truly reflect the reading process that takes place in reader‟s mind In this process the reader constantly shuttles between bottom-up and top-down processes without which he can not be successful in reading comprehension Interactive model can maximize the strengths and minimizes the weaknesses of both bottom-up and top-down models

1.3 The importance of reading in foreign language learning

Reading helps readers:

- To improve pronunciation

Reading aloud helps learners learn better, especially pronunciation Whisper reading can help learners understand the conceptual information and inspire their imagination as well as guessing Both types of reading are very useful for learners Determining when we should use intensive and extensive or combination of both is

really important

- To enrich vocabulary

Through reading, readers gain a vast vocabulary and essential knowledge, structures of individual sentence as well as a piece of writing Therefore, the best way to acquire a large vocabulary is to read It is understandable that anyone who

has a large vocabulary is usually a good reader

- To enhance the writing skill

Reading and writing are the mutual interactive skills There is a close relationship between reading and writing format The more they read, the better

their writing ability is and the more skillful in using words in writing is

- To continuously update knowledge

Reading helps the readers to stay in-touch with contemporary information and makes them sensitive to global issues and helps them catch in hand what is

going on around them

1.4 Factors in teaching and learning reading

1.4.1 Teacher’s role

Many linguists state that the teacher is the most important factor in teaching reading In a reading class, the teacher plays so many roles, such as an organizer, a manager and a counselor, an instructional expert, so he or she should be a guide to assist, encourage them, employ various types to support the students develop reading skills He or she is also the person who provides the students with an anxiety-free atmosphere which helps them feel free to join new reading style, practise to master new strategies, work under pressure of time

Besides, linguists point out an essential element of the teacher‟s role-a model reader According to Nuttall (1982: 192) “showing that you are a reader means carrying books around with you, referring to books as you teach, reading out brief passages that may interest students, talking about what you are reading at the moment, and handling books as if you loved them” He also states that “teacher‟s job as providing, first, suitable texts and second, activities that will focus the students‟ attention on the texts”

- Taking risks: Students have to take the risk of making mistakes because a mistake is an opportunity to learn

- Learning not to cheat oneself: Learning to read is learning to give students enormous advantages in life It may lead to better jobs, to personal development, interest and enjoyment Students who do not want to learn to read can easily cheat but they are only cheating themselves

1.4.3 The reading texts

Reading texts play a crucial role in teaching and learning reading because through them, new grammar, phonetic and lexical items of the target language are

introduced Furthermore, texts are also a means to help students enrich their background knowledge and vocabulary as well In reading lessons, students are supposed to understand the texts correctly as much as possible, learn some new language items e.g words, structures, and use what they have got from the text through reading tasks and communication activities that follow Therefore, in teaching reading, the teacher should pay much attention to the following aspects such as language content, vocabulary and grammatical structures, types of reading activities, though it is not simple things to do as Buck, G (2001) points out because

it takes time, effort and expertise

1.5 Reading Strategies

1.5.1 O’Malley and Chamot’s (1990) language learning strategies

Reading strategies are, in fact, parts of language learning strategies According to O‟Malley and Chamot (1990:1), language learning strategies are “the special thoughts or behaviors that individuals use to help them comprehend, learn or retain new information.” This definition has been widely accepted Though short, it covers the most important characteristics of language learning strategies, both behavioral and mental (therefore, both observable and unobservable), and individually characterized (learners‟ strategies are different)

In fact, there is hardly any definition that can work in all contexts Because

of the comprehensive features of the definition by O‟Malley & Chamot (1990), the present study utilizes it as the key direction in its investigation

1.5.2 Classification of Language Learning Strategies

If there has not been common agreement on the definition of learning strategies, the same can be said of their classification Language learning strategies have been classified in a number of ways

Rubin (1981 cited in O‟Malley and Chamot 1990: 5) identified two groups of learning strategies The first one consisting of strategies that directly affect learning:

clarification/verification, monitoring, memorization, guessing/inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning and practice The second one including strategies that contribute indirectly to learning: creating opportunities for practice and production tricks

Oxford (1990: 16 - 22) classifies second language learning strategies into two major classes: Direct Strategies (strategies which directly involve the subject matter) and Indirect Strategies (strategies which do not directly involve the subject matter itself, but are essential to language learning) Direct Strategies are classified into memory strategies; cognitive strategies; and compensation strategies Indirect strategies include metacognitive strategies; affective strategies; and social strategies

In O‟Malley and Chamot‟s framework, there are three major types of language learning strategies named metacognitive, cognitive and social/ affective

In comparison with Rubin‟s and Oxford‟s classification, this framework is far less complicated but sufficient and applicable to learning strategy studies on the four language skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing Therefore, the current study will adopt O‟Malley and Chamot‟s (1990) classification of learning strategies

as the theoretical framework for investigation (see Appendix 1)

1.5.3 The importance of strategies in the learning process

Researchers agree that language learning strategies play an important role in learning a second language because they can enable students to become more independent, autonomous, lifelong learners (Allwright, 1990; Little, 1991 as cited in Oxford, 2003: 9) With appropriate language learning strategies, students are freer

to act, to make their own decision and able to learn continuously and permanently Besides, effective second language/ foreign language learners are aware of the language learning strategies they use and why they use them (O'Malley and Chamot, 1990)

Oxford also gives her own evaluation on learning strategies based on two reasons Firstly, for language learning strategies are especially important because

they are tools for active, self-directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence Secondly, having developed appropriate learning strategies learners have greater self- confidence and learn more effectively (Oxford, 1990: 1) In her opinion, language learning strategies:

- contribute to the main goal, communicative competence

- allow learners to become more self-directed

- expand the role of teachers

- are problem-oriented

- are specific actions taken by the learners

- involve many actions taken by the learner, not just the cognitive

- support learning both directly and indirectly

- are not always observable

- are often conscious

- can be taught

- are flexible

- are influence by a variety of factors (Oxford 1990: 9)

1.5.4 Reading strategies in teaching second language reading

1.5.4.1 Definition of reading strategies

Reading strategies are the comprehension processes used by readers to make sense of what they read Using reading strategies can be of great help to non-native readers because it may serve as an effective way of overcoming language deficiency and obtaining better reading achievement both for regular school assignments and

on language proficiency tests (Zhang, 1992) In other words, readers utilize reading strategies to accomplish the reading skills such as understanding main ideas, making inferences, predicting outcomes and guessing vocabulary from the context

(Anderson, 1999:1) Anderson introduces six strategies when teaching an ESL/EFL reading class: 1 Activate prior knowledge 2 Cultivate vocabulary 3 Teach for comprehension 4 Increase reading rate 5 Verify reading strategies 6 Evaluate progress (Anderson, 1999:4)

Many researchers such as Anderson (1999), Brantmeier (2002) and Brown (2001) define the similarities in categories reading strategies They emphasize the role of prior knowledge in reading and introduced skimming, scanning and guessing

as effective strategies in reading

According to Barnett (1988), reading strategies are the comprehension processes, “This process may involve skimming, scanning, predicting, activating general knowledge, making inferences, following references, and separating main ideas from supporting ideas” (cited in Brantmeier 2002:1)

Furthermore, for most second language learners who are already literate in a previous language, reading strategies can consist of : 1 identifying the purpose in reading; 2 using graphemic rules and patterns to aid in bottom-up decoding; 3 using efficient silent reading techniques for relatively rapid comprehension; 4 skimming the text for the main ideas; 5 scanning the text for specific information;

6 using semantic mapping or clustering; 7 guessing when you aren‟t certain; 8 analyzing vocabulary; 9 distinguishing between literal and implied meaning; 10 capitalizing on discourse makers to process relationships (Brown 2001: 306-310)

In Brown‟s opinion, each of the above ten strategies can be practically applied to classroom teaching

Finally, these strategies are considered to be effective as they help learners enhance their reading ability

1.5.4.2 Classification of Reading Strategies

Scholars classified reading strategies in various ways The differences can be observed only on the way they express the concept For example, Rubin (1987) and O‟Malley and Chamot (1990) grouped the strategies into three clusters: learning

strategies, communication strategies and social strategies On the other hand, the difference that we see in Cohen‟s (1996) classification is that he named the

communication and social strategies as use strategies

In the literature on language learning strategies at the end of the 20th and at the beginning of the 21st centrury, reading strategies are grouped into three categories These are meta cognitive, cognitive and social or affective strategies

(O‟ Malley and Chamot, 1990), Oxford (1990; 2002)

- Meta Cognitive reading strategies

This strategy involves the general management of the course and the outcomes of the cognitive process, like planning for the process, controlling or monitoring the process and checking or evaluating the achievement of the specific

task goal

To be specific, it constitutes three sub- strategies in which there are more

activities to be performed by the reader

- Planning: which involves identifying the nature of the task, clarifying the

purpose, setting goals and organizing

- Monitoring: which requires controlling the degree of understanding, tolerating ambiguity and disruption, monitoring the effectiveness of the strategy being used and changing (modifying) ineffective strategy, adjusting the reading

speed and making selective attention?

- Evaluation: which requires checking whether the goals are being achieved

or not, testing comprehension and testing concentration or attention

- Cognitive reading strategies

Cognitive reading strategies are cognitive activities or processes that the reader executes in his attempt to construct the meaning out of a text These include both the bottom up processing, when the reader focuses on the analysis of linguistic features, and the top down processing, when the reader focuses on sampling and

predicting, testing the prediction, getting the gist, making inference, etc using

available resources to guess or complete the missing information

In general, the specific sub strategies included cognitive strategies are listed

as follows:

- Over viewing: reading headings, sub headings and summaries

- Predicting: anticipating what the passage is about

- Scanning: reading quickly to get the specific points

- Skimming: reading quickly to get the general idea of the passage

- Confirm/reject: checking whether the anticipation is right or wrong

- Activating prior knowledge: relating the content to one‟s prior knowledge

and identifying the main ideas and the details

- Recognizing text organization: understanding the coherence and the

cohesion between paragraphs and parts and understand reference

- Visualization: forming mental picture of ideas in the parts of the passage

- Problem solving: rereading, keep on reading to clear ambiguity, guessing meaning of words from the context, using affixes to guess the meaning of the new words, skipping the unknown word (but less important word), using dictionary and

verbalizing the word or the phrase

- Taking notes: writing notes on the edge of the paper using personal

abbreviations

- Summarizing: writing summary of the text

- Underlining/highlighting: underlining the parts needed to be remembered

- Using cognates: using cognates in L1 and L2 to facilitate understanding and

translate words/ phrases/ sentences into L1

- Reacting to the text: questioning the truthfulness and the relevance of the idea

- Making inferences: inferring the less explicitly stated idea of the writer

using the context and the prior knowledge

- Referencing: making anaphoric and cataphoric references and using tables,

pictures and charts

- Social (Affective) reading strategies

The main features of these strategies are co- operation or working with peers, and creating motivational and mental readiness for a task Affective reading strategies are techniques for managing emotions, feelings and motivations It involves relaxing oneself and making positive statement about the task and one‟s ability (Chamot, 1990) These strategies are applicable to all learning activities, but

less directly than the cognitive and meta cognitive ones The sub strategies of the social/ affective strategies are:

- Working with peers: seek opportunities to work with peers and asking

1.5.5 Studies on reading strategies

There have been many studies on reading strategies used by EFL/ESL students but the most recent and relevant to the present study is by Mebratu Mulatu Bachore‟s (2014) titled “An Investigation on the Reading Strategy Use Differences

in EFL Classroom: The case of Secondary School Learners” Bachore (2014) used students‟ questionnaire that “contains 30 questions of reading strategies which particularly assess the learners experience in using them during reading session.….grouped into three categories: Meta cognitive, Cognitive and Affective/ social reading strategies.” 4 EFL teachers were observed for “two consecutive periods conducting reading lessons The duration of one period is 40 minutes” using

an observation checklist

The study concluded that:

Though there was variability among students in strategy use, the study clearly showed that the students were not properly trained to use reading strategies Thus, the learners were using limited number of reading strategies during the lesson Even, they were not familiar with some of the strategies at all In addition, when we compare the strategy use, in comparison with the meta cognitive reading strategies, cognitive reading strategies were being used in a better way But, it is not satisfactory The students were using affective strategies in a satisfactory level Hence, EFL learners should be encouraged to practice the experience of using the strategy with different kinds of reading texts Basically, learners should be given explicit instruction on the cognitive strategies and have conducive environment to practice them through various activities

1.6 Summary

The chapter has so far presented the relevant literature, which has helped to form the theoretical and conceptual framework for the study It has discussed different aspects related to the macro skill of reading and reading strategies What is more, the importance of teaching reading in the second language classroom and factors important in teaching and learning reading have been reviewed The following chapter will present the methodology of the research under the light of the above -mentioned theories, replicating in some way the study of Mebratu

Mulatu Bachore‟s (2014)

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, Mebratu Mulatu Bachore‟s (2014) study, participants, data collection procedures, data collection instruments used in the present study are presented

2.0 Mebratu Mulatu Bachore’s (2014) study

In an attempt to replicate Mebratu Mulatu Bachore‟s (2014) study, the present study used the students‟ questionnaire in that study to collect data from students on their perceived use of reading strategies in their learning of English reading both inside and outside the classroom The questionnaire comprises 30 questions of reading strategies grouped into three categories: Meta cognitive, Cognitive and Affective/ social reading strategies (see Appendix 1) Due to lack of consent to have their reading lessons observed from the classroom teachers as well

as the slightly different research objectives, the current study used teachers interview as a substitute (see Appendix 2)

2.1 Participants

2.1.1 Teachers of English

At Lê Viết Tạo High School, there are totally 7 English teachers, aged from

28 to 38 Two graduated from University of Languages and International Study -

Hanoi, National University, Vietnam Only one graduated from Vinh University The others graduated from Hong Duc University The number of female teachers

formed the majority (5 female teachers and only two male teachers) All of them are

very young so they are very enthusiastic with their career and had at least eight years of experience in teaching English But only 3 of 7 teachers of English ( two female and one male) who agreed to take part in answering interview

However, in terms of methodology, the teachers in our school usually employ the traditional methods of teaching, especially the Grammar-translation method They often apply this method in teaching English In other words, they

focus on analyzing the grammar rules, not on the acquisition of language skills.They spend most of classroom time explaining new words, analyzing grammar structures and translating texts into Vietnamese Students often listen and take notes passively This leads to low motivation in students and creates very few chances for them to improve their communicative competence

2.1.2 The 10th -form students

The subjects of the study were 180 students coming from four different 10

form classes at Lê Viết Tạo High School All of them were born in 1998, and they are both male, and female Most of them have already learned English for at least

four years at lower secondary school but many of them are at low level of English proficiency Another fact is that all of the students are from rural areas in Hoằng Hóa province Consequently, individual differences in learning styles, identities, attitudes, motivation, etc are unavoidable and may cause the teachers some problems during their teaching

In addition, their lack of awareness of the importance of English as well as motivation make them not interested in learning English Although most of them have already learnt English for at least four years, their knowledge of English is still poor and limited

2.2 Data collection instruments

The present study utilized both quantitative and qualitative methods including questionnaires and interviews

2.2.1 The questionnaire for students

The questionnaire for students was taken from Mebratu Mulatu Bachore‟s (2014) study and is divided into two parts The first part requires the students to give information about their ages, genders and their self-evaluated English proficiency levels The second part contained 30 questions that mainly focused on investigating the reading strategies they could be using More specifically, they

were asked to indicate the frequency they use various reading strategies in and out

of their classes The questionnaire contained a list of reading strategies which

readers often exploit to comprehend an English text (see Appendix 1)

2.2.2 The structured interview for teachers

The checklist for structured interview for teachers consists of two parts The first part elicits their ages and genders The next part which contained 8 questions (Appendix 2) aims to investigate the teachers‟ attitude toward the importance of teaching reading at school, the teachers‟ teaching reading strategies in an English reading lesson and the teachers‟ difficulties when teaching reading This minor source of information was used to validate information from students‟ questionnaires and to help form suggestions for the study

2.3 Data collection procedures

The copies of the questionnaire were delivered to 180 students from 4 different 10th classes in Lê Viết Tạo High School during their last English classes of the second term And the researcher herself delivered the copies to participants Before the participants answered the questions, all of them had been informed in Vietnamese about the purposes of the questionnaire and how to answer all the questions so that they were clear about what and how they would to do When the students were writing their answers, the researcher was there with them to give any explanation if necessary About 40 minutes later, the questionnaires were collected

by the researcher herself

The 3 teachers of English who agreed to take part in the study were interviewed using a structured checklist (see Appendix 2)

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In this part, the collected data are presented by means of tables via descriptive statistics of parentages Each table is followed by an analysis of the data and their discussion

3.1 Data analysis

3.1.1 Questionnaire for the students

The data show that all the students aged 16; 98 students are female (54.4%),

82 students are male (45.6%) The percentage of the students rated themselves good

at English was 22.2% (40 students), 90 students (accounting for 50%) considered themselves at average level of English 50 students (27.8%) rated themselves weak

at English None of them rated excellent level The second part of the questionnaire contains 30 questions which particularly probe the learners‟ experience in using reading strategies during reading lessons Furthermore, these questions are grouped into three categories: Meta cognitive, Cognitive and Affective/ social reading strategies Thus, the responses are tabulated accordingly via descriptive statistics of percentages

3.1.1.1 Meta cognitive reading strategy

Table 1: Planning and evaluating strategies

1 How often do you have a purpose in

your mind when you read?

13.9 11.1 30.6 23.3 21.1 100

2 How often do you think about

whether the content of the text fits

your reading purpose?

5.5 10.6 33.4 33.8 16.7 100