Effectiveness of guessing meaning from context in improving students' word-attack skills at University of Labor and Social Affairs = Hiệu quả của việc đoán từ t

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies ĐÀM LAN HƯƠNG EFFECTIVENESS OF GUESSING MEANING FROM CONTEXT IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ WORD-ATTACK SKILLS AT UNIVERSTITY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS (Hiệu việc đoán từ theo ngữ cảnh nhằm nâng cao kỹ xử lý từ sinh viên trường Đại học Lao động Xã hội) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 HANOI - 2009 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies ĐÀM LAN HƯƠNG EFFECTIVENESS OF GUESSING MEANING FROM CONTEXT IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ WORD-ATTACK SKILLS AT UNIVERSTITY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS (Hiệu việc đoán từ theo ngữ cảnh nhằm nâng cao kỹ xử lý từ sinh viên trường Đại học Lao động Xã hội) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Nguyễn Huyền Minh, M.A HANOI - 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.3 Purposes of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Design of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 What is reading? 2.1.1 Definition of reading 2.1.2 Types of reading 2.2 Learning strategies 2.3 Reading strategies 2.3.1 Definition of reading strategies 2.3.2 Classification of reading strategies 2.3.3 Effect of reading strategies on reading comprehension 2.4 The strategy of guessing meaning from context 2.4.1 What is context? 2.4.2 What is guessing from context? 2.4.3 Factors affecting students’ success in guessing meaning from context 2.4.4 Approaches to teaching of guessing strategy 2.4.5 Review of related studies CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS 3.1 The setting of the study 3.2 Subjects 3.3 Instruments 3.3.1 Questionnaires 3.3.2 Pre-test and post-test 3.3.3 Interviews 3.3.4 Observations 3.4 Materials and the instruction programme 3.5 Procedure of the study CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Findings 3.4.1 Pre-test and post-test results 3.4.2 Questionnaire results 3.4.3 Interview results 3.4.4 Observation results 4.2 Discussion CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION REFERENCES APPENDICES LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language ESP: English for Specific Purpose L1: First Language ULSA: University of Labor and Social Affairs LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Results of pre-test and post-test Table 2: Students’ attitudes towards reading comprehension and the strategy of guessing meaning from context Table 3: Students’ opinions on the effectiveness of the programme Table 4: Overall students’ guessing strategies for two passages Table 5: Low level group’s guessing strategies Table 6: Intermediate level group’s guessing strategies Table 7: High level group’s guessing strategies CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter provides an overview on the background of the study, the statement of problem, a brief of the purpose of study, methodology of the study, followed by an overview of forthcoming chapters 1.1 Background to the study Since 1986 when the Vietnamese government implemented open door policy, English has gained more significance and been considered as an important tool for Vietnam‟s integration into global world Thus, the government has paid more and more attention to the teaching and learning of English at schools, colleges and universities English has rapidly become the most popular second language among Vietnamese people It is a tool for getting access to information from different sources including scientific and literary books and journals as well as the internet websites in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, which helps to bring them opportunities to enrich their knowledge in particular and to improve their future prospect in general Reading is a process which contributes to success in learning a foreign language and good language learners are considered to be good readers In order to become good or successful readers, students need to be equipped with the skills to comprehend the reading texts Reading strategies are said to facilitate successful second language learning and be effective tools for students to develop their reading skills To help students master these reading strategies, instruction on reading strategies is said to be essential However, empirical research indicates that in most reading classrooms students have received inadequate instruction on reading skills and strategies There is a lack of connection between instruction and reading activity The teacher‟s emphasis is often put on the production of comprehension rather than the processing skills This reality called for the integration of reading strategies into reading instruction to help students become more strategic readers Of all the reading strategies commonly recognized today in second language reading, guessing from context seems to be one of the most valuable but difficult strategies for second language students to master It was found out that they were often reluctant to engage in the guessing process as they preferred first language (L1) translations Furthermore, students not have sufficient skills to derive the meaning of unknown words or phrases that they meet during reading comprehension process Their guessing skills are often poor, especially where context clues are not in the immediate textual environment Therefore, guessing strategies for unknown words has been strongly emphasized 1.2 Statement of the problem Reading comprehension is essential to academic learning areas, to professional success and to lifelong learning University students can not achieve success in reading comprehension without mastering reading strategies in general and the strategy of guessing from context in dealing with reading texts in particular At University of Labor and Social Affairs (ULSA), English for Specific Purpose (ESP) syllabus mainly focuses on reading skill Yet many students have not succeeded in their reading texts, which contain lots of professional words This is partly due to the fact that they lack the skills to cope with unknown words, or in other words, they are not equipped with the strategy of guessing from context This fact raises the question on the necessity as well as the effectiveness of instruction on the strategy of guessing meaning from context for improving reading skills for students at ULSA 1.3 Purposes of the study Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of instruction programme on the strategy of guessing from context for improving students‟ word-attack skill and reading comprehension in teaching reading for second-year ESP students at University of Social and Labor Affairs In addition, since this study was conducted in a university general English reading class where students' reading proficiency was mixed, the second objective of this study was to find out how students with different reading proficiency are influenced by the instruction programme The following specific research questions were addressed: 1) Does instruction on the strategy of guessing from context enhance second language students‟ word-attack skill in particular and reading ability in general? 2) How to empower students to become more self-directed and effective in their learning of guessing strategy? 1.4 Scope of the study The study is focused only on the second-year students at ULSA who begin to have ESP lessons The subjects of the study were chosen at random and various among 68 second-year students of ULSA Yet, the study results cannot be true to all Vietnamese students Thus, my recommendations for teaching and learning the strategy of guessing from context might work well only for ULSA teachers and students, and for the ones who are teaching and learning at such universities with similar English syllabus or education training or for the ones who concern 1.5 Methodology of the study This study employs both qualitative and quantitative methods An explicit instruction programme on the strategy of guessing from context was conducted in addition to regular English curriculum Data from questionnaires were collected to study the students‟ changes in attitudes towards the strategy of guessing from context A pre-test and post-test were done to study the actual performance of students in the use of the strategy before and after the programme Observations and interviews with students were also used to get more valid and reliable results 1.6 Design of the study The research consists of four main chapters: Introduction, Literature Review, the Study and Conclusion Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the background and statement of the problem, the purpose, and the design as well as the scope of the study Chapter 2, Literature Review, discusses issues of reading, reading processes, major approaches to teaching reading, reading strategies in general and the strategy of guessing meaning from context in particular Chapter 3, Research Design and Methods, explains the methodology used in the study including the population information, instrumentation, and data collection and data analysis, Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion, reports the findings as well the discussion of the results Chapter 5, Conclusion, offers a summary of the findings and further implication for using the strategy of guessing from context in teaching reading skills ... study the students‟ changes in attitudes towards the strategy of guessing from context A pre-test and post-test were done to study the actual performance of students in the use of the strategy... success in reading comprehension without mastering reading strategies in general and the strategy of guessing from context in dealing with reading texts in particular At University of Labor and Social. .. University of Labor and Social Affairs LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Results of pre-test and post-test Table 2: Students’ attitudes towards reading comprehension and the strategy of guessing meaning from context