Some suggested techniques in the pre reading stage to improve reading comprehension for the 12th form student at xuan truong a high school

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY No2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY - - NGUYEN THI HOAN SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES IN THE PRE-READING STAGE TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION FOR THE 12TH FORM STUDENTS AT XUAN TRUONG B HIGH SCHOOL (GRADUATION PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH) SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI PHUONG LAN, M.A Hanoi, 2014 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor Ms Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, M.A for the invaluable support, guidance, and timely encouragement she gave me while I was doing this research I am truly grateful to her for her advice and suggestions right from the beginning when this study was only in its formative stage My special thanks also go to teachers of English and students of the 12th form at Xuan Truong B High school for their participation to the study as the subjects of the study Without them, this project could not have been so successful I am particularly grateful to my close friends for their helping me with valuable reference documents and data for my research Last but not least, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my family who have constantly inspired and encouraged me to complete this research i ABSTRACT The important role of reading comprehension is apparent for any student who has success in the command of foreign language in general, English in particular For many 12th students in Xuan Truong B High school, reading has been paid more attentions to as the students have to take the examinations which are grammar and reading based However, they have encountered a lot of difficulties in reading comprehension especially at the pre-reading stage With the desire to improve students’ reading comprehension, this graduation paper limits itself to the study of the current situation of learning reading comprehension in the pre-reading stage for the 12th form students of Xuan Truong B High school The results of the study are conducted by questionnaires for students and then are illustrated by charts This study has also given some suggestions techniques to apply for the 12th students to help them to learn reading comprehension effectively at the pre-reading stage ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Title: Some suggested techniques in the pre-reading stage to improve reading comprehension for the 12th form students at Xuan Truong B High school (Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Arts in English) I certify that no part of this report has been copied or reproduced by me from any other person’s work without acknowledgements and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance from my supervisor Date submitted: May 2014 Student Supervisor Nguyen Thi Hoan Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, M.A iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv PART A: INTRODUCTION I Rationale of the study II Aims of the study III Scope of the study IV Tasks of the study V Methods of the study VI Significance of the study VII Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND I.1 Literature review in brief I.2 Overview of reading I.2.1 Definition of reading comprehension I.2.2 Classification of reading I.2.2.1 According to the manner of reading I.2.2.1.1 Reading aloud I.2.2.1.2 Silent reading I.2.2.2 According to the purposes of reading I.2.2.2.1 Skimming I.2.2.2.2 Scanning 10 I.2.2.2.3 Intensive reading 10 I.2.2.2.4 Extensive reading 11 I.2.3 Reading process 11 I.2.4 Schema 13 iv I.2.5 Stages of a reading lesson 14 I.2.5.1 Pre-reading stage 14 I.2.5.2 While-reading stage 14 I.2.5.3 Post-reading stage 14 I.3 Overview on the pre-reading stage 15 I.3.1.The importance of the pre-reading stage 15 I.3.2.What to in the pre-reading stage 16 I.3.2.1 Activating or building students’ knowledge related to the text’s topic 16 I.3.2.2 Helping students with difficult new language items 16 I.3.2.3 Preparing students for other reading activities in the while-reading stage 17 I.4 Related activities in reading process 17 I.5 The roles of the teacher and the students in a reading lesson 18 I.5.1 The roles of the teacher 18 I.5.1.1 As an organizer in a reading lesson 18 I.5.1.2 As a model reader 19 I.5.2.The roles of the students 19 I.5.2.1 Students play the role of the readers 19 I.5.2.2 Students play the role of the listeners 19 I.5.3.The roles of reading text 20 I.5.3.1 Improving reading skill for the students 20 I.5.3.2 Broaden knowledge 21 CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY II.1 Participants 22 II.2 Data collection instrument 22 II.3 Data collection procedures 23 II.4 Data analysis procedures 23 CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS III.1 Results of the survey 24 III.1.1 Students’ attitude toward the learning of reading comprehension 24 v III.1.2 What students usually when tackling a reading text especially at the prereading stage? 27 III.1.3 Students’ ideas on what they should be taught in the pre-reading? 30 III.2 Discussion 31 III.2.1.The current situation of learning reading of the 12th form students at Xuan Truong B High school 31 III.2.2 Students and teachers’ method of learning and teaching reading especially at the pre-reading stage 32 CHAPTER IV SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES IN THE PRE-READING STAGE TO IMPROVE READING SKILLS FOR THE 12TH FORM STUDENTS AT XUAN TRUONG B HIGH SCHOOL IV.1 Introducing the text 34 IV.1.1 Using introductory sentences 34 IV.1.2 Using questions and answers 35 IV.2 Eliciting students’ background knowledge related to the text 35 IV.2.1 Giving discussions about some main points related to the text 35 IV.2.2 Brainstorming 36 IV.3 Encouraging students to guess the main content of the text 36 IV.3.1 Using networks 36 IV.3.2 Using the title of the text 38 IV.4 Presenting new vocabulary 38 IV.4.1 Using visual aids 38 IV.4.1.1 Using pictures 38 IV.4.1.2 Using real objects 39 IV.4.2 Showing the meaning of words in context 40 IV.5 Giving guiding questions 40 PART C: CONCLUSION Summary of the study 43 Limitations for further study 43 vi Recommendations for further study 44 REFERENCES 45 APPENDIX 47 SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 47 vii PART A: INTRODUCTION I Rationale of the study As an international language, English is widely used all over the world In Vietnam, English is also considered the most important foreign language and it is taught as a compulsory subject in most schools throughout the country When teaching English, the teacher teaches students not only the English language but also its usage And under the right guidance, right help of the teacher, the students have to try their best to master language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking in order to communicate in English successfully Among these four skills, reading plays an important role in enriching the students’ general knowledge and in helping them with their further study later In general, a reading lesson in classroom includes three stages: pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading Pre-reading is perceived to be very important, especially at lower language proficiency and at earlier stages of reading instruction Since it introduces background knowledge concerning what students are going to read, possibly prepares them for some new language items and the way to tackle the reading tasks or arouses their interest in the topic of the text Students then are motivated to read and the comprehension exercises However, in high schools in Vietnam, reading texts are exploited as the main source where both teachers and students acquire and provide vocabulary and grammar items rather than reading skills itself The teacher often presents the new words appearing in the text and students are required to read and exercises afterwards In addition, they are rarely provided with the background knowledge concerning the reading text Consequently, students might be lacking of involvement, motivation and interest to read and the comprehension exercises The above mentioned facts motivated the researcher to carry out the study “Some suggested techniques in the pre-reading stage to improve reading comprehension for the 12th form students at Xuan Truong B High school” The reason for choosing 12th grade students to focus on the fact that the new syllabus has applied in the 12th form curriculum so limited amount of research has been conducted in this field Moreover, the researcher is interested in seeking the answer to the question whether the teaching and learning reading including the pre-reading of the 12th form students and their teachers of English, with such a change in the syllabus, have any adjustment or not In conducting this study, the researcher hopes to supply an insight into the current situation of teaching and learning reading including the pre-reading stage, and where applicable, suggesting some techniques in this stage with the hope that the reading lesson could be more effectively II Aims of the study This study specifically aims at: - Investigating the present situation of teaching reading comprehension including the pre-reading stage of the 12th form students in reading lessons at Xuan Truong B High school - Suggesting useful techniques to improve the reading comprehension skills in the pre-reading stage for the 12th form in Xuan Truong B High school III Scope of the study As stated in the title, this study is designed to focus on techniques in the prereading to improve the reading comprehension skills for the 12th form students Therefore, techniques used in the while-reading and post-reading will not be the main focus of this study The object of this research is the 12th form students at Xuan Truong B High school IV Tasks of the study The study involves fulfilling the following tasks: - To study the definition, the classification of reading comprehension - To investigate the situation, the method of teaching and learning reading comprehension of the students and teacher at the pre-reading stage - To propose some techniques in the pre-reading stage to motivate students learning reading comprehension effectively V Methods of the study To implement this study, the following methods are used: - Consulting related materials: For the sake of getting knowledge and useful ideas, I read many books and other materials in addition to earlier researches about reading and teaching reading comprehension IV.1.2 Using questions and answers Using questions and answers to introduce the text seem to interest students more than using introductory sentences because it involves students more Nevertheless, the questions should be short and easy with the main aim to direct students to the text’s content For example, before students read the text “Books” in Unit 11, page 118, teachers may ask some questions to elicit students’ responses such as: Do you like reading books? What kind of books you enjoy reading most? How you read book? Today, we will read a small passage about Books and advantages of books IV.2 Eliciting students’ background knowledge related to the text This technique can be done by conducting discussion on some points related to the text or brainstorming Using this technique, teachers give students chances to connect what they have already known with what is discussed in the text In other words, this technique can arouse students’ background knowledge related to the text’s topic IV.2.1 Giving discussions about some main points related to the text In the cases that the text is an argument or idea, not a story, discussing some points related to the text’s topic is especially a useful activity In the discussion, students share their ideas about what is discussed in the text, and it is a motivation for them to read the text for the fact that they may want to compare their ideas with the author’s In addition, conducting discussion always warms up learning atmosphere in class Clearly, it also gives students chance to practise speaking skill However, there are many things teachers have to consider when using this technique Firstly, this technique should be used only when students have background knowledge about the text’s topic If teachers ask students to talk about what they hardly know, they will have nothing to say and accordingly, the discussion just wasted time, distracts students and makes them more obsessed about unfamiliarity and difficulty of the text’s content Secondly, teachers should put the discussion in strict control of both time and the content discussed Students are organized to discuss in pairs of groups, hence, teachers should observe carefully and remind students to concentrate on discussing what relate to the text’s topic, not talking about other unrelated things Depending on the text’s topic, class size and students’ level, teachers can choose a suitable way to conduct 35 discussions Conducting discussions should go with the technique “introducing the text” mentioned above Teachers introduce the text’s topic and then ask students to discuss on some points related to that text Following are two examples of using this sub-technique: Example 1: In Unit 15 “Women in society”, page 162, at the pre-reading stage, teachers can ask students to the following task: Work in group in four or five to talk about the images of modern women.You shoud focus on the differences between women’s role in the past and in the present You should think of some reasons for such differences Example 2: In Unit 14 “International organizations”, page 152, teachers can ask students to discuss and give the names of some international organizations that you know in group of four or five IV.2.2 Brainstorming Besides conducting discussions on some points related to the text, teachers can use brainstorming technique to elicit students’ background knowledge Teachers ask students to work individually or in groups and make a list of things or ideas that relate to the main content of the reading text without letting students know before - hand what they are going to read Teachers gather students’ ideas and introduce the topic of the lesson This will motivate students much because they are eager to compare what they have already brainstormed with what is written in the text However, when using this technique, teachers must be sure that what students are asked to brainstorm is familiar to their existing background knowledge Example: With the reading text “The Association of Southeast Asian Nations” in Unit 16, page 172, teachers may ask students to work in groups and make a list the names of countries in The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (or ASEAN) IV.3 Encouraging students to guess the main content of the text IV.3.1 Using networks This technique can be applied by using networks To motivate the students to think about the content of the topic before reading, the teacher can give them a list of key words or phrases and ask them to imagine what the text might be about The list should be short so that the students can guess the topic and the main content they are going to learn In addition, it must consist of key words or phrases; otherwise, it may 36 result in the students' confusion and distraction This technique requires the teacher's ability of deciding what words or phrases should be chosen Besides, he or she has to know whether these words or phrases are within the students' vocabulary or not and how many of them are enough To be on the safe side, the teacher should select the words or phrases from the text but it is advisable to list the important and familiar with his or her students' knowledge For example, in Unit “Future jobs”, page 62, teachers may ask students to look at the following networks and encourage them to guess what the text they are going to read will be about? Farmer interview career Teacher certificate résumé Doctor waiter vacancy When using this technique, the teacher can write the key words on the board or read them aloud sometimes to get the students involved in the prediction of what the topic is What should be noted is that there may be one or two key words/phrases which appear in the text but is/are unfamiliar to some students In this case, the teacher can still choose them because whether those students understand the meanings or not they are able to guess The question here is that if the teacher should present the new words or phrases The key principle is that he or she should make a decision based on the importance of the words and the level of students However, the good point of these new words' appearance in the list is to motivate the students to read the text and find out the meanings in context by themselves This usually makes the reading lesson more interesting It should also be emphasized that this technique can be used after introducing the topic of the text in the way that the teacher asks the students to imagine what the text will tell them about They can their work in pairs or in groups, discuss what the topic is or what they expect to read, report what they have done, and then compare the text with their predictions Therefore, the students at the same time can improve their speaking skills 37 IV.3.2 Using the title of the text The text’s topic is usually shown through its title Accordingly, in the prereading stage, students can be asked to look at the text’s title to guess its topic Teachers can elicit students’ answers by raising some questions Also, they can ask students to discuss in pairs or groups to guess the text’s main content based on its title Following is an example of using this technique to introduce the text: In Unit “School education system”, teachers can ask the following questions: Teacher: Can you look at the title of the reading text today, please? What you think when look at this title? Student: We think about educational level Teacher: What else? What may be written in the text with this title? Student: There are lots of subjects: Maths, English, History, Information Technology, Geography, Science, Arts, Literature… Teacher: Good Today we will learn about educational level in England IV.4 Presenting new vocabulary IV.4.1 Using visual aids Showing the meaning of words visually is very effective method as it is direct, interesting and impressive Not only does it help students fix the new items in mind but also attract their attention and arouse their interest in the reading text Most concrete words can be presented by using pictures and real objects IV.4.1.1 Using pictures Pictures can be in the form of flashcards, large wall pictures, cue cards, photographs or illustrations All of them can be prepared beforehand and be exploited to present the new words Example: Unit 8: Life in the future, page 84 38 This pictures can be used to illustrate the meaning of the words “space-shuttle” and “terrorist” The teacher shows the pictures and asks the students to guess the meaning of the new words Similarity, teachers can use other pictures to show the meaning of the new words appearing in the text Example: Unit 10: Endanged species, page 106 extinction biodiversity conservation rhinoceros Besides, board drawings have been used as the vital visual aids from time immemorial They have been made use of in classroom as it is a quite simple, quick and simple method that the teacher can adopt at any time Moreover, they not need to be artist to make some simple sketches which illustrate meaning In fact, there exist various ways to draw on board, namely stick drawings, box drawings, potato heads, faces, etc each of which can be used to present certain groups of vocabulary IV.4.1.2 Using real objects Real objects are the examples of the outside world and can be brought into classroom The teacher can take full advantage of anything which is available in the classroom like furniture, clothes, and parts of the body, etc to show the meaning of the words to the students 39 IV.4.2 Showing the meaning of words in context An alternative way to present the new words is using situations, examples or explanation, which means that the teacher provides a scenario that clearly contextualizes the target words Although the explanation may take a longer time than using translation or visual aids, “the advantages are the learners are getting extra “free” listening practice, and, by being made to work harder to get to the meaning of a word, they may be more cognitive engaged” (Thornbury, 2002:81) The teacher needs to consider several points when using this technique Firstly, the words used to explain the target vocabulary have to be within the learners’ current range It is not necessary, not to say, counterproductive if teachers give a complicated explanation Secondly, they can reinforce the explanation with pictures, board drawings, or gestures in order to make it more understandable and perhaps more memorable for the learners Last but not least, it is important for the teachers to use more than one context to explain the words so that students can know various ways to use the words Providing a context based on which the students try to infer what the words mean and how they are used demonstrates its effectiveness in explaining the abstract words like “love”, “happy”,… More importantly, it can help the learners actively participate in the lesson and be able to take the advantage of the context clues to guess the meaning This ability is the importance in training the learner to become independent readers Example: Unit 5: Higher education, page 52, “undergraduate course” The teacher can explain the word “undergraduate course” as follow: If you become a student of a university, you will have an undergraduate course It takes at least three or four years for you to complete IV.5 Giving guiding questions Giving guiding questions or so called signpost questions is another useful technique to be used in the pre-reading stage The function of guiding questions is not to test students’ ability but to guide students in their reading process Guiding questions direct students’ attention to the important point of the text In addition, guiding questions aims at helping students predict the main content of the text they are going to read For long and difficult reading texts, based on guiding questions, students can save much time due to the fact that guiding questions “prevent them from going 40 off along a false track” (Nuttall, 1989:161) However, designing good signpost questions is, in fact, is not an easy task They should be concerned with a general meaning or the most important points of the text and not digress onto minor details These questions must help students follow the text logically They are supposed to be short and fairly easy to be answered It is advisable for teachers to give no more than four signpost questions at the pre-reading stage Guiding questions can be either given orally or written on the blackboard before students’ reading After students’ first silent reading, teachers check whether the whole class has been able to fulfill all the given guiding questions satisfactorily For the guiding questions that are not answered, teachers should leave them open and return to them later, when the text has been thoroughly understood It means that under no circumstanse, should teachers give the answer for the signpost questions Teachers are free to choose what type of questions to be used among yes-no questions, alternative questions and wh-questions For example, at the pre-reading stage of the lesson “Home life” in Unit 1, page 12, teachers can give some signpost questions to guide students before they begin to read the text: Where is the family? What is each member of the family doing? How members of the family share the household chores? Is the family happy? Why/Why not? When using guiding questions, there is an obvious danger that students may only look for answers to the guiding questions and will not read the whole text carefully In the opinion of Nuttall (1989:162), this can be avoided by following points First and foremost, teachers must remind their students that there will be more questions or tasks given when they have finished reading Secondly, teachers should make sure that the guiding questions cannot be answered until the whole or most of the section has been read Hence, questions should be concerned with the general meaning or with the most important points of a text, and not focus on minor details Last but not least, signpost questions should be devised in the way that requires students to thinks about the meaning, not just locate the information In conclusion, the current chapter presents several recommendations for the prereading stage including introducing the text, using guiding questions, presenting new vocabulary, encouraging students to guess the main content of the text, eliciting 41 students’ background knowledge related to the text The uses of these techniques are illustrated with examples taken from the lessons in the texbook “Tieng Anh 12” 42 PART C: CONCLUSION The research conducted with the aim of investigating the fact of teaching at the pre-reading stage at Xuan Truong B High school and suggesting several techniques for more effective teaching of the pre-reading The data were collected from 12th form students and then analyzed carefully to answer the research questions posed in the introduction The findings from data analysis and the recommendations drawn from such findings are summarized in this current part This part also mentions the limitations of the research and suggests further study Summary of the study The importance of reading as well as the necessity of developing reading skills is obviously undeniable and the teaching and learning reading have been appreciated and paid much attention The final aims of teaching and learning this language skill is to improve the learners’ ability to comprehend the reading materials Therefore, prereading activities are made use of so as to prepare the reader before tackling the text and make reading less demanding for them Accordingly, this graduation paper has carried out a study on “Some suggested techniques in the pre-reading stage to improve reading comprehension for the 12th form students at Xuan Truong B High school” in order to investigate the current situation of reading includes the pre-reading in the 12th grade students The first part of this paper is spent on presenting theory regarding reading comprehension as well as the importance concerning the pre-reading stage Besides, survey questionnaires were conducted on the students so that the researcher can have a thorough look at the current situation of learning and teaching reading concerning the pre-reading in the 12th grade The data reflects that most of the pre-reading activities have not fulfilled the aims they were designed for The research also finds out the purposes in learning reading of the students, their difficulties, interests, attitudes… Based on the collected data, the next chapter is spent on suggesting some techniques in the pre-reading stage which can apply to stimulate the reading lesson and improve students’ reading comprehension Limitations for further study Although the researcher has made great effort in the process of fulfilling this thesis, limitations are unavoidable First and foremost, the survey questionnaires were 43 carried out with the subjects at Xuan Truong B High school where the number of the students is limited Hence, it is inevitable to over generalize all the students Moreover, if more data collection instruments could be employed besides questionnaires, the researcher would have to reflect a clearer and broader overview of the current situation of teaching and learning reading in the 12th grade Last but not least, the researcher has only been able to investigate the pre-reading stage in the reading lesson of the 12th graders and proposes practical recommendations to encounter the difficulties realized However, it fails to bring these recommendations into real teaching practice to evaluate how far they have reached their targets Recommendations for further study Due to limited time and experience, the current research was carried out only students learning for the 12th form at Xuan Truong B High school, therefore, other studies on the same topic should be done on a larger scale with a greater number of students involved, so that their findings can provide a better reflection of the real issues that Xuan Truong B High school are facing in teaching and learning reading, especially at the pre-reading stage In addition, further studies about more techniques for more effective learning at the pre-reading stage are strongly recommended The researcher also wants to propose a study which designs various techniques to be used in the while-reading and post-reading stage of the entire reading lessons in the textbook “Tieng Anh 12” 44 REFERENCES Abbott, G & Wigard, P (1981) The teaching of English as an International Language London: Collins E.L.T Anderson, R C & Pearson, P D (1984) A schema theoretic view of basic processes in Reading Comprehension New York: Longman Billows, F L (1982) The techniques of Language Teaching Longman Green Brown, H D (2001) Principles of language learning and teaching (3rd.ed) Upper Saddle River NJ: Pretice Hall Regents Chamot, A U (1995) Lead articles: The teacher’s voice - Action research in your classroom ERIC/CLL News Bulletin, vol.18, No.2, March Doff, A (1988) Teaching English – Trainers’ Handbook Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Grellet, F (1981) Developing Reading Skills.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Greenwood, J (1985) The teaching of English as an International language.Collins: Glassgow and London Harmer, J (2001) The Practice of English Language Teaching 3rd.ed: Longman Hoa, Hoang Thi Xuan Loc, Dao Ngoc Loi, Vu Thi Minh, Do Tuan Tuan Nguyen Quoc Van, Hoang Van & Phuong, Nguyen Thu (2008) Tieng Anh 12 Nha xuat ban Giao duc Lee, J F and Vanpatten, B (1995) Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen New York: McGraw-Hill Lewis, M & Hill, J (1985) Practical Techniques for Language Teaching London: Commercial Color Press Mayer, R (2003) Learning and Instruction Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc Moore, K D (1992) Classroom Teaching Skills Mc Gaw-Hill Inc Nunan, D (1992) Research Methods in Language Learning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nuttall, C (1989) Teaching reading skills in a foreign language London: Heineman Roe, B D., Stoodt, B D & Burns, P C (1987) Secondary School Reading Instruction: The Content Areas Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co 45 River, W M & Temperley, M S (1978) A Practical guide to the Teaching of English as a second Foreign Language Oxford: Oxford University Press Richard, R & Thomas, L (1987) Becoming an Effective Reading Teacher New York: Harper and Row Publishers Richard, R & Amato, C (1988).The language teaching Matrix Cambridge University Pess Swan, M (1975) Inside meaning Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Thornbury, S (2002) How to teach Vocabulary Long man Williams, E (1986) Reading in the language classroom Oxford: Macmillian Publisher Widdowson, H G (1988) Teaching language as communication Oxford: Oxford University Press 46 APPENDIX SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE This survey questionnaire is designed to support my thesis on “Some suggested techniques in the pre-reading stage to improve reading comprehension for the 12th form students at Xuan Truong B High school” Your assistance in completing the questionnaire is highly appreciated You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please put a tick (√) for the most suitable answer for each of the following questions (there may be more than one answers im some questions) and briefly answer some questions In your opinion, is learning reading important in the process of learning English? a Very important b Quite important c Not important The reading texts in the course book “Tieng Anh 12” are: a Interesting b Boring c Difficult According to you, how difficult in learning reading comprehension? a Easy b Difficult c Very difficult What are your difficulties in learning reading? (You can circle more than one opinion) a Lacking knowledge of vocabulary b Lacking knowledge of grammatical structures c Lacking background knowledge related to the text d Lacking time e Lacking reading skill f Lacking motivation g Long reading text 47 h Other difficulties……………………………………………………………… What is your attention before reading a text? a Title of text b Picture included in text c Length of text d Others ………………………………………………………………………… What are you often told to before reading a text? (You should circle a, b, c, d or e to show any activities you are asked to and tick (√) in one of the boxes to show how often you that) Frequency Activities a usually sometimes rarely Reading the text immediately without doing anything b Learning some vocabulary items or difficult grammatical structures in the text c Discussing the topic of the text with each other d Guessing the topic of the text through title or networks given by teachers e Answering some questions of teachers relating to the topic of the text How effective you feel when your teachers ask you to take part in above activities? a Effective b Quite effective c Not effective Do you often translate the text into Vietnamese? a Usually b Sometimes c Rarely 48 When you translate the text into Vietnamese? a Before doing reading exercise b After doing reading exercise 10 What you usually when come up against new words? a Guess meaning based on the text b Wait for teacher to explain c Look up new words in dictionary or ask peers 11 What you want to know before reading a text? a Background knowledge related to the text b Difficult grammatical structures c New words Thank you very much for your cooperation! 49 ... specifically aims at: - Investigating the present situation of teaching reading comprehension including the pre- reading stage of the 12th form students in reading lessons at Xuan Truong B High school. .. pre- reading stage aims at introducing and arousing interest in the topic, motivating learners by giving a reason for reading and providing some language preparation for the text What Williams... reading comprehension Reading comprehension takes a very important part in teaching and learning reading a language and a foreign language as well It can be seen as the ability to retain information