Extensive reading patterns and attitude of EFL adult learners in australia international english center a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of maste

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY Extensive reading patterns and attitude of EFL adult learners in Australia International English Center A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL Submitted by TRINH THI NGOC THAM Supervisor DANG TAN TIN, Ph.D Ho Chi Minh City, September 2016 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled “Extensive reading patterns and attitude of EFL adult learners in Australia International English Center” is my own work Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contain material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text of the thesis This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution Ho Chi Minh City, September 2016 Trinh Thi Ngoc Tham ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank such important people for their great help and encouragements First, I want to express my deepest appreciation to Dr Dang Tan Tin for his guidance and constructive comments during my study He is my great supervisor Next, I would like to say I am greatly indebted to my teacher- Mr Le Huy Liem for helping me complete my thesis I also readily acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr Pham Vu Phi Ho for being always supportive and understanding In fact, without him I couldn’t complete my thesis Moreover, I owed my students for their great contribution in the paper Finally, I not know how to express my deep gratitude to my parents, grandma and siblings who always stood by me during this hard time, and especially, to my partner who gave me motivation to complete the thesis and to win myself since I nearly gave up I am greatly indebted to all lecturers of TESOL program at Ho Chi Minh City Open University for their insightful knowledge which set a solid foundation for me to carry out my thesis iii ABSTRACT Extensive reading (ER) is an approach to teaching and learning a foreign language without looking up unknown words in the dictionary or answering comprehension questions, but aiming to have learners read extensively for pleasure The approach follow strictly Day and Bamford (2002) guideline of having learners choose books and read on their own pace for general comprehension and enjoyment (Day and Bamford 1998; Prowse 1999) It was conducted in the Vietnam context with English as a foreign language (EFL) in Australia International English Center (AIEC) during a period of nine weeks from August 1st to October 3rd in 2015 37 learners (N=37) at intermediate level from 18 to 22 years old who are taking a two-year communication course taught by the researcher in Australia International Center (AIEC) They were invited to join into the extensive reading program At the beginning, the researcher met the participants in her AIEC to discuss the materials and provide reading diary for recording during the treatment time Learners were given instruction to select an easy interesting book, and to read as much as possible, preferably at least one book a week Keeping and completing the reading diaries in order to submit for the researcher in late of week ninth of the treatment time The current research aimed at investigating two questions First, what patterns of ER the learners employ during the period of ER practice Second, the learners hold a positive attitude toward ER after their ER practice Three main instruments were used to collect data to achieve the current research purposes First, reading diary was used to collect data to answer what patterns of ER the learners employ during the period of ER practice Reading diary was considered one of the key instrument to collect dada for such a primarily qualitative research Second, the post experiment questionnaire was delivered and collected after the treatment to gather data to answer if the learners’ hold a positive attitudes towards ER after their ER practice Third, the in- depth interview was also considered a supplement for the interpretation of the results of the attitude questionnaire The findings suggest four pattern of ER that the learners employed during nine weeks and provide conclusive evidence of learners’ positive attitude towards ER iv Table of Contents Chapter Introduction 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Research aims 1.3 Research questions 1.4 The significance of the study 1.5 Scope of the study Chapter Literature review 2.1 Theoretical framework 2.1.1 Definition of reading skill 2.1.1.1 The Bottom-up Reading Model 2.1.1.2 The Top-down Reading Model 2.1.1.3 The Interactive Reading Model 2.1.2 Reading sub-skills used in the study 10 2.1.2.1 Scanning 10 2.1.2.2 Skimming 10 2.1.2.3 Careful reading 10 2.1.2.4 Predicting 10 2.1.3 Extensive Reading 11 2.1.3.1 Definitions of ER 11 2.1.3.2 The nature of ER 11 2.2 Review of related literature 14 2.2.1 Patterns of ER 14 2.2.2 Positive attitudes towards ER 14 2.2.3 Implications for the study 18 2.3 Chapter summary 18 Chapter Methodology 20 3.1 Research context 20 3.2 Participants 21 3.3 Research design 22 v 3.4 Instructional design 23 3.4.1 Teaching Material: Four Corners 23 3.4.2 Treatment materials: Graded readers 23 3.4.3 Training procedure 24 3.5 The measurement instruments 25 3.5.1 Reading diary 25 3.5.2 Post experimental questionnaire 25 3.5.3 The in- depth interview 26 3.6 Methods of analysis 26 3.6.1 Reading diary 27 3.6.2 Post experiment questionnaire 28 3.6.3 The in- depth interview 28 3.7 Data collection 29 3.7.1 Reading diary 29 3.7.2 Post experiment questionnaire 29 3.7.3 The in- depth interview 30 3.8 Summary 30 Chapter Results and Discussion 32 4.1 Result and Discussion regarding Patterns of ER 32 4.1.1 Results regarding Patterns of ER 32 4.1.2 Comparison of the four ER patterns 41 4.1.3 Discussion regarding patterns of ER 45 4.1.4 Summary on the four patterns of ER in the current study 49 4.2 Results and Discussion regarding Attitudes toward ER 50 4.2.1 Results regarding Attitude toward ER 50 4.2.1.1 Results of Attitude Post- Questionnaire 50 4.2.1.2 Results of Attitude In-depth Interview 53 4.2.2 Discussion on Attitude toward ER 58 4.2.3 Summary on Attitude toward ER 61 4.2.4 Factors behind the learners’ positive Attitude towards ER 62 4.3 Summary 63 vi Chapter Conclusion 64 5.1 Summary of the findings 64 5.2 Contributions of the study 66 5.3 Limitations of the study 66 5.4 Suggestion 66 5.5 Recommendations for further research 68 References…………………………………………………………………………… 69 Appendix A: Post experiment questionnaire 79 Appendix B: Grade Readers used in the study 81 Appendix B1: Graded Readers Learners Selected 85 Appendix C: Reading Diary 88 Appendix C1: A typical reading diary from a learner 89 Appendix C2: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 91 Appendix C3: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 94 Appendix C4: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 97 Appendix C5 : Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 99 Appendix D: Results of Post- Questionnaire 102 Appendix E: In- depth Interview 104 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.4 : Data collecting instruments used in the present study 27 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The number of books read during weeks of learners in pattern 34 Table 2: The number of books read during weeks of learners in pattern 36 Table 3: The number of books read during weeks of learners in pattern 38 Table 4: The number of books read during weeks of learners in pattern 40 Table 5: The average number of books read per week of learners in four patterns 42 Table 6: Learners’ attitudes toward ER 52 Table 7: The Frequency of positive statements seen in learners’ diaries 61 ix LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1: The number of books read among 10 learners in pattern 34 Chart 2: The number of books read among learners in pattern 36 Chart 3: The number of books read among 10 learners in pattern 38 Chart 4: The number of books read among 12 learners in pattern 40 x Week 1) White Death 2) Love Story Week 1) The Railway Children 2) A ghost in love and The Girl at the Window Week 1) Red Roses 2) Mystery in London 3) The Coldest Place on Earth Reading helps me open my mind I learn many interesting things from the native speakers of English through reading However, it benefits my speaking and writing since I use the ideas found in stories I read to support my view and opinion I can say I don’t afraid of reading exercises in class any more Moreover, thanks to reading, I become familiar with using idioms in daily conversation of native speaker I bet it’s good for my speaking I appreciate reading than ever because the ideas and vocabularies I learn from each book I read This week, I did searched on the internet for some stories written in English to read Interestingly, that thing I’ve never done before I sum, I think this program help change my mind about reading in English Now whenever I am free I just read instead of wasting time for Facebook or game online 90 In specific time of the day (8 to 10 P.M) In free time & In a specific time of the day (7 to P.M) In free time & In a specific time of the day (3 to 4h30 P.M) Appendix C2: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern Kind of stories Time for reading Week 400 headwords In free time Week 400 headwords In free time Week 400 headwords In free time Week 400 headwords In free time Feeling in each week / reasons why you stop reading in the week It’s kind of boring because it is written in English which discourage me but I think I’ll try the shortest one first I never read thing in English at home Should I read a story? I think I’ll not understand I’ll feel anxious if I don't know all the words Reading English is troublesome I doubt if the stories are easy to read If they are short and easy to understand I’ll read them I will feel anxious when I don’t understand the story That what I experienced before English texts really scare me Oh, it’s not boring as think I understand a little bit I can understand 80% I can read twice or three time if I still don’t understand I try to guess the main idea because I don’t understand all and I’m satisfied with my guessing I think I want to read more I think I understand more than I think I read the interesting title and try to guess what I am going to read It’s quite exciting to that I’m curious about what happened next so I have to read more I can understand 90% of a text and it really motivates me to read I want to read more I think I can guess correctly the main idea of a story even though there are some new words Reading English is more enjoyable than before since I can understand more than I think 91 Week 400 headwords In free time Week 400 headwords In free time Week In free 400 headwords time Week In free 400 headwords time Week 400 headwords In free time A lot of new words in a text will prevent me from understanding the story and I will stop reading and find another one I can read without stopping looking up the dictionary as I am before I think I don’t scare of reading anymore I think I can try a longer story When I understand the text I feel more confident I’m a little bit busy but I still read when I can I have an exam tomorrow morning I read after dinner I’m busy so I read just stories today I feel relaxed if I read the story in English and I understand The first time I’m still reading in English after o’clock (I used to chat with friend on face book this time) and it’s not for any exams You know, understanding more than 80% the texts really motivate me to read I won’t read more if the text is difficult to understand I get to know about new ways of thinking if I read more I can get various kinds of information if I read English I can acquire vocabulary if I read English I discovered that reading a lot of in English give me new ideas when I learn to speaking the language I’m not afraid of reading in English anymore Understanding the texts make me happy and confident The first time I read such long stories and understand all of them I become optimistic about The more I read in English the more confident I am I read stories in this week Oh, I think it is really impressive It seems like I am a wise man because I can read in English without stop looking up the dictionary For new and 92 difficult words, I just ignore them and continue my reading The more I read the more creative I become I bet it is good for everyone who want to improve their speaking and writing Now I don’t need to prepare more for my presentation in speaking class tomorrow because I can brainstorm the ideas so quick I really like the thing I think I can express what I want better now I found out my motivation for reading at home I much like reading than I’ve ever before It’s unbelievable but I’m searching for some stories in my hobby on the internetthing I have never done before Reading really help me enrich my vocabulary I’m more confident when reading in English now The more I read the more ways of expression I can learn from the native speakers even though I have very little chance to practice speaking directly with them I used my spare time effectively 93 Appendix C3: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern Week Kind of stories Time for reading Feeling in each week / reasons why you stop reading in a week 400 headwords In free time I read just stories for fun in the first week I read stories for fun in spare time I think I’ll read next week I’m a little lazy now with English reading I choose interesting title to read I take a look at the whole text before reading I can understand more than 80 percent The stories (i.e grade readers) are very interesting I can learn many new vocabularies through my reading I feel relaxed when reading these stories I still read stories this week because I have to study for my exams at my university So I’ll more in the next week I think reading-it’s not a bad idea now I think reading is enjoyable than I imagined I just read two in nights because I have to study all day at school I feel sorry now I read three this week and it will be next week I think reading is rather interesting It helped me learn new words I think it helped my vocabulary because of the varied topics and the regular practice Reading had me using my dictionary and I can remember the words that I looked up In the first weeks, I read just story for each time but now I want to read more than one If I know that reading in English is enjoyable like this I think I read much in the past It benefits my writing I can express better now Week In free time 400 headwords Week In free time 400 headwords Week 400 headwords In free time 94 Week 400 headwords In free time Week 400 headwords In free time I discovered that reading a lots in English give me new ideas when I learn to speak the language I feel proud of myself when I reading much in English I’ve got new words that I never know before ked up the I know more vocabulary because after reading I looked up the unknown words that I really wanted to know in the dictionary It made me know more words ER made me know more vocabulary I was not happy if I didn’t know the meanings of unknown words After looking up the words in the dictionary, I could remember them since then I’m independent from the dictionary from now since I can guess the main idea better Reading a lots teach me how to guess the main idea if the text has some new words I can read faster I enjoy various kinds of stories I would memorize the words which were interesting, easy to memorize and show many times in the article I can see and learn many idioms that the native speakers use in everyday communication I can learn new vocabulary because it shows up frequently in many reading texts and I will look it up Extensive reading really help me to memorize vocabularies I would memorize those words which were interesting, easy to memorize and show many times in the article I’m busy therefore whenever I’m free I like to read as much as possible I read one story a night before but now I increase the number to two or three I read the story again if I don’t understand it at the first time I gradually grew more confident in my reading ability Surprised! I read five stories each weeks That’s my love for reading 95 Week 400 headwords In free time 400 headwords In free time Week Week 400 headwords In free time I always know reading is good to enrich my vocabulary knowledge I know some new words whenever I read Remember some colloquial expression is helpful for my speaking I know a couple of new words and expression I am certain I learned new words by guessing meaning from context It helped me learn new vocabulary because I was forced to look up key words to gather the main idea after reading a story, I can remember to new vocabularies if I saw them many times I can also know how to use them because I did see them in the context of the story My reading ability improves very quickly I read some stories again since I find they give me good moral lessons I’m busy but I still remain five stories a week I found the topics interesting because they were about things I didn’t know about It was great to have the freedom to choose what you are to read I enjoyed it because it was a mixture of entertainment and learning The stories (i.e grade readers) are very interesting Reading is not difficult if you read more often I think I like reading so far Thanks to this course, I can read faster and more accurately Extensive reading really can help me to memorize vocabularies I would memorize those words which were interesting, easy to memorize and show many times in the article made gains in vocabulary and comprehension I am proud of being able to read long English texts 96 Appendix C4: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern Week Kind of stories Time for reading per week 400 headwords In free time Week 400 headwords In free time 400 headwords In free time 400 headwords In free time Week Week Feeling in each week / reasons why you stop reading in a week I like reading in English so I read at beginning I can understand about 70-80% The stories are short and easy to understand There are some new words but I ignore them and try to guess I know how to read They are seemed to be written for me Words are simple and easy to understand So I pay more attention for learning the way native speaker express their thinking I can learn a lots form reading I don’t need dictionary since I can guess I try to read a 700 headwords story and I can read fast I feel sorry since I just read this week I was surprised to find out that I didn’t have to look up every word in order to understand a text; that made me more confident and faster It made me better at reading speed and comprehension I think I read faster I’m in a vacation and I bring copiers with me and I read this week I bet I am better at reading now than before I really enjoy reading in English when I can guess the main idea and then read as comfortable as in Vietnamese I try 700-headwords stories and I found them easy to understand too I’m more confident in my reading skill I guess the main idea when I encounter new words I want to read more but I have a part time job and can just read in my free time after 10 P.M 97 Week 400 headwords In free time 400 headwords In free time 400 headwords In free time 400 headwords In free time Week Week Week Week 400 headwords 700 headwords In free time I think my reading ability is improved when I read much I’m comfortable with my own reading No teachers force me answer the questions after reading like I used to before ER trains me read faster but still understand the text I only read when I feel comfortable I ignore passages that I don’t understand I know how to skim and scan now I have to take a look at the book before I decide to read it I read this week since I’m busy I’ll read more when I can I read every week whenever I have spare time since it becomes my habits ER made me enable to understand the story more When I don’t read in free time I feel uneasy like I’m losing some things I think my reading ability is better I just look up the dictionary when I cannot guess out the meaning of a word that preventing me from understanding the main idea of the whole text ER made me gain more words and more understanding from the texts It made me realize that although there were some sentences I didn’t understand, I could understand the stories because of my imagination I’ll continue to read in the summer when I have much free time Reading is useful for gaining new words and new expression I think my reading ability is better I’m happy since I learnt how to guess new words’ meaning from the context It is really good It does help me read faster and I don’t need to look up every word I read so much now and I’m proud of myself I can remember just few new words but the most important is I can understand and develop my reading ability I’m also more confident in my reading skill 98 Appendix C5 : Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern Kind of stories Time for reading per week Week 400 headwords In free time Week 400 headwords In free time Week 400 headwords In free time Week 400 headwords In free time Feeling in each week / reasons why you stop reading in a week I take a look at the titles before reading to make sure that the stories are interesting to read I see there are just few new words and I can understand easily I scare of reading long texts in English so I just choose to read interesting and funny text I’ll not spend time for reading boring text I’m not very patient Long and difficult texts demotivate me from reading I can understand more than 80 percent and this really motivates me I want to read but I have to study for my big exam next week I enjoyed it because it allowed me to learn about many different and interesting things I think I like English better now I enjoyed the varied topics The grade readers are very interesting I really enjoy reading this week I can learn many new vocabularies through my reading I think reading is enjoyable than I imagine before I read the tittles and skim to decide which one I’ll read I read just because I am busy I read less by week because I have no free time I read this week and reading is really my friend now I’m busy so that I couldn’t read this week I read so much now and I’m proud of myself 99 Week 400 headwords In free time 400 headwords In free time 400 headwords In free time 400 & 700 headwords In free time Week Week Week Week In free time The stories (i.e grade reader) are very interesting No reading this week as I’m busy and I feel so sorry I interrupted m reading activity because I have no time but I’m sure I’ll read when I have free time I cannot read right now and it’s uneasy I read so much now and I’m proud of myself I interrupted my reading activity because I have no time but I’m sure I’ll read when I have free time I cannot read right now and it’s uneasy It is a practical way of gaining confidence in reading English and I think I won’t miss it I felt it helped me with comprehension and speed I read so much now and I’m happy proud of myself I interrupted my reading activity because I have no time but I’m sure I’ll read when I have free time I cannot read right now and it’s uneasy I had no time due to lots of homework I had to my reports so I didn’t have time for reading this week You know I’m not very happy when I think my classmate are reading at home and I don’t have time for reading I’m too lazy to read I like chatting online I want to watch movies and TV I read this week I’m happy because I’m back to my reading I don’t read right now but I will in the next week I thought it was great to get to know about new things in English I think it is a very creative way to foster reading in English I had to work part time I am on summer vacation The stories are very interesting and I like them 100 400 headwords I know a lot of interesting facts through reading in English now I’m back to my reading I’m ready to read again I’ll read even the program is ended Even though I didn’t read as much as I want but I change my mind about reading Reading in English is not as difficult as I think before Thanks teacher give me chance and advice to find good and appropriate text to read 101 Appendix D: Results of Post- Questionnaire = Strongly Disagree Disagree = Disagree = Uncertain = Agree = Strongly Learner Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 5 5 5 3 5 4 3 4 2 3 4 5 5 4 5 4 3 4 4 4 5 4 4 4 4 5 4 4 10 3 4 4 11 4 4 4 12 4 5 3 13 4 4 3 4 14 4 3 4 15 4 5 4 16 4 4 5 17 4 3 3 3 18 3 4 19 4 4 4 20 4 3 3 21 5 3 3 22 4 4 4 4 23 4 4 4 24 3 3 4 25 4 4 3 26 3 5 27 4 4 28 4 3 4 29 3 3 3 30 3 31 2 3 3 32 3 4 3 3 33 3 3 3 34 2 2 3 35 3 4 3 102 36 37 2 2 103 2 2 3 Appendix E: In- depth Interview 1) How many books have you finished reading and how many books have you understood? 2) Did you pause your reading during the practice period? If yes Why did you pause reading? 3) Do you think ER is useful for you? In what way? 4) Are graded readers interesting and easy to read? Did you find any unfavorable conditions in reading graded readers? If so, what are they? 5) Do you think that ER should be integrated into your English course at AIEC? Why or why not? Thank You for Your Kind Cooperation 104 ... in the language and study it naturally as the way the native speakers learn the language Hopefully, they will find graded readers interesting to read and maintain reading and form good reading. .. learning grammar and learning to read through translation Learners are taught in a traditional way They approach their reading assignment by putting all of their effort and concentration into the. .. significance of the study This extensive reading program seeks to investigate ER patterns and attitude of EFL adult learners in Australia International English Center The researcher hypothesize that