The effectiveness of using graded readers as extensive reading materials by second year english majored students at hanoi pedagogical university 2

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY ĐÀO THỊ DIỄM THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING GRADED READERS AS EXTENSIVE READING MATERIALS BY SECOND YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY

ĐÀO THỊ DIỄM

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING GRADED

READERS AS EXTENSIVE READING MATERIALS

BY SECOND YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS

AT HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2

(SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT

OF THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH)

B.A THESIS IN ENGLISH

SUPERVISOR: DO THI THANH DUNG

HA NOI, 2017

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Do Thi Thanh Dung for her unwavering patience, guidance and support throughout the semesters, without whom this project would not have been completed I would like to thank all the lecturers for their guidance and advice

I would also like to thank students for the cooperation given for the research I am also grateful to my family and friends who gave me the courage, support and assistance throughout my course

A final note of heartfelt gratitude to for their loving support, patience and encouragement which made it possible for me to sail the boat smoothly throughout this amazing and educational journey

Last but not least, I would like to thank my parents who taught me the value of education

ABSTRACT

This current study investigates the impact of graded readers on student‟s reading skills The study in detail explores the effectiveness of graded readers by seeking to answer if it helps to promote comprehension and positive attitude among students precisely in reading The study is based on comprehensible input theory where students were engaged in large quantity of reading to achieve better comprehension and enhanced reading speed with positive attitude The sample in this study consisted of four students of K41B English Language Teaching Education, who are of intermediate level The graded readers programme was conducted for seven weeks The results of the data analysis indicated that graded readers helped to improve the reading comprehension and reading speed mong the students This was proven in terms of the marks obtained in the post-test Graded readers have also helped to promote positive attitude toward reading which was seen through the descriptive analysis of the attitude interview

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title:

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF USING GRADED READERS AS EXTENSIVE READING MATERIALS BY SECOND YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY 2

(Graduation paper submitted in particular fulfilment of the Degree of Bachelor of Pedagogy in English)

I certify that no part of the above report has been copied from any other person‟s work without acknowledgements and that the report is originally by me under instructions of my supervisor

Date submitted: April 2017

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

FLF Foreign Language Faculty

HPU2 Hanoi Pedagogical University 2

wpm word per minute

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i

ABSTRACT ii

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii

PART ONE INTRODUCTION 8

I RATIONALE 8

II OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH 10

III SCOPE OF THE STUDY 10

IV RESEARCH QUESTIONS 10

V METHODS OF THE STUDY 11

VI SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 11

VII DESIGN OF THE STUDY 12

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT 13

CHAPTER ONE LITERATURE REVIEW 13

I.1 Teaching reading comprehension 13

I.2 Reading Speed 14

I.3 Reading and Vocabulary 16

I.4 Reading and Other Language Competences 17

I.5 Extensive reading 18

I.5.1 Authentic Material 22

I.5.2 Created Material 23

I.5.3 Graded readers 23

CHAPTER TWO METHODOLOGY 26

II.1 Participants 27

II.2 Graded readers project 28

II.3 Data collection instruments 30

II.3.1 Interview 30

II.3.2 Tests 32

II.3.2.1 Classification test 32

II.3.2.2 Comprehension test 33

II.3.3 Reading Speed Reports 34

II.4 Data Analysis Methods 35

II.5 Data Collection and Analysis Procedure 36

CHAPTER THREE FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 38

III.1 Results 38

III.1.1 Finding of the tests 38

III.1.1.1 Pre-test and post-test 38

III.1.1.2 Reading comprehension 39

III.1.1.3 Reading speed 40

III.1.2 Interview 42

III.1.2.1 Students‟ perspectives on reading skills 42

III.1.2.2 Students‟ perspectives on graded readers 43

PART THREE CONCLUSION 49

I Conclusion 49

II Limitations and suggestions for further studies 49

REFERENCES 51

APPENDIX A 59

APPENDIX B 60

APPENDIX C 62

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 1 Total New Words and Word Families at Each Oxford Bookworms

Level 26

Table 2 Grading System of the OBW Graded Readers 27

Table 3 Description of participants 28

Table 4: Planning of graded reader project 28

Table 5: List of book title 29

Table 6: Scores to evaluate level of graded readers 33

Table 7: Results of pre-tests and post-tests 38

Table 8 Reading Speed of the participants at Level 3 41

Figure 1: Results of comprehension tests 39

Figure 2: Results of the reading speed Level 2 41

PART ONE INTRODUCTION

I RATIONALE

There is no doubt that the role of English in the life of any society in the world today has been becoming more and more important The widespread need for English as an international language puts a considerable pressure on the education resources of any countries In case of our country, since our government carried out the open door policy to attract foreign investment and co-operate with other countries, teaching and learning English has become necessary Moreover, it is the English that is used as an effective medium of international communication It is the language of trade, science, technology, tourism, sport, music and many other fields of life That is the reason why at present, learning English is not only the interest but also the great and practical demand for many people, especially for student who always want to assess the modern world Therefore, English is now taught as a compulsory subject to all students at university in our country

In many second or foreign language teaching situations, reading receives a special focus There are a number of reasons for this First, many foreign language students often have reading as one of their most important goals They want to be able to read for information and pleasure, for their career, and for study purposes In fact, in most EFL situations, the ability to read in a foreign language is all that students ever want to acquire Second, written texts serve various pedagogical purposes Extensive exposure to linguistically comprehensible written texts can enhance the process of language acquisition Good reading texts also provide good models for writing and provide opportunities to introduce new topics, to stimulate discussion and to study language Reading, then, is a skill which is highly valued by students and teachers alike In process of teaching and learning English as a foreign language

in Vietnam in general, and at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 in particular,

reading has always been offered a great deal of attention both from the teachers and the students Like many others universities in Vietnam, English at HPU2 is learnt and taught in non-native environment, therefore, reading is not only considered as a means to gain knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place In other words, learners “read to learn” (Burns, 1988:11) According to Carrel (1981:1), “for many students, reading is by far the most important of the four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second or foreign language” This is especially true to the students at HPU2, where learners are mostly future interpreters, translators, or teachers of English, whose desires are to be able to handle subjects related to written materials in English and to work with their English-speaking colleagues and partners It is essential for them to acquire the ability to read English effectively and efficiently

However, despite the teachers‟ and students‟ effort, students still often claim to have a lot of difficulties in reading English textbooks or English materials, and therefore, they sometimes read them inefficiently For the second-year students of English, although they have been learning English for at least several years, it is still often difficult for them to understand a text or a passage

in English, since they still lack vocabulary, grammar, reading skills and poor background knowledge When they encounter unfamiliar words or unfamiliar concepts, they feel discouraged and resort to wild guessing to construct the text meaning Some students do not understand the main idea of a text even when they have translated every word into their mother tongue Almost students deliberately look at the title of a text to think about its topic before reading Fewer students use their background knowledge to facilitate their comprehension They are completely dependent on the decoded messages from the text Many reading lessons makes the learners bored while taking part in the reading process and their reading skills still keep stable Besides, the teachers sometimes have to face with difficulties in dealing with the students‟ learning demand and newly introduced sources of materials

To find out the areas of students‟ difficulty at the Hanoi pedagogical university 2 and the causes of their unsuccessful reading comprehension is necessary These reasons have inspired the writing of a study on possible effective reading activity as

“The effectiveness of using graded readers as extensive reading materials

by second year English majored students at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2”

It is hoped that the study will make some contributions to improve the learning of English in general, and the learning of reading in particular among the 2nd-year English majors at HPU2 The research hopes that it will be possible

to make suggestions for the teachers to improve the situation of teaching and learning reading at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2.I ultimately wish the readers

to find something of relevant and practical use to their study and work with English

II OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH

This study aims to achieve the following objectives:

1 To find out the influence of using graded readers to the student‟s reading comprehension

2 To find out students‟ perspective on graded readers in reading

III SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The general research area of this study is graded readers in reading skills This study focused mainly on the effectiveness of using graded readers on reading skills of sophomore students in Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 and their attitude towards graded readers and reading skills in general

IV RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1 What is the effectiveness of using graded readers for second year English learners in HPU2?

2 What are students‟ perspectives toward graded reader inreading?

V METHODS OF THE STUDY

To obtain the results of this study, the following instruments are applied:

• Interview was designed to collect data about their general reading and graded reader from the second year English Language Teaching Education at HPU2

• Tests for students ( Pre-test and post-test) : these tests help the researcher

to evaluate the improvement of students before and after using graded readers

• Self-report: These reports were used to measure the student‟s speed of reading in each graded reader book

VI SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

As mentioned earlier, attitude of students and commitment of teachers could contribute to the lack of reading and based on these existing setbacks, I was driven to conduct this study to see whether the graded readers could help students to comprehend texts better and at the same time acquire better reading speed It was also conducted to see whether the graded reader programme could change the students‟ attitude towards reading

It is hoped that the students can gain a lot of benefits because graded reader has given them opportunity to use or practice the language among their aged group friends which is less stressful for the school, the findings of the study may give significant pedagogical implications in implementing extensive reading among the ESL learners

This study can also provide some insights and suggestions to teachers as well as students so that extensive reading can be emphasized as one of the school language programmes especially in university It is hoped that graded reader can help and guide students to develop and improve their reading, comprehension skill, speed of reading and at the same time, change their attitude towards reading

VII DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The thesis consists of 3 parts

Part 1: Introduction is a brief description of the research including the reasons for choosing topic, scope, aims and methods of the study

Part 2: This is the main part of the study which is divided into 4 chapters Chapter 1: Introduction This chapter explains the rationale for choosing the topic and methodology, as well as the tasks and objectives

Chapter 2: Literature Review presents theoretical background of the study including reading comprehension and the influence of using graded readers in learning and teaching the reading skills of a language

Chapter 3: Methodology provides background information on the teaching and learning situation and the methods and process of the study

Chapter 4: Results and Discussions presents the findings on the application

of graded readers in teaching English reading

PART TWO DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER ONE LITERATURE REVIEW I.1 Teaching reading comprehension

Thank to comprehension, reading becomes a useful and logical activity A main purpose of teaching reading comprehension is to motivate students to develop the knowledge, skills and experiences, which help them become enthusiastic and competent readers

Reading is considered one of the most important skills that university students of English as a Second Language need to acquire (Levine et al., 2010: 84) Reading is important not only in developing language intuition and determining academic success, but also for completing certain task Therefore, it is obligatory for students, especially those who study in colleges to have good reading skills They should acquire such an ability that they can easily handle any reference they need for accomplishing every task given

to them In addition, it is avoidable that they will deal with accomplishing writing academic paper which finally forced them to read various books and references In short, it is crucial for the students to acquire reading skill

Acquiring reading skill requires one to be able to comprehend the text itself However, students often have difficulties in learning English as a foreign language without appropriate learning materials Too often foreign language reading texts are designed either too difficult or too easy for students Without appropriate reading texts that suit them, students spend long hours in the classroom with poor achievement Students‟ performance varies according to the type of reading texts given to them

Regarding the problem stated above, Harmer (2007) argues that getting students to read English texts is an important part of the English

teacher‟s job because of four reasons First, many students want and need to be able to read English texts for present study, for further study, for future career or simply for pleasure Second, reading is very useful for language acquisition Third, reading texts provide good models for English writing concerning construction of phrases, sentences, paragraph, and whole texts Finally, good reading texts can introduce interesting topics, stimulate discussion, excite creative responses, and provide the springboard for well-rounded, fascinating lessons Based on the description above, it can be deduced that reading material

is very crucial in teaching reading

I.2 Reading Speed

A person‟s reading rate depends on the purpose of reading (Carver, 1992), although unfamiliar language or content can slow all types of reading Overall, a good first language (L1) reader can be expected to read most texts somewhere between 200 and 300 words per minute (wpm) (Carver, 1992; Grabe & Stoller, 2011) Reading speeds in excess of 300 wpm are not the result of careful reading (Urquhart & Weir, 1998), and expeditious reading strategies, which allow such speeds (e.g., skimming and scanning), are not the extended, sustained type of reading usually associated with extensive reading

Reading rates for second language learners are typically less than for native speakers, often far less Segalowitz, Poulsen, and Komoda (1991) pointed out that even those advanced bilinguals who function with great facility in two languages may read 30% more slowly in their second language (L2) In fact, low reading speed is likely to be a handicap for all but the most proficient learners (Bell, 2001) This is especially true when L2 readers read so slowly that it has a negative impact on their comprehension Grabe (1991) stated that “the reader needs to maintain the flow of information at a sufficient rate to make connections and inferences vital to comprehension” (p 378), but there is little firm evidence of precisely at what speed comprehension breakdown begins to occur Anderson‟s (2009) view is that reading fluency should be defined as “an

adequate rate with adequate comprehension” (p 130) He set targets for L2 readers at 200 wpm for rate and 70% for comprehension However, if we use L1 reading research as a guide we can see that standardized silent reading rates for normal, general reading increase as children move through the grade levels (e.g., Grade 2 students reading at 121 wpm, Grade 6 at 177 wpm, and Grade 12 students at 261 wpm, Carver [1992]), so perhaps one target rate is not appropriate for all L2 learners, but should be adjusted for proficiency level

In the normal sense of the word, reading is something people do by themselves, silently, to get the meaning from a page of print, either for information or for pleasure To read normally, that is smoothly or fluently, a person needs reading material that is at his or her level of language proficiency

At a level of difficulty above the learner‟s, the reader must focus on decoding the language Given reading material matched to their level of English, however, foreign language learners can develop fluency Developing reading fluency is crucial Nuttall (1982) describes a non-fluent reader as being caught in a vicious circle: a plodding struggling reader cannot enjoy reading, so does not read much This lack of reading practice results in little or no improvement and to continued dislike and avoidance of reading Fluent readers, on the other hand, generally enjoy reading, so read more and, as a result, become more motivated to read and continue to increase in reading proficiency This is the corresponding „virtuous circle‟ Becoming a fluent reader who enjoys reading is important, also, because reading is one of the best ways to maintain and develop language proficiency Reading fluency has been shown to positively affect other language knowledge and skills

Graded readers are designed to make the language more accessible, and one

of the outcomes is that learners have the opportunity to develop their reading fluency Iwahori (2008) reviewed a number of extensive reading studies which show that learners who participate in even relatively short-term extensive reading programs using graded readers are able to achieve gains in reading

speed In her own study of beginner-level Japanese secondary school learners, reading rates improved from a mean of 84 wpm to 112 wpm over seven weeks

I.3 Reading and Vocabulary

Reading aids the acquisition of new vocabulary and helps retain prior learned vocabulary Vocabulary plays a vital role in students‟ comprehension and acquisition of a foreign language Without an adequate number of words, language learners will not be able to comprehend or use the second language (L2) Researchers argue that vocabulary is the foundation of other skills, a core component of language development (Kazerooni, Saeedi, &Parvaresh, 2011) Min and Hsu (2008) assure the importance of vocabulary on reading comprehension and advocate the use of extensive reading along with direct instructions on vocabulary Clearly, vocabulary is the key to a basic understanding of the target language According to Richard Day, one of the primary ways to learn vocabulary is through reading (2011) Reading can serve

as a means for vocabulary development because it brings students into contact with new words and repeatedly reinforces the words previously known

Several studies have identified a strong correlation between extensive reading and increased vocabulary Soltani (2011) divided 80 Iranian intermediate-level students into a control group and an experimental group for an experimental study Both groups received the same instruction methods and materials, except the experimental group read an additional five short stories over ten weeks The pre- and post-test results showed a significant gain in vocabulary in the experimental group but not in the control group Ponniah‟s experimental study (2011) with 49 undergraduate students also reinforces the conclusion that exposure to texts is a much more effective way to acquire vocabulary than conscious vocabulary learning Moreover, Golkar and Yamini (2007) found vocabulary highly correlated with reading comprehension and proficiency level These studies confirm that a considerable amount of exposure to L2 texts is necessary to increase vocabulary knowledge and reading comprehension

I.4 Reading and Other Language Competences

Extensive reading presents vocabulary in breadth and depth and allows students an access to an advanced vocabulary that students will likely encounter

in academic texts (Cummins, 2008) In addition to vocabulary gain, extensive reading has consistently been proven to increase other competences Wang (2006) discovered the significant impact extensive reading training has on the communicative competence of college students Studies by Hsu and Lee (2007) and Smith (2007) with college students in Taiwan also found positive effects of reading on writing Huebner concludes that students who were involved in enhanced reading programs outperformed students not only in reading related skills but also in other academic achievements Following their extensive program, Greenberg, Rodrigo, Berry, Brinck, and Joseph (2006) unveiled their findings that the more learners read, the more confident they become McNeil‟s study with South Korean students manifested extensive reading enhancement not only in overall language competences but also in their motivation for continuous reading Extensive reading clearly aids first- and second-language acquisition and fosters positive attitudes toward language learning

Earlier as well as recent literature on reading literacy emphasizes the importance of reading extensively While textbooks and instructions are valuable and necessary in developing specific skills, it is essential for language learners to be exposed to as much of the target language as possible If students have experience with only textbooks materials, they will have difficulty in comprehending the texts that address real contexts, as Nunan (1999) stated in his book based on his empirical practices The Internet reading assigned for an English class in this study was intended to encourage students to read more substantially and extensively The incorporation of the Internet materials was allowed because of easy access and adaptability, and the wide topicality available on the World Wide Web, as proposed by Teeler and Gray (2000) Students were encouraged to read individually at home and discuss it in class with the teacher‟s assistance and facilitation Drawing from the literature review

and personal experience with extensive reading as instructional or learning practices, the researcher has observed numerous benefits from repeated exposure

to print The previous study by this researcher found positive relationships between graded readers and a boost in both language acquisition and motivation Leading researchers such as Grabe (2004) and Krashen (2011) assert the importance for continuous research in extensive reading in support of its inclusion in classroom practice Chen (2007) further identified the need to conduct more reading research in EFL contexts For that reason, the researcher carried out a study on the effects of graded readers in the previous year and furthered the research on the use of authentic materials to facilitate learning in this present study

I.5 Extensive reading

According to Grellet (1981.p.4) extensive reading refers to “reading longer texts, usually for one‟s own pleasure This is a fluency activity mainly involving global understanding” ,which means that extensive reading means reading long materials for pleasure with the aim of achieving general understanding

Extensive reading can be inside or outside the class and students read books of their own choice We can say that extensive reading is an extra reading in which students read enjoyable materials excluding school texts

Extensive reading is generally defined as an approach that involves learners reading a lot of easy materials, usually novels or short stories, for general understanding The basic concept is that the learners should be enabled to choose their own reading material and read independently of the teacher They read for overall meaning, for information and pleasure Day and Bamford emphasize the main aim of extensive reading in language learning

is “to get students reading in the second language and liking it” (qtd in

“Using Graded Readers”)

By extensive reading, it is meant that students read for a significant amount

of time It is an approach beyond skill development; an activity students

“[choose] to do for a variety of personal, social, or academic reasons (Day & Bamford, 2000, p 4) Susser and Robb (1991) agree They claim that extensive reading involves reading a large variety of materials for general understanding and usually obtaining pleasure from reading Extensive reading materials provide substantial linguistic input (Bell, 1998), which is needed for language acquisition Thus, extensive reading provides a rich source for developing learners‟ linguistic competences Researchers point out the importance of extensive reading, but what does extensive reading entail? Successful extensive reading requires the following (adapted from Maley‟s list, 2009)

1 Reading often and in a large quantity

2 Reading in a wide variety of topics and genres

3 Reading content that is interesting and compelling

4 Reading books students themselves select

5 Reading for pleasure and information

6 Reading is its own reward

7 Reading at levels appropriate for the readers

8 Reading speed is fast, not slow

Many studies have shown that extensive reading has positive effects on a variety of students‟ language skills Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding (1988) found a correlation between extensive reading and reading ability among children, and a study by Greenberg, Rodrigo, Berry, Brinck, and Joseph (2006) attained similar results with adult learners Lee‟s study (2008) with children in Taiwan on sustained silent reading reveals that the longer students read, the better the reading results

Grabe (1991:391) and Paran (1996:30) have emphasized the importance of extensive reading in providing learners with practice in automaticity of word

recognition and decoding the symbols on the printed page (often called

bottom-up processing) Reading material selected for extensive reading programs should address students' needs, tastes and interests, so as to energize and motivate them

to read the books In the Yemen, this was achieved through the use of familiar material and popular titles reflecting the local culture (e.g Aladdin and His Lamp) Bell & Campbell (1996, 1997) explore the issue in a South East Asian context, presenting various ways to motivate learners to read and explaining the role of extensive reading and regular use of libraries in advancing the reading habit Extensive reading of high-interest material for both children and adults offers the potential for reinforcing and recombining language learned in the classroom Much classroom reading work has traditionally focused on the exploitation of shorts texts, either for presenting lexical and grammatical points

or for providing students with limited practice in various reading skills and strategies However, a large number of students in the EFL/ESL world require reading for academic purposes, and therefore need training in study skills and strategies for reading longer texts and books Kembo (1993) points to the value

of extensive reading in developing students confidence and ability in facing these longer texts

Reading is the most readily available form of comprehensible input, especially in places where there is hardly any contact with the target language If carefully chosen to suit learners‟ level, it offers them repeated encounters with language items they have already met This helps them to consolidate what they already know and to extend it There is no way any learner will meet new language enough times to learn it in the limited number of hours in class The only reliable way to learn a language is through massive and repeated exposure

to it in context: precisely what ER provides

In ways we so far do not fully understand, the benefits of ER extend beyond reading There is „a spread of effect from reading competence to other language skills - writing, speaking and control over syntax.‟ (Elley 1991) The same phenomenon is noted by Day and Bamford (1998: 32-39) but they even

note evidence of improvements in the spoken language So reading copiously seems to benefit all language skills, not just reading

Vocabulary is not learned by a single exposure ER allows for multiple encounters with words and phrases in context thus making possible the progressive accretion of meanings to them By presenting items in context, it also makes the deduction of meaning of unknown items easier There have been many studies of vocabulary acquisition from ER (Day et al 1991, Nation and Wang 1999, Pigada and Schmitt, 2006) Michael Hoey‟s theory of „lexical priming‟ (Hoey 1991, 2005) also gives powerful support to the effect of multiple exposure to language items in context

Extensive Reading will discourage the over- use of dictionary (Bell, 1998

It is true that dictionary have an important place in reading activity, but as stated

by Bell (1998) that the students will focus only on the language if they always consult the dictionary every time they find an unfamiliar word They will not pay attention to the message conveyed Bell also said that this habit will cause inefficient reading and destroy the pleasure that reading is intended to provide Graham Stanley from British Council, Barcelona said that by avoiding dictionary, the students are expected to be encouraged to jot down the words they come across in a vocabulary notebook and they can look them up after they have finished reading It will make the students guess the meaning based on the context By doing this, the students are able to always remember the meaning of

a word because they find it by themselves

Because extensive reading is an aspect of second language acquisition that ideally should take place over the entirety of one‟s language learning process, it

is important that students actually be motivated to continue reading Educators must recognize the need for sustaining student motivation, and dealing with fluctuating motivation over the course of this “inherently effortful activity” which may not be enjoyable all the time (de Burgh-Hirabe & Feryok 2013, Nishino 2007, Setsuko 2015)

I.5.1 Authentic Material

Authentic material refers to those taken from real life sources and they are not designed for teaching and learning purposes The most common sources of authentic materials that can be used in the classroom are newspaper, magazine, songs, literature and materials from the internet Wallace (1998: 145) defines authentic texts as “real-life texts, not written for pedagogic processes” One of the main purposes of using authentic materials in the classroom is

to “expose” students to as much real language as possible Therefore, the students can gain real information and know what is going on in the world around them

Moreover, an advantage of taking a complete newspaper or magazine into classroom, instead of photocopies of an article, is that students can actually choose what they want to read They are much more likely to read with enthusiasm if they have made decision about what they want to read

Authentic materials are often more interesting because they reflect real life phenomena It is in line with Brown (1999) s‟ statement that the learners are more eager to learn when the language is authentic or meaningful It is supported by Nuttall (1996: 172) who states that “authentic texts can be motivating because they are proof that the language is used for real- life purposes by real people” Moreover, they have a positive effect on comprehension and learner satisfaction (Berado, 2006) Thus, it can be implied that the use of authentic materials affect the students‟ reading comprehension However, authentic materials often contain difficult language and unneeded vocabulary items, which can be unnecessary distraction for learners and teacher In order to solve the 90 Yanuarti Apsari: The Use Of Authentic problem the authentic material should be used in accordance with students‟ ability, with suitable tasks being given in which total understanding is not important In order to overcome the problems created by difficult authentic

material texts, one solution needed is to simplify them according to the level of the learners

I.5.2 Created Material

Created material refers to textbooks and other texts specially designed for learning purposes It is designed generally based on the syllabus and provide

a systematic coverage of teaching items The language of created materials has usually been modified and adjusted according to the learning objectives and level of learners and their ability The main difference between authentic and created materials lies on the naturalness of language used Authentic materials have more natural language and reflect real life

The use of created texts in teaching has both advantages and disadvantage Authentic materials are useful for teaching structure but are not very good for improving reading skills It focuses more on the form rather than on the language itself It provides a variety of learning resources However, it can deskill teachers If teachers use textbook as the primary source of their teaching, leaving the textbook and teacher‟s manual to make the major instructional decision for them

Considering the importance of reading material in teaching English, this study aims to find out whether there is a difference in performance when students read authentic and non-authentic texts It is hoped that through the findings, lecturers will be able to identify the type of reading text that is most suitable for students

I.5.3 Graded readers

Graded readers have been used from the 1950‟s, and their popularity has been connected to the work of Michael West and his General Word List (West, 1953), which contains the 2000 most frequent words of the English language (Bell, 2001) Considering that graded readers are made up of simplified vocabulary which is based on word frequency, West recommends using GR for establishing vocabulary which has already been met and to increase the

learners‟ motivation when they see what they can do/understand with the vocabulary which they had already learned (Wodinsky & Nation, 1988)

Dawson defines graded readers as books, both fiction and non-fiction where the language used is controlled to match the language competence of language learners Graded readers are specially written for language learners, although they are not children‟s books (although some are written for teenagers and children), but in general they are books for adult language learners (Waring,

“The Why and How of Using Graded Readers”) As mentioned above, the purpose of graded reading is that learners should read with relative ease If the language of the text is too difficult or the topic is not interesting for them, they cannot enjoy the story there is a good chance that they will not want

to continue with reading (Waring, the Why and How of Using Graded Readers) There is a wide range of graded readers at different levels available these days Appropriate difficulty level can be achieved by writing a new story for this certain level or by simplifying an existing book to required level They involve various principles of linguistic grading But the linguistic factor is not the only one that teachers should bear in mind when choosing a book It is necessary to remember that enjoyment and motivation should come first However, to reach this goal the teacher who has professional interests in the reading development of his learners should understand basics of grading and simplification processes

There are several kinds of graded readers Some of them are new stories written specially for language learners but many of them are adaptations or abridgements made by simplifying of classical literature In order to make a text accessible to learners of English at lower levels, information, lexical and structural controls have to be applied The process of simplification is very complicated as authors have to deal with many aspects when they transform the original texts into graded ones

Graded readers are books written especially for foreign or second language learners to develop their reading ability by simplifying the vocabulary and grammar so the learner can easily understand the story They are similar to basal readers but are written specifically for language learners Graded readers are published by various publishers such as Oxford, Pearson Longman, and Cambridge They are divided into different levels, graded by headwords (e.g.,

250, 400, 700, 1000), grammatical structure (e.g., present simple to clauses of concession, condition), syntax, and plot (e.g., simple sequential to flashbacks) The importance of using graded readers especially for lexical and fluency development has been widely acknowledged in the field Waring (2006) strongly claimed that “graded reading, or extensive reading, is a completely indispensable part of any language program” (p 44) Nevertheless, there has been a long debate over whether using simplified text or authentic text is more effective than the other For example, scholars who believe in the Fluency First Approach (Rorschach, Tillyer, & Verdi, 1992) based on whole language philosophy (Freeman & Freeman, 1992) believe learners, even at basic levels, should read massive amounts of authentic texts (e.g classic and contemporary literature) not readings adapted for language learners A study conducted by Kweon and Kim (2008) suggested the possibility of incidental vocabulary learning through using authentic written texts at college level In their study, 12 Korean learners of English read three authentic teen novels (over 100,000 words) for five weeks After the treatment, they showed a significant vocabulary growth

As Nation (2009) stated, “unsimplified texts have a very heavy vocabulary load and, for the purposes of extensive reading, do not set up the conditions needed for successful learning from meaning-focused input” (p 58) If they contain too many unknown words, reading these types of books will turn into intensive study which disrupts the flow of reading

Based on the questionnaire analysis, 10 students commented that they did not enjoy reading in English because they were not confident enough to read

English books They believed their English was not good enough and felt that they had difficulties understanding the content As two students commented, the lack of confidence might have led them to keep away from reading English books

If students start extensive reading using authentic texts which are relatively long and challenging, this may prevent the development of fluency and detract from the pleasure of reading Graded readers have a controlled grammatical and lexical load, and provide regular and sufficient repetition of new language forms (Wodinsky& Nation 1988).Therefore, students automatically receive the necessary reinforcement and recycling of language required to ensure that new input is retained and made available for spoken and written production

Choosing appropriately graded reader levels

There are six levels of graded readers Bookworm: starter, stage 1, stage 2, stage 3, stage 4, stage 5, stage 6 Learners are able to process reading texts fluently, only if the texts are well within their linguistic level Thus, choosing the right level of graded readers for students is crucial Consequently, how can we select the appropriate level? One strong indicator is the students‟ current receptive vocabulary size (Nation, 2001, 2009) For instance, the total word families used at each level is roughly the same as the graded readers‟ level in the Oxford Bookworms series as shown in Table 1 (Nation, 2009)

Table 1 Total New Words and Word Families at Each Oxford Bookworms

In this chapter, the study investigates graded readers The first question is about the participation in reading of students The second question is supposed

to point out the benefits of graded readers to students in reading In detail, the research uses three tools as a methodology to measure the effectiveness of graded readers in reading: interview, tests and self-report The books read by the participants in this program were the Oxford Bookworm (OBW) graded readers The OBW grading system is shown in Table 2 below

Table 2 Grading System of the OBW Graded Readers

Levels L0 L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L6 Headwords 250 400 700 1000 1400 1800 2500 CEFR A1 A2 B1 B1 B1 B2 B2/C1 Note L0= Level 0, L1= Level 1, etc

II.1 Participants

The main aim of this study is to examine how well an extensive reading program as Graded Readers can help learners in reading skills As such, it was necessary that participants were willing to commit to an extended reading program I found these in a small group of learners who were sophomore at HPU2 The participants were female ESL learners, who were members of K41B,

an English language education class All of them had no English qualifications, but based on their reading level tests,were judged to be at intermediate level of proficiency The participants were required to read a certain amount every week There were strict requirements how much the reading participants should read The researcher required them at which level they should read, either Based on their reading level, observed proficiency, all participants were at an intermediate level All of the participants were selected on the basis to reading the Level 2 or

3 Oxford Graded Readers (700-1000 headwords), could commit to a 7-week schedule during which books could be comfortably read, and were willing to volunteer for the extended research study Overall, the participants were extremely keen and motivated readers, and were excited to be participants in this

research program See Table 3 for the individual participant‟s details The names are anonymous to protect participants‟ identity

Table 3 Description of participants

Participant Age Gender Class Level

II.2 Graded readers project

The research timeline will be shown clearly in the following table:

Table 4: Planning of graded reader project

1 March, 5th , 2017 - Conduct pre-tests

- Identify level of students

2 March, 12th ,2017 - Deliver reading materials and comprehension

test

- Record reading speed of the book

3 March, 19th , 2017 - Delivering reading materials and comprehension

test

- Record reading speed of the book

4 March, 26th , 2017 - Delivering reading materials and comprehension

test

- Record reading speed of the book

5 April, 2nd , 2017 - Delivering reading materials and comprehension

test

- Record reading speed of the book

6 April ,9th , 2017 - Delivering reading materials and comprehension

test

- Record reading speed of the book

7 April, 16th , 2017 - Collect the results

- Interview The research lasted from March 5th to April 16th ,2017 Before starting reading, they had to do several pre-tests to classify the level of each participant

as well as deliver appropriate books for them to read The participants had to read one story at their level and then report the word per minute (wpm) they got

in a story Besides, the students at level 3 also read the story at level 2 to report the word per minute All of books were published by Oxford University Press

Table 5: List of book title

Stage 2 ( 700 headwords) Stage 3 (1000 headwords)

Love or money A Christmas Carol

Munity on the bounty The railway children

Alice‟ adventures in wonderland As the inspector said

Ear-rings from Frankfurt Goldfish

Goodbye, Mr Hollywood Play with fire

The piano Robinson Crusoe

Sherlock Holmes The call of the wild

II.3 Data collection instruments

II.3.1 Interview

According to McNamara(1999) Interviews are particularly useful for getting the story behind a participant‟s experiences The interviewer can pursue in-depth information around the topic Interviews may be useful as follow-up to certain respondents Interviewer can provide direct feedback to the respondent, give clarifications and help alleviate any misconceptions or apprehensions over confidentiality that the respondent may have in answering the interviewer‟s questions Interviewers can probe if the respondent‟s answer is too brief or unclear This gives interviewers some flexibility in dealing with unstructured questions and is especially suited for handling complex questions If the questionnaire is very lengthy, the personal interview is the best technique for getting respondents to cooperate, without overtaxing their patience

Interviewing is a way to collect data as well as to gain knowledge from individuals Kvale (1996, p 14) regarded interviews as “… an interchange of views between two or more people on a topic of mutual interest, sees the centrality of human interaction for knowledge production, and emphasizes the social situatedness of research data.”

Interviews are ways for participants to get involved and talk about their views In addition, the interviewees are able to discuss their perception and interpretation in regards to a given situation It is their expression from their point of view Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2000, p 267) explain “… the interview is not simply concerned with collecting data about life: it is part of life itself, its human embeddedness is inescapable.”

The researcher has to know and select the appropriate method for addressing the needs of the research question Then, the researcher has to make

a decision and choose the right method for that study Data collection has its complexities and demands This article assumes that the right data collection

method is interviewing, which “… has its own issues and complexities, and demands its own type of rigour” (O‟Leary, 2004, p 162)

There are many reasons to use interviews for collecting data and using it as

a research instrument Gray (2004, p 214) has given the following reasons:

• There is a need to attain highly personalized data

• There are opportunities required for probing

• A good return rate is important

• Respondents are not fluent in the native language of the country, or where they have difficulties with written language

It is necessary for the researcher to prepare before the actual interview The interview starts before the interview actually begins This is the researcher‟s preparation stage Once the interview is conducted the researcher needs to make sure that the respondents have:

• A clear idea of why they have been asked;

• Basic information about the purpose of the interview and the research project of which it is a part;

• Some idea of the probable length of the interview and that you would like

to record it (explaining why);

• A clear idea of precisely where and when the interview will take place Gillham (2000, p 38)

There are many types of interviews, which include: structured interviews, semi-structured interviews, unstructured interviews, non-directive interview The interview the writer used was semi-structured interview which are non-standardized and are frequently used in qualitative analysis The interviewer does not do the research to test a specific hypothesis (David, & Sutton, 2004, p 87) The researcher has a list of key themes, issues, and questions to be covered

In this type of interview the order of the questions can be changed depending on

the direction of the interview An interview guide is also used, but additional questions can be asked

In this research, an interview was conducted with only 4 students after using graded readers to improve reading skills There were three parts in the interview The first questions were about their point of view about general reading and the way they were taught in reading lesson The following questions were the awareness of graded reader and the effectiveness of their using graded reader in reading by themselves The last part was the method they would like to exploit graded reader and suggestions for student to read graded reader in the better ways

In this interview, the researcher Dao Thi Diem played a role as an interviewer and directly interview students at class There were 10 questions listed to keep a close view on attitude and improvement of the students More details about these questions can be seen clearly in Appendix A

II.3.2 Tests

The test is one of the significant methods to evaluate the improvement of students In the thesis, the researcher conducted classification test and

comprehension test

II.3.2.1 Classification test

In the thesis, the research gave students 2 kinds of test: pre-tests and tests The number of the tests depended on the level of students All the tests would be taken out from Bookworm level test published by Oxford University Press The pre-tests were done to categorize level of students They were put on the appropriate level and provided suitable materials during the research Therefore, the stories or topics in reading were at reasonable level that was suitable with student‟s ability The first pre-test would be conducted at level 2, starter and level 1 were omitted because of the informal interview about reading ability At each level, there were 30 multiple choice questions designed for a story in the test and the task of students was choosing an appropriate word to fill