Using information transfer techniques to exploit reading tiếng anh 12

TABLE OF CONTENTS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION PAGES 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Scope of study CONTENTS 2.1 Theoretical background 2.2 Practical background 2.2.1 Suggested transformations for reading texts in “Tieng Anh 12” 2.2.2 Questionaire 19 2.2.3 Results 21 2.3 Effectiveness of the teaching experience 25 CONCLUSION 25 REFRENCES 27 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Teaching reading skills of English has been so far considered very important in Vietnamese secondary school classes However, the procedure of teaching a reading text in English, especially the steps of exploiting content has not been very satisfactory since they are limited to only some techniques and these techniques are repeatedly used Therefore, practicing the reading skill of English as a foreign language is a matter of much concern by language teachers In order to make the lessons more exciting, creative and effective, to help students acquirres language skills of English, new techniques should be applied and one of them is information transfer This assignment deals with the information - transfer technique that aim to help language teachers control the procudure of explaining content of a reading text and checking students’ understanding efectively, and at the same time involve students in challenging, meaningful and interesting activities of content exploitation Examples presented here focus on the textbook of English 12 – new version 1.2 Aims of the study Reading is one of the important skills Reading book can help the readers to understand about something happens in this era, the past time or even prediction of the future Reading for defined compression, whether look for detailed information or language, must be seen as something easy or difficult to do, it will be easy to if it has high reading interest Reading is an important activity in many languages class, not only as a source of information and a pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating and extending one’s knowledge of the language If a student cannot read and comprehend a written language, they cannot be expected to be good in other content areas which will indispensably require some reading ability According to Heilman et al., reading comprehension is a process of making sense of written ideas through meaningful interpretation and interaction with language (1981) Teaching technique mean of achieving the learning goals that they achieve depend on how effective and skillful the technique being used (Nation, 1981) It is certain that every teacher has their own way of teaching reading comprehension The fact is that the methods for teaching reading have subjected to substantial changes over time Information Transfer technique means translating data from one form to another We move from the reading or listening text to graphic stimuli, or visual like charts, graphs, diagrams, figures, maps, etc and vice versa (Storla in Thi and Loan, 2010) Furthermore, Widdowson states that the Information Transfer technique is the “transformation of instances of discourses from one type into another but these instances of discourse can also be derived from a non-verbal mode of communicating (Widdowson in Thi and Loan, 2010) 1.3 Scope of research The study deals with information transfer activities for the teaching or using “ Tiếng Anh 12” at Ba Thuoc high school in Thanh Hoa province II CONTENTS 2.1 Theoretical background In order to help our students acquire the reading skills of English, according to Nuttle, C, “the focus of interest in the reading lesson is neither language nor content, but the two together: we want our students to learn how language is used for conveying content, we want them to develop the skills needed to extract the content from the language that expresses it These are the skills they need in order to become effective independent readers” (Nuttle C 1982.31) Commonly in the context of teaching comprehension in secondary school classroom of English, there are only a few techniques that are being repeatedly used to study content of a reading text such as:  Question – answer  Finding synonyms / antonyms  Gap – filling  True – false Of the four common techniques, the questions – answer technique is the most preferred one Language teachers usually employ these techniques after dealing with vocabulary and structure study The purpose is to assist student’s comprehension of ideas in reading texts These techniques satisfy the purpose in some ways However, if these techniques are repeatedly used in all reading texts, the procedures become monotonous We will find it difficult to enliven the teaching atmosphere and students are hardly interested in their lessons I myself sometimes use the summary technique to satisfy this purpose but through class observations, this technique turned out to be unsuccessful since students’ writing skills left much to be desired and they find it difficult to practise the summary skill The information – transfer technique, with most main information in a reading text being transferred into its variety of structures (charts, graphs, maps, outlines, tables, etc.) and with pair / groupwork – based interaction, will help teachers and students deal with the overall image of a paragraph, paragraphs and of the whole text; make the activities competitive and at the same time encourage students’ involvement in the lesson The teaching procedure is therefore enriched with challenging, demanding yet exciting activities We can design a diagrammatic form that summarises main ideas of one or more than one paragraph, or a whole text for the step of content reproduction, consolidation, or summary With a diagrammatic form presented on a poster, which includes most main ideas of the passage studied, the teacher may model by reproducing the ideas on the form verbally and then invite students to the reproduction The reproduction should be divided into parts if the diagrammatic form includes many details Experience shows that if the diagrammatic form is clear and beautiful and the reproduction is not so complicated, students may be very willing to participate While doing the reproduction, they can use their own grammar, instead of merely sticking to the language in the passage, to connect all the details on the form and practise their speaking skill in an effective way This step should be introdured in the content study stage, after finishing one or two activities in the stage such as a question – answer activity or a true – false exercise as it aims to strengthen and consolidate students’ understanding of a reading text in a global and thorough way We may also use information – transfer activity to check or test students’ ability to understand the content of a passage That is why this activity should be introduced at the end of the content stage The teacher may design a diagrammatic form including most main ideas in a reading text But instead of providing all information on the form, we will leave some blanks for students to complete We may use the poster sticking on the board or handouts for groups An overhead transparency can be used instead of a poster, which can make the activity more challenging and interesting due to the timing control Checking and giving feedback can be done right after that 2.2 Practical background The reasons affecting the effectiveness of a reading period in EFL classrooms lie in the teachers and the students themselves Besides, the reading section in the book “Tieng Anh 12” also causes difficulties for both teachers and students in teaching and learning process As for the teachers, although they are aware of the fact that teaching reading skill is not easy and the reading section in the textbook is sometimes not appropriate for students’ levels, they not often adapt given tasks Many of the teachers just follow the requirements of the textbook without making any changes to any of the tasks In addition, there are many problems the teachers often encounter when designing and carrying out activities for a reading lesson such as limitation of time for preparation and for curriculum, students’ levels, students’ background knowledge or lack of teaching facilities and teaching aids, etc All of these factors, to some extent, discourage the teachers from spend time creating effective activities for a reading lesson For students, the main problem in learning reading is that they cannot understand a reading task themselves without the help of the teachers Their lack of background knowledge and vocabulary prevents them from completing the given tasks These causes make many of the students feel bored with learning reading skill and consider it a very difficult skill to master The reading section in the book “Tieng Anh 12” itself has some inappropriateness for the success of a reading lesson in particular context of teaching and learning First, some of the topics are not familiar with the students There are still many new words in the tasks And the requirements of some reading tasks are out of students’ levels Moreover, many of the reading lessons cannot be completed in a period of 45 minutes In one word, it is undeniable that there still exist the problems originated from the teaching and learning process in reality mentioned above However, these problems can be solved to make the reading section easier for both teachers and students by applying the techniques of information transfer made by the teachers’ flexibility 2.2.1 Suggested transformations for reading texts in “Tiếng Anh 12” The followoing activities base on the reading texts of “ Tiếng Anh” (NXBGD 2008) Unit 1: HOME LIFE Teacher hangs on the poster with this diagram or shows it on the overhead transparency and then asks students to reproduce the text T may use his/ her grammar to reproduce a small part such as: “My family has people My father is a biologist and he is very busy However, he still tries to spend as much time with children as possible He also gives hand with housework such as cleaning house or cooking.” Teacher may devide the reproduction into parts for easy practice; each part talks about one member in family And now is the time for students to reproduce small parts and then the whole text Teacher may provide help and then let students state their work in front of the class MY FAMILY Close – knit supportive Father: - A biologist -> busy - Spend time with children - Give hand with housework (cleaning house, cooking) Mother: - A nurse -> busy - Caring woman - Run the household (get up early, rush to the market, and hurry home to dinner …) younger brothers: - Active and mischivious - Obedient and hard – working I: - Eldest child and only daughter - Final year at the secondary school Unit 2: CULTURAL DIVERSITY Americans: Asians: (1) More concerned concerned Americans: shares all thoughts Asians: (3) _ _ Physical attractive (2) _ Trust built on love (5) _ Americans: Asians: (4) obliged to tell wives If he comes home late Americans: equals Asians: (6) _  Young Asians not as romantic as Americans With this kind of diagram, students have to scan the text for the information in the blanks Key: less confiding unwise to confide in their wives trust husband partnership of equals woman sacrifice more We also can use this diagram for reproduction activity after complete the blanks Begin with “Due to cultural diversity, Americans and Asians have different attitudes toward love and marriage, expressing on four key values The first one is …” Unit 3: WAYS OF SOCIALISING Verbal communication To attract one’s attention Non – verbal communication Whistle/ clap Waving: most common way Nod slightly Raise hand slightly Point at Rude/ impolite With this diagram, students can see the opposite ideas and summarize the text easily Unit 4: SCHOOL EDUCATION SYSTEM Education system Compusory - Age: (1) - End: G.C.S.E 10 ADVANTAGES VARIES (2) (1) KEEP FOREVER 18 (3) Read bits here & there SWALLOW Good stories CHEW & DIGEST: (4) Unit 13: THE 22ND SEA GAMES Time 5th to 13th December, 2003 Participants Place 11 countries 32 sports My Dinh Station, Ha Noi, Viet Nam The 22nd Sea Games Results: 444 gold Spirit medals VN: 158 Thailand: 90 Indo: 55 solidarity& cooperation for peace & development VN’s preparation Intensive programme Strong support 19 Unit 15: WOMEN IN SOCIETY Equal work oppotunity Childbearing homemaking Intellectual ability -> doubted Equal pay to men Past: limited / denied Now:gained significant rights Right to vote Educationn Employmentt Right to formal education Legal / political rights Unit 16: THE ASOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS ASEAN 1967 Founded 1984 Brunei 1995 Viet Nam 1997 Laos & Myanmar 1999 Cambodia Goals + accelerate: - economic growth 20 - social progress - cultural development + promote peace & development Population 575.5 million -> 8.7 % world’s population Area 4.464.322 sp km Features - diverse cultures - diverse economies 2006 Total trade: US $ 1405 billion 2007 GDP: US $ 1282 billion 2020 - free trade areae established - ASEAN Vision -> closer economic intergration in region  improve socio-economic situation  solve problems among its member countries 2.2.2 Questionnaires Questionnaires 21 What you think the aims of the reading lessons are? How important you think reading lessons are? a very important b not very important c not important at all Did you prepare the lessons before the class? Yes, always Yes, sometimes No, never You have difficulties when learning reading skill because of the reasons… always Difficutl topics Lack of vocabulary Long / complicated text Your grammar is not good enough Your partner is not co-operative 22 sometimes never You have no ideas about the topics How you find the following reading activites? very difficult not very easy difficult T / F statements Answer questions Gap – filling Finding synonyms / antonyms Discussion Complete the chart Oral reproduction Did you participate in the oral reproduction actively? Yes, always Yes, sometimes Seldom No, never 23 very easy How much can you gain after reading lesson if using the information transfer technique to exploit the text? Tick one or more of the following or you can add your own ideas 1, the theme 2, a all the main ideas b some of the main ideas 3, a all the supporting details b some of the supporting ideas c not any of the supporting ideas Thanks for your help! 2.2.3 Results Before applying these techniques of information transfer in reading texts in “Tiếng Anh 12”, (school year 2016- 2017) most students think that, reading lesons seem to be extremely difficult and boring Grade 12A6 (40 students) in the academic year of 2016 – 2017 good Rather good Average Under average Number 20 18 percentage 50% 45% 5% Grade 12A7 ( 37 students) in the academic year of 2016 – 2017 24 good Rather good Average Under average Number 20 12 percentage 13,5% 54% 32,5% In the school year 2017 - 2018, I used these information transfer techniques in my teaching reading lessons, I realized that a numbers of students found interested in learning reading increasing day by day I collected students’ ideas to know what they find about reading texts by some questions in the questionnaires and had some replied information as below Most students stated that at first, they often read the text at home before going to class but they still find it hard to summarize the main ideas of the reading text because they lack of vocabulary and because the text is so long or too complicated although they can find out the evidences to decide the statements are true or false and answer questions in the text With class 12A6– a rather good at English class with 37 students, 27 students believe that the reading lessons are very important - containing 73 %, 10 students think they are not very important - containing 23 % and no one finds they not important at all 20 students in this class always prepare the lesson before class – containing 54 %, 13 students sometimes – containing 35 % and students never prepare the lesson before class – containing 11 % Through the questionaires, students also said that there are main reasons that make the reading texts become difficult They are “lack of vocabulary, long / complicated text and grammar is not good enough” students in this class always lack vocabulary when learning reading skill – containing 18,9 %, 23 students sometimes – containing 62,1 % and students never lack vocabulary – containing 19 % 25 With the reason “long / complicated text”, students always (21,6 %), 20 students sometimes (54,1 %) and students never (24,3 %) While in class 12A5 – an average at English class with 37 students, 23 students believe that the reading lessons are very important – containing 60,5 %, 13 students think they are not very important - containing 34,2 % and students find they not inportant at all – containing 5,3 % 15 students in this class always prepare the lesson before class – containing 39,5 %, 15 students sometimes – containing 39,5 % and students never prepare the lesson before class – containing 21 % Most students in class 12A5 have the same idea with students in 12A7 about the reasons that make the reading texts difficult, but a few students in this class also find the reading texts difficult because they have no idea about the topics 17 students in this class always lack vocabulary when learning reading skill – containing 44,7 %, 18 students sometimes – containing 47,4 % and students never lack vocabulary – containing 7,9 % With the reason “long / complicated text”, 18 students always (47,4 %), 19 students sometimes (50 %) and student never (2,6%) Only student ticks off the last item of the list (you have no idea about the topics) Students in these two classes also stated that with the charts or diagrams applied in some reading texts, such as unit – Ways of Socialising, unit – School Education System, they find it easier to summarize the texts or remember mains ideas of the texts by using suggested words in the charts/ diagrams because they don’t face with the complicated / long texts In class 12A7, students find the “complete the chart” activity very difficult – containing 19,2 %, 25 students find it it very difficult – containing 63,8 %, students find it easy (17 %) and on one finds it very easy But with the “oral reproduction” activity, 10 students find it very difficult – containing 34 %, 24 students find it not very difficult – containing 51,1 % and students find it easy – containing 14,9 % No one finds it very easy 12 students in this class always participate in the oral reproduction activity – containing 38,3 %, 12 26 students sometimes (25,5 %), 10 students seldom (21,3 %) and students never (14,9 %) To the last questions, in the reading texts that using the information transfer technique, in 37 students gain only the theme of the reading text (8,1 %), 19 students gain all the main ideas (51,4 %), 18 students gain some main ideas (48,6 %) and in 19 students gain all the main ideas, there are 18 students gain some supporting ideas (48,6) No student adds their own idea In class 12A5, 15 students find the “complete the chart” activity very difficult – containing 39,5 %, 19 students find it it very difficult – containing 50 %, students find it easy (10,5 %) and on one find it very easy But with the “oral reproduction” activity, 21 students find it very difficult – containing 55,3 %, 16 students find it not very difficult – containing 42,1 % and student finds it easy – containing 2,6 % No one finds it very easy studenrs in this class always participate in the oral reproduction activity – containing 23,7 %, 13 students sometimes (34,2 %), 11 students seldom (28,9 %) and students never (13,2 %) With the last question, in 38 students gain only the theme of the reading text (10,5 %), 20 students gain all the main ideas (52,6 %), 14 students gain some main ideas (36,9 %) and in 20 students gain all the main ideas, there are students gain some supporting ideas (23,7 %) and only student gains all the supporting details I also used the last question to ask students in class 12A7– an average at English class with 39 students, and I didn’t apply the charts or diagrams to summarise the main ideas in the reading texts in this class The result is that 14 students gain the theme of the reading text (43,1 %), students gain all the main ideas (19,5 %) and 17 students gain some main ideas (46,4 %) in students gain some supporting ideas (9,8 %) and no one gain all the supporting details 27 Let see the difference in the results among these three classes in the comparison table below about what students get after the reading lesson: 12A5 12A6 12A7 The theme 6,4 % 10,5 % 43,1 % All the main ideas 61,7 % 52,6 % 19,5 % Some main ideas 31,9% 36,9 % 46,4 % In this method, I realized most students worked harder, expressed more ideas, became more active and excited about the lessons and especially had more satisfactory results despite the fact that they are the students of Ba Thuoc high school Results in summary Grade 12A5( 37 students) in the academic year of 2017 – 2018 good Rather good Average Under average Number 12 19 Percentage 5% 32 % 51% 11% Grade 12A6 (37) in the academic year of 2017 – 2018 good Rather good Average Under average Number 22 10 Percentage 10,8% 59,5 % 27% 2,7% Grade 12A7 (39 students) in the academic year of 2017 – 2018 good Rather good 28 Average Under average Number 15 17 Percentage 5% 39% 45% 11% As shown from the table of statistics above, we can see that the qualities of the subject have changed dramatically in all skills They are much higher and better than those of the school year 2016-2017 Up to now, there’s been enough evidence to affirm that methods have resulted in much effect in teaching English From my point of view, if we use these techniques widely in other classes , I have strong belief that we will also be successful The numbers have already shown that with the information transfer technique, students can easily remember all the main ideas of the reading texts and also the supporting details 2.3 Effectiveness of the teaching experience These suggested activities have been applied in my teaching reading to 12 th students at Ba Thuoc high school and they seem to be useful to students Most of the students find it easier and more comfortable with reading lessons This is shown through their high motivation and interest in learning reading, their active participation in activities and many students at low levels can be carry out reading tasks by themselves As a result, students’ reading skill, to some extent, has been improved during the school years CONCLUSION During the school year, with some long / complicated texts, the information transfer technique helped my students and me also to exploit the reading texts and we find it easier to get the main ideas of the texts New words appearing in the texts are no longer a problem for students 29 Because of the shortage of time, this assignment must have some mistakes that I cannot cover I’m willing to receive readers’ comment so that I can improve it I hope you will find something interesting in this assignment Xác nhận thủ trưởng đơn vị Tôi xin cam đoan sáng kiến kinh nghiệm tôi, không chép Bá Thước, Ngày tháng năm 2019 Author Phạm Như Chính 30 REFRENCES Reference material from Mr Truong Vien, M.A of Hue College of Foreign Languages Tieng Anh 12 – Giao Duc publisher – 2008 Arthur, W Heilman, Blair, Timothy R and Rupley William H (1981) Principles and Practices of Teaching Reading th edition Columbus: Ohio Charles E Merril Publishing Company Brown, H Douglas (2000) The Principle of Language Learning and Teaching New York: Longman (2003) Language Assessment Principles and Classroom Practice California: Longman Garfinkel, Alan, et al (1982) ESL and the Foreign Language Teacher California: National Textbook Company 31 32 ... these techniques of information transfer in reading texts in Tiếng Anh 12 , (school year 2016- 2017) most students think that, reading lesons seem to be extremely difficult and boring Grade 12A6... deals with information transfer activities for the teaching or using “ Tiếng Anh 12 at Ba Thuoc high school in Thanh Hoa province II CONTENTS 2.1 Theoretical background In order to help our... future Reading for defined compression, whether look for detailed information or language, must be seen as something easy or difficult to do, it will be easy to if it has high reading interest Reading