Optimizing graphic organizers to improve students’ reading comprehension

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale In this globalization era, English has become the important means of international communication It plays recognizable roles in almost every society, whether large or small, across the globe Today, everyone needs to know English in order to get connected with world communities and to exploit their knowledge resources Indeed, the use of English has been increasing throughout the world In Vietnam, today English is taught in every level; Vietnamese students are required to study the language from primary school to university In fact, most of them spend more than six years learning English through formal education Despite such a long time of learning English in school, the results of their studying immensely vary In teaching and learning English, there are four micro language skills, they are speaking, listening, reading and writing One of those components, reading is regarded as a decoding skill, that is interpreting codes into ideas Through reading, people can get the information entire the world without going anywhere Furthermore, people can get the information from various media of communication such as internet, television, radio, newspaper, magazines and also books As an English Teacher, I found some students’ difficulties in reading comprehension: (1) students have difficulty to identify explicit information in a text; (2) students have difficulty to comprehend the text as they lack of vocabulary; (3) students are unable to find the main idea in a paragraph; (4) and students are unable to infer the meaning of the text The activities for reading skills in the book English are good, however, for students who are eager for new knowledge and various activities, changing the activities to make them more interesting is necessary which can contribute to the success of the lesson as well as the final results Based on these reasons, I am interested in conducting a study on “ Optimizing graphic organizers to improve students’ reading comprehension” Aims of the study This study aims at determining how graphic organizers can help to improve students’ reading comprehension Research questions From the explanation above, the research questions in this study can be formulated as follows: How effective comprehension? 10 is graphic organizers in students’ reading How is the situation when Graphic organizers are used in the reading class? 11 Scope of study 12 There might be many different ways to improve students’ reading comprehension For the limited time within the scope of this study, I limit the participants to grade 11th students at Trieu Son I high school in the academic year 2016 More specifically, the total time for this study is 10 months, the number of students is 76, and I would try to focus on choosing the activities: using graphic organizers in reading lessons, evaluating the results and give implications 13 The methodology 14 The research will be conducted by using Experimental method Experimental method is an observation in order to know the effect of Graphic organizers on students’ achievement in reading comprehension, where the sample is divided into two groups: experimental group and control group The experimental group is the group that receives treatment by using Graphic organizers strategy, while the control group is the one that receives the treatment by using the traditional method 15 5.1 Participants 16 This study was carried out in Trieu son High school The sample was taken from the grade 11 students which consist of parallel classes (class A2 and class A6) where every class consists of 38 students, so the total of students in the school year were 76 students The class A2 is experimental group and the class A6 is control group 17 5.2 Instrument 18 The instrument which is used to collect the data is multiple-choice test multiple-choice test is effective for measuring and its objective scoring is quick, easy and consistent it also encourages the students to develop a comprehensive knowledge of specific facts and the ability to make fine discrimination among them 19 The test consists of 10 items to measure students’ reading comprehension Each item of test consists of four options namely, a, b, c, and d I realize that multiple choice test is the most widely used and highly regarded among the selection type of items for test development The test could be designed to measure the recall understanding and applying of specific concepts, or principle because the students can answer a large number of such questions in short time, a large sample of items can be incorporated in that test They were used in pre-test, and post-test instrument 20 To collect opinion of my students about using graphic organizers, I also gave students a questionnaire (appendix A) The questionnaire was composed of questions to evaluate the students’ attitudes towards graphic organizers after the intervention period They asked how the students felt about using graphic organizers and how the use of them affected their attitudes and grades 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 PART B: CONTENT 31 I Theoretical basis 32 Reading comprehension is the process of constructing meaning from a text and involves the complex coordination of several processes, including “decoding, word reading, and fluency along with the integration of background knowledge and previous experiences” (Klinger & Geisler, 2008, p 65) Students’ reading comprehension can be influenced by their vocabulary knowledge, word recognition skills, understanding of text structure, oral English language proficiency, and cultural background differences Besides, the students have lack of motivation in language learning since the students get bored with teaching method used by teachers One of possible solutions for such problems is using graphic organizers because these organizers can help students depict key concepts and construct the meaning of the reading text An application of graphic organizers that match the structure of the message, teachers will be able to assess student comprehension of what they are reading, observe their thinking process on what they read as a class, as a group, or individually Furthermore, graphic organizers are considers as miraculous techniques to make students actively engaged in their learning Because organizers include words, visual images, illustrative shapes, meaningful labels and logical displays, they are effectively for a variety of students with different language levels 33 II Factual basis 34 Before making the topic, I had a test to examine the quality of the students’ reading comprehension Both experimental group and control group are given the same pre-test The pre -test has 10 questions including typical types of reading comprehension questions: identifying the main idea, finding supporting details, making interferences, answering questions about vocabulary, fact and opinion This test is used to find the students’ reading comprehension achievement of both groups The result of the tests would be compared to find out the effect of applying Graphic organizers Strategy on the students’ reading comprehension achievement 35 The table below is the result of the pre-test: 36 Experiential groups Types of Questions Class A2 Control groups (38 Class A6 (38 students) students) Number of Percentag Number Percenta students e can answer of ge students can Identifying the 2.6 answer Main Idea Finding the 21.1 13.1 7.9 7.9 39.5 14 10.5 5.2 2.6 36.8 Supporting Details Vocabulary Fact and Opinion Making Inferences Total 37 3 15 5.2 38 The table shows that the percentage of students who can answer questions of reading comprehension is low The problem above may be caused by several reasons, could be the students or teacher 39 III Solution 40 Definition of Graphic Organizers 41 A graphic organizer is a visual representation of knowledge that structures information by arranging important aspects of a concept or topic into a pattern using labels (Bromley, et al., 1995) There are numerous kinds of graphic organizers called maps, graphs, charts, diagrams or clusters Each of these patterns can be expressed in different lay outs but they have a similar purpose that depicts the relationships between facts, terms, and or ideas within a learning task Using graphic organizers gives students alternatives to these inefficient methods of reading or comprehending a passage In contrast to their usual approach to reading or comprehending a passage, they classify the content of the passage and then try to decode it This study explores how classifying a reading passage using graphic organizers has shown better results compared with reading a passage without using these organizers 42 Why to use graphic organizers 43 In order for a learner to understand the information they have read, they must be able to comprehend the text Teachers can begin by talking about the structure of the text that will be studied There are a variety of graphic organizers that can be used to this, and they can be done at any time during a lesson in order to help students understand what they have read Learning is extremely effective when students can connect new information with past experiences It is important to have a selection of learning strategies that can be used to master a new topic or skill Teachers may use graphic organizers to prepare students for reading Graphic organizers are effective tools for thinking and learning as they help students to: 44 - Represent abstract ideas in more concrete forms, 45 - Depict the relationships among facts and concepts, 46 - Organize ideas 47 - Store and recall information 48 Graphic organizers enable teachers to show and explain relationships between content and sub content and how they in turn relate to other content areas On the other hand, through the use of the organizers, students can make more abstract comparisons, evaluations, and conclusions In short, graphic organizers allow students an active role in their learning Graphic organizers have many forms and provide students with visual information that complements the class discussion or text After carrying out extensive research on the effect of graphic organizers on student reading comprehension, Fisher (2002) says that students who belonged to the experiment group consistently reported that the graphic organizer is the most helpful strategy that they employed Many teachers believe that it is not hard for good readers to symbolize key concepts and the core value from the text or to depict the given information in different ways regardless which genres or formats the comprehension task is presented in However, they are not totally sure that what kinds of formats can stimulate student learning modalities, and which techniques can promote student critical thinking skills 49 With the mentioned benefits, teachers should use graphic organizers to help students prepare themselves for reading, to explore the text with a deeper understanding, to externalize their thinking, and to promote effective learning Appropriately use, graphical organizer instructions can significantly reduce the amount of time required to achieve the objective of a reading lesson for both the teacher and learners However, the appropriate choice of organizers for the reading lesson depends on the teacher’s knowledge of the topic presented in the passage, knowledge of pedagogical content that requires the teacher to plan and conduct an effective lesson with a supportive learning environment, and knowledge of language learners in order to develop students’ creativity and critical thinking 50 When to Use Graphic Organizers 51 Graphic Organizers can be used to facilitate students’ activation of background knowledge and to create anticipation for future learning at the beginning of a unit They can also be effective ways to facilitate review of previously taught materials In a reading lesson, Graphic Organizers are often used in pre-reading, note-taking and summarizing 52 Pre-reading: graphical reading guides showing sequences and relationships prepare students for the important themes or concepts they will encounter in their assigned readings 53 Note-taking: codifying information in graphical form (such as a two-column compare and contrast chart), while reading, helps students lock down and retain pertinent concepts, facts, figures, etc 54 Summarizing: summarizing information (such as cause and effect factors) in a cause/effect diagram helps students follow processes, make inferences and 55 draw conclusions 56 How to use graphic organizers 57 Graphic organizers can have various forms, from representations of objects to hierarchical and cyclical structures Although their use in learning activities is preferred by people who have a visual style of learning, graphic organizers are extremely useful to different learners Graphic organizers are known by different names such as semantic map, structured overview, web, concept map, semantic organizer, story map, graphic organizer, etc no matter what the special name, a graphic organizer is a “visual” representation of knowledge The following description of six basic graphic organizers, namely Venn diagram, sequencing Time-line, problems & solution map, compare & contrast matrix, and network tree These visual representations are followed by specific samples taken from the new English textbook for grade 11 in Vietnam but adapted for a better use in English reading classrooms 58 4.1 Sequencing Time-line 59 Description 60 A sequencing time-line is a type of graphic organizer that shows specific events in sequence, usually with dates, in a linear fashion Time-lines are particularly useful for studying or reviewing history, because the time-line will visually display major events over a period of time Storyboard that adds another dimension beyond dates and descriptions, by making it easy to illustrate important events Using Sequencing Time-line helps students put events in chronological order, show progress or change, chronicle historical events 61 Procedures: 62 Copy 63 the blank sequencing time-line template for students 2 List 64 the topic of the organizer Ask students to conclude the main events in sequential order using this time-line template while reading a passage 65 Discuss the events with students 66 Application: Unit 12: The Asian Game - reading (English 11, textbook, page 136, 137) 67 Sequence of time 68 69 The 1st Asian games began in New Delhi, India 70 1951 Boxing, shooting and wrestling were added at The 2nd Asian Games in Manila, the Philippines 71 1954 72 73 Tennis, volleyball, table tennis and hockey were added at the 3rd Asian Games held in Tokyo, Japan 74 1958 75 1998 76 Squash, rugby, fencing and mountain biking were introduced at the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand 77 The 14th Asian Games were held in Busan, Korea 78 2002 79 80 81 4.2 Venn diagram 82 Description 83 Venn Diagram is the simple of Graphic Organizer Strategy Venn diagram is used to promote the development and a refinement of students’ knowledge One of the ways to develop students’ knowledge of something is trough comparison Venn diagram is used to compare two concepts, topics or procedure By using the comparison, students will be helped to organize their thought therefore, they can understand the reading passage 84 During reading a text, the Venn diagram allows students to help them to structure the way they “think” about the similarities and differences between concepts What they have compared will be put in the visual term namely circle They work best when the students complete them, instead of having the teachers it for them It has endless possibilities for adaptations and can be used in all content areas 85 Procedures: 86 Copy 87 the Venn diagram template for students 2 Identify and label above each circle the two people, places or things to compare and contrast 88 Discuss 89 the similarities and differences with students 4 Record 90 shared traits or characters in the overlapping section of the circle Record 91 unique traits and list them in the appropriate circle Application: Unit 3: a Party (English 11, textbook, page 33) 92 VENN DIAGRAM 93 Activities 94 Birthday party 95 wedding anniversary - Blow the candles - Eat cakes - Give gifts 96 - Husbands and wives give flowers and gifts to each other - People says “ happy anniversary” - People gives toys and clothes to the girl having the party People sing “happy birthday” song 97 / 98 99 100 101 4.3 Problem & solution map 102 Description 103 The critical thinking necessary to problem-solve by posting and evaluating solutions is an important skill students need throughout their lives Being able to write clearly and persuasively about proposed solutions is as important as being able to think clearly and logically in formulating solutions This reading guide helps students organize and write about problems and proposed solutions This activity is also applied into a writing class where students are aware of the relevant problem and discuss reliable methods Students can this task individually and then share what the information in the diagram with their partner or their group members 104 Procedures: Have students identify the problem in the text and write it in the diamond at the top of the template labelled “problem” 105 Ask student(s) to find out what specifically makes this a problem Have the students write the given evidence for defining this as a problem in the box labelled “evidence” 106 Let students list each of the solutions presented in the text in the box labelled “solutions” 107 Have students predict and write the results expected from the chosen solutions in the box labelled “results” (optional) 108 Students then have presentation about the discussed topic, using the template as a guide Remind students to use the key organizing words to help connect ideas 109 Application: Unit 10: reading (English 11, textbook, page 114,115) 110 Nature in danger - The environment where animals are living is badly destroyed - Rare animals are in danger of becoming extinct 111 112 Problem 113 114 People are: - changing the environment by building cities and villages - affecting the water supply by using water for industry and agriculture - changing weather conditions by cutting down trees in the forests - destroying the air by adding pollutants like smoke from factories and fumes from cars 115 116 117 118 Evidence 119 120 121 Many organizations have been set up and money has been raised to save rare animals - Thousands of national parks have been established - Laws have been passed to prohibit killing endangered animals - 122 123 Solutions 124 125 126 127 If people interfere less with the environment - More species will survive and produce offspring - The Earth will be a happy planet 128 129 4.4 Compare & contrast matrix 130 Description 131 The compare and contrast matrix has a wide variety of classroom applications.Use the compare and contrast matrix in reading comprehension activities to help learners analyse and understand the similarities and differences between characters and objects in texts they are reading Learners should place each attribute or characteristic in the left-hand column After that, they can compare and contrast each character or object with regards to that characteristic 132 Procedures 133 Copy 134 the compare and contrast matrix template for students 2 Help the students create headings for major concepts on the vertical and horizontal axis 135 Walk 136 around as the students read the text together and think aloud 4 Discuss 137 the similarities and differences with them if necessary 5 Make sure the students are recording details from the text in appropriate places on the matrix graphic organizer 138 Application 139 Kinds of energy Advantages Disadvantages Nuclear power It’s unlimited It can be very dangerous Solar energy It’s not only plentiful and It’s only possible infinite but also clean and safe during the day time Water power It’s clean and unlimited It’s expensive Wind power It’s clean and unlimited There’s no wind energy when there is no wind Geothermal heat It’s available It’s available only in a few places 140 141 4.5 Network tree 142 Description 143 Graphic organizers can help students organize facts and information related to the reading text A network tree is a type of graphic organizer that shows connections A network tree is made of a series of oval of two or three different sizes connected by many branches to show how facts and information branch off of a main idea or topic 144 Procedures: 145 Copy 146 the network tree template for students 2 Help the students create headings for top large oval and sub-headings for the other large ovals 147 Walk around to observe while the students are reading the text individually or together and record the information in each branch 148 Discuss 149 the connection of the idea in each oval if necessary 5 Make sure the students are recording details from the text in appropriate places on the network tree organizer 150 Application 151 Qualities of friendship 152 153 154 155 156 Unselfishness 157 Constancy Loyalty Truth Sympathy 158 159 160 161 Not only concern his own interest and feeling 162 Two-sided affairs: give and - take 163 ….……………… 164 PART C: RESULT AND DISCUSSION 165 The post-test was given after the treatment had been completed It was meant to find out the differences in mean score of both experimental and control groups The post-test has the same form with the pre-test After students finishing the test, the result of both groups would be analysed to find out if the effect of graphic organizers on the students’ reading achievements significant or not 166 The table below is the result for post-test: 167 Experiential groups Types of Questions Class A2 Control groups (38 Class A6 (38 students) students) Number of Percentag Number Percenta students e can answer of ge students can Identifying the 10.5 answer Main Idea Finding the 15 39.5 15.8 18.3 18.3 5.2 65.8 16 10.5 7.9 2.6 39.5 Supporting Details Vocabulary Fact and Opinion Making Inferences Total 168 7 25 5.2 169 The table and can be illustrated through the following chart: 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 This study discusses the effect of using graphic organizers on the EFL learners’ answers to different types of comprehension questions when comparing pre-test and post-test scores for two groups It can be seen from the chart, in the control group (A6) the increase of the students’ score from pre-test and post-test was low, there were 14 students (36.8%) answering reading comprehension’s questions in the pre-test and 16 (39.5%) students in the post-test In contrast, The chart shows that there was a significant improvement of students’ score in the pre-test and post-test of the experimental group (A2) The mean score of the experimental group in the pre-test was 39.5 % while in the post test was 65.8 %, especially, in “finding supporting and details” question, the result of class A2 increased dramatically, searching 39.5% (before applying strategy, this number is 21.1%) 179 When an graphic organizers was performed, the pre-test and post-test scores of the students were significantly different The result of the post-test shows that the experimental group students have improved in all the five types of reading questions compared to controlled group students Therefore, using graphic organizers is effective in answering reading questions like identifying the main idea, finding the supporting details, dealing with vocabulary and fact and opinion and making inferences 180 A graphic organizer questionnaire was given to students after the intervention phase to determine student attitudes toward graphic organizers The questions that were included in the survey are shown in Table Table Graphic Organizer Questionnaire Results Questions Yes No Did you enjoy using the graphic organizers during reading? 93% 7% Don't Know 0% Was it easier to remember details in the stories when we used our graphic organizers during reading? Do you think the graphic organizers help you learn more during reading? Do you think we should use graphic organizers with every reading lesson? Do you think you would learn the same amount without the graphic organizers? Did you think you would well on the reading test after using the graphic organizers? 86% 14% 0% 86% 0% 14% 64% 29% 7% 43% 43% 14% 79% 7% 14% 181 182 As noted in Table 3, 93% of the students enjoyed using graphic organizers during reading Of those students, 86% thought it was easier to remember details of a story when using graphic organizers during reading and 86% also thought that graphic organizers helped them learn more during reading Sixtyfour percent of the students wanted to use graphic organizers with every reading lesson and seventy-nine percent thought they would well on the reading tests after using graphic organizers Forty-three percent of students also believed that they would not learn the same amount without the use of graphic organizers Most students responded positively to using graphic organizers to aid reading instruction 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 PART D: CONCLUSION 193 Based on the result of the study, it can be concluded that graphic organizers can be applied well for teaching reading comprehension This strategy can help the students comprehend the content of the text They can reminds the students of what they already know about a topic and help them think about what the students want or need to know about the topic they will be reading Graphic Organizers help readers in identifying the required information from the material, classifying or arranging them in templates which are creatively constructed by the readers themselves and they also guide readers in drafting similar information in a different context Moreover, the learners were enthusiastic in learning reading report (appendix B) 194 With the mentioned discussions about the value of graphic organizers and basic samples for their applications, teachers of English, especially Vietnamese teachers of English who are using the English textbook of grade 11 become confident when integrating such effective organizers into their reading classroom practice It is strongly believed that graphic organizers in reading classroom can help students have better learning process and better output 195 196 197 I hereby declare that this initiative is due to the experience I myself have written, not copy anybody’s I sincerely thank you! 198 199 200 COMMENTS AND ASSESSMENT OF THE SCIENCE COUNCIL Trieu son, May 20th, 2017 The author Tran Thi Mai 201 BIBLIOGRAPHY 202 Klinger, J K., & Geisler, D (2008) Helping classroom reading teachers distinguish between language acquisition and learning disabilities 203 Bromley, K., Irwin-DeVitis, & Modlo, M (1995) Graphic Organizers New York: Scholastic Professional Books 204 Fisher, A L (2001) Implementing graphic organizer notebooks: The art and science of teaching content Reading Teacher, 55(2), 116-120 205 English language Teaching Methodology of education ministry, 2003 206 Teacher book, new textbooks 11 published by the Ministry of Education and Training 207 English language Teaching Methodology of the Ministry of Education and Training in 2003 208 The ELTTP Methodology course 209 General Education - Hanoi Publisher, 1995 210 Evaluation in Education of the Ministry of Education and Traning 211 10 Books "Some matters of innovation of English teaching methods at high school” of the Ministry of Education and Training 212 11 The ELTTP Methodology course 213 12 Some web-sides 214 https://www.edrawsoft.com/reading-comprehension-graphic-organizers.php 215 http://www.educationworld.com/tools_templates/venn_diagram_templates.sht ml 216 http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson275/comp con_chart.pdf 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 APPENDIX A 224 QUESTIONNAIRE 225 DIRECTIONS: In order to protect your privacy, not write your name on this paper Read each statement and choose the answer that best describes your feelings If you are not sure, choose don’t know Please answer honestly This questionnaire will not affect your grade and you can decide not to complete it and nothing will happen to you Thank you for your help 226 227 228 Did you enjoy using the graphic organizers during reading? Yes 229 No Don’t Know Was it easier to remember details in the stories when we used our graphic organizers during reading? 230 Yes 231 No Don’t Know Do you think the graphic organizers help you learn more during reading? 232 Yes 233 No Don’t Know Do you think we should use graphic organizers with every reading lesson? 234 Yes 235 No Don’t Know Do you think you would learn the same amount without the graphic organizers? 236 Yes 237 No Don’t Know Did you think you would well on the reading test after using the graphic organizers? 238 Yes 239 No Don’t Know 240 241 242 243 244 APPENDIX B 245 Some activities in my classroom when graphic organizers are used 246 247 248 249 TABLE OF CONTENTS 250 CONTENTS PAGE PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Aims of the study Research questions 2 Scope of study The methodology 5.1 Participants 5.2 Instrument PART B: CONTENT I Theoretical basis II Factual basis III Solution 3-4 Definition of Graphic Organizers Why to use graphic organizers When to Use Graphic Organizers 6-7 251How to use graphic organizers 4.1 Sequencing Time-line 4.2 Venn diagram 8-9 4.3 Problem & solution map 9-10 4.4 Compare & contrast matrix 10-11 4.5 Network tree 12 13 PART C: RESULT AND DISCUSSION PART D: CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDIX A APPENDIX B 14 - 17 18 19 20 21 252 253 ... Optimizing graphic organizers to improve students’ reading comprehension? ?? Aims of the study This study aims at determining how graphic organizers can help to improve students’ reading comprehension. .. the students’ reading comprehension achievement of both groups The result of the tests would be compared to find out the effect of applying Graphic organizers Strategy on the students’ reading comprehension. .. is important to have a selection of learning strategies that can be used to master a new topic or skill Teachers may use graphic organizers to prepare students for reading Graphic organizers are