SKKN teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system for the period of 2008 2020

PART A: INTRODUCTION I REASONS FOR CHOOSING THE TOPIC Whenever talking about English, people think of it not only as an international language but also as the official language of more than fifty-three nations and the main language in international events and organizations as well In developed countries where the citizens have the highest income in the world, almost everyone can speak English, which is the most popular language and is one of the core subjects in the curriculums at schools Understanding the importance of foreign languages, especially English in the period of integration and globalization trend these days, The Communist Party and the Government are very concerned about the issues of teaching and learning foreign languages On the 30th September, 2008, the Prime Minister signed a decision No 1400/ QĐ-TTg, approving of the Scheme “Teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system” (also known as Foreign Languages Scheme 2020) The objective of the Scheme is carrying out the overall renovation of teaching and learning foreign languages in the education system, including higher education in order to make good progress in the competence of using foreign languages of the staff, especially in some priority areas of the economy by 2015 On the 8th April, 2011, the head of the Ministry of Education and Training signed a decision No 1400/ QĐ-BGD&ĐT establishing a committee to manage the Scheme “Teaching and learning foreign languages in the national education system for the period of 2008-2020” In secondary schools, English helps students form and develop not only the communication competence in English but also other competence in general It provides students with an important international means of communication, which helps students exchange information, scientific knowledge and advanced technology, thus students have chance to know more about different cultures in the world Of the four skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing in English, the reading skill plays an important part because reading has a close relationship with our daily activities Reading helps us enrich our mind and broaden our knowledge English as an international language opens up an endless horizon of knowledge Almost all books, magazines or study which contain mankind’s knowledge are written in English Therefore, reading skill has been more and more emphasized In Vietnam, English is one of the core subjects at all levels of education The English textbooks of all grades include reading lessons Reading is also one of the four marked criteria in evaluating the competence of using English in international English examinations such as TOEFL, IELTS, First and foremost, the English test is compulsory in the National Examinations for GCSE in which reading comprehension questions are the most difficult Most students fail to answer all the questions well and often feel afraid of the reading texts due to their lack of vocabulary and skill to cope with this type of questions For the reasons above, I choose the topic: “Some experiences of improving reading comprehension skills for high school students in the National Examinations for GCSE” The topic consists of three main parts: Part A: Introduction which includes the Reasons for Choosing the Topic, the Aim of the Study, the Objective of the Study, the Method of the Study, the Subject of the Study, the Range of the Study, and the Novelty of the Study Part B: Contents with the Theoretical Basis of the Topic, the Practical Basis of the Topic and the Practical Application in Teaching Part C: Conclusion including the Results of the Experience Application, the Summary and the Proposals II AIM, OBJECTIVE, METHOD, SUBJECT AND RANGE OF THE STUDY Aim of the Study: The topic was studied and applied with a view to enhancing the reading comprehension skills for high school students It is also served as a source of materials that help English teachers in their teaching the reading skill Through this study, the topic has helped the writer draw experiences of teaching the reading comprehension skills, increase knowledge and contribute to students’ good results in the National Examinations for GCSE Objective of the Study: The writer’s experiences shown in this study may provide English teachers with a source of materials to teach the reading comprehension skills In addition, students can also use the methods illustrated in this study for their self-study in learning to reading comprehension exercises Method of the Study: - Studying the materials about improving reading skills in reference books - Analyzing and drawing experiences from the process of teaching - Studying the reading texts, especially in the English test of the National Examinations for GCSE - Applying in the real teaching to self evaluate Subject of the Study: - The reading comprehension questions and the rules to deal with them - Some reading comprehension questions often asked in the English tests of the National Examinations for GCSE in recent years Range of the Study: Reading comprehension tests for high school students in the English tests of the National Examinations for GCSE Novelty of the Study: In fact, a lot of writers and English teachers have introduced the reading comprehension rules in general based on what are written in reference books published by various publishing houses ranging from famous to domestic such as Oxford Publishing House, Cambridge Publishing House or Hanoi National University Publishing House, Education and Training Publishing House of Vietnam, and so on However, they seem to be too academic for students to follow, especially to weak students in rural areas where students hardly have good learning conditions to access to modern learning methods In this case, the writer with the teaching experiences in more than twenty years has a different way to help students approach traditional methods of doing the reading comprehension exercises with some new strategies PART B: CONTENTS I THEORETICAL BASIS OF THE TOPIC: Reading comprehension is a very difficult skills in terms of high level vocabulary and complex grammatical structures To master this skill, students have to work hard to widen their vocabulary days after days They also have to grasp the grammar rules and have good knowledge of English idioms and expressions Moreover, they need to know what to to understand the sense of the context in the reading texts and try to answer the reading comprehension questions in the shortest time Actually, English teachers have a lot of difficulties in improving students’ reading skills due to the limited competence of understanding written English of students This encouraged the writer to study and draw experiences during the real teaching process with the aim of helping students getting out of the fear of reading comprehension tests II PRACTICAL BASIS OF THE TOPIC: Most students at Cua Lo High School come from rural areas where they not have chance to learn English systematically since they were at lower grade Their knowledge of English grammar and vocabulary is extremely limited Understanding and memorizing grammatical rules seem rather hard to them, not mentioning how to deal with the long reading texts full of “strange new words and phrases” Reading has become a dark cloud in front of them and it is somewhat a nightmare to weak students in trying to pass the National Examinations for GCSE Students lose most of their marks in the reading test because they know of no effective way to answer the reading comprehension questions correctly In some cases, they just guess the answers Having taught students to sit for the GCSE exam for many years, I find it extremely essential to figure out effective reading strategies I have read a lot of reference books on reading skills and have collected good points in these books to summarize a good method to teach students how to answer reading comprehension questions correctly in the shortest time even if their vocabulary is limited III PRACTICAL APPLICATION IN TEACHING: From my experience of teaching students to sit for University Entrance Examinations and GCSE Examinations during the last over twenty years, I have drawn a few methods to help students cope with reading comprehension exercises At first, when introducing the topic of reading comprehension to students, I suggest that they not read the whole passage The first reason is that the time allotted is limited Each exam usually consists of three comprehensions texts, excluding a lot of grammatical and vocabulary questions in the other parts, which requires students to control the time finish each of part, and each reading comprehension exercise should be done within 10 to 15 minutes Hence, why spending time reading texts of 250 words or even 350 words in such a short time? The second reason is that comprehension texts are full of vocabulary, phrases, idioms and strange expressions which students sometimes find it hard to figure out, even hardly understand the content of the passages at all This just makes them confused and waste time focusing on the positions “new words” appear to find out what the passage is about, thus, students may soon forget the objective of answering the questions below the passage In fact, during the process of finding the answers to the questions, students will definitely work out the content of the text Therefore, reading the whole passage at the beginning is by no means necessary Instead, students must master the two most important skills in doing reading comprehension exercises – SCANNING and SKIMMING Scanning is reading a text quickly in order to find specific information whereas skimming is reading quickly to get a general idea of meaning To practice these reading skills, I classify reading comprehension questions and how to answer each of them, as well as the order of dealing with the questions Students should not answer questions in the order as given For example, the first question is usually asked about the main idea of the passage -“What is the main idea of the passage?” Or “What is the passage mainly about?” However, when starting, students who not read the whole passage – as mentioned above - find it hard and spend a lot of time figuring out the main points of the passage Therefore, I usually ask my students to scan the passage first to answer questions for specific information before skimming to get general ideas The order and methods of answering reading comprehension questions are shown in the name of the following skills in which skill 1, 2, and need scanning and the others need skimming SKILL 1: FINDING PRONOUN REFERENTS The question form of this type is: “The pronoun “ …” (usually highlighted in bold type) in line X or paragraph Y refers to which of the following? The reason why students should answer this type of question first is that it is usually easy to find the answer and easy to understand, too In addition, it doesn’t take much time to find the answer because the pronoun is always printed in bold type to make it easier for students to find them in the passage and the line or the paragraph where the pronoun is located is given in the question The noun that the pronoun refers to is generally found before the pronoun This is a common question in a reading comprehension exercise Students are asked to determine to which noun a pronoun refers In a pronoun reference question, a noun is generally used first in a passage and the pronoun that refers to it comes after, so to answer this kind of question, students should look before the pronoun to find the nouns – may be separated from the pronoun by some words ahead or sometimes appear in the preceding sentence - that agree with the pronoun It is clear that a plural pronoun such as “they, these, those, them ” refers to a plural noun, while a singular noun is replaced by a singular pronoun such as “it, this, that ” Moreover, nouns for people and things should also be taken into consideration For example, in the context, the pronoun takes an action of a human, then students, of course, have to find the nouns for people before If it is still confusing, students can try each of the nouns in the context in place of the pronoun and eliminate any definitely wrong answers and choose the most suitable one from the remaining choices Let’s have a look at a short paragraph cited from a reading comprehension exercise (Question 47 - Code 194) in the English test of the GCSE examination in 2015 “ With further warming, animals will tend to migrate toward the poles and up mountainsides toward higher elevations Plants will also attempt to shift their ranges, seeking new areas as old habitats grow too warm In many places, however, human development will prevent these shifts Species that find cities or farmland blocking their way north or south may become extinct Species living in unique ecosystems, such as those found in polar and mountaintop regions, are especially at risk because migration to new habitats is not possible For example, polar bears and marine mammals in the Arctic are already threatened by dwindling sea ice but have nowhere farther north to go ” From "Global Warming" by Michael Mastrandrea and Stephen H Schneider Question 47: “The pronoun “those” in paragraph refers to A species B ecosystems C habitats D areas In this case, the pronoun “those” in the question as well as in the paragraph is printed in bold type and the line where it appears is shown, so it is very easy for students to find it Then students just have to look at the sentence containing the pronoun “Species living in unique ecosystems, such as those found in polar and mountaintop regions, are especially at risk because migration to new habitats is not possible” and look for the plural nouns coming before the pronoun “those” to find two – “species and ecosystems” Students can easily eliminate the two wrong options – C habitats and D areas Next step, they should try each of the nouns “species and ecosystems” in the context in place of the pronoun “those” – “found in polar and mountaintop regions, are especially at risk ” The correct answer is “A species” as they are living things and “found in polar and mountaintop regions”, not “ecosystems” Another example is from the English test of the GCSE examination in 2016 with a short paragraph cited from a reading comprehension exercise (Question 34 - Code 168) “Though called by sweet-sounding names like Firinga or Katrina, tropical cyclones are huge rotating storms 200 to 2,000 kilometers wide with winds that blow at speeds of more than 100 kilometers per hour (kph) Weather professionals know them as tropical cyclones, but they are called hurricanes in the Caribbean Sea, typhoons in the Pacific Ocean, and cyclones in the Indian Ocean They occur in both the northern and southern hemispheres Large ones have destroyed cities and killed hundreds of thousands of people ” Adapted from “Reading Explorer 2” by Paul Maclntyre Question 34: “The word “they” in paragraph refers to A sweet-sounding names B wind speeds C tropical cyclones D weather professionals In this question, the pronoun “they” refers to a plural noun, so students have to look for the ones coming before and they are “Weather professionals” and “tropical cyclones”, so students can eliminate the wrong answers A and B Moreover, the phrase “Weather professionals” refers to humans while the pronoun “they” refer to things – “hurricanes”, so “C tropical cyclones” is the correct answer One more example, the English test of the GCSE examination in 2017 has a short paragraph cited from a reading comprehension exercise (Question 29 - Code 401) as follow “Different cultures follow their own special customs when a child's baby teeth fall out In Korea, for example, they have the custom of throwing lost teeth up on the roof of a house According to tradition, a magpie will come and take the tooth Later, the magpie will return with a new tooth for the child In other Asian countries, such as Japan and Vietnam, children follow a similar tradition of throwing their lost teeth onto the roofs of houses ” “Question 29 The word "their" in paragraph refers to A houses' B roofs' C children's D countries'” There are plural nouns before the pronoun “their”, including “countries” and “children” Besides, “their” refers to the possession of human or a living thing because the noun after “their” is “lost teeth”, so the correct answer is definitely “C children's” Another code – 402 – in the English test of the GCSE examination in 2017 has also a short paragraph with a question of the same type “ Children all around the world love to read comic books Maybe they like to read the kind of comic books that come out once a month, like Spiderman or Batman, or maybe they like manga- style comic books That means that publishers who make comic books need to keep in touch with the things young people like to One thing that many young people today are interested in is technology, so of course kids want to read digital comic books on electronic devices ” (Source: Reading Advantage by Casey Malarcher) “Question 29 The word "they" in paragraph refers to A children B comic books C publishers D things” In this case, the plural noun in the same sentence before “they” is “books”, but it doesn’t suit the meaning in the context, so students have to look at the preceding sentence, and the plural noun found is “children” Thus, the correct answer is “A children” Through four examples above, we can see that this is not only a frequently asked question, but also one of the easiest questions in a reading comprehension test Students, therefore, should answer these kinds of questions first SKILL 2: USING CONTEXT TO DETERMINE THE MEANINGS OF WORDS This is also a frequently asked vocabulary questions with the question forms like “What is the meaning of “X” in line Y/ paragraph Y ?” or “The word/ phrase “X” in line Y/ paragraph Y is closest in meaning to ” or “The word “X” in line Y/ paragraph Y probably means ” or ““The word “X” in line Y/ paragraph Y could best be replaced by ” These kinds of questions don’t take much time to answer because the word/ phrase is highlighted in bold type and the location where it appears is also revealed in the question Students not have to waste time finding it Besides, to answer this question, students not have to read the whole passage or the long paragraph Instead, the information that helps students understand the meaning of an unknown word/ phrase can often be found in the context surrounding the unknown word/ phrase Thus, students must read the sentence that contains the word/ phrase carefully, look for the context clues to help understand the meaning and choose the answer that the context indicates Look at the following paragraph cited from a reading comprehension exercise (Question 51 - Code 194) in the English test of the GCSE examination in 2015 as an example “ Ocean ecosystems, especially fragile ones like coral reefs, will also be affected by global warming Warmer ocean temperatures can cause coral to “bleach”, a state which if prolonged will lead to the death of the coral Scientists estimate that even Celsius degree of additional warming could lead to widespread bleaching and death of coral reefs around the world Also, increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere enters the ocean and increases the acidity of ocean waters This acidification further stresses ocean ecosystems ” From "Global Warming" by Michael Mastrandrea and Stephen H Schneider Question 51: The word “fragile” in paragraph most probably means A very large B easily damaged C rather strong D pretty hard Those who not know the meaning of “fragile” in general can read the sentence carefully and understand that “fragile” is an adjective used to describe “ocean ecosystems” which will easily “be affected by global warming” In this context, it can’t take the meaning of something “strong” or “hard”, so C and D are the two wrong answers to be eliminated first Option “A very large” is not related to the meaning “will be affected by global warming”, so “B easily damaged” is the correct answer There are other two vocabulary questions in the same test above in the following paragraph “ A country’s level of poverty can depend greatly on its mix of population density and agricultural productivity Bangladesh, for example, has one of the world’s highest population densities, with 1,147 persons per sq km A large majority of the people of Bangladesh engage in low-productivity manual farming, which contributes to the country’s extremely high level of poverty Some of the smaller countries in Western Europe, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, have high population densities as well These countries practice mechanized farming and are involved in high-tech industries, however, and therefore have high standards of living At the other end of the spectrum, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have population densities of less than 30 persons per sq km Many people in these countries practice manual subsistence farming; these countries also have infertile land, and lack the economic resources and technology to boost productivity As a consequence, these nations are very poor The United States has both relatively low population density and high agricultural productivity; it is one of the world’s wealthiest nations ” From "Poverty" by Thomas J Corbett Question 60: The phrase “engage in” in paragraph is closest in meaning to A escape from B look into C give up D participate in Question 61: The word “infertile” in paragraph probably means A disused B impossible C unproductive D inaccessible In question 60, students can read the sentence and find that D is the correct answer because in the context, “people” “engage in low-productivity manual farming, which contributes to the country’s extremely high level of poverty.” The other three options A, B, C not suit the meaning In question 61, “ have infertile land” copes with “lack the economic resources and technology to boost productivity”, so “infertile” takes a negative meaning, and something related to “low-productivity” Hence, the correct answer is C Below is one more example in the English test of GCSE examination in 2016, code 168, question 36 and 40 “ .Tropical cyclones begin over water that is warmer than 27 degrees Celsius (80 degrees Fahrenheit) slightly north or south of the earth’s equator Warm, humid air full of water vapor moves upward The earth’s rotation causes the growing storm to start to rotate around its center (called the eye) At a certain height, the water vapor condenses, changing to liquid and releasing heat The heat draws more air and water vapor upward, creating a cycle as air and water vapor rise and liquid water falls If the cycle speeds up until winds reach 118 kilometers per hour, the storm qualifies as a tropical cyclone Most deaths in tropical cyclones are caused by storm surge This is a rise in sea level, sometimes seven meters or more, caused by the storm pushing against the ocean’s surface Storm surge was to blame for the flooding of New Orleans in 2005 The storm surge of Cyclone Nargis in 2008 in Myanmar pushed seawater nearly four meters deep some 40 kilometers inland, resulting in many deaths It has never been easy to forecast a tropical cyclone accurately The goal is to know when and where the next tropical cyclone will form “And we can’t really that yet,” says David Nolan, a weather researcher from the University of Miami The direction and strength of tropical cyclones are also difficult to predict, even with computer assistance In fact, long-term forecasts are poor; small differences in the combination of weather factors lead to very different storms More accurate forecasting could help people decide to evacuate when a storm is on the way.” Adapted from “Reading Explorer 2” by Paul Maclntyre Question 36: The word “humid” in paragraph is closest in meaning to A moist B dry C thin D thick Question 40: The word “evacuate” in paragraph mostly means A move to safer places B make accurate predictions C take preventive measures D call for relief supplies 10 Question 50: The paragraph that precedes this passage most probably deals with A the recommended treatment of colds B methods of preventing colds among elderly people C a factor that affects susceptibility to colds D minor diseases other than colds The question asks about the idea of the preceding paragraph, so students have to read the first sentence of the passage and understand that it begins with “another critical factor ”.This is considered as a linking word to transit from one paragraph to another and it means the preceding paragraph deals with one “critical factor” Therefore, students can jump to conclusion that “C” is the correct answer Of course, not all of these types of questions will be asked in one reading comprehension test, they, however, are the most common questions in the reading section Now let’s use these methods to answer to complete a reading comprehension exercise in the English test of the National Examination for GCSE in 2018 and the illustration English test for the National Examinations for GCSE 2019 by the Ministry of Education and Training The reading tests were printed in hand outs and intended to be done in 10 minutes by students The teaching process is illustrated as below The first passage is from Code 401 – Questions from 36 to 42 HAND-OUT: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 36 to 42 A letter of application is a sales letter in which you are both salesperson and product, for the purpose of an application is to attract an employer's attention and persuade him or her to grant you an interview To this, the letter presents what you can offer the employer, rather than what you want from the job Like a résumé, the letter of application is a sample of your work and an opportunity to demonstrate your skills and personality If it is written with flair and understanding and prepared with professional care, it is likely to be very effective While the résumé must be factual, objective, and brief, the letter is your chance to interpret and expand It should state explicitly how your background relates to the specific job, and it should emphasize your strongest and most relevant characteristics The letter should demonstrate that you know both yourself and the company The letter of application must communicate your ambition and enthusiasm Yet it must be modest It should be neither aggressive nor compliant: neither pat yourself on the back nor ask for sympathy It should never express dissatisfaction with the present or former job or employer And you should avoid discussing your reasons for leaving your last job Finally, it is best that you not broach the subject on salary Indeed, even if a job advertisement requires that you mention your salary requirements, it is advisable simply to call them "negotiable." However, when you go on an interview, you should be prepared to mention a salary range For this reason, you should investigate both your field and, if possible, the particular company You don't want to ask for less than you deserve or more than is reasonable (Adapted from by Linda Lee and Erik Gundersen) Question 36: What is the passage mainly about? A Advice on how to find a good job B Things to avoid during a job interview C Tips for writing an effective letter of application D Differences between a résumé and a letter of application Question 37: According to paragraph 1, in a letter of application, the applicant tries to A persuade the employer to grant him/her an interview B get further information about the company C advertise a product to attract more customers D present what he/she wants from the job Question 38: The word "it" in paragraph refers to A the letter of application B an opportunity C your work D the résumé Question 39: The word " explicitly" in paragraph is closest in meaning to A clearly B shortly C slightly D quickly Question 40: According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE about a letter of application? A It should express the applicant's dissatisfaction with his/her former employer B It should refer to the applicant's reasons for leaving his/her previous job C It should be written very briefly, but in a formal style D It should expand upon the information contained in the applicant's résumé Question 41: The word "broach " in paragraph is closest in meaning to 32 A avoid B investigate C introduce D understand Question 42: According to paragraph 4, in a job interview, the applicant should be ready to A accept any salary offered B negotiate working conditions C mention their expected salary range D talk about the company's budget Teacher’s activities - delivering hand outs - asking students to work individually Students’ activities - receiving hand outs - working individually - Question 38 (SKILL 1): asking - reading question 38, finding the students to answer question 38 first pronoun “it” in the passage The because it is a pronoun reference pronoun “it” is printed in bold type and question can be easily found in paragraph - expected answer: “résumé”, “letter of - asking students to read the preceding sentence and find any singular nouns - asking students to read the context and try the meaning in context to find the correct answer application”, “sample”, “work”, “opportunity”, “personality” (“sample” and “personality” are not the options) - the noun to which “it” refers “is written with flair and understanding and prepared with professional care” Basing on the context, students can conclude that A is the correct answer - reading questions 39 and 41 - Question 39 and 41 (SKILL 2): telling students The second questions to answer are vocabulary questions in 39 and 41 - reading the sentences containing the Asking students to read the sentences vocabulary carefully and noting that the containing the vocabulary carefully and reading text gives some advice on how trying the meaning of the given words to write a good letter of application, so in the four options in the context “explicitly” means “clearly” expected answer: 39A - Similarly, the first sentence and the context of the last paragraph show that applicants should not mention the 33 subject of salary during the interview, so “broach” means “introduce” - expected answer: 41C - reading questions 37 and 42 - Questions 37 and 42 (SKILL 3): Asking students to answer stated questions which usually begin with - Question 37 asks about the purpose of “According to the passage ” as in the applicant in writing a letter of questions 37 and 42 application - Asking students “What does question 37 ask about?” - The key words (which are underlined - Asking students “What are the key words in the first paragraph?” expected answer: 37A - Asking students to answer question 42 and highlighted) appear in the first paragraph “for the purpose of an application is to attract an employer's attention and persuade him or her to grant you an interview.” Therefore, “A” is the correct answer - Question 42 focuses on paragraph 4, in which the key words “should be ready ” is close in meaning to “should be prepared” in the paragraph, so “C” is the correct answer - expected answer: 42C - the key words in the question are “a letter of application” - Question 40 (SKILL 4):Asking - the key words in option A “It”, students to underline the key word in “express”, “dissatisfaction “former employer” These key with”, words 34 question 40 - Asking students to read option A, underline the key words and scan the passage to see if it is correct - Asking students to the same with option B, C and D appear in paragraph in the following sentence: “It should never express dissatisfaction with the present or former job or employer”, so “A” is not correct - the key words in option “B” are “It”, “refer to”, “reasons for leaving his/her previous job”, which appear in paragraph in the sentence: “you should avoid discussing your reasons for leaving your last job.” It means the applicants should not refer to the reasons for leaving his/ her previous job, and option “B” is not correct - the key words in option “C” are “It”, “be written”, “briefly”, “formal style”, which appear in the second paragraph: “While the résumé must be factual, objective, and brief, the letter is your chance to interpret and expand” The word “While” is used to linked two clauses with opposite meaning This means the letter is not factual, objective and brief like the “résumé”, so C is not correct , so “ D” is the correct answer - expected answer: 40D - Question 36 (SKILL 6): Asking - The first sentences of the four paragraphs Paragraph 1: A letter of application is a sales letter in which you are both students to read the first sentences of the salesperson and product four paragraphs and pay attention to the Paragraph 2: Like a résumé, the letter of key words that are used again and again application is a sample of your work and an opportunity to demonstrate your in the whole passage skills and personality 35 Paragraph 3: The letter of application must communicate your ambition and enthusiasm Yet it must be modest Paragraph 4: Finally, it is best that you not broach the subject on salary - The key words that are used again and again are “a letter of application” The topics of the paragraphs indicate the author is giving some advice on how to write an effective letter of application, and “ C” is the correct answer - expected answer: 36C The next passage is from the illustration English test for the National Examinations for GCSE 2019 by the Ministry of Education and Training – Questions from 36 to 42 HAND-OUT: Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 30 to 34 Visitors to London are struck by the proud splendour and glamour of one of the world's oldest capitals, admiring iconic sites like Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster and Buckingham Palace However, visitors seeking a glimpse into the city's everyday life should not miss Portobello Market, which is the most-visited market in London This vibrant market has been featured in a number of films, documentaries and best- selling books, the most famous being the film ''Notting Hill'' starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, which brought Portobello Market to the attention of audiences all over the world Portobello Market is divided into different sections selling second-hand items, 36 clothing, jewellery, souvenirs and vegetables The most sought-after area is devoted to antiques Visitors may feel overwhelmed as there are over 1,000 booths manned by antique dealers from throughout England It's a great fun to browse through antique cameras, watches, pottery and paintings that date back 300 years They are sold at different prices, so it's possible to find a few good bargains It seems that both buyers and sellers look forward to the weekends when they can meet and escape the city's fast pace at Portobello Market When tired from exploring the market, visitors can drop into the nearby food courts to savour an Indian curry, Italian pizza or sandwiches from Europe It's a great pleasure to drink a cappuccino while listening to street performers These represent the lively fun of Portobello Market, offering exciting experiences that keep people coming back (Adapted from ''Heritage'' - Vietnam Airlines in-flight magazine) Question 30: What is the passage mainly about? A The film ''Notting Hill'' B The city of London C Portobello Market D European cuisine Question 31: According to the passage, Portobello Market has been featured in all of the following EXCEPT A films B documentaries C books D songs Question 32: The word ''they'' in paragraph refers to A prices B bargains C buyers and sellers D weekends Question 33: Visitors to the antique area may feel overwhelmed because _ A they can meet all sorts of people from England B all the antiques are sold at the same price C there are a large number of antique shops there D all the antiques are more than 300 years old Question 34: The word ''savour'' in paragraph mostly means A see B prepare C enjoy D make Teacher’s activities Students’ activities - Delivering the handouts - Asking students to work individually - receiving hand outs - working individually - Asking students which question they - expected answer: Question 32 because 37 should answer first and why it is a pronoun reference question - Asking students to read the sentence - reading the sentence to find the plural containing the pronoun and find the nouns: “buyers and sellers”; “weekends” plural nouns that come before the The pronoun “they” is the subject of the pronoun (Skill 1) action “meet” and “escape”, so it must - Key answer: 32C - Asking students to answer the refer to “buyers and sellers”, so “C” is the correct answer next - Answering question 34 by reading the question (vocabulary question)- Skill - Key answer: 34C sentence containing the key word, based on the context and try the meaning in the four option: “When tired from exploring the market savour an Indian curry, Italian pizza or sandwiches” This verb is related to an action for eating, so “C” “enjoy” is closest in meaning to “savour” - Asking students to answer question 31 Question 31: The key word in the and 33 (Skill 3) question is “Portobello Market” and “featured” They can be traced in paragraph 2: “This vibrant market has been featured in a number of films, documentaries and best- selling books, the most famous being the film ''Notting Hill'' starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, which brought Portobello Market to the attention of audiences all over the world.” In this paragraph “this vibrant market” refers to “Portobello Market”, which comes before Option A, B, C including “films”, “documentaries”, “books” are mentioned, so “D” is the correct answer - Key answer: 31D - Question 33: The key words of this question is “Visitors”, “antique area”, “feel overwhelmed”, “because”, which appear in paragraph 3: “Visitors may feel 38 - Key answer: 33C overwhelmed as there are over 1,000 booths manned by antique dealers from throughout England.” The sentence explains that ”visitors may feel overwhelmed” because “there are over 1,000 booths manned by antique dealers”, compared with the options available, so “C is the correct answer - Question 30 should be answered last - In paragraph 1, the topic sentence is because it is about the main idea of the “However, visitors seeking a glimpse into the passage city's everyday life should not miss Portobello Market, which is the most-visited market in London.” It means the rest of the - Key answer: 30C passage will talk about “Portobello Market” In addition, the first sentences of the paragraphs shows the topic of each paragraph is about the market For example, paragraph is about “films, documentaries, books”; paragraph about different selling sections such as “second-hand items, clothing, jewellery, souvenirs and vegetables”, so “C” is the correct answer PART C: CONCLUSION I RESULTS OF THE EXPERIENCE APPLICATION: This experience has been applied in teaching reading comprehension lessons in a few high schools such as Cua Lo High School, Cua Lo High School, the second Ethnic Minority Boarding School, Nguyen Duy Trinh High School in school year 2018 - 2019 It has been proved to work well in these schools Most teachers find it effective in helping students the reading comprehension tests They have used the methods and examples of reading strategies illustrated in this study as a source of teaching materials In addition, students have improved their reading skills by getting better marks in the reading tests in general and in the English test in the National Examinations for GCSE in particular At Cua Lo High School where the writer works and makes the study, the teaching methods of improving students’ reading skills have achieved a lot of success The study was carried out at different classes, with students of different levels in grade 12, focusing on class 12A1 and 12A where English is the subject students choose to focus on in this school year Firstly, the writer let 37 students in class 12A1 a reading comprehension exercise without giving any instructions of how to deal with them The reading text and the questions that follow it are not difficult and somehow of level B2 Here is the handout of the reading exercise given to the students Handout: Read the passage and choose the best answer to the questions that follow After inventing dynamite, Swedish-born Alfred Nobel became a very rich man However, he foresaw its universally destructive powers too late Nobel preferred not to be remembered as the inventor of dynamite, so in 1895, just two weeks before his death, he created a fund to be used for awarding prizes to people who had made worthwhile contributions to humanity Originally there were five awards: literature, physics, chemistry, medicine, and peace Economics was added in 1968, just sixty-seven years after the first awards ceremony Nobel's original legacy of nine million dollars was invested, and the interest on this sum is used for the awards which vary from $30,000 to $125,000 Every year on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death, the awards (gold medal, illuminated diploma, and money) are presented to the winners Sometimes politics plays an important role in the judges' decisions Americans have won numerous science awards, but relatively few literature prizes No awards were presented from 1940 to 1942 at the beginning of World War 11 Some people have won two prizes, but this is rare; others have shared their prizes 40 The word "foresaw" in the first paragraph is nearest in meaning to A prevailed B postponed C prevented D predicted The Nobel prize was established in order to _ A recognize worthwhile contributions to humanity B resolve political differences C honor the inventor of dynamite D spend money In which area have Americans received the most awards? A Literature B Peace C Economics D Science All of the following statements are true EXCEPT A Awards vary in monetary value B ceremonies are held on December 10 to commemorate Nobel's invention C Politics plays an important role in selecting the winners D A few individuals have won two awards In how many fields are prizes bestowed? A B C.6 D 10 It is implied that Nobel's profession was in A economics B medicine C literature D science In the first paragraph, "worthwhile" is closest in meaning to _ A economic B prestigious C trivial D valuable How much money did Nobel leaves for the prizes? A $30,000 B $125,000 C $155,000 D $9,000,000 What is the main idea of this passage? A Alfred Nobel became very rich when he invented dynamite B Alfred Nobel created awards in six categories for contributions to humanity C Alfred Nobel left all of his money to science D Alfred Nobel made a lasting contribution to humanity 10 The word "legacy" in the second paragraph means most nearly the same as A legend B bequest C prize D debt Of course, most students in the class answered the questions in the order printed and it took them more than twenty five minutes to finish The result was five out of 37 students got all the correct answers, accounting for 13,5%; students got or correct answers, equal to 16,2%; the number of students getting or correct answers is the highest with 16 ones accounting for 43,2%; students got or correct answers, accounting for nearly 19%; and the rest got to three correct answers, accounting for 8,1% It can be seen that most students in this class were at a fair level Secondly, the author gave 34 students in class 12A a more difficult reading comprehension test as in the following handout 41 Handout: Read the passage and choose the best answer to the questions below by circling the corresponding letter A, B, C or D Martin Luther King, Jr., is well known for his work in civil rights and for his many famous speeches, among them is his moving “I Have A Dream” speech But fewer people know much about King’s childhood M.L., as he was called, was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, at the home of his maternal grandfather M.L.’s grandfather, the Reverend A.D Williams, purchased their home on Auburn Avenue in 1909, twenty years before M.L was born The Reverend Williams, an eloquent speaker, played an important role in the community since so many people’s lives centered around the church He allowed his church and his home to be used as a meeting place for a number of organizations dedicated to the education and social advancement of blacks M.L grew up in this atmosphere, with his home being used as a community gathering place, and was no doubt influenced by it M.L.’s childhood was not especially eventful His father was a minister and his mother was a musician He was the second of three children, and he attended allblack schools in a black neighborhood The neighborhood was not poor, however Auburn Avenue was the main artery through a prosperous neighborhood that had come to symbolize achievement for Atlanta’s black people It was an area of banks, insurance companies, builders, jewelers, tailors, doctors, lawyers, and other black-owner black-operated businesses and services Even in the face of Atlanta’s segregation, the district thrived Dr King never forgot the community spirit he had known as a child, nor did he forget the racial prejudice that was a seemingly insurmountable barrier that kept black Atlanta’s from mingling with whites What is this passage mainly about? A the prejudice that existed in Atlanta B Martin Luther King's childhood C M.L.'s grandfather D the neighborhood King grew up in The word “eloquent” in line means most nearly A powerful B active C romantic D fascinating The word “gathering” in line could best be replaced by A picking B learning C exciting D meeting In line 13, the word "It" refers to which of the following? A achievement B neighborhood C services D segregation According to the author, blacks in King's neighborhood were involved in all the following businesses and services EXCEPT A dentistry B medicine C law D banking 42 According to the author, King was influenced by A community spirit B black lawyers C his mother D his speeches The word "thrived" in line 15 refers to which of the following? A achieved B surrendered C flourished D held As used in line 17, which of the following is closest in meaning to the word "seemingly"? A apparently B inevitable C inexplicable D hastily The word "mingling" in line 17 could best be replaced by which of the following? A interfering B gargling C consuming D associating 10 According to the author, Martin Luther King A had a difficult childhood B was a good musician as a child C loved to listen to his grandfather speak D grew up in a relatively rich area of Atlanta This exercise is of the equal level like some in the GCSE Examination It took the students twenty minutes to finish it Four students out of 34 got 10 correct answers, accounting for 11,8%; students got or correct ones, accounting for 17,6%; 10 students got or correct ones This number was equal to 29,4%; 12 students got or correct ones, accounting for 35,3%; and students got to three correct ones, accounting for 5,9% This figures somewhat revealed that most students in the class were at average level in terms of reading comprehension exercises The writer gave extra classes to provide students with some guidelines on how to deal with the reading passage in case of students’ limited vocabulary The writer explained the different types of reading questions, how to answer them and most importantly the order to answer the questions to save time in terms of ten skills as presented in Part B- Content- of this topic The writer also gave students examples from the English test in the National Examinations for GCSE as illustrated so that students can understand easily After some lessons, students were given more reading comprehension exercises in the English test of the National Examination for GCSE in 2018 (the handouts are presented at the end of Part B) As a result, all students have understood more about the rules to deal with reading comprehension exercises They have also known what questions to answer first, how to find information in the passages to choose the best options The number of students in each class who got all the correct answers increased about 30% ; about 40% got to correct answers; 22% got or 7; 8% got or and no one got to correct answers It can be easily seen that students made a lot of progress 43 This method has also been applied for students in other classes at Cua Lo high School as well as Cua Lo High School, Nguyen Duy Trinh High School, the second Ethnic Minority Boarding School and has achieved a lot of good similar progress For those who are aimed at getting good marks in the English test to apply to university, that is not extremely excellent, however, the students still have time of nearly three months to work on this type of exercises The writer completely believe the experiences presented in this topic will be useful for students during the time they are working hard for the exam and the students will get better results if they practice enough on this reading comprehension exercises, using the method which has been presented II SUMMARY: One of the successful things of this topic is that students can get out of the fear of the reading comprehension tests On the contrary, to some extents, students may get the satisfaction whenever they meet the challenges in each reading question They have become more and more interested in this type of English skills Moreover, students not only broaden their knowledge of all fields through academic reading passages but also widen their vocabulary Thus, the topic has contributed to interesting students in English more To English teachers, the methods of teaching reading skills presented in this topic provide good sources of materials which can be used in helping students improve the reading comprehension ability and revise for the National Examinations for GCSE as well III PROPOSALS: The writer wrote this topic with a view to sharing some experiences achieved from the teaching process so that English teachers can use it as a material source for reference when making the lesson plans to teach students reading comprehension skills Furthermore, it may be somehow effective for students who are revising for the coming National Examination 2019 Therefore, it is recommended that it be widely used by English teachers and students Although the writer made a lot of effort in fulfilling the topic, there may be some unavoidable mistakes The writer hopes to receive more comments and feedbacks from colleagues as well as students to complete the topic in a more successful way so that it can help students improve their reading skills and get good grades in the English reading tests in general and in the National Examinations in particular 44 REFERENCE BOOKS Deborah Phillips Longman Complete Course for the TOEFL Test Addison Wesley Publishing Company 2001 Hoàng Đào Tự học đột phá Tiếng Anh - Chuyên đề đọc hiểu Nhà xuất ĐHQG Hà Nội 2016 Vũ Thị Mai Phương Rèn luyện kỹ làm đọc hiểu môn Tiếng Anh Nhà Xuất Hồng Đức 2015 Dương Hương – Hoàng Đào Reading For You – Bí Quyết Chinh Phục Kỹ Năng Đọc Hiểu Tiếng Anh Nhà xuất ĐHQG Hà Nội Bùi Mỹ Duyên Luyện Tốc Độ Giải Nhanh Bài Thi Trắc Nghiệm THPT Quốc Gia Môn Tiếng Anh – Chuyên Đề Đọc Hiểu Nhà xuất ĐHQG Hà Nội Bộ Giáo dục & Đào tạo Đề thi thức- Môn Tiếng Anh – Kỳ thi THPT Quốc Gia năm 2014 Bộ Giáo dục & Đào tạo Đề thi thức- Mơn Tiếng Anh – Kỳ thi THPT Quốc Gia năm 2015 Bộ Giáo dục & Đào tạo Đề thi thức- Mơn Tiếng Anh – Kỳ thi THPT Quốc Gia năm 2016 Bộ Giáo dục & Đào tạo Đề thi thức- Mơn Tiếng Anh – Kỳ thi THPT Quốc Gia năm 2017 10 Bộ Giáo dục & Đào tạo Đề thi thức- Mơn Tiếng Anh – Kỳ thi THPT Quốc Gia năm 2018 11 Bộ Giáo dục & Đào tạo Đề thi minh hoạ- Môn Tiếng Anh – Kỳ thi THPT Quốc Gia năm 2019 45 ... of the National Examination for GCSE in 2018 and the illustration English test for the National Examinations for GCSE 2019 by the Ministry of Education and Training The reading tests were printed... Method of the Study, the Subject of the Study, the Range of the Study, and the Novelty of the Study Part B: Contents with the Theoretical Basis of the Topic, the Practical Basis of the Topic and the. .. improving reading skills in reference books - Analyzing and drawing experiences from the process of teaching - Studying the reading texts, especially in the English test of the National Examinations