Developing high school students’ reading motivation through extensive readingthe case of 12th graders at a high school in ha nam province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ DIỆU HUYỀN DEVELOPING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ READING MOTIVATION THROUGH EXTENSIVE READING: THE CASE OF 12TH GRADERS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HA NAM PROVINCE (Phát triển động lực đọc học sinh trung học phổ thông qua việc đọc thêm: Trường hợp học sinh lớp 12 trường trung học phổ thông tỉnh Hà Nam) M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 8140231.01 HANOI, 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ DIỆU HUYỀN DEVELOPING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ READING MOTIVATION THROUGH EXTENSIVE READING: THE CASE OF 12TH GRADERS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HA NAM PROVINCE (Phát triển động lực đọc học sinh trung học phổ thông qua việc đọc thêm: Trường hợp học sinh lớp 12 trường trung học phổ thông tỉnh Hà Nam) M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Assoc Prof.Dr Lê Văn Canh HANOI, 2019 DECLARATION I hereby certify that this minor thesis entitled “Developing high school students’ reading motivation through extensive reading: The case of 12th graders at a high school in Ha Nam Province” is entirely the study of my own work, which has not been submitted before any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references Hanoi, November 2019 Signature Vu Dieu Huyen i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to people who gave me the possibility to complete this master‟s project First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and love to my thesis supervisor, Assoc Prof Dr Le Van Canh, who has been generous with his feedback, time and patience It is his invaluable and insightful comments, guidance, and encouragement that helps me fulfill my minor thesis My sincere gratitude is also extended to all lecturers and staff of Postgraduate Studies for their useful lectures, materials, guidance and enthusiasm during my course I would like to gratefully acknowledge the support from my colleagues and students, especially students of classes 12A1 and 12A4, who have inspired and guided me in the accomplishment of the study Last but not least, I would like to thank my beloved family for their understanding, support and encouragement Without them, I would not have been able to finish this thesis ii ABSTRACT Extensive reading is believed to be one of the effective tools to develop students‟ good reading habit and reading motivation However, little has been done to measure the effects of extensive reading on leaners‟ reading motivation Thus, the present study was conducted under the action research to investigate the effect of extensive reading on learners‟ motivation for reading The participants were 86 students from classes 12A1 and 12A4 of a high school in Ha Nam Province through an 8-week trial period In order to collect data for the research, a pre-intervention questionnaire, and post questionnaire were employed After a preliminary investigation via pre-intervention questionnaire, an extensive reading program was designed and then implemented during first weeks of the first semester of the school year 2019-2020 The result from post questionnaire showed that there has been great improvement in the students‟ reading motivation Besides, students also expressed positive attitudes towards this program and their intention to continue this program afterwards iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATION vii LIST OF TABLES viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims of the study Research questions Scope of the study Significance of the study Method of the study Organization of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Reading 2.1.1 Definition of reading 2.1.2 Roles of reading in second language teaching 2.1.3 Intensive reading vs extensive reading 2.2 Extensive reading 2.2.1 Definition of extensive reading 2.2.2 Characteristics and principles of extensive reading 2.2.3 Constraints on developing an extensive reading program for students 11 2.3 Motivation for reading .13 2.3.1 Definition of motivation 13 2.3.2 Reading motivation 14 2.3.3 Factors affecting students‟ reading motivation in learning a second language 15 2.3.4 Extensive reading as a motivator to students to read .18 2.4 Previous studies on extensive reading and students’ reading motivation 20 iv CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .23 3.1 Research approach 23 3.1.1 Overview of action research 23 3.1.2 Rationale for the use of an action research .23 3.1.3 Steps of action research 24 3.2 The research procedures 25 3.2.1 Research context 25 3.2.2 Research participants .26 3.2.3 Research procedures 27 3.3 Data collection instruments .31 3.4 Data collection procedures .32 3.4.1 Planning 32 3.4.2 Pre-intervention questionnaire .33 3.4.3 Post-questionnaire 33 3.5 Data analysis procedure 33 3.6 Summary 34 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 35 4.1 Preliminary investigation 35 4.1.1 Students‟ self-reports of the frequency of extensive reading assignments 35 4.1.2 Students‟ preferred reading material genres and sources of reading materials 38 4.1.3 Students‟ perceived benefits of extensive reading 40 4.1.4 Students‟ perceived effects of extensive reading on students‟ reading comprehension and motivation 41 4.2 Evaluation 43 4.2.1 Research question 43 4.2.2 Research question 45 4.3 Summary 46 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION .48 REFERENCES 52 APPENDICES .I v APPENDIX 1: PRE-INTERVENTION QUESTIONNAIRE (English version) .I APPENDIX 2: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE (English version) VII APPENDIX 3: AN INTERVENTION COURSE XI vi LIST OF ABBREVIATION GCSE : General Certificate of Secondary Education ELT : English language teaching EFL : English as a Foreign Language vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Chart contrasting intensive and extensive reading (Welch 1997: 53) Table 2: Schedule for an extensive reading program: .30 Table 3: Frequency of extensive reading assignments required by teachers 35 Table 4: Students‟ self-reports of their time spent on extensive reading and reasons of extensive reading 36 Table 5: Students‟ preferred reading material genres and sources of reading materials 39 Table 6: Students‟ perceived benefits of extensive reading 40 Table 7: Students‟ perceived effects of extensive reading on students‟ reading comprehension and motivation 42 Table 8: Students‟ assessment of the benefits of extensive reading 43 Table 9: Students‟ attitudes towards extensive reading program .45 Table 10: Summary of the Research Findings 47 viii APPENDIX 2: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE (English version) This post questionnaire is designed to collect data on your perception and expectation about extensive reading materials application into improving reading motivation Your real opinions in completing the following questionnaire are highly appreciated Thank you very much for your cooperation! Please choose one degree from to and tick the appropriate box for the following statements Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Items Strongly agree (5) The extensive reading program helped me to expand my vocabulary The extensive reading program helped me to improve my grammar The extensive reading program helped me to broaden my background knowledge The extensive reading program didn‟t help me use English more accurately VII Agree (4) Neutral (3) Disagree (2) Strongly disagree (1) The extensive reading program sometimes made me discouraged by difficult language items The extensive reading program helped me to be a better reader The extensive reading program helped me to be more self-confident in reading English The extensive reading program helped me to improve my English language ability The extensive reading program has no effect on my reading ability 10 The extensive reading program gave me more pleasure in learning reading 11 The extensive reading program didn‟t make reading more pleasant 12 I don‟t want to participate in this extensive reading program anymore 13 If the program does not continue in the next semester, I will keep on the program 14 If the program continues, I would prefer the teacher to choose the materials for me VIII CÂU HỎI KHẢO SÁT HỌC SINH (Vietnamese version) Câu hỏi khảo sát nhằm thu thập ý kiến tìm hiểu mong muốn em việc áp dụng chương trình đọc thêm nhằm cải thiện động lực đọc Chúng mong em trả lời trung thực câu phiếu khảo sát Xin chân thành cảm ơn cộng tác em! Em đánh dấu vào cột thể ý kiến nhận xét sau việc áp dụng tài liệu đọc thêm lớp 12 học kì vừa qua: Mục Hồn Đồng Khơng Khơng Hồn tồn ý có ý đồng ý tồn đồng (4) kiến (2) khơng ý (5) Tài liệu đọc thêm giúp em mở rộng vốn từ vựng Tài liệu đọc thêm giúp em cải thiện ngữ pháp Tài liệu đọc thêm giúp em mở rộng kiến thức Tài liệu đọc thêm không giúp em sử dụng ngôn ngữ cách xác Tài liệu đọc thêm đơi làm em nản lịng ngơn ngữ khó hiểu Tài liệu đọc thêm giúp em đọc tốt Tài liệu đọc thêm giúp em tự tin kĩ đọc tiếng Anh Tài liệu đọc thêm giúp em cải thiện lực ngôn ngữ Tài liệu đọc thêm khơng có tác dụng đến khả đọc Tiếng Anh IX (3) đồng ý (1) 10 Tài liệu đọc thêm mang lại cho em niềm vui việc học kĩ đọc 11 Tài liệu đọc thêm không làm cho việc đọc thú vị 12 Em khơng muốn tham gia chương trình đọc thêm 13 Nếu chương trình đọc thêm khơng tiếp tục học kì tới, em tiếp tục đọc thêm 14 Nếu chương trình đọc thêm tiếp tục, em mong thầy cô giúp em chọn tài liệu đọc thêm X APPENDIX 3: AN INTERVENTION COURSE extensive reading materials and designed activities Week Title of the text Topic Activities Joke about a clever blonde Funny story Retell the story Say what you woman think of the women in the www.newsinlevels.com/# story Rhino Embryos Nature www.newsinlevels.com/# danger in Summarize the cause of rhino‟s extinction and suggest some possible solution to protect rhinos Plastics in the Black Sea Environmental Write a paragraph about the www.newsinlevels.com/# Pollution situation and solution to protect the sea Good News about AIDS Discovery Discuss some good news www.newsinlevels.com/# What is wind? about a dangerous disease Weather How can wind both uproot a www.tweentribune.com tree and someone's life? Why we love junk food? Food www.tweentribune.com health and Why does it take a lot of time and money to design fast food, when the food itself is fast and cheap? Why we use one hand Daily life Why are some people left- more than the other? handed? www.tweentribune.com Valentine's Day Is Almost Celebrations How is Upon Us! celebrated around the world? www.dogonews.com/ Is it Valentine‟s different Day from Valentine‟s Day in Vietnam? XI EXTENSIVE READING TEXT 1: Joke about a clever blonde woman (Source: www.newsinlevels.com/#) There is a blonde woman who sits next to a lawyer on a plane The lawyer keeps asking the blonde to play a game of intelligence with him The blonde doesn‟t want to play, so the lawyer says to her, “If I can‟t answer your question, I will give you 50 dollars If you can‟t answer my question, you will give me dollars.” The lawyer thinks he cannot lose and the blonde finally accepts his offer The lawyer asks first, “What is the distance between the Earth and the nearest star?” Without saying a word the blonde gives him dollars Then the blonde asks, “What goes up a hill with legs and comes back down the hill with legs?” The lawyer is confused He takes several hours, he looks up everything on his laptop, calls his friends but finally, angry and frustrated, he gives up and pays the blonde 50 dollars The blonde puts the 50 dollars into her purse without saying a word, but the lawyer keeps asking, “What is the answer to your question?” Without saying a word, the blonde gives him dollars Activity: Retell the story Say what you think of the women in the story XII EXTENSIVE READING TEXT 2: Rhino Embryos (Source: www.newsinlevels.com/#) There are five kinds of rhinos on the planet, and all of them are endangered One of the reasons is poaching because poachers hunt rhinos as people from Asia buy their horns The most endangered kind of rhino is the northern white rhino Sudan was the last male northern white rhino, and he died in 2018 Now, there are only two northern white rhinos left They are both female Scientists are trying to save the northern white rhino They took two eggs from the female rhinos, and they fertilized them with frozen sperm They created two northern white rhino embryos, and they hope that they can save the white rhino Difficult words: endangered (in danger of dying out), poach (to illegally hunt or catch animals), fertilize (make a female‟s egg start to turn into a baby), embryo (a very small baby; you can put embryos into other females so they can grow into bigger babies) Activity: Summarize the cause of rhino‟s extinction and suggest some possible solution to protect rhinos XIII EXTENSIVE READING TEXT 3: Plastics in the Black Sea (Source: www.newsinlevels.com/#) The Black Sea is located between Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Western, Asia and it is facing serious environmental risks A recent report claims that around tons of plastic waste flow into the sea every day Two Bulgarian windsurfers are trying to raise awareness through their campaign „WIND2WIN‟ One of them said that there are days when people literally have to go around pieces of rubbish so that they can surf Another surf instructor believes that prevention is key – people themselves need to start thinking about recycling and using reusable plastic products rather than single-use plastics Furthermore, she thinks that the strategy on how to tackle this problem needs to come from above, as in the Ministry of Environment and Water Difficult words: claim (say), raise awareness (to let people know about the problem), tackle (deal with), key (very important) Activity: Write a paragraph about the situation and solution to protect the sea XIV EXTENSIVE READING TEXT 4: Good News about AIDS (Source: www.newsinlevels.com/#) Researchers from Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center said that they erased the HIV DNA from mice In a new study published last Tuesday, the scientists used CRISPR geneediting technology and a treatment called LASER ART to eliminate the virus They were able to remove the virus in nine of the 21 mice that they tested the CRISPRLASER ART method on The scientists are now testing the method on primates At the end of 2016, an estimated 1.1 million people had HIV in the USA, according to recent numbers from the CDC HIV is a virus that attacks the body‟s immune system and if not treated, can turn into AIDS, which severely weakens the immune system, increasing risks of more infections and diseases The current available treatment is antiretroviral therapy, which stops HIV from replicating and prevents patients from developing AIDS However, the patients are not cured and they must keep taking the pills to not get sick The researchers hope to get an approval for a clinical trial with humans by mid-2020 Difficult words: CDC (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), replicate (make a copy of, make more viruses), approval (an official „yes‟ that you can something) Activity: Discuss some good news about a dangerous disease XV EXTENSIVE READING TEXT 5: What is wind? (Source: www.tweentribune.com) You asked us, what exactly is wind and how does it get blown around? Wind is a major player here on Earth It sculpts landscapes, brings rain and uproots trees along with lives So what's behind this invisible force that can tickle a cheek one second, and topple a building the next? Good question Wind is just air moving around And air is just a bunch of dancing molecules Gravity pulls down on the molecules The closer they get to the Earth's surface, the more tightly packed they become Air that's under high pressure like that naturally flows to areas of low pressure The bigger the difference in pressure, the faster the air flows And that, my fellow geeks, is wind But what causes one area to be higher pressure than another? The sun It heats the Earth's surface unevenly, creating areas with warmer air, which rises, and cooler air that then rushes in All of these air movements happen at both local and global scales And of course, it's all a lot more complicated than all of this, making wind and weather a little bit unpredictable Activity: Discuss the question “How can wind both uproot a tree and someone's life?” XVI EXTENSIVE READING TEXT 6: Why we love junk food? (Source: www.tweentribune.com) You asked us, "Why we love junk food?" A lot of money and strategy goes into designing junk food A lot of effort also goes into designing junk food too The goal is to make it cheap and handy And despite the fact that it has little to no nutritional value, the goal is to keep you wanting more It's typically high in things like salt, sugar and fat They trigger pleasure centers in our brains, making us feel oh-so-yummy-good and making us want to keep eating See, our brains are relatively big They require a lot of energy to their thing So we evolved to love high-energy food Beyond the super high calorie count, junk food makers have a million tricks up their sleeves when it comes to making their products tempting Like the melt-in-your-mouth quality that tricks us We think the calories have magically floated away Or boosting flavor just short of what's called, "sensory specific satiety." It is flavor that's so big, it overwhelms your brain And you end up not wanting anymore So despite knowing it's not good for us eating it is linked with things like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer junk food can be really hard to resist Activity: Why does it take a lot of time and money to design fast food, when the food itself is fast and cheap? XVII EXTENSIVE READING TEXT 7: Why we use one hand more than the other? (Source: www.tweentribune.com) You asked us a question Why we use one hand more than the other? By the age of or 3, most of us have started to prefer using one hand It is typically the right hand Only about 10 percent of us end up as lefties If you are a lefty, you've probably been called a southpaw They are basically all of the evil, witchy, criminal-type people out there Just kidding! I'm just trying to mess with you We don't believe in that crazy talk anymore But why we develop into righties and lefties? That question has more than a few scientists scratching their heads Scratching with their dominant hand of course! (It's going to get worse.) Handedness in humans probably goes way back It goes back perhaps as far as our Neanderthal ancestors It could have been even earlier Some researchers suggest the trait evolved as our tools became more sophisticated But why the right hand came to dominate the left is anybody's guess We know that genetics plays a role in handedness It's possible hundreds of genes are involved But, a person's environment is important, too Just ask your grandma In the past, lefties often had to learn how to write with their favored hand tied behind their back And even today, we basically live in a right-handed world That forces many a lefty's hand when it comes to using scissors and writing at a desk Or even when they are zipping up a jacket Until, that is, you get a lefty into the boxing ring or at home plate That's when an element of surprise gives them the upper hand Activity: Why are some people left-handed? XVIII EXTENSIVE READING TEXT 8: Valentine's Day Is Almost Upon Us! (Source www.dogonews.com/) Valentine‟s Day, the holiday of love and romance, is almost here On February 14, children and adults alike will shower their friends and loved ones with gifts that range from cards with endearing messages to chocolates, long-stemmed red roses, and even fine jewelry Here are some fun facts about this all-important shopping holiday which is expected to earn retailers a record $20.7 billion in 2019 The Beginning Valentine‟s Day can be traced to the 3rd century A.D when Claudius Gothicus ruled over the Roman Empire According to folklore, Gothicus, unhappy at the large number of men opting out of the army due to family commitments, passed a law forbidding the country's single men from getting married A priest named St Valentine decided to defy the law and began marrying couples secretly When Gothicus found out, he imprisoned the priest and sentenced him to death While in prison, St Valentine fell in love with his guard's daughter and, on February 14, the day of his execution, left her a note signed "From Your Valentine." In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I dedicated February 14 to honor Saint Valentine However, it was not until the Middle Ages that the day became associated with love The Evolution In 1861, Richard Cadbury, the second son of the founder of Cadbury's cocoa and chocolate company, came up with the ingenious idea of packaging bite-sized chocolates in heart-shaped boxes for Valentine‟s Day Not surprisingly, they were an instant success, and a tradition was born Today, Americans spend over USD billion handing out boxes of chocolates to their loved ones Sweethearts, the heartshaped candy with quirky little quotes, are also very popular According to the confectionary's previous manufacturer, Necco, a majority of the billion pieces of candy made annually are sold between January and February 14 Unfortunately, XIX thanks to a change in the company's ownership, fans of the fun confectionary will have to to without them this year But the new owner, Spangler Candy Co., has promised to bring Sweethearts back in time for Valentine's Day 2020 Exchanging handwritten love notes was a common Valentine's Day tradition since the holiday's inception However, it was not until the 1870s, when Massachusetts resident Esther Howland began selling handmade lace paper cards featuring messages of love, that buying cards became a ritual With over 145 million cards bought in the US and over a billion worldwide, Valentine's Day is now one of the biggest revenue generators for greeting card companies It is no wonder that the day is often referred to as a “Hallmark Holiday.” Fun Traditions From Around The World In the Philippines, Valentine's Day is the year's most popular day to get married Every year on February 14, hundreds of couples tie the knot in a mass wedding ceremony Ghana, one of the world's largest cocoa producers, celebrates February 14 as National Chocolate Day Residents mark the occasion by attending music concerts and dining at restaurants featuring special love-themed menus In Japan, Valentine‟s Day is observed by women giving men one of two types of chocolates: “Giri-choco” (obligation chocolate) or “Honmei-choco” (true feeling chocolate) The former is meant for friends, colleagues, and bosses, while Honmei-choco, which is usually homemade, is reserved for boyfriends and husbands Men return the favor on White Day, which is celebrated a month later on March 14 While the presents can range from flowers to chocolates to jewelry – depending on the relationship – they should cost at least three times the value of what the men received on Valentine's Day It is, therefore, no wonder that other Asian countries like South Korea, Vietnam, China, and Hong Kong have also adopted this fun tradition The residents of Denmark, who began celebrating Valentine‟s Day in the 1990s, have their own twist on the holiday Instead of exchanging roses and candy, friends and sweethearts give each other white flowers, called snowdrops Men also XX give women an anonymous gaekkebrev, or “joking letter,” containing a humorous poem or rhyme If the recipient can guess the name of the sender, she is rewarded with an Easter egg later in the year Difficult words: endearing, commitments, defy, imprisoned, dedicated, execution, ingenious, confectionary, inception, ritual, revenue, adopted, anonymous, recipient Activity: How is Valentine‟s Day celebrated around the world? Is it different from Valentine‟s Day in Vietnam? XXI ... students‟ reading motivation in learning a second language, extensive reading as a motivator are also presented in this chapter 2.1 Reading 2.1.1 Definition of reading One of the skills that can be... choice of reading material produces positive attitude toward reading in the second language Learners have no fear of evaluation when they finish reading Last, the extensive reading approach creates... field of reading (Baker and Wigfield, 1999), reading motivation is one of the key factors that influence reading efficiency and learning motivation in general Reading motivation is the answers