An exploratory study on the teaching of pre-reading skills to third-year non-English-major students using New Headway Pre-Intermediate textbook at a university in Hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ HỒNG VÂN AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE TEACHING OF PREREADING SKILLS TO THIRD-YEAR NON-ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS USING NEW HEADWAY PRE-INTERMEDIATE TEXTBOOK AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI ( Nghiên cứu thăm dò việc dạy kĩ tiền đọc hiểu theo giáo trình New Headway Pre-intermediate cho sinh viên năm thứ ba không chuyên tiếng Anh trường đại học Hà Nội) MA MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES LÊ THỊ HỒNG VÂN AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON THE TEACHING OF PREREADING SKILLS TO THIRD-YEAR NON-ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS USING NEW HEADWAY PRE-INTERMEDIATE TEXTBOOK AT A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI ( Nghiên cứu thăm dò việc dạy kĩ tiền đọc hiểu theo giáo trình New Headway Pre-intermediate cho sinh viên năm thứ ba không chuyên tiếng Anh trường đại học Hà Nội) MA MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Huỳnh Anh Tuấn Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby certify that the thesis entitled: “An exploratory study on the teaching of pre-reading skills to third-year nonEnglish-major students using New Headway Pre-Intermediate textbook at a university in Hanoi” is the result of my research for the Degree of Master of Art at University of Languages and International Studies, Ha Noi National University, and the thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution Ha Noi, January 2014 Student Lê Thị Hồng Vân i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This paper would not have been completed without the support of many people, to all of whom I am profoundly indebted First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr Huỳnh Anh Tuấn, my supervisor, for his great encouragement, constant guidance and enthusiastic support during all the stages of this study Without his advice and tireless persistence, I would not have been able to finish this paper My sincere thanks are also sent to my colleagues as well as students at the HAUI who are willing to help me complete the survey questionnaires and classroom observations Last but not least, I am really grateful to my family and friends for their continual encouragement during the time I conducted the research Especially, I would like to give my thanks to my boyfriend who is always beside me, takes care of me and willing to help me solve IT problems ii ABSTRACT In most cases a common problem students experience in reading classes is the feeling that they have inadequate knowledge about the subject they are reading about However, this feeling may be more complex than generally thought The problem may not be the lack of background knowledge, but rather the failure to activate that knowledge Some researchers state that pre-reading activities provide a reader with necessary background to organize activities and to comprehend the material Owing to the obvious awareness of the great importance of pre-reading activities to the teaching and learning of reading, the researcher decided to have a study on this issue Firstly, she will take effort to explore what prereading activities are often applied by the teachers to teach third-year non-English-major students at the HAUI using the textbook New Headway Pre-Intermediate Moreover, she would like to present her suggestions of some appropriate pre-reading activities with the hope of helping students have motivation in learning reading and improve their reading skills iii ABBREVIATIONS A Accounting BA Business Administration EFL English as a foreign language ESL English as a second language ESP English for specific purposes HAUI Hanoi University of Industry iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Objectives of the study Scope of the study: Significance of the study: Research methodology 5.1 Participants: 5.2 Research instruments: Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 1.1 Theoretical background of reading 1.1.1 Definitions of reading and reading comprehension 1.1.2 Classification of reading 1.2 Teaching and learning reading skills 12 1.2.1 The importance of reading in foreign language learning 12 1.2.2 Factors in teaching and learning reading 13 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 20 2.1 The setting of the study 20 2.2 Participants 20 2.2.1 Teachers of English 20 2.2.2 Students 21 2.3 Material 21 2.4 Data collection instrumentation 22 2.4.1 Survey questionnaires 22 2.4.2 Classroom observations 23 2.5 Data analysis methods 24 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS 25 3.1 Data analysis of the students’ survey questionnaire 25 3.1.1 Students’ general assessments about reading texts in their course book (question 1) 25 v 3.1.2 Students’ attitudes towards pre-reading activities (questions 2, 3, 4) 26 3.1.3 Students’ awareness of teachers’ frequency of using pre-reading activities and supplementary materials in teaching pre-reading (questions 5, 6, 7, 8) 28 3.1.4 Students’ preferences for pre-reading techniques (questions 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15) 31 3.1.5 Students’ comments on the pre-reading activities in the text book New Headway Pre-intermediate (question 16) 37 3.2 Data analysis of the teachers’ survey questionnaire 38 3.2.1 Teachers’ attitudes towards the reading texts and pre-reading activities in a reading lesson (questions 1, 2) 38 3.2.2 Teachers’ attitudes towards the role of pre-reading activities in a reading lesson (question 3) 39 3.2.3 Teacher’s focus on their teaching reading texts (question 4) 40 3.2.4 Teachers’ frequency of using activities to start a reading lesson (questions 5, 6) 41 3.2.5 Teachers’ frequency of using other materials in teaching pre-reading (question 7) 44 3.2.6 Teachers’ applying visual aids in teaching pre-reading (questions 8, 9) 45 3.2.7 Teachers’ expectation when providing students with pre-reading activities (question 10) 46 3.2.8 Teachers’ difficulties in carrying out pre-reading activities in a reading lesson (question 11) 47 3.2.9 Teachers’ comments on Pre-reading activities available in the book New Headway Pre-intermediate (question 12) 48 3.2.10 Teachers’ suggestions and recommendations on the Pre-reading activities (question 13) 49 3.3 Data analysis of classroom observations 49 3.4 Discussion of data analysis 51 CHAPTER 4: DISCUSSION OF MAJOR FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS OF SOME POSSIBLE PRE-READING ACTIVITIES EMPLOYED TO TEACH READING TEXTS USING THE TEXTBOOK vi NEW HEADWAY PRE- INTERMEDIATE TO THE THIRD-YEAR NON-ENGLISH-MAJOR STUDENTS AT THE HAUI 53 4.1 Discussion of major findings 53 4.1.1 Teachers’ and students’ awareness of the role of using pre-reading activities to the third-year non-English majors at the HAUI 53 4.1.2 Frequency of using pre-reading activities in reading lessons 53 4.1.3 Students’ preferences for pre-reading activities 54 4.1.4 Teachers’ difficulties in designing and carrying out the pre-reading activities 54 4.1.5 Teachers’ and students’ comments on Pre-reading activities available in the book New Headway Pre-intermediate 55 4.2 Suggestions of some possible pre-reading activities employed to teach reading texts using the textbook new headway pre-intermediate to the third-year non-English-major students at the HAUI 55 4.2.1 Using visual aids 55 4.2.2 Using games 56 4.2.3 Pre-questioning 56 4.2.4 Brainstorming 56 PART C: CONCLUSION 57 Summary of the study 57 Summary of main findings: 58 2.1 Research question 1: 58 2.2 Research question 2: 59 Limitations of the study 61 Recommendations for further study 61 REFERENCES 63 APPENDIX I vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale A special focus is received by reading in many second or foreign language teaching situations There contain a number of reasons for this Firstly, when learning a foreign language students often have reading as one of their most important goals They would like to able to read for information and pleasure, for their career, and for study purposes In fact, in most EFL situations, the ability to read in a foreign language is all what students ever want to acquire Secondly, written texts serve various pedagogical purposes The process of language acquisition can be enhanced by extensive exposure to linguistically comprehensible written texts Reading texts with good quality also provide good models for writing and provide opportunities to introduce new topics, to stimulate discussion Therefore, students and teachers alike highly value this skill Reading has always been received a great amount of attention from both teachers and students in the process of teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam in general and at the Hanoi University of Industry (HAUI) in particular In most universities in Vietnam, students are taught in non-native English environment That is why they meet many difficulties in learning the four English skills effectively in general and the reading skill in particular “For many students, reading is by far the most important of the four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second or foreign language” as Carrel (1981:1) stated This is true to the students at the HAUI, where learners usually have to exercises and tests including many reading texts Futuremore, after graduating they would probably have to work with many English written materials related to their majors, so reading skill plays an important role in helping them work with those materials It is essential for them to acquire the ability to read English effectively and efficiently Nevertheless, although teachers and students have taken strenuous efforts, students still often claim to have a lot of difficulties in reading English textbooks or English materials, and therefore, they sometimes find it inefficient when reading them For third-year university students learning English as a non-major, although they have been learning English for at least several years, it is still often so difficult for them to understand a text or a passage in English, since they usually lack vocabulary, grammar, 12 Duffy-Hester, A.M (1999) Teaching struggling readers in elementary school classrooms: A review of classroom reading programs and principles for instruction The Reading Teacher, 52, 480–495 13 Dole, J.A., Duffy, G.G., Roehler, L.R., & Pearson, P.D (1991) Moving from the old to the new: Research on reading comprehension instruction Review of Educational Research, 61, 239–264 14 Ersoz, A (2000) Six Games for the EFL/ESL Classroom in the Internet TESL Journal, Vol VI, No.6 15 Firochiaro, M (1969) Teaching English as a Second Language Harper and Row 16 Goodman, K (1969) The reading Process" in Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading: CUP 17 Good et al (1987) Qualitative Research in Information Systems: References on Case Study Research 18 Grellet, F (1981) Developing reading skills London: Cambridge University Press 19 Goodman, K (1971) “Psycholinguistic universals in the reading process” 20 Goodman, K.S (1967) ‘Reading: a psycholinguistic guessing game’ Journal of the Reading Specialist, Psycholinguistic and Reading Newyork: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 21-29 21 Garan, E., & DeVoogd, G (2006) The benefits of sustained silent reading: Scientific research and common sense converge: Once teachers unravel the facts from the misinterpretations and opinions, they will find that sustained silent reading is not only intuitively appealing but also is supported by research The Reading Teacher, 62, 336-344 doi:10.1598/RT.62.4.6 22 Gu (2003) Vocabulary Learning in a Second Language: Person, Task, Context and Strategies 23 Gaudart, H (1999) Games as teaching tools for teaching English to speakers of other languages Simulation & Gaming 30 (3), 283-289 24 Hammer H (1986) Synthesis in Language Teaching Second Language Publications 25 Huyen, N.T.T & Nga, K.T.T (2003) Learning Vocabulary through games in Asian EFL Journal 64 26 Jecksembievya, N (1993) Pre-reading Activites in EFL/ESL Reading Textbooks and Turkish Preparatory School Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Pre-reading Activities 27 Lewis, M., Jimmie, H (1992) Practical Techniques for Language Teaching Language Teaching Publications 28 Mallick (1999) Deep Communicative Exploration 29 Nuttall, C (1982) Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language Cambridge University Press 30 Nuttall, C (eds) (2000) Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language Cambridge University Press 31 Richard, R.R (1987) Becoming an Effective Reading Teacher Harper & Row Publishers, Inc 32 Soars, John and Liz New Headway Pre-Intermediate Oxford: OUP, 2011 33 Ur Penny (1996) A Course in Language Teaching Cambridge: CUP 34 Vajendra & Mallick (1999) More Pak players face suspension 35 Wallace C (1992) Reading Oxford: Oxford University Press 36 Widdowson, H G (1983) Learning purpose and language use London: Oxford University Press 65 APPENDIX APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (For the teachers) This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into “An exploratory study on the teaching of pre-reading skills to third-year non-English-major students using New Headway Pre-Intermediate textbook at a university in Hanoi” Your assistance in completing this survey questionnaire is highly appreciated You could be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of this data Please tick (V) or write your answer where necessary Thank you very much for your cooperation Lê Thị Hồng Vân Survey conductor: How you feel about the texts used in the course book New Headway PreIntermediate? A interesting C suitable B boring D easy E difficult How often you use the pre-reading activities? A always C sometimes B usually D rarely E never How you find the role of pre-reading activities in giving motivation to students in a reading lesson? A extremely important B very important C a bit important D not important at all What you focus most on in your teaching reading texts in the course book New Headway Pre-Intermediate? A new words and structures C ideas in the text B grammar D knowledge of English language What pre-reading activities you often use in a reading lesson? (You can tick more than one choice) A using the title, subtitle within the text to predict the content B using games to introduce the text C talking about the author’s background, writing style, and usual topics D reviewing vocabulary and grammatical structures I E pre-teaching new vocabulary and grammatical structures F using visual aids to present the text G Giving a short introduction to the topic of the text What activities you often use to start a reading lesson? (You can tick more than one choice) A introduce briefly the reading text B give the meanings of new words and structures in the text C design some pre-reading activities for students D nothing and ask students the reading lesson immediately E others (Please specify in the given space) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… How often you use other materials to help your teaching pre-reading? A always B usually C sometimes D rarely E never What visual aids you often use in the pre-reading stage? (You can tick more than one choice) A pictures B flash cards C videos D maps E flip charts F drama, costumes How often you use visual aids (pictures, flash cards, videos…) in teaching prereading to students? A always B usually C sometimes D rarely E never 10 What would you like to gain when providing students with pre-reading activities? (You can tick more than one choice) A assessing students' background knowledge of the topic and linguistic content of the text B increasing the students’ motivation C giving students the background knowledge necessary for comprehension of the text D clarifying any cultural information which may be necessary to comprehend the passage E providing opportunities for group or collaborative work and for class discussion activities F others (Please specify in the given space) II ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 11 What are your problems when carrying out pre-reading activities in a reading lesson? (You can tick more than one choice) A Designing them is waste of time B Designing them is sometimes not easy C Students sometimes don’t feel motivated to the activities D Sometimes carrying out the activities is over time in pre-reading stage 12 What are your viewpoints about the pre-reading activities available in reading materials in the course book you are teaching? A interesting B suitable with students’ levels and knowledge C effective in helping students the reading tasks D unsuccessful in giving students motivation in reading 13 Give your opinion in what should be applied so as to have a reading lesson more interesting and effective at the pre-reading stage? A provide as various sorts of pre-reading activities as possible B only give the students the pre-reading activities that they are interested in C choose some suitable pre-reading activities with each reading lesson D be time-consuming E others (Please specify in the given space) ……………………………………………………………………………………………… III APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (For the students) This survey questionnaire is designed for my research into “An exploratory study on the teaching of pre-reading skills to third-year non-English-major students using New Headway Pre-Intermediate textbook at a university in Hanoi” Your assistance in completing this survey questionnaire is highly appreciated You could be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of this data Please tick (V) or write your answer where necessary Thank you very much for your cooperation Lê Thị Hồng Vân Survey conductor: How you feel about the texts used in the course book New Headway PreIntermediate? A interesting C suitable B boring D easy E difficult How you prepare for the pre-reading stage before going to class? A very carefully C not carefully B carefully D.without preparing What does your teacher often before asking you to read the text? A introduce briefly the reading text B give the meanings of new words and structures in the text C design some pre-reading activities for students D nothing and ask students the reading lesson immediately E others (Please specify in the given space) ………………………………………………………………………………………… How you find the role of pre-reading activities in a reading lesson? A extremely important C very important B a bit important D not important at all How often does your teacher use the pre-reading activities? A always C sometimes B usually D rarely E never How often does your teacher use other materials in teaching pre-reading? IV A always C sometimes B usually D rarely E never How often you read supplementary materials? A always C sometimes B usually D rarely E never How often does your teacher introduce visual aids (pictures, flash cards, videos…) at pre-reading stage? A always C sometimes B usually D rarely E never Which of the following pre-reading activities does your teacher often use in a reading lesson? Pre-reading activities 1.Using the Always Usually title, subtitle within the text to predict the content 2.Using games to introduce the text Talking about the author’s background, writing style, and usual topics 4.Reviewing vocabulary and grammatical structures Pre-teaching new vocabulary and grammatical structures Using visual aids to present the text Giving introduction a to short the V Sometimes Rarely Never topic of the text 10 What you think of the following pre-reading activities? Pre-reading activities Absolutely Very interesting Interesting Normal Boring interesting 1.Using the title, subtitle within the text to predict the content 2.Using games to introduce the text Talking about the author’s background, writing style, and usual topics 4.Reviewing vocabulary and grammatical structures Pre-teaching new vocabulary Using visual aids to present the text Giving a short introduction to the topic the text 11 In what of the following modes you often when participating in pre-reading activities? A work individually B work in pairs C work in groups 12 How does your teacher introduce the reading text shortly in the pre-reading stage? VI A by using titles and subtitles of the text B by using games C by using visual aids (pictures, flash cards, videos…) D by using a short story or a part of a song 13 How does your teacher pre-teach new vocabulary in the text in the pre-reading stage? A by using games B by using visual aids (pictures, flash cards, videos…) C by giving the meanings of new words through their definitions and explanations D by using synonyms and antonyms 14 How does your teacher talk about the author’s background, writing style, and usual topics in the pre-reading stage? A by giving pictures B by giving flash cards C by giving videos D by giving author’s other writings 15 How does your teacher present pre-reading questions in the pre-reading stage? A by using WH-questions B by using yes/no questions C by using multiple choice questions D by using gap filling questions E by using question-response questions 16 In your opinion, how are the pre-reading activities available in the course book New Headway Pre-Intermediate you are learning now? A interesting B is able to meet the students’ interests, levels and needs C motivating D boring E unsuitable F other opinions (Please specify in the given space) …………………………………………………………………………………………… VII APPENDIX 3: OBSERVATIONAL MINUTES Observational minute 1: Unit 9: Going places The reading text: Travel addicts Class: BA (Period from 7:00 to 7.45) Date: Monday, 7/10/2013 Teacher’s (T) activities Students’ (Ss) Ss’ enthusiasm Ss’ attitudes towards to the activities interaction The with each other T’s activities has acquired - At am, T comes in the class - Ss response to the T’s greeting and greets the Ss effectiveness T All Ss are enthusiastic to - T warms up the class by - Ss response to get involved in asking Ss some questions the about their news T’s the questions T’s activities - Ss are happy to - Ss have an - To introduce new lesson, T - Ss are willing share the ideas opportunity ticks some photos of some to have a look at - All Ss have a with each other know famous tourist attractions on the photos and chance to look at famous the board and asks the class answer attractions the the photos and to more tourist and “Do you like travelling?”, “Do questions answer the T’s share their prior you questions knowledge often go abroad for travelling?”, “Have you ever about travelling seen these places on TV or through other means of communication?”, “Have you ever been to these places?”, “What would you like to if you have a chance to go to these places?”, “Do you think - Ss are eager to that travelling can become participate addictive?” The aim of these group Ss in enthusiastically take VIII part - Ss have a chance to think in - All Ss listen critically about questions is investigate Ss’ discussion group attentively preferences for travelling discussion those - When the T has the feedback - Ss present their presents from the Ss, she divides them group’s ideas to - They to the pros whose cons and of their travelling all group’s ideas into groups of or to discuss the whole class actively and the pros and cons of travelling willingly the in minutes task Ss have - After the allowed time, T - Ss all look at another chance calls some to from different representatives the board to see groups to the title of the - the information perform their ideas and note to text and write that compare the Ss’ brainstorm may be different down some included in the words and text before they ideas - T writes the title of the information that read reading text on the board and they suppose to asks Ss to brainstorms some be included in words and things that may the text appear in the reading text Summary: Based o the classroom observation, which was taken in class BA5, the researcher sees that the teacher applied a lot of pre-reading activities to arouse students’ motivation before asking them to read such as making students answer warm-up questions, introducing visual aids to students, pre-questioning, asking students to work in groups and brainstorm some words and information that may appear in the reading text From the researcher’s observation, the students were always eager and energetic to participate in the teacher’s activities These activities lasted in 15 minutes IX Observational minute 2: Unit 10: Things that changed the world The reading text: A discovery and an invention that changed the world Class: A (Period from 8.40 to 9.25) Date: Thursday, 31/10/2013 Teacher’s (T) activities Students’ Ss’ Ss’ (Ss) attitudes enthusiasm towards activities T’s to the interaction The with each other effectiveness T has acquired activities - At 8.40 am, T comes - Ss response - All Ss are in the class and greets to the Ss the greeting T’s enthusiastic to get - T warms up the class - Ss response involved in by asking Ss some to the questions about their questions T’s the T’s activities news - To start the lesson, T - Ss are eager uses a game (Stop the to join All Ss the actively Bus) so as to present game participate - Ss have an the topic of the reading in the game opportunity to text Before asking the take part in an Ss to take part in the interesting game, T explains the game topic of the lesson they are going to learn is about the discovery of DNA and the invention of Google which are considered as the things X that changed the world She expects her Ss to find the words related to the topic through the game - T explains the rule of the game first Ss listen - She carefully All Ss - Ss are happy to to listen exchange ideas draws a table of three T’s carefully to and discuss to rows Row is the explanation the letters, row is about to the game guidance of answers the words related to the game T’s find out the right DNA, and row is about the words related to Google Students’ duty is to find the right word begins with the given letter appropriate to each topic After that, she divides class into groups To compete against each other, if any group finds all the words they think are right will say “Stop the Bus” to gain the chance - They are all - Ss work to get points If their energetic to actively in answers are not right, compete in groups to they will lose their turn the game find out the and get no point The with other right chance will belong to groups to be answers as other groups the winner fast XI as - The winner is the and be possible group who get the most rewarded right answers and they will be rewarded with some candy and small presents - The game ends when all the words required are found out, and written on the board - When the T has the - All Ss are - Ss work feedback from the Ss, willing and seriously to she asks them to discuss enthusiastic in groups about the to discuss in T acquires contributions of DNA groups discuss the topic and Google in changing the world - T calls representatives different groups some - The - Ss listen from representativ to es attentively to perform the speakers of perform their ideas and their groups’ other groups to note to compare the Ss’ ideas compare with different ideas to the confidently their own ideas whole class - Ss have a XII chance to think critically about contributions of DNA and Google changing in the world Summary: The researcher can reach a conclusion that teacher used a lot of pre-reading activities to call student’s attention and motivation before they start to read from her observation in class A7 As a result, most students feel eager and enjoyable to the teacher’s activities such as using games, group discussing, brainstorming In general, the classroom observations enable the researcher to realize that most teachers are aware of the great importance of pre-reading activities at the first stage of reading; therefore, they are willing to apply them to teach to their students to get better reading lessons XIII