A study on the techniques for improving reading skill for non major students of english at pre intermediate level at the foreign language center at the ministry of agriculture and rural development

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST- GRADUATE DEPARTMENT DUONG THI LAN HUONG A STUDY ON THE TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING READING SKILL FOR NON-MAJOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT PRE-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL AT THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER AT THE MINNISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC THỦ THUẬT NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC CHO CÁC HỌC VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRÌNH ĐỘ B TẠI TRUNG TÂM NGOẠI NGỮ BỘ NÔNG NGHIỆP VÀ PTNT MINOR MA THESIS Field: English methodology Code: 601410 HÀ NỘI-2013 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY , HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST- GRADUATE DEPARTMENT DUONG THI LAN HUONG A STUDY ON THE TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING READING SKILL FOR NON-MAJOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT PRE-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL AT THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER AT THE MINNISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC THỦ THUẬT NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC CHO CÁC HỌC VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRÌNH ĐỘ B TẠI TRUNG TÂM NGOẠI NGỮ BỘ NÔNG NGHIỆP VÀ PTNT MINOR MA THESIS Field: English methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Nguyen Quynh Trang-PhD candidate HÀ NỘI-2013 STATEMENT I certify that this thesis is the result of my own study and it hasn’t been submitted to any other institutions or universities Hanoi, September, 2013 Student Duong Thi Lan Huong ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Nguyen Quynh Trang - PhD candidate, for her valuable guidance, encouragement and constant support to the fulfillment of my thesis I also would like to thank my colleagues in the English Faculty of the College of Management for Agriculture and Rural Development and non-major students of English at pre-intermediate level at the Foreign Language Center at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for their cooperation during the rearch Last but not least, I am indebted to my parents, whose constant love and care greatly contributes to the completion of my study ABSTRACT English is becoming more and more popular in Vietnam and it has an important role in the developing of economy, politics, culture, science, technology In the teaching and learning English, reading has always received great attention Civil servants at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development take reading into consideration because of their job requirement However, they still face a lot of difficulties in reading It is urgent to carry out “A study on the techniques for improving reading skill for non-major students of English at pre-intermediate level at the Foreign Language Center at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” Reading problems the teachers and learners experienced are presented and some suggestions are given However, the findings of the study is somehow limited due to time limitation and further studies can apply some other methods to cross check TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the problem and rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Methods of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Design of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of reading 2.2.Definition of reading comprehension 2.3 Classification of reading 2.3.1 Classification according to manner 2.3.2 Classification according to purpose 2.4 Effective reading comprehension 10 2.5 Reading comprehension techniques 10 2.6 Reading purpose of second language learners 12 2.7 Factors in teaching and learning reading 12 2.7.1 Teachers’ role 12 2.7.2 Students’ role 13 2.7.3 The reading texts 13 2.7.4 Reading motivation 13 2.8 Stages of a reading lesson 14 2.8.1 Pre-reading stage 14 2.8.2 While-reading stage 14 2.8.3 Post-reading stage .15 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Participants 16 3.2 Material 16 3.3 Data collection instrument 18 3.4 Data analysis 19 3.4.1 Data analysis of the students’ survey questionnaires 19 3.4.1.1 Students’ aims of learning English 19 3.4.1.2 Students’ attitude to the reading texts in the book More Reading Power 19 3.4.1.3 Students’ attention to the language aspects taught at MARD 20 3.4.1.4 Students’ attitude to the importance of reading comprehension 20 3.4.1.5 Students’ attitude to the benefit of reading 21 3.4.1.6 Students’ attitude to the activities in stages of reading 21 3.4.1.6.1 Students’ attitude to pre-reading activities 21 3.4.1.6.1.1 The frequency of using Pre-reading activities by the teachers responded by the students 21 3.4.1.6.1.2 Students’ enjoyment of pre-reading activities 22 3.4.1.6.2 Students’ attitude to while - reading activities 23 3.4.1.6.2.1 Students’ activities to look for specific information 23 3.4.1.6.2.2 Students’ activities to look for the main idea of the text 23 3.4.1.6.2.3 Students’ activities when meeting new words 23 3.4.1.6.3 Students’ attitude to post - reading activities 24 3.4.1.7 Students’ difficulties when learning reading 24 3.4.1.8 Students’ expectation towards teachers’ teaching of reading techniques to overcome difficulties when learning reading 25 3.4.1.9 Students’ effort for improving their reading comprehension 26 3.4.2 Data analysis of the teachers’ survey questionnaires 26 3.4.2.1 Teachers’ aims of teaching reading 26 3.4.2.2.Teachers’ attitude to the reading texts in the book More Reading Power 27 3.4.2.3.Teachers’ attention to the language aspects taught at MARD 27 3.4.2.4 Teachers’ attitude to the importance of reading comprehension 28 3.4.2.5 Teachers’ attitude to the benefit of reading 28 3.4.2.6 Teachers’ difficulties when teaching reading 29 3.4.2.7 Teachers’ activities to help students to overcome difficulties 29 CHAPTER 4: SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSIONs 4.1 Suggested techniques 31 4.1.1 Techniques for reading motivation and interest 31 4.1.1.1 The students are free to choose books of their own interest 31 4.1.1.2 The reading should be easy for them 31 4.1.1.3 Gradually escalating the level of difficulty of the texts 31 4.1.1.4 Role – playing 31 4.1.1.5 Diversifying pre-reading techniques 31 4.1.1.5.1 Using visual aids 32 4.1.1.5.2 Brainstorming 32 4.1.1.5.3 Pre - questioning 32 4.1.2 Techniques for dealing with vocabulary 32 4.1.2.1 Techniques to deal with unknown words 32 4.1.2.2 Techniques to enrich vocabulary 33 4.1.2.2.1 Using word games 33 4.1.2.2.2 Using word lists 33 4.1.2.2.3 Encouraging students to have extensive reading habit 33 4.1.2.2.4 Students need to read a lot 33 4.1.2.2.5 The reading material is at an appropriate level 34 4.1.2.2.6 There is a variety of reading materials on a wide range of topics 34 4.1.2.2.7 Students are allowed to choose books that interest them 34 4.1.2.2.8 Reading is individual and silient 34 4.1.2.2.9 Teachers advise students to find a regular time and place in the day for reading so that it can become part of their daily routine 34 4.1.2.2.10 Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower 34 4.2 Conclusions 34 4.3 Limitations and recommendations for further study 35 REFERENCES APPENDIX LIST OF TABLES FOR STUDENTS Table 1: Students’ aims of learning English Table 2: Students’ attitude to the reading texts in the book More Reading Power Table 3: Students’ attention to the language aspects taught at MARD Table 4: Students’ attitude to the importance of reading comprehension Table 5: Students’ attitude to the benefit of reading Table 6: The frequency of using Pre-reading activities by the teachers responded by the students Table 7: Students’ enjoyment of pre-reading activities Table 8: Students’ activities to look for specific information Table 9: Students’ activities to look for the main idea of the text Table 10: Students’ activities when meeting new words Table 11: Students’ post – reading activities Table 12: Difficulties students face in reading Table 13: Students’ expectation towards teachers’ teaching of reading techniques to overcome difficulties when learning reading Table 14: Students’ activities to improve their reading comprehension FOR TEACHERS Table 1: Teachers’ aims of teaching English Table 2: Teachers’ attitude to the reading text in the book More Reading Power Table 3: Teachers’attention to the language aspects taught at MARD Table : Teachers’attitude to the importance of reading comprehension Table 5: Teachers’ attitude to the benefit of reading Table 6: Difficulties teachers encounter when teaching reading Table 7: Teachers’ activities to help students to overcome difficulties 10 Boring 9% At an appropriate level 55% Difficult 9% Table 2: Teachers’ attitude to the reading text in the book More Reading Power When being asked about the level of interest of the reading texts in the book More Reading Power, none of the teachers consider the book very interesting, 27% say that it is interesting, 9% think it is boring, 55% has the opinion that it is at an appropriate level and lastly, according to the rest (9%), the book is difficult What should be done to raise the increase the level of interest of the reading materials, including those from other sources, such as the internet, magazines, newspapers, journals… 3.4.2.3.Teachers’ attention to the language aspects taught at MARD OPTIONS RESULT N % Listening 9% Speaking 27 % Reading 45 % Writing 18 % Table 3: Teachers’attention to the language aspects taught at MARD The data collected from the questionaire indicates that 45% of the teachers focus on reading, 27% pay attention to speaking, 18 % are infavour of writing Among the language skills taught at MARD, reading skill seems to be the focus of attention, because it suits with the students’ need to meet their English requirement at work 3.4.2.4 Teachers’ attitude to the importance of reading comprehension OPTIONS RESULT N % Very important 15 31% Important 85 57% 39 Not very important 0% Not important at all 0% Table : Teachers’attitude to the importance of reading comprehension All the teachers agree that reading comprehension has a key role in language learning The survey result shows that 57% is for the fact that reading is important, 31% admit that reading is very important whereas none of them consider reading is not very important or not important at all This can arouse their motivation to their teaching of reading skill 3.4.2.5 Teachers’ attitude to the benefit of reading OPTIONS RESULT N % Enriching students’ vocabulary 100% Expanding students’ knowledge of the world 60% Improving students’ grammar 45% Improving students’ other language skills 57% Table 5: Teachers’ attitude to the benefit of reading The benefit of reading to expanding students’ vocabulary can’t be denied when 100% agree that reading enriches vocabulary 60% state that reading expands students’ knowledge of the world The reason may be because students’ knowledge of the world can be gained through other means of communication, such as the television, the radio…57% think reading improves students’ other language skills and 45% is of the opinion that reading improves students’ grammar So, it is advised that the skills are integrated to reinforce one another It is very important for the teachers to integrate these skills during class hour, since reading benefits language learning in one way or another, such as greater influency in speaking and writing so that students will produce more natural sounding language themselves 3.4.2.6 Teachers’ difficulties when teaching reading OPTIONS RESULT 40 Students’ lack of motivation 53% Students’ lack of appropriate reading strategies 65% Students’ insufficient background knowledge 79% Students’ time limitation 28% Students’ poor vocabulary and grammatical 89% structures Table 6: Difficulties teachers encounter when teaching reading The question investigates problems the teachers experience when teaching reading It is obvious that students with poor vocabulary and grammatical structures matter most in the reading lesson It can be seen very clearly that those whose vocabulary and grammatical structures are limited and background knowledge is insufficient often fail to finish the reading tasks (89% and 79% respectively) Then comes students’ lack of appropriate reading strategies (65%) and students’ lack of motivation (53%) A minority of the teachers state that they can’t teach reading effectively because time is limited How to deal with these difficulties should be taken account of by the teachers 3.4.2.7 Teachers’ activities to help students to overcome difficulties OPTIONS Serving as model readers for students and showing their own RESULT 30% enthusiasm for reading The role of the teacher is crucial in advising, encouraging, monitoring 72% students as well as a model reader Creating relaxed and trusting atmosphere in the classroom so that 51% students will not be afraid to take risks and reveal their personal reaction to reading Activating students’ background knowledge into reading texts 50% Explaining the purpose of each type of exercise before asking students 70% to complete Suggesting appropriate reading strategies 41 64% Searching different kinds of reading materials to suit students’ need 50% and interest Table 7: Teachers’ activities to help students to overcome difficulties On the basis of recognizing the importance of reading, the teachers have put considerable effort into activities shown in Table in order to help the students to overcome difficulties, for example 72 % of the teachers advise, encourage, monitor students as well as a model reader, 70% explain the purpose of each type of exercise before asking students to complete 42 CHAPTER 4: SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSIONs 4.1 Suggested techniques 4.1.1 Techniques for reading motivation and interest Students’ motivation and interest for reading is of great importance, since without strong motivation, the reading lesson will be boring The need to increase students’ motivation and interest has always been paid attention to because of its vital role for reading comprehension to take place Here is the key to keep students interested and involved: 4.1.1.1 The students are free to choose books of their own interest Within any groups of students, there is a wide range of personalities and interest This becomes evident when they can choose books for themselves Reading books of ones’ interest develop their love for reading, which leads to improved motivation 4.1.1.2 The reading should be easy for them In order to keep students motivated and create the conditions for them to read a lot, the reading should be easy for them Some students have the mistaken idea that they will learn more from books with many unknown words, but in fact, they will probably make poor headway in such books, find them very tedious, and give up In any case, the reality is that less vocabulary learning take place when there are too many new words in a text, which kill their enjoyment of the book 4.1.1.3 Gradually escalating the level of difficulty of the texts Students will find reading boring if they are continuously provided with easy texts So, it’s important to increase the scale of difficulty of the texts 4.1.1.4 Role - playing Students are asked to imagine themselves in different situations when they role-play, such as being be a farmer, a doctor, a teacher or a scientist, etc Through role-play, students have opportunities using the language in new contexts or for new topics, expresing their own natural expressions and gestures, which indeed increases motivation 43 4.1.1.5 Diversifying pre-reading techniques Teachers should take students’ preference of pre-reading techniques to gain their interest, such as: 4.1.1.5.1 Using visual aids It is advised to use visual aids in stimulating students to learn foreign language because it’s interesting to present new words or introduce a topic visually through real objects, pictures, gestures, facial expression and drawing 4.1.1.5.2 Brainstorming “Brainstorming” is a very popular kind of pre-reading activities Students are instructed to map out clusters of words or phrases relating to any key word choosen from the text or provided by the teacher Brainstorming is advantageous since it activate students’ prior knowledge on a particular topic and gets their mind ready to take new information 4.1.1.5.3 Pre - questioning Carrell (1988:247) states that pre-reading questions “functions to get students to predict within a context area what the text will be about” before studying the text This activity aims to motivate students to read what follows for a purpose, that is, to gain the requisite information to answer the question Acording to Grellet (1981:62), these questions make students “aware of what they wish to learn about the topic” since they set purposes for reading and “The more students look forward to reading and anticipate in their minds what the text could hold in store for them, the easier it will be to grasp the main points of the passage” 4.1.2 Techniques for dealing with vocabulary Wilkin (1972:110) argues that “Vocabulary is one of the dimensions of a language (phonetics, grammar, vocabulary) Without grammar, very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary, nothing can be conveyed” The important role of vocabulary can’t be denied in a learner’s language proficiency The non major English students at MARD find the reading textx boring and difficult 44 because their vocabulary store is limited There are some solutions to this problem: 4.1.2.1 Techniques to deal with unknown words - Students shouldn’t look up every unknown word This would slown them down, interrupt the reading process and take enjoyment out of reading Students should look up an unknown word only if they can’t follow the reading process without it - Students should be encouraged to skip over words that are not essential to the text, for example in a detailed description - Teachers can also encourage students to try to guess the general meaning of new words Though they may not be able to arrive at an extract meaning, they may understand enough to allow them to continue reading 4.1.2.2 Techniques to enrich vocabulary 4.1.2.2.1 Using word games A word game is a game involving the making, guessing or selection of words The object of the game is to complete as many words as possible It is very helpful to learn vocabulary 4.1.2.2.2 Using word lists A word list is a collection or list of words and phrases alphebetically arranged and explained acccording to topics It is useful for individuals or reading classes 4.1.2.2.3 Encouraging students to have extensive reading habit Extensive reading benefit language learning in many ways, including an expanded and deeper knowledge of vocabulary According to Nuttal (1982), “ The best way to improve your knowledge of a foreign language is to go and live among its speakers The next best way is to read extensively in it” 4.1.2.2 Students need to read a lot Lots of reading means lots of language input - more opportunities to see how words, phrases and sentences are put together in English As students become more comfortable with the language, they become more confident in their 45 knowledge, which in turns allow them to feel freezer to use it and to produce more natural sounding language themselves This leads to greater fluency in speaking and writing To gain these benefits, extensive reading should be taken seriously and students must a considerable amount of reading 4.1.2.2.5 The reading material is at an appropriate level Some students have the mistaken belief that if they choose difficult books, with a lot of unknown words, they will learner more vocabulary The more likely result is that they will simply get discouraged and stop reading So, it is very important for the teachers to make sure that each student start with a book that they can read without difficulty and without consulting a dictionary Exactly, the reading material should be at an appropriate level 4.1.2.2.6 There is a variety of reading materials on a wide range of topics 4.1.2.2.7 Students are allowed to choose books that interest them 4.1.2.2.8 Reading is individual and silient: Silient reading is encouraged when students read their self-selected book in the classroom Students can’t finish all their extensive reading in class, so most extensive reading should be assigned as home work because of time limitation for each lesson 4.1.2.2.9 Teachers advise students to find a regular time and place in the day for reading so that it can become part of their daily routine 4.1.2.2.10 Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower There are ways students can benefit from improving their reading speed, such as becoming a more efficient reader, improving the knowledge of English and comprehension Students who read slowly often have little time left to reflect on and assimilate what they have read Therefore, it is important for students at all levels to develop reading habits that will allow them to deal with a large amount of reading Reading faster doesn’t mean speed reading, it means reading somewhat faster than they are now Students need to break the habit of word-by-word or line-to-line reading 4.2 Conclusions 46 Reading is a receptive skill through which students’ knowledge of the target language is widen, so it is important that students should have good reading techniques to become fluent language learners Within the area of the research, non-major students of English at preintermediate level at the Foreign Language center at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) are aware of the factors that affects the success of the reading process, namely; poor vocabulary and limited background knowledge, students’ low motivation and their lack of appropriate reading strategy The study gives an analysis of the teachers and students’s attitude towards the teaching and learning of reading; the difficulties the students and teachers cope with in reading lessons After that, some techniques are suggested with the hope to improve the students’ reading skill The findings of the study shows a big gap between what the teachers have done to motivate the students and what the students prefer, for example the teachers don’t make full use of games or visual aids, which the students find interesting and motivated Effort has been made so that some possible techniques are given to improve the situation 4.3 Limitations and recommendation for further study Limitations are unavoidable for researches and this study is of no exception Due to time limitation, only the method of questionaire is used Hence, the findings are somehow limited and can’t be generalized Further studies can use some other methods to cross check 47 APPENDIX QUESTIONAIRE FOR STUDENTS AT MARD Please tick one or more answers to the following questions Why you read English? A To communicate effectively in English B To understand materials in English, such as newspapers, books, contracts… C To support your jobs D To live and work abroad How you find the reading texts in the book More Reading Power ? A Very interesting B Interesting C Boring D At an appropriate level Which language skill you pay attention to? A Listening B Speaking C Reading D Writing What you think are the benefit of reading? A Enriching vocabulary B Expanding knowledge of the world C Improving grammar D Improving other language skills How your teachers often apply the following Pre-reading activities ? A using games to introduce the text B using visual aids to introduce the text C giving a brief introduction to the text D pre-teaching new vocabulary E using pre-reading questions 48 F asking students to brainstorm words, structures or ideas related to the topic G making students predict the content of the text H explaining the instructions of the text I giving reading task to students J telling a short story What you to look for specific information ? A Read and answer the question after reading the text carefully B Understand everything in the text, then read and answer the question C Read the question first and answer them by scanning the text What you to look for the main idea of the text? A Choose the best answer by skimming the text B Choose the best answer after reading the text carefully and understand every word C Move eyes line by line to look for the main idea of the text What you when meeting new words ? A Look up in the dictionary B Guess the meaning from the context C Ask teachers or friends D Skip them all What you in post reading activities? A Do multiple choice or gap filling exercises B Write topics relevant to the text C Summarize the text D Discuss the topics in pairs or groups E Do nothing 10 What you think your difficulties when learning reading are? A Lack of motivation B Lack of appropriate reading strategies C Insufficient background knowledge D Time limitation E Poor vocabulary and grammatical structures 49 11 Which of the teachers’ reading techniques you expect to overcome difficulties when learning reading ? A Activate your previous knowledge into the text B Provide key words C Explain the purpose of each type of exercise before asking students to complete D Suggest appropriate reading strategy E Search different kinds of reading materials to suit students’ need and interest 12 What you to improve reading comprehension? A Develop extensive reading habit B Expand vocabulary C Discuss reading in pairs or small groups D.To be actively engaged in the lesson Thank you for your cooperation! 50 APPENDIX QUESTIONAIRE FOR TEACHERS AT MARD What is your purpose of teaching English to the students at MARD ? A Help students to communicate effectively in English B Help students to understand materials in English, such as newspapers, books, contracts… C Help students to support their jobs D Help students to live and work abroad How you think about the reading texts in the book More Reading Power A Very interesting B Interesting C Boring D At an appropriate level E Difficult Which language aspects you pay attention at MARD? A Listening B Speaking C Reading D Writing How important you think reading comprehension is ? A.Very important B Important C Not very important D Not important at all What you think are the benefit of reading ? A Enriching students’ vocabulary B Expanding students’ knowledge of the world C Improving students’ grammar D Improving students’ other language skill 51 REFERENCES Aebersold, J, A and Field, L,M (1997), From reader to reading teacher, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Anderson, J.C (1999), Exploring second language reading: Issues and strategies, Canada: Heinle and Heinle Publishers Brown, H.D (1994), Teaching principles: An interactive approach to language pedagogy, Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice Hall Cheng, W (1985), “Teaching reading comprehension in the secondary ESL class: The challenge of new materials and methods”, Retrieved March 22, 2007 from http:// sunzil lib.hku hk/ hkjo/view Doff, A (1988), Teaching: a training course for teacher, Cambridge: CUP Goodman, K (1998), In P.L Carrell, J Devine & D.E Heskey (Eds), Interactive approaches to second language reading, Cambrige: Cambridge University Press Greenwood, J.(1985), The teaching of English as an international language, Collins: Glassgow and London Grelet, F (1981), Developing reading skill, Cambridge: CUP Harmer, J (1989), The practical language teaching, Essex: Pergamon Press Lewis, M&Hill (1985), Practical techniques for language teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Nuttall.C (1982), Teaching reading skills in a foreign language, London: Heineman Richards, J.C (1985), The content of language teaching, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Rumelhart, D.E.(1977), Toward an interactive model of reading, In S Domic Attention and Performance UL, New York: Academic Press Smith, F (1971), Understanding reading: A Psycholinguistic Analysis of Reading and Learning to Read, Holt, Rinchart and Winston, NewYork Swan, M (1975), Inside meaning, Cambridge: CUP Ur, P (1996), A course in language teaching, Cambridge: CUP 52 Williams, E (1986), Reading in the language classroom, Oxford: Macmillian Publisher 53 ... research, non- major students of English at preintermediate level at the Foreign Language center at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) are aware of the factors that affects the. .. thank my colleagues in the English Faculty of the College of Management for Agriculture and Rural Development and non- major students of English at pre- intermediate level at the Foreign Language. .. many, reading is the most important skill to master” This is true for non- major students of English at pre- intermediate level at the Foreign Language center at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural