Adapting reading tasks in the textbook tieng anh 12 for mixed level students at van noi high school in dong anh, ha noi

Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Languages and International studies Faculty of post- graduate studies ***** NGUYỄN THỊ TRANG Adapting reading tasks in the textbook Tieng Anh 12 for mixed-level students at Van Noi High School in Dong Anh, Hanoi (ĐIỀU CHỈNH CÁC NHIỆM VỤ ĐỌC TRONG SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 12 CHO PHÙ HỢP VỚI HỌC SINH CÓ TRÌNH ĐỘ KHÁC NHAU TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT VÂN NỘI, ĐƠNG ANH, HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: Methodology Code: 60 14 10 HA NOI, 2012 Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of Languages and International studies Faculty of post- graduate studies ***** NGUYỄN THỊ TRANG Adapting reading tasks in the textbook Tieng Anh 12 for mixed-level students at Van Noi High School in Dong Anh, Hanoi (ĐIỀU CHỈNH CÁC NHIỆM VỤ ĐỌC TRONG SÁCH GIÁO KHOA TIẾNG ANH 12 CHO PHÙ HỢP VỚI HỌC SINH CĨ TRÌNH ĐỘ KHÁC NHAU TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT VÂN NỘI, ĐÔNG ANH, HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Phan Thị Hoàng Yến, M.A HA NOI, 2012 iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS  CUP: Cambridge University Press  OUP: Oxford University Press LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES  Table 3.1.: The students‟ awareness of the important role of reading comprehension  Table 3.2.: The students‟ evaluation of reading lessons  Table 3.3.: Elements affecting the students‟ reading comprehension  Table 3.4.: The students‟ evaluation of the significant role of reading materials  Table 3.5.: The students‟ perception of the important role of preparation before class  Table 3.6.: The students‟ habit of doing reading tasks  Table 3.7.: The students‟ opinions about working in groups  Table 3.8.: The students‟ preference for the way of working in groups  Table 3.9.: The students‟ opinions about the language in the reading texts  Table 3.10.: The students‟ opinions about the content of the reading texts  Table 3.11.: The students‟ opinions about the reading tasks  Table 3.12.: The students‟ preferences for reading tasks  Table 3.13.: The students‟ response to the adapted tasks and group work for Unit 12  Table 3.14.: The students‟ response to the adapted tasks and group work for Unit 14 v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declarations i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii List of Abbreviations iv List of Tables and Figures iv Table of Contents v PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims of the study Research questions Significance of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter One: Literature review Overview on reading theories, task, task adaptation, and group practice 1.1 Definition of reading comprehension 1.2 Role of reading in foreign language learning 1.3 Challenges of comprehending reading texts 1.3.1 Reading ability 1.3.2 Language proficiency 1.3.3 Cultural and background knowledge 1.4 Reading skills 1.5 Task adaptation as a type of support for the reading comprehension process vi 1.5.1 Task definition 1.5.2 Adaptation definition 1.5.3 Purposes of adaptation 1.5.4 Categories of adaptation 1.6 Grouping practice 10 1.6.1 Benefits of grouping 10 1.6.2 Grouping techniques 11 1.6.3 Management of group work 11 1.6.3.1 Numbers of students in one group 11 1.6.3.2 Leadership in one group 12 1.6.3.3 Time setting 12 1.6.3.4 Monitoring of group work 12 1.6.3.5 Evaluation and assessment of group work 12 Chapter Two: The study 13 2.1 Situation analysis 13 2.1.1 Setting of the study 13 2.1.2 The learners 13 2.1.3 Reading materials 13 2.2 Instrumentation and Procedures 14 2.2.1 Instrument 1: Preliminary survey 15 2.2.2 Instrument 2: Survey questionnaire 15 2.2.3 Instrument 3: Class observation sheets 15 2.2.4 Instrument 4: Survey for response to adaptation and working in groups 15 2.3 The grouping of the students 16 2.4 The adaptation of reading tasks in the textbook Tieng Anh 12 16 Chapter 3: Data analysis 21 3.1 Data analysis of preliminary survey 21 3.1.1 Personal information of the students taking part in the survey 21 vii 3.1.2 The students‟ awareness of reading comprehension in general 21 3.1.2.1 The students‟ awareness of the important role of reading comprehension in learning English 21 3.1.2.2 The students‟ evaluation of reading lessons in terms of their interests 21 3.1.2.3 The students‟ perception of elements affecting their reading comprehension 22 3.1.2.4 The students‟ evaluation of the important role of reading materials to their interests 22 3.1.3 The students‟ ways of learning reading lesson 23 3.1.3.1 The students‟ perception of the important role of preparing vocabulary and reading texts before class 23 3.1.3.2 The students‟ habit of doing reading tasks 23 3.1.4 The students‟ opinions about working in groups 24 3.2 Data analysis of survey questionnaire 24 3.2.1 In terms of language 25 3.2.2 In terms of content 25 3.2.3 In terms of reading tasks 26 3.2.4 The students‟ suggestions for the teacher‟s adaptation of reading tasks 28 3.3 Data analysis of survey questionnaire for response to adaptation and working in groups 31 3.3.1 Data analysis of response to task adaptation and group work of Unit 12 32 3.3.2 Data analysis of response to task adaptation and group work of Unit 14 33 3.4 Reflection 34 Chapter 4: Major findings and suggestions 4.1 Major findings and discussion 37 viii 4.2 Suggestions 40 PART III: CONCLUSION 44 Conclusion 44 Limitations and recommendations for follow-up action 45 REFERENCES APPENDIXES Appendix 1: Preliminary Survey I Appendix 2: Survey Questionnaire III Appendix 3: Worksheets (delivered in class) V Appendix 4: Samples of Adapted Reading Tasks VIII Appendix 5: Survey for Response to Adaptation and Working in Groups XI Appendix 6: Reading passages and original reading tasks (Unit 12 & Unit 14) XII PART I: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study In Exploring second language reading: issues and strategies by Anderson (1999: 1), he affirms that reading is indispensable to learning a second or a foreign language Once a learner has acquired the skill, he/ she can achieve academic improvement Despite that importance, the students at Van Noi High School, where the researcher has been teaching English for more than seven years, pay little attention to the skill as well as the reading texts and reading tasks in their textbooks From the result of a survey conducted by the researcher, the reasons for that problem include the students‟ depreciation of English, their poor knowledge of English, and their avoidance of learning English What should be done to solve that problem has tormented the researcher and she has thought a lot to find out an answer On the way of doing that, she has also taken into consideration one more fact that the students are not at the same level With the same reading tasks, some feel bored as they are easy; some feel depressed because they are too difficult Therefore, she wonders whether she should make groups of similar-level students, and adapt the designed reading tasks in the textbook to make them more suitable for each group It also means that each group requires a different reading technique to fully exploit one reading text to the most of their ability That can be considered the best the author can for her students as a teacher and within this minor thesis Other solutions related to students‟ proficiency and personality, learning and teaching equipments are almost time-consuming and beyond the teacher‟s power of control All the things above have driven the researcher to doing this study with the hope that she can help the mixed-level students get more knowledge and improve their reading skill through the adaptation of reading tasks in their textbooks Aims of the study The study was designed to help mixed-level grade-12 students work harder on reading texts, get more reading comprehension and improve their reading skill through the adaptation of reading tasks in the textbook Tieng Anh 12 for different groups of similar level The study is aimed to achieve three objects: To investigate how the students learn the reading text and the reading tasks To make some suggestions of adapting reading tasks in the textbooks for groups of students To investigate how the adaptation works for the students and whether group work is effective in learning reading Research questions In order to achieve the above-mentioned aims, the following research questions guided the study: How the students often the reading tasks in their textbooks? Why? In what way can the tasks be adapted to help them get more knowledge and improve their reading skill? Does working in groups help them learn more effectively? Significance of the study The study was carried out to encourage the students‟ assessment of reading tasks in the textbook The unsuitable tasks were adapted to be more accessible for the mixed-ability students Pedagogically, the findings of the study are believed to bring about necessary changes in reading materials and teaching methodology to improve the students‟ reading comprehension at Van Noi High School Furthermore, the suggestions for teaching reading based on the findings can be useful for concerned teachers to make reading lessons more interesting and effective Scope of the study Materials adaptation is such a broad topic that it cannot be wholly discussed within the framework of this paper; therefore, only one specific aspect will be central to the reading tasks‟ adaptation With the focus on reading tasks only in the textbook Tieng Anh 12 (the basic textbook), the study was carried out to adapt those for groups of students of similar ability The study focuses on one class of grade-12 students, so the results of the study are not applied for all students at Van Noi High School Methods of the study The study in fact is a mini action research According to Nunan (1992: 19), an action research includes seven steps They are: initiation, preliminary investigation, hypothesis, intervention, evaluation, dissemination and follow-up The applied steps in details are as follows: Step 1- Initiation: In the process of teaching the textbook Tieng Anh 12, the author observed that the students did not take reading lessons seriously, they often participated in those lessons inactively and inefficiently meanwhile reading comprehension was considered important to academic studies What should be done? Step 2- Preliminary investigation: The author carried out the preliminary survey to find out how they often prepare and learn reading lessons Step 3- Hypothesis: By collecting and reviewing the baseline data, the author came to the hypothesis that the students were reluctant to learn reading lessons because they often encountered problems with language, reading strategies, background knowledge and motive to learn Step 4- Intervention: Before each new unit, the students were surveyed to find out their opinions about the topic and reading tasks in the coming lesson After collecting the results, the author grouped the students of similar ability and adapted suitable tasks for each group The adapted tasks were delivered in the next lesson The author observed the class and recorded the results When the students finished the tasks, the author provided them with survey questionnaires for response to adaptation and group work Step 5- Evaluation: The students found the adapted tasks less challenging and achievable They were more comfortable when doing those tasks in groups of III Appendix 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA Mục đích câu hỏi để tìm khó khăn việc học kỹ đọc nhằm điều chỉnh hoạt động đọc Sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 để phù hợp với trình độ học sinh lớp 12 trường THPT Vân Nội Em có ý kiến học đọc này, em khoanh tròn lựa chọn I Về ngơn ngữ Bài đọc có nhiều từ không đồng ý đồng ý Bài đọc có nhiều tượng ngữ pháp không đồng ý II Về nội dung đồng ý Nội dung dễ hiểu phù hợp với hiểu biết em không đồng ý Nội dung thú vị đồng ý không đồng ý III Về dạng tập đọc hiểu đồng ý Em làm tập khơng khó không đồng ý đồng ý Em thấy cần bổ sung thêm tập đọc hiểu không đồng ý đồng ý Nếu em chọn đồng ý cần bổ sung tập, chọn dạng tập mà em thấy hiệu đọc khóa: A Đọc khóa trả lời câu hỏi B Đọc khóa điền từ thiếu vào chỗ trống IV C Đọc khóa chọn đáp án cho câu hỏi cho sẵn (bài tập trắc nghiệm) D Đọc khóa giải thích từ in nghiêng E Đọc khóa đưa từ tương đương Tiếng Việt F Đọc khóa chọn tiêu đề cho G Đọc khóa cho biết câu cho sẵn hay sai H Đọc khóa tìm từ cụm từ có nghĩa với từ gạch chân I Nối từ với định nghĩa IV Em có gợi ý cho giáo viên cách dạy để giúp em tiếp thu tốt hơn? A.Giữ nguyên hoạt động yêu cầu học sinh hồn thành tất hoạt động B Bỏ số động hoạt Cụ thể: ……………………………………………… C Bổ sung số hoạt động Cụ thể: ………………………………………… Ý kiến khác: (xin vui lòng nêu rõ) ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………… Xin cảm ơn hợp tác nhiệt tình em! V Appendix 3: WORKSHEETS (Delivered in class) Unit 12: Water sports WORKSHEET (Delivered on February 7th, 2012 ) * While- reading Read the passage and answer the following questions How many players are there in one team? Who are they? What color are their swimsuits? How can players pass the ball? Can they throw the ball? When can they it? What happens if a free throw gets into the goal? How long is a game of water polo? WORKSHEET (Delivered on February 7th, 2012) Draw a pool where people play water polo and describe how the players play a game Unit 14: International Organizations WORKSHEET (Delivered on March 9th, 2012) * While-reading I Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F): The aim of the Red Cross is providing medical aid and other help to victims of natural disasters A Swiss man called Jean Henri Dunant was the initiator of the Red Cross The total number of national Red Cross societies is more than 150 all over the world The first Geneva Convention was signed in 1864 by twelve nations There are three colours in the flag of the Red Cross II Answer the following questions VI Where is the headquarters of the International Red Cross? What is the objective of the Red Cross? WORKSHEET (Delivered on March 9th, 2012 ) Paragraph mainly discusses: The headquarters of the International Red Cross The total number of national Red Cross Societies Advantages of having national Red Cross Societies Activities of the Indonesian Red Cross Fill in each gap of the following paragraph with a suitable word The International Red Cross started over 135 years ago, inspired by a Swiss businessman, Henry Dunant He had been (1) at the sufferings of thousands of men, on both sides, who were left to die due to (2) of care after the Battle of Solferino in 1859 He proposed the creation (3) national relief societies, comprised of volunteers, trained in peacetime to provide neutral and impartial help to relieve the sufferings (4) time of war * Translate the paragraph into Vietnamese WORKSHEET (Delivered on March 9th, 2012) Fill in the missing information: Founded in ……… Headquarters in ………………… The Red Cross Main activities: - in time of peace: …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… - in times of war: VII Appendix 4: SAMPLES OF ADAPTED READING TASKS Unit 12: Water Sports 1.1 Sample 1.1: Modifying and reordering Match the English words or phrases with their Vietnamese equivalents: English words Vietnamese equivalents opponent (n) a đuổi ngồi penalize (v) b trận hịa eject (v) c đối thủ foul (n) d chia tie (n) e thủ môn goalie (n) f bơi nước rút sprint (v) g phạt divide (v) h lỗi 1.2 Sample 1.2.: Modifying Read the passage and answer the following questions How many players are there in one team? Who are they? What color are their swimsuits? How can players pass the ball? Can they throw the ball? When can they it? What happens if a free throw gets into the goal? How long is a game of water polo? 1.3 Sample 1.3.: Modifying Draw a pool where people play water polo and describe how the players play a game Unit 14: International Organizations 2.1 Sample 2.1.: Simplifying * Decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F): The aim of the Red Cross is providing medical aid and other help to victims VIII of natural disasters A Swiss man called Jean Henri Dunant was the initiator of the Red Cross The total number of national Red Cross societies is more than 150 all over the world The first Geneva Convention was signed in 1864 by twelve nations There are three colours in the flag of the Red Cross * Answer the following questions: Where is the headquarters of the International Red Cross? What is the objective of the Red Cross? 2.2 Sample2.2.: Replacing and reordering Paragraph mainly discusses: A The headquarters of the International Red Cross B The total number of national Red Cross Societies C Advantages of having national Red Cross Societies D Activities of the Indonesian Red Cross Fill in each gap of the following paragraph with a suitable word The International Red Cross started over 135 years ago, inspired by a Swiss businessman, Henry Dunant He had been (1) at the sufferings of thousands of men, on both sides, who were left to die due to (2) of care after the Battle of Solferino in 1859 He proposed the creation (3) national relief societies, comprised of volunteers, trained in peacetime to provide neutral and impartial help to relieve the sufferings (4) time of war * Translate the paragraph into Vietnamese 2.3 Sample 2.3.: Adding IX Founded in ……… Headquarters in ………………… The Red Cross Main activities: - in time of peace: …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… - in times of war: …………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… X Appendix 5: SURVEY FOR RESPONSE TO ADAPTATION AND WORKING IN GROUPS PHIẾU ĐÁNH GIÁ Phiếu lập để thăm dò ý kiến em sau em làm việc theo nhóm, làm số hoạt động đọc sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 điều chỉnh Các em vui lòng cho biết ý kiến cơng việc nhóm học đọc Hãy khoanh tròn phương án mà em thấy phù hợp nhất: Hôm em chuẩn bị từ kỹ không đồng ý khơng biết đồng ý Nhóm em hơm làm việc nghiêm túc không đồng ý đồng ý Em thấy tập cho đọc hơm phù hợp với trình độ em không đồng ý đồng ý Sau học xong em nắm nội dung đọc không đồng ý đồng ý Sau học xong em nắm nhiều từ vựng không đồng ý đồng ý Hôm em làm việc nghiêm túc xứng đáng 10 điểm không đồng ý đồng ý Xin cảm ơn hợp tác nhiệt tình em! XI Appendix 6: READING PASSAGES AND ORIGINAL READING TASKS (Units 12 & 14) XII XIII XIV XV XVI XVII ... Design of the study The study titled Adapting reading tasks in the textbook Tieng Anh 12 for mixed- level students at Van Noi High School in Dong Anh, Hanoi consists of three main parts namely Introduction,... learn the reading text and the reading tasks To make some suggestions of adapting reading tasks in the textbooks for groups of students To investigate how the adaptation works for the students. .. tasks to find the best way to teach reading skills to the students at Van Noi High School What is more, the study was carried out to only 41 students in class 12G at Van Noi High School, so the