Developing pre reading tasks with first year students of english major division, department of social science, vinh phuc college an action research

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** VŨ QUỲNH HOA DEVELOPING PRE-READING TASKS FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH-MAJOR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, VINH PHUC COLLEGE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROCESS (NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC PHÁT TRIỂN HOẠT ĐỘNG GIAI ĐOẠN TRƯỚC KHI ĐỌC CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CỦA TỔ NGOẠI NGỮ, KHOA XÃ HỘI, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĨNH PHÚC) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 HANOI – 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** VŨ QUỲNH HOA DEVELOPING PRE-READING TASKS FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH-MAJOR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, VINH PHUC COLLEGE: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROCESS (NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC PHÁT TRIỂN HOẠT ĐỘNG GIAI ĐOẠN TRƯỚC KHI ĐỌC CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CỦA TỔ NGOẠI NGỮ, KHOA XÃ HỘI, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĨNH PHÚC) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã HANOI – 2016 DECLARATION I certify that the work contained in this thesis is the result of my own research, and this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or institution Hanoi, January 2016 Signature Vũ Quỳnh Hoa i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am indeed thankful to my supervisor, Dr Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã, whose sympathetic guidance has been the source of inspiration and knowledge for my research I am also grateful to other teachers of the Department of Post-Graduate Studies for their encouragement and valuable advice I have profound regards for all the teachers of English-major Division of Vinh Phuc College and for all of the English-major freshmen of the class 18 who spent their precious time on completing my survey questionnaire Without their enthusiastic cooperation, my thesis would not have been completed My great thanks are also given to my family and my friends who have constantly supported, inspirited and encouraged me during the process of my study ii ABSTRACT This action research focused on finding out the primary problem related to using pre-reading tasks; hence, the major purpose of the study aimed to develop pre-reading tasks for improving students‟ reading performance The research was conducted with first-year students of English-major Division, Department of Social Science, Vinh Phuc College Data were collected through observed lessons and two sets of survey questionnaire delivered to 32 freshmen of the class 18 English after the lessons The research findings revealed the problem of ineffective use of pre-reading tasks in reading lessons as well as its causes and effects on students‟ reading performance Finally, I also presented suggestions for developing prereading tasks that the teachers have used in their reading lessons for improving students‟ reading performance iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AR: Action Research No: Number of students Ss: Students iv LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure 1: Action research procedure Figure 2: Simple action research model (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2008, p.278) Figure 3: Detailed Action Research Model (Susman, 1983) Table 1: Students‟ assessment on the first lesson Table 2: Students‟ assessment on pre-reading tasks used in the first lesson Table 3: Reasons for effectiveness and ineffectiveness of pre-reading tasks provided by the students Table 4: Students‟ assessment on exercises and tasks at the while and post reading stages in the first lesson Table 5: Students‟ suggestions about efficient pre-reading tasks in the next reading lesson Table 6: Students‟ assessment on the first try-out lesson Table 7: Students‟ assessment on pre-reading tasks used in the first try-out lesson Table 8: Reasons for effectiveness of pre-reading tasks provided by the students Table 9: Students‟ assessment on exercises and tasks at the while and post- reading stages in the first try-out lesson v TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims of the Study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Significance of the Study .2 1.5 Scope of the Study Method of the research Design of the study CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Theoretical background of reading 2.2.1 Definitions of reading 2.2.2 Types of reading 2.3 Teaching and learning reading skills 2.3.1 The importance of reading in foreign language learning 2.3.2 Stages of a reading lesson 10 2.4 Theoretical background of pre-reading tasks 11 2.4.1 Overview of pre-reading tasks 11 2.4.2 Pre-reading Tasks 12 Summary 16 vi CHAPTER 3: THE METHODOLOGY 17 3.1 Introduction 17 3.2 Situation analysis 17 3.2.1 Setting of the study 17 3.2.2 Reading materials 17 3 Participants 20 3.3.1 The researcher 20 3.3.2 The observed students 21 3.3.3 The researcher’s assistants 21 3.4 Data Collection Instruments .21 3.4.1 Questionnaire 21 3.4.2 Classroom observations 22 3.5 Methods of Data Analysis 23 3.6 Research Method – Action research (AR) 23 3.6.1 Definitions of AR 23 3.6.2 Action research model 24 Summary 26 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS 27 4.1 Introduction 27 Findings 27 4.2.1 Cycle 27 4.2.2 Cycle 36 4.2.3 Cycle 37 Summary 37 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 39 Introduction 39 5.2 Discussion .39 5.3 Implications 40 vii 5.3.1 Employing pre-reading tasks suitable for students’ interests 40 3.2 Varying pre-reading tasks 40 3 Pedagogical use of pre-reading tasks 40 Improving the pre-reading tasks in the text book 41 Limitations and suggestions for further study 41 REFERENCES 42 APPENDIXES I viii APPENDIX E SAMPLED COPY OF UNIT XXXVII Field Note 4: a Description of the classroom: It was a small classroom with a capacity of approximately 35 seats There were one entrance door and three big windows There was a desk for the teacher in the top left corner On the wall, there was a blackboard The chairs and the desks were arranged into two sides with an aisle in the middle The room was equipped with four ceiling fans It didn‟t have an air conditioner, a computer, or Internet connection as well as a projector b Textbook: Smith, L C and Mare, N N (1993) Insights for today English Language Institute, Queens College, the city University of New York c Materials: Textbook d Class procedure Description The teacher warmed up the atmosphere of the class: “How are you today?” “Fine” – students answered The teacher started: “Now get started with the lesson today” and she wrote on the board: Unit 7: Healthy diet for everybody She explained the meaning of the word “diet” by a picture and an example After students guessed the meaning of this word, she gave its syllabus stress and transcription She leaded to the pre-reading stage: “Before reading, I want to introduce you some activities related to the topic Start with task Its name is brainstorming.” She wrote on the board: I Pre-reading tasks Task 1: Brainstorming Food She said: “I have a key word food Your duty is finding out all words related to this key word in minutes.” After minutes, she asked students to stand up and one by one to give all words they have already written down Students actively joined the activity Finally, the winner is the one still standing XXXVIII Comment Although the projector wasn‟t used during these lessons, the teacher still organized various useful pre-reading tasks for students Firstly, brainstorming was developed as an effective game for students to recall their background knowledge of the topic Furthermore, from the video I taped, students felt highly enthusiastic in doing the task Thence, it can be seen that the task also aroused students‟ interest into the topic Secondly, with task Discussion in groups, students were very active in working in groups to discuss two questions and to present their answers in front of the class up at the end of the activity The teacher gave her a small gift The teacher continued task Discussion In the task, the whole class is divided into groups of to discuss two given questions on the board: What you eat every day? Do you think your diet is a healthy diet? Why or why not? She also delivered groups some papers to draw pictures for illustrating their answers After minutes, two groups presented their answers in front of the class She introduced to the text: “Do you think your diet is a healthy diet? Some people say yes, others say no Today, we‟re reading about a healthy diet However, before reading the text, I have another activity Task Vocabulary.” She chose other new words from the text to introduce: “Dairy, grain, high-fat” She taught the new words by using pictures and she also remembered to give their transcription, part of speech and to emphasize which syllable of these words the stress falls on Students quickly guessed the meaning of the new words and made the good sentences with these words The teacher also asked students to repeat the new words twice after her, and she gave minute for students to look through all new words to check their meaning and pronunciation Finally, it‟s very quick and exact for students to remember these words The teacher moved on the task 4.Prediction task In the activity, she designed statements related to the content of the text for students to guess whether they are T or F Students quickly made their predictions with correct answers In the while reading stage, teacher began with task Information recall Students were asked to answer the questions Teacher also provided them some strategies for the task such as studying the statements XXXIX Therefore, after group work, almost all of the groups raised their hand to show their own answers and two out of eight groups presented their answers very well Thence, students not only reminded themselves of background knowledge of the topic of the text, but also improved teamwork skill as well as presentation skill Thirdly, pre-teaching vocabulary task, students were emphasized some new words appearing in the text by colorful paper pictures and examples, explanation and synonyms As the result, when checked, students remembered the meaning and pronunciation of the new words very well, at the same time they could also make some good sentences with these new words Finally, with various background knowledge of the topic, students well and fast completed prediction task with only one incorrect answer From the excellent initiative, exercises and tasks of the next stages were also finished and the questions and reading the text to find information for the answers After only minutes, students could provide the correct answers In the task Reading analysis, students had to read the text again to answer the multiple choice questions given in the textbook The main purpose is to improve students‟ reading skill for scanning the text for specific ideas Also, it‟s very fast and exact for students to give most of the good answers for 12 questions in only 10 minutes effectively For instances, in only about and 10 minutes, students quickly gave their exact answers for task and of whilereading stage It can be concluded that these were very successful lessons in spite of no projector and no “hot” topic LESSON PLAN UNIT 7: A HEALTHY DIET FOR EVERYONE I Objectives By the end of this lesson, students will be able to: XL + learn more vocabulary and information about a healthy diet + improve reading skills such as scanning, skimming + practise with various exercises and tasks after reading comprehension II Language content Vocabulary: five new words: diet, dairy, grain, high-fat III Methods and techniques Methods: Communicative language teaching Techniques: Pair work, group work, individually IV Teaching aids - Board, chalk, lesson plan, pictures V Anticipated problems and solutions Anticipated problems - Students may not have enough vocabulary to complete the task - Students may not pronounce some words or phrases correctly Possible solutions - Teacher should be ready to assist them to use correct vocabulary - Teacher should be ready to correct all mistakes if necessary VI Procedures Stage/ Time Teacher’s activities Students’ activities Warm – up (20 mins) 1.1 Brainstorming - gives the key word “food” and asks Ss to brainstorm all words related to the key word in minutes After minutes, asks the whole class to stand up and one by one to give all words they have already written down Finally, the winner is the one still standing up at the end of the activity XLI - listen to the instruction and brainstorm all words related to the key word - stand up to give all words they have already written down PREREADING (1 period) 1.2 Discussion - gives two questions on the board: - take notes and answer the questions - present their What you eat every day? answers in front Do you think your diet is a healthy diet? of the class Why or why not? - divides the whole class into eight groups of four to discuss two given questions - sends each group one paper A3 to draw pictures for illustrating their answers After minutes, calls on two groups to present their answers in front of the class - leads to the topic of the lessons: “Do you think your diet is a healthy diet? Some people say yes, others say no Today, we‟re reading about a healthy diet” write Pre-teaching vocabulary (20 mins) words in - Before reading, introduces Ss new words in notebooks the reading passage: new their + diet (picture & example) + dairy (picture & example) + grain (picture & example & explanation) + high-fat (picture & example) - writes new words on the board with their pronunciation, meaning and usage - read new words - reads all words at the same time (2-3 times) in chorus and - has Ss practise in chorus and then then individually individually give some with - asks Ss to give some sentences with these sentences these new words new words XLII Prediction task (5 mins) - gives six statements related to the content of study the the reading text and asks Ss to study them and statements and guess whether they are true or false predict the statements given There are basic food groups by T Most Americans eat a lot of meat There are high rates of cancer of heart disease in Japan It is not important for children to have a healthy diet Children usually eat differently than their parents Doctors believe fruit causes different diseases - asks some Ss to give their own predictions - gives Ss two minutes to read the text quickly - read the text - asks Ss to check prediction task with their quickly to check prediction task partner with their partner - Checks and gives comments if necessary Answers 11 T 12 T 13 F (high – low) 14 F (omit ‘not’) 15 F (differently – similarly) 16 F (causes – prevents) WHILEREADING - listen to the Exercise 1: Answering the questions instruction and - gives Ss the instruction and strategies before read the text doing the task and asks them to work again and answer the questions individually to complete the exercise give their - calls on some Ss to give their answers on the answers and XLIII periods board and checks by asking them to give explanation information from the reading text Answers Yes, because they eat a lot meat and only a small amount of grains, fruit and vegetables No, because they eat large amounts of grains and very little meat a Their rates of heart disease and cancer increase b because their diet changes The disease rates in these countries are increasing along with the change in diet because people also eat more meat and dairy products Exercise 2: Reading Analysis - listen to the instruction and read the text again and answer the questions give their - gives the instruction: “read the text again and and either circle the letter of the correct answer, or answers explanation write your answer in the space provided” - asks Ss to work in groups to the exercise - After 10 minutes, calls on some Ss to give their answers orally Answers a a b 3 type footnote a b a b c c d.3 a b a b XLIV c - take notes and give some a b 10 a 2 b c examples on the d board work individually to Part 1: complete the - introduces several ways of changing verbs to exercise and give nouns by adding the suffix –ment their answers E.g announce (v), announcement (n) Exercise 3: Word form - calls on some Ss to give some examples - asks Ss to work individually to complete the sentences in the textbook with the correct form of the words given - calls on some Ss to give their answers and checks Answers 11 improvement/ improve 12 agrees / agreement - take notes and give some examples on the board 13 encourages / encouragement 14 develop/ development 15 enjoy / enjoyment Part 2: work individually to complete the exercise and give their answers - introduces some cases of the same form of the noun and the verb E.g move (v), move (n) - calls on some Ss to give some examples - asks Ss to work individually to complete the sentences in the textbook with the correct form of the words given - take notes and the - calls on some Ss to give their answers and complete XLV checks exercise Answers give answers 11 researchs v./ research n their 12 Care n / care v 13 increases v / increases n 14 causes n / causes v 15 changes n / changes v Exercise 4: Vocabulary in context - asks Ss to fill some words from the reading text in the new contexts - gives Ss some strategies before doing the exercise such as studying sentences and words before complete these sentences - calls on some Ss to give their answers and checks Answers confused unfortunately describe prevent as a result suggestion types agree disease 10 Because of Follow-up activities - introduces three activities given in the - listen to the T‟s activities and asks Ss to choose one of them to instruction and join the activity work in pairs to the - calls on some pairs to role play and perform complete task in front of the class Topics for discussion and writing XLVI - role play and perform in front of the class POSTREADING (1 period) - asks Ss to study three questions in the textbook and to discuss these questions in study the groups of or questions and - calls on some groups to discuss the questions discuss them in - After discussion, asks Ss to choose one of the their own group questions to write about it individually - give their ideas - collects Ss‟ writing papers to give marks and - write about one feedbacks of the questions * Wrapping-up - summarizes the main ideas of the lesson - gives Ss homework: + study new words by heart + prepare for the next lesson APPENDIX F SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE I XLVII - take notes Các câu hỏi để làm liệu cho đề tài Luận Văn Thạc Sỹ: Nghiên cứu hành động việc phát triển hoạt động giai đoạn trước đọc với sinh viên năm thứ tổ Ngoại ngữ, Khoa Xã hội, trường Cao đẳng Vĩnh Phúc Rất mong em bớt chút thời gian trả lời cách trung thực xác câu hỏi Mọi thông tin em cung cấp bảo mật Xin chân thành cảm ơn cộng tác em! Em đánh dấu (√) vào ô tương ứng đưa ý kiến khác chỗ trống Em đánh giá học hôm nào? a Rất hiệu  b Hiệu  c Ít hiệu  d Chưa hiệu  Theo em, hoạt động trước đọc có bổ ích khơng? Tại sao? Hoạt động trước đọc - Thảo luận câu hỏi theo cặp Bổ ích? a Có  b Khơng  - Học từ vựng, cấu trúc liên quan tới a Có  đọc b Khơng  XLVIII Tại sao? - Bài tập dự đoán trước nội dung đọc a Có  b Khơng  Em đánh giá tập hay hoạt động đọc sau đọc học hôm nào? Hoạt động tập Rất dễ Dễ Trung bình Khó Rất khó a Các tập đọc - Bài tập chọn câu sai - Bài tập trả lời câu hỏi - Bài tập chọn đáp án - Bài tập dạng từ - Bài tập từ vựng với ngữ cảnh b Các hoạt động sau đọc - Các hoạt động đóng vai - Các hoạt động thảo luận viết liên quan tới chủ đề học Em có gợi ý thêm hoạt động trước đọc không? ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………… …………………………………………………………… ……………Hết…………… Xin trân thành cảm ơn! XLIX APPENDIX G SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE II Các câu hỏi để làm liệu cho đề tài Luận Văn Thạc Sỹ: Nghiên cứu hành động việc phát triển hoạt động giai đoạn trước đọc với sinh viên năm thứ tổ Ngoại ngữ, Khoa Xã hội, trường Cao đẳng Vĩnh Phúc Rất mong em bớt chút thời gian trả lời cách trung thực xác câu hỏi Mọi thơng tin em cung cấp bảo mật Xin chân thành cảm ơn cộng tác em! Em đánh dấu (√) vào ô tương ứng đưa ý kiến khác chỗ trống Em đánh giá học hôm nào? Em giải thích cho câu trả lời e Rất hiệu  f Hiệu  g Ít hiệu  h Chưa hiệu  (Lí do: ………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………….) Theo em, hoạt động trước đọc có bổ ích khơng? Tại sao? Hoạt động trước đọc Bổ ích? - Thảo luận trị chơi hoạt động a Có  động não (brainstorming) b Không  L Tại sao? - Học từ vựng, cấu trúc liên quan tới a Có  đọc b Khơng  - Bài tập dự đốn trước nội dung đọc a Có  b Khơng  Em đánh giá tập hay hoạt động đọc sau đọc học hôm nào? Hoạt động tập Rất dễ Dễ Trung bình Khó Rất khó a Các tập đọc - Bài tập trả lời câu hỏi - Bài tập chọn đáp án - Bài tập dạng từ - Bài tập từ vựng với ngữ cảnh b Các hoạt động sau đọc - Các hoạt động đóng vai - Các hoạt động thảo luận viết liên quan tới chủ đề học ……………Hết…………… Xin trân thành cảm ơn! LI ... out the action research to develop pre- reading tasks for first- year students of English- major Division, Department of Social- Science, Vinh Phuc College Based on the findings of this action research, ... pre- reading tasks for improving students? ?? reading performance The research was conducted with first- year students of English- major Division, Department of Social Science, Vinh Phuc College Data... pre- reading tasks to improving firstyear students? ?? reading performance in reading lessons at English- major Division, Department of Social- Science, Vinh Phuc College 3.6.2 Action research model