A study on teaching reading skills to the first year non english major students at hanoi university for natural resources and environment using the textbook new cutting edge –elementary

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES - - MAI THỊ HIỀN A STUDY ON TEACHING READING SKILLS TO THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT USING THE TEXTBOOK “NEW CUTTING EDGE –ELEMENTARY” (NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT KHÔNG CHUYÊN ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC TÀI NGUN VÀ MƠI TRƯỜNG HÀ NỘI SỬ DỤNG GIÁO TRÌNH NEW CUTTING EDGE - ELEMENTARY) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - - MAI THỊ HIỀN A STUDY ON TEACHING READING SKILLS TO THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT USING THE TEXTBOOK “NEW CUTTING EDGE –ELEMENTARY” (NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT KHÔNG CHUYÊN ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC TÀI NGUYÊN VÀ MÔI TRƯỜNG HÀ NỘI SỬ DỤNG GIÁO TRÌNH NEW CUTTING EDGE - ELEMENTARY) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr.Tran Thi Thu Hien Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATIONS I, Mai Thi Hien, hereby certify that this minor thesis entitled “A study on teaching reading skills to the first year non-English major students at Hanoi University for Natural Resources and Environment using the textbook “New Cutting Edge –Elementary” is the result of my own research in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post Graduate Studies University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, Hanoi Mai Thi Hien i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to show my deep gratitude to all the lecturers at University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University, Hanoi for the invaluable lectures, which laid the foundation for my thesis I would like to register my deep gratitude to Ms Tran Thi Thu Hien for her ever-enthusiasm, responsibility and devotion Thanks to her critical feedbacks, invaluable suggestions and constant encouragement the study has been timely completed My special thanks also go to my colleagues who are also teachers of Hanoi University for Natural Resources and Environment I wish to express my thankfulness to all the first year students at the University for their cooperation and support for my data collection, providing me with insights into reading skills learning, reading texts and their teachers‟ performance Last but not least, I would like to delicate to my family and friends for their constant assistance and encouragement during the time I carry out the research Without them I believe the study could not be completed ii ABSTRACT This study is an attempt to investigate factors affecting teaching reading skills to the first year non-English major students at Hanoi University for Natural Resources and Environment (HUNRE) using the textbook “New Cutting Edge – Elementary” The main purposes of the study are (i) to understand more fully the nature of reading and reaffirm the importance teaching reading skills to the first year non-English major students at HUNRE then (ii) to investigate the real situation of the practical teaching reading skills at the University and find out the positive factors and problems that affect the quality of teaching reading skills to the first year non-English major students of the University, and (iii) to provide some suggested techniques to help the teachers and students of the university teach reading skills in the “New Cutting Edge – Elementary” course book more effectively The study shows that teaching English reading skills at HUNRE appears to possess a combination of both positive and negative statistics Positive discovery is the fact that most of the teachers and students at HUNRE are aware of the importance of reading skills: they expressed their positive attitudes to learning and teaching reading skills as well as developing reading skills All of the students also have clear purpose in reading Many of them read for different purposes such as pleasure, gaining information and background knowledge, improving language skills supplementing grammar, enriching vocabulary and improving pronunciation In contrast, the negative findings are related to the number of students in a classroom; the demotivating reading texts in the course “New Cutting Edge – Elementary”, technical aids, the lack of background knowledge; and the inappropriate, ineffective and out of date methods being used in teaching reading skills of the teachers at HUNRE On the basis of the data collection and analysis, the author has provided some suggestions on training students to become efficient readers, improving teachers‟ teaching skills and developing reading materials iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT III LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VII LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES VIII PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Research questions Methods of the study Scope of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definitions of reading skills 1.2 Reading skills Reading texts 1.3.1 Different kinds of reading texts: 3.2 Informational text features: 10 1.4 Principles for teaching reading skills to elementary learners 13 1.4.1 Selecting appropriate reading materials 13 1.4.2 Focusing on vocabulary development skill 13 1.4.3 Providing both intensive and extensive reading instruction 14 1.4.4 Explicit teaching reading sub-skills 14 1.5 Reading sub-skills 15 1.5.1 Scanning and skimming skills 15 1.5.1.1 Scanning skills 15 1.5.1.2 Skimming skills 16 1.5.2 Intensive and extensive reading skills 17 1.5.2.1 Intensive reading skills 17 iv 1.5.2.2 Extensive reading skills 20 1.5.3 Critical reading skills 22 1.5.3.1 Previewing 23 1.5.3.2 Annotating 23 CHAPTER 2: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 25 2.1 Overview on teaching reading skills at HUNRE 25 2.1.1 Overview of HUNRE 25 2.1.2 Reading skills in New cutting Edge-Elementary 27 2.1.3 Reading proficiency scales of students at A2 level 30 2.2 The data collection and analysis 30 2.2.2 Participants 30 2.2.3 Data collection instruments 31 2.2.4 Data collection procedure 32 2.2.5 Data analysis 32 2.2.5.1 Survey questionnaire for students 32 2.2.4.2 Survey questionnaire for teachers 39 CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 45 3.1 Findings 45 3.2 Suggestions 47 3.2.1 Suggestions for teachers 47 3.2.1.1 Making students aware of the nature of reading process 47 3.2.1.2 Promoting students to be fully aware of their reading purpose 47 3.2.1.3 Encouraging students to have extensive and reading habit 48 3.2.1.4 Recommendation for the course book adaptation 49 3.2.2 Suggestions for the university 53 3.2.2.1 Improving teachers‟ professional knowledge 53 3.2.2.2 Improving teaching methodology 53 3.2.2.3 Developing reading materials 54 PART C: CONCLUSION 56 v Conclusion : 56 Limitations and recommendations for further studies: 56 REFERENCES 58 APPENDIX I: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS I APPENDIX II: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS IV vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEFR : Common European Framework of Reference ESL : English as a Second Language HUNRE : Hanoi University for Natural Resources and Environment NFL 2020: National Foreign Language 2020 SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review vii LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Definition of reading (Anderson) Figure 2: The rhetorical triangle (Devine & Eskey) Figure 3: Reading activities performed by skilled readers (Royer &Wise) .8 Figure 4: Informational Text Features (Calvert, R) 12 Figure 5: Reading text description in “New Cutting Edge – Elementary” 30 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Students‟ evaluation on the reading texts in the course book 32 Table 2: Students‟ attitude toward reading English, purposes of their reading and their difficulties in reading 34 Table 3: Students‟ responses to the teacher‟s teaching reading skills 36 Table The teachers‟ evaluation towards reading texts in New Cutting EdgeElementary 39 Table 5: Evaluation of students‟ ability and the importance, purposes of teaching reading skills 40 Table 6: Teaching how to recognize reading texts to students 41 Table 7: Teaching reading skills to students 42 Table 8: The teachers‟ using supplementary materials 43 viii Besides, they must be flexible and adaptable in order to respond to the requirements of the new teaching situation 3.2.2 Suggestions for the university 3.2.2.1 Improving teachers’ professional knowledge Good teachers always form the foundation of good schools, so improving teachers‟ skills and knowledge is one of the most important investments of time and money that local, state, and national leaders make in education However the knowledge of English language and English teaching increasingly changes all the time and it is easier for the teacher to have effective class performance by fully being aware of asking right questions, making good use of the answers, explaining new terminologies and choosing appropriate supplementary materials to the students, etc Therefore, further in – service training for teachers of English at HUNRE should be conducted in form of individual self – study or attendance at workshops or lectures given by the specialists In addition, it is reasonable to reduce teaching hours for those who are doing courses for further study and paying them the expense of the course Short training courses on professional knowledge should be held to provide teachers with knowledge of the subject These can help the teacher to become familiar with the course books, experience new ways to explore the subject matter and build up confidence 3.2.2.2 Improving teaching methodology Teachers of English at HUNRE should also be trained in methodologies The role of a teacher in the teaching and learning process has already changed The teacher is no longer a dominant factor in the classroom explaining new words by translating into Vietnamese, etc, which can create a passive habit of learning reading for the students The teacher‟s task is to involve the students in working on tasks 53 This is advocated by Long et al (1989:147), who suggest that “the writing of materials is a very important aspect of teacher training It ensures that teachers will become more involved in the work of the course and will as a result teach the course materials with more understanding and confidence” A good way of providing methodological training for teachers is to engage them in material development Also, it is important for teachers to develop group working skill and exchange their experience in teaching By sharing their lesson plans they may find the best activities and choose the most appropriate supplementary materials for their students‟ level of English Besides, they can prepare necessary visual aids which have a certain place in a successful English lesson So that, they can motivate students‟ interest, simulates their critical thinking and consolidates what they have learn Thanks to the Internet, teachers can make good use of invaluable material sources for classroom teaching especially authentic resources and materials It also offers ideas to plan lessons, worksheets, handouts and even English teaching experience with other teachers in Vietnam as well as English teachers around the world Moreover, it is necessary for teachers to attend and observe their colleagues‟ lesson Through this way, they may learn a lot from each other 3.2.2.3 Developing reading materials Findings from the survey indicates that not a large number of the students are much interested in the content of reading texts from the course book “New cutting edge – elementary” Maybe this book is not designed especially for reading skills and for young learners Therefore, to arouse students‟ interest and improve their reading skills, the teacher should make full use of the texts by creating various tasks for his students Three stages of teaching reading lessons with different kinds of activities must be taken into consideration 54 The book is, to some extent, acceptable but in addition to techniques for reading skill improvement in three reading stages, there should be supplementary reading materials to build up the students‟ interest In this case, supplementary reading materials should be provided in order to bring the students more chances to practice reading extensively The teachers need to choose texts to extend topics concerned, so as to either extend these topics in some way, or offer students different text types of these same topics As a result, the students will have more chances to read the topics they are interested as well as widen their knowledge of the topics they meet difficulties when reading The variety of the reading materials as mentioned above helps the students develop confidence to approach a text, increase their level of proficiency, challenge them to get progress, and more importantly change their reading taste Different types of activities and exercises, additionally, enable the students to further practice with reading skills 55 PART C: CONCLUSION This part of study will present the conclusion, the limitations and the suggestions for futher studies Conclusion : Obviously, reading helps students as readers develop their language ability in general and comprehension skills in particular at as well as gives them other benefit to avoid cultural and language bias, etc in daily communication So far, the paper has already tried to review the related literature The overview of teaching and learning English and reading skills at HUNRE has been presented Realizing the important role of the teachers in a reading class, the author of this paper often wondered what kinds of activities the teachers should carry out to help students at the HUNRE get the best result of a reading lesson By studying materials concerning to this field, doing the survey questionnaire and observing the practical teaching and learning of reading skills at the HUNRE, I have found out the answers for my question A number of techniques presented in chapter three are all possible to apply for improving the students‟ reading skills at HUNRE However, in my opinion, there are no methods or techniques that show absolute usefulness for the teaching of reading skills unless the teachers can simulate their students and arouse their interest in reading The teaching of reading texts is an immense area What the author of this thesis hopes to is to touch upon and present a number of techniques for teaching reading comprehension for the second year students at HUNRE Limitations and recommendations for further studies: As in any research papers, limitations are inevitable The study presented in this thesis is of no exception 56 Firstly, the author‟ practical experience and professional knowledge are limited; therefore, the suggestions in the last chapter are likely to be subjective Secondly, due to the shortage of time and knowledge, the study cannot deal with other factors affecting the reading process such as readers‟ general intelligence, personal feeling, language aptitude, etc It also limits itself to a suggested practical work and reading syllabus for the second year students at HUNRE These call for further study Finally, the study merely focuses on problems in teaching and learning reading comprehension of the teachers and students at HUNRE Further research on other skills seems to be of great usefulness Also, exercises for practicing other skills and vocabulary activities should be designed to supplement the reading materials at HUNRE Despite all the aforementioned limitations, the author hopes that the study will make a contribution to the better situation of teaching and learning reading skills at HUNRE Therefore, I will highly appreciate further remarks on my graduation paper from teachers and friends to improve it both in the content and in the form 57 REFERENCES Anderson, R.C (1996) "Research foundations to support wide reading" in Promoting Reading in Developing Countries , p.55-77 Newark: International Reading Association Anderson, R.C and Pearson, P.D (1984) "A Schema-Theoretic View of Basic Processes in Reading Comprehension", in Carrell, P.L., Devine, J and Eskey, D.E (eds) (1988) Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading Cambridge: CUP Bamford, Julian & Day, R.R (1997) "Extensive Reading: What is it? Why bother?" Language Teacher online, Available at:{Accesse d 10 September 2013} Brown, Douglas (1994) Teaching by principles: an interactive approach to language pedagogy, Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall Regents Calvert, R.Available at:{Accessed 19 September 2013} Day, R.R &Bamford, J.(2002) "Top Ten Principles for Teaching Extensive Reading", Reading in a Foreign Language ,Vol.14, No 2, Available at:{Accessed 11 November 2013} Eskey, D.E (1988) "Holding in the Bottom: an Interactive Approach to the Language Problems of Second Language Readers" in Carrell, P.L., Devine, J and Eskey, D.E (eds)(1988) Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading Cambridge:CUP Eskey, D.E and Grabe, W (1988) "Interactive Models for Second Language Reading: Perspectives on Instruction," in Carrell, P.L., Devine, J and Eskey, 58 D.E (eds) (1988)Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading Cambridge: CUP Eskey, D (Vol 11, No1), Reading and the Teaching of Second Language Reading, Washington: TESOL 10 Goodman K (1971), “The Reading Process” in Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading, CUP, Cambridge 11 Jacobs, George & Renandya, W & Bamford, J (2000) "Annotated Bibliography of Works on Extensive Reading in a Second Language", Reading in a Foreign Language, Vol.13, No1., p.449-522 12 Krashen, Steven (1993) "The case for free voluntary reading", Canadian Modern Language Review, 50(1), p.72-82 13 Krashen, Steven (1995) "Free voluntary reading: linguistic and affective arguments and some new applications" in Eckman, F.R , Highland, 14 Long, Michael & Richards, J (1987) Methodology in TESOL, Boston: Heinle&Heinle Publishers 15 Long, Michael H and Richards, Jack C.( 1987) Methodology in TESOL “A book of readings” Newbury House Publishers (New York) 16 Moor, P.&Cunningham, S &Eales, F (2005), New Cutting Edge – Elementary, Pearson Education Limited 17 Munby, John (1968) "Teaching Intensive Reading Skills" in Mackay, Ronald, Barkman, B & Jordan, R.R (Eds.) Reading in a Second Language, Rowley, Mass: Newbury House Publishers Inc 18 Nunan, D (1999), Second Language Teaching and Learning (1999) Heinemann, and Heinle Publishers 19 Nunan D (2008) Practical English Language Teaching: Reading New York: McGraw Hill 20 Nunan, D (2011) Teaching English to Young Learners Anaheim: Anaheim University Press 59 21 Nuttall, Christine (1982) Teaching reading skills in a foreign language, London: Heinemann Educational Books (new edition available 1998) 22 Pugh, A.K (1978) Silent Reading- an introduction to its study and teaching, London: Heinemamm Educational Books 23 Rivers, W.M (1968) Teaching Foreign Language Skills, Chicago: University of Chicago Press 24 Royer, M and Wise, J (2009), Reading comprehension, Available at: {Accessed 20 September 2013} 25 Rumelhart, David (1980) "Schemata:the building blocks of cognition" in Spiro, R.J., Bruce, B.C., and Brewer W.E (Eds.) Theoretical issues in reading comprehension p.33-58 26 Ur, P (1996), A Course in Language Teaching, Practice and Theory Cambridge University Press Cambridge 27 William, E (1984), Reading in the Classroom, London Nad Basing Stoke, Macmillan 60 APPENDICES APPENDIX I: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS Your anonymity and confidentiality will be 100% ensured Thank you very much for taking time to complete and submit this survey How you grade the content of the reading texts in New Cutting Edge - Elementary? a Very poor b Poor c Fair d Good e Very good How you grade the difficulty level of the reading texts in New Cutting Edge - Elementary? a Very difficult b Difficult c Neutral d Easy e.Very easy How you grade the number of activities available in the reading part in each module? a Far Too few b Too few c About right d Too many e Far Too Many How you grade the motivation of activities available in the reading part in each module? a Very unmotivating b Unmotivating c Neutral d.Motivating e.Verymotivating How you grade the practicability of activities available in the reading part in each module? a Very practical b Practical c Neutral d Unpractical e Very unpractical How much you like reading lessons? a Far too little b Too little c About right d Too much What are your main purposes of reading? a To develop vocabulary and improve pronunciation I e Far too much b To develop other language skills c To get information and background knowledge d To supplement grammar e To meet your teachers‟ demand f Other: ………………………………………………………………………… Do you have any difficulties in reading English texts? Which one(s)? a Too many new words b Difficult grammatical structures c Poor background knowledge d Unfamiliar writing styles e Lack of reading practice f Other…………………………………… How often are you supplied of other reading materials? a Never b Rarely c Sometimes d Often e Always 10 What you think about these reading materials? a Very dissatisfied b Dissatisfied c Neutral d Satisfied e Very satisfied 11.How often does your teacher focus on vocabulary development skill? a Never b Rarely c Sometimes d Often e Always 12 What you think about this focus on vocabulary development skill? a Very dissatisfied b Dissatisfied c Neutral d Satisfied e Very satisfied 13 How often does your teacher explicitly teach reading sub-skills? a Never b Rarely c Sometimes d Often II e Always 14 What you think about these explicit teaching reading sub-skills? a Very dissatisfied b Dissatisfied c Neutral d Satisfied e Very satisfied 15 How often does your teacher provide both intensive and extensive reading instruction? a Never b Rarely c Sometimes d Often e Always 16 What you think about this intensive and extensive reading instruction? a Very dissatisfied b Dissatisfied c Neutral d Satisfied e Very satisfied 17 How often does your teacher make informational text features clear? 18 What you think about this making informational text features clear? a Very dissatisfied b Dissatisfied c Neutral d Satisfied e Very satisfied 19 Do you have any wishes for your teacher to in reading lessons? Please write them down …………………………………………………………………………………… THANK YOU VERY MUCH! III APPENDIX II: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS You can be sure that this questionnaire is for research only and that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Please tick (V) and write the answer where necessary How you grade the content of the reading texts in New Cutting Edge - Elementary? a Very poor b Poor c Fair d Good e Very good How you grade the variety of the reading texts in New Cutting Edge – Elementary for your students? a Very poor b Poor c Fair d Good e Very good How you grade the difficulty level of the reading texts in New Cutting Edge - Elementary? a Very difficult b Difficult c Neutral d Easy e Very easy How you grade the number of activities available in the reading part in each module? a Far too few b Too few c About right d Too many e Far too many How you grade the motivation of activities available in the reading part in each module? a Very unmotivating b Unmotivating c Neutral d Motivating e.Very motivating How you grade the practicability of activities available in the reading part in each module? a Very practical b Practical c Neutral d Unpractical What you think of teaching reading skills at HUNRE? IV e Very unpractical a Not important b Somewhat important c Important d Essential How you evaluate your a Very poor What is/are your main purposes of teaching reading? a To teach new vocabulary b To focus on grammar c To help student get interesting ideas d To help students gain knowledge of English e To help students get more skilled in reading f Other ……….………………………………………… 10 How often you remind your students of informational text features? a Never 11 How often you remind your students of differences kinds of texts? a Never 12 How often you focus on vocabulary development skill? a Never 13 How often you teach scanning skill? a Never 14 How often you teach skimming skill? a Never 15 How often you teach intensive reading skill? a Never V 16 How often you teach extensive reading skill? a Never b Rarely c Sometimes d Often e Always 17 How often you teach critical reading skill? a Never b Rarely c Sometimes d Often e Always 18 Why you use extra reading texts in your reading lessons? Which one(s) a To provide the students more exercises to practice b To motivate students to learn themselves c To familiarize the students with other reading skills d To widen the students‟ knowledge related to the topic of the text e Other…………………………………………… 19 How often you use supplementary reading materials? a Never b Rarely c Sometimes d Often 20 What source of supplementary materials you use? a From the books b From the Internet c From authentic newspapers and magazines d Other…………………… THANK YOU VERY MUCH! VI e Always ... fully the nature of reading and reaffirm the importance teaching reading skills to the first year non- English major students at HUNRE then (ii) to investigate the real situation of the practical teaching. .. teaching and learning reading skills That is the reason why the author chooses the title ? ?A study on teaching reading skills to the first year nonEnglish major students at HUNRE using the textbook New. .. teaching reading skills at the University and find out the positive factors and problems that affect the quality of teaching reading skills to the first year non- English major students of the University,