A study on the use of top down approach to improve reading skill for learners at equest english centre m a thesis linguistics 60 14 01 11

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ THÚY A STUDY ON THE USE OF TOP-DOWN APPROACH TO IMPROVE READING SKILL FOR LEARNERS AT EQUEST ENGLISH CENTRE (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP TOP-DOWN ĐỂ NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC CHO HỌC VIÊN TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ EQUEST) M.A Minor ProgrammeThesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES  NGUYỄN THỊ THÚY A STUDY ON THE USE OF TOP-DOWN APPROACH TO IMPROVE READING SKILL FOR LEARNERS AT EQUEST ENGLISH CENTRE (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP TOP-DOWN ĐỂ NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC CHO HỌC VIÊN TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ EQUEST) M.A Minor ProgrammeThesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr PHẠM ĐĂNG BÌNH Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATION To the best of my knowledge and belief, this minor thesis contains no material which has previously been submitted and accepted for any other degree in any university The thesis is my own work and based on my own research It involves no material previously published or written by any other person, except where due reference is made in the paper Hanoi, 2014 Nguyêñ Thi Thuyy i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mr Pham Dang Binh, from Vietnam National University, University of Languages and International Studies for his invaluable guidance, criticism and his continual encouragement to the process of completing this minor thesis My gratefulness is to all the teachers from Department of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies for their teaching and useful knowledge My sincere thanks also go to all my colleagues who are the teachers at Equest Centre for their help and suggestions for the topic of my study I truly wish to thank all my students at Equest Centre, especially those of class FAE C1 and FAE C2 who have actively participated in the study Last but not least, my sincere thanks are extended to my family and my best friends who have constantly supported and encouraged me to carry out the thesis ii ABSTRACT Learning English at a lot of English Centers is becoming more and more popular Therefore, understanding the importance of English, all teachers at Equest English Centre have an attempt to satisfy the learners‟ need However, to master English learners need to grasp a lot of different skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing Among these skills, reading is an important one because it does not only help student develop other language skills, but also provides them knowledge on the target language The above has inspired the writing of this study as an attempt to apply topdown approach in teaching reading to improve reading skills for learners at Equest Centre This study consists of three parts Part one presents the rationale, aims, research questions, scope and methods of the study Part two includes three chapters Chapter one sets up theoretical background that is relevant to the purpose of the study The following chapter shows the setting, the subjects, the methods, the way to collect data and the effects of using top-down approach in teaching and learning reading skill at Equest English Centre The last chapter in this part focuses on the findings, discussion and suggestions for improving reading skill to learners at Equest English Part three summarizes the key issues in the study, points out the limitations and provides some suggestions for further study iii LISTS OF TABLES AND CHARTS Tables Table 1.1 Descriptive statistics for the pre-test of the experimental and control groups Table 1.2 Comparison of mode, mean, median and SD for pre-test of the experimental and control groups Table1.3 Descriptive statistics for the post-test of the experimental and control groups Table 1.4 Comparison of mode, mean, median and SD for post-test of the experimental and control groups Table 1.5 Comparison of mean and standard deviation between the experimental and control group in pre-test and post-test Table 2.1 Activities motivated students in the pre-reading stage Table 2.2 Activities attracted students in while-reading stage Table 2.3 Useful activities to students in post-reading stage Table 2.4 Students‟ difficulties in reading Table 2.5 Teaching methods in helping students overcome difficulties in reading Charts Chart 1.1 Percentage of the raw mark in the pre-test Chart 1.2 Percentage of the raw mark in the post-test Chart 2.1 The students‟ opinion about the reading tasks Chart 2.2 The students‟ opinion about teaching methods Chart 2.3 The students‟ opinion about learning reading with top-down process Chart 2.4 The students‟ opinion about their reading skill after a course with top-down process iv TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II ABSTRACT III LISTS OF TABLES AND CHARTS IV PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Hypothesis Aims of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Theory on Reading 1.1.1 Definitions of Reading 1.1.2 Reading comprehension 1.1.3 Types of reading 1.2 Teaching Reading skill 1.2.1 Principles of teaching reading 1.2.2 Stages of a reading lesson 11 1.3 Top-down approach 14 1.3.1 Definition 14 1.3.2 Top-down versus Bottom-up processing 14 1.3.3 Top-down approach in reading 15 1.3.4 Top-down techniques in teaching reading 17 1.4 Summary 20 CHAPTER 2: 22 v METHODOLOGY 22 2.1 Setting of the study 22 2.1.1 Subjects‟ background information 22 2.1.2 The teachers and teaching methods 23 2.1.3 Materials 23 2.2 Subjects 24 2.3 Methods 24 2.3.1 Test 24 2.3.2 Questionnaire 25 2.4 Procedures 25 2.4.1 Data collection 25 2.4.2 Data analysis 26 2.5 The application of top-down techniques in reading class 26 CHAPTER 3: 28 FINDINGS, DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS 28 3.1 Findings 28 3.1.1 Analysis of the test results 28 3.1.2 Analysis of the questionnaire results 33 3.2 Discussion 43 3.2.1 Discussion on the students‟ part 43 3.2.2 Discussion on the teacher‟s part 45 3.3 Implications 46 3.3.1 Top-down techniques should be applied widely at Equest Centre 46 3.3.2 Arousing students‟ motivation and interest 47 3.3.3 Enlarging students‟ background knowledge 47 3.3.4 Suggested activities for improving reading skill through top-down approach 48 3.4 Summary 50 PART C: CONCLUSION 51 vi Summary of the study 51 REFERENCES 53 APPENDIX 1: I SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE I APPENDIX 2: THE PRE-TEST V APPENDIX 3: THE POST-TEST .IX APPENDIX 4: SAMPLE LESSON XIII vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale It is undeniable that English in the life of any society in the world today has been becoming more and more important The widespread need for English as an international language puts a considerable pressure on the education resources of any countries In case of our country, since our government carried out the open door policy to attract foreign investment and co-operate with other countries, teaching and learning English has become necessary Moreover, English is a means of international communication in the fields of science, technology, culture, education, economy and so on That is the reason why at present, learning English is not only the interest but also the great and practical demand for many people, especially for people who always want to assess the modern world Therefore, learning English at a lot of English Centre is becoming popular Understanding the importance of English, all teachers at Equest English Centre have an attempt to satisfy the learners‟ need At Equest English is the foreign language dominating the teaching and learning programs for 10 years Despite a prejudice that learning English at a center is less effective than that at some universities, colleges, or international schools, learners at Equest, regardless of their ages, always strive for a good command of English as they are well aware of their learning purposes Through 10 years of development, Equest has provided a number of learning English programs Therefore, there are 38 000 learners learning English at Equest in 2013 However, to master English learners need to grasp a lot of different skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing Among these skills, reading is an important one because it does not only help student develop other language skills, but also provides them knowledge on the target language According to Byrne (1986), “reading is an important way of expanding the students’ receptive c Create comfortable environment for you to exchange information before reading d Discuss the topic and give background information before you read e Suggest you essential reading strategies needed for each kind of reading task f Other ideas (Please specify): ………………………………………………………………………………… What you think of the reading tasks that teacher has designed in class? a Interesting b Effective c Difficult d Boring e Stressful Other ideas (Please specify): ………………………………………………………………………………… f You think the teacher’s organized reading activities in class are: a Motivating b Interesting c Tense/stressful d Demotivating e Boring Other ideas (Please specify): ………………………………………………………………………………… f III Do you like learning reading with top-down process? a Yes b No What you think of your reading skill after a course with topdown reading process? a A lot of improvement b Little of improvement c No improvement d Worse Other ideas (Please specify): ………………………………………………………………………………… e -The endThanks for your cooperation! IV Appendix 2: The pre-test The pre-test: Time: 15 minutes READING COMPREHENSION TEST Task 1: Match each paragraph with the most suitable title There are two titles you not need to use is the example Ireland is ranked friendliest place in the world A Irish oral tradition B British attitude towards the Irish C Good humor after hard times D More than you can expect E The biggest attraction in Ireland F What the Irish think of Britain G Having a nice time H Three reasons to visit Ireland The British have rarely been complimentary about the Irish down the centuries There have been the Irish jokes, insulting nicknames and the attitude that much that went on the neighboring island was simply unacceptable B (Example) Now it turns out that the friendliest country in the world is Ireland The prestigious British travel guide Lonely Planet reckons that the island‟s inhabitants have reverted to what they best – drinking good liquor, making strangers feel at home and having fun The 2008 edition of The Lonely Planet Blue list – a guide to places you should think about visiting – says: “Centuries of turmoil, conquest, famine and subsequent immigration have left them with a deliciously dark sense of humor and a welcoming attitude towards strangers.” V “That famous ability of the Irish means you‟re always having fun A cautious optimism reigns supreme, infecting the land once again with the sense that anything is possible.” The verdict was greeted triumphantly by tourism officials yesterday Lawrence Bate, of Tourism Ireland, said: “We are delighted to have this endorsement of thousands of Lonely Planet readers People have expectations that are far and away exceeded when they visit Ireland.” The Irish have further reason to smile after claiming a place in the Lonely Planet list of the world‟s 10 best brewery headquarters, leased by Arthur Guinness in 1759 “If you don‟t know what it is that makes the Guinness brewery Ireland‟s number one visitor attraction, you must be under 18,” the book says Task 2: Read the following passages and choose the best answer for each question English as a National Foreign Language India has two national languages for central administrative purposes: Hindi and English Hindi is the national, official, and main link language of India English is an associate official language The Indian Constitution also officially approves twenty-two regional languages for official purposes Dozens of distinctly different regional languages are spoken in India, which share many characteristics such as grammatical structure and vocabulary Apart from these languages, Hindi is used for communication in India The homeland of Hindi is mainly in the north of India, but it is spoken and widely understood in all urban centers of India In the southern states of India, where people speak many different languages that are not much related to Hindi, there is more resistance to Hindi, which has allowed English to remain a lingua franca to a greater degree Since the early 1600s, the English language has had a toehold on the Indian subcontinent, when the East India Company established settlements in Chennai, Kolkata, and Mumbai, formerly Madras, Calcutta, and Bombay respectively The historical background of India is never far away from everyday usage of English India has had a longer exposure to English than any other country which uses it as a second language, its distinctive words, idioms, grammar and rhetoric spreading gradually to affect all places, habits and culture In India, English serves two purposes First, it provides a linguistic tool for the administrative cohesiveness of the country, causing people who speak different VI languages to become united Secondly, it serves as a language of wider communication, including a large variety of different people covering a vast area It overlaps with local languages in certain spheres of influence and in public domains Generally, English is used among Indians as a „link‟ language and it is the first language for many well-educated Indians It is also the second language for many who speak more than one language in India The English language is a tie that helps bind the many segments of our society together Also, it is a linguistic bridge between the major countries of the world and India English has special national status in India It has a special place in the parliament, judiciary, broadcasting, journalism, and in the education system One can see a Hindi-speaking teacher giving their students instructions during an educational tour about where to meet and when their bus would leave, but all in English It means that the language permeates daily life It is unavoidable and is always expected, especially in the cities The importance of the ability to speak or write English has recently increased significantly because English has become the de facto standard Learning English language has become popular for business, commerce and cultural reasons and especially for internet communications throughout the world English is a language that has become a standard not because it has been approved by any „standards‟ organization but because it is widely used by many information and technology industries and recognized as being standard The call centre phenomenon has stimulated a huge expansion of internet-related activity, establishing the future of India as a cyber-technological super-power Modern communications, videos, journals and newspapers on the internet use English and have made „knowing English‟ indispensable The prevailing view seems to be that unless students learn English, they can only work in limited jobs Those who not have basic knowledge of English cannot obtain good quality jobs They cannot communicate efficiently with others, and cannot have the benefit of India‟s rich social and cultural life Men and women who cannot comprehend and interpret instructions in English, even if educated, are unemployable They cannot help with their children‟s school homework everyday or decide their revenue options of the future A positive attitude to English as a national language is essential to the integration of people into Indian society There would appear to be virtually no disagreement in the community about the importance of English language skills VII Using English you will become a citizen of the world almost naturally English plays a dominant role in the media It has been used as a medium for inter-state communication and broadcasting both before and since India‟s independence India is, without a doubt, committed to English as a national language The impact of English is not only continuing but increasing According to the writer, the Indian constitution recognizes A 22 official languages B Hindi as the national language C national, official languages D national languages English's status as a lingua franca is helped by A its status in northern India B the fact that it is widely understood in urban centers C the fact that people from the south speak languages not much related to Hindi D it shares many grammatical similarities with Hindi In paragraph 3, 'toehold' means that English A dominated India B changed the names of some cities in India C has had a presence in India D has been in India longer than any other language Hindi-speaking teachers A might well be heard using English B only use English C only use English for instructions D not use English English in India A is going to decrease B has decreased since independence C causes disagreement D is going to have a greater importance VIII Appendix 3: The post-test The post-test Time: 15 minutes READING COMPREHENSION TEST Read the following passages and choose the best answer for each question Passage 1: Dirty Britain Before the grass has thickened on the roadside verges and leaves have started growing on the trees is a perfect time to look around and see just how dirty Britain has become The pavements are stained with chewing gum that has been spat out and the gutters are full of discarded fast food cartons Years ago I remember travelling abroad and being saddened by the plastic bags, discarded bottles and soiled nappies at the edge of every road Nowadays, Britain seems to look at least as bad What has gone wrong? The problem is that the rubbish created by our increasingly mobile lives lasts a lot longer than before If it is not cleared up and properly thrown away, it stays in the undergrowth for years; a semi-permanent reminder of what a tatty little country we have now Firstly, it is estimated that 10 billion plastic bags have been given to shoppers These will take anything from 100 to 1,000 years to rot However, it is not as if there is no solution to this A few years ago, the Irish government introduced a tax on non-recyclable carrier bags and in three months reduced their use by 90% When he was a minister, Michael Meacher attempted to introduce a similar arrangement in Britain The plastics industry protested, of course However, they need not have bothered; the idea was killed before it could draw breath, leaving supermarkets free to give away plastic bags What is clearly necessary right now is some sort of combined initiative, both individual and collective, before it is too late The alternative is to continue sliding downhill until we have a country that looks like a vast municipal rubbish tip We may well be at the tipping point Yet we know that people respond to their environment If things around them are clean and tidy, people behave cleanly and IX tidily If they are surrounded by squalor, they behave squalidly Now, much of Britain looks pretty squalid What will it look like in five years? The writer says that it is a good time to see Britain before the trees have leaves because A Britain looks perfect B You can see Britain at its dirtiest C You can see how dirty Britain is now D The grass has thickened on the verges According to the writer, things used to be A worse abroad B the same abroad C better abroad D worse, but now things are better abroad For the writer, the problem is that A rubbish is not cleared up B rubbish last longer than it used to C our society is increasingly mobile D Britain is a tatty country Michael Meacher A followed the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags B tried to follow the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags C made no attempt to follow the Irish example with a tax on plastic bags D had problems with the plastics industry who weren't bothered about the tax The writer thinks A it is too late to anything X B we are at the tipping point C there is no alternative D we need to work together to solve the problem The writer thinks that A people are squalid B people behave according to what they see around them C people are clean and tidy D people are like a vast municipal rubbish tip Passage 2: Niagara Falls Niagara Falls, one of the most famous North American natural wonders, has long been a popular tourist destination Tourists today flock to see the two falls that actually comprise Niagara Falls: the 53-meter high Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side of the Niagara River and the 55-meter high American Falls on the U.S side of the river in the state of New York Approximately 85 percent of the water that goes over the falls that actually goes over Horseshoes Falls, with the rest going over American Falls Most visitors come between April and October, and it is quite a popular activity to take a steamer out on to the river and right up to the base of the falls for a close-up view It is also possible to get a spectacular view of the falls from the strategic locations along 10 the Niagara River such as Prospect Point or Table Rock, or from one of the four observation towers which have heights up to 500 feet Tourists have been visiting Niagara Falls in large numbers since the 1800's; annual visitation now averages above 10 million visitors per year Because of concern that the large number of tourists would destroy the natural beauty of this scenic wonder, the State of New York is in 1885 created Niagara Falls Park in order to protect the land surrounding American Falls A year later Canada created Queen Victoria Park on the Canadian side of the Niagara, around Horseshoe Falls With the area surrounding the falls under the control of government agencies, appropriate steps could be taken to preserve the pristine beauty of the area XI According to the passage, which best describes Niagara Falls? A Niagara Falls consists of two rivers, one Canadian and the other American B American Falls is considerably higher than Horseshoe Falls C The Niagara River has two falls, one in Canada and one in the U.S D Although the Niagara river flows through the U.S and Canada, the falls are only in the U.S The passage implies that tourists prefer A to visit Niagara Falls during warmer weather B to see the falls from a great distance C to take a ride over the falls D to come to Niagara Falls for a winter vacation According to the passage, why was Niagara Park created? A To encourage tourists to visit Niagara Falls B To show off the natural beauty of Niagara Falls C To protect the area around Niagara Falls D To force Canada to open Queen Victoria Park The paragraph following the passage most probably discusses A additional ways to observe the falls B steps taken by government agencies to protect the falls C a detailed description of the division of the falls between the United Stated and Canada D further problems that are destroying the area around the falls XII Appendix 4: Sample lesson Lesson Plan for the lesson on predicting the main idea of the text from its first sentence, and using background knowledge of the content to predict the upcoming information in the text I Level: Pre-intermediate level of English II Time allowance: 50 minutes BI Aims: At the end of the lesson, students can: - Predict the main idea of a paragraph after reading its first sentence Use their background knowledge to predict the upcoming information in the text IV Assumed knowledge: Students have some idea of the topic “Theft Crimes”, and some words and phrases related to this topic V Anticipated problems: Students may not enough vocabulary and background knowledge related to the topic VI Teaching aids: FAE C – Unit 12, prediction worksheets VII Procedures: Stage 1.Warmup Time 7‟ Aims - To motivate studen to learn the lesson an to introduce the predicting strategy Lead-in 1‟ - To introduce the lesson Prereading 7‟ - To activate the students‟ backgroun knowledge about the XIV topic and review useful words and phrases Whilereading 5‟ - To review predictin what the text is abou through the title and headings 7‟ - To practice reading for the main idea of the article based on the headings of a paragraph Postreading XVI 13‟ - To practice reading for specific information using predicting strategy 10‟ - To check students‟ comprehension abou the text - To give students a chance to practice speaking skill XVII ... Listening-Speaking -Reading- Writing “FAE B” improves practice language skills, expands vocabulary and grammar of the common themes and communicates in an academic environment “FAE C” improves more and more skills... especially in reading skill All in all, the above has encouraged the writer of the thesis to carry out the study entitled ? ?A study on the use of top- down approach to improve reading skill for learners. .. importance of English, all teachers at Equest English Centre have an attempt to satisfy the learners? ?? need At Equest English is the foreign language dominating the teaching and learning programs for