An evaluation of the appropriateness of the course book family and friends 4 for primary school learners in sunshine english school

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  *** *** NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH HẠNH USING GUIDED EXTENSIVE READING TO IMPROVE INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HUNG YEN TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE SỦ DỤNG ĐỌC RỘNG CÓ HƯỚNG DẪN NHẰM CẢI THIỆN VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG NGẪU NHIÊN CHO SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM HƯNG YÊN M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi – 2015 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  *** *** NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH HẠNH USING GUIDED EXTENSIVE READING TO IMPROVE INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HUNG YEN TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE SỦ DỤNG ĐỌC RỘNG CÓ HƯỚNG DẪN NHẰM CẢI THIỆN VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG NGẪU NHIÊN CHO SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM HƯNG YÊN M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa Hanoi – 2015 DECLARATION I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work I have provided fully documented references to the others‟ work The material in this thesis has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course I also accept all the requirements of ULIS relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library Hanoi, October 2015 Nguyen Thi Bich Hanh i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe my deepest gratitude to my supportive supervisor, Dr Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, for her whole-hearted assistance, encouragement as well as the profound guidance she gave me while I was doing my research I would like to take this opportunity- to express my thanks to all my teachers and lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable instruction and assistance throughout the realization of this thesis I am heartily thankful to the administrators, my colleagues, and first year English major students at Hung Yen Teachers‟ Training College for their willingness to participate in the research Without their help, this program could not be fulfilled Last but not least, I am indebted to my beloved family and friends who have always inspired me to complete this study ii ABSTRACT The study aimed to examine whether EFL extensive reading could lead to increase incidental vocabulary of elementary-level EFL learners and evaluate the learners‟ opinions about the ER program The participants were 25 freshmen majored in English at Hung Yen Teachers‟ Training College They were asked to read graded readers within a twelve-week EFL extensive reading program The vocabulary pretest and posttests were administered to measure learners‟ incidental vocabulary learning gains in the 118 selected target words achieved through the program Results revealed that the significant vocabulary gains were achieved by the participants after the EFL extensive reading program, suggesting that the EFL extensive reading treatment had produced a beneficial effect on the incidental word learning gains of the participants with elementary EFL competence iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vi LIST OF FIGURES .vii LIST OF TABLES .vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study 3 Scope of the study Method of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .5 1.1 Reading 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.1.3 1.1.4 1.1.5 The roles of reading Extensive Reading Effective Extensive Reading Benefits of extensive reading Graded readers 1.2 Vocabulary 10 1.2.1 Vocabulary in second language learning 10 1.2.2 Incidental vocabulary learning 11 1.2.3 Reading and incidental vocabulary learning 12 1.2.4 Difficulties in incidental vocabulary learning 14 1.3 Previous research 16 1.3.1 Researches on incidental vocabulary acquisition 16 1.3.2 Researches on attitudes towards ER 21 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 24 2.1 Participants 24 2.2 Action research 24 2.2.1 2.2.2 Action research procedures 25 Selection of reading materials .30 2.3 Instruments 31 2.3.1 Vocabulary tests .31 2.3.2 Questionnaire 31 2.4 Data presentation and data analysis 32 iv 2.4.1 The pretest and posttest 32 2.4.2 T- test 33 2.5 Chapter summary 34 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 35 3.1 The results of the tests (Research question 1) 35 3.1.1 The pretest and the posttest 35 Table presents the paired sample T-test of pretest and posttest 36 Table 36 3.1.2 The posttest and the posttest 37 3.2 The results of questionnaire (Research question 2) 38 3.2.1 Results of the first part of the questionnaire 39 3.2.2 Result of the second part of the questionnaire 41 3.3 Discussion 43 3.4 Chapter summary 43 PART C: CONCLUSION 44 Summary of the findings 44 Limitations of the study and recommendations for further studies 45 REFERENCES I APPENDICES V APPENDIX 1: VOCABULARY TEST V APPENDIX 2: THE VOCABULARY PRETEST RESULTS IX APPENDIX 3: THE VOCABULARY IMMEDIATE POSTTEST RESULTS X APPENDIX 4: THE VOCABULARY DELAYED POSTTEST RESULTS .XI APPENDIX 5: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE XII APPENDIX 6: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) XIV CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA XIV APPENDIX 7: BOOK REPORT WORKSHEET XVI APPENDIX 8: A SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN XVII v Adj AR EFL ER GR GRP HYTTC L1 L2 M N P SD SPSS ULIS V VNU vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Action research model of Bride and Schostak (1991) ………………………………… …… 25 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The Graded Readers Program ………………………………………………………….……………………………………27 Table 2: The pretest and immediate posttest paired samples statistics ………………………………33 Table 3: The sample T-test of pretest and immediate posttest ………………………………….……………36 Table 4: The immediate posttest and delayed posttest paired samples statistics …….….37 Table 5: The sample T-test of immediate posttest and delayed posttest ………………………… 38 Table 6: Students' opinions about the graded readers program …………………………………….…….39 Table 7: Students' suggestion for future program …………………………………….…………………………………… 41 vii PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Vocabulary plays the most significant role in foreign language learning because it is an element linking the four language skills in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) In order to communicate well in a foreign language, students should acquire a great number of words and should know how to use and where to use them Most EFL learners learn vocabulary passively which can be resulted from several factors although students realize the vital importance of vocabulary when learning language First, they consider the teacher's techniques such as explanation for meaning or definition In this case, language learners have nothing to in a vocabulary learning section but to listen to their teacher Secondly, students only focus on knowing the primary meaning of new words Thirdly, students usually only acquire new vocabulary through contextualized new words in their textbooks or when given by teachers during classroom lessons It is clear that comprehension is one of the most fundamental reasons for reading, and vocabulary, in turn, plays significant part in comprehension Vocabulary clearly makes a critical contribution to understanding what has been read One important way to develop vocabulary knowledge is through extensive reading By reading extensively, students will be exposed to variety scope of vocabulary which is necessary in reading comprehension Extensive reading (ER) is an important aspect of any English as a foreign/second language reading program Bell (2001) stated that ER is a type of reading instruction program that has been used in EFL settings, as an effective APPENDICES APPENDIX 1: VOCABULARY TEST Adapted from Horst (2005) Do you know these words? Tick on your choice (Y= I know this word; NS= I’m not sure about this word, N= I don’t know this word) No Word alive angel arson barrel blood breadfruit burn canoe captain castle chain chandelier coconut crash creature crowd dead deck Devil director doorkeeper drop enemy enormous ferry flesh follow fool gentleman 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 V 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 VI God ghost ground guess gun guy guard hang hangman heavy hell hold hole half-dead half-opened horrible ill innocent jail joke judge kill King knot land launch laugh lighthouse mad married milkmaid milky millionaire missing mutiny mystery officer pale passage 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 phantom pedlar pick up point present prison pull punishment Queen ride rope sail secret servant scream shake hands shout sink shiver skin smell stare at stage stone stream sure take care of tears tell lie terrible terror tie tired theatre throw touch trial truth ugly VII 108 uncover 109 vacation 110 veil 111 wave 112 wet 113 wedding-ring 114 whisper 115 wise 116 witch 117 withered 118 wooden VIII APPENDIX 2: THE VOCABULARY PRETEST RESULTS Name Flower Jim Bob Mary David Jane Douglas Erik Jurita Wind Maria Tim Tom Samira John Julie William Moon Elizabeth Sarah Apricot Rose Christine Judy Jan IX APPENDIX 3: THE VOCABULARY IMMEDIATE POSTTEST RESULTS Name Flower Jim Bob Mary David Jane Douglas Erik Jurita Wind Maria Tim Tom Samira John Julie William Moon Elizabeth Sarah Apricot Rose Christine Judy Jan X APPENDIX 4: THE VOCABULARY DELAYED POSTTEST RESULTS Name Flower Jim Bob Mary David Jane Douglas Erik Jurita Wind Maria Tim Tom Samira John Julie William Moon Elizabeth Sarah Apricot Rose Christine Judy Jan XI APPENDIX 5: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE Adapted from Anh (2007) This questionnaire is designed to collect data to our study into how students deal with ER and the opinions about GRP All your responses to the questions are highly appreciated Part 1: Students' opinions about the Graded Readers Program (GRP) Following are eight statements about the GRP We would like you to indicate your opinion about each of them by putting a tick (√) in the column that best suits you Strongly agree = 1 The GRP gave me pleasure in learning English I wish I had been encouraged to read extensively before If I had been given a choice, I wouldn't have participated in this GRP If this program does not continue in the following school-year, I will keep on reading extensively The GRP helped me to gain more self-control of my English study My background knowledge has been widened due to extensive reading Reading extensively helped to improve my English vocabulary XII GRP helped me to develop a reading habit Part 2: Students' suggestion about the future Graded Readers Program In your opinion what should be done to make the future GRP more enjoyable and useful? Put a check (√) in the column that best indicates your response to each proposed suggestion Suggestions The teacher should choose reading materials more carefully The teacher should have more books and more copies of the same books Students should be given more encouragement during the GRP Instructions on activities in the GRP should be explained more clearly The program should be in a longer period of time Other suggestions:.………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… Thank you very much for your corporation! XIII APPENDIX 6: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA Bản câu hỏi thiết kế nhằm thu thập liệu cho nghiên cứu việc sinh viên đối mặt với khăn đọc rộng ý kiến họ với chương trình đọc rộng Câu trả lời bạn đánh giá cao giữ bí mật Hồn tồn đồng ý =1 ; Đồng ý= 2; Trung lập = 3; Khơng đồng ý = 4; Hồn tồn khơng đồng ý = Phần 1: Ý kiến sinh viên chương trình đọc tài liệu theo cấp độ Dưới câu nhận định chương trình đọc tài liệu theo cấp độ Chúng muốn bạn cho biết ý kiến việc đánh dấu (√) vào cột mà bạn thấy hợp lý Quan điểm hứng thú cho việc học Tiếng Anh khích đọc mở rộng chương trình đọc tài liệu theo cấp độ tiếp tục tiếp tục đọc thêm tài liệu Chương trình đọc tài liệu theo cấp độ giúp tự chủ việc học Tiếng Anh Kiến thức tơi mở rộng nhờ chương trình XIV Việc đọc tài liệu theo cấp độ giúp cải thiện từ vựng tiếng Anh tơi Chương trình đọc tài liệu theo cấp độ giúp có thói quen đọc Phần 2: Gợi ý sinh viên chương trìnhđọc tài liệu theo cấp độ Theo ý kiến bạn làm để chương trình đọc tài liệu theo cấp độ ưa thích có ý nghĩa Bạn đánh dấu (√) vào cột câu trả lời bạn với gợi ý Gợi ý Giáo viên nên lựa chọn tài liệu cẩn thận Giáo viên nên có nhiều sách và nhiều phơ tơ sách Sinh viên nên khuyến khích nhiều suốt chương trình Các hướng dẫn cho hoạt động chương trình nên giải thích kỹ lưỡng Chương trình đọc tài liệu theo cấp độ nên kéo dài Các gợi ý khác: ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………………………… Chân thành cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! XV APPENDIX 7: BOOK REPORT WORKSHEET Please provide as much information as possible about your reading selected books Student's ………………………………………… Book title: …………………………………………………………………… Number of pages read: ………………………………………………………………… Length of time of reading: ……………………………………………………………… Your expectation from the book title: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………….… Main theme of the book: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………………………….… Who is/are your favorite character(s)? Your feelings about your beloved character(s) in the story: ……………………………………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………………………………… How interesting you find the book: (put a tick where applicable) □ not at all interesting □ a little interesting How difficult you find the book: (put a tick where applicable) □ very easy XVI APPENDIX 8: A SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN LESSON PLAN Aims:  To encourage extensive reading outside of class time  create student interest in the story Materials:  Extensive reading: The Elephant Man by Vicary (students had read at home) The Phantom of the Opera by Jennifer Bassett (students will read the following week) Time allowance:  Date of teaching:  About 45 minutes Anticipated problems:  Unfamiliar vocabulary might cause problems in understanding the story  Some students are slower readers than others  This type of story may not usually be of interest to some students  The same story reading may cause students copy the book report from their friends Visual aids:  Questions on the reading done in class  A report form to encourage outside reading Class profile: 25 students of TA13 XVII Procedures: ACTIVITIES A CHECKING STUDENTS READING T1 Asks students prepare a four minute report on a book for homework and give the report in class to a partner Ss: give an oral report on a book they have read for four minutes T2 Asks student then gives the same report in three minutes to a different student Ss: Change partners and give their reports in three minutes T3 Asks students to deliver the report in two minutes to a third student Ss: Change every partner one last time and gives their reports in two minutes T4 Gives a list of adjectives describing characters from the book and asks student to decide who it is Ss: Find out the characters T5 Introduces Elephant Man movie trailer Ss: Watch the trailer (T may encourage students to watch the movie at home) B TALKING ABOUT STUDENTS DIFFICULTIES IN READING AT HOME T6 Asks students about their difficulties which they encountered during the extensive reading Ss: Express their opinions T7 Asks Ss to explain their difficulties and help them XVIII overcome the problems Ss: Listen and may change their attitudes C INTRODUCING THE NEW STORY T8 Shows the new story and ask students about the title and author Ss: See the story covers and answer T‟s questions T9 Asks students to predict the main theme of the story by reading the introduction on the back cover Ss: Predict when , where it takes lace, the characters T10 Delivers the story and book report worksheet Ss: Bring the story home to read Keys: T = teacher XIX ... collecting and analyzing the data, (3) planning and implementing the action, (4) collecting data to monitor change and (5) analyzing and evaluating Design of the study The study is composed of three... purpose of ER However, Bamford and Day (1997) defined ER as an approach to foreign language teaching in general, and to the teaching of foreign language reading in particular To follow Bamford and. .. and answer the questionnaire Analyzing and evaluating The data was analyzed to evaluate the action plan to find out whether the hypothesis is correct or not Based on the findings of the AR evaluation,