(Luận văn thạc sĩ) a student based evaluation of the reading comprehension tasks in tieng anh 12 nang cao

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  VŨ THỊ KIM THANH A STUDENT- BASED EVALUATION OF THE READING COMPREHENSION TASKS IN “TIENG ANH 12 NANG CAO” ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA HỌC SINH VỀ CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG ĐäC HIỂU TRONG SÁCH “TIẾNG ANH 12 NÂNG CAO” MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 HANOI - 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES  VŨ THỊ KIM THANH A STUDENT- BASED EVALUATION OF THE READING COMPREHENSION TASKS IN “TIENG ANH 12 NANG CAO” ĐÁNH GIÁ CỦA HỌC SINH VỀ CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG ĐäC HIỂU TRONG SÁCH “TIẾNG ANH 12 NÂNG CAO” MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 SUPERVISOR: LÊ VĂN CANH (MA) HANOI - 2010 v M.A.Thesis Table of contents STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS II ABSTRACT III LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IV LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES VIII INTRODUCTION 1 Statements of the Problems and Rationale for the Study Aims of the Study Significance of the Study Scope of the Study Methods and Procedures The Structure of the Thesis Chapter I Review of Literature 1.1 Reading comprehension 1.1.1 Definition of Reading and Reading Comprehension 1.1.2 The Importance of Reading Comprehension in Foreign Language Learning 1.1.3 Reading Sub-Skills 1.2 Reading comprehension Tasks 1.2.1 Tasks 1.2.2 Reading Tasks 1.2.3 Types of Reading Tasks 1.3 Textbook Evaluation 10 1.3.1 Definition of Textbook Evaluation 10 1.3.2 The purpose of Textbook Evaluation 10 1.3.3 Types of Textbook Evaluation 10 1.3.4 Models of Micro-Evaluation of Tasks 11 1.3.5 Student- Based Textbook Evaluation 11 1.3.6 The Need to Have Students’ Evaluation of the Reading Tasks 12 1.3.7 Criteria for Evaluation 12 vi M.A.Thesis 1.4 Previous Studies on the New Set of English Textbooks 13 CHAPTER OVERVIEW OF THE READING TASK IN TIENG ANH 12 NANG CAO 15 2.1 Overview of the National Curriculum and Syllabus for ELT 15 2.2 Overview of the Textbook 15 2.3 Overview of the Reading Section 16 2.3.1 Reading Text Types 17 2.3.2 Reading Task Types 18 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 21 3.1 The Setting 21 3.2 Participants 21 3.3 Data collection methods 22 3.3.1 Survey questionnaire 22 3.3.2 Interview 22 3.4 Data Collection Procedures 22 3.5 Data Analysis 23 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 24 4.1 Quantitative data 24 4.1.1 Usefulness of the Reading Tasks 24 4.1.2 Usefulness of the information 25 4.1.3 Genres of reading texts 25 4.1.4 Helping to develop and consolidate vocabulary and grammar competence 26 4.1.5 Relevance to students’ level of English 27 4.1.6 Preparing students for exams 28 4.1.7 Developing sub- reading skills 29 4.1.8 The need to modify and supply more reading comprehension tasks 31 4.1.9 Matching personal reading strategies 31 4.2 Qualitative data 32 4.2.1 Usefulness to students’ English language learning 32 4.2.2 Relevance to the students’ needs 34 4.2.3 Students’ expectations 34 vii M.A.Thesis CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 36 5.1 Summary of the study 36 5.2 Recommendations 38 5.2.1 Addition 38 5.2.2 Providing Supplementary Reading Texts 39 5.3 Conclusion 40 5.4 Limitations of the study 41 REFERENCES 42 APPENDIX 1: PHIÕU §IỊU TRA HỌC SINH I APPENDIX CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN CHO HỌC SINH V APPENDIX OVERALL EVALUATION OF THE READING SECTION VI APPENDIX THE SUGGESTED ADDITION OF THE READING TASKS VII APPENDIX SUPPLEMENTARY READING TEXTS IX viii M.A.Thesis LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Table 1: Types of reading tasks developed within Davies‟ and Green‟s model Table 2.1 Reading Text Types 17 Table 2.2 Quantity of Reading Tasks 18 Table 2.3 Types of Reading Tasks 19 Figure 4.1 Students‟ general opinions on the usefulness of the reading tasks 24 Figure 4.2 Students‟ opinion on the usefulness of the information 25 Figure 4.3 Students‟ opinion on genres of reading texts 25 Table 4.1 Students‟ opinions towards how much vocabulary and grammar is consolidated and developed 26 Table 4.2 Students‟ assessment of the relevance of the reading tasks to their level of English 27 Table 4.3 Relevance to the requirement of the exams 28 Table 4.4 The sub-skills of reading tasks students gained 29 Figure 4.4 Student‟s opinions on the needs of modification 31 Table 4.5 Relevance to students‟ personal learning method in general and method to learn reading comprehension in particular 31 Table : Added tasks suggested in the three reading stages in each unit 39 M.A.Thesis Introduction Statements of the Problems and Rationale for the Study In the age of globalization the status of English has been enhanced As Richard (1985:1) reminds us the current state of English has turned a significant percentage of the world population into part time users or learners of English This is also true for Vietnam in the new social context with the recent economic renovation, the participation in WTO as well as regionalization and globalization There has been increasing demand for mastering English The teaching and learning English in high secondary school is most prioritized by the MOET The old set of textbooks which was used for a long time has been replaced by the new one in 2002 which is claimed to incorporate the latest methodology in second language teaching The introduction of the new textbooks is considered the first step towards the achievement of better quality of education The objectives of the books have been adjusted for a better use of English “as a tool of communication at basic level in terms of listening, speaking, reading and writing” (Hoang et al., 2006a:33) Being an effective and fluent reader in another language is very important as reading helps students consolidate what they have learned and support their further study According to Carrel (1981:1), “for many students, reading is by far the most important of the four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or a foreign language” Unfortunately, teaching and learning readings skills is still far from satisfactory for various reasons The new textbooks for upper secondary school level comprised two sets: the basic book and advanced books Hoang Van Thu specializing secondary school chooses the basic books for non English specializing classes and the advanced for English specializing ones English 10 and English 11 were approved and officially introduced into schools by MOET in the academic years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, respectively English 12 has been implemented in the nationwide scale since the academic year 2008-2009 Up to now it has been used for English specialized classes of grade 12 in Hoang Van Thu school for two years M.A.Thesis As a teacher of English in a specializing high school, I have worked quite closely with the new textbooks I have noticed that although the books have shown a great deal of improvement as compared with the old series of grammar-based textbooks, they also bear several limitations as it can not be of great help to improve students‟ language knowledge and more importantly it hardly caters for all the needs of students In a specializing school the students‟ level of language proficiency is rather high Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao does not come to students‟ expectations in term of language, grammar, the length and the quality of the tasks Students have to use supplementary reading material to improve their reading skill which is compulsory part in all exams So how would the teachers solve this problem? The methodology course in postgraduate program has changed our mind and provided us with the new perspective about our English language teaching career It helps us shape our critical thinking towards using the textbooks The research therefore is conducted to evaluate the reading comprehension task in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao using student - based evaluation Since the 1970‟s there has been a movement to make learners the center of language instruction and it is probably best to view textbooks as resources in achieving aims and objectives that have already been set in terms of learner needs “The learner is focused” is one of the issues mentioned by Canagarajah (2006) in which the role of learner has been highlighted As English has become an international language, learners with their diverse learning contexts and needs are focused in more specific ways Research on the limitations of the new textbooks has been a core part of my study Based on the findings, recommendations are made which are expected to help improve students‟ reading skill to enable them firstly to successfully fulfill the reading section in the university entrance examination paper, and secondly to further their study Aims of the Study The study aims to understand students‟ evaluative comments on the usefulness and relevance of the reading tasks in terms of preparing better for the high school graduation and university entrance exams, further study and future jobs Particularly, the study tries to answer the following two research questions: M.A.Thesis To what extent students find the reading comprehension tasks useful to their English language learning? To what extent students find the reading comprehension tasks relevant to their learning needs? Significance of the Study The study helps the audience to be aware of the strong and week points of the text book This would also enable the teachers to effectively exploit the strength and revise, modify or supplement the materials if necessary Moreover, it is useful for the teachers to listen to their students about their interests, needs, and expectations Only by doing that, can we respond to their needs at the utmost and maximize the learning/teaching objectives by revising the textbook The study has been also a benefit for the evaluator herself As Richards, (1990) believes that a successful teacher is the one who can evaluate teaching materials and to teach students successfully, therefore it is a good chance to review major theoretical basis relating to material evaluation Being equipped with the knowledge, teachers have a critical thinking towards the material they are using, namely, they can evaluate it systematically and methodologically This work is also of great use for the writer to gain good and useful insights into the nature of the reading comprehension tasks in the textbook This microevaluation will serve as basis for evaluating other tasks such as listening, speaking, and writing tasks Scope of the Study First, the study can not be generalized to other 12 specializing classes in HVT specializing school as their English textbook is the basic set and it can not also be applied in other high schools even though they teach the same textbook because of different population Second, the study was concerned with evaluating only the Reading Comprehension Tasks in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao The limitation of time and the scope of a minor thesis not allow the researcher of this project to cover many aspects as expected However, the subject is hopefully deeply analyzed M.A.Thesis Methods and Procedures In order to find the answer for the above research questions, the writer reviewed different textbook evaluation methods of many researchers in this field and finally found that the method proposed by Ellis (1997) is the most suitable as this study aims to evaluate one task in a textbook To collect the data, the methods used in the thesis are questionnaires and interview Survey questionnaires here play a vital role in getting feedback from students about the reading tasks in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao Interview is served to probe more about students‟ concrete opinions The Structure of the Thesis This thesis is divided as follows: The Introduction presents the background to the study, states the aims, significance, discusses the scope of the study, method and procedure and outlines the thesis Chapter One, Literature Review, discusses issues relating to reading, reading evaluation, task evaluation and reading comprehension tasks, which serves as the scientific base for the thesis Chapter Two presents the overview of the reading task in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao Chapter Three, Methodology, presents the deep analysis of the setting including the students‟ profile and institution It also describes data collection instrument, data collection procedure and data analysis Chapter Four, Data Analysis and Discussion, presents the results from the questionnaire, and interview The chapter ends with a discussion of the findings Chapter Five, Recommendations and Conclusion, presents the recommendations drawn from the findings of the study and concludes the thesis 43 M.A.Thesis 16 Hutchinson, T and Water, A (1987) English for Specific Purposes: A learning centred approach Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 17 Kumaravadivelu, B (2006) TESOL Methods: Changing Tracks, Challenging Trends Teasel Quarterly,40(1), 28 18 Le Thi Hue (2009) An Evaluation of the Textbook English 11 Taught at Phan Dinh Phung Secondary School in Hanoi Vietnam National University, Hanoi 19 Lee, J F and Vanpatten, B (1985) Practical Techniques for Language Teaching London: Language Teaching Publications 20 Littlejohn, A (1996) The analysis of Language Teaching Materials: Inside the Trojan Horse In B Tomlinson, (Ed.), Materials Development in Language Teaching (pp 191-213) Cambridge University Press 21 Madsen, H And Bowen, J (1978) Adaptation in Language Teaching Rowley, MA: Newbury House 22 Matthews, A 1991 Choosing the Best Available Textbook London: Nelson 23 Ministry of Education and Training 2006 The English curriculum for the secondary school Ha noi: Education Publisher 24 Nguyen Thi Thuy Minh (2007) ‘Textbook evaluation: The case of English textbooks currently in use in Vietnam’s upper-secondary schools‟ Seameo regional language centre 25 Nguyen Thi Nguyet (2007) How to Make Classroom Reading more Com municative for Grade 10 of English at Bac Ninh Specialized High School Vietnam National University, Hanoi 26 Nunan, D (1999) Second Language Teaching and Learning Heinle and Heinle 27 Nunan, D (2001) Designing Tasks for the Communicative Classroom Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 28 Nuttal, C (1982) Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language Heinemann, London 29 Nuttal, C (1996) Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language (New edition) HongKong: Macmillan Publishers Limited 44 M.A.Thesis 30 Pang, E S., Muaka, A., Bernbardt, E B., and Kamil, M L (2003) Teaching Reading The International Academy of education Seminar on Reading Strategy 10 from www.ibe.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/archive/publications/EducationalPracticesSeri esPdf/prac12c.pdf 31 Richards, J O (1984) Language curriculum development RELC Journal Vol 14 No.1, June 1984 32 Richards, C J ( 1985) The Context of Language Teaching Cambridge Cambridge University Press 33 Richards, J., J Platt, and H Weber 1986 Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics London: Longman 34 Roe,Stood & Burns (1987) The content Areas Houghton Mifflin Company 35 Tomlinson, B (1998) Materials Development in Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 36 Tomlinson, B (Ed.) (2003) Developing Criteria for Evaluating L2 Materials Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 37 Tu Anh, Mai Vi Phuong, Phan Ha, Huynh Dong Hai, Huynh Thi Kim Hoa, Vu Thi Lan, Luong Thi Ly, Song Phuc (2007) Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao - Student book, Vietnam Education Publishing House 38 Ur, P (1996) A Course in Language Teaching: Cambridge Teacher Training and Development Cambridge University Press I M.A.Thesis APPENDIX 1: Phiếu Điều Tra Học Sinh Các em học sinh thân mến, Hiện tìm hiểu ý kiến học sinh phần đọc hiểu (Reading Comprehension) sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh lớp 12 nâng cao Rất mong c¸c em cho biÕt ý kiÕn mét c¸ch trung thùc ý kiÕn cđa c¸c em sÏ gióp Ých cho việc đánh giá điều chỉnh nhằm nâng cao tính hiêu sách cho khoá học sau Cám ơn hợp tác em I Em hÃy đánh dấu (V) vào ô thích hợp 1= Rất không đồng ý 2= Không đồng ý 3= Không biết 4= Đồng ý 5= Rất đồng ý Rất Không Không Đồng không đồng ý có ý ý (4) đồng ý (2) kiến (1) (3) 1.Các đọc sách giáo khoa hữu ích việc học tiếng Anh em Các đọc sách giáo khoa có thông tin bổ ích em Các đọc sách giáo khoa bao gồm nhiều thể loại phong phú Các đọc s¸ch gi¸o khoa gióp em cđng cè vèn tõ vùng tiếng Anh Các đọc sách giáo khoa gióp em më réng vèn tõ vùng tiÕng Anh Các đọc sách giáo khoa giúp em củng cố kiến thức ngữ pháp tiếng Anh Rất đồng ý (5) II M.A.Thesis Các đọc sách giáo khoa giúp em mở rộng kiến thức ngữ pháp tiếng Anh Các đọc sách giáo khoa phù hợp với trình độ tiếng Anh em Các đọc sách giáo khoa khó trình độ tiếng Anh em 10 Các tập ®äc hiĨu s¸ch gi¸o khoa gióp em tù tin để thi tốt nghiệp 11 Các tập đọc hiểu sách giáo khoa giúp em tự tin để thi đại học 12 Các tập đọc hiểu sách giáo khoa giúp em đọc hiểu đ-ợc ý tốt sử dụng để tóm tắt đ-ợc khoá 13 Các tập đọc hiểu sách giáo khoa giúp em đọc tìm thông tin chi tiết cần thiết nhanh 14 Các tập đọc hiểu sách giáo khoa giúp em đọc hiểu đ-ợc hàm ý tác giả tốt 15 Giáo viên không cần thiết chỉnh sửa lại, bổ sung thêm tập đọc hiểu 16.Các tập đọc hiểu sách giáo khoa phù hợp với ph-ơng pháp học tập cá nhân em 17 Nhìn chung, em học đ-ợc nhiều ph-ơng pháp đọc hiểu tiếng Anh có hiệu thông qua tập đọc học hiểu sách giáo khoa Em nêu điểm mà em không thích phần đọc hiểu sách giáo khoa Em nêu điểm mà em thích phần đọc hiểu sách giáo khoa Nếu đ-ợc lựa chọn tài liệu đọc hiểu em có chọn Tiếng Anh nâng cao lớp 12 không? Vì sao? III M.A.Thesis ENGLISH VERSION Student’s Questionnaire We are investigating the students’ opinions on the reading syllabus in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao, which is currently used in 12 English specialized grade in Hoang van Thu school We would appreciate if you could respond to questions honestly Your opinions would be helpful to this evaluation research and to improvement of the reading syllabus for future use Thank you very much for your valuable contributions To answer the survey questions below, please tick the appropriate choice 1= Highly Disagree 2= Disagree 3= No idea 4= Agree 5= Strongly agree Highly Disagree(1) The reading task in the textbook is useful for your learning English The reading task contains useful information for you The reading task contains a variety of genres The reading task helps you to consolidate vocabulary The reading task helps you to develop vocabulary in English The reading task helps you to consolidate grammar of English The reading task helps you to improve grammar of English The reading task is suitable to Disagree (2) No idea (3) Agree (4) Strongly agree (5) IV your level of English The reading task is too difficult for your level of English 10 The reading task in the textbook helps you to feel confident in taking graduation exams 11 The reading task in the textbook helps you to feel confident in taking university entrance exams 12 The reading task in the textbook helps you to read and comprehend the main ideas and use them to summarize the text 13 The reading task helps you to read and find necessary information more quickly 14 The reading task helps you to read and comprehend the author’s point of view 15 The teacher need not modify and supply more reading comprehension tasks 16 The reading task is suitable to your personal method of learning 17 Generally, you have gained a lot of methods to learn reading comprehension through the reading task in the textbook State one thing you not like about the reading syllabus in the textbook State one thing you like most about the reading syllabus in the textbook If given a choice, would you choose this TiÕng Anh 12 n©ng cao? Why? M.A.Thesis V M.A.Thesis APPENDIX CÂU HỎI PHỎNG VẤN CHO HỌC SINH Mục đích học đọc hiểu tiếng Anh em ? Các đọc hiểu sách giá o khoa (SGK) giúp em đạt mục đích mức độ nào? Em cho biết em hài lịng với phần đọc hiểu SGK: đọc tập kèm theo? Những em chưa hài lịng? Sau học xong phần đọc hiểu SGK em thấy khả đọc hiểu em có tốt lên khơng? Hãy cho ví dụ cụ thể có? Nếu khơng sao? Các tập đọc hiểu SGK có giúp em phát triển phương pháp đọc hiểu hiệu khơng? Hãy cho ví dụ cụ thể có? Nếu khơng sao? Theo em phần đọc hiểu SGK cần co cải tiến gì? Giáo viên cần có cải tiến dạy phần đọc hiểu SGK VI M.A.Thesis APPENDIX Overall Evaluation of the Reading Section No Questions Means Score The reading task in the textbook is useful for your learning English 3.63 The reading task contains useful information for you 3.97 The reading task contains a variety of genres 3.13 The reading task helps you to consolidate vocabulary 3.47 The reading task helps you to develop vocabulary in English 3.43 The reading task helps you to consolidate grammar of English 2.87 The reading task helps you to improve grammar of English 2.53 The reading task is suitable to your level of English 3.53 The reading task is too difficult for your level of English 1.90 10 The reading task in the textbook helps you to feel confident in taking graduation exams 2.77 11 The reading task in the textbook helps you to feel confident in taking university entrance exams 1.83 12 The reading task in the textbook helps you to read and comprehend the main ideas and use them to summarize the text 3.07 13 The reading task helps you to read and find necessary information more quickly 3.13 14 The reading task helps you to read and comprehend the author’s point of view 2.53 15 It is not necessary for the teacher to modify and supply more reading comprehension tasks 1.83 16 The reading task is suitable to your personal method of learning 2.40 17 Generally, you have gained a lot of methods to learn reading comprehension through the reading task in the textbook 2.50 VII M.A.Thesis APPENDIX The suggested addition of the reading tasks Unit Pre Higher Education Open University Checking vocabulary: Multiple choice Choose the word that best completes each of the following sentences Why didn’t you the burglary to the police? A tell B admit C notify It may take a few weeks for your application to be _ A dealt B processed C admitted It seems difficult to _ who will be admitted A submit B predict C certify The new school _ only two hundred students A allows B is accepted C admits _ to Vietnamese universities depends on examination results Her behavior is _ No one knows what she’s going to A unpredictable B admissible C predictable The document that _ your birth is called a birth certificate A notifies B affidavit C application We are supposed to _ the research paper to the teacher by the end of the month A process B notify C submit Expected answers: 1.C 2.B 3.B 4.C 5.A 6.A 7.B 8.C While Gap - Questions (Handouts) Read the text and complete the following sentences with the missing information Application for admission to _ finishes in April If you have , you will be awarded points to your entrance examinations results You must submit copies of _ if you are admitted to a university When applying to an American institution, if you don’t have _, you can use an official GED Certificate instead American high school students often take _ in their junior or senior year 6. _ applying to a university in the USA must submit all their high school transcrips in English and the TOEFL test results if nessary Expected answers: Vietnamese higher education institutions an excellent high school diploma your academic records a high school diploma the SAT and the ACT examinations International students Post What kind of higher education institutions would you like to apply to when you graduate from high school? Why? What you plan to major / specialize in? What kind of job would you like to after that? VIII M.A.Thesis Unit Warm-up Game: World Knowledge Quiz - Divide SS into two groups, A and B - Tell SS you are going to read some questions about things around the world SS listen and try to answer as quickly as possible - A correct answer will earn the group one point - Keep a running total of points for each group on the board - The group with more points wins the game These are the questions: What is the longest river in the world? (Expected: the Nile, 6,741 km) What is the longest mountain range in the world? (Expected: the Andes) Which language is spoken by the most people in the world? (Expected: Chinese) Which language has the biggest alphabet? (Expected: Cambodian – 74 letters) What takes up 75% of the earth? (Expected: oceans / water) What is the largest ocean in the world? (Expected: the Pacific Ocean) What is the world’s coldest place? (Expected: Antarctia, -87.8oC What is the world’s hottest place? (Expected: Al Aziziyah, Lybia, 58oC) What is the largest desert in the world? (Expected: the Sahara) 10 What’s the world’s driest place? (Expected: Calama, Chile, No rain for 400 years) While Checking vocabulary – gap-filling Complete each sentence with the correct form of a word in the list just learnt The house was under half a meter of mud Lots of small houses were away in the flood is better than cure There is a on the use of chemical fertilizers A cold wind across the area With the increase in temperature, dry areas and farmland shrinks Green walls of trees help desert sand from Although he the tea carefully, he spilt some on the cloth Desert plants are good at the little water they find 10 Water into ice when it freezes Post- reading Categorizing Read the phrases in the box and put them in the correct column cutting down trees climate and soil quality affected planting green walls of trees a ban on burning firewood for fuel building fences of brushwood herds of animals eating up grass making stone lines to catch up rain water dune fixation forests turning into deserts houses and crops buried pouring oil on sandy areas people leaving IX M.A.Thesis APPENDIX SUPPLEMENTARY READING Tips for reading multiple choice type:  The questions follow the order of the text  Read the text for gist Don’t worry if you don’t understand every word  Read the questions without looking at the options A,B,C or D You may be able to answer some of the questions from your preliminary reading  Underline key words in the questions stem, then find the parts of the text that relate to each questions Underline the corresponding words there  Decide which option best matches the text Highlight parts of the text that confirm the answer  If you are still not sure, try to arrive at the right answer by process of elimination Sample : Read the following passage and mark the letter A,B,C or D to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions Television , like language , can be a cultural challenge for better or worse, and this is what it is in many of its activities , whether voluntarily or, on occasion ,involuntarily Although it may sometimes be soothing, television is often provocative in the sense that it gives information and arouses interest That being said, the new means of broadcasting and communicating throughout the world increases the complexity of television even further An important question is what television is there to and to say In actual fact, however, the issue does not seem to have been put in this way by all governments and their officials, nor by private television companies Since the primary aim is to get an audience (and who would want to make television programs nobody looked at?), program are becoming more and more standardized The cultural challenge represented by television must not turn into a challenge to culture At all events, television carries messages which influence, and will increasingly influence, trends X M.A.Thesis in societies one way or another Either television will contribute to enriching our culture or to enabling some of these cultures to dominate others Undoubtedly there are outstanding events, such as broadcasts of major occasions, but the out-of-the-ordinary nature of a culture message soon becomes part of life, part of the every air breathed by those to whom the messages are sent Living in a world of painting, literature and music is very different thing from the stardom of a composer, writer or performer While the heads of television channels sometimes display boldness , they not seem to find it necessary to when it comes to music (with the occasional exception),because they themselves are not convinced of emotional impact of music on television And yet, in spite of all obstacles, music is challenge through its daily presence This represents a victory for whom? Pure music - that is to say, music soberly presented through the playing of performers - goes down very well on the smell screen Its presence on televisions makes it part of every day life Let us be optimistic and hope that those in charge of television of whatever kind are aware of the importance of their function over and above audience surveys and ratings and that they will call primarily on the talents of cultural people and give them priority over the salesman What is the effect of television according to the author? A It causes intellectual laziness B It makes the viewers think C It is harmful to society D It confuses the viewers Television‟s function is to make people A confused of what is happening B more interested in what is happening C more culturally oriented D more educated in society XI M.A.Thesis In the author‟s opinion, what is wrong with attitude of some governments to television? A They not think it is important B They not pay enough attention to its function C They not use it effectively D They have too much control over it The influence that television may have is possibly A ignored by almost everybody B greatly considered by governments C a substantial benefit for private companies D an enrichment and also a challenge to cultures The author thinks that television programs are danger of A trying to please too many people B preventing the development of society C losing their effect on our culture D declining in popularity What are the heads of television not convinced of its impact? A Music B Literature C Fine arts D Painting According to the author, the heads of the television channels A have an adventurous approach to presenting music B broadcast only important musical events C not think music is effective on television D not want music to be part of everyday life Music has become A very important to television program producers XII B very important to policy makers C part of the cultural message D part of daily life What does the author hope will be the future of television? A More popular programs will be broadcast B Television controllers will change their attitudes C Audience will go on increasing D The right kind of program-makers will be appointed 10 The best title for this passage is? A Television and its programs B The influence of television on governments and companies C The impact of television on culture D The standardization of television programs M.A.Thesis XII M.A.Thesis ... OVERVIEW OF THE READING TASK IN TIENG ANH 12 NANG CAO 2.1 Overview of the National Curriculum and Syllabus for ELT Before an evaluation of the reading tasks of Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao takes place, an... the reading comprehension tasks in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao at a specific secondary school The next chapter presents an overview of the reading task in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao 15 M .A. Thesis CHAPTER... typical types of the reading tasks in Tieng Anh 12 Nang Cao are as follows Form of task Total: 53 While -reading Task - Matching words and meanings 12 - Question- answering 10 Matching Gap filling