luận văn thạc sĩ phát triển động lực đọc của học sinh trung học phổ thông qua việc đọc thêm trường hợp của học sinh lớp 12 tại một trường trung học phổ thông ở tỉnh hà nam​

LIST OF TABLESTable 1: Chart contrasting intensive and extensive reading Welch 1997: 53...7 Table 2: Schedule for an extensive reading program:...30 Table 3: Frequency of extensive readi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF

POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 8140231.01

HANOI, 2019

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF

POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Assoc Prof.Dr Lê Văn Canh

HANOI, 2019

I hereby certify that this minor thesis entitled “Developing high school

students’ reading motivation through extensive reading: The case of 12 th graders at

a high school in Ha Nam Province” is entirely the study of my own work, which

has not been submitted before any degree or examination in any other university,and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated andacknowledged by means of complete references

Hanoi, November 2019

Signature

Vu Dieu Huyen

My sincere gratitude is also extended to all lecturers and staff of PostgraduateStudies for their useful lectures, materials, guidance and enthusiasm during my course.

I would like to gratefully acknowledge the support from my colleagues andstudents, especially students of classes 12A1 and 12A4, who have inspired andguided me in the accomplishment of the study

Last but not least, I would like to thank my beloved family for theirunderstanding, support and encouragement Without them, I would not have beenable to finish this thesis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATION vii

LIST OF TABLES viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the study 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Scope of the study 2

5 Significance of the study 2

6 Method of the study 3

7 Organization of the thesis 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

2.1 Reading 4

2.1.1 Definition of reading 4

2.1.2 Roles of reading in second language teaching 5

2.1.3 Intensive reading vs extensive reading 6

2.2 Extensive reading 8

2.2.1 Definition of extensive reading 8

2.2.2 Characteristics and principles of extensive reading 9

2.2.3 Constraints on developing an extensive reading program for students 11

2.3 Motivation for reading 13

2.3.1 Definition of motivation 13

2.3.2 Reading motivation 14

2.3.3 Factors affecting students‟ reading motivation in learning a second language .15

2.3.4 Extensive reading as a motivator to students to read 18

2.4 Previous studies on extensive reading and students’ reading motivation 20

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 23

3.1 Research approach 23

3.1.1 Overview of action research 23

3.1.2 Rationale for the use of an action research 23

3.1.3 Steps of action research 24

3.2 The research procedures 25

3.2.1 Research context 25

3.2.2 Research participants 26

3.2.3 Research procedures 27

3.3 Data collection instruments 31

3.4 Data collection procedures 32

3.4.1 Planning 32

3.4.2 Pre-intervention questionnaire 33

3.4.3 Post-questionnaire 33

3.5 Data analysis procedure 33

3.6 Summary 34

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 35

4.1 Preliminary investigation 35

4.1.1 Students‟ self-reports of the frequency of extensive reading assignments 35

4.1.2 Students‟ preferred reading material genres and sources of reading materials .38

4.1.3 Students‟ perceived benefits of extensive reading 40

4.1.4 Students‟ perceived effects of extensive reading on students‟ reading comprehension and motivation 41

4.2 Evaluation 43

4.2.1 Research question 1 43

4.2.2 Research question 2 45

4.3 Summary 46

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 48

REFERENCES 52 APPENDICES I

APPENDIX 1: PRE-INTERVENTION QUESTIONNAIRE (English version) IAPPENDIX 2: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE (English version) VIIAPPENDIX 3: AN INTERVENTION COURSE XI

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

GCSE : General Certificate of Secondary Education

ELT : English language teaching

EFL : English as a Foreign Language

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Chart contrasting intensive and extensive reading (Welch 1997: 53) 7

Table 2: Schedule for an extensive reading program: 30

Table 3: Frequency of extensive reading assignments required by teachers 35

Table 4: Students‟ self-reports of their time spent on extensive reading and reasons of extensive reading 36

Table 5: Students‟ preferred reading material genres and sources of reading materials .39

Table 6: Students‟ perceived benefits of extensive reading 40

Table 7: Students‟ perceived effects of extensive reading on students‟ reading comprehension and motivation 42

Table 8: Students‟ assessment of the benefits of extensive reading 43

Table 9: Students‟ attitudes towards extensive reading program 45

Table 10: Summary of the Research Findings 47

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

This part introduces the rationale, the aims, research questions, scope,

significance, and research method of the study This is followed by the structure of

the thesis

1 Rationale of the study

Reading is an important activity which provides linguistic input for thedevelopment of other language skills However, I, as a classroom teacher, observedthat the majority of students were not motivated to read English outside theclassroom From my experience, I hypothesized that student‟s motivation and theirvocabulary could be the reasons for their unsuccessful reading comprehension Most

of students seemed to be passive and reluctant to read They were not aware of thebenefits of reading to their English language learning That‟s why they limited theirreading to the reading texts in the textbook It is documented in the second languagelearning literature that, if learners only read texts from textbooks, it will be notenough for students who are going to take the 2 in 1 GCSE (General Certificate ofSecondary Education) exams in which reading comprehension texts are much morechallenging than texts in the national curriculum, and sometimes are beyondstudents‟ knowledge and reading skill

Most scholars agree that in language teaching, the use of extensive reading isquite useful to the learning process because it promotes students‟ confidence andmotivation and makes the learning process quicker and easier, according toHedgcock and Ferris (2009) Day and Bramford (1998) also add more points that,through extensive reading, students can develop reading habits, get prepared forfurther reading and develop some academic skills More importantly, studentsdevelop positive attitudes towards second language learning In other words, it isagreed upon that reading extensively provides improvement in attitudes towardsfurther reading Despite the well-documented benefits of extensive reading, in myteaching context, not much research was conducted regarding the implementation of

extensive reading and students‟ reading motivation This motivated me to undertakethis action research project, which was aimed at motivating my students to be moreactive in extensive reading.

2 Aims of the study

This action research was conducted with a view to understanding theinfluence of extensive reading on students‟ changed reading motivation Extensivereading is believed to build up knowledge of vocabulary and structures for readingcomprehension It was hoped that when extensive reading was encouraged,students‟ reading motivation would change and their reading competence would beimproved

4 Scope of the study

The study was conducted on volunteer 12 graders in my two classes duringthe first semester of the school year 2019-2020 The research was not aimed atgeneralizing the results Rather, the purpose was to help me to understand whetherthe encouragement and support of students‟ extensive reading changed their readingmotivation or not

5 Significance of the study

The findings of this action research project is believed to be useful for theresearcher because once completed, the study will provide an insight into the wayextensive reading changes students‟ reading motivation What will be achieved inthis research may help teachers highly evaluate reading extensively as a way toimprove students‟ reading motivation Moreover, the research will be muchbeneficial to students who would like to improve reading achievement

6 Method of the study

As the aim of this action research project is to gain understandings of theinfluence of extensive reading on high school students‟ reading motivation, it fitsthe purpose of an action research design As Tsui (1993: 33) pointed out, “actionresearch is a very effective way of helping teachers to reflect on their teaching and

to come up with their own alternatives to improve their practice.”

The author‟s desire is to measure the development in the students‟ readingmotivation before and after applying extensive reading activity In order to get data,questionnaires were employed including a pre-intervention questionnaire, and post-questionnaire The data collected was analyzed and discussed so that reliablefindings could be clarified

7 Organization of the thesis

The thesis consists of five chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction: introduces the rationale, aims, research questions,

scope, significance, method of the study and organization of the thesis

Chapter 2: Literature review: covers the overview of the literature which

includes relevant theoretical background and reviews of related studies concerningreading, extensive reading and the use of extensive reading in developing students‟reading motivation

Chapter 3: Research methodology: includes an overview of the approach

used to conduct the study including the participants of the study, theinstrumentation, the methods and procedures of data collection and data analysis

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion: demonstrates the findings

accompanied by data analysis and discussion

Chapter 5: Conclusion: recapitulates the major findings of the study,

represents further recommendations for the implementation of authentic materialsand acknowledges the limitations of the study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews the literature on extensive reading and students‟reading motivation in foreign/second language learning The three main issues thatare included in the chapters are the theoretical background of reading, extensivereading and reading motivation First, the definition, roles and forms of reading areintroduced Next, an overview of extensive reading such as definitions, principlesand characteristics of extensive reading and constraints on developing extensiveprogram for learners are precisely analyzed Last, motivation and motivation forreading definitions, factors affecting students‟ reading motivation in learning asecond language, extensive reading as a motivator are also presented in this chapter

2.1 Reading

2.1.1 Definition of reading

One of the skills that can be considered the first step in acquiring English isreading It plays an essential part to achieve success inside and outside educationalactivities However, there is no exact definition of reading because different authorsand researchers define this term in different ways under various perspectives

According to William (1984), reading is a process whereby one looks at andunderstands what has been written It may be the simplest definition and easiest tounderstand about reading as it is considered a mental process in which readers areactive, not passive, to look into a written text and absorb the information from thewritten linguistic message

Sharing the opinion with William, Alderson et al (1987) defines reading asthe process of constructing meaning from written texts They also add that reading

is a complex skill requiring coordination of a number of interrelated sources ofinformation Reading is also defined in a single sentence as it is the ability to drawmeaning from the printed page and interpret this information appropriately (Candlinand Hall, 2002)

Brunan (1989) defines reading as a two way interaction between the readersand the writers Smith (1973) shares the same opinion with Brunan when he

supposes that reading is an activity in which information is transferred from atransmitter to a receiver.

In short, there are a number of opinions and definitions of reading according

to different scholars From the definitions above, what comes out clearly is thatmost scholars seem to agree that reading is to do with readers, texts and meanings.However, it cannot be concluded which is better and more accurate because each ofthem solves one aspect of reading, for survival, for learning or for pleasure Readingfor survival means reading for information about outside world such as street signs,timetables, advertisements, etc In contrast, reading for learning is the in-classreading, which is controlled and regulated by the syllabus or the textbook Readingfor pleasure is reading for relaxation, it is something that one does not have to doand depends on one‟s interest such as reading short stories or comic books, so on.According to Kim (2002), reading is a very complicated process involving a variety

of factors that interact with one another Therefore, learners should be provided withsufficient scaffolding so that they can achieve more effective readingcomprehension

2.1.2 Roles of reading in second language teaching

There is no doubt that reading functions as a crucial element in secondlanguage teaching The learning of this skill is especially essential component foracquiring a second language Reading is necessary for all aspects of daily life Notonly is it an important tool in education and individual development but it also playscentral roles in individuals‟ careers Most of the materials for learning are in thewritten form of books or computer based materials Therefore, it is important todevelop text‟s understanding, to enhance fluency, to expand knowledge, to build upbackground knowledge, and to practice reading strategies

Obviously, reading is highly emphasized in second language teaching of alllevels on the ground that it sets the basis for other language skills The followingquote by Krashen (1993:23) indicates the crucial role of reading “Reading is goodfor you Reading is the only way we become good readers, develop a good writingstyle, and adequate vocabulary, advanced grammar, and the only way we become

good spellers” He strongly agrees that constant reading helps learners be better able

to read fluently, write skillfully with a good master of grammar and vocabulary.The more learners read, the more learners become proficient in the target language

as readers, writers, speakers and listeners

All in all, reading helps to expand learners‟ background knowledg e, andexposes them to more linguistic input Also, reading brings learners enjoyment andrefreshment as well Through reading one learns and gets pleasure For each readingpurpose, different types of reading are employed

2.1.3 Intensive reading vs extensive reading

In foreign language teaching, two approaches of reading are recognized,namely intensive and extensive reading The differences in these two kinds ofreading are discussed bellows

Intensive reading is an activity of reading in the classroom in limited time It

is a classroom oriented activity in which short texts are dealed with detailedunderstanding under a teacher‟s guidance This form of reading is defined byNuttall (2000:38) that it “involves approaching the text under the guidance of ateacher or a task which forces the students to focus on the text” This activityfocuses on achieving a full understanding of the text that teachers select Palmer(1964:111) considers intensive reading as the activity “take a text, study it line byline, referring at every moment to our dictionary and our grammar, comparing,analyzing, translating, and retaining every expression that it contains” In otherwords, intensive reading relates to mainly reading short texts and focuses onspecific lexical or syntactic parts of the text The aim of intensive reading is to

“arrive at an understanding, not only of what the text means but how the meaning isproduced”, (Nuttall, 2005:38) Intensive reading requires from a reader fullyunderstanding of the material so that a learner can see the main idea of a text, findpronoun referents or guess the meaning of unknown words Intensive reading makesreaders‟ experience frustrating, unpleasant and unproductive As a result, studentsdislike reading

Extensive reading, contrary to intensive reading, a long-run approach,usually takes place outside the classroom It is an individual activity which provideslearners with relatively long reading materials for independent reading for pleasure,information and general understanding rather than the meaning of individual words

or sentences According to Long and Richards (1971:216), extensive reading occurs

“when students read a large amount of high interest material, usually out of class,concentrating on meaning, reading for gist and skipping unknown words”.Extensive reading is for general understanding which means comprehension of thereading material less than 100% It is a program that facilitates and motivatesstudents to choose what to read from a wide variety of text types according to theirown interests The main assignment which is given to students is reading

Differences between the two approaches to the teaching of reading aresummarized by Roberta Welch (1997) in the table below:

Table 1: Chart contrasting intensive and extensive reading (Welch 1997: 53)

Intensive Reading Type of reading Extensive reading

Despite the differences between those approaches mentioned above interms of how learners read, they are both to be used in a classroom Drew andSørheim (2009) encourage a balanced approach, which is a combination of various

approaches to trigger both the conscious and subconscious processes in learning alanguage It is important for teachers to be up-to-date on different approaches forteaching purposes The following section will discuss further extensive reading inforeign language education contexts.

2.2 Extensive reading

2.2.1 Definition of extensive reading

Extensive reading is sometimes referred alternatively as “Supplementaryreading (West, 1955), “Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading” (Vaughan, 1982;Krashen, 1985), “Pleasure Reading” (Mikulecky, 1990; Trelease, 2006), etc Differentscholars of different approaches provide different definitions of extensive reading

Palmer (1927, as cited in Smith, 2003, p 454) defines that extensive readingmeans “rapid reading” Those with knowledge of a foreign language are able to readtexts written in that language with understanding and without that process of mentaltranslation

The term "extensive reading" by Bamfort et.al (1991) refers to reading of alarge quantity of material or long texts, for global or general understanding; with theintention of obtaining pleasure from the text Further, because reading isindividualized, with students choosing the books they want to read, the books arenot discussed in class Extensive reading encourages students to read, read and readmore Davis (1995:329) shares the same notion of extensive reading in which pupilsare given the time, encouragement and materials to read pleasurably, at their ownlevel, as many books as they can, without the pressures of testing or marks Thegoal of extensive reading is encourage more reading, give more experience thatbuilds language

According to Hafiz and Tudor (1989:4), extensive reading is “the reading oflarge amounts of material in the second language over time for pleasure or interest,and without the addition of productive tasks or follow up language work” Throughextensive reading, learners self-select reading materials and writing brief summaries

or comments on what they read

Sharing the same idea with Hafiz and Tudor, Helgesen, M (2005) doesbelieve that extensive reading is an activity through which learners read easy andenjoyable books It is considered as a pleasure activity that makes learning easier.However, it is noticed that extensive reading varies depending on students‟motivation and school resources (Hedge, 2000).

In language teaching, extensive reading is considered an approach tolanguage teaching in which learners read a lot of easy and enjoyable materials in thenew language Students choose their own reading material and read it independently

of the teacher They read for general, overall meaning, information and enjoyment.Extensive exposes learners to “large quantities of material within their linguisticcompetence” (Grabe and Stoller, 2002, cited in Pigada & Schmitt, 2006)

From a series of definitions above, it can be concluded that extensive readingrefers to a reading program which provides learners with a source of readingmaterials that suitable for their reading abilities Despite different terms of extensivereading, they have the same basis in theory which is intended to develop goodreading habits, to build up knowledge of vocabulary and structure, and to encourage

a liking for reading

2.2.2 Characteristics and principles of extensive reading

There are several defining characteristics which make extensive readingdifferent to most reading that happens in the classrooms Hedge (2000) listed fivecharacteristics of extensive reading as follows:

 Reading large quantities of material, whether short stories and novel, newspaper

or magazine articles, or professional reading,

 Reading consistently over time on a frequent and regular basis,

 Reading longer texts (more than a few paragraphs in length) of types listed in thefirst point above,

 Reading for general meaning, primarily for pleasure, curiosity, or professional interest,

 Reading longer texts during class time but also engaging in individual,

independent reading at home, ideally of self-selected materials

From all the above characteristics of extensive reading, a conclusion can bedrawn that: "Extensive reading is reading of a large quantity of material or longtexts, for global or general understanding; with the intention of obtaining pleasurefrom the text” (Susser & Robb, 1990:165) Further, because reading isindividualized, with students choosing the books they want to read, the books arenot discussed in class (Bamford et al., 1991) The goal of an extensive readingapproach is to get students enjoy reading in the target language.

Day and Bamford (2002) on their part identify the top ten principles related

to successful extensive reading:

1- Students read as much as possible, perhaps in and definitely out of the classroom2- A variety of materials on a wide range of topics is available so as to encouragereading for different reasons and in different ways

3- Students select what they want to read and have the freedom to stop readingmaterial that fails to interest them

4- The purposes of reading are usually related to pleasure, information, and generalunderstanding These purposes are determined by the nature of the material andthe interest of the student

5- Reading is its own reward There are few or no follow-up exercises after reading6- Reading materials are well within the linguistic competence of the students interms of vocabulary and grammar Dictionaries are rarely used while readingbecause the constant stopping to look-up words makes fluent reading difficult 7-Reading is individual and silent, at the student‟s own pace, and outside class,

done when and where the student chooses

8- Reading speed is usually faster than slower as students read books and othermaterial they find easily understandable

9- Teachersorient students to the goals of the programme, explain the methodology,keep track of what each student reads, and guide students in getting the most out

of the programme

10- The teacher is a role model of a reader for students- an active member of theclassroom reading community, demonstrating what it means to be a reader andthe rewards of being a reader

The principles listed by Day & Bamford are very good standards andinspiration for how to explore extensive reading However, these principles should

be carefully considered and adapted to make learners‟ studying effective Learners‟needs and capabilities should also be taken into consideration when educatorsdecide how to adjust these principles

2.2.3 Constraints on developing an extensive reading program for students

In addition to the roles of extensive reading as motivation for students toread, there are some constraints on developing a further reading program forlearners, which challenges educators

Firstly, it is an obstacle for teachers to find supplementary reading materialswhich meet the demand of all students in terms of both interests and levels Nuttall(2000) suggests the four main criteria for choosing material for the extensivereading program: short, appealing, varied and easy An extensive reading programshould be suitable with students‟ capacity, but diversified in topics, interesting andculturally relevant to students so that reading materials can attract learners‟concerns Actually, not all of schools can provide English reading materials whichare suitable with students‟ levels It is teachers‟ duty that develops an extensivereading program for students, which should therefore consist of texts graded into anumber of reading levels to cater for the full range of ability in the class If a student

is not enjoying the book they are reading, encourage them to choose another one,even if this means they will not finish it This is what real readers do Readers‟interests come first because students will not read extensively or voluntarily unlessthey are interested in the material (Jeon and Day, 2016)

Secondly, implementing a supplementary reading program may also be ahard task with the large number of students in a class Most of classes consist ofapproximately 40 students of mixed ability, which may be difficult for teachers tohandle a big number of students as every student might have a wide range of topics

in their mind To overcome it, for the orientation of minimizing the various topics ofextensive reading, teachers can provide particular reading materials to be chosen

by students every week However, teachers should ensure that learners can findtexts that they are interested in and are of an appropriate level As Nuttall(1982:185) points out that reading skill will develop much better if a student reads alot of books that are too easy rather than a few that are too difficult ElishevaBarkon (2017) also adds that it is more important to read for a few minutes everyday than to read for 20 minutes only once a week.

Thirdly, extensive reading is not about testing It is the next limitation ofextensive reading program It is about helping students to build their reading speed andfluency, and become more confident readers in English Readers might be assessed bysimply showing that they have read and understood a large number of books over thecourse of a semester Therefore, to evaluate and keep track of students‟ readingprogress, teachers can offer follow-up activity after reading (Day and Bamford, 2004).Another way to do this is to create a generic book choice reading reflection worksheet.This is something that the students should complete each week It will require them notonly to summarize the book, but also to answer questions about how the book relates totheir personal life and how it has helped them grow as a reader (Powell, 2011).However, the important thing is to make sure that the tasks are short and will not take

up so much time that they are distracted from their main job of reading Furthermorethe tasks should be simple and easy to do so that these will not put students off theextensive reading program One of the ways to observe students‟ extensive reading is

to encourage them to report back their reading in certain ways (Harmer, 2007) forexample by employing reading journal

From the constraints above, it can be concluded that extensive readingprogram can only benefit the teaching and learning process if they are seriouslytaken by the school, the teachers and the students If an extensive reading program

is integrated into the learning process and is regarded as a relaxing and regular ofstudents‟ activities, the materials chosen are interesting and carefully graded withstudents‟ right levels, the program will develop a reading motivation in the studentsand bring about marked improvement in their English in the long run

2.3 Motivation for reading

2.3.1 Definition of motivation

“Motivation” is a complex psychological construct which can be defineddiversely The concept “motivation” has passed through a number of differentinterpretations and therefore many theories of motivation have been proposed

According to Richards and Schmidt (2002), motivation is defined as “thedriving force in any situation that leads to action” Sharing the same ideas withthem, Harmer (2007:27) defines motivations as internal drive which pushessomeone to act in order to achieve something

Lightbrown and Spada (2006: 63) see motivation in second languagelearning to be a “complex phenomenon” which can be defined in term of twofactors: learners‟ communicative needs and their attitude towards the secondlanguage community Motivation balances between the communicative needs of thelearner and his or her attitude towards the second language community

A summary of definitions offered by Mitchell (1982) is quite similar to thedefinition offered by Williams and Burdens (1997) when they suppose thatmotivation becomes those psychological process that cause arousal, direction, andpersistence of voluntary actions that are goal-related

One of the leading researchers in language learning motivation, Dornyei(2001), claims that motivation is an abstract, hypothetical concept that we use toexplain why people think and behave as they do Motivation is one affectivecomponent that is influenced by instructions and involved in the performance of alllearners‟ responses Gardner (2006:241) also points out that students with higherlevels of motivation will do better than ones with lower levels Motivation is one ofthe main determining factors in success in second language learning Students canhardly learn a language without motivation because it creates the strength andpositive attitude to get students involved in learning process Moreover, whetherstrategies can carry out tasks successfully or not also effects students‟ level ofmotivation and capacities to succeed in learning the target language Because of

that, strategies to motivate students efficiently are the most recurrent and essentialconcerns of all language teachers.

2.3.2 Reading motivation

Reading motivation is an aspect which attracts many teachers andresearchers‟ over the years However, the term “reading motivation” has beenvariously defined according to different scholars

Motivation for reading is a crucial entity for successfully engaging in thereading process because it is the element that maintains students‟ engagementthroughout the entire reading process The more students read, the better readersthey become (Bamford & Day, 1998) Motivation has close relation with learners incomprehending a text, and learners need to have motivation in reading It refers topositive attitude toward reading in English and willingness to read more Englishmaterials

According to some linguistic experts in the field of reading (Baker andWigfield, 1999), reading motivation is one of the key factors that influence readingefficiency and learning motivation in general Reading motivation is the answers tothe questions like what makes one read, why do some people want to repeat theirreading experience, how does one become a reader for life, and so on

Guthrie and Wigfield (2000: 405) defines reading motivation as an

“individual‟s personal goals, values, and beliefs with regard to the topics, processesand outcomes of reading” In this definition, the reading motivation of eachindividual is varied depending on context and the way the text is presented

Hermosa (2002) considers reading motivation as the interest or desire to readfor different purposes She does believe that it is important for teachers to makeintegrative reading activities to facilitate learners‟ real love and passion for readingboth inside and outside the class

Resnick and Lester (2000:5) states that “motivation is one of the mostimportant ingredients in skilled reading” Motivation is a contributing factor inlanguage learning because learning will be more effective and efficient if it is

pushed by motivation Students would likely to read more when they are allowed tochoose their reading materials because they would discover that reading is anenjoyable activity (Hairul, Ahmadi, & Pourhossein, 2012).

Gambrell (2011) identifies seven research-based rules of engagement thatfoster the reading motivation in students According to Gambrell, students are moremotivated to read when:

• reading tasks and activities are relevant to their lives,

• a wide range of reading materials is accessed to

• opportunities to engage in sustained readings are available

• opportunities to make choices about what they read and how they engage inand complete literacy tasks are available

• opportunities to socially interact with others about the texts they are readingare available

• opportunities to be successful with challenging texts are foreseen

• classroom incentives reflect the value and importance of reading (p.173-176)

2.3.3 Factors affecting students’ reading motivation in learning a second

language

It has been broadly accepted that motivation is one of the most fundamentalelements in foreign language learning Without enough motivation, almost learnerseven the most extraordinary skills cannot achieve long-term goals However,motivation for reading is not the same among learners because it depends on readingmaterials, teacher‟s attitude and students‟ behavior-related factors

2.3.3.1 Reading materials

Reading materials are one of the most important factors determininglearners‟ motivation for reading According to Lightbown and Spada (1999:57),students are more likely to be motivated to read more reading materials when theyare interesting and relevant enough to their age and ability

Cho et al (2010) add that materials for reading should be interesting yetchallenging in order to motivate readers The role of materials in enhancing readingmotivation has also been gaining clarity

In terms of the level of difficulty, reading texts should be suitable forstudents‟ levels It is readily available and easy to understand If students areassigned to read the texts which are beyond their language proficiency level, theywill become overwhelmed and soon, they will be discouraged and frustrated They

do not understand the texts because of a great deal of unknown words, complexsentence structures and so on

In terms of the topic of the reading texts, it is noted that the topics should beinteresting enough to attract students‟ desire to read If the topics of the readingtexts are not interesting and irrelevant to learners‟ experience and knowledge, theymay stop reading immediately because those texts do not satisfy leaners‟expectations need and curiosity Therefore, it is a challenge for both teachers andlearners to choose the texts with rich source of motivation such as music, films,technology, sports, hobbies, etc When students are interested in the topic, theyenjoy reading and their reading comprehension is the best achieved

In terms of the content of the reading texts, it should be carefully chosen aslong as texts catch up with readers‟ interest with some relevance to the situation andcontext The vocabulary in the reading text must be of appropriate level withlearners The complexity of grammar must not be too great so that learners can seethe content of the texts they are following

From the analysis mentioned above, it can be concluded that reading textsplay a very important role in reading learning environment in terms of its level ofchallenge, topics and content Nuttall (1996) offers three criteria for teachers tochoose reading materials for students such as suitability of content (interesting,challenging but appropriate), exploitability (facilitate the achievement of certainlanguage and content goals), readability (suitable level of difficulty withoutoverwhelming readers)

2.3.3.2 Teachers’ attitudes

Galluzzo (2005:142) also emphasizes the importance of teaching which is determined by teachers‟ attitude when he says that “nothing is more central to

student learning than the quality of teacher” Ericksen (1978:3) points out

“Effective learning in the classroom depends on the teacher‟s ability…” According

to these researchers, students‟ learning motivation is directly affected by teachersand their teaching techniques with appropriate guidance and advice

Furthermore, students‟ learning motivation is also strongly affected by whathappens in the classroom, including teachers‟ personality, attitude and teachingmethods Teachers play a significant role in students‟ learning of a foreign languagebecause they can either facilitate or impede the learning process Students‟ interest

in learning much depends on whether teachers are warm, sensitive, enthusiastic,empathetic, humorous and flexible or not Therefore, teachers should vary readingactivities both in and outside the class and adapt reading materials so that they canprevent demotivation and increase learners‟ interest level

Additionally, the way teachers give feedback also directly influences students‟learning motivation In order to achieve effect learning environment, teachers areencouraged to create a competitive learning atmosphere in which students are not afraid

of making mistakes and willing to exposure themselves and express their own thinking,interest and learning needs Davies (1996) also shared his own ideas about factorsaffecting learning motivation He emphasized that in learning how to use a languageeffectively, students must be actively engaged in using language He also appreciatedthe role of the teacher of English in creating opportunities within the classroomsituation, which enables students to think through language and to express theirlearning through the models of speaking, listening, reading and writing

In brief, there are two main things that teachers should keep in mind inhelping learners to study a language The first is to provide the students withsuitable materials, and the second is to provide them with suitable teachingactivities Nuttall (1982: 192) considers teacher‟s job as “providing first, suitabletexts and second, activities that will focus the students‟ attention on the text”

2.3.3.3 Students’ behavior

Students‟ behavior also holds a considerable role in the second languagereading classroom and has a close relationship with motivation

Among some factors that influence the second language learning motivation,Oxford and Shearin (1994) emphasizes some student-related factors such as attitude,beliefs about self, goals, involvement and personal attribute The author also saidthat learning can only happens when certain affective conditions such as positive,self-confidence and low anxiety exist This opinion is similar to Krashen‟s (1985)when he proposed that attitudes can act as barriers or bridges to reading in a newlanguage and are the essential environmental ingredient for language reading.

Obviously, reading in a foreign language is really difficult because ofstudents‟ limited reading skill, which is caused by their lack of vocabulary, culturalunderstanding and more importantly, lack of frequent practice of reading One ofthe factors leading to these problems is that learners do not find themselvesinterested in reading In other words, students have no motivation for reading skill.Readers usually cope with a large number of new words, unfamiliar topics whenthey have no skill of guessing their meanings Consequently, students cannotconcentrate well on the reading texts, or when they get to the end of the text, theymay not recall what they have read from the beginning

To improve reading motivation and reading ability, it is necessary thatstudents be willing to select materials they like, and read materials from easy todifficult Students will become more motivated when assigned a book that theywould typically choose on their own (Moley, Bandre, & George, 2011) The freechoice and unlimited time of reading materials are believed to make positiveattitudes toward reading in the second language According to Powell (2011),teachers should build their curriculum around student interest books rather thanfollowing pre-determined content

2.3.4 Extensive reading as a motivator to students to read

Extensive reading as an effective strategy to learn a language has beengaining popularity for a long time It is also highly evaluated as a way for fosteringlearners‟ motivation and progress in reading development and improvement atvarious levels

Strong (1996:291) emphasizes that “extensive reading of literature canencourage students to develop positive attitudes toward reading” Students who read

a lot improve positive attitudes toward reading and develop motivation in studying alanguage There are relatively few studies examining the relationship betweenmotivation and reading in a second language

Also discussing the role of extensive reading in language education asmotivators, Nuttall (1996:127) states that “getting students to read extensively is theeasiest and most effective way of improving their reading skill …It is much easier

to teach people to read better if they are learning in a favorable climate, wherereading is valued not only as an educational tool, but as a source of enjoyment”

Day and Bamford (1998) also suggests that applying the extensive readingapproach in English learning class has the potential to influence all of the variables

in the motivation model as follows First, the reading materials are interesting andreadily available to attract students Second, reading ability is not a problem forlow-level reading ability learners because they read at levels appropriate to theirreading ability Next, free choice of reading material produces positive attitudetoward reading in the second language Learners have no fear of evaluation whenthey finish reading Last, the extensive reading approach creates a classroomenvironment that values and encourages reading Motivation is a force that makepeople do (or not do) something (Day and Bamford, 1998) If a child‟s readingmotivation is high, the amount and breadth of reading increases (Wigfield andGuthrie, 1997), and if the amount and breadth of reading increase, a child willachieve more academically (Anderson, Wilson and Fileding, 1998)

The benefits of extensive reading are diverse and wide-range Bell (1998)lists some basic roles of extensive reading in language learning as enhancinglearners‟ language competence and exposure to language, increasing vocabulary,building confidence with text, development prediction skills Grabe (2012) alsoemphasizes some benefits of extensive reading that are to build vocabulary andstructural awareness, enhance background knowledge, develop automaticity,improve comprehension skills, and promote confidence and motivation

Obviously, many of the studies and researchers already support extensivereading, which allows learners to find pleasure in reading when they gain a generalunderstanding of literacy ideas, learn reading strategies, and acquire newvocabulary Various researchers have asserted the strengths and a number ofpositive effects of extensive reading on students‟ reading motivation Most of themalso agree that extensive reading plays an important role in developing fluentsecond language readers because learners develop the ability to read large quantities

of written materials with pleasure (Takase, 2007)

To sum up, extensive reading in language learning can be considered as amotivator because extensive reading materials help:

- To provide comprehensible input

- To enhance learners‟ general language competence

- To increase the students‟ exposure to the language

- To increase knowledge of vocabulary

- To lead to improvement in writing

- To increase affect and motivate learners to read

- To consolidate previously learned language

- To encourage the exploitation of textual redundancy

- To facilitates the development of prediction skills

Extensive reading is considered as a motivator to students and one of themain determinants of reading achievement It can result in learner‟s autonomy andformulate high intrinsic motivation (Hedge, 2000) Learners‟ motivation to readincreases when they are interested in what they are reading, which is why it is up tothe learner to decide what to read in the extensive reading approach Consequently,the reading motivation of each individual is different, depending on numerousexternal factors and changes in the course Therefore, the research of how to changestudents‟ reading motivation has become a challenging task

2.4 Previous studies on extensive reading and students’ reading motivation

Many studies have shown that extensive reading has positive effects onvarious aspects of second language development and on attitudes towards second

language reading Extensive reading has also been promoted as a method ofincreasing reading motivation There have been few studies which have examinedthe relationship between extensive reading and the motivation to read.

Day and Bamford (1998) emphasized that applying the extensive readingapproach in English learning class has the potential to influence all of the variables

in the motivation model They supposed that free choice of reading materialproduces positive attitudes toward reading in the second language; therefore,reading extensively may create a classroom environment that values and encouragefurther reading

Additionally, Mori (2002) in a study “Refining Motivation to read in aforeign language” indicated that when students do not have enough exposure withthe target language they do not get the necessary desire to read anything in thatlanguage On the contrary, the more the learners are in contact with the targetlanguage, the more they become motivated to read in that language (2013:1239).Therefore, reading materials chosen for extensive reading should concentrate onstudent‟s needs, tastes and interest to motivate and energize them to read more

Gao (2004) carried out a research to find out whether extensive reading canincrease motivation or not The experiment had two groups of high school studentsfrom Taiwan with the same English teachers and the same lessons of Englishcourses One was the experiment group, which practiced extensive reading eachweek and the other was the control group After one year, the results finally showedthat the experiment group, with extensive reading practice, gained noticeably highermotivation in language learning, and greater confidence in their English

Another study conducted by Kirin and Wasanasomsithi (2010) showed thathigh amount of reading had positive effects on students‟ reading comprehension,reading pace and also reading motivation They affirmed that the more participantsread, the more they comprehend In addition, after finishing the experiment withextensive reading, participants had positive attitudes towards reading activity

A number of international studies have been conducted regarding thepositive effects of an extensive reading program For example, Day et al (2011)

reviewed several studies conducted from 1981 to 2008, which showed that the gainsare related to reading rate, reading strategies, oral fluency, attitude, motivation, andgeneral language proficiency.

In Vietnam, there have been some research projects on the effects ofextensive reading on improving reading motivation of the learners The first one,Dao, T.N (2014) in his MA thesis also emphasized the role of Internet as an onlineextensive reading resource which can be best used to develop extensive reading forVietnamese learners of English The subjects of his study were 30 students of 10thgraders at Tuyen Quang Gifted High School In his teaching applications, he tried todesign extensive reading activities to motivate students to learn and also attempted

to address certain challenges in this approach

Additionally, Tran‟s study was conducted at two intact English classes at auniversity in Vietnam in 2018 The subjects for the study were 68 participants oftwo groups The first group is composed of 33 subjects as a control group Thesecond group included 35 English students as a treatment groups All of them arefirst year Vietnamese EFL learners and none of the participants had previouslyexperienced extensive reading before The study set out to seek whether extensivereading help improve EFL learners‟ reading or not

All these studies and research on the effects of extensive reading programindicate that supplementary materials can be an appropriate way for improvinglearners‟ background language skills, and especially developing students‟motivation for reading In other words, the extensive program has effected asubstantial improvement in learners‟ reading proficiency and motivation Hence, theresearcher decided to carry out an action research to investigate the effectiveness ofextensive reading on developing students‟ reading motivation

In summary, this literature review shows that extensive reading promises to

be an effective strategy to develop students‟ reading motivation However, thereview also shows that the influence of extensive reading on Vietnamese highschool students‟ reading motivation remains to be one of the issues that are worthfurther investigation

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The focus of this chapter is to provide information about the action researchproject reported in this thesis The information includes the description of themethodology employed to collect data for the study

3.1 Research approach

3.1.1 Overview of action research

This study is Action Research in nature Action research is one of the mostcommon research approaches in applied linguistics to be extensively used toresearch changes in teaching practice It refers to the conjunction of three elements:action, research, and participation It has become a valued research methodology, acollaborative and innovative approach that encourages people‟s active intervention

to take systematic action to resolve specific problems

According to Reason and Bradbury (2001:1), action research is defined as “aparticipatory, democratic process concerned with developing practical knowledge inthe pursuit of worthwhile human purposes It seeks to bring together action andreflection, theory and practice, in participation with others, in the pursuit of practicalsolutions to issues of pressing concern to people, and more generally the flourishing

of individual persons and their communities”

As defined in Cohen and Manion (1994:186), action research is “small-scaleintervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of theeffects of such intervention” Cohen, Manion, and Morrison (2007:297) also showthe importance of action research that “action research is a powerful tool for changeand improvement at the local level It can be used in almost any setting where aproblem involving people, tasks and procedure cries out for solution”

3.1.2 Rationale for the use of an action research

Action research aims to increase to control the ability of the involvedcommunity or organization members to control their own destinies more effectivelyand to keep improving their capacity to do so within a more sustainable and just

environment Cohen and Manion (2007) state that the aim of action research is toimprove the current state of affairs within educational context in which the research

is carried out

Kemmis and McTaggart (1988, cited in Nunan, 1992, p 17) stated the threedefining characteristics of action research Firstly, it is carried out by practitionersrather than outside researchers Secondly, it is collaborative Thirdly, it is aimed atchanging things

This research matches well the features of action research The inspirationfor the research was the recognition and observation of a real problem in the classesthat my colleagues and I taught in the past few school years Most of the studentsappeared to poorly participate in reading lessons Most of them seemed to beinsufficiently motivated to read in English This research was conducted with adesire to improve students' reading motivation through extensive reading materials.With this view, this research meets the demand of action research project

First of all, this research was carried out by myself, a classroom teacher, with

my own students in my two regular classes In addition, the students and Icollaborated during the process of doing the research Finally, the aim of theresearch is to gain understanding of whether extensive reading had some positiveinfluence on my students‟ reading motivation

3.1.3 Steps of action research

In the model of action research, Altricher and Gstettner (1993: 343, cited inCohen et al., 2004) indicate four steps: finding a starting point; clarifying thesituation; developing action strategies and putting them into practice; makingteachers‟ knowledge public Tsui (1993) suggested 5 steps in conducting actionresearch: Identifying problems; Finding causes of the problem; Designing strategiesfor improvement (plan for action) and writing a proposal for action research; Tryingout the strategies (action) and keeping a diary of what happened in the class; andEvaluating the try-out Whereas Nunan (1992:19) suggested seven steps as follows:

- Step 1: Initiation (Identify the problem)

- Step 2: Preliminary investigation (Collect data through a variety of means)

- Step 3: Hypothesis (Assumption) (Develop research questions)

- Step 4: Intervention (Devise strategies and innovation to be implemented)

- Step 5: Evaluation (Collect data again and analyze it to work out the findings)

- Step 6: Dissemination (Report the result by running workshops or issuing a paper)

- Step 7: Follow-up (Find alternative methods to solve the same problem)

In short, action research is a kind of scientific study which is often carriedout by a teacher or an educator in order to solve a practical problem in a classroom.Action research is not a panacea for all ills but provides a means for people to moreclearly understand their situations and to formulate effective solutions to problemsthey face

Action research is employed in this study to explore the extent to which theapplication of extensive reading to teach reading comprehension helps to developstudents‟ reading motivation The author follows five first steps of an actionresearch cycle suggested by Nunan (1992) in conducting the study because thesesteps are relevant to the main goal of the researcher‟s enquiry, and suitable for theresearcher‟s teaching situation and purpose

3.2 The research procedures

3.2.1 Research context

This action research project was conducted at a high school in Phu Ly City,

Ha Nam province The school has 30 classes with an average of 40 students perclass The physical condition of the school is considered as a supportiveenvironment for language teaching and learning with favorable facilities such asrooms well-equipped with overhead projector, screen, loud speakers, CD and CDplayer There were three forty-five-minute English classes and one optional lessonevery week Each unit consists of 5 lessons and each lesson focuses on differentbasic skills

The students of approximately 16-18 years old had learned English as acompulsory subject for about 9 years, but their language competence was not at the

same level For some students, the things they had learned at the secondary schoolseem to be completely new Their vocabulary was not large enough to understand ashort and simple passage Over the years working as a teacher of English, I foundthat many students at this high school tended to got low scores in readingcomprehension tests The majority of students claimed that reading seemed to bemost difficult skill for them to master because of the variety of unfamiliar wordsand the complexity of grammatical structures Moreover, students‟ low languageknowledge prevented them from attaining this input skill This discouragedstudents‟ reading motivation, which was the result of infrequent reading practiceand low reading comprehension Additionally, the main reason, as investigated, isthat students were overdependent on reading texts in textbooks as their major source

of reading They did not read much outside the classroom if they were not required

by their teachers

In addition, the amount of time allocated to reading is, according to thesyllabus, not much Therefore, teachers, in most cases, hardly use supplementaryreading materials rather than those in the textbooks chosen in advance by thecurriculum, which students can hardly find motivation to read As a result, they lose

a chance to become autonomous readers Teachers often employ the traditionalmethod of teaching in reading lessons Most of the time, the teachers play the keyrole in the classroom, being the main speakers working through the text Theteachers explain new words, new structures even willingly give the answers andevidence to some difficult exercises without waiting for students‟ thinking Thenthe students are more passive

Those reasons mentioned above motivate for this action research project

3.2.2 Research participants

The participants are 86 students in two class 12A1 and 12A4 of a high school

in Ha Nam province during 8 weeks of the first semester of the school year

2019-2020, of whom there are 56 female students and 30 males Students study Englishwith a textbook during three classes of 45 minutes and one optional class in the

morning each week The students participating in the study were at the age of 17who started studying English at grade 6 and have quite a full knowledge ofgrammar; however, not many have a rich vocabulary and most often have problemwith reading skill in English When looking into this problem, the researcher foundout that students often found it difficult in reading comprehension on the groundthat they do not practice reading outside the class regularly, in other words, studentsdid not read extensively because they had low motivation for reading Students onlyread when they were required by the teachers, but most of them did it superficially.

The participants of the research may not represent the whole population ofthe students in the school

3.2.3 Research procedures

The action was conducted during 8 weeks of the first semester of school year2019-2020 Adapting steps in Nunan (1992)‟s action research cycle, the action wasdeveloped in five main steps as follows:

Step 1: Problem identification

During the process of teaching English for the 12th form students over years,the researcher discovered that most of her students seemed to be weak at readingcomprehension skill They were not keen on doing reading activities, in otherwords, they did not have reading motivation or they just read when being required

As a result, the students' scores in exams were quite low, especially for questionsrelated to reading texts The researcher discussed her concern with her colleaguesand they admitted that their students had the same problems with reading.Moreover, the time for reading lessons in class is not enough to improve reading,which requires students to read extensively to develop their reading motivation aswell as their language competences This urged the teacher to find a better way towork with her new classes in the school-year 2019-2020

Step 2: Preliminary investigation: Use the questionnaire

Having observed and analyzed the studying results over years, especially thefact that only 23.7 % of the students got mark 5+ in the GCSE exam at the end ofthe 2018-2019 school year, the researcher found that, in general, the students‟

English competence is rather low When being asked what part in the test theyworried most, almost all of them found reading questions most challenging Moststudents honestly revealed that they hardly read outside the class voluntarilybecause they were not interested and motivated which lead to their obsession withreading and students‟ low achievement in doing reading tests.

Therefore, the researcher raised a question for exploration: “To what extentdoes extensive reading change high school students‟ reading motivation?” Toanswer this question, a pre-questionnaire was conducted The questionnaire consists

of ten questions These questions are both closed and open-ended The participantwas asked to respond to each question first by ticking the given options that weretrue to themselves Then they were asked to answer the open-ended questions byproviding the reason for their selected answers (see Appendix 1 for the fullquestionnaire)

The participants‟ responses were analyzed quantitatively so that informationabout their motivation to read English was obtained This information was used toinform the action that followed

Step 3: Assumption

The students were unmotivated because some reading tasks in the textbookEnglish 12 were unsuitable to their level, the topics were not interesting to them, orstudents did not frequently practice reading extensively outside the class Moreover,they lack vocabulary and background knowledge whereas time for reading lesson inclass is limited They could not completely understand the information conveyed inreading texts Some students shared that reading skill was the most boring andstressful for them

To confirm the problems, the questionnaire was given to 86 students in group12A1 and 12A4 It aims at confirming the hypothesis that students‟ troubles arerelated to reading motivation with the support of extensive reading

To access students‟ achievement before applying extensive reading program,

a pre-intervention questionnaire was given to them to discover students‟ readingattitudes towards extensive reading activity

Step 4: Intervention: Conducting the extensive reading program

The most important step of doing an action research suggested by Nunan(1992), as presented in “Research method” is the intervention carried out by theresearcher To achieve the aims of this study, the teacher decided to use extensivereading program to change students‟ reading motivation This step of interventionwas carried out as follows:

Before the period of implementing the program, the researcher gave students

a pre-intervention questionnaire to find out what they thought of free reading andwhat types and sources of reading materials they were interested in

During the period of implementing the program, students were oriented tothe objectives of this study which is to practice reading in English, so students neednot look up every unknown words but focus on the content Besides, students werealso given the instructions on how to select supplementary reading materials, readextensively, write summary and fill out the record Students were suggested

materials for extensive reading assignment from the websiteswww.newsinlevels.com, www.tweentribune.com/, www.dogonews.com/ Theselessons were developed and classified into different stages and different topics.Additionally, students were encouraged to watch the video and to do more activities

as required The students could begin reading in their free time at school, but noneed to finish reading texts depending on their reading pace Then they couldcontinue their reading outside the class Thanks to this website with the variety ofreading materials and topics, learners could improve all other language skills

The teacher and the students had one meeting every week at the period foroptional lessons During these meetings, students were instructed to discuss everytext they had read including title of the text, time for reading, the topic and theirassignment at home Students were also required to talk about their problems andopinion of the reading materials The teacher monitored carefully, shared ideas,gave some advice and encourages students to continue to read whenever they werefree By doing so, the teacher can check whether the students really do the reading,

but should not make any correction A review should be taken after first few weeksand at the end of the extensive reading program for evaluation of its effectivenessand suggestions for the adjustment.

After the period of implementing the program for 8 weeks, the studentsreceived a post questionnaire to write down their own thoughts of the extensivereading program so that the researcher could see the effects of extensive reading onstudents‟ reading motivation

Table 2: Schedule for an extensive reading program

1 Joke about a clever Funny story Retell the story Say what

suggest some possiblesolution to protect rhinos

3 Plastics in the Black Sea Environmental Write a paragraph about thewww.newsinlevels.com/# Pollution situation and solution to

protect the sea

4 Good News about AIDS Discovery Discuss some good news

6 Why do we love junk Food and health Why does it take a lot of

itself is fast and cheap?

7 Why do we use one hand Daily life Why are some people

www.tweentribune.com

8 Valentine's Day Is Almost Celebrations How is Valentine‟s Day

Vietnam?