Effectiveness of guessing meaning from context in improving students word attack skills at university of labor and social affairs

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies ĐÀM LAN HƯƠNG EFFECTIVENESS OF GUESSING MEANING FROM CONTEXT IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ WORD-ATTACK SKILLS AT UNIVERSTITY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS (Hiệu việc đoán từ theo ngữ cảnh nhằm nâng cao kỹ xử lý từ sinh viên trường Đại học Lao động Xã hội) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 HANOI - 2009 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies ĐÀM LAN HƯƠNG EFFECTIVENESS OF GUESSING MEANING FROM CONTEXT IN IMPROVING STUDENTS’ WORD-ATTACK SKILLS AT UNIVERSTITY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL AFFAIRS (Hiệu việc đoán từ theo ngữ cảnh nhằm nâng cao kỹ xử lý từ sinh viên trường Đại học Lao động Xã hội) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Nguyễn Huyền Minh, M.A HANOI - 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENT LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS LIST OF TABLES CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.3 Purposes of the study 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Design of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 What is reading? 2.1.1 Definition of reading 2.1.2 Types of reading 2.2 Learning strategies 2.3 Reading strategies 2.3.1 Definition of reading strategies 2.3.2 Classification of reading strategies 2.3.3 Effect of reading strategies on reading comprehension 2.4 The strategy of guessing meaning from context 2.4.1 What is context? 2.4.2 What is guessing from context? 2.4.3 Factors affecting students’ success in guessing meaning from context 2.4.4 Approaches to teaching of guessing strategy 2.4.5 Review of related studies CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS 3.1 The setting of the study 3.2 Subjects 3.3 Instruments 3.3.1 Questionnaires 3.3.2 Pre-test and post-test 3.3.3 Interviews 3.3.4 Observations 3.4 Materials and the instruction programme 3.5 Procedure of the study CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Findings 3.4.1 Pre-test and post-test results 3.4.2 Questionnaire results 3.4.3 Interview results 3.4.4 Observation results 4.2 Discussion CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION REFERENCES APPENDICES LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language ESP: English for Specific Purpose L1: First Language ULSA: University of Labor and Social Affairs LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Results of pre-test and post-test Table 2: Students’ attitudes towards reading comprehension and the strategy of guessing meaning from context Table 3: Students’ opinions on the effectiveness of the programme Table 4: Overall students’ guessing strategies for two passages Table 5: Low level group’s guessing strategies Table 6: Intermediate level group’s guessing strategies Table 7: High level group’s guessing strategies CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter provides an overview on the background of the study, the statement of problem, a brief of the purpose of study, methodology of the study, followed by an overview of forthcoming chapters 1.1 Background to the study Since 1986 when the Vietnamese government implemented open door policy, English has gained more significance and been considered as an important tool for Vietnam‟s integration into global world Thus, the government has paid more and more attention to the teaching and learning of English at schools, colleges and universities English has rapidly become the most popular second language among Vietnamese people It is a tool for getting access to information from different sources including scientific and literary books and journals as well as the internet websites in an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context, which helps to bring them opportunities to enrich their knowledge in particular and to improve their future prospect in general Reading is a process which contributes to success in learning a foreign language and good language learners are considered to be good readers In order to become good or successful readers, students need to be equipped with the skills to comprehend the reading texts Reading strategies are said to facilitate successful second language learning and be effective tools for students to develop their reading skills To help students master these reading strategies, instruction on reading strategies is said to be essential However, empirical research indicates that in most reading classrooms students have received inadequate instruction on reading skills and strategies There is a lack of connection between instruction and reading activity The teacher‟s emphasis is often put on the production of comprehension rather than the processing skills This reality called for the integration of reading strategies into reading instruction to help students become more strategic readers Of all the reading strategies commonly recognized today in second language reading, guessing from context seems to be one of the most valuable but difficult strategies for second language students to master It was found out that they were often reluctant to engage in the guessing process as they preferred first language (L1) translations Furthermore, students not have sufficient skills to derive the meaning of unknown words or phrases that they meet during reading comprehension process Their guessing skills are often poor, especially where context clues are not in the immediate textual environment Therefore, guessing strategies for unknown words has been strongly emphasized 1.2 Statement of the problem Reading comprehension is essential to academic learning areas, to professional success and to lifelong learning University students can not achieve success in reading comprehension without mastering reading strategies in general and the strategy of guessing from context in dealing with reading texts in particular At University of Labor and Social Affairs (ULSA), English for Specific Purpose (ESP) syllabus mainly focuses on reading skill Yet many students have not succeeded in their reading texts, which contain lots of professional words This is partly due to the fact that they lack the skills to cope with unknown words, or in other words, they are not equipped with the strategy of guessing from context This fact raises the question on the necessity as well as the effectiveness of instruction on the strategy of guessing meaning from context for improving reading skills for students at ULSA 1.3 Purposes of the study Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of instruction programme on the strategy of guessing from context for improving students‟ word-attack skill and reading comprehension in teaching reading for second-year ESP students at University of Social and Labor Affairs In addition, since this study was conducted in a university general English reading class where students' reading proficiency was mixed, the second objective of this study was to find out how students with different reading proficiency are influenced by the instruction programme The following specific research questions were addressed: 1) Does instruction on the strategy of guessing from context enhance second language students‟ word-attack skill in particular and reading ability in general? 2) How to empower students to become more self-directed and effective in their learning of guessing strategy? 1.4 Scope of the study The study is focused only on the second-year students at ULSA who begin to have ESP lessons The subjects of the study were chosen at random and various among 68 second-year students of ULSA Yet, the study results cannot be true to all Vietnamese students Thus, my recommendations for teaching and learning the strategy of guessing from context might work well only for ULSA teachers and students, and for the ones who are teaching and learning at such universities with similar English syllabus or education training or for the ones who concern 1.5 Methodology of the study This study employs both qualitative and quantitative methods An explicit instruction programme on the strategy of guessing from context was conducted in addition to regular English curriculum Data from questionnaires were collected to study the students‟ changes in attitudes towards the strategy of guessing from context A pre-test and post-test were done to study the actual performance of students in the use of the strategy before and after the programme Observations and interviews with students were also used to get more valid and reliable results 1.6 Design of the study The research consists of four main chapters: Introduction, Literature Review, the Study and Conclusion Chapter 1, Introduction, presents the background and statement of the problem, the purpose, and the design as well as the scope of the study Chapter 2, Literature Review, discusses issues of reading, reading processes, major approaches to teaching reading, reading strategies in general and the strategy of guessing meaning from context in particular Chapter 3, Research Design and Methods, explains the methodology used in the study including the population information, instrumentation, and data collection and data analysis, Chapter 4, Findings and Discussion, reports the findings as well the discussion of the results Chapter 5, Conclusion, offers a summary of the findings and further implication for using the strategy of guessing from context in teaching reading skills Huckin, T., and Bloch, J (1993) Strategies for inferring word meaning from context: A cognitive model In T Huckin, M Haynes, and J Coady (Eds.), Second language reading and vocabulary learning, pp 153-178) Norwood, NJ: Ablex Jimenez, R T., Garcia G E and Pearson, P D (1996) The reading strategies of bilingual Latina/o students who are successful English readers: opportunities and obstacles Reading Research Quarterly, 31, pp 90-112 Janzen, J (1996) “Teaching strategic reading” TESOL Journal, 6(1), p.6-9 Lawson, M J., and Hogben, D (1996) “The vocabulary learning strategies of foreignlanguage students.” Language Learning, 46, pp.101-135 Liu, N., and Nation, I.S.P (1986) “Factors affecting guessing vocabulary in context”, RELC Journal , 16 (1), p.33-42 Nagy, W.E and Herman, P.A (1987) “Breadth and Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge”, in M.G McKeown and M.E Curtis (eds.), The Nature of Vocabulary Acquisition (Erlbaum): pp.19–35 Nassaji, H (2004) The relationship between depth of vocabulary knowledge and L2 learners‟ lexical inferencing strategy use and success The Canadian Modern Language Review, 61 (1), pp.107-134 Nation, P (2001) Learning vocabulary in another language Cambridge: Cambridge University press Nation, P and Coady, J (1988) “Vocabulary and reading.” In R Carter and M McCarthy (Eds.), Vocabulary and language teaching (pp 97-110) London and New York: Longman O‟Malley, J M (1987) “The Effects of Training in the Use of Learning Strategies on Acquiring English as a Second Language.” In Wenden, A and J Rubin (Eds.), Learner Strategies in Language Learning New Jersey: Prentice Hall Oxford, R (1990) Language learning strategies Boston, MA: Heinle and Heinle Paran, A (2003) “Intensive Reading.” English Teaching Professional, 28, p.40 Pearson, P.D and Gallagher, M (1983) “The Instruction of Reading Comprehension,” Contemporary Educational Psychology, Pressley, M., and Afferbach, P (1995) Verbal protocols of reading: The nature of constructively responsive reading Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Pritchard, R (1990) “The effects of cultural schemata on reading processing strategies.” Reading Research Quarterly, 25 (4) Rubin, J (1975) “What the "good language learner" can teach us.” TESOL Quarterly, 9, 4151 Susser, B and Robb, T.N (1990) “EFL Extensive Reading Instruction: Research and Procedure.” JALT Journal, 12 (2) Sutter, W (1989) Strategies and styles Aalborg, Denmark: Danish Refugee Council Sze, P S (1998) An investigation of the effectiveness of three presentation methods on vocabulary retention by post-secondary five diploma students and their use of memory strategies in L2 vocabulary acquisition MA thesis Hong Kong: Univ of Hong Kong Takeuchi, O (2002) What can we learn from good foreign language learners? Qualitative studies in the Japanese FL context In Proceddings of the 29th JACET Summer Seminar (ISSN 1347-3964, 20-26) Tokyo: JACET Van Pettersen and Van-Pettersen, S (1981) “Contextual Guessing: A Trainable Reader Strategy.” System, (3), p.235-241 Wenden, A (1987) “Incorporating learner training in the classroom.” In A Wenden and J Rubin (Eds.) Learner strategies in language learning (pp 159-68) NJ: Prentice Hall Winograd, P., and Hare, V.C (1988) Direct instruction of reading comprehension strategies: The nature of teacher explanation In C E Weinstein, E T Goetz, and P A Alexander (Eds.), Learning and study strategies: Issues in assessment instruction and evaluation (pp 121-139) San Diego: Academic Press Appendix 1: QUESTIONNAIRE ONE This questionnaire is designed to find out your opinions on your perception of your mastery of the strategy of guessing from context Thank you very much for your cooperation! Part A Students’ attitudes towards the programme For each sentence, please circle a correct answer Strongly agree Agree No opinion Disagree Strongly disagree I like doing reading comprehension exercises I find it easy to reading comprehension exercises I think I must understand all the words in order to 5 5 understand the passage I feel confident when doing reading comprehension exercises I look up from the dictionary when I come across difficult words I look for words/phrases in the same text that can help guessing the meaning of the unknown words Part B Do you know the following words? Circle the words you not know liable coagulate decorum skeptical discard oculist dieticians misconceptions complaining responsible sewage waver assessing contract squalor curative affluence unfathomable hazards permeated critical drastic deprivation mop up cues milestones utters infant hubbub triggered babbling clinging responds system simple complex speech survive insensitive depend material health impossible realize private uncertain treatment risk patients blind Appendix 2: QUESTIONNAIRE TWO This questionnaire is designed to find out your opinions on your perception of your mastery of the strategy of guessing from context Thank you very much for your cooperation! Part A Students’ attitudes towards reading comprehension and the guessing strategy For each sentence, please circle a correct answer Strongly agree Agree No opinion Disagree Strongly disagree I think reading is very interesting I like doing reading comprehension exercises I find it easy to reading comprehension exercises 5 I feel confident when doing reading comprehension exercises I think I must understand all the words in order to I look up from the dictionary when I come across difficult words I like to be given a lot of guidance from the teacher I like reading lessons in school understand the passage Part B Students’ opinions on the programme Yes The programme gave me pleasure in reading I wish I had been taught how to guess using contextual clues before NI No The programme helped me to become more selfdirected and effective in my learning English If I had been given a choice, I wouldn‟t have participated in this programme The programme did not help to expand my vocabulary The teacher should choose reading materials more carefully There should be more practice The training sessions should be longer Instructions in the programme should be explained more clearly 10 The programme should be in a longer period of time Appendix 3: INTERVIEW PROMPTS Title of interview: The perceived usefulness of the guessing from context strategy Name(s) of interviewer(s): _ Time and date of interview: Part – Personal information Name: Age: Male/Female: Languages spoken at home: Part – Perceptions towards the strategy Do you think you have used words or phrases in the passage to find the answers to the questions in the post-test? Do you think you have mastered the use of the strategy of guessing meaning from the context after the instruction programme? Do you think this instruction programme is useful for you to enhance word-attack skill and reading ability? Some feedback from the subjects • Very educational I would like to participate more I can see how helpful these kinds of sessions can be • They were very fun Sometimes it was a little scary when I couldn‟t grasp everything that was being taught, but I feel like I learned a lot • I really liked the sessions Using context was helpful for figuring out the meaning • It is interesting but very difficult These sessions helped me come up with ways to figure out some of the challenging words • It was extremely useful! I feel like I learned a lot I feel more confident in my guesses about the meanings of unknown words • I liked the sessions and it was helpful It would be better if we met more often Also, context helped me remember • I still find it difficult, but in context, it has become easier It is easier to guess using parts, meanings, and context Overall, the sessions were useful and interesting • The sessions were very helpful I wish sessions were a little longer Hopefully we can this again next semester Appendix 4: PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST Name: Stage/Grade (Class): Date: Instructions This test is designed only for the researcher‟s analysis in the field study The test results have absolutely no influence on your marks record Please not use a dictionary in this test You are required to take 40 to 60 minutes for the paper Read each question carefully before you answer Please as well as you can Thank you very much for your co-operation! Part I - Each sentence below has a word or phrase underlined, followed by four numbered definitions Choose the best definition for the word or phrase underlined in the sentence Most words will be unfamiliar to you Guess the meanings of the words or phrases Pay attention to both the sentence context and the meaning of characters that make up the words or phrases Choose only one answer for each question and not leave any questions blank Many cancer patients claim that cigarette companies should be liable for their doctor‟s bills a complaining b responsible c tricky d evil Eggs coagulate; that is, they convert from liquid to solid or semi-solid state, usually be the process of heating to a certain temperature a convert from liquid to solid b convert from solid to liquid c convert from solid to semi-solid d convert from semi-solid to solid When going to a formal party, you should show your best decorum, for example, dress your best, drink and eat moderately, and be sure to thank the host before you leave a propriety b clothes c regard d object Some researchers are skeptical, but others believe color can influence how you act and feel a experienced b spontaneous c up-to-date d uncertain When you a survey for research, you should be prepared to accept that many people discard it They no brother to reply to the questions a help b address c ignore d protest Because his eyes had been sore for a week, James decided to go to an oculist for treatment an eye glasses shop b a brain surgeon c an eye doctor d a teacher Dieticians warn us that the risk losing a lot of the nutrients in vegetables if we boil them a a specialist in food b a person who works in a hospital c a scientist d a person who does an experiment There are many misconceptions about blind people: Many people just think that all of the blind are the same; wearing black glasses, using cane, or leading dogs and incapable of earning their own living a health problems b useful equipment c nursing homes d wrong ideas Part II - Choose the phrase that best explains the meaning of the underlined words in each statement Discuss and explain your answers “Then illness closed her eyes and ears and plunged her into a world of darkness and silence.” a caused her to become blind and deaf b caused her to become very ill c caused her to become very frustrated “Keller‟s life thereafter became a triumph over crushing adversity.” a became a story of great success against overwhelming problems b became a story that people tell over and over c became a story of overwhelming problems “She expressed this frustration in outbursts of anger and bad behavior “a wild, unruly child” who kicked, scratched, and screamed…” a a child who needs attention b a child who is blind and deaf c a child who behaves badly “Her parents were losing hope…” a were excited about meeting Anne Sullivan b weren‟t sure they would be able to solve their problem c were hoping to be able to solve their problem “Keller‟s first lessons were far from encouraging.” a were very successful b weren‟t successful at all c were quite exciting “There were barriers still, it is true, but barriers that in time could be swept away.” a could be made stronger b could be removed c could be learned “Keller worked tirelessly for the blind…” a worked without stopping b worked until late at night c worked in a number of different ways “…it is vague, like a breeze among flowers.” a like the hot sun b like noisy insects c like a bit of wind Appendix 5: READING COMPREHENSION TEXTS Passage Health in the Rich World and in the Poor An American journalist, Dorothy Thompson, criticizes the rich world‟s health programmes in the poor world She describes her trip to Africa where she got food poisoning and her friend malaria: "The town is very dirty All the people are hot, have dust between their toes and the smell of sewage in their noses We both fell ill, and at ten o‟clock in the morning I got frightened and took my friend to the only private hospital in town, where you have to pay After being treated by a doctor, we caught the next aeroplane home "Now, I believe that the money of the World Health Organization (WHO) should be spent on bringing health to all people of the world and not on expensive doctors and hospitals for the few who can pay But when we ourselves become ill, our beliefs waver After we came back to the States we thought a lot about our reaction to this sudden meeting with heath care in a poor country When assessing modern medicine, we often forget that without more money for food and clean water to drink, it is impossible to fight the diseases that are caused by infections "Doctors seem to overlook this fact They ought to spend much time thinking about why they themselves not contract some of the serious and infectious diseases that so many of their patients die from They not realize that an illness must find a body that is weak either because of stress or hunger People are killed by the conditions they live under, the lack of food and money and the squalor Doctors should analyze why people become ill rather than take such a keen interest in the curative effect of medicine "In the rich world many diseases are caused by affluence The causes of heart diseases, for instance, are far from being mysterious and unfathomable they are as well known as the causes of tuberculosis Other diseases are due to hazards in the natural conditions in which we live Imagine the typical American worker on his death-bed: every cell permeated with such things as chemicals and radio-active materials Such symptoms are true signs of an unhealthy world." Passage Is language, like food, a basic human need without which a child at a critical period of life can be starved and damaged? Judging from the drastic experiment of Frederick II in the thirteenth century it may be Hoping to discover what language a child would speck if he heard no mother tongue he told the nurses to keep silent All the infants died before the first year But clearly there was more than language deprivation here What was missing was good mothering Without good mothering, in the first year of life especially, the capacity to survive is seriously affected Today mo such drastic deprivation exists as that ordered by Frederick Nevertheless, some children are still backward in speaking Most often the reason for this is that the mother is insensitive to the cues and signals of the infant, whose brain is programmed to mop up language rapidly There are critical times, it seems, when children learn more readily If these sensitive periods are neglected, the ideal time for acquiring skills passes and they might never be learned so easily again A bird learns to sing and to fly rapidly at the right time, but the process is slow and hard once the critical stage has passed Linguists suggest that speech milestones are reached in a fixed sequence and at a constant age, but there are cases where speech has started late in a child who eventually turns out to be of high IQ At twelve weeks a baby smiles and utters vowel-like sounds; at twelve months he can speak simple words and understand simple commands; at eighteen months he has a vocabulary from three to fifty words At three he know about 1000 words which he can put into sentences, and at four his language differs from that of his parents in style rather than grammar Recent evidence suggests that an infant is born with the capacity to speak What is special about Man‟s brain, compared with that of the monkey, is the complex system which enables a child to connect the sight and feel of, say, a teddy-bear with the sound pattern “teddy-bear” And even more incredible is the young brain‟s ability to pick out an order in language from the hubbub of sound around him, to analyze, to combine and recombine the parts of a language in novel ways But the speech has to be triggered and this depends in the interaction between the mother and the child, where the mother recognizes the cues and signals in the child‟s babbling, clinging, grasping, crying, smiling, and responds to them Insensitivity of the mother to these signals dulls the interaction because the child gets discourage and sends out only the obvious signals Sensitivity to the child‟s non verbal cues is essential to the growth and development of language ... studies have investigated the effectiveness of the strategy of guessing meaning from context on the improvement of word- attack skill in particular and reading strategy in general Three related studies... Effect of reading strategies on reading comprehension 2.4 The strategy of guessing meaning from context 2.4.1 What is context? 2.4.2 What is guessing from context? 2.4.3 Factors affecting students? ??... context for improving students? ?? word- attack skill and reading comprehension in teaching reading for second-year ESP students at University of Social and Labor Affairs In addition, since this study