VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** HOÀNG THỊ QUỲNH NGÂN DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ READING PROFICIENCY THROUGH EXTENSIVE READING IN AN IELTS PREPARATION COURSE - A CASE OF THE 3rd YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (Phát triển khả đọc thơng qua đọc mở rộng cho khóa học tiền IELTS - Nghiên cứu trường hợp sinh viên năm thứ chuyên ngữ trường Đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội ) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Hanoi – 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES ***************** HOÀNG THỊ QUỲNH NGÂN DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ READING PROFICIENCY THROUGH EXTENSIVE READING IN AN IELTS PREPARATION COURSE - A CASE OF THE 3rd YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (Phát triển khả đọc thông qua đọc mở rộng cho khóa học tiền IELTS - Nghiên cứu trường hợp sinh viên năm thứ chuyên ngữ trường Đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội ) M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Dr Dương Thị Nụ Hanoi – 2010 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of Abbreviations vii List of figures, charts and tables viii Part I INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Significance of the study Research questions Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study Part II DEVELOPMENT Chapter I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of reading comprehension in a Second Language 1.2 Intensive Reading and Extensive Reading 1.2.1 Intensive Reading 1.2.2 Extensive Reading 1.3 IELTS reading test 10 1.3.1 IELTS tests 10 1.3.2 IELTS reading module 11 1.3.2.1 IELTS reading tasks 11 1.3.2.2 IELTS reading skills 12 1.3.2.2.1 Scanning 13 1.3.2.2.2 Skimming 14 1.3.2.2.3 Making inferences 14 v 1.4 Extensive Reading and IELTS reading test 15 1.5 Reading Proficiency 16 Chapter II: METHODOLOGY 17 2.1 Rationale for using experimental method 17 2.2 Variables 17 2.3 Participants 17 2.4 Pretest and Posttest……………………………………………… 18 2.5 The extensive reading program…………………………………………………… 19 2.5.1 Reading materials…………………………………………………… 20 2.5.2 Syllabus and activities…………………………………………………… 21 2.6 Procedures……………………………………………………………………… 24 Chapter III: FINDINGS…………………………………………………………… 25 3.1 Comparison of experimental and control groups’ reading proficiency after the extensive reading program…………………………………………………… 25 3.1.1 The results of experimental and control groups in the pre-test and post – test 25 3.1.2 Mean gains of experimental and control groups … ………… 26 3.2 Surveyed students’ opinions on extensive reading for pre-IELTS course 27 3.2.1 The students’ difficulties in reading IELTS reading texts 27 3.2.2 Experimental subjects’ attitudes towards extensive reading in the pre-IELTS course 28 3.2.3 Students’ suggestions for the extensive reading in pre-IELTS course 29 Chapter IV: IMPLICATIONS 31 4.1 Research implications 31 4.2 Suggestions on the implementation of extensive reading in pre-IELTS class 32 4.2.1 Grouping and instructing 33 4.2.2 Preparations and Presentation procedures…………………………… 35 Part III CONCLUSIONS 37 Conclusions 37 vi Limitations of the study 37 Recommendation for further research 38 REFERENCES 39 APPENDICES I Appendix 1: The pretest I Appendix 2: The post test………………………………………………………………… VIII Appendix 3: Answer to the pretest and Answer to the posttest………………… …… XIV Appendix 4: The students’ results in the pre-test, post – test and gain….………………….XV Appendix 5: The post- program questionnaire………………………………………… XVI Appendix 5: Sample Reading………………………………………………………… …XVII Appendix 6: Sample Report… .……………………………………………………… XVIII Appendix 7: Sample Reflection………………………………………………… ……… XIX iii ABSTRACT we ourselves are fully aware of the essential role that reading plays in the students’ performances as well as objectives they necessarily set for the subject Extensive reading has been widely known to have positive effects on students’ language ability in general and reading proficiency in particular English majors in our university, Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI), seem not very active in learning IELTS reading though it has been so far utilized to assess the academic achievement of the students On the basis of those evidences, we have come up with an idea that extensive reading activities in class should be introduced to students with the aim to arousing their active attitudes towards reading as well as bettering their ability when dealing with the skill in the IELTS tests This prediction was tested by comparing the reading proficiency achieved by 30 students who had participated in an extensive reading program for a semester, i.e three months and that by other 30 students who had just followed the traditional reading program All the participants were third year English major students at Hanoi University of Industry To make the findings more persuasive, the results of the questionnaire that followed the extensive reading program revealed the students’ opinions on the difficulties they have to deal with, their attitudes towards extensive reading in the pre-IELTS course and their suggestions for more effective extensive reading in pre-IELTS course The results of this study support the conclusion that the extensive reading program is beneficial to students and has positive effects on students’ reading proficiency in pre-IELTS course and recommend the broad application of the extensive reading approach of similar programs in the future Thank you for evaluating AnyBizSoft PDF Merger! To remove this page, please register your program! Go to Purchase Now>> AnyBizSoft PDF Merger Merge multiple PDF files into one Select page range of PDF to merge Select specific page(s) to merge Extract page(s) from different PDF files and merge into one ... READING IN AN IELTS PREPARATION COURSE - A CASE OF THE 3rd YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (Phát triển khả đọc thơng qua đọc mở rộng cho khóa học tiền IELTS - Nghiên cứu trường... Reading 1.3 IELTS reading test 10 1.3.1 IELTS tests 10 1.3.2 IELTS reading module 11 1.3.2.1 IELTS reading tasks 11 1.3.2.2 IELTS reading skills... reading for pre -IELTS course 27 3.2.1 The students’ difficulties in reading IELTS reading texts 27 3.2.2 Experimental subjects’ attitudes towards extensive reading in the pre -IELTS course