Improving 10th graders’ reading comprehension through cognitive reading strategy training an action research project at a high school in hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BUI THI HONG IMPROVING 10TH GRADERS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH COGNITIVE READING STRATEGY TRAINING: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN hanoi (Cải thiện việc đọc hiểu học sinh lớp 10 thông qua việc luyện tập chiến lược đọc hiểu tri nhận: Nghiên cứu hành động trường cấp Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Hanoi-2020 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BUI THI HONG IMPROVING 10TH GRADERS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH COGNITIVE READING STRATEGY TRAINING: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI (Cải thiện việc đọc hiểu học sinh lớp 10 thông qua việc luyện tập chiến lược đọc hiểu tri nhận: Nghiên cứu hành động trường cấp Hà Nội) M.A MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Supervisor : Dr Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa Hanoi-2020 DECLARATION I hereby state that I – Bui Thi Hong, being an M.A candidate of the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, ULIS, VNU, certify my authority of the study entitled “Improving students’ reading comprehension through cognitive reading strategy training: An action research at a high school in Hanoi” This thesis is the study of my own research and the substance of the thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to any other universities or institutions Hanoi, 2020 Bui Thi Hong Approved by SUPERVISOR (signature and full name) T.S Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa Date: i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude and love to my supervisor, Dr Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, for her guidance, comments and especially her sympathy throughout the whole research process I am also grateful to all lecturers at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, ULIS, VNU, whose lectures and guidance have contributed to my understanding of the problem and led to the completion of this thesis My words of thanks would also go to the examiners who will spend their time reading and commenting on this thesis Especially, I wish to show my appreciation to my students of class 10X1 at a high school in Hanoi, who were really helpful and cooperative in the implementation of the study Last but not least, I would also like to take this opportunity to send my love to my family who aslo encourage and support me whole-heartly ii ABSTRACT Reading in foreign language is considered one of the most challenging and difficult tasks that most of EFL learners face Due to the complexity of this skill, many students suffered from reading for their failure in the achievement of reading comprehension For the reason, this action research aimed at improving reading comprehension among 10th graders at a high school in Hanoi through cognitive reading strategy training After a preliminary investigation had been carried out, the cognitive reading comprehension instruction course was designed, and then implemented in the first semester of the school year 2019-2020 with the participation of 43 students from a class of grade 10 at a high school in Hanoi The data collected through the pre-and post-questionnaires, pre-and post-tests and semi-stuctured interviews revealed that the cognitive reading comprehension strategy course resulted in a slight improvement in the students’ reading comprehension, but the students also encountered some obstacles in applying the strategies iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv ABBREVIATIONS vii LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 Aim of the study 1.3 Scope of the study 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Research method of the study 1.6 Organization of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Teaching and learning reading skills in foreign language teaching and learning 2.1.1 The importance of teaching and learning reading skills 2.1.2 Definitions of reading and reading comprehension 2.1.3 Reading comprehension difficulties 2.2 Reading comprehension strategies 12 2.2.1 Definitions of reading comprehension strategies 12 2.2.2 Categories of reading strategies 13 2.2.3 The importance of reading strategies 13 2.3 Classification of cognitive reading strategies 15 iv 2.3.1 Deduction 15 2.3.2 Imagery 16 2.3.3 Getting the Idea Quickly 16 2.3.4 Elaboration 16 2.3.5 Guessing the meaning of words 17 2.3.6 Resourcing 17 2.3.7 Repetition 18 2.3.8 Grouping 18 2.3.9 Summarizing 18 2.4 Previous Studies 19 2.4.1 Foreign research on reading strategies 19 2.4.2 Vietnamese research on reading strategies 22 2.5 Summary 24 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 25 3.1 Research context 26 3.2 Research Questions 27 3.3 Research Approach 27 3.4 Participants 29 3.5 Data collection instruments 29 3.5.1 Questionnaires 29 3.5.2 Pre-test and post-test 30 3.5.3 Interview 30 3.6 Action Research Procedures 31 3.7 Data Analysis Procedures 35 3.7.1 Pre-questionnaires before the pre-test 35 3.7.2 Pre-test and Post-test 36 3.7.3 Post-questionnaires after the post-test 36 v 3.7.4 Interview 36 3.8 Summary 37 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 38 4.1 Preliminary investigation 38 4.1.1 Findings 38 4.1.2 Discussion 43 4.2 Evaluation 45 4.2.1 Research question 45 4.2.2 Research question 48 4.3 Summary 53 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 54 5.1 Summary of main findings 54 5.2 Pedagogical implications 55 5.3 Limitations of the research 56 5.4 Suggestions for further research 56 REFERENCES 58 APPENDICES I vi ABBREVIATIONS EFL : English as a Foreign Language CAR : Classroom Action Research vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: The Eight – Week – Plan of Reading Strategy Instruction in Class 10X1 32 Table 4.1: Frequency of Use of Reading Comprehension Strategies before the Pretest 41 Table 4.2: Descriptive Statistics of Pretest and Posttest 45 Table 4.3: Paired Samples Statistics 46 Table 4.4: Paired Samples Correlation 46 Table 4.5: Paired Samples Test 46 Table 4.6: The Cognitive Reading Strategies Students Find Difficult to Apply 48 Table 4.7: Frequency of Use of Reading Comprehension Strategies after the Post-Test 50 viii APPENDIX 11: REPORT OF MARKS OF CLASS 10X1 No 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 Report of marks of Class 10X1 Name of Ss Pre-test Ss1 Ss2 4.4 Ss3 5.2 Ss4 Ss5 5.6 Ss6 6.8 Ss7 3.6 Ss8 4.8 Ss9 6.4 Ss10 6.8 Ss11 5.2 Ss12 Ss13 Ss14 6.4 Ss15 5.2 Ss16 4.4 Ss17 7.6 Ss18 5.6 Ss19 5.2 Ss20 3.6 Ss21 5.2 Ss22 4.4 Ss23 4.8 Ss24 Ss25 6.4 Ss26 6.4 Ss27 5.2 Ss28 4.8 Ss29 6.8 XXXIX Post-test 5.6 6.4 7.2 7.6 7.2 8.4 6.8 7.6 7.6 6.8 5.6 7.6 7.2 8.8 7.2 7.2 5.6 6.8 6.4 7.2 7.6 7.2 7.6 7.2 8.4 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 Ss30 Ss31 Ss32 Ss33 Ss34 Ss35 Ss36 Ss37 Ss38 Ss39 Ss40 Ss41 Ss42 Ss43 6.4 5.6 5.2 6.4 5.6 6.4 5.6 5.2 5.2 4.8 7.2 XL 8.8 7.6 7.2 7.2 6.8 6.4 7.6 7.2 6.8 6.8 7.2 8.8 7.6 APPENDIX 12: SCHEDULE FOR 10 WEEKS OF TRAINING COGNITIVE READING STRATEGIES Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week 10 Questionnaire + Pretest (Text 1) Topic Texts Strategies Ecosystem Text (guidance) Using deduction, getting the idea Health Text 2.1 (self practice) repetition, and summary strategies Education Text (guidance) Using deduction, getting the idea Country Text 3.1 (self practice) repetition, and summary strategies City Life Text (guidance) Getting the idea quickly (scanning), and City Life Text 4.1 (self practice) strategies Better Text (guidance) Getting the idea quickly (scanning), and Community Text 5.1 (self practice) strategies Tourism Text (guidance) resourcing, grouping and Text 6.1 (self practice) repetition strategies Family Text (guidance) resourcing, grouping and Text 7.1 (self practice) repetition strategies Learning Text (guidance) Deduction, repetition, Text 8.1 (self practice) skimming and scanning strategies Online Text 9(guidance) Deduction, repetition, skimming and Learning Text 9.1 (self practice) Scanning strategies post-pretest and post-questionnaire (text 10) XXVII Type of Tasks quickly, Multiple choice quickly, Multiple choice repetition True/ False repetition True/ False Gap-filling Gap-filling Matching Matching APPENDIX 13:SAMPLE LESSON FOR WEEK –TEXT I Level: 43 students – Pre-intermediate level of English II Time allowance: 45 minutes III Aims: at the end of the lesson, the students can use some of the reading strategies when encountering some kinds of reading questions IV Assumed knowledge: students have some ideas of the topic V Anticipated problems: students may not have enough vocabulary and background knowledge related to the topic or necessary strategies to finish the reading VI Teaching aids: handouts of reading texts, lesson plan VII Procedures: Stage Lead in Pre reading Teacher’ activities Students’ activities - To motivate the students to learn the lesson and introduce the reading strategies which were helpful in doing the readings Task 1: - The teacher asks Ss to match column A with XXXIX - Listen the introduction of the teacher - Work in pairs and Strategies used column B in pairs Matching the definitions of column A with column B Column A Column B Deduction a Reread a sentence or a paragraph to get better understanding Repetition b Reading the first line of each paragraph to understand what the text is about Guessing c Make a guess the meaning of word within context Getting the idea d A short description of the quickly main ideas Summarizing e Skimming strategy and scanning strategy - call on some pairs to present their answers - Give feedback and correct answers Keys: b a c XL discuss with their partner to find out the answer - Present the answer when asked - Listen, follow and correct if wrong While reading e d Task 2: - The teacher asks Ss to read the questions of Text and choose the best options A,B,C,or D + Question 1: - Ask ss to work in groups of three and then guide Ss how to find out the answer by selecting one a suitable strategy for this question and deduction strategy was used for the question - Call on some groups to present and explain their answers in front of the class - Feedback and give correct answer Key for question 1: A + Question 2: Similary, the teacher asks Ss to work individually under the teacher’s instruction The teacher shows Ss how to this kind of question and give an appropriate strategy For this question, Ss should conbine the strategies “scanning and repetition” to find out the answer - call on some students to present their answers, XLI - Work in groups of three and as directed by the teacher in applying the strategy Using deduction strategy - Discuss their answer with their partners - Follow and correct the answer if wrong - Do as directed by the teacher individually - Present the answer - Listen, follow and correct the answer if Scanning and repetition wrong strategies Listen, as directed by the teacher Present the result to the whole class Follow feedback then the teacher would give a hint for this question based on the reading strategy - feedback and give correct answer Key for the question 2: A + Question 3: - The teacher asks Ss to work independently to find out the answers under the teacher’s guidance about the strategy In this question, the teacher would recommend to Ss the strategy “skimming” - Call Ss randomly and give their answer - feedback and give correct answers Key for the question 3: B + Question 4: Like the previous questions, Ss are asked to work in pairs The teacher instructed Ss how to handle this kind of question by giving tips, hints or proper strategies In this question, Ss suggests to Ss to use “scanning and repetition” strategies call on some pairs to compare their answers together feedback and give correct answer XLII and recorrect if wrong - Listen, follow and find out the answers in pairs Skimming strategy - Present and explain their answers - Follow and as appointed - Give their answers with explanation - Check their answer and edited if wrong Scanning and repetition strategies Post reading Key for the question 4: + Question 5: The teacher asks Ss to work individually and finish the final question feedback and give correct answer Synthesize some reading strategies taught in the lesson Ask some students to repeat the benefits of the strategies Task 3: Self practice text 2.1 Assign Ss to Text 2.1 at class individually for further practice Give feedback and answers XLIII -Do as appointed by the teacher Present as directed by the teacher to get deeper understanding of each strategy - Do the text Individually - Check the answer Repetition strategy APPENDIX 14:SAMPLE LESSON FOR WEEK – TEXT VIII Level: 43 students – Pre-intermediate level of English IX Time allowance: 45 minutes X Aims: at the end of the lesson, - The students can use some of the reading strategies when they their reading texts XI Assumed knowledge: students have some idea of the topic XII Anticipated problems: students may not have enough vocabulary and background knowledge related to the XIII Teaching aids: handouts of reading texts, lesson plan XIV Procedures: topic Stage Pre – reading Teacher’ activities - Teacher activates the students’ background knowledge about the topic “Heathy lifestyle” and review useful words and phrases and ask Ss to work in pairs to know more about the topic - Ask some pairs to present their preparations and give feedbacks Students’ activities - Work in pair and brainstorm some ideas related to the topic in the paper - Present the report XLIV Strategies used Thinking about previous knowledge on the topic of the text (elaboration strategy) - Look at the title of the text and ask Ss to guess the content of the text While reading Task 1: The teacher asks Ss to read Text and choose the best options A,B,C,or D and guide Ss how to find out the answer by selecting one a suitable strategy for this question + Question 1: The teacher asks Ss to read the first question and gives students hints which strategy they should choose for this question - The teacher has Ss work indiviually - Call on some Ss to read and explain their answers in front of the class - Feedback and give correct answer: Key for the question 1: D + Question 2: Similary, the teacher asks Ss work in pairs - call on some pairs to present their answers, then the teacher would give a hint for this - Work individually and give their answer: - Listen, follow and as directed by the teacher Deduction or summary strategies - Give the answers - Check the answer with the teacher - work in pairs, discuss with their partner to find out the right answer - Present and explain their XLV Scanning and repetition question based on the reading strategy - feedback and give correct answer: Key for question 2: C answers - Follow and correct if wrong +Question 3: The teacher asks Ss to work invidually and find out the answers - feedback and give correct answer: Key for the question 3: A + Question 4: Like the previous questions, Ss are asked to work in a group of three - The teacher instructed Ss how to handle this kind of questions by giving tips, hints or proper strategies - call on some groups to compare their answers together - feedback and give correct answers Key for the question 4: B + Question 5: the teacher asks Ss to work - Follow and as appointed - Give their answers with explanation - Check their answer and edited if wrong strategies Guessing or resourcing strategies - Listen and follow the instructions by the teacher - Discuss and give the final answer - Follow and correct if wrong - Do as directed XLVI Scanning and repetition Post reading individually and finish the final question - feedback and give correct answer: Key for the question 5: C - Synthesize some reading strategies taught in the lesson - Ask some students to repeat the benefits of the strategies Task 3: For self practice 3.1 - The teacher assigns Ss to Text 3.1 at class individually and then check the result with the whole class Keys for the self practice strategies - Present as directed by the teacher to get deeper understanding of each strategy - Do the text Individually and check the Combination of several answer with the teacher and above strategies taught in the whole class the lesson XLVII APPENDIX 15: Language Learning Strategies (O’Maley and Chamot, 1990) Metacognitive Strategies Planning Previewing the main ideas and concepts of the material to Advance be learned, often by skimming the text for the organizing organizers principle Directed Deciding in advance to attend in general to a learning task attention and to ignore irrelevant distracters Functional Planning for and rehearsing linguistic components planning necessary to carry out an upcoming task Selective Deciding in advance to attend to specific aspects of input, attention often by scanning for key words, concepts and/or linguistic markers Self management – Understanding the conditions that help one learn and arranging for the presence of those conditions Monitoring Self- Checking one’s comprehension during listening or reading monitoring or checking the accuracy and/or appropriateness of one’s oral or written production while it is taking place Evaluating Self-evaluation Checking the outcomes of one’s own language against a standard after it has been completed Cognitive Strategies Resourcing Using target language reference materials dictionaries, encyclopedias, or textbooks XXXIX such as repetition Imitating a language model, including overt practice and silent rehearsal Grouping Classifying words, terminology or concepts according to their attributes or meaning Deduction Applying words to understand or produce the second language or making up rules based on language analysis Imagery Using visual images (either mental or actual) to understand or remember new information Planning back in one’s mind the sound of a word, phrase or Auditory longer language sequence Key word Remembering a new word in the second language by: (1) method identifying a familiar word in the L1 that sound or look like the new word, and (2) generating easily recalled images of some relationship with the L1 homonym and the new word in L2 Elaboration Relating new information to prior knowledge, relating difference parts of new information to each other, or making meaninful personal associations with the new information Transfer Using previous linguistic knowledge or prior skills to assist comprehension or production Inferencing Using available information to guess meaning of new items, predict outcomes or fill in missing information summarizing Making a mental, oral or written summary of new information gained through listening or reading Recombination Constructing a meaningful sentence or larger language sequence by combinning known elements in a new way XL Translation Using the first language as a base for understanding and/or producing the second language Social/ Affective Strategies Question for Eliciting from a teacher or peer additional explanations, classification rephrasing, examples or verification Cooperation Working together with one or more peers to solve a problem, pool information, check a learning task, model a language activity, or get feedback on oral or written performance Self-talk Reducing anxiety by using mental techniques that make one feel competent to the learning task XLI ... the reason, this action research aimed at improving reading comprehension among 10th graders at a high school in Hanoi through cognitive reading strategy training After a preliminary investigation... teaching and learning skills in foreign language teaching and learning, reading comprehension strategies, the importance of reading strategies, classification of cognitive reading strategies and... in reading skills 1.2 Aim of the study The study aims at improving reading comprehension ability of 10th grade students at a high school in Hanoi through cognitive reading strategy training as