English graded reader efl university students perspectives and practices within the context of reading fluency and reading comprehension m a 60 14 10

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE ENGLISH GRADED READERS: EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES AND PRACTICES WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF READING FLUENCY AND READING COMPREHENSION A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By HUYNH THI MY VAN Supervised by NGUYEN THU HUONG, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2016 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE ENGLISH GRADED READERS: EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES AND PRACTICES WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF READING FLUENCY AND READING COMPREHENSION A thesis submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By HUYNH THI MY VAN Supervised by NGUYEN THU HUONG, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, JULY 2016 i Acknowledgements This thesis would have not been completed without the guidance, encouragement, suggestions and assistance from many members First and foremost, I would like to send my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thu Huong, who has supported me and guided me through the thesis, and forgiven me for my occasional tardiness and lateness during the thesis He has always given me great encouragement, and thanks to that I was more determined to complete my work Next, I would like to express my special thanks to my beloved colleagues who gave me the valuable suggestions for the thesis, who took time to correct my questionnaire and who frequently asked me about the progress of the thesis so that I could feel a great sense of warmth and care which motivated me to fulfil the thesis more I would also like to send my thanks to my students, who accompanied with me during the thesis Last but not least, I would like send my special thanks to my husband and my brother, who have encouraged me to complete my thesis ii Statement of originality I declare that the thesis entitled: ENGLISH GRADED READERS: EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERSPECTIVES AND PRACTICES IN THE CONTEXT OF READING FLUENCY AND READING COMPREHENSION is written by me, Huynh Thi My Van, who takes full responsibility for the contents of the thesis I declare that the contents of this thesis are original and that no other sources apart from those mentioned in the thesis and its references have been used to create it Ho Chi Minh City, July 2016 Huynh Thi My Van iii Retention and use of the thesis I hereby state that I, Huynh Thi My Van, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s theses deposited in the library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan or reproduction of the thesis Ho Chi Minh City, July 2016 Huynh Thi My Van iv Table of contents Title page i Acknowledgements ii Statement of originality iii Retention and use of the thesis iv Table of contents v List of abbreviations x List of tables xi List of figures xiii Abstract xiv CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Research hypotheses 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 The organization of the thesis CHAPTER LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 A brief account of reading 2.1.1 Successful reading in English as first language 2.1.2 Reading fluency 2.1.2.1 Components of reading fluency 2.1.2.2 Definitions of reading fluency 2.1.2.3 Oral reading fluency versus silent reading fluency 10 2.1.3 Reading comprehension 11 2.1.4 The role of reading fluency in fostering reading comprehension 12 2.2 Teaching reading in the ESL and EFL context 13 2.2.1 Intensive reading 13 2.2.1.1 Features of intensive reading 13 v 2.2.1.2 Reading strategies 14 2.2.2 Extensive reading 14 2.2.2.1 Features of Extensive Reading 14 2.2.2.2 The role of Extensive Reading in fostering learners’ reading fluency 15 2.2.2.3 The impact of the amount of reading on learners’ reading fluency 16 2.2.2.4 The role of strategy use in Extensive Reading in fostering reading fluency and reading comprehension 17 2.2.5 Graded Readers (GRs) 18 2.2.5.1 Definitions of GRs 18 2.2.5.2 Types of GRs 19 2.2.5.3 Levels of GRs 20 2.2.5.4 Learners’ selection of GRs 21 2.3 Relevant studies 21 2.3.1 Relevant studies on students’ attitudes towards GRs 21 2.3.2 Related studies on students’ practices of using GRs 23 2.3.3 Related studies on students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs 23 2.3.4 Related studies on the impact of GRs on reading fluency and reading comprehension 26 2.3.5 Al-Homoud and Schmitt (2009)’s study 29 2.4 Gaps from the studies reviewed 30 2.5 The conceptual framework of the study 32 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 34 3.1 Research setting 34 3.2 Participants of the study 34 3.3 Research design 35 3.4 Research instruments 36 3.4.1 The questionnaire 36 3.4.1.1 The content of the questionnaire on attitudes and perceptions 37 3.4.1.2 The content of the questionnaire on practices 39 vi 3.4.2 The reading fluency pretest and posttest 40 3.4.3 The reading comprehension pretest and posttest 40 3.5 Research procedure 42 3.5.1 Before the implementation of GRs 42 3.5.2 During the implementation of GRs 45 3.5.3 After the implementation of GRs 45 3.6 The scoring method of the reading rate and reading comprehension pretest and posttest 45 3.7 Data collection 46 3.8 Data analysis 46 CHAPTER RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 48 4.1 Research question 48 4.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards GRs 48 4.1.1.1 Enjoyment 48 4.1.1.2 Confidence 48 4.1.1.3 Students’ reactions to GRs in the future 49 4.1.2 Students’ practices of using GRs 51 4.1.2.1 GRs selection strategies 51 4.1.2.2 Pre-reading strategies 52 4.1.2.3 While reading strategies 53 4.1.2.4 Post-reading strategies 55 4.2 Research question 56 4.2.1 Statistical analysis of test results 57 4.2.1.1 Statistical analysis of test results on reading rate 57 4.2.1.2 Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension that followed the reading rate test 57 4.2.1.3 Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension 58 4.2.1.4 Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension of main ideas 58 4.2.1.5 Statistical analysis of test results on reading comprehension of details 58 4.2.2 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs 59 vii 4.2.2.1 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their reading fluency 59 4.2.2.2 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their reading comprehension 60 4.2.2.3 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the follow-up activities in improving their reading fluency and reading comprehension 62 4.2.2.4 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the amount of reading required in improving their reading fluency and reading comprehension 62 4.2.2.5 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their reading skills 63 4.2.2.6 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their vocabulary 64 4.3 Discussion of the results 66 4.3.1 Research question 66 4.3.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards GRs 66 4.3.1.2 Students’ practices of using GRs 67 4.3.1.2.1 Students’ GRs selection strategies 67 4.3.1.2.2 Students’ pre-reading strategies 68 4.3.1.2.3 Students’ while-reading strategies 68 4.3.1.2.4 Students’ post-reading strategies 69 4.3.2 Research question 69 4.3.2.1 The impact of GRs on students’ reading fluency and reading comprehension 69 4.3.2.2 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs 71 4.3.2.2.1 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their reading fluency 71 4.3.2.2.2 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their comprehension 72 4.3.2.2.3 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the follow-up activities in improving their RF and RC 73 viii 4.3.2.2.4 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of the amount of reading in improving their RF and RC 73 4.3.2.2.5 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their vocabulary 74 4.3.2.2.6 Students’ perception of the effectiveness of GRs in improving their reading 75 4.4 Summary of key findings 76 CHAPTER CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 77 5.1 Conclusion 77 5.2 Implications of the study 77 5.3 Limitations of the study 79 5.4 Recommendations for further research 80 References 81 Appendix 1: The English version of the questionnaire 87 Appendix 2: The Vietnamese version of the questionnaire 92 Appendix 3: Al-Homoud and Schmitt’s questionnaire 97 Appendix 4: The reading fluency pretest 106 Appendix 5: The reading fluency posttest 109 Appendix 6: The reading comprehension pretest 111 Appendix 7: The reading comprehension posttest 119 Appendix 8: IELTS Reading answer sheet 128 Appendix 9: Book report form 129 Appendix 10: Sample quiz 130 Appendix 11: Raw score conversion of the IELTS test 132 ix 31 Killer whales (orcas) in the J, K, and L pods prefer to eat ……… A halibut B a type of salmon C a variety of animals D fish living at the bottom of the sea 32 Some groups of salmon have become extinct because ………… A they have lost places to live B whales have eaten them C they don't get good nutrition D the winters in the area are too cold Questions 33-40 Complete the chart below Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer Write your answers in boxes 33-40 on your Answer Sheet Cause Effect Scientists believe some whales feed (33)………… These whales dive very deep Scientists believe that the area is being over fished Rockfish caught today is (34)…………… than rockfish caught in the past Orcas are at the top of the ocean food chain (35)……………… affects orcas more than it does other sea animals Orcas are a (36)………………… species We can use orcas to make society aware of the problem of marine pollution People enjoy boating, fishing, and whale watching in the San Juan Islands On weekends there are (37) ……………… near the whales Kayaks are (38)…………… A lot of boats beep their motors running Marine animals hit them when they come up for air Whales breathe (39)……………… Boats are noisy Whales have difficulty (40)……………… 118 APPENDIX 7: READING COMPREHENSION POSTTEST READING PASSAGE You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13, which are based on Reading Passage below The life and work of Marie Curie Marie Curie is probably the most famous woman scientist who has ever lived Born Maria Sklodowska in Poland in 1867, she is famous for her work on radioactivity, and was twice a winner of the Nobel Prize With her husband, Pierre Curie, and Henri Becquerel, she was awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize for Physics, and was then sole winner of the 1911 Nobel Prize for Chemistry She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize From childhood, Marie was remarkable for her prodigious memory, and at the age of 16 won a gold medal on completion of her secondary education Because her father lost his savings through bad investment, she then had to take work as a teacher From her earnings she was able to finance her sister Bronia's medical studies in Paris, on the understanding that Bronia would, in turn, later help her to get an education In 1891 this promise was fulfilled and Marie went to Paris and began to study at the Sorbonne (the University of Paris) She often worked far into the night and lived on little more than bread and butter and tea She came first in the examination in the physical sciences in 1893, and in 1894 was placed second in the examination in mathematical sciences It was not until the spring of that year that she was introduced to Pierre Curie Their marriage in 1895 marked the start of a partnership that was soon to achieve results of world significance Following Henri Becquerel's discovery in 1896 of a new phenomenon, which Marie later called 'radioactivity', Marie Curie decided to find out if the radioactivity discovered in uranium was to be found in other elements She discovered that this was true for thorium Turning her attention to minerals, she found her interest drawn to pitchblende, a mineral whose radioactivity, superior to that of pure uranium, could be explained only by the presence in the ore of small quantities of an unknown substance of very high activity Pierre Curie joined her in the work that she had undertaken to resolve this problem, and that led to the discovery of the new elements, polonium and radium While Pierre Curie devoted himself chiefly to the physical study of the new radiations, Marie Curie struggled to obtain pure radium in the metallic state This was achieved with the help of the chemist André-Louis Debierne, one of Pierre Curie's pupils Based on the results of this research, Marie Curie received her Doctorate of Science, and in 1903 Marie and Pierre shared with Becquerel the Nobel Prize for Physics for the discovery of radioactivity The births of Marie's two daughters, Irène and Eve, in 1897 and 1904 failed to interrupt her scientific work She was appointed lecturer in physics at the École Normale Supérieure 119 for girls in Sèvres, France (1900), and introduced a method of teaching based on experimental demonstrations In December 1904 she was appointed chief assistant in the laboratory directed by Pierre Curie The sudden death of her husband in 1906 was a bitter blow to Marie Curie, but was also a turning point in her career: henceforth she was to devote all her energy to completing alone the scientific work that they had undertaken On May 13, 1906, she was appointed to the professorship that had been left vacant on her husband's death, becoming the first woman to teach at the Sorbonne In 1911 she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for the isolation of a pure form of radium During World War I, Marie Curie, with the help of her daughter Irène, devoted herself to the development of the use of X-radiography, including the mobile units which came to be known as ‘Little Curies', used for the treatment of wounded soldiers In 1918 the Radium Institute, whose staff Irène had joined, began to operate in earnest, and became a centre for nuclear physics and chemistry Marie Curie, now at the highest point of her fame and, from 1922, a member of the Academy of Medicine, researched the chemistry of radioactive substances and their medical applications In 1921, accompanied by her two daughters, Marie Curie made a triumphant journey to the United States to raise funds for research on radium Women there presented her with a gram of radium for her campaign Marie also gave lectures in Belgium, Brazil, Spain and Czechoslovakia and, in addition, had the satisfaction of seeing the development of the Curie Foundation in Paris, and the inauguration in 1932 in Warsaw of the Radium Institute, where her sister Bronia became director One of Marie Curie's outstanding achievements was to have understood the need to accumulate intense radioactive sources, not only to treat illness but also to maintain an abundant supply for research The existence in Paris at the Radium Institute of a stock of 1.5 grams of radium made a decisive contribution to the success of the experiments undertaken in the years around 1930 This work prepared the way for the discovery of the neutron by Sir James Chadwick and, above all, for the discovery in 1934 by Irène and Frédéric Joliot- Curie of artificial radioactivity A few months after this discovery, Marie Curie died as a result of leukaemia caused by exposure to radiation She had often carried test tubes containing radioactive isotopes in her pocket, remarking on the pretty blue-green light they gave off Fier contribution to physics had been immense, not only in her own work, the importance of which had been demonstrated by her two Nobel Prizes, but because of her influence on subsequent generations of nuclear physicists and chemists Questions 1-6 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1? In boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet, write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this Marie Curie’s husband was a joint winner of both Marie’s Nobel Prizes Marie became interested in science when she was a child Marie was able to attend the Sorbonne because of her sister’s financial contribution 120 Marie stopped doing research for several years when her children were born Marie took over the teaching position her husband had held Marie’s sister Bronia studied the medical uses of radioactivity Questions 7-13 Complete the notes below Choose ONE WORD from the passage for each answer Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet Marie Curie’s research on radioactivity - When uranium was discovered to be radioactive, Marie Curie found that the element called 7…… had the same property - Marie and Pierre Curie’s research into the radioactivity of the mineral known as …… led to the discovery of two new elements - In 1911, Marie Curie received recognition for her work on the element ………… - Marie and Irene Curie developed X-radiography which was used as a medical technique for 10 ……… - Marie Curie saw the importance of collecting radioactive material both for research and for cases of 11 ……… - The radioactive material stocked in Paris contributed to the discoveries in the 1930s of the 12 …… and of what was known as artificial radioactivity - During her research, Marie Curie was exposed to radiation and as a result she suffered from 13 ………… READING PASSAGE You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26, which are based on Passage below Irish Potato Famine A In the ten years following the Irish potato famine of 1845, over 750,000 Irish people died, including many of those who attempted to immigrate to countries such as the United States and Canada Prior to the potato blight, one of the main concerns in Ireland was overpopulation In the early 1500s, the country’s population was estimated at less than three million, but by 1840 this number had nearly tripled The bountiful potato crop, which contains almost all of the nutrients that a person needs for survival, was largely to blame for the population growth However, within five years of the failed crop of 1845, the population of Ireland was reduced by a quarter A number of factors contributed to the plummet of the Irish population, namely the Irish dependency on the potato crop, the British tenure system, and the inadequate relief efforts of the English B It is not known exactly how or when the potato was first introduced to Europe, however, the general assumption is that it arrived on a Spanish ship sometime in the 1600s For more than one hundred years, Europeans believed that potatoes belonged to a botanical family of a poisonous breed It was not until Marie 121 Antoinette wore potato blossoms in her hair In the mid-eighteenth century that potatoes became a novelty By the late 1700s, the dietary value of the potato had been discovered, and the monarchs of Europe ordered the vegetable to be widely planted C By 1800, the vast majority of the Irish population had become dependent on the potato as its primary staple It wasn’t uncommon for an Irish potato farmer to consume more than six pounds of potatoes a day Families stored potatoes for the winter and even fed potatoes to their livestock Because of this dependency, the unexpected potato blight of 1845 devastated the Irish Investigators at first suggested that the blight was caused by static energy, smoke from railroad trains, or vapors from underground volcanoes; however, the root cause was later discovered as an airborne fungus that traveled from Mexico Not only did the disease destroy the potato crops, it also infected all of the potatoes in storage at the time Their families were dying from famine, but weakened farmers had retained little of their agricultural skills to harvest other crops Those who did manage to grow things such as oats, wheat, and barley relied on earnings from these exported crops to keep their rented homes D While the potato blight generated mass starvation among the Irish, the people were held captive to their poverty by the British tenure system Following the Napoleonic Wars of 1815, the English had turned their focus to their colonial land holdings British landowners realized that the best way to profit from these holdings was to extract the resources and exports and charge expensive rents and taxes for people to live on the land Under the tenure system, Protestant landlords owned 95 percent of the Irish land, which was divided up into five-acre plots for the people to live and farm on As the population of Ireland grew, however, the plots were continuously subdivided into smaller parcels Living conditions declined dramatically, and families were forced to move to less fertile land where almost nothing but the potato would grow E During this same period of colonization The Penal Laws were also instituted as a means of weakening the Irish spirit Under the Penal Laws, Irish peasants were denied basic human rights, such as the right to speak their own native language, seek certain kinds of employment, practice their faith, receive education, and own land Despite the famine that was devastating Ireland, the landlords had little compassion or sympathy for tenants unable to pay their rent Approximately 500,000 Irish tenants were evicted by their landlords between 1845 and 1847 Many of these people also had their homes burned down and were put in jail for overdue rent F The majority of the British officials in the 1840s adopted the laissez-faire philosophy, which supported a policy of nonintervention in the Irish plight Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel was an exception He showed compassion toward the Irish by making a move to repeal the Corn Laws, which had been put in place to protect British grain producers from the competition of foreign markets For this hasty decision, Peel quickly lost the support of the British people and was forced to resign The new Prime Minister, Lord John Russell, allowed assistant Charles Trevelyan to take complete control over all of the relief efforts in Ireland Trevelyan believed that the Irish situation should be left to Providence Claiming that it would be dangerous to let the Irish become dependent on other countries, he even took steps to close food depots that were selling corn and to redirect shipments of com that were already on their way to Ireland A few relief programs were eventually implemented, such as soup kitchens and workhouses; however, these were poorly run institutions that facilitated the spread of disease, tore apart families, and offered inadequate food supplies considering the extent of Ireland’s shortages G Many of the effects of the Irish potato famine are still evident today Descendants of those who fled Ireland during the 1840s are dispersed all over the world Some of the homes that were evacuated by absentee landlords still sit abandoned in the Irish hills A number, of Irish descendents still carry animosity toward 122 the British for not putting people before politics The potato blight itself still plagues the Irish people during certain growing seasons when weather conditions are favorable for the fungus to thrive Questions 14-18 The passage has seven paragraphs, A-G Which paragraph contains the following information? Write the correct letter in boxes 14-18 on your Answer Sheet 14 the position of the British government towards the potato famine 15 a description of the system of land ownership in Ireland 16 early European attitudes toward the potato 17 explanations of the lack of legal protection for Irish peasants 18 the importance of the potato in Irish society Questions 19-26 Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-L from the box at the top of the next page Write the correct letter in boxes 19-26 on your Answer Sheet There are more endings than sentences, so you won't use them all 19 At first Europeans didn’t eat potatoes 20 European monarchs encouraged potato growing 21 The potato blight was devastating to the Irish 22 Farmers who grew oats, wheat, and barley didn’t eat these crops 23 Many Irish farmers lived on infertile plots 24 Many Irish farmers were arrested 25 Sir Robert Peel lost his position as prime minister 26 Soup kitchen and workhouses didn’t relieve the suffering Sentence Endings A because they couldn’t pay the rent on their farms B because railroad trains caused air pollution C because potatoes were their main source of food D because Charles Trevelyan took over relief efforts E because they needed the profits to pay the rent F because they weren’t well-managed G because there wasn’t enough land for the increasing population H because his efforts to help the Irish were unpopular among the British I because they believed that potatoes were poisonous J because the British instituted penal laws K because it was discovered that potatoes are full of nutrients 123 L because Marie Antoinette used potato blossoms as decoration READING PASSAGE You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40, which are based on Reading Passage below The history of the tortoise If you go back far enough, everything lived in the sea At various points in evolutionary history, enterprising individuals within many different animal groups moved out onto the land, sometimes even to the most parched deserts, taking their own private seawater with them in blood and cellular fluids In addition to the reptiles, birds, mammals and insects which we see all around us, other groups that have succeeded out of water include scorpions, snails, crustaceans such as woodlice and land crabs, millipedes and centipedes, spiders and various worms And we mustn’t forget the plants, without whose prior invasion of the land none of the other migrations could have happened Moving from water to land involved a major redesign of every aspect of life, including breathing and reproduction Nevertheless, a good number of thoroughgoing land animals later turned around, abandoned their hard-earned terrestrial re-tooling, and returned to the water again Seals have only gone part way back They show us what the intermediates might have been like, on the way to extreme cases such as whales and dugongs Whales (including the small whales we call dolphins) and dugongs, with their close cousins the manatees, ceased to be land creatures altogether and reverted to the full marine habits of their remote ancestors They don't even come ashore to breed They do, however, still breathe air, having never developed anything equivalent to the gills of their earlier marine incarnation Turtles went back to the sea a very long time ago and, like all vertebrate returnees to the water, they breathe air However, they are, in one respect, less fully given back to the water than whales or dugongs, for turtles still lay their eggs on beaches There is evidence that all modem turtles are descended from a terrestrial ancestor which lived before most of the dinosaurs There are two key fossils called Proganochelys quenstedti and Palaeochersis talampayensis dating from early dinosaur times, which appear to be close to the ancestry of all modern turtles and tortoises You might wonder how we can tell whether fossil animals lived on land or in water, especially if only fragments are found Sometimes it's obvious Ichthyosaurs were reptilian contemporaries of the dinosaurs, with fins and streamlined bodies The fossils look like dolphins and they surely lived like dolphins, in the water With turtles it is a little less obvious One way to tell is by measuring the bones of their forelimbs Walter Joyce and Jacques Gauthier, at Yale University, obtained three measurements in these particular bones of 71 species of living turtles and tortoises They used a kind of triangular graph paper to plot the three measurements against one another All the land tortoise species formed a tight cluster of points in the upper part of the triangle; all the water turtles cluster in the lower part of the triangular graph There was no overlap, except when they added some species that spend time both in water and on land Sure enough, these amphibious species show up on the triangular graph approximately half way between the 'wet cluster’ of sea turtles and the 'dry cluster' of land tortoises The next step was to determine where the fossils 124 fell The bones of P quenstedti and P.talampayensis leave us in no doubt Their points on the graph are right in the thick of the dry cluster Both these fossils were dryland tortoises They come from the era before our turtles returned to the water You might think, therefore, that modern land tortoises have probably stayed on land ever since those early terrestrial times, as most mammals did after a few of them went back to the sea But apparently not If you draw out the family tree of all modern turtles and tortoises, nearly all the branches are aquatic Today's land tortoises constitute a single branch, deeply nested among branches consisting of aquatic turtles This suggests that modern land tortoises have not stayed on land continuously since the time of P quenstedti and P talampayensis Rather, their ancestors were among those who went back to the water, and they then reemerged back onto the land in (relatively) more recent times Tortoises therefore represent a remarkable double return In common with all mammals, reptiles and birds, their remote ancestors were marine fish and before that various more or less worm-like creatures stretching back, still in the sea, to the primeval bacteria Later ancestors lived on land and stayed there for a very large number of generations Later ancestors still evolved back into the water and became sea turtles And finally they returned yet again to the land as tortoises, some of which now live in the driest of deserts Questions 27-30 Answer the questions below Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer Write your answers in boxes 27-30 on your answer sheet 27 What had to transfer from sea to land before any animals could migrate? 28 Which TWO processes are mentioned as those in which animals had to make big changes as they moved onto land? 29 Which physical feature, possessed by their ancestors, whales lack? 30 Which animals might ichthyosaurs have resembled? Questions 31-33 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 3? In boxes 31-33 on your answer sheet, write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this 31 Turtles were among the first group of animals to migrate back to the sea 32 It is always difficult to determine where animal lived when its fossilized remains are incomplete 33 The habitat of ichthyosaurs can be determined by the appearance of their fossilized remains 125 Questions 34-39 Complete the flow-chart below Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer Write your answers in boxes 34-39 on your answer sheet Question 40 Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D Write the correct letter in box 40 on your answer sheet 126 According to the writer, the most significant thing about tortoises is that A they are able to adapt to life in extremely dry environments B their original life form was a kind of primeval bacteria C they have so much in common with sea turtles D they have made the transition from sea to land more than once 127 APPENDIX 8: IELTS READING ANSWER SHEET Full name: ………………………………… IELTS READING ANSWER SHEET 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 RAW SCORE CONVERTED SCORE 128 APPENDIX 9: BOOK REPORT FORM BOOK REPORT FORM Title read: ………………………………………………………… Level: ……………………………………………………………… Time starts: …… Time finishes: …… Total time: …… Do you like this book? Why or why not? ……………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………… ……………………………………………………………………… 129 APPENDIX 10: SAMPLE QUIZ Comprehension Test Frankenstein Match a number from A with a letter from B to make complete sentences A Victor Frankenstein fainted Victor heard that his youngest brother had died The judge believed that Justine had killed William Victor didn’t kill himself The monster asked Victor B a just before he caught a train to go back home b because he wanted to keep his family safe from the monster c to create a woman monster to be his wife d just after the sailors had carried him on to Captain Walton’s ship e because of the gold chain in her pocket Fill in the gaps using: destroyed, huge, created, stolen, hut, lightning, electricity, ugly, threw, scientist Once, when Victor Frankenstein was on holiday, there was a wild storm A fork of hit a tree near his house, and the tree was Victor was interested, and began to read about After his mother died, he went to university because he wanted to become a Some years later, he a living creature using pieces of dead bodies that he had bought or People were afraid of the monster because it was so and had an face Some people shouted at the monster and stones at him The monster was afraid, and went to live in an empty Who said this in the story? Victor Frankenstein, Professor Waldman, Henry Clerval, Frankenstein’s mother, the monster a ‘I am very happy because you love each other.’ b ‘You made me, and you should love me and be kind to me, like a father.’ c ‘You are an evil creature I shall kill you if I can.’ 130 d ‘My father has agreed to let me study at the university, so we shall be able to spend a lot of time together.’ e ‘Some of you will become the great scientists of tomorrow.’ Which words are missing? Underline the words that complete the sentences a Victor Frankenstein was born in Edinburgh, Paris, Geneva b Victor’s mother wanted her son to marry Elizabeth, create a monster, travel abroad c The first person killed by the monster was Henry Clerval, Victor, William d A was kind to the monster scientist, blind man, judge e Victor died on the ice, on Captain Walton’s ship, in England In the story, Frankenstein’s monster killed some people by strangling them Who was the last person killed by the monster in this way? 131 APPENDIX 11: RAW SCORE CONVERSION OF THE IELTS TEST 132 ... What are students? ?? attitudes towards and practices of using Graded Readers? What is the impact of Graded Readers on students? ?? reading fluency and reading comprehension, and their perception of. .. decrease in translation and grammar analyses correlated with the amount of reading, RC and reading speed In other words, desisting from translation and grammar analyses overall could bring about... and other language areas such as vocabulary and grammar Table 2.5: Experimental studies on the impact of GRs on learners’ RF and RC Length of treatment Reading rate measurement method Researchers