Using comic strips in teaching english reading comprehension to students at duc hue high school in long an province

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES & HUMANITIES FACULTY OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS & LITERATURE USING COMIC STRIPS IN TEACHING ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION TO STUDENTS AT DUC HUE HIGH SCHOOL IN LONG AN PROVINCE Submitted to the Faculty of English Linguistics & Literature in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL By LÊ YẾN PHƯỢNG Supervised by LÊ HOÀNG DŨNG, PhD HO CHI MINH CITY, MAY 2013 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my special thanks to many people who have assisted my study To my supervisor, Dr Le Hoang Dung, I owe a special debt of gratitude for his patient guidance, long-standing encouragement, invaluable comments, suggestions, and constructive supervision throughout my research Without his generous support, I could not have finished this thesis I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to all my professors of the Master course in TESOL 2008 at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, whose highly informative, interesting lectures, academic advice and enthusiastic guidance helped me form a more scientific approach to my career I am indebted to all of them for their instructions My special thanks to my friends of this Master course, TESOL 2008, who are willing to share their experience My sincere thanks also go to my colleagues and my students at Duc Hue High School who have enthusiastically participated in the study Grateful acknowledgment is made to my beloved for their data collection, feedback, and supportive opinions in accomplishing this thesis as well as to my family for their deep love and heartedly constant encouragement throughout the course and the completion of this thesis i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: USING COMIC STRIPS IN TEACHING ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION TO STUDENTS AT DUC HUE HIGH SCHOOL IN LONG AN PROVINCE In terms of the statement of requirements for Thesis in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee Ho Chi Minh City, May 2013 Lê Yến Phượng ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Le Yen Phuong, being the candidate for the degree of Master in TESOL, accept the requirements for the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis 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 purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions establish by the Library for care, loan or reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, May 2013 Lê Yến Phượng iii Abstract The study attempts to investigate Duc Hue High School teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards using comic strips as a facilitating tool in English reading comprehension classes, a topic which has gained wide attention recently The study also looks for a better understanding of both advantages and disadvantages in the current application of comic strips in English reading comprehension classes so that some possible suggestions may be put forward To achieve the objectives of the study, the writer conducted a survey The respondents of the study were 240 students at the 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, and all eight English teachers at Duc Hue High School (abbreviated to ĐHHS) in Long An province Three research tools were used for gathering data: questionnaires, interviews and classroom observations After the data were gathered, descriptive analysis such as frequency and percentage was used to analyze the participants’ responses and classroom observation The three major findings of the study were that (1) teachers’ and students’ positive attitudes toward the use of comic strips in their EFL reading comprehension classes; (2) benefits and disadvantages of using comic strips in the English reading comprehension lessons; (3) teachers’ and students’ strong acceptance of the practice using comic strips in English reading comprehension classes A major conclusion of the study was that EFL language programs should consider introducing comic strips into the curriculum as a tool to improve the current learning environment Keywords: attitudes, comic strips, English reading comprehension, high school, Vietnam iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages Acknowledgements i Certificate of originality ii Retention and use of the thesis iii Abstract iv Table of contents v List of tables ix List of figures x List of abbreviations xi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Statement of the problem 1.3 Purpose of the study 1.4 Significance of the study 1.5 Delimitations of the study 1.6 Definition of terms 1.7 Organization of the study 11 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 13 2.1 Reading comprehension 13 2.2 Strategies for English reading comprehension 15 2.3 Motivation and English reading comprehension learning 17 2.4 Effects of visual aids in teaching English reading comprehension 19 2.5 Comic strips in education 20 2.6 Strengths of comic strips in foreign language teaching 23 2.7 Comic strips as an educational tool to develop language skills 26 v 2.8 Comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 29 2.9 Synthesis of literature review 33 2.9.1 Dual Coding Theory 34 2.9.2 Empirical studies related to Dual Coding Theory 36 2.10 Summary 41 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 42 3.1 Research design 42 3.2 Pilot study 42 3.3 Main study 44 3.3.1 The research site 44 3.3.2 The respondents of the study 45 3.3.2.1 The student respondents 45 3.3.2.2 The teacher respondents 47 3.3.3 Data collection instruments 48 3.3.3.1 Student questionnaire 50 3.3.3.2 Classroom observation 52 3.3.3.3 Teacher interview 53 3.4 Data collection procedure 56 3.5 Data analysis procedure 59 3.6 Summary 60 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 61 4.1 Analysis of data 61 4.1.1 Analysis of students’ responses 61 4.1.1.1 Students’ attitudes towards using comic strips in English reading comprehension lessons 61 4.1.1.2 Advantages of using comic strips in learning English reading comprehension 63 vi 4.1.2 Analysis of teachers’ responses 69 4.1.2.1 Frequency of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension at ĐHHS 69 4.1.2.2 Teachers’ responses to advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 70 4.1.2.3 Teachers’ responses to disadvantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 74 4.1.3 Analysis of classroom observations 78 4.2 Discussion of results 81 4.3 Major findings 84 4.3.1 Research question 85 4.3.2 Research question 85 4.3.3 Research question 86 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION 88 5.1 Summary 88 5.2 Pedagogical implications 90 5.3 Suggestions……………… 93 5.3.1 Suggestions for the administrators 93 5.3.2 Suggestion for teachers at ĐHHS 93 5.3.3 Suggestion for other stakeholders 95 5.4 Limitations of the study 96 5.5 Recommendation for further study 96 REFERENCES 97 APPENDICES 107 Appendix A: Questionnaire to student respondents 108 Appendix B: Classroom observation checklist 111 Appendix C: Interview questions to teacher respondents 113 Appendix D: Transcription of teacher answers 115 vii Appendix E: Summary of the classroom observations 124 Appendix F: Comic strips used in English reading comprehension classes… 125 viii LIST OF TABLES Pages Table 3.1: The distribution of the student respondents 46 Table 3.2: Years of English teaching by teacher respondents 48 Table 3.3: Grade taught by teacher respondents 49 Table 3.4: Summary of research tools 52 Table 3.5: Summary of implied purposes from the student questionnaire 52 Table 3.6: Summary of implied contents of the teacher interview questions 55 Table 4.1: Students’ attitudes towards using comic strips in English reading comprehension classes 62 Table 4.2: Students’ opinion on using comic strips in learning English reading comprehension 64 Table 4.3: Summary of students’ opinion about advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 65 Table 4.4: Students’ preference for comic strips being incorporated into English textbooks 68 Table 4.5: Comic strips as a useful tool to teach English reading comprehension 71 Table 4.6: Teachers’ opinion about advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 74 Table 4.7: Teachers’ opinion about disadvantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 76 Table 4.8: Summary of the classroom observations 79 Table 4.9: Summary of the major findings 87 ix Appendix C INTERVIEW QUESTIONS TO TEACHERS Dear Ms / Mr ………… , The main purpose of this interview is to collect data about your beliefs concerning the use of comic strips in your English reading comprehension classes Your cooperation is very important for the study I will highly appreciate it if you kindly answer the questions as carefully and honestly as possible The information you provide will be strictly confidential and used only for the purpose of this study Yours sincerely, Le Yen Phuong (TESOL 2008, USSH, Hochiminh City) Part1: Demographic information Full name: ……………………………….…………………………………… Years of teaching English: …………………………………………………… Classes of current teaching: ………………… ……………………… Highest degree earned: A Bachelor’s Degree B Master’s Degree C PhD Part 2: Interview Questions 113 Please answer the following questions in detail: How often you use comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? A Always B Often C Sometimes D Rarely E Never Do you think that comic trips are a useful tool to teach English reading comprehension? A Yes B No In your opinion, what are the advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? ……………………………………………………………………………………… …………………………………………………………………………… What are your problems when using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………………………………………………… ……… How you think EFL teachers at Duc Hue High School can make appropriate use of comic strips for learning English reading comprehension? ……………………………………………………………………………………… ………………………….……………………………………….……… Thank you for your cooperation! 114 Appendix D TRANSCRIPTION OF INTERVIEWING TEACHERS Teacher (15 years of teaching) In your opinion, what are the advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I rarely design English reading comprehension tasks basing on comic strips I find it a waste of time to use comic strips to teach English reading comprehension although it can be helpful in some ways In spite of not using comic strips very often, I have to say that thanks to comic strips, I can draw my students’ attention to the tasks I design for them They can help create a relaxing atmosphere during the lessons as well as reduce students’ boredom in class What are your problems when using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I have thought about using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension It might be a handy teaching tool, but I have trouble getting the resources to use them because I am not good at applying information technology I am not very familiar with designing tasks and activities based on comic strips How you think EFL teachers at Duc Hue High School can make appropriate use of comic strips comprehension? 115 for learning English reading I think to choose comic strips that suit to teach a period of English reading comprehension is very difficult So, we should choose them with care Cut apart the individual panels of a comic strip and puts them in an envelope The students (either individually or in groups) then are asked to arrange the pieces into the proper sequence Teacher (12 years of teaching) In your opinion, what are the advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I sometimes design English reading comprehension tasks basing on comic strips Comic strips usually deal with humor; therefore, they can help create a relaxing atmosphere during the lessons as well as reduce students’ boredom in class Comic strips might make the lessons easy to understand and provide students with contextualized comprehensible input to guess the main ideas of the texts What are your problems when using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? It was not an effective way to teach English reading comprehension by using comic strips I am not very familiar with designing tasks and activities based on comic strips 116 How you think EFL teachers at Duc Hue High School can make appropriate use of comic strips for learning English reading comprehension? Comic strips should be used as a support material rather than the main tool Remove the last picture of a cartoon and ask students to think of an ending Teacher (11 years of teaching) In your opinion, what are the advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I sometimes use comic strips to design English reading comprehension tasks In my opinion, comic strips should be used because students enjoy them Comic strips are extremely motivating They provide students with contextualized comprehensible input to guess the main ideas of the texts and make the lessons easy to understand What are your problems when using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? It was not an effective way to teach English reading comprehension by using comic strips Finding suitable comic strips is a problem of mine It takes me a lot of time to choose suitable comic strips to apply in a lesson The students sometimes rely too much on comic strips rather than on the text 117 How you think EFL teachers at Duc Hue High School can make appropriate use of comic strips for learning English reading comprehension? I think to choose comic strips that suit to teach a period of English reading comprehension separately is very difficult Uhm, it’s quite difficult to choose comic strips that fit the curriculum of teaching English reading comprehension although comic strips are various and available on the Internet We should choose them caution; that is, they should match the text to assist students in comprehending what they have read in regard to both language and content Remove the sentences under each frame and either ask students to match them to each frame or ask them to write the sentences that tell the story Teacher (8 years of teaching) In your opinion, what are the advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I sometimes design English reading comprehension tasks basing on comic strips I like to use comic strips to teach comprehension skills because they are an effective tool for engaging students They might help students decode the meanings of new words in context, and make the lessons easy to understand Moreover, they provide students with contextualized comprehensible input to guess the main ideas of the texts 118 What are your problems when using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? The most difficult thing is that I can hardly find comic strips suitable to teach readings in each unit in 11th form textbook The students sometimes rely too much on comic strips rather than on the text How you think EFL teachers at Duc Hue High School can make appropriate use of comic strips for learning English reading comprehension? Teachers can investigate some websites for using activities that are built on comic strips They can adopt some comic strips from these websites The teacher removes the speech or thought bubbles of the comic strips, hands out copies of both the comic strip and the text of the bubbles to the students The students' task is to figure out the proper order of the speech or thoughts Teacher (7 years of teaching) In your opinion, what are the advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I usually use comic strips in my lessons because my students like them very much Comic strips may attract students with their pictures, where they need to learn to recognize certain symbols and decode their meaning, and then create students’ desire to explore the texts 119 What are your problems when using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I think using comic strips to teach English reading comprehension can be helpful in some ways, but I find it take time to prepare The students sometimes rely too much on comic strips rather than on the text How you think EFL teachers at Duc Hue High School can make appropriate use of comic strips for learning English reading comprehension? Teachers could be self-makers of comic strip material They can design simple activities using for example, "Power Point program activities" For a lesson that is more focused on structure, the teachers could ask them to rewrite a comic strip dialogue in reported form This might involve the use of verbs such as exclaim, protest, realize, wonder, and so on Teacher (6 years of teaching) In your opinion, what are the advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I usually use comic strips in my lessons because I like to them to teach English reading comprehension skills, especially inference This approach might help students to be more active by learning through playing, making fun out of learning, motivating, raising interest, breaking the boundaries of a traditional lesson, giving more opportunities for alternative teaching strategies, and making the lessons easy to understand 120 What are your problems when using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? The students sometimes rely too much on comic strips rather than on the text How you think EFL teachers at Duc Hue High School can make appropriate use of comic strips for learning English reading comprehension? Ready materials on comic strips can be taken from different websites Adapt them to suit lesson content The teacher hands out a comic strip from which the last panel is cut out Students are asked to continue the story and come up with an ending Teacher (3 years of teaching) In your opinion, what are the advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I usually use comic strips in my lessons because they bring a cheerful atmosphere into the class Comic strips are a perfect vehicle for learning a language Each strip's three or four panels provide a finite, accessible world in which funny or compelling characters live and go about their lives In addition, comic strips can be used to support vocabulary instruction and they might make the lessons easy to understand 121 What are your problems when using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I have trouble getting suitable comic strips The students sometimes rely too much on comic strips rather than on the text How you think EFL teachers at Duc Hue High School can make appropriate use of comic strips for learning English reading comprehension? We can use ready material on comic strips taken from different websites, and then adapt them to suit lesson content Give them a written text with missing information First the groups should discuss what might be missing from the text Then the teacher gives them a comic strip version of the text They must fill in the blanks in the written text by describing what they see in the pictures Teacher (2 years of teaching) In your opinion, what are the advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I often use comic strips in my lessons because I like them very much The approach was interesting, easy to understand This approach has quick results They can help create a relaxing atmosphere during the lessons as well as reduce students’ boredom in class They might help students decode the meanings of new words and guess the main ideas of the text in context 122 What are your problems when using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? I have trouble getting suitable comic strips The students sometimes rely too much on comic strips rather than on the text How you think EFL teachers at Duc Hue High School can make appropriate use of comic strips for learning English reading comprehension? We can look for ready material on comic strips They can be taken from different websites, in newspapers or magazines, and then adapt them to suit lesson content What are your suggestions to design tasks for a period of teaching English reading comprehension using comic strips? Remove speech bubbles from a comic strip Cut them up and give out Ask students to order them and to imagine what the text or situation is Groups can act out their version for the class Then give them the comic strip and ask them to see if their speech bubbles fit the text there 123 Appendix F UNIT (TIENG ANH 11) WORLD POPULATION A READING 124 125 - Are these big families ? Yes, they are 126 Appendix F 127 ... attitudes towards using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension at DHHS? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension? ... of English reading comprehension learning and teaching conducted at Duc Hue High School (abbreviated to DHHS) in Long An Province, and in the researcher’s experience of 20 years teaching English. .. advantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension 70 4.1.2.3 Teachers’ responses to disadvantages of using comic strips in teaching English reading comprehension