An integration of the four english skills in teaching reading texts to beginner learners at asemlink international language centre

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY -  NGUYEN THI HONG AN INTEGRATION OF THE FOUR ENGLISH SKILLS IN TEACHING READING TEXTS TO BEGINNER LEARNERS AT ASEMLINK INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE CENTRE ( Đường hướng tích hợp bốn kỹ Tiếng Anh trình dạy Đọc hiểu cho cấp độ sơ cấp Trung tâm Anh ngữ quốc tế Asemlink) Master thesis in Education Vinh, 2011 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY -  NGUYEN THI HONG AN INTEGRATION OF THE FOUR ENGLISH SKILLS IN TEACHING READING TEXTS TO BEGINNER LEARNERS AT ASEMLINK INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE CENTRE ( Đường hướng tích hợp bốn kỹ Tiếng Anh trình dạy Đọc hiểu cho cấp độ sơ cấp Trung tâm Anh ngữ quốc tế Asemlink) Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 60.14.10 Master thesis in Education Supervisor: Dr LE VAN CANH Vinh, 2011 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify myself of the Study Project Report submitted entitled “ An integration of the four English skills in teaching reading text to beginner learners at Asemlink centre” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts Vinh 2011 Nguyen Thi Hong ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to thank the Department of Postgraduate Studies at Vinh University for giving me opportunity to accomplish this study I would also like to thank my supervisor Dr Le Van Canh for his useful advice and encouragement while working on the thesis Also I wish to express my gratitude to all the lectures at the Department of Postgraduate Studies, who have provided me with valuable knowledge in the field of English Teaching Methodology during the MA course ABSTRACT This thesis analyzes the exploitation of the integrated approach in teaching reading text to beginner learners at Asemlink school The main theoretical basis of this study is Brown (2001)’s theory of integration It is an action research, in which the benefits of the integrated approach to language teaching are proposed beforehand concerning the use of the integrated approach to teaching reading text to beginner learners The research begins with the construction of the integrated approach to language teaching This will be then the theoretical framework for the later analysis of the students’ questionaires after studying with this teaching method The job of analysis aims at finding the benefits of the integrated approach that students perceived and students’ attitude toward the integrated approach in learning reading text The result is, later on, used for proving the importance of integrating the English skills in teaching reading text LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 2.1 Types of integration 19 Table 4.1 Problems of learning reading comprehension 55 Table 4.2 Students’ attitude toward the integration of other skills in teaching reading comprehension .57 Table 4.3 Benefits of the integrated approach 60 Figure 4.1 Students’ attitudes toward the integrated approach 63 Figure 4.2 Reasons for their interest in the integrated approach .64 TABLE OF CONTENT STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT .5 CHAPTER - INTRODUCTION 1.4.1 An Action Research 12 1.4.2 Methods 13 1.6 Organization of the study .14 CHAPTER – LITERATURE REVIEW 16 2.1.1.The role of reading in second/foreign language acquisition .16 2.1.2 Students’ difficulties in reading comprehension 18 2.1 Approaches to teaching reading comprehension .19 2.1.3.1.Bottom-up model 20 2.1.3.2 Top-down model .20 2.1.3.3 Interactive model 21 2.2 The power of extensive reading 21 2.3.1 Definition 23 2.3.2.Types of integration 24 2.4.Integration of skills .25 2.4.1 Integration of three areas 25 2.4.1.1 Grammatical integration 25 2.4.1.2 Functional integration .26 2.4.1.3 Thematic/ Topical integration 26 2.5 Reading integrated with other skills 26 2.5.1 Reasons for the integration of Reading with other skills 26 2.5.2 The integration of reading with other skills 28 2.5.2.1 Reading integrated with Listening 28 2.5.2.2 Reading integrated with writing 30 2.5.2.3 Reading integrated with Speaking 31 2.6.Benefits of the integrated approach to language teaching 32 2.7 Challenges and Limitations of the integrated approach to language teaching .36 2.8 Student’s perceptions of teachers’ teaching styles 37 2.8.1 Definition of perception 37 2.8.2 Teachers’ teaching styles 38 2.8.3 Learners’ learning styles 40 2.8.4 Studies on students’ perception of teachers’ teaching styles 41 2.8.4.2 Study on Students’ perception of teachers’ teaching styles in Higher Education 42 2.8.4.3 Students’ perception of learner – centered teaching .43 2.9 Conclusion 45 CHAPTER - METHODOLOGY 46 3.2.1 Indentify the problems 47 3.2.2 Planning for the Intervention 49 3.2.3 Implementation 50 3.2.4.Evaluation 51 3.3.1 Use students’ questionaire 51 3.3.2 Teacher’s journals / Diaries 52 CHAPTER - FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 56 4.1 The results 56 4.1.1 Students’ problems in learning only reading skill in reading comprehension 56 Table 4.1 Problems of learning reading comprehension .56 4.1.2 Students’s attitudes toward the way to learn reading comprehension with other skills 59 Table 4.2 Students’ attitude toward the integration of other skills in teaching reading comprehension 59 4.1.3 Benefits of the integrated approach 60 4.1.4 Students’ attitudes toward the integrated approach 63 Figure 4.1 Students’ attitudes toward the integrated approach 64 Figure 4.2 Reasons for their interest in the integrated approach 65 4.1.5 Reasons for choosing the integrated approach to teaching reading text 66 4.2 Findings and Discussion 67 4.2.1 Students’ perceived benefits of the integrated approach to their English learning 68 4.2.2 Students’ perceived difficulties of the integrated approach to their English learning .70 4.2.3 Reflection 71 4.3 Conclusion 72 CHAPTER - CONCLUSION 73 REFERENCES .77 APPENDIX 80 APPENDIX 83 APPENDIX 86 CHAPTER - INTRODUCTION When we are teaching a second language, we are trying to develop in the learners not just grammatical competence in the Chomskyan sense , but also communicative competence Integrating the four English skills : Listening, Reading, Writing and Speaking is one of the effective ways of teaching English to develop learners’ communicative skill According to Davies & Pearse: “ Real success in English teaching and learning is when the learners can actually communicate in English inside and outside the classroom” (Davies & Pearse, 2000: 99) Teachers have been studying the ways of enabling learners to use English freely, effectively and as far as possible accurately It is not only the major goal of all English language teaching , but also the students’ main concern when they make their efforts to study English Therefore , it is necessary to combine four skills at once when we teach English for students to let them use what they learn in realistic communication For various reasons, traditional English language teaching ( ELT) tends to train the four skills – listening, speaking, reading and writing seperately And then materials and activites are designed to focus on one specific skill while others are ignored It cannot be denied that a separate focus on individual skills can play a useful role in accelerating students’ language learning if it is taught well However, students cannot communicate well when they are in real life because there is no seperation of four skills outside All of these skills are combined together Hence, integrated approach in language teaching is used to develop students’ communicative comptetence Integrating the skills can bring plenty of benefits to English teaching It is a worthwhile experience in a communicative classroom despite its higher demanding for teachers In this thesis, I would like to show an integrated approach to the teaching and practice of the language skills through reading lessons With this approach, the language classroom will become more purposeful and meaningful for the learners at all levels if we apply this method Integrating the four English skills in teaching can make classroom contexts and situations come closer to the real life ones Moreover, it can help learners develop the four skills at the same time Then they can communicate well outside To sum up, it is observed that integrated approach to language teaching can bring an effective result to learners’communicative competence In this thesis, I would like to mention the integrated approach to language teaching and then through reading lesson, I would like to integrate the four skills through some activities 1.1 Rationale Teaching English gives students not only grammar knowledge but also their fluency of four English skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking at different levels From my teaching experiences, It is apparent that Vietnamese learners are very good at grammar , however they are not fluent at the four English skills Therefore, it is very difficult for them to communicate with foreigners when they work outside In fact , many countries in the world have applied the communicative method to teach learners to study English effectively for a long time However, We have just applied this method in teaching English recently Moreover, Our students have also just taken a serious view with the importance of English Realizing the significance of integrating four skills in teaching English for beginners to get good communicative skills, this study is carried out to investigate the ways to integrate four skills in teaching Reading and to suggest some kinds of activities that teachers can create through the reading text to combine four skills 1.2 Aims and Objectives of the study 10 is possible to investigate students’ difficulties and solutions for using the integrated approach in teaching beginner learners In conclusion, through the statistics of the research, applying the integrated approach to teaching reading text to beginner learners has brought about many benefits Indeed, students have had great development in their learning They are more motivated to study English more That teaching method can be used not only for beginner level but also other levels in teaching reading text to make the reading lesson interested and effective 76 REFERENCES Abbott, G., Wingard, P., & Mckeating, D ( 1981), The teaching of English as an international language London: Collins Bishop, D.V and Adams, C (1990), A prospective study of the relationship between specific language impairment, phonological disorders and reading retardation Journal of child psychology and psychiatry and Allied Disciplines, 31, 1027-1050 Brown, H.D ( 2001), Teaching by Principles: An Interactive Approach to Language Pedagogy ( Second Edition).Longman Press Brown, J.D (2001), Using surveys in language programs Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press Bruck, M (1990), Word-recognition skills of aldults with childhood diagnoses of Dyslexia Developmental Psychology, 26 (3), 439-454 Burns, A (2010), Action research in second language education A guide to practitioners London: Continuum Chamot A.U., & O’Malley , J.M (1994), 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Beatrice S ( 2008), Teaching Reading in a Second Language Peason Education, Inc 27 Murphy, J.M., (1991), Oral communication in Tesol: Integrating Speaking, Listening and Pronunciation; Tesol Quarterly; 25 (1); Oxford University Press 28 Nunan, D.(1989), Designing Tasks for the communicative classroom Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press 29 Nuttall, C (1996), Teaching Reading skill in a foreign Language Second Edition Oxford: Heinemann 30 Oxford, R (1990), Language learning strategies What every teacher should know Boston, MA: Heine & Heinle 31 Oxford, R (2001), Integrated Skills in the ESL / EFL Classroom University of Maryland Press 32 Palmer, H.E (1964), The principles of language study Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press ( Original work published in 1921) 78 33 Pask, G (1976) , Style and strategies of learning British Journal of Educational Psychology, 46, 128-48 34 Peck, A (1988), Language teachers at work Cambridge: Prentice Hall 35 Peregoy, S & O Boyle (1997), Reading, 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(2001), Handbook of action research: Participative 40 Richards, J.C., J Platt and H Weber (1985), Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics London: Longman 41 Rivers, W.M (1981), Teaching Foreign-Language Skills Chicago, The University of Chicago Press 42 Sanchez, M.A (2000), An appoach to the integration of skills in English teaching Didactica ( Lengua y Literatura), 12, 21-41 43 Shell, R (1991), Personality and socialization correlates of vicarious emotional responding Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61(3), 459-470 44 Spilich, G.J., Vesonder, G.T., Chiesi, H.L., & Voss, J.F (1979), Text processing of domain-related information for individuals with high and low domain knowledge Journal of Verbal learning & Verbal behaviour, 18, 275-290 45 Temperley, M & Rivers, W.M (1978), A practical guide to the teaching of English as a second or foreign language Oxford: OUP 46 Tierney, R.J., & Pearson, P.D (1983), Toward a composing model of reading Language Arts,60, 569-580 47 Tierney, R.J., & Shanahan, J (1991), Research on Reading and Writing relationship: Interaction, Transaction and Outcomes In R Barr, M Kamil, P Mosenthal, & P.D Pearson ( Eds), Handbook of Reading Research, Vol.2, 609640 79 48 Tierney, R.J., Soter, A., O’Flahavan J.O & McGinley, W (1984), The effects of reading and writing upon thinking critically Reading Research Quarterly, 24, 134 – 173 49 Treiman, Rebecca (2001), An Artical : Reading.Wayne State University 50 Weimer, M (2002), Learner-centered teaching: five key changes to practice San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass 51 WU Jing (2006), Integrating Skills for Teaching EFL – Activitiy Design for the Communicative Classroom Volume 3, No.12 ( Serial No.36) 52 Yilmazer, A (1997), Making a Reading Lesson More Challenging: Is it Mission Impossible?, In Perspectives in English Language Teaching, The 4th Metu EFL Convention, Ankara: Metu APPENDIX English Questionaires for students Questionaires for student These questionaires are designed for my research into “ An integration of the four skills in teaching Reading skill to beginner learners at Asemlink centre” Your assistance in completing these questionaires is appreciated All the information given by you is only used for my study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data Section A: Do you agree with these? The reading lesson should include the practice of other language skills such as speaking,writing etc □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree Including the practice of other language skills in the reading lesson helps me learn the language better □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree □ Strongly disagree When the reading lesson includes the practice of other language skills, I have better opportunity to use English more effectively □ Strongly agree □ Agree □ Disagree 80 □ Strongly disagree Section B: Here are some of the problems that you cope with in learning English Reading skill in your classroom: Yes I feel uninterested in Reading passage if it has many words I don’t know I not have chance to use the new words in the Reading lesson I not have chance to practice new grammatical structures in the text in the reading lesson The reading lesson is very boring because all I have to is just read and answer the comprehension questions No □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Section C : Here are some benifits that you can achieve after learning Reading skill with others skills : Speaking, Listening and Writing True a I know how to use the new words b I have chance to practise new words and words that I know c I can use the vocabulary and grammar that I learn in the reading text d I find reading more useful to my learning English e I can remember the new words better f I can use the information in the reading text to improve my general knowledge g I can use the information in the reading text to practice speaking h I can use the information in the reading text to practice writing i I understand better how English is used in real life ii I understand English grammar better iii Other False □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Section E : Your own opinion about this teaching approach: How you like reading when the teacher includes the practice of other language skills in the reading lesson ? □ Like very much □ Like but not very much □ Dislike □ Dislike strongly □ It doesn’t change my attitude to reading 81 Give reasons for your choice of the answer to question 10 In your opinion, you think that teacher should always include the practice of other language skills in the reading lessons? *If Yes, Why? *If No, Why not? Thank you for your help 82 APPENDIX VIETNAMESE QUESTIONAIRES FOR STUDENTS Câu hỏi điều tra Những câu hỏi điều tra thiết kế cho đề tài nghiên cứu : “ Đường hướng tích hợp Bốn kỹ q trình dạy kỹ Đọc hiểu cho trình độ sơ cấp Trung Tâm Anh ngữ Asemlink” Sự giúp đỡ bạn việc hoàn thành câu hỏi diều tra đánh giá cao Tất thông tin cung cấp bạn sử dụng cho mục đích nghiên cứu tơi Phần A: Bạn có đồng ý với câu sau khơng? Tất bốn kỹ năng: Nghe, Nói, Đọc Viết nên kết hợp trình dạy kỹ Đọc hiểu □ Rất đồng ý □ Đồng ý □ Không đồng ý □ Rất không đồng ý 10 Kết hợp kỹ khác dạy kỹ Đọc giúp Tôi học Ngôn ngữ tốt □ Rất đồng ý □ Đồng ý □ Không đồng ý □ Rất không đồng ý 11 Khi kỹ Đọc hiểu thực hành kỹ khác, Tơi có hội tốt để sử dụng Tiếng Anh hiệu □ Rất đồng ý □ Đồng ý □ Không đồng ý □ Rất không đồng ý Phần B: Đây vấn đế mà bạn thường gặp phải trình học kỹ Đọc hiểu lớp Có 12 Tơi cảm thấy khơng thích thú với Đọc hiểu có nhiều từ bạn khơng biết nghĩa 13 Tơi khơng có hội sử dụng từ Đọc hiểu 14 Tôi khơng có hội để thực hành cấu trúc ngữ pháp đọc học kỹ Đọc □ 15 Giờ học Kỹ Đọc hiểu buồn tẻ tất Gì phải làm Đọc đọc trả lời câu hỏi Không □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Phần C : Đây số lợi ích mà bạn đạt học kỹ Đọc hiểu với kỹ khác: Kỹ Viết, Nghe Nói Đúng Sai i Tơi biết cách sử dụng từ □ 83 □ j Tơi có hội để thực hành từ từ biết □ k Tơi sử dụng từ cấu trúc học Đọc hiểu □ l Tơi thấy kỹ Đọc hiểu giúp ích nhiều cho Tiếng Anh □ m Tôi nhớ từ vựng tốt □ n Tơi sử dụng thơng tin Đọc hiểu để nâng cao kiến thức tảng □ o Tơi sử dụng thơng tin Đọc hiểu để thực hành kỹ Nói □ p Tơi sử dụng thơng tin Đọc hiểu để thực hành kỹ Viết □ q Tôi hiểu ngữ pháp Tiếng Anh □ □ r Ý kiến khác: □ □ □ □ □ □ □ Phần D : Ý kiến bạn phương pháp giảng dạy này: 16 Bạn cảm thấy thích thú với kỹ Đọc học Kỹ Đọc kết hợp với kỹ khác học Đọc? □ Rất thích □ Khơng thích nhiều □ Khơng thích □ Rất khơng thích □ Khơng có thay đổi ý kiến Tôi kỹ Đọc Bạn nêu số lý cho lựa chọn bạn câu 10 Theo Bạn, Giáo viên có nên thường xuyên kết hợp kỹ khác dạy kỹ Đọc hiểu hay không? *Nếu có Tại nên? 84 *Nếu không Tại không nên? Cảm ơn hợp tác bạn! 85 APPENDIX LESSON PLAN – UNIT – THAI FOOD Reading text : Thai Food ( English for life – Page 23) Thai food In Thailand people eat a lot of rice and noodles with meat and fish The food is very hot In my family, we have three meals a day For breakfast we have rice soup with chicken or fish For lunch, we have noodles Dinner in the evening is our big meal of the day For dinner, we eat rice with curry and vegetables We have fruit for dessert We eat a lot of fruit but we don’t eat apples.They’re very expensive We don’t eat a lot of potatoes, bread, or pasta And we don’t eat milk products, like cheese or butter We drink tea, coffee, water or fruit juice We don’t drink wine, but we drink beer We don’t use chopsticks We eat with a spoon and fork I Aim of the reading text - Students can understand the text and answer the comprehension - II III IV questions in the book Students have chance to practice other skills: listening, reading and writing as well as their language competence - Students will be able to use it to communicate in their real life Methodology - Communicative approach - Integrated approach to teaching reading text Teaching Aids - Teacher’s laptop, CD of English for life book ( CD1 - Beginner), CD of American Advanture book ( CD1 – Starter), white markers, board - Pictures of some famous food in Vietnam Procedure Activity 1: Reading is integrated with Grammar and vocabulary ( 15minutes) 86 - Teacher lets students listen to what speaker talks in the CD and ask - students to write down food that they hear After that, students read aloud words about food they heard in the CD - ( review new words) Then, students use the words to make sentences about food they eat for - three meals Students open the book, read through the text and answer the comprehension questions in the book Activity 2: Reading is integrated with writing ( 15 minutes) - Using the information in the reading text, students write about what vietnamese people typically eat for three meals and our main meal - Teacher goes around to check vocabulary, grammar and content Activity 3: Reading is integrated with speaking ( 15minutes) - Students are put into pairs to practice speaking about their meals - Teacher gives students a list of ten questions Then, students stand into two lines and face to face They ask their partners about their meals in a V day Consolidation - Students their homework in their workbook - Students prepare to make presentation about what food in Vietnam is good and famous 87 ...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY -  NGUYEN THI HONG AN INTEGRATION OF THE FOUR ENGLISH SKILLS IN TEACHING READING TEXTS TO BEGINNER LEARNERS AT ASEMLINK INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE. .. (2) Investigating the integrated approach to language teaching to beginners : its benefits and limitations (3) Designing some kinds of activities to integrate the four English skills in teaching. .. types of intergration, i.e the integration of skills and the integration of linguistic areas 2.4 .Integration of skills Skill integration is an innovative approach which is highly appreciated by many