The impact of the sq3r technique on the secondary school students’ reading abilities

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI THUY VAN THE IMPACT OF THE SQ3R TECHNIQUE ON THE SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ READING ABILITIES MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Nghe An, 2018 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI THUY VAN THE IMPACT OF THE SQ3R TECHNIQUE ON THE SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ READING ABILITIES Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) Code: 8140111 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Supervisor: Dr Nguyen Thi Kim Anh Nghe An, 2018 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates, and have not been published elsewhere Author Nguyen Thi Thuy Van i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On the completion of this thesis, I would like to give my special thanks to many people for their encouragement and assistance during the preparation of my thesis First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Kim Anh, who is ready to support and guide during the experiment process I would also like to express my thanks to students of two classes I worked with in order to collect the data for my study Last but not least, my sincere thanks go to my friends, my family who give much encouragement and support in fulfilling this thesis ii ABSTRACT It is the fact that reading is given the most important account of four skills in learning a language In comparison with writing, speaking and listening, reading will be used most often in the students’ study However, in reality, the teaching and learning to read English at lower secondary school is still far from satisfactory The study focuses on the impact of SQ3R technique on reading speed and reading comprehension at lower secondary school The mail goal of the study is to find out the impact of SQ3R technique on reading speed and reading comprehension at lower secondary school To achieve its aim, a general test, a pre test and two post tests are applied Sixty students are divided into groups, one group served as the experiment group and another as the control group The data showed that the participants in the experimental group who applied SQ3R technique made better improvement on reading speed and reading comprehension than those in the control group who did not Based on the findings, some implications for teaching vocabulary were given Limitations of the study and further reasearch were also stated iii TABLE OF CONTENT STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENT iv LIST OF TABLES vi LIST OF FIGURES vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS viii CHAPTER INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the study 1.2 The aim of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Design of the thesis CHAPTER THEORETICAL BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Reading skills 2.1.1 Definitions of reading 2.1.2 What is reading comprehension? 2.1.3 Kinds of reading 2.1.4 Reading Models 10 2.1.5 The importance of reading in foreign language teaching and learning 11 2.1.6 Reading purposes of second language learners 12 2.1.7 Strategies for reading comprehension 13 2.1.8 Principles of reading 18 2.1.9 The Reading Process 19 2.1.10 Factors affecting EFL learners’ reading ability 21 2.1.11 Difficulties EFL learners encounter when learning reading 22 2.1.12 Some activities in reading 23 2.1.13 Reading speed 24 2.2 SQ3R technique 26 2.2.1 Definition of SQ3R 26 iv 2.2.2 Importance of SQ3R for Students and Teachers 29 CHAPTER METHODOLOGY 31 3.1 Research context 31 3.2 Research questions 31 3.3 Participants 32 3.4 Materials 32 3.5 Procedures 33 CHAPTER FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 35 4.1 Results 35 4.1.1 General English test results 35 4.1.2 Pre-test results 38 4.1.3 Post-test results 42 4.2 Discussion 55 4.2.1 The effects of SQ3R technique on EFL learners’reading speed 56 4.2.2 The effects of SQ3R technique on EFL learners’reading comprehension 56 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 58 5.1 Summary of findings 58 5.2 Implications 59 5.3 Limitations 59 5.4 Recommendation for further research 60 REFERENCES 61 APPENDICE v LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 Scores on the general English test for all participants in group A and group B 35 Table 4.2 Means and standard deviations scores on the general of both groups 37 Table 4.3 The mean score and standard deviations of pre test on reading speed in the experimental group and the control group 39 Table 4.4 The mean score and standard deviations of the reading conprehension pre- test in the experimental group and the control group 41 Table 4.4 Means and standard deviations of participants’ reading speed measured by words per minute (wpm) for all participants in two groups 43 Table 4.5 Means and standard deviations of the first post test of the reading comprehension in two groups 45 Table 4.6 Means and standard deviations of participants’ reading speed for two groups 47 Table 4.7 Means and standard deviations of participants’ reading comphension for all participants in two groups 49 Table 4.8 The average reading speed of two post tests for all participants in the experimental group and the control group .49 Table 4.9 Means and standard deviations of the mean of two post tests on reading speed for all participants in two groups 51 Table 4.10 The average result of two post tests on reading comprehension for all participants in the experimental group and the control group .52 Table 4.11 Means and standard deviations of the first post test and the second post test on reading comprehension for the experimental and control groups .55 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1The comparison of the general English test for all participants In group A and group B 36 Figure 4.2The percentage of general test score for both groups .37 Figure 4.3The reading speed of the pretest of both groups 38 Figure 4.4 The pre- test result of reading comprehension of the control group and the experimental group 39 Figure 4.5The percentage of the pre- test result of reading comprehension of the experimental group 40 Figure 4.6The percentage of the pre- test result of reading comprehension of the control group 41 Figure 4.7The first post test result of the number of words in per minute of reading speed for both groups 42 Figure 4.8The first post test result of reading comprehension for all the participants in both groups 43 Figure 4.9The percentage of the first post- test result of reading comprehension of the control group .44 Figure 4.10The percentage of the first post- test result of reading comprehension of the experimental group .45 Figure 4.11The second post test result of the number of words in per minute of reading speed for both groups 46 Figure 4.12The second post test result on reading comprihension for all the participants in both groups 48 Figure 4.13The percentage of the second post- test result of reading comprehension of the control group 48 Figure 4.14The comparison of the average reading speed of two post tests for all participants in the experimental group and the control group .51 Figure 4.15The percentage of the average result of two post tests on reading comprehension for two groups .53 vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS SQ3R : Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review EFL : English as a Foreign Language IR : Intensive Reading WPM : Words Per Minute S.D : Standard Devitations viii A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say 10 Howard has written books about French cooking A Right B Wrong C Doesn’t say III GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY Choose the option A, B, or C to complete the sentence 11 Sally felt rather because she didn’t know anybody A unhappy B poor C single 12 The teacher _ Sally to the classroom A put B went C took 13 Sally sat next to a girl with blonde _ called Amy A eyes B teeth C hair 14 At lunchtime, Amy gave Sally an apple and her all about the school A told B learned C spoke 15 By the end of the afternoon, Amy was Sally’s _ friend A lovely B best C excellent 16 She hopes to a photographer for a newspaper one day A work B become C 17 She a photography club to learn more about using a camera A made B went C joined 18 Jane says it’s _ to take picture of children or animals because they are always moving A careful B hard C fast 19 There was a _ about a competition in a photography magazine A notice B bill C ticket 20 Jane _ the first prize for one of her pictures A won B carried C caught IV WRITING Complete the conversation Assistant: Do you want the university tennis courts or the city ones? Student: 21 Assistant: Yes Are you a university student? They can use the university ones Student: 22 _ Assistant: So, you need the city tennis courts They’re in Park Street Student: 23 Assistant: Well, if you walk, it’s about 20 minutes Student: 24 _ Assistant: That’s right Take the third road on the left, then it’s on the right Student: 25 A Thank you I’ll go there now B I suppose so C Oh, are there different ones? D That’s fine Is Park Street just after the High Street? E Can I use them? F Is that far from here? G Well, I’m a student at a language school, not the university H Yes, please Where are the tennis courts? APPENDIX B: PRE-TREATMENT TEST ON READING COMPREHENSION Read the article about a young woman and then answer the questions For questons 1-5, mark A, B or C on the answer sheet REBECCA STEVENS REBECCA STEVENS was the frst woman to climb Mount Everest Before she went up the highest mountain in the world, she was a journalist and lived in a small flat in the south London In 1993, REBECCA left her job and he family and travel to Asia with some other climbers She found that life on Everest is hard You must carry everything on your back,’ She explained, so you can only take things that you will need You can’t wash on the mountain, and in the end I didn’t even take a tooth brush I am usually clean person but there is no water, only snow Water is heavy so you only take enough to drink!’ When Rebecca reached the top of Mount Everest on May 17, 1993, it was the best moment of her life Suddenly she became famous Now she has written a book about the trip and people often ask her to talk about it She has a new job too, on a science programme on television Rebecca is well known today and she has more money, but she still lives in the little flat in south London among her pictures and about mountains! (193words) Before Rebecca climbed Everest, She worked for A A bookshop B a newspaper C a travel agent Rebecca went to Everest A With her family B with a climbing group C without anyone Rebecca didn’t take much luggage because A Didn’t have many things B had a bad back C had to carry it herself Rebecca didn’t wash on Everest because A It was too cold B there was not enough water C she is a dirty person Rebecca carried water for A drinking B cooking C cleaning her teeth APPENDIX C: THE FIRST POST-TREATMET TEST ON READING COMPREHENSION Read the article about Esther and then answer the questions For questions 15, mark A, B or C on the answer sheet ESTHER’S STORY When Esther left school at the age of sixteen, her aunt Flory gave her £ 500 for her birhday Most of Esther’s friends decided to go to college, but Esther used her aunt’s money of start her ow business She bought fruit, sugar and some glass jars and began making her own jam She sold the jam for £ a jar to her friends and she soon doubed her aunt’s £ 500 At first, her parents didn’t want Esther to spend her time making jam and they thought that she should study instead They hoped that one day she would be a teacher or a doctor But Esther didn’t listen to them She just kept on making jam After a few months, she started selling it to the local market Then she started making orange juice She sold this to a school where one of her friends worked After two years, her business was very large and her parents were very pleased with her She made all kinds of food which sold to shops and supermarkets She was so busy that she had to get some people to work for her (194 words) Why did Aunt Flory give Esther some money? A Esther asked for it B Esther’s friends needed it C It was a present After she left school, Esther A Went to college B started her own business C worked for her aunt Why did Esther make jam? A She liked to eat it B She had a lot f fruit C she wanted to make money When Esther left school, her parents wanted her to A go to college B be a business woman C work in a market Esther sold orange juice to A the local market B a school C her friends APPENDIX D: THE SECOND POST-TREATMENT TEST ON READING COMPREHENSION Read the article about a British Airway manager and then answer the questions For questions 21-27, mark A, B or C on the answer sheet WORKING FOR AN AIRLINE Nicola Peat left school at eighteen, went to college and then worked at a local airport After nine months, she went to work for Saudi Arabian Airlines and then she joined British Airway as an air hostess Four years later, she got her present job as a manager This is what she told us about her job: My office is at Heathrow Airport, but I spend 60% of my time in the air I teach air hostesses and help them with any problems I also go to lots of meetings My hours are usually from am to p.m but sometimes I work from 1p.m to p.m At work, the first thing I is check plane times on my computer and then I speak with some of their hostesses Sometimes I go on long flights to check how the air hostesses are doing That’s my favourite part of the job, but I like office work, too Travelling can be hard work When I get back from a long journey, all I can is eat something and then go to bed! I don’t earn much money, but I’m happy with British Airways and want to stay there and continue to travel (200 words) When Nicola first started working to British Airways, she was A A manager B an air hostess C a pilot Nicola does most of her work A In the office B in airplanes C in meetings Most days, Nicola starts work at A am B pm C.4 pm At the beginning of each day, Nicola A Goes to a meeting B talks to air hostesses C works with her computer What does Nicola like best? A Flying B working in the office C helping people APPENDIX E: LESSON PLAN Unit 4: Learning a foreign language Lesson 4: Read (page 36, 37) A OBJECTIVES  Language objectives By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - Use key terms related to “English classes from the advertisments” to discuss the English classes they like - apply language knowledge and skills acquired from the unit to give some practical advice on what should be chosen  Content objectives By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - recognize English classes from the advertisments - explain reasons for their choice B LANGUAGE FOCUS Key terms: beginner, intermediate, advanced, well-qualified tuition, academy, council, well-qualified C METHODS Communicative Language Teaching Method, SQ3R Technique D TEACHING AIDS Textbook, board, chalk, pictures, photos E PROCEDURE Time Content 7m I Warm-up Teacher's activities Students' activities Net works - Ask Ss some questions - Play the game + Do you often read, watch advertisement? - Listen to the teacher + What kinds of advertisement and remember the rule you read/watch? Elicitation + What information you want to know about studying course? Studying course - Let students know the rules of the - Play the game game in English: + Divide the class into teams + Choose the number in turns and answer the questions given - Listen and take notes + Have students know that the team with more points will be the winner + Praise the winner 2m II.Pre- Set the scene reading - Show the pictures on page 36 and ask - Look at the notes and them to find the informaion from the find the information advertisments 6m about classes Pre-teach vocabulary - Show the pictures, real object or - Look, listen and learn the action to teach active words the words + Intermediate (adj) (visual): Trung cấp +Well-qualified (adj) (translation): Chất lượng tốt, cao +Tuition (n) (synonym: teaching, instruction): Sự dạy kèm +Academy(n) (definition: a school for some special purposes): Trường chuyên nghành Have Ss repeat them in chorus and individually - Have students practice - Practice saying the the words * Check understanding: Slap the board words 8m III.Whilereading Step 1of SQ3R: -Ask Ss to survey the text: + Have Ss guess the text basing on the title, introductory,concluding Step of SQ3R : -Require Ss make questions for their partners T/F statement prediction * Set the scene: Mr lam wants to attend a foreign language course.Guess what - Read the text and the task given Compare the answers to the other pairs 6m 8m he needs for his class a Mr Lam needs to learn French b Mr Lam needs the intermediate level class c He wants to learn English in the morning d He wants the course to begin late November - Get feedback 1.Cheking prediction - Have Ss read the note Mr Lam made and check their predictions a F - He needs to learn English b T c F - He wants to learn early evening d F - He wants the course to begin late October or early November Step 3: -Require Ss to look for the answers for - Read the text in pairs their questions own and the task given - Compare the answers with the whole class - Listen to the teacher instruction and write the sentence using their - Let them reread captions under pictures, graphs, and note all the underlined, italicized, bold printed words or phrases - Remind them to reduce your speed for difficult passages and read only a section at a time and recite after each -Look at the advertisement and choose a suitable 2.Filling the form - Get Ss to the exercise 5a on page language for Mr Lam 36 - Let Ss work in pairs to note down information about the English classes from the advertisements section * Answer key School Class time Language Tim level Morning, Academy of afternoon, evening language Afternoon, New English evening, weekend Institute Morning, Foreign evening language Council 3.Exercise 5b start Advanced 1st Ask their friends about November their English couse and Beginner To fill in the table Beginner, 3rd Intermediate November - Get Ss to read the note again then look at the advertisement and choose a suitable language school for him Notes Foreign Language Council English class: G/F 12 Namtrang + early evening street + inter- level Study E, French Starting or Chinese in the late Oct/early morning and Nov evening Place available -Pair work in beginner/interme diate classes Courses start on November - Ask Ss to give reason for their choices - Have Ss copied this table in their notebooks - Get Ss to ask their friends about their Englsh couse and fill in the table a What time can you go to your English class? b Which level you choose? c When you want to start learning? - Ask Ss to write a short paragraph about the result of the surve - Ask students to work in group of four to read the text - Ask students to compare their answers to the other pairs -Pair work - Ask students to read the text in pairs - Give the time for students to read - Check the answers with the whole class Step 4: Have Ss summarize,in their own words, what they rea and take notes from the text but write the information in their own words -Help them to underline or highlight important points they have just read 5m IV.Post- Discussion reading - Ask students to work in group of four - Work in groups to discuss the English course they like - Prepare and give reason presentation - Give students time to the task -Give the the group - Have students present what they have presentation discussed - Listen and take notes - Give feedback Step 5: -Require Ss to consolidate all the -Pair work information they need for the text 2m V Wrap-up - Have the students answer the - Listen and answer the questions to consolidate the lesson 1m questions VI - Deliver another text and ask Ss to - Take notes Homework apply SQ3R technique as the teacher had guided APPENDIX F: LESSON PLAN Unit 4: Learning a foreign language Lesson 4: Read (page 36, 37) A OBJECTIVES  Language objectives By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - Use key terms related to “English classes from the advertisments” to discuss the English classes they like - apply language knowledge and skills acquired from the unit to give some practical advice on what should be chosen  Content objectives By the end of the lesson, students will be able to: - recognize English classes from the advertisments - explain reasons for their choice B LANGUAGE FOCUS Key terms: beginner, intermediate, advanced, well-qualified tuition, academy, council, well-qualified C METHODS Communicative Language Teaching Method D TEACHING AIDS Textbook, board, chalk, pictures, photos Time E PROCEDURE Content Teacher's activities 7m I Warm-up Students' activities Net works - Ask Ss some questions - Play the game + Do you often read, watch advertisement? - Listen to the teacher + What kinds of advertisement and remember the rule you read/watch? Elicitation + What information you want to know about studying course? Studying course - Let students know the rules of - Play the game the game in English: + Divide the class into teams + Choose the number in turns and answer the questions given - Listen and take notes + Have students know that the team with more points will be the winner + Praise the winner 2m II.Pre- Set the scene reading - Show the pictures on page 36 and ask - Look at the notes and them to find the informaion from the find the information advertisments 6m about classes Pre-teach vocabulary - Show the pictures, real object or - Look, listen and learn 8m III.Whilereading the action to teach active words the words + Intermediate (adj) (visual): Trung cấp +Well-qualified (adj) (translation): Chất lượng tốt, cao +Tuition (n) (synonym: teaching, instruction): Sự dạy kèm +Academy(n) (definition: a school for some special purposes): Trường chuyên nghành Have Ss repeat them in chorus and individually - Have students practice the words * Check understanding: Slap the board T/F statement prediction * Set the scene: Mr lam wants to attend a foreign language course.Guess what he needs for his class a Mr Lam needs to learn French b Mr Lam needs the intermediate level class c He wants to learn English in the - Practice saying the words - Read the text and the task given Compare the answers 6m 8m morning d He wants the course to begin late November - Get feedback 1.Cheking prediction - Have Ss read the note Mr Lam made and check their predictions a F - He needs to learn English b T c F - He wants to learn early evening d F - He wants the course to begin late October or early November 2.Filling the form - Get Ss to the exercise 5a on page 36 - Let Ss work in pairs to note down information about the English classes from the advertisements * Answer key School Class time Morning, Academy of afternoon, evening language Afternoon, New English evening, weekend Institute Morning, Foreign evening language Council Exercise 5b - Get Ss to read the note again then look at the advertisement and choose a suitable language school for him Notes Foreign Language Council English class: G/F 12 Namtrang + early evening street + inter- level Study E, French Starting or Chinese in the late Oct/early morning and Nov evening Place available in to the other pairs - Read the text in pairs and the task given - Compare the answers with the whole class - Listen to the teacher Language Tim instruction and write level start the sentence using their Advanced 1st November own Beginner To Beginner, Intermediate 3rd November -Look at the advertisement and choose a suitable language for Mr Lam beginner/interme diate classes Courses start on November - Ask Ss to give reason for their choices Ask their friends about - Have Ss copied this table in their their English couse and fill in the table notebooks - Get Ss to ask their friends about their Englsh couse and fill in the table a What time can you go to your English class? b Which level you choose? c When you want to start learning? - Ask Ss to write a short paragraph about the result of the surve - Ask students to work in group of four to read the text - Ask students to compare their answers to the other pairs Pair work - Ask students to read the text in pairs Pair work - Give the time for students to read - Check the answers with the whole class 5m IV.Post- Discussion reading - Ask students to work in group of four - Work in groups to discuss the English course they like - Prepare and give reason presentation - Give students time to the task -Give the the group - Have students present what they have presentation discussed - Listen and take notes - Give feedback 2m V Wrap-up - Have the students answer questions to consolidate the lesson the - Listen and answer the questions 1m VI - Ask students to exercises in the - Take notes Homework workbook at home ... technique on reading speed and reading comprehension at lower secondary school The mail goal of the study is to find out the impact of SQ3R technique on reading speed and reading comprehension at...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI THUY VAN THE IMPACT OF THE SQ3R TECHNIQUE ON THE SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ READING ABILITIES Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other... secondary school students’ reading comprehension? 1.4 Scope of the study The research mainly focused on the investigation of the effects of SQ3R technique on EFL learners’ reading speed and reading