An action research project on improving reading comprehension using flash card matching strategy for grade 3 students at an english centre in hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ MINH PHƯỢNG AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION USING FLASH CARD MATCHING STRATEGY FOR GRADE STUDENTS AT AN ENGLISH CENTRE IN HANOI (Nghiên cứu hành động Sử dụng chiến lược ghép thẻ nhằm cải thiện khả đọc hiểu cho học sinh lớp tại trung tâm tiếng Anh ở Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi - 2021 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ MINH PHƯỢNG AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT ON IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION USING FLASH CARD MATCHING STRATEGY FOR GRADE STUDENTS AT AN ENGLISH CENTRE IN HANOI (Nghiên cứu hành động Sử dụng chiến lược ghép thẻ nhằm cải thiện khả đọc hiểu cho học sinh lớp tại trung tâm tiếng Anh ở Hà Nội) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Nguyễn Thu Hạnh, PhD Hanoi - 2021 DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I certify my authority of the thesis submitted entitled “An Action Research Project on Using Flashcard Matching Strategy to Improve reading comprehension for the 3rd grade students at an English Centre in Dong Anh” in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Hanoi, January 2021 NGUYỄN THỊ MINH PHƯỢNG i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deep gratitude to all the people who have assisted my research work First and foremost, I would like to register my profound gratitude to Dr Nguyen Thu Hanh, my respected supervisor, for her invaluable instruction, contribution and great care to my research I wish to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to the teachers of Department of Post-Graduate Studies who have supplied me with the good conditions to conduct this thesis and finish this M.A course Also, I owe my debt to my colleagues and students who are the subjects of my thesis for their willingness to answer my talks, questionnaires, and interviews My special thanks also go to my friends for their constant support and concern while the work was in progress Lastly, I am also grateful to my families for their kindly encouragement during the research’s finalization Hanoi, January 2021 ii ABSTRACT This study was conducted with the purpose to identify the effectiveness of using flashcards to improve reading comprehension for the rd grade students at an English centre in Dong Anh The study showed that most students at this primary school experienced many difficulties in English reading comprehension and they were not motivated in reading lessons To make situation better, an action plan was made, focusing on using flashcard matching strategy to motivate them actively to participate in reading lessons and then improve their reading comprehension The subjects of the study were 15 3rd graders of an English centre in Dong Anh To that end, action research (AR) was attempted with the use of quantitative and qualitative methods to determine whether the use of flashcards can improve the students’ capacity of reading comprehension as well as their attitudes towards the use of flashcard matching strategy during reading lessons The data were collected through the pre- and post-tests, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews The research was conducted during the second semester of the school year 2019 2020 The findings of the study suggested that the use of flashcards can improve reading comprehension of the 3rd grade students of an English centre in Dong Anh; and most of research students liked this technique because it made them happy and motivated during English reading lessons iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale 1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Scope of the study 1.5 Significance of the study 1.6 Methods of the study 1.7 Organization of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Reading skills 2.1.1 Definitions of reading 2.1.2 Reading process 2.2 Reading comprehension 2.2.1 Definitions of reading comprehension 2.2.2 Factors impacting reading comprehension ability 2.3 Principles in teaching reading comprehension 10 2.4 Using flashcards in reading lessons 12 2.4.1 Definitions of flashcards 12 2.4.2 Flashcards as beneficial teaching aids 13 2.5 Previous studies on employing flashcards in reading lessons 15 iv CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 18 3.1 Design of the study 18 3.2 Research setting 21 3.2.1 The research site 21 3.2.2 Description of textbook, curriculum, testing and assessment 22 3.3 Participants 22 3.4 Research procedure 23 3.5 Data collection instruments 27 3.5.1 Classroom observation 27 3.5.2 Pretest and posttest 27 3.5.3 Questionnaire 28 3.5.4 Semi-structured interview 29 3.6 Data analysis 30 CHAPTER 4: FINDING AND DISCUSSION 32 4.1 Preliminary investigation 32 4.1.1 The results from classroom observation 32 4.1.2 The results from pre-elimination test 33 4.1.3 Findings from preliminary investigation 34 4.2 Research findings and discussion from action implementation 35 4.2.1 Improvement in the students’ reading comprehension 35 4.2.2 The students’ attitudes towards the flashcard strategy 38 4.3 Discussion 44 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 47 5.1 Recapitulate 47 5.2 Implication of the study 48 5.3 Limitations of the study 50 5.4 Suggestions for further study 51 v REFERENCES 52 APPENDIX - CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLIST I APPENDIX - QUESTIONNAIRE II APPENDIX – INTERVIEW V APPENDIX – RESULTS OF THE PRETEST AND POSTTEST VI APPENDIX – SAMPLES OF FLASHCARDS VII APPENDIX – A SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN WITH FLASHCARDS IX vi LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 3.1 Action research plan 25 Table 4.1 Number of students with passing scores of the pretest 34 Table 4.2 Results of the pretest and posttest mean scores 36 Table 4.3 Distribution of the pretest and posttest scores 36 Table 4.4 Results from questionnaire 39 Figure 2.1 A heuristic approach for reading comprehension (Snow, 2002) Figure 3.1 Steps in the action research cycle (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1988) 21 Figure 4.1 Differences between the pretest and posttest ranges of scores 38 vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale English has been introduced as a compulsory in Vietnam for many years Students start to learn English from grade and finish school at grade 12 The elementary school students whose ages range generally between to 11 years old are categorized as young learners The introduction of English in elementary school is also based on the assumption that it is better to introduce English early since the learners are categorized as young learners In teaching English to young learners, the most difficult thing is to keep up their motivation and interest One of the problems in English teaching and learning of young learners is to keep up their reading skills For many English teachers of primary school, reading is considered a difficult skill to teach Normally, primary-school teachers, following a conventional, test-oriented teaching approach, often concentrate on teaching English vocabulary, grammar However, if the teachers create the reading lessons more attractive and easier for students by using flashcards matching strategy, the students will improve their reading comprehension skill This is also the case of an English centre in Dong Anh, Hanoi when most of the 3rd grade students of the center feel bored to learn English reading because they think that it is too difficult for them According to the English teacher of the 3rd grade of the centre, the trouble of the students’ reading skill is shown by students’ attitudes in the teaching and learning process Therefore, the teaching of English to the 3rd grade students should emphasize the principle of playful learning Students like to learn through something which makes them interested in studying, especially in reading comprehension Consequently, the teacher has to create interesting activities to make the students enjoy, interested and active in learning so they will not get bored strategies: a review of previous studies English Language Teaching 8, 181-186 Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison K (2000) Research methods in education (5th Ed) London: Routledge Falmer Czico, C., Greenleaf, C., Hurwitz, L & Schoenbach, R (2000) What is reading? An excerpt from “Reading for Understanding” The Quarterly, 22(3), Retrieved from http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/787 Doman, G & Doman, J (2006) How to teach your baby to read Square One Publishers; New York Dörnyei, Z (2003) Questionnaires in second language research: Construction, administration, and processing Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Duke, N K & Pearson, K (2005) Effective practices for developing reading comprehension Retrieved from http://www.ctap4.org/ infolit/trainers/comprehe_strategies.pdf Feldman, A (2007), An introduction to action research across https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4614-3185-5 Gascoigne, C (2005) Toward an understanding of the relationship between L2 reading comprehension and grammatical competence The Reading Matrix, 5(2), Retrieved from http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/gascoigne/article.pdf Goodman, K (1995) The reading process In P L Carrell, & J D Eskey (Eds), Interactive approaches to second language reading (pp 33-45) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Gómez, T N & Ávila, C J J (2009) Improving Reading Comprehension Skills through Reading Strategies Used by a Group of Foreign Language Learners HOW Journal, 16(1), 55-70 53 Grabe, W & Stoller, F L (2002) Teaching and researching reading London: Pearson Education Longman Grabe, W (2009) Reading in a second language (Moving from theory to practice) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Harmer, J (2001) How to teach English: An introduction to the practice of language teaching, England: Longman Harris, A J & Sipay, R (1997) How to increase reading ability New York: Harper Collins Publisher Hedgcock, J S., & Ferris, D R (2009) Teaching Readers of English: Students, Text, and Context, UK: Routledge Howard, G (2004) Using flashcards with young learners New York: Harper Collins Hulme, C & Snowling, M J (2011) Children’s reading comprehension difficulties: nature, causes, and treatments Curr Direct Psychol Sci 20, 139-142 Hung, H T (2015) Intentional vocabulary learning using digital flashcards English Language Teaching, 8(10), 107-112 Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1079086 Johnson, A P (2008) Teaching reading and writing: a guide book for tutoring and remediating students New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Groups, Inc Kemmis, S & McTaggart, R (1988) The action research planner (3rd Ed.) Geelong: Deakin University Komachili, M E & Khodareza, M (2012) The effect of using vocabulary flashcards on Iranian pre-university pupils’ vocabulary knowledge International Education Studies, 5(3), 134-147 Kornell, N (2009) Optimising learning using flashcards: Spacing is more 54 effective than cramming Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 1297-1317 Koshy, V (2005), Action Research for improving practice – A Practical Guide, Oxford, Paul Chapman Publishing Kucer, S.B (2005) Dimensions of literacy: A conceptual base for teaching reading and writing in school setting (2nd Ed.) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Association Kupzyk, S., Daly, E J., & Andersen, M N (2011) A comparison of two flash-card methods for improving sight-word reading Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44(4), 781-792 Lems, K., Meller, L D., & Soro, T M (2010) Teaching reading to English language learner, NY: The Guilford Press Makhloufi, H & Khaldi, H (2014) The effectiveness of using visual aids' flashcards' in teaching new vocabulary to pupils of middle school M.A Thesis, University of Oum-El-Bouaghi Nation, I S P (2010) Research into practice: Vocabulary Language Teaching, 44(4), 529-539 Nugroho, S Y (2012) Improving students’ vocabulary mastery using flashcards (A classroom action research of the fourth grade students of SD Negeri II Watuagung, Baturetno, Wonogiri in the academic years of 2011/2012) Undergraduate Thesis, Sebelas Maret University Pang, S E (2013) Teaching Reading International Academic of Education Parchant, S M (2005) Innovative techniques of teaching vocabulary at the intermediate level in the second language classroom M.A Thesis, Adars Senior College, Omerga Dist Asmanabad (MS), India Scott, W A., & Ytreberg, L.H 1990 Teaching English to Students New York: Longman Inc Sheng, H J (2000) A cognitive model for teaching reading comprehension English Teaching Forum, 38(4) 78-93 55 Smith, F (2004) Understanding reading: A psycholinguistic analysis of reading and learning to read (6th Ed.) New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Snow, C E (2002) Reading for understanding toward a research and development program in reading comprehension California: RAND Reading Study Group Sukarno M (2008) Teaching English to young learners and factors to consider in designing the materials Yogyakarta: UNY Press Suyanto, K E (2008) English for young learners Jakarta: Bumi Aksara 56 APPENDIX - CLASSROOM OBSERVATION CHECKLIST (Used for Basic Reading Skills and Reading Comprehension) ❑ Have difficulty recognizing and remembering unfamiliar words ❑ Frequently lose place while reading ❑ Demonstrate poor memory for printed words ❑ Read slowly ❑ Have trouble naming letters ❑ Look up new words in dictionaries rather than using word analysis skills ❑ Leave out words while reading ❑ Have poor retention of new vocabulary ❑ Dislike and avoid reading or read reluctantly Notes: _ I APPENDIX - QUESTIONNAIRE QUESTIONNAIRE Circle A, B, or C which is best applied to you Statement 1: I like learning with the flashcard strategy A Disagree B Neither Agree nor Disagree C Agree Statement 2: The presentation format of the lessons and practice exercises with the Flashcard strategy are appropriate A Disagree B Neither Agree nor Disagree C Agree Statement 3: When I read with flashcards, I feel better to enhance my understanding of the texts A Disagree B Neither Agree nor Disagree C Agree Statement 4: When I read with flashcards, I feel better to enhance my understanding of the texts A Disagree B Neither Agree nor Disagree C Agree Statement 5: After learning with the flashcard strategy, I am more interested in English reading II A Disagree B Neither Agree nor Disagree C Agree Thank you - III BẢNG KHẢO SÁT Con khoanh tròn vào lựa chọn phù hợp với Câu 1: Trong học đọc, thích học với Thẻ (flashcards) A Khơng đồng ý B Bình thường C Đồng ý Câu 2: Con thấy cấu trúc học luyện tập với Thẻ phù hợp A Không đồng ý B Bình thường C Đồng ý Câu 3: Khi học đọc với Thẻ, thấy hiểu đọc tốt A Khơng đồng ý B Bình thường C Đồng ý Câu 4: Khi học đọc với Thẻ, học nhớ nhiều từ A Không đồng ý B Bình thường C Đồng ý Câu 5: Sau học với Thẻ, thích học đọc A Khơng đồng ý B Bình thường C Đồng ý Cảm ơn - IV APPENDIX - INTERVIEW In Vietnamese: Con có thích học với Thẻ (Flashcards) khơng? Vì sao? Học đọc với Thẻ giúp điều gì? (Gợi ý: hiểu hơn, nhớ từ vựng, hứng thú học hơn…) Con có nghĩ sau được học đọc với Thẻ, tích cực đọc sách khơng? In English: Do you like learning with flashcards? Why/ Why not? What benefits does learning reading with flashcards bring to you? (Prompts: easier to understand the reading texts, longer word retention, more motivated to learn…) Do you think after learning with flashcards you will become more interested in reading books? V APPENDIX – RESULTS OF THE PRETEST AND POSTTEST (Used for checking students’ basic reading skills and reading comprehension) Student Pretest Posttest S1 6.0 S2 7.5 7.5 S3 S4 4.5 S5 6.0 7.5 S6 8.5 8.5 S7 6.5 S8 6.0 S9 6.0 7.5 S10 5.5 S11 S12 7.5 S13 4.0 6.5 S14 5.5 S15 5.5 VI APPENDIX – SAMPLES OF FLASHCARDS A set of flashcards for vocabulary: Sunglasses A pair of socks A pair of sneakers An umbrella A scarf A dress VII Reading text: Mr Minh works as a postman in a local post-office Everyday he goes to work by bike Every morning, he brings letters to people’s house When he has free time, he often plays football with his friends or he rides a bike in a nearby park He has a very big house with three bedrooms He has two beautiful dogs He loves them very much A set of flashcards for reading comprehension: POSTMAN Mr Minh is a _ He delivers _ everyday LETTERS TWO DOGS He has Does Mr Minh live in a big ? HOUSE Yes, he does What does he in his free time? _ He plays football or/ and rides a bike VIII APPENDIX – A SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN WITH FLASHCARDS Preparation: Make sets of flashcards on clothing Time allowance: 20 minutes/ a 45 minute lesson I OVERVIEW Objectives: By the end of period, students will be able to understand simple reading text with the topic of clothing Language + New word: umbrella, sunglasses, socks, sneakers, dress, focus scarf, jeans, slippers… + Sentence patterns: I have… ? Who has……? Resources: Hand-outs, flashcards II PROCEDURE Steps Teacher’s activities Students’ activities Warm- - Greet students and get their - Whole class up (3’) responses, using Hi/Hello Nice Hi/Hello Nice to see you to see you again again - Check homework Pre- - Tell pupils that they are going - Listen to the teacher reading to read a short text about a stage (5’) school boy - Show the flashcards to the - Work in pairs, tell what students and ask them to discuss about the boy that the text what about the school boy is mentions mentioned in the reading text - Is it about his English?/ Is it IX about his home? Is it about his friends? Is it about his friends’ family? Is it about his clothing? - Copy the words into their - Teach the vocabulary with the notebook given cards For pronunciation - Do choral and individual of these words, ask students to repetition, pointing to the repeat the words flashcards - Answer the teacher’s - Check students’ understanding questions Mind their of these words by asking pronunciation of new words questions: Do you have (an umbrella)? Does Minh have ? - As further practice , work in pairs, take turns to ask and answer each other’s questions While- - Ask students to read the text - Work individually, reading - Ask students to match the - Answer teacher’s questions stage (5’) given flashcards based on the as the whole class information from the reading text Minh has …… / an umbrella Who has a scarf? Minh’s mother has a scarf Does Minh’s brother have a pair of sneakers? Yes, he does - Ask students read the text - Work individually to finish again and answer the questions the reading questions in the X given in the book textbook - Check students’ answers by calling them to read out their - Whole class answers; make sure students pronounce the words correctly After- - Ask the students to summarize - Work in pairs reading the text using the flashcards Or stage (5’) - Ask students to talk about their - Work in pairs clothing using the vocabulary and structures that have been taught Closing - Give the conclusion about the (2’) lesson today - Give a writing task of what they and their friends/ family members have as homework XI - Listen and take notes ... effectiveness of the using flashcard matching strategy in improving reading comprehension for the students in the 3rd grade 2.4 Using flashcards in reading lessons 2.4.1 Definitions of flashcards One of the... submitted entitled ? ?An Action Research Project on Using Flashcard Matching Strategy to Improve reading comprehension for the 3rd grade students at an English Centre in Dong Anh” in fulfillment of... matching strategy influence reading comprehension of the 3rd grade students at an English Centre in Dong Anh? (2) What are the students? ?? attitudes towards the flashcards matching strategy in improving