Effects of scaffolding strategies on english reading comprehension skill for non english major students masters thesis in education

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYỄN THỊ HIỀN LƯƠNG EFFECTS OFSCAFFOLDING STATEGIES ON ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION SKILLFOR NON – ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Language (TESOL) Code: 60 14 01 11 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Supervisor: Trần Bá Tiến, Ph.D Vinh, 2014 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true and have not published elsewhere Author Nguyen Thi Hien Luong ii ABSTRACT The study attempted to examine effects of scaffolding strategies on reading comprehension skills for non English major students It aims to find out students‘ difficulties in learning this comprehensive skill, their expectations of teachers‘ methodology as well as their attitudes towards scaffolding strategies experimented Both qualitative and quantitative research methodology were utilized in this study The data was collected through the reading proficiency pretest and posttest, questionnaires, interviews and six experimental scaffolding strategies The participants of the research who were divided into two groups, the control and experimental groups, included 100 non English major students at Vinh university The results from the study revealed that most students encountered difficulties in all five aspects of languages namely vocabulary, background knowledge, grammar, discourse structures and reading skills and reading strategies Most of the students expressed their expectations in term of teachers‘ methodology such as pre-teaching vocabulary, providing background knowledge and using appropriate reading strategies The finding also showed that the reading proficiency level of non English major students were quite low However, this was significantly improved after three months experimental teaching using scaffolding strategies in reading class Additionally, all of the students expressed their positive attitudes and good appreciations for six scaffolding strategies experimented which helped them to deal with their reading problems On the basics of the findings, some pedagogical implications were drawn out not only for students to become effective readers but also for language teachers and the educational administrators to enhance students‘ reading proficiency Limitations of the study were pointed out and further research was suggested iii iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Above of all, I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor Dr Tran Ba Tien for his invaluable support, patient guidance, and encouragement he gave me throughout my research I also wish to send my sincere thanks to the students of the classes I taught in order to experiment scaffolding strategies and gather information for my survey questionnaire and interview Without their enthusiastic contribution, this study could not have been successful I am indebted to my friends, my classmates, as well as my colleagues for their invaluable comments and criticism and also for their continued interest and encouragement Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to my family members who are always beside me, creating favorable conditions and supporting me both spiritually and materially to complete this thesis v TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES x CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION i 1.1 Rationale i 1.2 Aims of the study ii 1.3 Scope of the study iii 1.4 Research questions iii 1.5 Significance of the study iii 1.6 The organization of the study iii CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND v 2.1 Introduction v 2.2 Literature review v 2.3 Theoretical Background viii 2.3.1 Communicative Language Teaching viii 2.3.2 The teaching of reading x 2.3.2.1 The nature of reading x 2.3.2.2 The process of teaching and learning reading comprehension skillsxi 2.3.2.2.1 The bottom –up reading process xi 2.3.2.2.2 The top- down reading process xii 2.3.3 Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and Scaffolding xiii 2.3.3.1 Zone of Proximal Development xiii 2.3.3.2 Scaffolding strategies xv 2.3.3.2.1 Prior knowledge activation xvii 2.3.3.2.2 Pre-teaching vocabulary xx vi 2.3.3.3.3 Using mind maps xxv 2.3.3.3.4 Information transfer xxvii 2.3.3.3.5 Using visual aids xxix 2.3.3.3.6 Previewing Strategy xxx 2.4 Summary xxxii CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY xxxiii 3.1 Introduction xxxiii 3.2 Research methods xxxiii 3.3 Participants xxxiv 3.4 Research Instruments xxxv 3.4.1 Reading Comprehension Pretest xxxv 3.4.2 Interviews xxxv 3.4.3 Questionnaires xxxvi 3.4.4 Reading Comprehension Posttest xxxvii 3.4.5 Instructional material xxxviii 3.4.6 Lesson Plans xxxviii 3.5 Data Analysis xxxviii 3.6 Data Collection Procedures xxxviii 3.7 Summary xxxix CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS xl 4.1 Introduction xl 4.2 English reading proficiency of non-English major students at Vinh University xl 4.3 Difficulties encountered by non-English major students in learning reading skills xlii 4.3.1 Students‘ difficulties with Vocabulary xlii 4.3.2 Students‘ difficulties with Grammar xliii 4.3.3 Students‘ difficulties with Discourse Structure xlv 4.3.4 Students‘ difficulties related to Background Knowledge xlvi 4.3.5 Students‘ difficulties related to Reading Strategies and Reading Skills xlvii vii 4.3.6 Students‘ expectations in term of teachers‘ methodology xlix 4.4 Effects of scaffolding on students‘ reading skills li 4.4.1 Effects on reading comprehension proficiency lii 4.4.2 Effects on students‘ motivation lviii 4.5 Pedagogical Implications lxiii 4.5.1 For teachers lxiv 4.5.2 For students lxvi 4.5.3 For school administrators lxvii 4.6 Summary lxviii CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION lxix 5.1 Summary of the key findings lxix 5.2 Limitations of the study lxxi 5.3 Suggestions for further research lxxii REFERENCES lxxiii APPENDIX I viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CEFR: The common European Framework of Reference for Languages CLT: Communicative Language Teaching DRTA: Directed Reading Thinking Activity EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as Second Language N: Number P: Percentage ZPD: Zone of Proximal Development ix LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table 4.1: Students‘ difficulties with Vocabulary xlii Table 4.2: Students‘ difficulties with Grammar xliv Table 4.3: Students‘ difficulties with Discourse Structure .xlv Table 4.4: Students‘ difficulties related to Background Knowledge xlvi Table 4.5: Students‘ difficulties with Reading Strategies and Reading Skillsxlviii Table 4.6: Students‘ expectations in terms of teachers‘ methodology xlix Table 4.7: The control and experimental groups‘ pretest and posttest results lii Figure 4.1: Reading pretest results by band scores 40 Figure 4.2A: Pretest and Posttest results by band scores of control group lvi Figure 4.2B: Pretest and Posttest results by band scores of experimental group lvi Table 4.8: Students‘ attitudes towards Scaffolding Strategies lviii x XV XVI APPENDIX 3: READING COMPREHENSION POSTTEST XVII XVIII XIX XX XXI XXII XXIII XXIV XXV XXVI APPENDIX SAMPLE LESSON PLAN UNIT 3: NOW AND THEN LESSON 3.2: THE STREET IS LINED WITH TREES Reading part 3: What to see in Montreal Specific objectives By the end of this lesson, students are expected to: Previewing the text (paying attention to title, pictures, text‘s parts, and first sentence of each paragraph, noticing names, numbers, dates, and words that stand out) Predict (finding cues from title and what will happen next) Relate relevant personal experience and prior knowledge to the lesson Summarize important ideas in writing Guess the meaning of words from the context clues (use prefixes, sentence structures, linking words etc,) Work cooperatively; work in pair, and in groups (upon the teacher‘s instructions) Step-by-step procedure Before reading  The teacher shows some photos about Montreal and asks questions: What you see in these photos? Can you guess the city in the photos?  The teacher writes the title on the board ―What to see in Montreal‖ and gives the students a Preview Guide to activate their background knowledge XXVII  The teacher asks students to work in pair and discuss about the Preview Guide I agree I don‘t agree Montreal is Canada‘s biggest city People speak French as their first language in Montreal Montreal is famous for PETRONAS tower Montreal has developed the world‘s largest underground pedestrian network Montreal‘s inhabitants has suffered from extreme temperature Montreal is known as a city of festivals  The teacher asks students to preview the text by asking following questions: What kind of text is it? What is the title? Can you guess what the text will talk about basing on the title? How many paragraphs is the text divided?  The teacher asks students to read the first sentence of each paragraph and notice names, numbers, dates, and words that stand out  The teacher asks students to read the text quickly and complete the Preview Guide While reading  The teacher asks students read the first paragraph and underline new, critical words and phrasal verbs then helps them to guess the meaning The teacher can also use Student- Friendly- Explanation to teach new words (For example: Many attractions include the City Hall… Attractions means famous monuments and beautiful sightseeing) XXVIII  The teacher asks students to read the three other paragraphs and continue to help them guess the meaning of new words and expressions (For example: Many of the trees had to be replaced owing to storm damage In this sentence, ―owing to‖ a new and critical for understanding The teacher encourages students to guess the meaning by asking questions: Why were many of the trees replaced? She say ―you are right, thanks for your help, ―owing to‖ means ―because of‖)  The students asks students to work in pair and True/ False exercise by explaining that the statements often use synonyms or/ and antonyms to check students‘ understanding (homes and apartments )  The students discuss in pair and give their answers  The teacher gives feedback and some background knowledge related to the text After reading  The students are encouraged to summarize main ideas of the text by using Mind Mapping technique that they were taught in the last lesson  The teacher asks students to work in groups and summarize the text by writing or by speaking XXIX ... successful reading experiences for K-8 learners The book contains practical information on pre reading, during reading, and post reading activities, along with ideas for incorporating scaffolding reading. .. study with the goal of experimenting suitable scaffolding strategies and examining the effects of these scaffolding strategies on reading comprehension skills of non English major students The next... those of the posttest to confirm the effects of scaffolding strategies on reading comprehension for non English major students 3.4.2 Interviews Informal interviews and discussions with students