The effects of teaching reading through multimedia for gifted studentss in vinh long province

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES NGUYỄN LÊ BÍCH HIỀN THE EFFECTS OF TEACHING READING THROUGH MULTIMEDIA FOR GIFTED STUDENTS IN VINH LONG PROVINCE SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN HOÀNG TUẤN, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, 2008 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES NGUYỄN LÊ BÍCH HIỀN THE EFFECTS OF TEACHING READING THROUGH MULTIMEDIA FOR GIFTED STUDENTS IN VINH LONG PROVINCE A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (TESOL) SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN HOÀNG TUẤN, Ph.D HO CHI MINH CITY, 2008 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entilted “THE EFFECTS OF TEACHING READING THROUGH MULTIMEDIA FOR GIFTED STUDENTS IN VINH LONG PROVINCE” is my own work This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other institutions Ho Chi Minh City, 2008 Nguyen Le Bich Hien i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to gratefully acknowledge the invaluable and generous assistance given to me by my thesis supervisor, Dr Nguyen Hoang Tuan, over the lengthy period of the researching and writing of the thesis I could not have finished this thesis without his encouragement and constant guidance I am greatly indedted to all my teachers in M.A course 2003 for their dedication and helpful instructions during the course My special thanks to all those who helped me in the study, in particular, colleages in English Department for their help with the interview and all the students in class 10A at Nguyen Binh Khiem high school for the gifted Many thanks also go to Mr Le Quang Sang, my closest friend, for his valuable help I am deeply thankful to my husband, lovely son, and two sisters who encouraged and gave me great impetus to fulfill the thesis And I would like to send my best gratitude to my parents who devote all their lives to the children’s education Despite all the help I had, many errors and deficiencies may remain in this thesis; for these I alone am responsible ii ABSTRACT In response to an appeal from the Minister of Education and Training to high schools for the gifted to improve the quality of education students toward regional and international standards, teaching staff in English Department are making great efforts to further promote the foreign language teaching and learning process In the last few years, there have been dramatic changes in the ways that languages are taught with the replacement of grammar translation by communicative approaches and the introduction of technological tools Under such a circumstance, there has been a breakthrough in the application of multimedia in the teaching methods to meet the practical demands of a new era at Nguyen Binh Khiem high school for the gifted This thesis was conducted with the purpose of finding the positive impacts of multimedia on the process of teaching and learning L2 reading skills The objective of this study was to determine whether the application of multimedia helps the students improve their language knowledge, reading skills, change their reading styles, create an interesting atmosphere to study better, as well as to help the teachers fulfill their tasks in a complete and smooth way In addition, the thesis also presents the ways in which multimedia is used to design three stages of teaching a reading lesson, and suggestions to make best use of multimedia are also given The students in grade 10 at Nguyen Binh Khiem high school for the gifted in Vinh Long Province in mid2007, were selected as the research samples The research design used the questionnaires for students and interviews with the teachers to obtain the percentage of the data Overall, research findings showed the respondents’ agreement on the high level of effectiveness of multimedia in the process of teaching and learning L2 reading skills and its implementation in stages of teaching a reading lesson However, some obstacles in the process of teaching and learning through multimedia were also presented and discussed iii TABLE OF CONTENTS S tatement of authorship Acknowledgements Table of contents List of tables List of figures Abbreviations CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION I.1 Background to the study I.2 Descriptions of the school and English syllabus .3 I.3 Problem identification I.4 Research questions .5 I.5 Significance of the study .5 I.6 Limitations of the study .6 I.7 Organization of the study CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW II.1 Approaches to multimedia teaching II.1.1 What is instructional multimedia? II.1.2 Research on the impact of multimedia on education 10 II.1.3 Selecting online materials 12 II.1.4 Students’ attitudes and reaction towards multimedia .13 II.2 Approaches to teaching reading skills 13 II.2.1 Reading purposes and strategies 14 II.2.2 Characteristics of efficient reading 19 II.3 Multimedia and its impact on the improvement of reading skills 20 II.4 Motivating students 21 II.5 Summary 23 iv CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY III.1 Research design 24 III.2 Subjects of the study 25 III.2.1 Students 25 III.2.2 Teachers 26 III.3 Instruments 26 III.4 Procedures and materials 28 III.5 Descriptions of teaching method 29 III.6 Summary 30 CHAPTER FOUR DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS IV.1 Data Analysis 31 IV.1.1 Results and analyses from the questionaires 31 IV.1.2 Results and analysis from the interview 41 IV.2 Discussion from the results of the questionnaire and the interview 44 IV.2.1 Advantages of applying multimedia in reading classes 44 IV.2.2 Obstacles of applying multimedia in teaching and learning reading .48 IV.3 Summary 49 CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS V.1 Conclusion 50 V.2 Implications of multimedia on the three stages of a reading lesson 51 V.3 Recommendation 53 V.4 Summary 57 BIBLIOGRAPHY 58 APPENDIX 61 v LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Benefits students got when learning reading through multimedia 36 Table 4.2: Parts of a reading lesson that interest students 39 Table 4.3: Advantages that multimedia brings to the teachers 43 Table 4.4: Disadvantages challenged the teachers 43 Table 4.5: Parts of a reading lesson interest the teachers 44 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: Students’ secondary school 31 Figure 4.2: Students’ marks obtained in the entrance examination to Nguyen Binh Khiem high school for the gifted 32 Figure 4.3: Students’ purposes in learning reading 33 Figure 4.4: Number of hours students spend on reading English materials 33 Figure 4.5: Students’ difficulties in learning reading 34 Figure 4.6: Students’ interest in learning reading through multimedia 35 Figure 4.7: Obstacles students encounter when learning through multimedia 40 Figure 4.8: Teacher’s frequency in teaching reading through multimedia 42 vii ABBREVIATIONS CUP: Cambridge University Press EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching ESL: English as a Second Language L2: Second / Foreign Language OUP: Oxford University Press USSH: University of Social Sciences and Humanities WWW: World Wide Web viii APPENDIX QESTIONNAIRES FOR TEACHERS’ INTERVIEW Please take your time to make an interview with the researcher for the study which aims at investigating the ability of application of multimedia in teaching English Please circle your answers How long have you been teaching at your school? Among four skills of English, what is your opinion about reading skill? How often you teach reading lessons through multimedia? How you feel when teaching reading lessons through multimedia? What advantages did you get when teaching reading lessons through multimedia? What activities you often use in each reading stage: pre-reading, whilereading, and post-reading? Which part of a reading lesson did you like best when teaching the lesson through multimedia? And why? When teaching reading lessons through multimedia, what you think about the students’ attitudes and skills they performed? Did you experience any difficulties when teaching reading lessons through multimedia? If yes, what are they? 10 What are your suggestions to make reading lessons taught through multimedia more effective? 67 CÂU HỎI DÀNH CHO PHỎNG VẤN GIÁO VIÊN Kính thưa thầy cô, nhằm chuẩn bị cho luận văn tốt nghiệp cao học đề tài giảng dạy đọc hiểu phương tiện đa truyền thông cho học sinh chuyên Anh trường phổ thông, cần số nhận xét từ thầy cô phương pháp dạy đọc hiểu phương tiện đa truyền thông Rất mong nhiệt tình đóng góp ý kiến để luận văn hồn thành tốt đẹp Rất cảm ơn cộng tác thầy cô Thầy (cô) dạy trường rồi? Trong kỹ ngôn ngữ, thầy (cô) nhận xét kỹ đọc hiểu? Thầy (cơ) có thường dạy đọc hiểu phương tiện đa truyền thông không? Thầy (cô) cảm thấy đọc hiểu phương tiện đa truyền thông? Khi dạy đọc hiểu phương tiện đa truyền thông, thầy (cô) đạt thuận lợi gì? Những hoạt động thầy (cô) thường tổ chức đọc hiểu? Trong giai đọan tiền, trong, sau đọc? Thầy (cô) tâm đắc phần dạy đọc hiểu phương tiện đa truyền thơng? Vì sao? Khi dạy hiểu phương tiện đa truyền thông, thầy (cô) nhận xét thái độ học tập kỹ mà em đạt đọc hiểu? Thầy (cơ) có gặp khó khăn dạy đọc hiểu phương tiện đa truyền thông không? 10 Những đề nghị thầy (cô) để giúp cho việc dạy đọc hiểu phương tiện đa truyền thông đạt hiệu nữa? 68 APPENDIX TAPESCRIPT The first interview is between the researcher and Mr Dung, a one - year experienced English teacher at Nguyen Binh Khiem high school for the gifted Researcher: Hello, Mr Dung How are you? Interviewee: I’m fine, thanks And you? Researcher: Fine, thanks I’ve been doing a research on multimedia and its application in teaching reading comprehension I need your help May I ask you some questions? Interviewee: Ready to help you Researcher: How long have you been teaching? Interviewee: Only one year Is it a short time? Researcher: No problem What you think of reading skill? Interviewee: Well It is a receptive but important skill It is a basic tool for students to access worldwide information or knowledge It helps improve other skills such as writing or speaking Researcher: OK! So how often you teach reading through multimedia? Interviewee: Oh, very often I like teaching with multimedia because it brings me a lot of benefits For example, I can present interesting images and sounds to get my students involved in the lesson Beside, I can carry out a lot of tasks that are not in the textbook because I don’t have to take time to write the contents of the lesson on the board Researcher: Yeah, what’s else? Interviewee: Let me see Well I can also provide students with additional materials which are useful for them to improve their reading skills and get good results in tests or exams Researcher: So, what advantages your students get when studying with multimedia in comparison with tradditional class? Interviewee: My students are more active and involved in the lesson thanks to images and sounds Moreover they are eager to participate in pair, group, and team work And they are cooperative and interactive with the teacher 69 Researcher: So which stage of a reading lesson you like? Interviewee: I prefer pre-reading because I can design many interesting activities and slides to draw students’ attention to the lesson And I also provide them with new words and ideas to jump into reading the text easily and effectively Researcher: It sounds that you like teaching with multimedia a lot So have you got any difficulties in teaching with multimedia? Interviewee: Certainly, a lot First, you know, my class is so crowded with 40 students; so it’s hard for students in the back to see the screen and it is hard for me to control them in groupwork Beside, it’s a waste of time to prepair the lesson at home (about hours for a period) And sometimes, we got emergences with badqualified facilities Researcher: To deal with difficulties, can you give me some suggestions? Interviewee: Well, I think a multi room should be equipped, so I don’t have to bring a projector, CPU, and screen to class Moreover, the number of students in class should be reduced and the Head of our school should equip qualified means of multimedia Reseacher: OK Thanks a lot Interviewee: You’re welcome The second interview is between the researcher and Mrs Thanh, a seven - year experienced English teacher at Nguyen Binh Khiem high school for the gifted Researcher: Hello, Mrs Thanh How are you? Interviewee: Good, thanks And you? Researcher: Fine, thanks I’ve been doing a research on multimedia and its application in teaching reading comprehension I need your help May I ask you some questions? Interviewee: I’m glad to help you Researcher: Among four English skills, what you think of reading? Interviewee: Well Reading is very important it takes a large number of marks in tests and examinations You see most tests and exams focus on vocabulary and reading In addition, it helps students enlarge knowledge about culture and 70 lifestyles of people in English speaking countries and improve other skills like speaking and writing Researcher: Well How often you teach reading through multimedia? Interviewee: Very often Teaching with multimedia is interesting because it brings me a lot of benefits For example, I get my students involved in the lesson through interesting images and sounds In addition, I can have more time to give students more tasks and supplementary materials outside the textbook because I not have to take time to write the contents of the lessons or draw pictures on the board Researcher: Yeah, how about linking reading to other skills? Interviewee: Sure I can take time to give some speaking activities to students In addition, I think I can create an active and interesting atmosphere in class Researcher: So, what advantages your students get when studying with multimedia in comparison with tradditional class? Interviewee: They are more active and encouraged to study Researcher: So which stage of a reading lesson you like? Interviewee: I like pre-reading best because I can design many interesting activities and slides to elicit and draw students’ attention to the lesson And I also provide them with new words and ideas to jump into reading the text easily and effectively In addition, I also like post-reading because I love to design some free-talking or discussion for students Researcher: It sounds that you like teaching with multimedia a lot So have you got any difficulties in teaching with multimedia? Interviewee: Certainly The biggest problem is the lack of facilities You see there is only one projector in our school and sometimes the quality of the facilities is not good Besides, it’s a waste of time to prepair the lesson at home (about and a half hours for a period) Researcher: Have you got problems with over-crowded class? Interviewee: No, because the number of students in my class is about 30 Researcher: So, can you give me some suggestions to deal with difficulties? Interviewee: Well, I think there should be more projectors and a multimedia room with high quality facilities in our school 71 Reseacher: OK Thanks a lot Interviewee: You’re welcome The third interview is between the researcher and Mrs Phuong, a five-year experienced English teacher at Nguyen Binh Khiem high school for the gifted Researcher: Hello, Mrs Phuong How are you? Interviewee: Fine, thank you And you? Researcher: Fine, thanks I’ve been doing a research on multimedia and its application in teaching reading comprehension I need your help May I ask you some questions? Interviewee: OK Researcher: Among four English skills, what you think of reading? Interviewee: Yeah I think reading is one of the most important skill that students have to master because it takes a large number of marks in tests and examinations You see more than a half of the tests and exams focus on reading and vocabulary In addition, if students read well, they will get a lot of information useful for their speaking and writing I think to write well, students have to read well Researcher: So How often you teach reading through multimedia? Interviewee: Quite often I like using multimedia into my teaching because it is interesting and brings me some advantages Researcher: What advantages? Interviewee: Well The first advantage is that I can save time for actvities or tasks because I don’t have to write the contents of the lesson on the board In addition, I can provide some more materials for students You see the materials in the internet are so abundant and excellent And the last is to motivate students’ interests and involvement to the lesson Researcher: So, what advantages your students get when studying with multimedia in comparison with tradditional class? Interviewee: My students become more active and much concentrate on the lesson Moreover they are eager and ready to participate in activities given by the teacher And they feel free to communicate with the teacher 72 Researcher: So which stage of a reading lesson you like? Interviewee: I like while-reading best because I can show students some techniques and instruct them to the tasks effectively, and I can ask them to work in pairs or in groups From that I can help them have a habit of working in team and cooperate together Researcher: It sounds that you like teaching with multimedia a lot So have you got any difficulties in teaching with multimedia? Interviewee: Certainly The biggest problem is the big size of the class You know there are about 40 students in my class And sometimes I feel frustrated with the lack of facilities mainly the projector Researcher: Do you take a lot of time to prepair a lesson with multimedia? Interviewee: No, because I’m farmiliar with it Researcher: So, can you give me some suggestions to deal with difficulties? Interviewee: Well, I think there should be more projectors and a multimedia room with high quality facilities in our school And the number of students should be limited Researcher: According to you, how many students in a class is good? Interviewee: Well The ideal number of students in a class is around twenty Reseacher: OK Thanks a lot Interviewee: You’re welcome The fourth interview is between the researcher and Mr Cong, a seven - year experienced English teacher at Nguyen Binh Khiem high school for the gisted in Vinh Long town Researcher: Hello, Mr Sang How are you? Interviewee: Good, thanks And you? Researcher: Fine, thanks I’ve been doing a research on multimedia and its application in teaching reading comprehension I need your help May I ask you some questions? Interviewee: Glad to help you Researcher: Among four English skills, what you think of reading? 73 Interviewee: Let me see Reading is important because more parts in a test are on reading And if students read well, they will have some ideas to speak Researcher: How about writing? Interviewee: Yeah If students read well, they also write well because they can have a lot of ideas and imitate the English styles for their writing Researcher: Well How often you teach reading through multimedia? Interviewee: Just sometimes Because it is not popular to use multimedia in teaching in my school and there is not enough facility to use it Researcher: I see But you like teaching reading with multimedia? Interviewee: A lot Because I can make my lesson more interesting and create an active and comfortable atmosphere in class So my students become more active Researcher: Yeah, how about linking reading to other skills? Interviewee: Sure I can take time to give some speaking activities to students because I not spend time writing anything on the board Everything is on the computer and photos Researcher: So, what advantages your students get when studying with multimedia in comparison with tradditional class? Interviewee: My students are more active and involved in the lesson thanks to images and sounds Moreover they are eager to participate in pair, group, and team work And they are cooperative and interactive with the teacher Researcher: So which stage of a reading lesson you like? Interviewee: I like pre-reading best because I can design many interesting activities and slides to present vocabulary and lead my students to the new lesson I realize that my students can memorize the vocabulary more easily Researcher: Don’t you like while or post stage? Interviewee: Yes I also like post-reading stage because I can give students activities to discuss and present in front of the class I like to help students improve speaking through reading Researcher: It sounds that you like teaching with multimedia a lot So have you got any difficulties in teaching with multimedia? 74 Interviewee: Certainly The biggest problem is the lack of facilities because there is not enough for all classes Researcher: Have you got problems with over-crowded class? Interviewee: Yes, the number of students in my class is about 45 because it is class for non-major students It’s very crowded Do you think so? Researcher: Yes It’s so crowded So, can you give me some suggestions to deal with difficulties? Interviewee: Well, I think there should be more projectors and a multimedia room with high quality facilities in my school And the head should encourage teachers to use technology into teaching Reseacher: OK Thanks a lot Interviewee: You’re welcome The fifth interview is between the researcher and Ms Huong, a three - year experienced English teacher at Nguyen Binh Khiem high school for the gifted in Vinh Long town Researcher: Hello, Ms Huong How are you? Interviewee: Fine, thanks And you? Researcher: Fine, thank you I’ve been doing a research on multimedia and its application in teaching reading comprehension I need your help May I ask you some questions? Interviewee: Yes, of course Researcher: Among four English skills, what you think of reading? Interviewee: In my opinion, reading is very important because it helps students get good marks in tests or exams And it also help students improve other skills like speaking or writing Researcher: Well How often you teach reading through multimedia? Interviewee: Not often, just sometimes Because I am not qualified in designing lesson through multimedia on the computer, and there are not good facilities in our school Researcher: But you like teaching reading through multimedia? And why? 75 Interviewee: Yes I like it very much Because it is interesting I not have to write anything on the board, so I can save time for other activities or tasks Researcher: How about the atmosphere in the class? Interviewee: Great The students act very well because they are encouraged to study Researcher: Do you give some more materials outside the textbook for students? Interviewee: Just a bit, because the level of my students is not good I just base on the tasks and contents in textbook and explain the lesson more clearly Researcher: So, what advantages your students get when studying with multimedia in comparison with tradditional class? Interviewee: My students are more active and involved in the lesson thanks to images and sounds Moreover they are eager to participate in pair, group, and team work And they are cooperative and interactive with the teacher Researcher: So which stage of a reading lesson you like? Interviewee: I like pre-reading best because I can help my students to memorize the new words easily and effectively Researcher: How about while and post stage? Interviewee: Well I also like while-reading stage because I can instruct students to the tasks carefully and correctly And I can ask students to pairwork or groupwork That is interesting Researcher: It sounds that you like teaching with multimedia a lot So have you got any difficulties in teaching with multimedia? Interviewee: Certainly The biggest problem is the lack of facilities and the qualification in using technology of the teachers Researcher: Have you got problems with over-crowded class? Interviewee: Yes, over 40 students in my class It’s difficult to control all Researcher: So, can you give me some suggestions to deal with difficulties? Interviewee: Well, I think there should be more projectors and good facilities and the number of students should be reduced Reseacher: OK Thanks a lot Interviewee: You’re welcome 76 APPENDIX THE ENGLISH COURSEBOOKS Advanced English 10 Student’s Book by Tu Anh, Vi Phuong, Phan Ha, Dong Hai, Kim Hoa, Thi Lan, Nguyen Lu, Thi Ly, Nguyen Minh and Song Phuc, is designed for advanced syllabus to provide a comprehensive course for high school students who have completed the series of ENGLISH from ENGLISH to ENGLISH It continues to train the student for the four language skills: listening and understanding, speaking, reading, and writing, in that order, but gradually focuses on developing his reading skill, and language focus For that purpose, besides engaging the student in aural-oral activities, it introduces him, by degrees, to the world of facts and ideas and makes him familiar with a wide range of different styles of writing The Student’s Book contains 16 teaching units and consolidations, each unit includes: • Title is arranged by the theme chosen to be the base for designing language and activities • Reading provides students with information, reading techniques, and linguistic knowledge relating to the topics to help them develop reading skills, speak, listen, and write • Listening consists of listening comprehension tasks such as: listening to a dialogue or a complete or incomplete passage, then doing the exercises given • Speaking contains speaking activities based on linguistic function and themetic lessons performed in various forms such as group discussion, pairwork, individual presentation, description, and so on • Writing comprises exercises aimed at developing the students’ writing skill like writing a summary, a letter of request, a letter of recommendation, and so on • Language Focus provides lively activities and issues relating to Word Study , Grammar and exercises given 77 Each consolidation consists of • Listening Comprehension helps students listen, comprehend, and review the contents of the lession they already studied The multiple choice exercises are given to help students get farmilliar with this testing kind • Vocabulary consists of multiple choice questions which help students review words, their forms and uses they already studied • Grammar and Structure consists of multiple choice questions which help students consolidate grammar points they studied and some exercises related • Reading is used to check students’ reading comprehension through some reading skills • Writing is used to check students’ writing Training reading skill for highschool students in grade 10 is the first step in the process of helping them to comprehend a reading lesson and get necessary information from the instructions, reading passages, newspapers and articles, which will be useful for their learning activities or communicating with other people in English THE SYLLABUS OF READING TEXTS IN ADVANCED ENGLISH 10 Unit Pre-reading While-reading Postreading School Talks Team learning Network Answer questions the Mapping and filling facts Summary Discussion Questions and answers Details about three people’s Discussion People’s True and False Discussion background Gap filling Background Questions and answers Answer the Match the words with their Summary 78 Daily Activities questions Discussion Special education meanings the passage Decide T/F statements using Answer the questions words Find the meaning of words Scan the the in sentences passage & Multiple-choice sentenses complete the passage Technology and Answer questions the Complete the sentences Discuss the using the words provided question Multiple-choice sentenses you Arrange the sequence of events Discussion School Outdoor Multiple-choice sentenses Fill in the Answer the questions missing words in the Activities passage Answer The mass media questions the Match the words with their Discussion meanings Multiple-choice sentenses Answer the questions Life in the Answer questions the Find the meaning of words Discussion Read the passage and complete the table Community Answer the questions Discussion Undersea world Complete the sentences Fill in the with the words provided missing Answer the questions words in the passage 10 Conservation Answer questions the Word definition Decide T/F statements 79 Answer the questions Choose the main idea 11 National parks 12 Answer Films and Discussion questions Answer the questions Description Complete the sentences Answer the Music 13 the Word definition Answer questions with the words provided questions Answer the questions Discussion the Word definition Interview Answer the questions Decide the title of the cinema passage 14 The world cup Answer questions the 1.Match the words with their Summary meanings Discussion 2.Scan the text and complete the sentences Decide T/F statements 15 Answer The Pacific Rim questions the Word definition Discussion Decide T/F statements Answer the questions 16 Answer Historical places questions the Find the meaning of words Decide T/F statements 80 Answer the questions - 81 - ... 2008 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entilted ? ?THE EFFECTS OF TEACHING READING THROUGH MULTIMEDIA FOR GIFTED STUDENTS IN VINH LONG PROVINCE? ?? is my own work This thesis has not... two introduces some terms relating to multimedia together with reading approach and the impacts of multimedia on teaching and learning L2 reading In addition, the reviews of the ideas of other... them process information, thus empowering their understanding of the target culture and increasing their motivation toward language learning, reinforcing the teaching points, and saving the teacher