Varying pre reading activities to improve the reading comprehension of the first year english majored students at foreing language department, phuong dong university an action rearch

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI UNIVERSITY LE ANH HUY VARYING PRE-READING ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE READING COMPREHENSION OF THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT, PHUONG DONG UNIVERSITY: AN ACTION RESEARCH SUBM l l IBD IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE RHQTTreEMENTS OF THE DEGREE OF MASTER IN TESOL SUPERVISOR: HOANG THI X U A N HOA, M A Hanoi 12/2006 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my special thanks to Ms Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, M A, my supervisor for her invaluable advice, generous assistance and continual encouragements in completion of this research I also like to give my deepest thanks to all the English teachers in the Foreign Languages Department, Phuong Dong University for their helps and advice when I this work My earnest appreciation goes to the first year English majored students at Foreign Languages Department, Phuong Dong University in class 1272A1, 1272A2, 1272B1, 1272B2 who have actively participated in my study I truly enjoyed the moment working with them during the project I am also in debt of my lecturers at the post-graduation department at Hanoi University for their knowledge contributions and constructive comments and criticism so that I can accomplish this thesis successfully Last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to members of my family, especially my wife who have constantly supported, inspired and encouraged me to carry out successfully the thesis ABSTRACT It is assumed that if the students are well-prepared, especially from the pre-reading stage, their reading tasks w ill be completed more successfully and obstacles while reading w ill not hinder their understanding any longer The overall purpose o f the study is to investigate the effectiveness of various pre-reading activities applied by the researcher at Foreign Language Department, Phuong Dong University Thus, survey questionnaires and class observations are used to investigate the teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards pre-reading activities, and to examine the students’ preferences for these activities The results o f the study show that both teachers and students are fully aware of the sheer importance o f pre-reading activities to the students’ comprehension Several activities are reported to have been used at the pre-reading stage Among them, giving a brief introduction of the text and using pre-reading questions are found to be the most frequently used but not interesting ones Using visual aids and games is detected rarely employed by the teachers; however, they are in greatest favour by the students The data from the classroom observation also highlight the impact of using activities before asking the students to read the text Finally, teachers as well as students found it quite necessary to improve the pre-reading activities in the textbook they are using Hopefully, the thesis can be considered as a small contribution to the ongoing process of renovation for teaching at the Foreign Language Department, Phuong Dong University LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS PDU: Phuong Dong University FLD: Foreign Language Department Ր Լ : Foreign Language EFL: English as Foreign Language ESP: English for Specific Purposes AR: Action Research L2: Second Language SLA: Second Language Acquisition T: Teacher Sts: Students LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS Figure 1: The process of reading comprehension Figure 2: The process of doing action research Chart 1: Students’ attitude toward reading skill Chart 2: Factors affecting students’ reading comprehension Chart 3: The teacher’ s way of starting a reading lesson Chart 4: Students’ opinion about the pre-reading activities that the teacher applied Chart 5: The frequency of using different kinds of pre-reading activities Chart 6: Students’ preferences for these pre-reading activities Chart ᄀ Students’ comment on the pre-reading activities in the textbook Chart 8: Students’ suggestions to improve pre-reading activities in the textbook Chan 9: The icsults o f the pic-tcst Chart 10: Factors affecting students’ reading comprehension Chart 11: The teacher’s way o f starting a reading lesson Chart 12: Students，opinion about the pre-reading activities that the teacher applied Chart 13: The results of the post-test Chart 14: Pre-test and post-test comparison TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOW LEDGEMENTS i ABSTRACT ii LIST OF ABBR EVIATIO N S iii LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS iv TABLE OF CONTENTS V CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .1 1.1 Background to the study 1.2 Aims o f the study 1.3 Research Questions 1.4 Scope o f the study 1.5 Method of the study 1.6 Significance o f the study 1.7 Outline of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE R E V IE W 2.1 Theoretical background o f reading skill 2.1.1 Definition of reading 2.1.2 Factors in teaching and learning reading 2.2 Reading comprehension 2.2.1 Reading comprehension 2.2.2 Factors affecting students’ reading comprehension 2.3 The pre-reading stage .13 S ta g e s o f a r e a d in g l e s s o n 13 2.3.2 The pre-reading stage 14 2.3.4 The important role o f pre-reading activities 15 2.4 Different kinds o f pre-reading activities to apply 16 2.4.1 Giving a brief introduction of the text .16 2.4.2 Giving pre-reading questions 18 2.4.3 Pre-teaching new words in the reading te x t 18 2.4.4 Predicting the content of the text 19 2.4.5 Using discussion about the topic of the text 20 2.4.6 Explaining the instructions of the text 20 2.4.7 Using a brainstorming w eb 21 2.5 Previous research in the fie ld 21 2.5.1 Foreign research 22 2.5.2 Vietnamese research 23 CHAPTER 3: THE METHODOLOGY 25 3.1 What is action research? 25 3.2 Action research questions 26 3.3 Data collection instruments 26 3.3.1 Questionnaires 26 V 3.3.2 Interviews .27 3.3.3 Observations 28 3.3.4 Pre-test and post-test (appendix ) .28 3.4 The setting and the participants 29 3.4.1 The setting 29 3.4.2 The subjects 29 3.4.3 The observer 30 3.5 Action research procedure 30 3.5.1 Identifying a problem 31 3.5.2 Collecting data 31 3.5.3 Analyzing data and generating hypothesis 31 3.5.4 Planning action .31 3.5.5 Implementing the action plan .32 3.5.6 Collecting data to monitor change 32 3.5.7 Analyzing data and evaluating the change 33 Summary 33 CHAPTER THE RESULTS 34 4.1 The pre-data 34 4.1.1 Data from questionnaire (appendix 1) .34 4.1.2 Data from the interview (appendix 3) 41 4.1.3 Data from observation (appendix ) .42 4.1.4 Pre-test (appendix 7A ) 43 Summary 44 4.2 The post data 44 4.2.1 Data from observation (appendix ) .44 4.2.2 Data from questionnaire (appendix 2) 45 4.2.3 Post test (appendix 7B) 48 4.3 Action research evaluation 49 CHAPTER CONCLUSION 51 5.1 Major findings 51 5.1.1 Major findings from the pre-data 51 5.1.2 Major findings from the post data 51 5.2 Recommendations 3.2.1 Varying pre-reading activities 52 3.2.2 Using pre-reading activities appropriately and fle x ib ly 52 3.2.3 Encouraging the students, internal factors 53 3.2.4 Improving the pre-reading activities in the material 54 5.3 Limitation and suggestions for further study 54 5.4 Conclusion 55 REFERENCES 56 APPENDIXES 58 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study The acquisition of reading skills in a foreign language is a priority for millions of learners in Vietnam This is understandable as teaching English in Vietnam aims to provide the students with the abilities to understand written materials What is more, English is taught and learned in a non-native environment so reading is not only an important means to gain knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place According to Carrell (1983:1)，'for many students, reading is by far the most important o f the four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or foreign language.’ This is also true for the first year students at the Foreign Language Department (FLD), Phuong Dong University (PDU) because the reading skill offers them a wide range of interesting information as well as a variety of language expression and structures, which are o f great usefulness for developing other skills When studying in a reading lesson, students often experience the lack of careful preparation for comprehending reading Actually, preparation stage is an essential element in language learning in general and in learning reading in particular For each reading state, careful preparation is necessary and needs to be provided, especially for the very fiisi minutes o f the lesson- the pre-reading stage To enhance the students1 reading comprehension, it is supposed to count on the teachers1 organization of pre-reading activities It stands to reason that a good pre-reading stage can arouse the students1 interests in reading as well as can provide them some language preparation, which can be helpful clues to their reading comprehension It is also evident that exploiting pre-reading activities effectively for this stage is challenging for teachers because they have to take things into consideration such as the objectives of the lesson, the setting, the students’ level, the students’ needs, etc when delivering the activities For the first-year students at the Foreign Languages Department (FLD), Phuong Dong University (PDU), the reading teachers have to the same things to increase the students’ comprehension of reading with the ultimate goal is to help them to improve their reading skills Despite the teachers’ effort, sometimes, the students，comprehension o f intensive reading is still low and the reading lesson is said to be a boring and difficult one This fact has encouraged the author to investigate into different pre-reading activities applied by the teachers and to give some suggestions for handling the pre-reading activities It is hoped that the study w ill be helpful for the author and other reading teachers in some way to find appropriate pre-reading activities to stimulate their students in a reading lesson However, with the limitation of time the author intends to investigate the pre-reading stage not while or post-reading ones despite the fact that they are the main phases of the teaching process 1.2 Aims of the study The study aims to find out whether various pre-reading activities help to improve reading comprehension of the first year English majored students at Foreign Languages Department, Phuong Dong University and to give some suggestions for applying these effective activities in the university’s teaching and learning reading comprehension skill The specific aims of the research are as follows: To examine the students’ problems and causes o f the problems in reading lessons To examine the students’ preferences for pre-reading activities To examine whether varying pre-reading activities in the reading textbook helps to improve the students’ reading comprehension 1.3 Research Questions The study was carried out in order to find out the answers to following research questions together with sub-questions: What }s the students ’problem and the cause o f the problem in reading lessons? What are the students ’ attitude and preferences fo r pre-reading activities? a How they fin d the teacher， s pre-reading activities? b What they think o f the pre-reading activities in the reading textbook? c What pre-reading activities they like most to comprehend the reading text more effectively? APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR STUDENTS) This survey questionnaire is designed for my MA thesis “Does varying pre-reading activities help to improve reading comprehension skill of the first year English majored students at Foreign Languages Department，Phuong Dong University?” I am grateful fo r your goodwill and cooperation in truthfully completing the questionnaire, which hopefully takes you ju st little time Please be assured that the information you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence Thank you very much! Please tick (V) or write the answer where necessary Reading skill in English language study i s A very important B important c not very important D not important If it is very important or important, please tick box(es) to show your reasons: Reading skill gives you chances to get new information Reading skill gives you opportunities for language practice (review grammar and vocabulary) Reading skill allows you to extend your knowledge in many fields Reading skill helps you to expand and enrich your vocabulary effectively Others: (Please indicate) If it is not very important or not important, please tick box(es) to show your reasons: You only learn reading skill because you are forced to learn or it is the compulsory subject in your course You think that other skills (speaking, writing, and listening) are more important and useful than reading skill You think that you w ill not use reading skill in your future job You think that reading skill is not a productive skill and lack of creativity Others: Which of the following factors may affect your comprehension of the reading when dealing with reading tasks? A The lack of background knowledge B Limited vocabulary and grammatical structures c Inappropriate reading strategies 58 D The lack o f preparations for reading tasks E Others: What does your teacher often to start a reading lesson? A Asks you to read the text at once B Uses the pre-reading activities in the text book c Organizes some other different lead-in activities before you read the text D Other w ays: What you find the pre-reading activities that your teacher often uses to teach you? A They are interesting D They are useless B They are useful E They are the same as in the book c They are boring F Your own idea: How often does your teacher use the following pre-reading activiues? Pre-reading activities Always Sometimes Rarely Never Giving a brief introduction of the reading text Prc-tcaching new vocabulary in the reading text Explaining the instructions of the text Using games to introduce the topic of the text Using visual aids to introduce the topic o f the text Making students brainstorm words, structures, or ideas related to the topic of the text ᄀ Asking pre-reading guiding questions Making students predict the content of the text Using group or class discussion about topic o f the reading text 10 Making students ask questions about the text Of the above pre-reading techniques, what you think of each? Very useful P re-reading activities Giving a brief introduction o f the reading text 59 Useful N ot always useful Useless Pre-teaching new vocabulary in the reading text Explaining the instructions of the reading text Using games to introduce the topic of the text Using visual aids to introduce the topic of the text Making students brainstorm words, structures ideas related to the topic of the text ᄀ Asking pre-reading guiding questions Making students predict the content of the reading text Using group or class discussion on the topic of the reading text 10 Letting students ask questions about the reading text What you think of the pre-reading activities ỉn the reading material you are learning? A Suitable fui ll 1C students9 interests B Effective in helping students to complete the tasks required well, c Sufficiently varied D Monotonous E Unable to enhance the students’ motivation for reading F Other ideas: In your opinion，what should be done to improve the pre-reading activities in the reading textbook “ Interaction 1” that is being used? A More various kinds of activities should be added B Some more activities that are of the students’ interests should be provided, c They should be redesigned to be more suitable D Not necessary to anything about them E Other ideas: 60 APPENDIX 2: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (FOR STUDENTS) This survey questionnaire ỈS designed for my MA thesis “Does varying pre-reading activities help to improve reading comprehension skill of the first year English majored students at Foreign Languages Department，Phuong Dong University?” I am grateful fo r your goodw ill and cooperation in tru th fu lly completing the questionnaire, which hopefully takes you ju s t little time Please be assured that the inform ation you provide w ill be treated in the strictest confidence Thank you very m uch! Please tick (V) or write the answer where necessary Which of the following factors may affect your comprehension of the reading when dealing with reading tasks? A The lack of background knowledge B Limited vocabulary and grammatical structures, c Inappropriate reading strategies D The lack o f preparations for reading tasks E Others: What does your teacher often to start a reading lesson? A Asks you to read the text at once B Uses the pre-reading activities in the text book c Organizes some other different lead-in activities before you read the text D Other w ays: How you find the pre-reading activities that your teacher often uses to teach you? A They are interesting D They are useless B They are useful E Your own idea: c They are boring 61 APPENDIX 3: QUESTIONS FOR THE INTERVIEW WITH THE PREVIOUS TEACHER OF READING What you often to start a reading lesson? How you find the role o f pre-reading activities to students’ comprehension o f reading? How you often use pre-activities in a reading lesson? What are your purposes in using pre-reading activities? How often you use the following pre-reading activities in reading lessons? Pre-reading activities Always Often Rarely Never Giving a brief introduction of the reading text Pre-teaching some new words from the reading Explaining the instructions of the reading text Using games to introduce the topic of the text Using visual aids to introduce the topic o f the text Making students brainstorm words, structure, ideas related to the topic o f the reading text Asking pre-reading guiding questions Making studenb picdict the contcnt o f the text Using group or class discussion on the topic o f the reading text 10 Letting students ask questions about the text O f the above pre-reading activities, which you think would help to increase students’ comprehension most? Rank them in order please Number is the most, number 10 is the least ᄀ In your opinion, what factors make your students have the most difficulty in reading? What difficulties you often meet when applying pre-reading activities in teaching reading? What is your opinion about the pre-reading activities in the reading material you are teaching? 10 In your opinion, what should be done to improve pre-reading activities in the reading textbook “ Interaction 1” we are using? 62 APPENDIX 4: OBSERVATION SHEET OBSERVATION SHEET 1A ( Chapter ) Class: 1272A l Date: Monday, 20 February 2005 T， s activities S， s attitude towards S5s involvement S’s interaction with each other T， s activities - At 7.00 a.m, T comes in, greet Ss - T asks Ss to open their textbook - T asks Ss to discuss the picture in - Start working in - Not all Ss get - They the book in pairs pairs but most of involved in the exchange the - After minutes T call some them find it activities information students to give ideas about the difficult because - Some o f them unwillingly picture they are not quite spend time - Then T asks Ss to think about the sure what is the talking privately pre-reading questions in the text for picture about - Ss think about minutes Then she calls some Ss the answer to give their answers individually - T tells Ss to look at the new - Many Ss say there - Ss listen vocabulary printed in the textbook are many new carefully and then asks if there any words that words for them write down the they don’t know the meaning so she They find it a bit meaning o f the gives meaning to the words that Ss boring because word in don’t know in Vietnamese there are no Vietnamese - The pre-reading activities that the activities to take teacher uses are from the textbook part in and last about minutes 63 OBSERVATION SHEET I B ( Chapter ) Class: 1272A2 Date: Tuesday, March 2005 T， s activities S， s attitude towards S9s involvement S， s interaction with each other T， s activities - At 9.30 a.m, T comes in, greet Ss - T asks Ss to open their textbook - T briefly introduces the topic of - Start working in - Not all Ss get - They the reading lesson today and asks groups but most of involved in the exchange the Ss to discuss the picture in the book them find it activities information in groups difficult because - Some of them unwillingly - After minutes T calls some they are not quite spend time students from each group to give sure what is the talking privately ideas about the picture picture about - Ss think about - Ss give - Then T asks Ss to think about the because of the lack the answer individual pre-reading questions in the text of introduction of individually answers Then she calls some Ss to give their the picture answers ֊ T lets the Ss read after her the new - Many Ss read after - Ss listen words listed in the text and tells Ss her the new words carefully and the meanings in both English and They find it a bit read after her Vietnamese boring because then write down - The pre-reading activities that the there are no joyful the meaning of teacher uses are from the textbook activities to take the word in and lasts about 10 minutes part in their notebook - Then she tells Ss to read the text - Start reading immediately in silence 64 O BSERVATION SHEET IC ( Chapter ) Class: 1272B2 Date: Friday, 24 March 2005 T， s activities S， s attitude towards S9s involvement S， s interaction with each other T， s activities - At 12.30 p.m, T comes in, greet Ss - T asks Ss to open their textbook - T introduce the title o f the text and - Ss show no - Not all Ss get - They asks Ss to discuss the three pictures interest in the involved in the exchange the in the book in pairs activities activities information - After some minutes T call some - Some of them unwillingly, students to give ideas about the spend time some good Ss picture talking privately dominate others - Then T asks Ss to give the answers - Not all Ss can - Ss think about - Only some to the pre-reading questions in the answer the pre- the answer good Ss can text She calls some good Ss to give reading questions individually give the their answers - Ss listen answers and - T tells Ss to look at the new carefully and share opinion, vocabulary printed in the textbook write down the others keep then she gives meanings of the meaning o f the silent most of words in English word in their the time - The pre-reading activities that the notebook teacher uses are from the textbook - and lasts about minutes - T asks Ss to read the text in - Ss start reading in minutes then the exercises silence below 65 APPENDIX 5: OBSERVATION SHEET OBSERVATION SHEET ( Chapter ) Class: 1272B1 Date: Wednesday, 21 February 2005 T， s activities S， s attitude towards S9s involvement S， s interaction with each other T， s activities - At 12.30 p.m, T comes in, greet Ss - T asks Ss to open their textbook - T tells Ss a short story to introduce - Start listening - A ll Ss get - They the topic of the reading text today carefully with involved in the exchange the - After that she gives the Ss some curious eyes activities information questions about the main ideas of - Many Ss want to - Most o f them w illingly the story that related to the topic give the answers to spend time - Then T asks Ss to make their own the teacher’s discussing the questions if they want to know question because questions with anything about the topics they like the story others - T writes on the board some very - Ss are excited interesting questions for Ss to to work in discuss in small groups groups to share - After minutes he calls some - Some Ss volunteer students from each group to repot to give information ideas the information that they have discussed - Ss show great ֊ Then the teacher asks Ss to discuss interest in the - Ss give the the meaning of the new words in activity They meaning of the pairs, after that he uses simple exchange the new words that definition or explanation to give the information they they know to meaning of the new vocabulary know with others others - The pre-reading activities that the - Start reading teacher lasts about 11 minutes immediately in Then he asks Ss to read the text silence 66 APPENDIX 6A: ACTION PLAN IMPLEMENTATION OF VARYING PRE-READING ACTIVITIES Ш€€К UNITS PR€-R€flDINỠ RCTIVITICS ШОЙК Chapter - Using short story to introduce the TIM€ йио ш со Whole class minutes Whole class minutes Groups minutes Whole class minutes Groups minutes Group minutes Whole class minutes Pairs & Groups minutes Pairs & Groups minutes Whole class minutes Whole class minutes Pairs & Groups minutes Pairs & Groups minutes Pairs & Groups minutes reading topic - Using definition and explanation to explain new vocabulary - Using group discussion for answering pre-reading questions Chapter (cont) - Using games to introduce the reading topic - Using table or chart to build vocabulary items related to the topic Chapter - Using language games to introduce the reading topic - Using synonym and antonym to explain new vocabulary - Letting students ask and answer the questions related to the reading topics in pairs or groups Chapter (cont) - Using titles, subtitles and pictures to introduce the reading topic - Using language games to teach new vocabulary Chapter - Using visual aids to introduce the reading topic - By building a word web / tree/ diagram to introduce new vocabulary - Letting students to predict the content of the reading text Chapter ( cont) - Using pictures for class discussion of the reading topic minutes ֊ Using visual aids to explain the meaning of new vocabulary items 67 Whole class APPENDIX 6B: A DETAILED LESSON PLAN Chapter ᄀ The Secrets of a Very Long Life Week 1: Types o f pre-reading activities used in the pre-reading stage - Lising language games to introduce the reading topic - Using definitions, synonym and antonym to explain new vocabulary - Letting students ask and answer the questions related to the reading topic in pairs or groups I Aim The pre-reading activities the teacher used were varied from the pre-reading activities in the textbook The aim o f the pre-reading stage was to get the sts motivated and familiar with the topic of the reading text, connect their prior knowledge to the topic they were going to read II Teaching aids - Handouts o f the games - Tables o f new words - Chalk - Board III Procedure - In the pre-reading stage, students were divided in groups to play a language game related to the topic o f the reading text Students were provided with handouts containing the content of the language game The game was designed to attract sts，interest in the reading topic they were going to read about This game was a kind of competition between groups The group that found all the right answers first would be the winner so it motivated sts a lot - Next, the teacher delivered different table handouts containing the new words from the reading text to each group Each group had a discussion to find out the way to explain the meaning o f the new words to the whole class either by giving definitions or using synonym and antonym The students who knew the meaning of the words could share it with othe sts in the group - Finally, the teacher conducted a class discussion on the topic o f the chapter that sts were going to read by letting sts ask and answer the questions by themselves without concerning right or wrong contribution from the students 68 APPENDIX 7A: THE PRE-TEST CHAPTER 5: COMPREHENSION CHECKING TEST Date: Name: Match each word with its meaning (5 points) relatives a to decrease in value couples b customary way o f doing tilings divorces c to provide money and other necessary things for care of others widow d to take into a family through a legal process decline e people related through marriage or family adopt f the legal ending o f a marriage ᄀ traditional g a family group that includes cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and so on nuclear family h two people who are married or very close extended family i a family group o f just parents and children 10 support i a women whose husband has died Write T for true statements and F for false statements (5 points) _ There are only two types of families: extended families and nuclear families _ Many women had to go to work outside o f the home during World War II _ After World War II ，families become more traditional with the father working and the mother _ staying at home The divorce rate declined and the birthrate increased since the 1960s 一 The fam ily structure w ill probably change more in the future Circle the letter of the correct word (5 points) Over 100 years ago, family structure was more _ a traditional b modem c remained the same Life was _ for families in the 1930s a easy b d iffic u lt c comfortable From 1939 to 1945, many families were separated because of the a hunger b diseases c war During World War II ， _changed again a family structure c society b life 69 There have been more changes in families in a Canada b the United States since 1960 c the UK Circle the correct word (noun or related adjective) to complete the sentence (5 points) In many cultures, there are many traditions and customs for (marriage/ married) It is (custom/ customary) for the father to support the fam ily in a traditional family The family group is a (universe/ universal) structure in society Today, single parent families are more (community/ common) With the (modernization/ modem) o f society, families have changed Write answers to the questions Use complete sentences (5 points) What was your family like when you were growing up? What are some different types of family groups? What are some reasons why family structure has changed in the past? Is life easy or difficult for families today? Why? What you think is the “ perfect fam ily” ? 70 APPENDIX 7B: THE POST-TEST CHAPTER 8: COMPREHENSION CHECKING TEST Name: Date: Match each word with its meaning (5 points) behavior a a center of attention or interest concentration b feeling hopeful and happy about something reactions c not feeling content or happy about something tension d giving close attention to something focus e feeling excited or worried because of a strange situation beneficial f a respond to something ᄀ dissatisfied g mental or nervous pressure envious h feeling unhappy because another person has something you want suspenseful i the action or product o f person 10 optimistic j helpful Write T for true statements and F for false statements (5 points) _ Television and the other media are never helpful to people 一 In families that watch a lot of television, there may be little communication between family members _ Watching a lot of television can help a person think better and be more logical _ The violence on television may give people bad dreams — Some people believe that television is more real, so normal life seems boring to them Circle the letter of the correct word (5 points) a Television helps _ people as well as patients in hospital a elderly b young c unemployed b High-quality TV program can increase people’s _ • a thinking b knowledge c ability c Television and video provide almost everyone with good • a satisfaction b education c entertainment d Children who watch a lot of TV may lose their ability to _ a concentrate b focus 71 c study e Because of the time it consumes, TV and radio can easily replace a talking b physical activities c fam ily communication Write the entertainment category you use to find things to Use the choices from the box (5 points) live theater TV programming radio recitals/concerts neighborhood movies clubs a I want to b I want to c I want to d I want to listen to an orchestra perform music by Mozart and Handel., e I want to go out with some friends to listen to a small band, dance, an something to eat. Write answers to the questions Use complete sentences (5 points) a What are the advantages o f watching TV? b What are the disadvantages o f watching TV? c Do you enjoy the action and violence o f the media more than activities in your own life? Why? Why not? d Do you think that TV shows and movies are too violent? Why? e What you think should be changed to improve TV shows? 72 ...MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI UNIVERSITY LE ANH HUY VARYING PRE- READING ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE THE READING COMPREHENSION OF THE FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJORED STUDENTS AT FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT,. .. out whether various pre- reading activities help to improve reading comprehension of the first year English majored students at Foreign Languages Department, Phuong Dong University and to give... them to understand the reading texts The selection of pre- reading activities or the combination of pre- reading activities to be done depended on the characteristics of the reading texts and reading