Tài liệu Improving 10th graders’ reading comprehension through cognitive reading strategy training an action research project at a high school in hanoi

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BUI THI HONG IMPROVING 10TH GRADERS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH COGNITIVE READING STRATEGY TRAINING: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN hanoi (Cải thiện việc đọc hiểu của học sinh lớp 10 thông qua việc luyện tập chiến lược đọc hiểu tri nhận: Nghiên cứu hành động tại một trường cấp 3 tại Hà Nội) M.A. MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Hanoi-2020 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES BUI THI HONG IMPROVING 10TH GRADERS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH COGNITIVE READING STRATEGY TRAINING: AN ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HANOI (Cải thiện việc đọc hiểu của học sinh lớp 10 thông qua việc luyện tập chiến lược đọc hiểu tri nhận: Nghiên cứu hành động tại một trường cấp 3 tại Hà Nội) M.A. MINOR THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 8140231.01 Supervisor : Dr. Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa Hanoi-2020 DECLARATION I hereby state that I – Bui Thi Hong, being an M.A. candidate of the Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, ULIS, VNU, certify my authority of the study entitled “Improving students’ reading comprehension through cognitive reading strategy training: An action research at a high school in Hanoi”. This thesis is the study of my own research and the substance of the thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to any other universities or institutions. Hanoi, 2020 Bui Thi Hong Approved by SUPERVISOR (signature and full name) T.S. Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa Date:........................................... i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude and love to my supervisor, Dr. Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, for her guidance, comments and especially her sympathy throughout the whole research process. I am also grateful to all lecturers at the Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, ULIS, VNU, whose lectures and guidance have contributed to my understanding of the problem and led to the completion of this thesis. My words of thanks would also go to the examiners who will spend their time reading and commenting on this thesis. Especially, I wish to show my appreciation to my students of class 10X1 at a high school in Hanoi, who were really helpful and cooperative in the implementation of the study. Last but not least, I would also like to take this opportunity to send my love to my family who aslo encourage and support me whole-heartly. ii ABSTRACT Reading in foreign language is considered one of the most challenging and difficult tasks that most of EFL learners face. Due to the complexity of this skill, many students suffered from reading for their failure in the achievement of reading comprehension. For the reason, this action research aimed at improving reading comprehension among 10th graders at a high school in Hanoi through cognitive reading strategy training. After a preliminary investigation had been carried out, the cognitive reading comprehension instruction course was designed, and then implemented in the first semester of the school year 2019-2020 with the participation of 43 students from a class of grade 10 at a high school in Hanoi. The data collected through the pre-and post-questionnaires, pre-and post-tests and semi-stuctured interviews revealed that the cognitive reading comprehension strategy course resulted in a slight improvement in the students’ reading comprehension, but the students also encountered some obstacles in applying the strategies. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .............................................................................................. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................ ii ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................... iv ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................... vii LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................... viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1 1.1. Rationale of the study................................................................................. 1 1.2. Aim of the study ......................................................................................... 2 1.3. Scope of the study ...................................................................................... 3 1.4. Significance of the study ............................................................................ 3 1.5. Research method of the study .................................................................... 3 1.6. Organization of the study ........................................................................... 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................... 5 2.1. Teaching and learning reading skills in foreign language teaching and learning .............................................................................................................. 5 2.1.1. The importance of teaching and learning reading skills ......................... 5 2.1.2. Definitions of reading and reading comprehension ................................ 7 2.1.3. Reading comprehension difficulties........................................................ 9 2.2. Reading comprehension strategies ........................................................... 12 2.2.1. Definitions of reading comprehension strategies.................................. 12 2.2.2. Categories of reading strategies ............................................................ 13 2.2.3. The importance of reading strategies .................................................... 13 2.3. Classification of cognitive reading strategies .......................................... 15 iv 2.3.1. Deduction .............................................................................................. 15 2.3.2. Imagery.................................................................................................. 16 2.3.3. Getting the Idea Quickly ....................................................................... 16 2.3.4. Elaboration ............................................................................................ 16 2.3.5. Guessing the meaning of words ............................................................ 17 2.3.6. Resourcing............................................................................................. 17 2.3.7. Repetition .............................................................................................. 18 2.3.8. Grouping................................................................................................ 18 2.3.9. Summarizing ......................................................................................... 18 2.4. Previous Studies ....................................................................................... 19 2.4.1. Foreign research on reading strategies .................................................. 19 2.4.2. Vietnamese research on reading strategies ........................................... 22 2.5. Summary .................................................................................................. 24 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ....................................... 25 3.1. Research context ...................................................................................... 26 3.2. Research Questions .................................................................................. 27 3.3. Research Approach .................................................................................. 27 3.4. Participants ............................................................................................... 29 3.5. Data collection instruments ...................................................................... 29 3.5.1. Questionnaires ....................................................................................... 29 3.5.2. Pre-test and post-test ............................................................................. 30 3.5.3. Interview................................................................................................ 30 3.6. Action Research Procedures .................................................................... 31 3.7. Data Analysis Procedures ........................................................................ 35 3.7.1. Pre-questionnaires before the pre-test ................................................... 35 3.7.2. Pre-test and Post-test ............................................................................. 36 3.7.3. Post-questionnaires after the post-test .................................................. 36 v 3.7.4. Interview................................................................................................ 36 3.8. Summary .................................................................................................. 37 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .......................................... 38 4.1. Preliminary investigation ......................................................................... 38 4.1.1. Findings ................................................................................................. 38 4.1.2. Discussion ............................................................................................. 43 4.2. Evaluation................................................................................................. 45 4.2.1. Research question 1............................................................................... 45 4.2.2. Research question 2............................................................................... 48 4.3. Summary .................................................................................................. 53 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 54 5.1. Summary of main findings ....................................................................... 54 5.2. Pedagogical implications ......................................................................... 55 5.3. Limitations of the research ....................................................................... 56 5.4. Suggestions for further research ............................................................. 56 REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 58 APPENDICES .................................................................................................. I vi ABBREVIATIONS EFL : English as a Foreign Language CAR : Classroom Action Research vii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.1: The Eight – Week – Plan of Reading Strategy Instruction in Class 10X1 ................................................................................................................ 32 Table 4.1: Frequency of Use of Reading Comprehension Strategies before the Pretest .............................................................................................................. 41 Table 4.2: Descriptive Statistics of Pretest and Posttest ................................. 45 Table 4.3: Paired Samples Statistics ............................................................... 46 Table 4.4: Paired Samples Correlation ........................................................... 46 Table 4.5: Paired Samples Test ....................................................................... 46 Table 4.6: The Cognitive Reading Strategies Students Find Difficult to Apply ......48 Table 4.7: Frequency of Use of Reading Comprehension Strategies after the Post-Test .......................................................................................................... 50 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 3.1. Action research model (Susman, 1983)........................................ 28 Figure 4.1. The importance of reading skills .................................................. 38 Figure 4.2. Students’ interests in reading comprehension skills..................... 39 Figure 4.3. Students’ difficulties in reading comprehension .......................... 39 ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter is primarily concerned with rationale of the study, aim of the study, scope of the study, significance of the study, research method of the study and organisation of the study. 1.1. Rationale of the study English has been adopted in the school curriculum as a compulsory subject for the last few years. In order to get a good command of English, students are required to master four macro language skills namely listening, speaking, writing and reading. Among these skills, reading is regarded as the most essential because it not only provides students with fruitful knowlege but also supports learners to enhance other language skills. In the other words, the requirement of being knowledgeable in this global era can be fulfilled by reading, so reading ability is a main vehicle for the development of learning experiences and leads to learning success. Reading serves the wider role of extending our general knowlegde of the world (Wallace, 1992) and reading is viewed as the most important skill to master in order to ensure success in learning as strengthened reading skills facilities greater progress in other areas of language learning (Anderson, 2003, Hazzard, 2016). Through the reading process, learners can gain information required to meet the needs of their study assignments. Therefore, the process of learning to read effectively is the key factor in achieving success in both study and life. Many years of my teaching experience at a high school in Hanoi have pointed that students have been encountering several obstacles in reading lessons on grounds of their habits of word-by-word reading, excessive focus on details rather than main ideas, poor vocabulary or limited background knowledge about given reading topics. Besides, another main reason is that these students may have problems with reading strategies because these 1 learners may not be aware of the huge benefits of reading comprehension strategies yet. In deed, learning strategies in reading comprehension have considerable potentiality for improving the reading competence. Moreover, appropriate use of learning strategies in reading comprehension can facilitate reading. Padron and Waxman (1988) show that the gap in reading comprehension levels between more proficient and less proficient students is in close relationship with the differences in reading strategies used. The authors believe that reading strategies are, actually, useful weapons to assist the students in coping with reading comprehension issues. In this situation, as a teacher of English at a high school in Hanoi, with a view to enhancing reading comprehension among 10th graders through teaching learners effective reading strategies, the researcher attempted to conduct a study under the title “Improving 10th graders’ reading comprehension through cognitive reading strategy training at a high school in Hanoi”. With the great belief that this minor study, to some certain extent, can support 10th graders at a high school in Hanoi with effective reading strategies in order that they can read better and get their desirable results in reading skills. 1.2. Aim of the study The study aims at improving reading comprehension ability of 10th grade students at a high school in Hanoi through cognitive reading strategy training as well as finding out the difficulties perceived by the students in applying the strategies. In order to achieve the above aims, the following research questions would be enlightened: - To what extent does explicit cognitive reading strategy training help improve reading comprehension of 10th grade students at a high school in Hanoi? 2 - What difficulties are perceived by the students in applying these cognitive reading strategies? 1.3. Scope of the study This study focuses on the teaching of cognitive reading strategies to 43 students of 10th grade in the period of ten weeks at a high school in Hanoi, so the teaching of strategies of other subjects would be beyond the scope of the study. Additionally, the study also concentrates on discovering what difficulties are faced by students during applying these reading strategies. 1.4. Significance of the study Once sucessfully completed, the study’s findings and discussions are expected to be beneficial to the 10th form students, English teachers, the researcher herself as well as other researchers. Firstly, cognitive reading comprehension strategies can provide students with useful techniques for their self-study to improve their reading skills and to solve reading comprehension obstacles. Secondly, teachers of English can recognise the significant benefits of these strategies in teaching reading comprehension. Based on the findings, teachers could adapt their current situation of teaching reading so that they would improve their students’ reading comprehension. Also, there are some suggested solutions for teachers to prepare efficient techniques to motivate students’ participation in their studying and to teach them how to read effectively. Besides, this study is expected to bring the researcher an invaluable experience as it supplies her with knowledge and techniques to teach reading comprehension strategies. Finally, the study enriches the literature review for other reseachers who would like to conduct the study of the same field interest related to reading strategies. 1.5. Research method of the study In order to fulfill the above-mentioned aims, this study was carried out according to the following steps in an action research model, simply because 3 action research was first and foremost situational, being concerned with identification and solution of problems in a specific context to enhance the current state of cognitive reading comprehension among 10th graders at a high school in Hanoi. In this case, the research was primarily based on the model of Susman’s model (1983), which consists of five phases to be conducted within each research cycle, namely diagnosing, action planning, taking action, evaluating and specifying learning. Research data was collected with a number of instruments including one pre-questionnaire, one pre-test, one post-test, one post-questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. After a preliminary investigation had been carried out, a cognitive reading strategy training course was designed, and then implemented with the participation of 43 10th grade students at a high school in Hanoi. 1.6. Organization of the study The thesis consists of five main parts: Chapter 1: Introduction: This chapter includes a rationale of the study, aim of the study, significance of the study, research method and organization of the study. Chapter 2: Literature Review: This chapter is about review of the literature related to the research topic, which serves as a theoretical foundation of the study. Chapter 3: Research Methodology: This chapter provides information about the research context, participants, research approach, data collection instruments, data collection procedures, and data analysis procedures. Chapter 4: Results and Discussion: This chapter is the main part of the body, which reports and discusses the main findings according to the research questions. Chapter 5: Conclusion: This chapter summarizes the findings, pedagogical implications, limitations of the study and suggestions for the further study. 4 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter focuses on teaching and learning skills in foreign language teaching and learning, reading comprehension strategies, the importance of reading strategies, classification of cognitive reading strategies and previous studies. 2.1. Teaching and learning reading skills in foreign language teaching and learning 2.1.1. The importance of teaching and learning reading skills It is common knowledge that listening, speaking, reading and writing are four macro language skills. Of these skills, listening and reading are the receptive skills whereas the remaining two are the productive skills. These fundamental skills are developed through a sound programme of teaching a language and only a good reading skill enables the students to learn other school subjects effectively and accurately. Thus, teaching reading to students can help them lay the foundation for the rest of their academic career, and depending on the effectiveness of reading, it can bring learners up to success or not. Anderson (2003) states that reading is the most important skill to master in order to ensure success in learning and strengthened reading skills facilitates greater progress in other areas of language learning. This shows that teaching reading to students is really significant in process of learning foreign languages among students. Moreover, teaching reading across the curriculum is critical to equip students with the skills they need in all areas of their education. Effective learning of other school subjects with comprehension depends on how far the students develop their reading ability. This means more emphasis should be given to the acquisition and development of the above stated basic language skills. 5 Students’ progress in educational career can be no higher or swifter than his progress in reading ability and skills. It is through reading that a man remains abreast of continuous expansion of the horizon of knowledge and information in his field of work. Besides, regular reading keeps an individual well-informed of the latest information in the areas of his interest. Consequently, the role of learning reading as a tool to get information and knowledge cannot be underestimated. We know that knowledge is expanding by leaps and bounds and everyday new knowledge is added to our stock. It either replaces or supplements the existing knowledge, so most of the things we read today become obsolete tomorrow. Consequently, if one wants to keep oneself in constant touch with the latest developments in knowledge, one should cultivate good reading comprehension ability. According to Carrell (1984:1), “for many students, reading is by far the most vital of the four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or a foreign language”. Reading is an essential part of language instruction at every level because it supports learning in many ways. Firstly, reading material is a language input because students given a variety of materials to read will have many opportunities to absorb vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure and discourse structure. Secondly, reading for content information in the language classroom provides students with both authentic reading material and an authentic purpose for reading. Thirdly, reading helps students broaden their knowledge of the lifestyle and worldviews of the people whose language they are studying. Reading can, further, be considered as one of the tools of communication, essential for the existence of man in the complex pattern of the society. Besides, it is the means by which every age is linked with one another. It makes it possible for man to perceive himself in the context of history and the fluid universe. 6 2.1.2. Definitions of reading and reading comprehension Reading is regarded as an indispensable part in the success of second language learning, so it is essential for everyone to get much deeper understanding of the definitions of reading from the different perspectives of the authors. Actually, there is a wide variety of definitions related to reading skills. On the whole, reading is a complex cognitive ability that is considered one of the basic language skills which can support students in learning foreign language; however, it is used more by most of EFL learners who always need to read various printed materials such as: books, stories, articles, poems and so on. According to Smith (1985:120), “reading is understanding the author’s thought”. It means that it is necessary for readers to apprehend the author’s mind, not the author’s words. If the readers only grasp the words in isolation in the text without understanding the author’s mind, their reading is useless. According to Hamer (1989:190), reading is “an exercise dominated by the eyes and the brain. The eyes receive message and the brain then has to work out the significance of the message”. It reveals that he focuses on two actions that dominated by the eyes and the brain. Meanwhile Anderson (1991:1) defines reading as “an active, fluent process which involves the reader and the reading material in building meaning”. In addition, Rubin, and Thomson, (1994:91) offer another definition of reading: “Reading is an active information-seeking process in which readers relate information in the text to what they already know”. From this point of view, the reader’s knowledge of the world is of importance to their reading success. Rumelhart (1997) indicates that reading involves the reader, the text, and 7 the interaction between reader and text. It can be seen that the reader and the text are two essential components of reading process; it is, however, the interaction between them that composes actual reading. Sharing the same idea with Rumelhart, Silberstein (1994:12) states that “reading is a complex cognitive process in which reader and text interact to (re)create meaningful discourse”. In short, from these definitions, it is apparent that reading is a process in which the reader interacts with the text to gain some kinds of meaning. In fact, each author gives his/her own concept of reading from various angles. However, most of the definitions have features in common, that is, the close relationship between reading and understanding; and reading process which involves the reader, the text and the interaction between the reader and the text. Reading comprehension Reading comprehension is very central in all areas of academic learning including in acquiring a language. Students need to read books, articles, and other materials in order to master any subject areas that they learn, and they have a good reading comprehension to do so whether is is on the first or their second language. In the other words, reading comprehension can be understood as the ability to obtain the information as required in the reading text as efficiently as possible. Different scholars demonstrated various points of view on the definitions of reading comprehension. Richard and Good (1978:9) provide a clearer point of view: “Reading comprehension is best described as an understanding between the author and the reader. The emphasis is on the reader understanding of the printed page based on the individual reader’s unique background of experience”. Also concerning reading comprehension, Roe, Stoodt and Burns (1987:2) propose that “reading comprehension 8 is reconstruction, interpretation and evaluation of what author of written content means by using knowledge gained from life experience”. Another point of view comes from Richard and Thomas (1987). In his opinion, reading comprehension is a mental process that only the reader finally understands the text based on the past experience. That knowledge is, then, used in trying to get meaning out of printed text. Therefore, the process of comprehending involves decoding the writer’s words and using the background knowledge to construct an approximate understanding of the writer’s passage. Sharing with this theory, Lenz (2000:3) also says that “reading comprehension is the process of constructing meaning from the text.” One more perspective of reading comprehension from Kendeou (2014) indicates that reading comprehension is considered as a process to understand, use, reflect on, and engage written texts so as to achieve one’s goals, to develop one’s knowledge and potential, and to participate in society. In brief, from these opinions, what comes up a common point is that reading comprehension not only understands simply what is written, but also stimulates students to remember from their experiences. That knowledge is then used to get meaning out of printed page, but in the mind of the readers which includes facts, emotion, belief and critical evaluation. It can be concluded that reading comprehension is the process of understanding what is conveyed in the text. On the other hand, it means the readers, as they read, can recognize the graphic forms of the reading text and understand what is implied behind these forms. 2.1.3. Reading comprehension difficulties English language skills are essential in gaining proficiency among learners and these skills are either receptive or productive skills. Receptive skills involve reading and listening while productive skills consist of writing 9