Tài liệu The warm up activities in motivating the 11th grade students at uong bi high school to develop their reading skills

.. ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN KHOA NGOẠI NGỮ NGUYỄN THU PHƯƠNG THE WARM-UP ACTIVITIES IN MOTIVATING THE 11TH GRADE STUDENTS AT UONG BI HIGH SCHOOL TO DEVELOP THEIR READING SKILLS 2018 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study would not have been completed without enthusiastic support and encouragements of many people. First of all, I would like to express my special thanks to my supervisor, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Long who has contributed to my study with a wide multitude of useful suggestions, critical comments, valuable advice and encouragements. I also would like to thank the teachers from School of Foreign languagesThai Nguyen University, who have given me useful advices and conditions for the completion. My sincere acknowledgement of all English teachers and students at Uong Bi high school who have helped me to carry out the surveys for my research. The study has been progressed with all my attempts but there have been still limitations and mistakes. Therefore, I look forward to receiving sincere comments from all of you! ii ABSTRACT This study aimed at investigating how to develop situation of teaching and learning by using motivational activities. The study addresses issues of teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards warm-up activities in reading lessons, students’ favorite activities, problems the teachers encounter when conducting warm-up activities in teaching writing lessons, students' assessments on the benefits of warm-up activities and finding out some suggested warm-up activities applied to teach reading lessons with the aim to make teaching and learning reading more effective. The participants of the study included 6 English teachers and 122 students of the 11th grade at a High School. The data were collected by means of questionnaires and class observations, but the main one is the questionnaires. Both the quantitative and qualitative research methods were employed in this study. Data analysis was mainly based on the quantitative method. The collected information was analyzed, compared, commented, and presented under the forms of tables. The result of the study provided encouraging evidence to indicate that most of the teachers and students at Uong Bi High School appreciate the role of warm-up activities in teaching and learning reading lessons. However, the survey revealed that there were a number of difficulties that existed in reading lessons used warm-up activities. Some detailed suggestions are recommended within the wish to contribute to the improvement of teaching and learning reading skills through warm-up activities. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS PART A: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................1 1. Rationale for the study ...................................................................................1 2. Aims of the study ...............................................................................................2 3. Research questions .............................................................................................2 4. The scope of the study .......................................................................................2 5. Significance of the study ....................................................................................3 6. Method of the study: ..........................................................................................3 7. Design of the study .............................................................................................3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT.....................................................................................5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................5 1.1. Theoretical background of reading ...........................................................5 1.1.1. What is “reading”? ..................................................................................5 1.1.2. What is “teaching reading”? ...................................................................6 1.1.3. The importance of reading ......................................................................6 1.2. Warm-up activities in teaching and learning ............................................7 1.2.1. What is “warm-up”? ...............................................................................7 1.2.2. The importance of warm-up activities ....................................................9 1.3. Motivation ....................................................................................................9 1.3.1. Definition ................................................................................................9 1.3.2. Using games to motivate students in warm-up activities .....................10 1.3.2.1. Definition of game .............................................................................10 1.3.2.2. Games motivate learner .....................................................................11 1.4. Reading motivation....................................................................................12 1.4.1. Organismic Theories of Motivation......................................................13 1.4.2. Relating motivation to read and emergent reading skills: A ................13 measurement validation study ............................................................................13 1.4.2.2. Motivation for reading ...................................................................14 1.4.2.3. Motivation and engagement ...........................................................15 1.4.3. Motivating students to actively engage in reading ...............................15 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY .........................................................................17 2.1. Setting of the study .......................................................................................18 iv 2.2. Participants of the study ..............................................................................18 2.3. Research methodology..................................................................................18 2.3.1. Methods of data collection .......................................................................19 2.3.1.1. Questionnaire .....................................................................................19 2.3.1.2. Questionnaire for students .................................................................20 2.3.1.3. Questionnaire for teachers .................................................................20 2.3.2. Class Observations ...................................................................................20 2.3.3. Methods of data analysis ..........................................................................21 2.4. Data collection and analysis of observations ..............................................21 2.5. Description of situation ................................................................................23 2.6. Material..........................................................................................................24 2.7. Data collection and Procedures ...................................................................24 2.7.1. Collection of the Questionnaire Data .......................................................24 2.7.2. Collection of the Class Observation Data ................................................25 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ....................................................27 3.1. Research results ............................................................................................27 3.1.1. Data analysis of the students’ survey questionnaires ...............................27 3.1.1.1.The situation of learning reading skills at the 11thgrade inUong Bi high school ......................................................................................................27 3.1.1.2. How warm-up activities motivate students in reading lessons ..........29 3.1.2. Data analysis of the teachers’ survey questionnaires ...............................31 3.2. Data analysis of the class observation .........................................................32 3.3. Discussions .....................................................................................................33 3.3.1. Situation of learning reading in Uong Bi high school ..............................34 3.3.2. How warm-up activities motivate students in reading lessons ................34 3.3.3. The situation of teaching to develop students' reading skills ...................35 3.4. Summary........................................................................................................35 PART C: CONCLUSION.......................................................................................35 1. Conclusions of the study .....................................................................................36 2. Suggested games and other activities for warm-up in reading lessons at Uong Bi high school ...........................................................................................................38 2.1. Games for warm-up activities collection ....................................................38 v 2.1.1. Board Race ...............................................................................................38 2.1.2. Hangman ..................................................................................................38 2.1.3. Pictionary..................................................................................................39 2.1.4. Hot seat .....................................................................................................39 2.1.5. Chain game ...............................................................................................40 2.1.6. Noughts and Crosses ................................................................................41 2.1.7. Lucky numbers .........................................................................................42 2.1.8. Slap the board ...........................................................................................43 2.1.9. Network ....................................................................................................43 2.1.10. Pass the ball ............................................................................................44 2.2. Other activities for warm-up .......................................................................44 2.2.1. Songs ........................................................................................................44 2.2.2. Discussion ................................................................................................45 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................46 vi LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Situation of learning reading inUongBihighschool .......................27 Table 1.2: How warm-up activities motivate students in reading lessons ......29 Table 1.3: The situation of teaching to develop students’ reading skillsin a high school ......................................................................................................31 vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study English has been considered to be an integral subject for students from Primary school system to University system. In fact, there are a lot of parents who orient their children need to learn English at age of three. Furthermore, English clubs and English centers are developed over provinces in Vietnam. This means that English is being more and more appreciated. However, how do learners find out the most effective method to teach and learn English? It is concerned by a great deal of teacher, parents and students. How to teach four basic language skills such as speaking, listening, reading and writing is thoughtful consideration. Of these four skills, reading skills are paid attention by numerous students; however, to start a lesson that makes students feel contented is not straightforward. Besides, how to motivate students in the warm-up activities is the anxiety of many teachers. Warm-up activities in language classes have been a prominent topic in methodology. In fact, this is the beginning of a lesson and has a great impact on the classroom, excitement and efficiency of the class. Recognizing this fact and the importance of this aspect, the thesis title “The of warm-up activities in motivating the 11th grade students at Uong Bi high school to develop their reading skills” was conducted with the hope of contributing to some extent to the teaching method and providing some informative knowledge. Reading skills are a weighty skill at high schools because reading comprehension is always appeared in midterm exams, semester exams, and entrance exams. However, it is also a complicated skill. Many students feel that learning reading skills is intricate and tiresome. Motivating students has a positive impact on learning because they take an advantage of a given opportunity and show intense effort and concentration in the implementation 1 of learning process. So how to motivate students to learn reading skills better is an aspect that teachers need to concern about. To make an English teaching period effectively, the teacher has to create the learning environment to motivate students from the beginning. There are numerous ways to motivate of students in reading lesson and warm-up activities as one of the most effective ways. An effective warm-up can also be a high-quality way which helps students to feel more excited with a reading lesson. Based on the consideration above, the present study tries to investigate the warm-up activities in motivating the 11th grade students to develop their reading skills. 2. Aims of the study The study was conducted with the aims to: - Improve reading skills of high school students - Motivate students to participate in warm-up reading activities. 3. Research questions The following research questions were investigated in the study: 1. How does the use of warm up activities increase the level of high school students’ motivation for reading in English? 2. How does the use of warm up activities improve high school students’ reading comprehension in English? 4. The scope of the study There are various warm-up activities to apply for reading lessons. That is why the researcher cannot cover all the knowledge related to the topic. However, the most important items about reading skills and warm-up activities to motivate students are mentioned in this study. 2 Due to limit of the thesis, only one high school was chosen as the research setting. This study included warm-up activities used in teaching and learning reading skills in 11thgrade. 5. Significance of the study The findings of the study contributed a number of strong points to students, teachers, and researchers of the related fields. First of all, teachers received benefits from the information the research provides. Teachers would have an overview look at the benefits of warm-up activities. Secondly, the study was also significant for the students. It was expected that the students could learn reading skills more effectively. Finally, the study could give contribution to other researchers as references in conducting further researches. 6. Method of the study: The researcher decided to use quantitative method because the main content of this study would be based on the data collected from questionnaires to collect, analyze and tabulate the data. However, quantitative method alone is not reliable and valid enough to have strong evidence for the study. The adoption of both quantitative and qualitative methods would help the researcher collect the most precise and pertinent information for the study. This study followed method steps below: (1) Prepare questionnaires for teachers and students; (2) Collect data from questionnaires to analyze tabulate the data; (3) Attend teachers who teach reading skills with different warm-up activities; (4) Observe students' attitudes, classroom atmosphere, the things that students can improve after lessons with warm-up activities. 7. Design of the study This minor thesis is divided into three parts: 3 Part A with the title “INTRODUCTION”. This part provides information about the reason for choosing the study, the aims, the scopes, method and the design of the study. Part B with the title “DEVELOPMENT” includes three parts: Chapter 1 is “LITERATURE REVIEW”, which provides all information related to the study. Chapter 2 discusses “METHODOLOGY”, which studies subjects and methods of study as well as the analysis of data collected. Chapter 3 is about “RESULTS AND DISCUSSION”, which results from the investigation of the factual situation in teaching and learning reading and the use of warm-up activities to motivate the 11th grade students at Uong Bi high school. PART C is “CONCLUSION” which gives an overview on the achievement of the thesis and suggests warm-up activities for reading class in high school. 4 PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1. Theoretical background of reading 1.1.1. What is “reading”? There are voluminous definitions of reading. In language teaching, we talk about four language skills such as reading, listening, speaking and writing. Concerning the definition of reading, in 2016, Hansen wrote “Reading is basic to all learning, both in learning in general and in acquisition of languages. Society is highly dependent on knowledge and information. It is vital to be able to navigate in these sources and search out what is needed. This requires multiple skills, as the ability to navigate in the text overflow, to read multimedially, digitally, and inter textually, in addition to the mere comprehension of the written text and its words, phrases, structure, and genres. In a knowledge society it is necessary to acquire the ability to understand, integrate, and combine information from multiple sources”. Meanwhile, Schoenbach (1999, p.147) stated that “Reading isn’t just a basic skill. Numerous people think of reading as a skill that is taught once and for all in the first few years of school. In this view of reading the credit for students’ reading ability goes to primary grade teachers, and upper elementary and secondary teachers at each grade level need teach only new vocabularies and concepts relevant to new content. Seen this way, reading is a simple process: readers decode each word in a text and then automatically comprehend the meaning of the words, as they do with their everyday spoken language. This is not our understanding of reading.” Consequently, on website https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-isreading-definition-process.html, Ravinder defined that “Reading is a cognitive process that involves decoding symbols to arrive at meaning. Reading is an 5 active process of constructing meanings of words. Reading with a purpose helps the reader to direct information towards a goal and focuses their attention. Notwithstanding the reasons for reading may vary, the primary purpose of reading is to understand the text. Reading is a thinking process. It allows the reader to use what he or she may already know, also called prior knowledge. During this processing of information, the reader uses strategies to understand what they are reading, uses themes to organize ideas, and uses textual clues to find the meanings of new words. Each of the three components of reading is equally important.” Besides, according to Halim (2006), “Reading is a receptive language process. It is the process of recognition, interpretation, and perception of written or printed materials. Reading proficiency plays a great role in understanding a written statement accurately and efficiently. Reading serves as an important tool in every field of professional service.” In conclusion, reading is believed to be one of the most challenging skills and should be paid more attention in both learning and teaching. This research seems to be coincided with viewpoint of Abdul Halim on reading. 1.1.2. What is “teaching reading”? Indeed, the teaching of reading has been an essential part of learning a language ever since foreign language began to be taught (Kelly, 1969). Jiao (2007) discusses that reading teaching becomes teaching of language points known as grammar and vocabulary. This kind of English reading teaching to a great extent hinders EFL students’ language proficiency. According to Grelllet (2001), reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes. Reading is an activity that involves greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader. 1.1.3. The importance of reading Cotter (2009) states that “Because it's the first activity of the lesson, 6 the warm-up activities set the tone for the next ninety minutes. An activity that students find too difficult, or even confusing, results in a class of disinterested zombies. Similarly, a writing-based activity won't get the students communicating. This then translates into a quiet class session in which you have to prod and push the students to volunteer examples or simple answers. Fun warm up, on the other hand, raises energy levels. Fun activities also produce relaxed, less inhibited students. With the right warm up, you'll have created a positive atmosphere to practice and experiment with the language.” On website https://busyteacher.org/7610-why-you-should-always- start-with-a-warmer.html, according to Andrei Zakhareusk, a lesson which is started with a warm-up activity is important for a number of reasons. The students “need a chance to settle down into the class and get their minds focused on the lesson ahead. Delving straight into difficult subject matter isn’t going to help them in the least bit.” He also defines that a warm up lesson sets the tone for what is to take place during the class. This is a great idea for many reasons. Students have some idea of what to expect, and the topic can easily be introduced to them. For example, if one is teaching a business class about imports and exports, one will have a warm-up exercise where the students can test their own knowledge of related vocabulary. They are allowed to “start off in a single train of thought in order to keep them on track for the remainder of the class.” 1.2. Warm-up activities in teaching and learning 1.2.1. What is “warm-up”? In the classroom, warmers are not isolated activities but can serve to introduce a topic or to recycle some previously learnt language in an enjoyable way. That means that students are not only reminded of what they have learned but also have a general view of what they will learn. 7 On website http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi- bin/lessons/index.pl?read=5042, LeBlanc shows that there is also a close-up view of warm up activity. “A warm-up activity is the perfect time to review language skills presented in the previous English lesson. Some students will have mastered these skills since the last session and will be proud to show them off, and others will be happy to have the chance to review material they are not completely comfortable with yet. Reviewing the material in a warm-up activity that is different from the one you used to practice the English language skill in the last lesson will also give your students the opportunity to hear and use the material in a new way before moving on to the next lesson.” In the classroom, warmers are not core activities but can apply to introduce a topic or to reuse some reuse vocabularies which are learned in previous lessons in an enjoyable way. That means that students are not only reminded of what they have learned but also have a general view of what they will learn. According to Robertson & Acklam (2000), “warm up is a short activity for the beginning of lesson” (p.30). Warm-up activities are actually used in the first part of a lesson. These activities make the classes’ atmosphere more vividly and help students act or express their knowledge, their feeling in a comfortable state without evaluating their abilities. So, students do not have to worry about their marks, their understandings of various fields. Lassche (2005) defines that for language learning lesson a warm-up stage is the “initial orientation” (p. 83). An initial orientation is really important to a new lesson. The first orientation helps students remember vaguely about topics. According to Lam (2005) in her mater thesis “Warm up activities for speaking class in high school”, she states that warm-up activity is a kind of short activities which is used to break the “ice” in classroom and make it “hot” from the beginning of each period of language class. They are short, simple and interesting enough to motivate students to learn a foreign language better. In 8 addition, a warmer is an activity at the start of the class to warm up the learners. They tend to be short, dynamic activities. Warmers can be compared to coolers, which are short activities to finish the class. 1.2.2. The importance of warm-up activities Allwright (1984) states that warm up activities are designed to attract students’ attention, to help them put aside distracting thoughts, and to get them ready to focus individually and as groups on whatever activities that follow. Additionally, on Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English (2009), warm-up is defined as “a period or act of preparation for a game performance or exercise session, involving gentle exercise or practice.” In The Oxford Advanced Learners’ Dictionary 8th Edition, warm-up is “a short practice or a series of gentle exercises that you do to prepare yourself for doing a particular sport or activity.” In fact, students always feel distracted, unoccupied or lack of discussion in new lesson after a short break. So, warm-up activities not only help students balance their emotion, but also help them lead to the lesson in an interesting way. Besides, warm-up activities contain the meaning of the topics that they are learning in order that they have a general view in reading lessons’ content. According to García and Martín (2004), one of the objectives of using warm up activity is to activate students’ background knowledge. Teachers need to understand what students already know about the topic they are going to teach and they need to connect the topic with the students’ present understanding. García and Martín (2004) also mention from the methodological point of view that we can assume warm-up as a ship that takes the learners for a journey from known to unknown as an attempt to activate their potential and passive vocabulary (p. 17). It means that the warm-up activities can help teachers to check their students’ understanding about reading topics. This is also a good way for teachers to orient new things in a reading lesson. 1.3. Motivation 1.3.1. Definition 9 “Motivation is typically defined as the forces that account for thearousal, selection, direction and continuation of behavior.” (Biehler& Snowman, 1997). Mitsalina (2015, p.33) claimed motivation as interest in and enthusiasm for the material used in class; persistence with the learning task, as indicated by the levels of attention or action for an extended duration; and levels of concentration and enjoyment.” “Motivation is one of the important factors that influence English learning achievement. Motivation is one of the keys to successful language learning. Maintaining a high level of motivation during a period of language learning is one of the best ways to make the whole process more successful” (Cáceres, p.7). Therefore, in order to help the students to maintain a proper strength in English learning motivation is very necessary for the teachers in the daily teaching procedure. 1.3.2. Using games to motivate students in warm-up activities Language learning is hard work “ Effort is required at every moment and must be maintained over a long period of time. Games help and encourage several learners to sustain their interest and work. Games also support the teacher to create contexts which the language is serviceable and meaningful. The learners would like to take part and in order to do so must understand what others are saying or have written, and they must speak or write in order to express their own point of view or give information.” (Cáceres, 2010). 1.3.2.1. Definition of game A game is an activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun. Games should be regarded as an integral part of the language. Games can be used at “all stages of the progression from controlled to free practice, serving at one end of the range as a memory aid and repetition drill, at the other as a chance to used the language freely and as a means to an end rather than an end in itself. They 10 can also serve as a diagnostic tool for teacher, who can note areas of difficulty and take appropriate remedial action.” (Haldfield, 1999). “The term ‘game’ is used whenever there is an element of competition between individual students or teams in a language activity.” Greenall (1990) As definition of game mentioned by Caillois (1957), there are some notable characteristics as follows: fun: the activity is chosen for its light-hearted character separate: it is circumscribed in time and place uncertain: the outcome of the activity is unforeseeable non-productive: participation is not productive governed by rules: the activity has rules that are different from everyday life fictitious: it is accompanied by the awareness of a different reality” In summary, games can be seen as a popular activity which is used to warm-up a reading lesson. Almost all teachers apply games to start a study. This proves that games have a tremendous impact on teaching. However, the researcher also found that other forms of warm-up were limited. 1.3.2.2. Games motivate learner The main reason why games are considered as “effective learning aids is that they spur motivation and students get very absorbed in the competitive aspects of the games; moreover, they try harder at games than in other courses.” (Avedon & Sutton-Smith, 1971) As Jacobs & Liu (1996) declares that many games can be played in pairs or in small groups, thereby providing a venue for students to develop their skills in working with others such as the skill of disagreeing politely and the skill of asking for help.” In most games, students must play in groups, where everyone has an opportunity, encouraging everyone to play turn-based games rather than letting someone else do all or join the game from the beginning until the end. 11 According to Duong (2008), 90% of his students confided that they could remember new words faster and better due to the relaxed atmosphere created by playing games. This is doubly reinforced by the same sentiment that “students tend to learn better, when it is applied in a relaxed environment like playing games. In fact it has been proved that an interested and involved class, learning through several fun-filled English language games takes in 100% of the lesson and retains 80% of it.” The meaning of the language students listen to, read, speak and write will experience more vivid in a game; therefore, they will better remember the language they learnt. (Huyen and Nga, 2003). Further support comes from Zdybiewska(1994: 6): “ games are a good way of practicing language, for they provide a model of what learners will use the language for in real life in the future exercises that practice and utilize the new language have been completed, games can then be introduced as yet another means for enabling greater comprehension.” As strongly emphasized above, games can motivate learners, promote learners’ interaction, and improve learners’ acquisition. As a result, games can increase students’ achievement, learners’ test scores, ability to communicate, some skills, vocabulary knowledge or other language skills can improve. The advantage of games in improving learners’ achievement was emphasized by Riedel (2008), we are teaching a new generation of students, which requires unconventional teaching strategies were put into practice in the classroom. And when schools use the games, the student benefits speak for themselves - a greater desire to learn and higher test scores. In short, games prove to be a useful tool used frequently in language teaching. The game not only provides the learner with a highly motivated, relaxed, practically meaningful classroom with all the language skills. Therefore, games can motivate learners, promote learner interaction, improve learning, and increase their performance. 1.4. Reading motivation 12 1.4.1. Organismic Theories of Motivation Organismic theory has many forms, but some basic assumptions allow us to describe them in a positive way. Biological approaches tend to be primarily mechanistic by focusing on the role of cognitive and effective processes as determinants of behavior. For example, according to Deci (1975), humans’ thoughts and feelings determine the lawful and ordered way they act on their environment. In addition, the emphasis here is on the factors that are illegally defined and ordered to occur within the body as opposed to mechanics’ focus on external factors. Thus, the advice concerning classroom motivation derived from organismic theories exhorts teachers to focus on the inherent motivations of children. For instance, White (1959) has proposed that motivation is an expression of an inborn need to be effective or competent. Students have been oriented how to find new information as well as make sense of what they know in order to seek more. According to Maslow (1943), he claimed that a motivation theorist and psychologist, proposed a theory of motivation founded on human needs. Maslow developed a hierarchy of needs consisting of the following five levels: physiological, safety, love and belonging, self-esteem, and selfactualization. He viewed these needs in a prepotency fashion where one need essentially occupies an individual’s attention until satisfied. After a need is adequately satisfied, the next prepotents need arises. While the concern of this article is on increasing cognitive abilities, which are in the self-actualization stage, the interdependency of all human needs will not and should not be ignored. Reading is not just a mechanical tool to be learned, it is an intricate part of the entire person; affected by his or her needs, attitudes, self-concept, and emotions. 1.4.2. Relating motivation to read and emergent reading skills: A measurement validation study 1.4.2.1. Relating motivation to read 13