MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING QUY NHON UNIVERSITY NGUYEN PHUONG NGAN EFFECTS OF SCHEMA-BASED ACTIVITIES ON EFL LEARNERS’ READING COMPREHENSION Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 8140111 Supervisor: Assoc. Nguyen Quang Ngoan Binh Dinh - 2022 BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUY NHƠN NGUYỄN PHƯƠNG NGÂN ẢNH HƯỞNG CỦA CÁC HOẠT ĐỘNG HOẠT HÓA KIẾN THỨC NỀN ĐỐI VỚI KHẢ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CỦA NGƯỜI HỌC TIẾNG ANH Ngành: Lý luận và phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh Mã số: 8140111 Người hướng dẫn: PGS. Nguyễn Quang Ngoạn Bình Định - 2022 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I declare that the information reported in this study is the result of my own work and effort, except where due reference is made. The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently submitted to any candidature for any degree or diploma.
Binh Dinh, August 2022 Nguyen Phuong Ngan ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the process of doing this thesis, I have received invaluable support, precious ideas and timely encouragements from my supervisor, family and friends. This paper could not have been successfully completed without their helps, encouragement and contributions. I take this chance to appreciate them for their expert advice and wise comments and generous time. First and foremost, I am grateful to my supervisor, Assos.
Nguyen Quang Ngoan, for his amazing supervision. His outstanding knowledge, professional teaching-related expertise, kind support and continuous assistances went through the process of doing this thesis. His encouragement and comment had significantly enriched and improved my work. I appreciate his accommodating guidelines and suggestions, great patience, and strong management skills in helping me resolve obstacles when I carried out my thesis.
I feel fortunate to have had him support my work. This study was made achievable by the presence of the enthusiastic students at Au Viet Center in Khanh Hoa Province, who devoted their time taking part in this research. I am also thankful to my colleagues for their fascinating assistance, support and management during the pilot phase. Last but not least, a special thank is given to my beloved parents and sister for their encouragement and support throughout thesis education.
iii ABSTRACT Reading comprehension is one of four important skills in learning any languages. However, many learners still have difficulties in improving their reading comprehension. This research aims at investigating the effects of schema-based activities on EFL learners’ reading comprehension. The research employed a quasi-experimental method in a mixed-method design with the participation of 80 EFL tenth-grade learners in an English center in Khanh Hoa Province.
These participants were divided into 2 groups: control group and experimental group. Three research instruments were two reading comprehension tests, a questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. The findings showed that schema-based activities have positive effects on learners’ reading comprehension such as increasing reading speed, motivating interests, providing real-world knowledge and specific purposes before reading, and so on. Keywords: schema activation, schema-based activities, reading comprehension iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.
iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES. viii LIST OF FIGURES. x LIST OF ABBRREVIATIONS.
Aim and objectives of the study. Significance of the study. Scope of the study. Definitions of terms.
Structure of the thesis. Reading comprehension approaches. Reading comprehension teaching and learning. The importance of English language reading.
Reading testing and assessment. Types of schemas. Schema-based activities and reading comprehension. The effects of schema-based activities on reading comprehension.
Pedagogical implication of schema-based activities in reading comprehension. Related studies on applying schema activation to teach L2 reading comprehension. Research aim and hypotheses. Material and time frame.
Material and lesson plan. Reading comprehension tests. The semi-structured interview. Data collection procedure.
Validity and reliability. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Students’ achievement in reading comprehension between the control group and experimental group before and after the intervention. Students’ achievement in reading comprehension between the two groups before the intervention.
Students’ achievement in reading comprehension between the two groups after the intervention. Students’ achievement in reading comprehension within the experimental group before and after the intervention. Students’ reading comprehension difference between the pre-test and post-test. Students’ reading comprehension detailed score in the pre-test and post-test.
Students’ performance in each part of the reading comprehension tests. Students’ attitudes towards the use of schema-based activities in learning reading comprehension. Students’ time of practicing reading comprehension outside the class. Students’ preferences for each activity.
Students’ attitudes towards the use of schema-based activities in learning reading comprehension. Differences in male and female students’ attitudes towards the use of schema-based activities in leaning reading comprehension. Students’ understanding of using schema-based activities in learning English reading comprehension - its benefits, challenges and suggestions57 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS.
Summary of the findings. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further studies. 76 viii LIST OF TABLES Table 3.
Background of the participants. General lesson plans for teaching two groups. Reading comprehension tests format. Reliability of the pre-test and post-test of the two groups.
Students’ achievement in reading comprehension between the control and experimental group before the intervention. Difference in the pre-test between the two groups. Students’ achievement in reading comprehension between the control and experimental group after the intervention. Difference in the post-test between the two groups.
Difference between the pre-test and post-test within the experimental group. Mean score of each part of the pre-test. Mean score of each part of the post-test. Reliability of all items in the questionnaire.
Time students spent practicing reading comprehension outside class. Students’ preferences for schema-based activities. Mean score of students’ preferences for each schema-based activity. Overall mean score of students’ attitudes towards the use of schema-based activities in learning reading comprehension.
Students’ overall affective attitudes towards the use of schema- based activities in learning reading comprehension. Students’ positive affective attitudes towards the use of schema- based activities in learning reading comprehension. Students’ detailed affective attitudes towards the use of schema- based activities in learning reading comprehension. Students’ cognitive attitudes towards the use of schema-based activities in learning reading comprehension.
Students’ positive cognitive attitudes towards the use of schema- based activities in learning reading comprehension. Students’ detailed cognitive attitudes towards the use of schema- based activities in learning reading comprehension. Mean score of male and female students’ attitudes towards the use of schema-based activities in learning reading comprehension. Difference between male and female learners’ attitudes towards the use of schema-based activities in learning reading comprehension.
56 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4. Summary of participants’ reading comprehension before and after the intervention. Detailed score in the pre-test of the participants in the experimental group. Detailed score in the post-test of the participants in the experimental group.
42 xi LIST OF ABBRREVIATIONS ELF: English as a Foreign Language ESL: English as a Second Language MOET: Ministry of Education and Training L2: second language 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION This chapter gives the introduction for the current study. It includes seven parts: rationale, aim and objectives, research questions, significance, scope, definitions of terms, and structure of the thesis. Rationale The field of second and foreign language reading has been revitalized in the past few years since our understanding of the nature of the reading process.
According to Carrel (1988, p. 1), for many students, reading is by far the most important skill of the four in L2, especially in ESL or EFL. Students need reading comprehension to successfully accomplish the educational goals and expectations, which are required in the classroom settings. Furthermore, reading has a great function in opening up the horizon of knowledge as well as vocabulary used every day, which can contribute to other aspects of learning languages.
Mikulecky and Jeffries (1996, p. 14) state that comprehension is part of our lives, it makes sense of arriving new information and connecting these ideas to what he/she already knows. Since reading is a process which happens among readers’ existing knowledge and ability to understand working information, it becomes important to make learners ready preceding the reading tasks. Therefore, an effective method that has been introduced to activate students’ knowledge during pre-reading stage is using schema-based activities.
The theory claims that people need to combine their own background knowledge with new information in a text to comprehend it (Adams & Collins, 1977, p. Since this process involves individual experience, it succeeds in attracting students in reading and thus benefits them in motivating their interests, increasing their reading speed, and making proper reading judgments. 2 With the context of integration and globalization in Vietnam, training and improving English proficiency seems to be a top priority. However, English language teaching in Vietnam has not yet achieved impressive success as our desire due to several troublesome challenges.
One of these problems is students’ ability in reading comprehension. In fact, reading materials containing various of vocabulary and unfamiliar topics that can make students confused and demotivated as they are unable to understand (Ha, 2021). In addition, many teachers may ignore the impact of their learners’ background and its role in comprehension. As a result, most students are not aware of what they are going to read about, what they are going to do with the tasks, and so on.
The problem is that few studies have been conducted on the field of using schema-based activities for language teaching and learning reading comprehension in Vietnam. Consequently, to fill this literature gap, this present study aims to shed light on the implication of schema-based activities in teaching reading comprehension and its effects on EFL learners. The study also finds out the students’ perceptions of using schema-based activities in learning reading comprehension. Aim and objectives of the study This study aims to examine the effects of schema-based activities on EFL learners’ reading comprehension.
The detailed objectives are: • to test the effects of schema-based activities on EFL learners’ reading comprehension 3 • to investigate the EFL learners’ perceptions of using schema-based activities in learning reading 1. Research questions In order to achieve the above objectives, the following questions are proposed: 1. To what extent does the use of schema-based activities affect EFL learners’ achievement in reading comprehension? 2. What are the EFL learners’ attitudes towards the use of schema-based activities in learning reading? 1.
Significance of the study Although there are several studies about the schema activation in language teaching that have been proved, few are conducted in Vietnam, especially in Khanh Hoa Province. Thus, it is essential to conduct this research because of the following reasons. Theoretically, the findings of the study may provide a basis for future researchers based on the use of schema theory. It can also help teachers to have a clearer understanding of the nature and effects of schema on students’ reading comprehension.
Practically, based on the results, teachers probably make decisions about using the schema-based activities in teaching rather than the traditional bottom- up activities to engage their learners in. Moreover, learners may incorporate more of these schema-based activities into their self-study habits. Finally, if there is a connection between students’ reading comprehension and schemas, materials developers can include more schema-based activities in their course 4 books to encourage teachers and students to pay more attention to such activities. Scope of the study Due to the limited time, ability and research conditions, the scope of this study is confined in a population of 80 grade 10th students from two intact classes at a language center in Khanh Hoa Province.
Therefore, the study’s generalization would be limited, and the results may not be representative of a larger same of all EFL students in Khanh Hoa Province. Definitions of terms - reading comprehension: reading comprehension can be briefly as “the process of making meaning from text” (Wolley, 2011, p.
