THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHAM THI LAN USING BLENDED LEARNING TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS FOR 10th GRADERS IN A HIGH SCHOOL IN THAI BINH PROVINCE MASTER THESIS THAI NGUYEN, JUNE 2023 THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES PHAM THI LAN USING BLENDED LEARNING TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS FOR 10th GRADERS IN A HIGH SCHOOL IN THAI BINH PROVINCE Major: ENLISH TEACHING THEORIES AND METHODOLOGIES Code: 8140111 MASTER THESIS Supervisor: Nguyen Thi Hong Minh PhD. THAI NGUYEN, JUNE 2023 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgements in the thesis. This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution.
Thai Nguyen, April 2023 Pham Thi Lan ii ACKNOWLEDGMENT First and foremost, I would like to thank Thai Nguyen University of Education and Faculty of Foreign Languages Education for their insights and guidance, which were crucial in shaping my research and enabling me to write this thesis. I owe my deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Minh, who has provided me with unwavering support and guidance throughout my master's program. Her knowledge and perseverance have been indispensable to me in the completion of this thesis.
I also want to thank the school where I conducted the study and all participants for facilitating favorable conditions for me to finish the project. I am extremely grateful to my family and friends for their love and support throughout this process. I would not have been able to complete this thesis without their encouragement and inspiration. iii ABSTRACT The current study investigated the use of blended learning in improving reading comprehension skills for 10th in a high school in Thai Binh province.
The objectives of the study include the study identifying the challenges that 10th-grade students face with reading comprehension, clarifying the extent to which blended learning improves students' reading comprehension, and determining students' opinions of the use of blended learning in the teaching and learning of English reading comprehension. The research participants were sixty 10th-grade students and four high school English teachers in Thai Binh province. The study used an experimental design to answer the following research questions: 1. How is blended learning employed in English teaching in a high school in Thai Binh province? - 2.
To what extent does blended learning improve students' reading comprehension? - 3. What are students' opinions of the use of blended learning in teaching and learning English reading comprehension? Data from the questionnaires show that blended learning was not used with high frequency. The difference of 1.4 between the pre- test and the post-test of the experimental group and the deviation of 0.76 between the experimental and control group’s post-test results proves that blended learning is effective in improving students' reading comprehension. Keywords: blended learning, reading, reading comprehension iv TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.
iii LIST OF FIGURES. vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. viii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION. Aims and objectives.
Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Organization of the study. 27 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
Data collection instruments. 41 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS. The situation of blended learning in English teaching at the selected high school in Thai Binh Province. The situation of blended learning in English teaching from teachers’ perspectives.
The situation of blended learning in English teaching from students’ perspectives. The impact of blended learning on students' improvement in reading comprehension. Students’ opinions of the use of blended learning in teaching and learning English reading comprehension. Students’ attitudes toward the use of blended learning in teaching and learning English reading comprehension.
Students’ opinions on how blended learning improved their reading comprehension skills. Research question 1: How is blended learning employed in English teaching in a high school in Thai Binh province?. Research question 2: To what extent does blended learning improve students' reading comprehension?. Research question 3: What are students' opinions of the use of blended learning in teaching and learning English reading comprehension? .54 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.
Summary of the research findings. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS. PRE-QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS. POST-QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS.
EVIDENCES OF BLENDED LEARNING IMPLEMENTATION. 88 vi LIST OF TABLES Name of tables Page Table 2. Ideas of how to interact with texts (British Council) 13 Table 2. Three models of blended learning (Hannon & Macken, 17 2014) Table 3.
The demographic information of the teachers 36 Table 3. Cronbach’s Alpha Value (Konting et al. Scale reliability of the questionnaire items 38 Table 3. Implementation Plan 40 Table 4.
Statistics of Teacher’s Questionnaire Items 43 Table 4.2: Students’ Pre-Questionnaire Item Statistics 45 Table 4. Experimental Group’s Test Statistics 47 Table 4. A Result Comparison between Pretest and Posttest of Both 47 Groups Table 4. A Result Comparison between tests average results of 48 experimental and control groups Table 4.
Post-Questionnaire Item Statistics (Q1-14) 49 Table 4. Post-Questionnaire Item Statistics (Q15-23) 51 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2. The classroom reading performance. Three levels to apply the blended learning teaching 15 model by Le (2018) Figure 3.
The framework of experimental design (Kilicaslan 35 & Vural, 2018) viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations Meaning BL Blended Learning CALL Computer-Assisted Language Learning EAP English for Academic Purposes EFL English as a foreign language ESL English as a second language ESP English for Specific Purposes FAQs Frequently asked questions LAN Local area network LMS Learning Management System ICALL intelligent CALL IT Information technology SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Science M Mean score SD Standard Deviation N Number UIS The UNESCO Institute for Statistics UNESCO United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization 1 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION This chapter discusses the reason for choosing the topic, the aims and objectives, the research questions, the scope, the significance, and the organization of the study. Rationale Reading comprehension is one of the four most important skills in English. Without comprehension, people won't be able to understand anything from what they read. By understanding what they read, they gather important information and understand scientific theories, historical facts, and new knowledge (Courtney, 2017).
For students, reading comprehension is equally important as it will be a skill that allows them to form thinking when learning a language. Unique to humans, reading abilities serve as the primary means of communication in daily life. These abilities are crucial for the advancement of science as well (Iskandarwassid & Sunendar, 2011; Danče, 2010). Reading abilities, on the other hand, become special because not everyone can utilize them to sell themselves or internalize them as a culture.
It should come as no surprise that reading comprehension serves as the primary communication instrument and develops into an effective and efficient channel of communication. Reading also contributes significantly to the advancement of science, as reading accounts for the majority of knowledge transfer (Salaberry, 2001). Recent studies have demonstrated that reading comprehension will enable a person to think coherently. However, students are facing a lot of problems in learning reading (Hanh & Cuong, 2017).
To meet the requirements of improving the quality of these skills, each school and teacher needs to find for themselves an optimal and most appropriate teaching method. The application of new methods in teaching is always a priority. The education sector also always encourages innovations in teaching methods, practical applications for teaching, or improvement of teaching aids, etc. 2 Many teachers have successfully integrated technology into language instruction and learning in a morally upstanding manner (Whittaker, 2014), but there are many different types of specific technology available, and specific decisions about which technology is appropriate must be made depending on the particulars of a learning environment.
In recent years, Blended Learning has gained popularity as an educational approach that combines interactive, online educational materials with traditional place-based learning methods. The incorporation of technology presents a challenging scenario in blended learning contexts. The combination of in-person and online instruction for language learning courses, particularly receptive skills like reading skills, is an efficient strategy to build the abilities necessary for higher proficiency in English, according to Bataineh and Mayyas (2017). In the school where the researcher works, the application of Blended Learning to teaching reading comprehension is not carried out regularly among teachers.
Therefore, this study has attempted to provide an extended learning environment beyond traditional school setting to help increase students’ reading comprehension skills. Aims and objectives The study aimed at improving reading comprehension skills for 10th graders in a high school in Thai Binh province through the use of blended learning. It investigated how blended learning was employed in English teaching in that selected school. Moreover, it sought to clarify the extent to which blended learning improves students' reading comprehension.
Finally, it determined students' opinions of the use of blended learning in the teaching and learning of English reading comprehension. Research questions In order to obtain the research aims and objectives, the study attempted to answer the following specific research questions: (i) How is blended learning employed in English teaching in a high school in Thai Binh province? 3 (ii) To what extent does blended learning improve students' reading comprehension? (iii) What are students' opinions of the use of blended learning in teaching and learning English reading comprehension? 1. Scope of the study Although reading comprehension is a challenging skill for almost all English learners, the study was able to focus on 60 10th-grade high school students only during the second semester to the limitations of time and resources. There are three levels of blended-learning but the study only studied at level 2.
Significance of the study For educational institutions, this study is a stepping stone in studying the Blended learning method when applied to teaching English in Vietnam. This is also a measure of assessing the foreign language reading comprehension ability of high school students in particular as well as students in general, thereby giving specific comments and effective teaching methods for blended learning. For teachers, the study provided a useful alternative to teaching English in general and to teaching reading comprehension in particular. Students also benefited from a better way to practice and improve their reading comprehension skills.
For further researchers, the study supplied a helpful insight into the area and could be used as a helpful source of reference. Organization of the study The research paper consists of 5 parts as follows. Chapter 1 discusses the reason for choosing the topic as well as the urgency and basic contents of the research will be presented. Chapter 2 presents the overview of the research and the theoretical basis of the blended learning method.
Chapter 3 deals with the research model based on the questions raised by the research. Chapter 4 covers the results and discussions about the topic. Chapter 5 serves as a conclusion to the issues discussed by the study. 4 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter presents the theoretical background and literature review regarding reading and blended learning.
It also discusses previous research related to the topic of the study. Definitions of reading comprehension According to Chad (2008), reading comprehension is the capacity to extract information from texts in order to fully understand the content to make the readers read the entire paragraph so as to learn the secret information. However, comprehension is a highly sophisticated cognitive process that involves the reader's deliberate interaction with the text in order to produce meaning. In other words, understanding involves work and does not just happen.
For readers to derive meaning from what they read, they must deliberately and diligently work at it.