i MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY --------------- THESIS IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH CONTEXT CLUES STRATEGY FOR THE ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS AT VO THI SAU HIGH SCHOOL Submitted to the Postgraduate Institute in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL Course code: 8140111 By Vu Ngoc Lanh Supervised by Nguyen Xuan Hong, Ph. Ba Ria-Vung Tau, 2023 ii TABLE OF CONTENT STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY. xi LIST OF TABLES .xii LIST OF FIGURES. xiv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION.
Background to the study. Statement of the problem. The aims of the study. Research questions of the study.
Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Organization of the study. 7 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Reading comprehension skill. Definition of reading. Definition of reading skills. Definition of reading comprehension.
Definition of Context Clue Strategy. The aspects of “Context Clues Strategy”. Definitions and Characteristics of “Context Clues Strategy”. Types of “Context Clues Strategy”.
The positive and negative effects of “Context Clues Strategy” in reading class. 22 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Aims and research questions. Research design and participants.
Data collection instruments. The pre-test and the post-test. Data collection procedures. Data analysis procedures.
Reliability and validity of the study. 35 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS. The types of Context Clues Strategy that teachers and students use. The students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards the use of Context Clues Strategy.
The effectiveness of Context Clues Strategy on improving 11th-grade grade students’ reading comprehension at Vo Thi Sau High School. 51 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Summary of the main findings of the study. The types of Context Clues Strategy teachers and students use.
The attitudes of teachers and students towards the use of Context Clues Strategy. The effectiveness of Context Clues Strategy on improving students’ reading comprehension skill. Implications of the study. Limitations of the study.
Recommendations for further studies. 55 v The thesis entitled IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH CONTEXT CLUES STRATEGY FOR THE ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS AT VO THI SAU HIGH SCHOOL was successfully defended and approved on ………………. at Ba Ria – Vung Tau University. Academic Supervisor: Nguyen Xuan Hong, Ph.
Secretary Member On behalf of the Examination Committee Chair (full name, title, signature) vi BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE & HUMAN RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT Ba Ria - Vung Tau, September 2023 MASTER’S THESIS REPORT Student name: Vu Ngoc Lanh Sex: Female Date of birth: 09/ 12 /1985 Place of birth: Nam Dinh Province Major: English Language Student code: 21110026 I- Thesis title: IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH CONTEXT CLUES STRATEGY FOR THE ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS AT VO THI SAU HIGH SCHOOL II- Objectives and contents: This study aims at investigating the teaching and learning of reading comprehension through Context Clues Strategy for grade 11 students at Vo Thi Sau High School in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province. The objectives of this study are as follows: - To investigate teaching and studying of reading comprehension skill of the eleventh-grade students at Vo Thi Sau High School; - To find out what Context Clues Strategy teachers and students at Vo Thi Sau High School use during learning reading comprehension skill; - To explore the attitude of teachers and students at Vo Thi Sau High School to Context Clues Strategy used during learning reading comprehension skill. - To check whether Context Clues Strategy use can help to improve reading comprehension skill of students at Vo Thi Sau High School. vii - To suggest solutions to employ Context Clues Strategy successfully and effectively for teachers and students at Vo Thi Sau High School while learning reading comprehension skill.
This study was conducted at Vo Thi Sau High School, Ba Ria – Vung Tau province. The participants were 150 EFL (English as a Foreign Language) high school students who were in grade 11. In the hope of gaining the results, the researcher applied the mixed method: quantitative and qualitative, three instruments were put in use: a questionnaire, a semi-structured interview, and tests (pre-test, post- test) to obtain the data. III- Starting date: (as stated in the Decision issued by the University) IV- Completing date:.
V- Academic supervisor: NGUYEN XUAN HONG, Ph. ACADEMIC SUPERVISOR SCHOOL HEAD ((full name, signature) ((full name, signature) viii STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: “IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH CONTEXT CLUES STRATEGY FOR THE ELEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS AT VO THI SAU HIGH SCHOOL” In terms of the statement of requirements for Thesis in master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Postgraduate Institute, Ba Ria Vung Tau University. Ba Ria - Vung Tau, September 2023 VŨ NGỌC LÀNH ix RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, VU NGOC LANH, being a candidate for the degree of TESOL accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of master’s Thesis deposited in the library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my master’s Thesis deposited in the library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarians for the care, loan, and reproduction of theses.
Ba Ria - Vung Tau, September 2023 Signature …………………… VU NGOC LANH x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would first like to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Nguyen Xuan Hong, my supervisor, for his patience, guidance, insightful advice, and constant encouragement throughout the whole research process. Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed. Next, I would like to thank the students and the English teachers at Vo Thi Sau High School, Ba Ria – Vung Tau province where I did my research.
They gave me a lot of time during the data collection process and they also encouraged me to complete the research. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family, especially my mother and my husband, who have always been by my side to encourage and been a great source of encouragement and motivation to help me complete this thesis. VŨ NGỌC LÀNH xi ABSTRACT Reading comprehension skills are necessary not only for learning but also for a wide variety of activities in daily life. However, it is an undeniable fact that because a lot of students do not know how to understand reading material, they find reading quite boring and difficult to deal with.
Therefore, as the supervisor, the teacher must use some strategies that could help students understand reading texts better. Context Clues Strategy might bring benefits for students in reading comprehension. The goal of this study is to find out how effective teachers use Context Clues Strategy to improve reading skill for students at a high school in Ba Ria – Vung Tau province. The eleventh-grade students at Vo Thi Sau High School were the study's participants.
The research method used for this study was classroom action research. The quantitative data was gathered during the tests (pre-test and post-test). According to the study's findings, just 11 students (14.66%) passed the Mastery Minimum Criteria on the pre-test, whereas 53 students (70.66%) passed on the post-test. The results of the study showed that students’ academic performance on the post-test had significantly improved.
The comparison between the pre-test mean score (4.86) and post-test mean score (7.41) demonstrated this improvement. Additionally, it is evident from their complete focus throughout the teaching and learning process that students were interested in Context Clues Strategy. As a result, Context Clues Strategy was a useful tool for teaching students reading comprehension. Keywords: improving, context clues strategy, reading comprehension, Vo Thi Sau high school.
xii LIST OF TABLES Table 3. Students’ scores and classification in the pretest and the post-test Table 3. Procedures of the experiment Table 3. Answers to the questionnaire of the experiment group Table 3.
Cronbach’ s Alpha of the pretest and the posttest Table 4. Descriptive statistics of the control group students and the experimental group students’ mean scores in the pre-test Table 4. Descriptive statistics of the control group students and the experimental group students’ mean scores in the post-test Table 4. Descriptive statistics of the control group students and the experimental group students’ mean scores before and after the treatment Table 4.
Comparative results of the mean scores within each group in the pre-test and post-test xiii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4. The types of Context Clues Strategy students use Figure 4. Pre-test and post-test scores of the control group and the experimental group xiv APPENDICES Appendix A: Pre-test and Post-test scores Appendix B: Semi-structured interview questions for students and teachers Appendix C: Questionnaire for students Appendix D: Students’ answers from the semi-structured interview Appendix E: Teachers’ answers from the semi-structured interview Appendix F: Paired sample test Appendix G: Pre-test and post-test 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Background to the study Nowadays, as English is becoming a widely utilized language for communication, learning English is becoming increasingly popular among students and young learners.
Especially, in the age of technology and the influence of “the flat world", learners tend to emphasize listening and speaking skills but forget the function of reading skills when studying English. Al-Nafisah (2011) stated that many students are unaware of how important reading has always been in academics and how it is regarded as the most crucial of the four language skills. Reading is a vital ability that helps learners learn more about English. Students can learn things they did not know previously by reading.
Additionally, reading helps students develop their language and experience. Learning to read well is necessary for students' academic achievement. It can aid them in passing standardized exams like the national high school exam or competence assessment exam in many universities. Consequently, it is crucial to develop students' reading abilities in the classroom.
When reading a text, comprehension is just as important as reading ability. Students who demonstrate comprehension can show that they have read the material and have learned the information it contains. Nunan (2003: 68) declares that “Reading is a fluent process of readers combining information from a text and their background knowledge to build meaning”. Reading is a method for transferring scientific knowledge from the writer of the book to the reader's brain, and if readers do not comprehend the text's meaning, they will not be able to absorb the information.
Pronunciation issues and a lack of vocabulary are further reading difficulties. Therefore, the instructor should be better knowledgeable about tactics, techniques, and strategies for learning English as these will help the teacher's efforts to improve the effectiveness of his/ her instruction. 2 According to Kruidenier (2002: 77), “Reading comprehension can be described as understanding a text that is read, or the process of constructing meaning from a text”. Reading comprehension is an active activity that the reader must engage in.
It is also a purposeful process that is teachable. Words are associated with their meaning in the reader's memory as understanding takes place, and phrases and sentences are processed as clearly as possible to prevent the meanings acquired from one word, phrase, or sentence from being lost before the next is processed. It can be said that in Vietnam, reading skills are crucial for learning English since it is taught and mastered in a non-native language setting. As a result, reading can be utilized for a variety of activities, including education, exploration, and amusement.
By improving their reading comprehension, learners will also improve their writing and speaking. According to Carrell (1989), for many students, of the four language acquisition skills, reading is the most crucial and is regarded as a prerequisite for lifelong learning. Today's students must read a variety of books and publications in English in order to learn new concepts and theories in addition to the English- language reading materials that they are required to use.