VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST GRADUATE DEPARTMENT BÙI THANH NGA ADAPTING READING TASKS IN THE TEXTBOOK “BASIC ENGLISH FOR COMPUTING” TO TEACH READING SKILLS TO STUDENTS AT CENTRE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT ĐIỀU CHỈNH CÁC NHIỆM VỤ ĐỌC TRONG GIÁO TRÌNH “BASIC ENGLISH FOR COMPUTING” ĐỂ DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC CHO SINH VIÊN TẠI TRUNG TÂM PHÁT TRIỂN CÔNG NGHỆ THÔNG TIN MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY 60 14 10 HANOI, 2009 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES POST GRADUATE DEPARTMENT BÙI THANH NGA ADAPTING READING TASKS IN THE TEXTBOOK “BASIC ENGLISH FOR COMPUTING” TO TEACH READING SKILLS TO STUDENTS AT CENTRE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT ĐIỀU CHỈNH CÁC NHIỆM VỤ ĐỌC TRONG GIÁO TRÌNH “BASIC ENGLISH FOR COMPUTING” ĐỂ DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC CHO SINH VIÊN TẠI TRUNG TÂM PHÁT TRIỂN CÔNG NGHỆ THÔNG TIN MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY 60 14 10 SUPERVISOR: DR. DƯƠNG THỊ NỤ HANOI, 2009 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com v TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration. iii List of abbreviations …………………………………………………………………… .iv List of figures, charts, and tables ………………………………………………………. iv Table of contents ……………………………………………………………………….
Aims of the study ……………………………………………………………………. Significance of the study ……………………………………………………………. Methods of the study …………………………………………………………………. Scope of the study …………………………………………………………………… 3 7.
Design of the study …………………………………………………………………. 3 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Reading and teaching reading skills……………………………………………… 4 1. Definitions of reading ………………………………………………………….
Classifications of reading ………………………………………………………. Classification of reading according to manners ……………………………… 5 1. Classification of reading according to purposes ……………………………… 6 1. The reading process ……… …………………………………………………….
The schema theory ……………………………………………………………. Models of the reading process ………………………………………………… 7 1. Reading skills and strategies ……………………………………………………. Stages in teaching reading skills ……………………………………………….
Pre-reading stage ………………………………………………………………. While-reading stage …………………………………………………………… 9 1. Post-reading stage ……………………………………………………………. Reading in ESP teaching and learning ………………………………………… 10 1.
Communicative Approach …………………………………………………………11 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Communicative language teaching ……………………………………………. Material evaluation and adaptation ……………………………………………… 14 1. Materials and textbook ………………………………………………………… 14 1.
Materials adaptation …………………………………………………………… 15 Chapter summary …………………………………………………………………… …17 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 2. An overview on situation of teaching and learning reading skills at ……………… 18 2. Objectives of the English course at CITD ……………………………………. An overview on reading tasks in the textbook BEC ……………………………… 19 2.
The subjects of the study ………………………………………………………. The teacher subjects …. The learner subjects …………………………………………………………. Methods and procedures ……………………………………………………….
Data analysis process ……………………………………………………………… 24 Chapter summary ……………………………………………………………………… 25 CHAPTER 3: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TEACHING READING SKILLS 3. Data analysis and discussions …………………………………………………… 26 3. Teachers’ and students’ opinions on the unsuitable characteristics of the reading tasks in the textbook BEC ……………………………………………………………… 26 3. Teachers’ and Students’ opinions on the tasks in general …………………….
Teachers’ and Students’ opinions on the pre-reading tasks …………………… 29 3. Teachers’ and Students’ opinions on the while-reading tasks ………………… 30 3. Teachers’ and Students’ opinions on the post-reading tasks …………………. How to adapt the reading tasks in the textbook, especially post-reading tasks TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com vii to improve reading skills to the students ……………………………………………… 33 3.
Reading tasks in general ………………………………………………………. Post-reading tasks ……………………………………………………………. Implications for teaching and learning reading skills at CITD ……………………. Suggestions for the reading tasks in the textbook BEC………………………….
Some suggested types of post-reading tasks for improving reading skills for students at CITD ………………………………………………………………. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research ………………………. 44 References ……………………………………………………………………………… 46 Appendix 1: Questionnaire for teachers ………………………………………………. I Appendix 2: Questionnaire for students ……………………………………………….
VI Appendix 3: Sample post-reading tasks ………………………………………………… X TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS BEC: Basic English for Computing CITD: Centre of Information Technology Development CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as a Foreign Language ELT: English Language Teaching ESP: English for Specific Purposes IT: Information Technology PPP: Presentation – Practice – Production LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Table 1. An Overview of Communicative Approach Table 2: List of reading tasks in the textbook BEC Table 3: The distribution of reading tasks in each unit Table 4: The setting formats of reading tasks Chart 1 : Teachers’ and Students’ opinions on the level of the tasks Chart 2 : Teachers’ and Students’ opinions on the number of tasks associated with each text Chart 3: Teachers’ and Students’ opinions on the types of tasks Chart 4 : Teachers’ and students’ opinions on the communicativeness of the tasks Chart 5 : Teachers’ and Students’ opinions on the skills achieved via the tasks Chart 6 : Teachers’ and Students’ opinions on the interest of the pre-reading tasks Chart 7:The pre-reading tasks teachers often use and the pre-reading tasks students like Chart 8:Teachers’ and students’ opinions on the usefulness of the while-reading tasks Chart 9 : The while-reading tasks teachers often use and the while-reading tasks students like Chart 10:Teachers’ and students’ opinions on the usefulness of the post-reading tasks Chart 11: Teachers’ and Students’ opinions on the interest of the post-reading tasks Chart 12 : What teachers often do to the tasks and What students want teachers to do to the tasks Chart 13 : Teachers’ and students’ opinions on the tasks to be adapted the most Figure 1 The communication process Figure 2. A Framework for analysing communicative tasks TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Rationale ELT materials in general and textbooks in particular play the roles of tool, tutor, guidebook and gauge.
These roles are especially significant in EFL contexts including Vietnam, where textbooks are regarded as a staple in almost all EFL classes. Textbooks are useful source of language input and guidance for both teachers and learners. Despite the development of technology and the growth of computer-assisted language learning, it is unlikely that textbooks will disappear. In teaching and learning reading skills in particular, the role of textbooks is even more important than in teaching any other language skills or grammar and vocabulary because when reading, students have to pay much attention to the printed texts in order to understand them.
However, available textbooks are not completely good for all teaching contexts. Accordingly, it is necessary for teachers to be well-equipped with assessment tools to evaluate materials and more importantly, recommendations to adapt the materials to ensure that students are using the highest quality texts, and their language knowledge and skills are improved. Nevertheless, there has been little investigation into how to adapt the material. This research gap has encouraged me to choose textbook adaptation as the theme for this study.
The second reason for my choice is that there have been diverse opinions of both teachers and learners on the actual effectiveness of the reading tasks in the textbook Basic English for Computing (BEC) by Eric H. Glendinning and John McEwan, which has been used to teach ESP for third-year students at Centre of Information technology development (CITD). There have been arguments on both the potentials and limitations of the reading tasks in the textbook and the needs and preferences of the teachers and learners who are using it. Therefore, the reading tasks need to be taken into consideration and further, adapted to teach reading skills to the students at the centre.
It is hoped that the study will be beneficial to the author and other English teachers in some way to assign the tasks to stimulate the students in reading lessons and improve their reading skills. Aims of the study The purposes of this study are: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter 1: Literature Review TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 2 (1) To find out the unsuitable characteristics of the reading tasks in the textbook BEC in teaching reading skills to students at CITD. (2) To give some implications for teaching and learning reading skills at CITD 3. Significance of the study The study provides the theoretical view of teaching reading skills to students as well as criteria of reading tasks, both of which are helpful for evaluating and adapting reading tasks in the textbook.
Pedagogically, the findings of the study will serve as the foundation for the changes to the reading tasks and the design of new post-reading tasks, which are believed to be useful for developing the students’ reading skills. Furthermore, the implications for teaching and learning, which are based on the theoretical background and the current situation of teaching reading skills at CITD, hopefully can help the teachers upgrade the reading tasks to make reading lessons more interesting and motivate the students to learn English effectively. Research questions To achieve the aim and objectives of the thesis, the following research questions were proposed: 1. What are unsuitable characteristics of the reading tasks in the textbook BEC in teaching reading skills to the students at CITD? 2.
How can the tasks be adapted to improve reading skills for the students? 5. Methods of the study With reference to its characteristics, this thesis can be categorized as a survey research. Quantitative method will be employed to carry out the study. The following methods will be applied to collect data for this study: The reading tasks in the textbook BEC will be reviewed to find out their unsuitable characteristics of the reading tasks in terms of methodology.
Survey questionnaires will be specifically designed for both teachers of English and the third-year students who have experienced using this textbook to find out their opinions on the reading tasks in the textbook. The combination of the review of reading tasks and two questionnaires for teachers and students will provide reliable data, based on which the conclusions and suggestions will be made in the next parts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter 1: Literature Review TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Scope of the study The main purpose of the study is to find out the appropriateness and inappropriateness of the reading tasks in the textbook BEC to the current teaching and learning situation at CITD.
The study only focuses on the third-year students at CITD, so the results of the study are not applied for all students at the centre. The study also suggests some types of tasks for the post-reading stage only. Design of the study Apart from the introduction and conclusion, the thesis consists of 3 chapters The introduction provides an overview of the study with specific reference to the rationale, the aim, the research questions, the methods, the significance and the scope of the study. Chapter one, literature review, aims at presenting the theoretical background for the thesis.
The most important notions related to teaching and learning reading skills and In chapter two, the study and the methodology underlying the research is presented. This chapter provides the background information of the subjects of the study, the instruments used to collect the data, and the procedure of data collection. Chapter three, data analysis, discussions and implications, analyses research methodology, presents findings and discussions on the study and some suggestions for teaching and learning reading skills at CITD. The conclusion restates the main points discussed in the study, some conclusions drawn from the findings, limitations of the study and suggestions for further study.
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Reading and teaching reading skills 1. Definitions of reading and reading comprehension ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chapter 1: Literature Review TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 4 New developments in printing technology as well as information and communications technology have provided the humankind with great worldwide sources of printed materials. Accordingly, the audience of such sources will have to possess the skills of interpreting them, which means reading skills will continue to be important in the new era.
However, the term “reading” has been used in different ways. Dean (2000:2) considers Brindley’s definition of reading a significant starting point: “Reading is a complex area. We can use the term to mean the process itself, or a response to literary text. It can mean the retrieval of information in a non-literate text, or take on wider meanings like “reading the situation”.
Reading is not confined to print in a book.