VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ LẬP READING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION OF STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND TECHNOLOGY Chiến lược đọc nhằm cải thiện kỹ năng đọc hiểu của sinh viên Trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế - Kỹ thuật Thái Nguyên M. MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 HA NOI - 2010 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ LẬP READING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS OF STUDENTS AT THAI NGUYEN COLLEGE OF ECONOMICS AND TECHNOLOGY Chiến lược đọc nhằm cải thiện kỹ năng đọc hiểu của sinh viên Trường Cao đẳng Kinh tế - Kỹ thuật Thái Nguyên M. MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 SUPERVISOR: ĐINH HẢI YẾN, M. HA NOI - 2010 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENT Page PART I: INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………….
Rationale of the Thesis …………………………………………………………………. Aims of the Thesis ………………………………………………………………………2 3. Significance of the Thesis ………………………………………………………………. Scope of the Thesis …………………………………………………………………….
Research Methods used in the Thesis …………………………………………………. Design of the Thesis ……………………………………………………………….4 Chapter 1: Literature Review………………………………………………………………4 II. Definitions of Reading………………………………………………………………4 II. Reading Comprehension Models………………………………………………….
Bottom-up Model………………………………………………………………. Top-down Model………………………………………………………………. Characteristics of an Effective Reader……………………………………………. Teaching Reading Comprehension Skills……………………………………….
Metacognitive Strategies ………………………………………………………10 II. Social/Affective Strategies …………………………………………………….The Importance of Strategies in the Learning Process …………………………. Strategies in Teaching Second Language Reading Comprehension ………….14 Chapter 2: Research Methodology ………………………………………………………. Participants and Settings of the Study …………………………………………….16 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.
Settings of the Study …………………………………………………………. Data Collection Procedures ……………………………………………………. Coding of Questionnaire Data ………………………………………………….22 Chapter 3: Data Analysis and Discussion ……………………………………………. Cognitive Strategies ……………………………………………………………25 II.
Social/Affective Strategies ……………………………………………………. Results of Questionnaires ………………………………………………………. Readers’ Attitudes to Reading Comprehension ………………………………. Social/Affective Strategies ………………………………………………….
Discussion and Recommendations ………………………………………………. Summary of Previous Parts …………………………………………………………. Limitations and Suggestions for Further Study …………………………………….technology v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.technology LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CFL : College of Foreign Language VNU : Vietnam National University TNCET : Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Technology (LUAN.technology vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.technology LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Page Tables Table 2.1: Background information about the participants………………………………16 Table 2.2: Questionnaire: Reading strategy coding categories ………………………….1: Test Results – Metacognitive Strategies …………………………………….2: Test Results – Cognitive Strategies ………………………………………….3: Test Results –Social/Affective Strategies ……………………………………26 Chart 3.4: Questionnaire Results: Question 1 ………………………………………….5: Questionnaire Results: Question 2 ………………………………………….6: Questionnaire Results: Question 3……………………………………………28 Chart 3.7: Questionnaire Results: Metacognitive Strategies…………………………….8: Questionnaire Results: Cognitive Strategies ……………………………….9: Questionnaire Results: Social/Affective Strategies ………………………….technology vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.technology 1 PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale of the thesis It is obvious that English language has been widely used in many areas such as politics, economics, tourism, telecommunication, culture, science and technology, and since Vietnam carried out the open door policy towards the regional and global integration, English language has become more and more important.
Therefore, it is necessary for Vietnamese students to have a good command of English to satisfy the growing requirements in a developing country like Vietnam. In the process of teaching and learning English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL), reading is an essential skill. For many people, reading is the most important skill to gain the knowledge and the only means by which learners can access to further study. So with well-developed reading skills, ESL/ EFL readers will have a chance to make greater progress and achieve greater development in all academic areas.
Because under Vietnam circumstances, English language is taught and learnt in a non- native environment, reading is both a means to gain knowledge and a means by which further study takes place. According to Carrell (1984:1): “for many students, reading is by far the most important of the four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or a foreign language”. This is really true to the students at Thai Nguyen College of Economics and Technology (TNCET). They find that reading not only gives them a wide range of interesting information but also offers them chances to enlarge their vocabulary, structures and language expressions which are useful for developing other skills.
Nevertheless, students at TNCET often have difficulties in reading lessons because of the lack of appropriate reading strategies which are essential for them – ESL/EFL readers. Researchers believe that effective readers are aware of the strategies they use and that they use strategies flexibly and efficiently. Therefore, teachers should consider and choose effective reading strategies to teach students, and help them develop the given strategies effectively. In the present process of teaching methods innovation in Vietnam generally, and at TNCET particularly, equipping students with learning strategies can help them be more active, take charge of their own learning, and have more positive learning spirit.
For these reasons, it would be necessary to have an investigation into reading strategies and classroom practice. Through the study, we could recognize useful reading strategies (LUAN.technology TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.technology 2 and how efficiently they are used in an ESF/EFL classroom to improve reading comprehension skills of students at TNCET. Aims of the thesis The aims of the study are: To investigate the reading strategies and equipping students with these reading strategies to improve students‟ ability of reading in English at TNCET. To examine how efficiently the reading strategies are used in reading classes.
Significance of the thesis The findings of the thesis will be useful not only to the researcher, but also to the teaching staff and especially to the students at TNCET in learning reading skills. Besides, the study will make a great contribution to improve the quality of teaching and learning English at TNCET. Further more, it will offer the theoretical basis for the application of reading techniques in classroom. Scope of the thesis In teaching and learning a language as an ESL/EFL, there are many factors that influence the learners‟ success or failure.
A part from reading, there are also other main skills in language learning including speaking, listening, and writing. However, due to the limited scope of a minor thesis, this study only focuses on the investigation of reading comprehension needs of students at TNCET in the process of teaching methods innovation, the limitation and difficulties of their reading activity, and the application of reading strategies in classrooms. Research methods used in the thesis To achieve the aims mentioned above, the author would like to employ tests and survey questionnaires to investigate how efficiently the reading strategies are used and analyze them through data collection instruments. Design of the thesis There are three main parts in this thesis: introduction, development, and conclusion.
The introduction provides the rationale, the aims, the significance, the scope, the methods, and the design of the thesis. The development consists of three chapters: Chapter 1 presents a review of literature including definitions of reading comprehension and reading processes, reading comprehension models, teaching comprehension skills, and (LUAN.technology TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.technology 3 reading strategies. It discusses the three reading strategies: cognitive, metacognitive, and social/affective strategies; the importance of strategies in learning process; and strategies in teaching SL reading comprehension. Chapter 2 focuses on the methodology employed in this thesis including research questions, participants and instruments.
The instruments consist of tests and classroom observation. Chapter 3 reports the results of tests and classroom observation. This chapter discusses in the three strategies. The conclusion provides a brief summary of main parts being present in the study, the conclusions drawn out and the limitations of the study.
It also suggests directions for further study.technology TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.technology 4 PART 2: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature Review This chapter reviews theories related to reading, reading comprehension, and reading strategies. All of these serve as a basis for the aim of the thesis which is to use reading strategies to improve reading comprehension skills of students at TNCET.Definitions of reading The act of reading is not easily understood and described. In the most general terms we may say that reading involves the reader, the text, and the interaction between reader and the text (Rumelhart 1977). The process of reading has been intensively studied, and there have been many different approaches to it, and the term „reading‟ has been given many interpretations.
Mitchell has a basic definition of reading: Reading can be defined loosely as the ability to make sense of written or printed symbols. The reader uses the symbols to guide the recovery of information from his or her memory and subsequently uses this information to construct a plausible interpretation of the writer’s message. (Mitchell 1982:1) Goodman (1971:35) defines reading as a psycholinguistic process by which the reader, a language user, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display. Simply and clearly, Eddie Williams (1984: 2) defines reading as “a process whereby one looks at and understands what has been written”.
This definition of reading does not mean that a reader needs to understand everything in text. Reading can be a struggle after understanding, especially where language learners are concerned. He emphasizes that part of the teacher‟s job is therefore to develop within the learner strategies that will help them in this struggle. From the ideas above, we can come to the conclusion that reading is a complex process which involves a triangular interaction between the reader, the writer and the text.
Reading is also an interaction between purpose and manner of reading, and it is an interaction through reading strategies (J. Reading comprehension II.technology TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.technology 5 Reading comprehension plays a very important part in teaching and learning reading a foreign language. It is the ability to obtain the information as required in the reading lessons as efficiently as possible. Thus, three elements – reading text, background knowledge of the reader, and the contextual aspects relevant for the interpretation of the text – are involved in the reading process.
Research on ESL/EFL reading comprehension, there are some definitions of reading comprehension from researchers Richard and Thomas, (1987:9), state: “Reading comprehension is best described as an understanding between the author and the reader”. According to Swam, (1975: 1) A student is good at comprehension we mean that he can read accurately and efficiently so as to get the maximum information of a text with the minimum of understanding. In line with Swam, Grellet, (1981:3) accepts that Reading comprehension or understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as effectively as possible. The definitions of reading comprehension above are general ones.
In order to understand more about reading comprehension, it is necessary to take a closer look at actual process that really takes place in the reader‟s mind. So far, several models of reading have been proposed to describe this process. The next section is going to present these models of reading and their strengths and weaknesses. Reading comprehension models In looking for ways to describe the interaction between the reader and the text, researchers have created models that describe what happens when people read.
According to the researchers, there are three main models of how reading occurs. Bottom-up model With the bottom-up model, reading was viewed as “the process of meaning interpretation” in which “the language is translated from one form of symbolic representation to another” (Nunan, 1991). According to Carven, bottom-up model describes reading as being a linear process from graphic symbols to meaning responses, and the readers check words individually, and sound them out phonetically. With this type of reading, the readers passively perceive (LUAN.technology TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.technology 6 input which progresses from the lowest level of reading – the interpretation of symbols – to the higher levels such as the assigning of meaning.
According to Gough (1972), reading should be bottom-up.