VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH HẠNH USING GUIDED EXTENSIVE READING TO IMPROVE INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HUNG YEN TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE SỦ DỤNG ĐỌC RỘNG CÓ HƯỚNG DẪN NHẰM CẢI THIỆN VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG NGẪU NHIÊN CHO SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM HƯNG YÊN M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi – 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ****** NGUYỄN THỊ BÍCH HẠNH USING GUIDED EXTENSIVE READING TO IMPROVE INCIDENTAL VOCABULARY LEARNING FOR FIRST YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HUNG YEN TEACHERS’ TRAINING COLLEGE SỦ DỤNG ĐỌC RỘNG CÓ HƯỚNG DẪN NHẰM CẢI THIỆN VIỆC HỌC TỪ VỰNG NGẪU NHIÊN CHO SINH VIÊN CHUYÊN ANH NĂM THỨ NHẤT TẠI TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG SƯ PHẠM HƯNG YÊN M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr. Hoàng Thị Xuân Hoa Hanoi – 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work.
I have provided fully documented references to the others‟ work. The material in this thesis has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course. I also accept all the requirements of ULIS relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library. Hanoi, October 2015 Nguyen Thi Bich Hanh i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe my deepest gratitude to my supportive supervisor, Dr.
Hoang Thi Xuan Hoa, for her whole-hearted assistance, encouragement as well as the profound guidance she gave me while I was doing my research. I would like to take this opportunity- to express my thanks to all my teachers and lecturers in Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their valuable instruction and assistance throughout the realization of this thesis. I am heartily thankful to the administrators, my colleagues, and first year English major students at Hung Yen Teachers‟ Training College for their willingness to participate in the research. Without their help, this program could not be fulfilled.
Last but not least, I am indebted to my beloved family and friends who have always inspired me to complete this study. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The study aimed to examine whether EFL extensive reading could lead to increase incidental vocabulary of elementary-level EFL learners and evaluate the learners‟ opinions about the ER program. The participants were 25 freshmen majored in English at Hung Yen Teachers‟ Training College. They were asked to read 6 graded readers within a twelve-week EFL extensive reading program.
The vocabulary pretest and posttests were administered to measure learners‟ incidental vocabulary learning gains in the 118 selected target words achieved through the program. Results revealed that the significant vocabulary gains were achieved by the participants after the EFL extensive reading program, suggesting that the EFL extensive reading treatment had produced a beneficial effect on the incidental word learning gains of the participants with elementary EFL competence. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vi LIST OF FIGURES .vii LIST OF TABLES .vii PART A: INTRODUCTION. Aims of the study. Scope of the study.
Method of the study. Design of the study. 5 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. The roles of reading.
Effective Extensive Reading. Benefits of extensive reading. Vocabulary in second language learning. Incidental vocabulary learning.
Reading and incidental vocabulary learning. Difficulties in incidental vocabulary learning. Researches on incidental vocabulary acquisition. Researches on attitudes towards ER.
Action research procedures. Selection of reading materials. Data presentation and data analysis. 32 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
The pretest and posttest. 34 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS. The results of the tests (Research question 1). The pretest and the posttest 1.
35 Table 3 presents the paired sample T-test of pretest and posttest 1. The posttest 1 and the posttest 2. The results of questionnaire (Research question 2). Results of the first part of the questionnaire.
Result of the second part of the questionnaire. Summary of the findings. Limitations of the study and recommendations for further studies. V APPENDIX 1: VOCABULARY TEST.
V APPENDIX 2: THE VOCABULARY PRETEST RESULTS .IX APPENDIX 3: THE VOCABULARY IMMEDIATE POSTTEST RESULTS. X APPENDIX 4: THE VOCABULARY DELAYED POSTTEST RESULTS .XI APPENDIX 5: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE. XII APPENDIX 6: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE (VIETNAMESE VERSION) .XIV CÂU HỎI ĐIỀU TRA .XIV APPENDIX 7: BOOK REPORT WORKSHEET .XVI APPENDIX 8: A SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN. XVII v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Adj Adjective AR Action research EFL English as a Foreign Language ER Extensive reading GR Graded Reader GRP Graded Readers Program HYTTC Hung Yen Teachers‟ Training College L1 First language L2 Second language M Mean N Noun P Probability value SD Standard of Deviation SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ULIS University of Language and International Studies V Verb VNU Vietnam National University, Hanoi vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Action research model of Bride and Schostak (1991) ………………………………… …….25 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The Graded Readers Program ………………………………………………………….……………………………………27 Table 2: The pretest and immediate posttest paired samples statistics ………………………………33 Table 3: The sample T-test of pretest and immediate posttest ………………………………….……………36 Table 4: The immediate posttest and delayed posttest paired samples statistics …….37 Table 5: The sample T-test of immediate posttest and delayed posttest ………………………….38 Table 6: Students' opinions about the graded readers program …………………………………….39 Table 7: Students' suggestion for future program …………………………………….41 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale Vocabulary plays the most significant role in foreign language learning because it is an element linking the four language skills in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). In order to communicate well in a foreign language, students should acquire a great number of words and should know how to use and where to use them. Most EFL learners learn vocabulary passively which can be resulted from several factors although students realize the vital importance of vocabulary when learning language. First, they consider the teacher's techniques such as explanation for meaning or definition.
In this case, language learners have nothing to do in a vocabulary learning section but to listen to their teacher. Secondly, students only focus on knowing the primary meaning of new words. Thirdly, students usually only acquire new vocabulary through contextualized new words in their textbooks or when given by teachers during classroom lessons. It is clear that comprehension is one of the most fundamental reasons for reading, and vocabulary, in turn, plays significant part in comprehension.
Vocabulary clearly makes a critical contribution to understanding what has been read. One important way to develop vocabulary knowledge is through extensive reading. By reading extensively, students will be exposed to variety scope of vocabulary which is necessary in reading comprehension. Extensive reading (ER) is an important aspect of any English as a foreign/second language reading program.
Bell (2001) stated that ER is a type of reading instruction program that has been used in EFL settings, as an effective 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com strategy of developing reading fluency, comprehension, and vocabulary development. The benefits of ER have been widely documented in studies which range in scope from large-scale implementation across whole school districts to a case study of single participant. The effectiveness of extensive reading has been generally summarized to provide comprehensible input, to develop reading speed and comprehension which lead to learners' motivation and confidence and specifically to reinforce, confirm and deepen knowledge of vocabulary (Bell, 2001; Pigada & Schmitt, 2006; Rashidi & Piran, 2011; Richards & Schmitt, 2002; Soltani, 2011). Since ER offers a large number of graded interesting materials of various topics in an anxiety-free learning environment for general language improvement, it increases learners' motivation and more positive attitude towards the target language.
It is believed that since the learner is reading for pleasure, he will be eager to see what happens next and will therefore try to read more rapidly. Moreover, ER can help students to automatically recognize the words that frequently appear in the reading texts in a very pleasurable manner. While reading extensively, learners are engaged in reading materials as naturally and comfortably as possible without compulsory or strict follow-up assessments or precise confirmation of meaning by teachers, so that learners experience fun and reward rather than stress during the ER process (Allan, 2009; Hill, 2001) which can help develop students‟ learning independence, confidence and autonomy (Bell, 2001; Pigada & Schmitt, 2006; Cha, 2009). It is the fact that until recently, Vietnamese learners have not paid enough attention to vocabulary learning (Tran, 2006).
This is true with the context of my students at Hung Yen Teachers‟ Training College (HYTTC). Despite the fact that these students had preciously studied English at lower secondary 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com schools for four years, their vocabulary, grammar and practical skills were limited. When being informally interviewed, these students showed that they had never read outside the class. However, these students expressed their willingness to join in the study since they were really in need of improving their vocabulary and reducing vocabulary learning stress.
All these have motivated me to carry the study “using guided ER to improve incidental vocabulary learning for first year English major students”. Aims of the study This action research mainly aims to improve first year English-majored students‟ incidental vocabulary learning in the aspect of word meaning at Hung Yen Teachers‟ Training College using guided extensive reading. To reach the aims, the researcher supposes two research questions as follows: 1. To what extent can the use of guided extensive reading improve the students‟ incidental vocabulary learning? 2.
What are the students‟ opinions about the extensive reading program? 3. Scope of the study The study was conducted on a class of first year English major students at HYTTC only. The study focused on incidental vocabulary learning through a guided graded readers program (GRP) in the aspect of meaning. Therefore, the findings of the research could just reflect the effects of the extensive reading program on the subjects in the context.
Method of the study To find out the answers to the above research questions, an action research (AR) design was adopted. The research followed the model of an AR program as McBride and Schostak (1991). The steps were carried out as follows: (1) 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com identifying the problem, (2) collecting and analyzing the data, (3) planning and implementing the action, (4) collecting data to monitor change and (5) analyzing and evaluating. Design of the study The study is composed of three following parts: Part A - Introduction This part includes rationale, aims, scope and design of the study to introduce and to appeal the readers.
Part B Chapter 1- Literature Review– mentions some theoretical background about extensive reading, factors affecting the effectiveness of ER and vocabulary leaning. This chapter aims to provide the readers background knowledge to have more understanding about the paper. Chapter 2 – Methodology– discusses the methods or approaches employed by the authors to collect the data for the study. Chapter 3 - Results and Discussions– analyses the data collected in the research process and introduces recommendations to make a good ER program.
Part C - Conclusion In this part, the author offers a summary of the findings, conclusion, recommendations, limitations, and future directions for further study.