VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -------------- TRẦN THỊ THANH HÒA IMPROVING GRADE 11 STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS THROUGH FOCUSED TASKS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN NAM DINH (Nâng cao kỹ năng đọc hiểu cho học sinh lớp 11 tại một trường trung học phổ thông ở Nam Định thông qua các bài tập trọng điểm) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 Course: 20 (2011-2013) HANOI - 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -------------- TRẦN THỊ THANH HÒA IMPROVING GRADE 11 STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS THROUGH FOCUSED TASKS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN NAM DINH (Nâng cao kỹ năng đọc hiểu cho học sinh lớp 11 tại một trường trung học phổ thông ở Nam Định thông qua các bài tập trọng điểm) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 Course: 20 (2011-2013) Supervisor: Assoc. Nguyễn Văn Độ HANOI - 2013 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CANDIDATE’S STATEMENT --------------*****------------- I hereby certify that the thesis entitled IMPROVING GRADE 11 STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS THROUGH FOCUSED TASKS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN NAM DINH is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution.
Signature: Date: i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study has, in many senses, been accomplished with the help and encouragement of many people. Therefore, I hereby would like to express my appreciation to all of them. Firstly, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Assoc. Nguyen Van Do, for his invaluable inspiration, assistance and guidance during the time I tried to complete this thesis.
I am grateful to all lecturers of the Department of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their lectures, especially Mr. Le Van Canh, Ph. for his helpful and practical suggestions. I am also grateful to Ms.
Le Thu Ha, the librarian at the Resource Centre, who is willing to lend me a lot of interesting books and valuable materials for my thesis. I also thank my colleagues and students at Ngo Quyen High School for their cooperation in completing the survey questionnaires as well as their willingness to share their ideas on this study. Last but not least, I also own a great debt of gratitude to my family, my friends for their support in bringing this study to a success. Ha Noi, 2013 Tran Thi Thanh Hoa ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT In many second or foreign language teaching situations, reading receives a special focus.
In process of teaching and learning English as a foreign language, reading has always been offered a great deal of attention both from the teachers and the students. Reading is not only considered as a means to gain knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place. This study is concerned with improving students’ reading comprehension skills through focused tasks. The benefits of using focused tasks in reading lessons are affirmed again in this thesis through the studies and the researcher carried out at Ngo Quyen High School, Nam Dinh province.
These benefits bring considerable effectiveness to teachers and students in teaching and learning reading. This is also the main aim of the study and the researcher’s wish. In order to achieve this aim and wish, the researcher enters into consideration of the relevant literature and then carries out observing classes, giving questionnaires to them, etc. to have necessary findings and analysis.
At the same time, the researcher also suggests the suitable reading tasks to apply in teaching and learning reading lessons in Tieng Anh 11. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Candidate’s statement. iii Table of contents. iv List of abbreviations.
vii List of tables and charts. viii PART I INTRODUCTION. Aims of the study. Scope of the study.
Methodology of the study. Design of the study. 2 PART II DEVELOPMENT. 4 Chapter I: Theoretical Background.
Definitions of reading, reading comprehension and purposes of reading. What is reading?. What is reading comprehension?. The purposes of reading.
Classification of reading. Classification of reading according to manner. Classification of reading according to purposes. Stages in a reading lesson.
Pre-reading stage. While-reading stage. 10 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Post-reading stage.
Factors in teaching and learning reading. The role of the teacher. The role of the student. The role of reading texts.
Factors determining successful reading comprehension. Considerations for students. Considerations for teachers. Steps in teaching reading .Ways to select materials.
Focused tasks and using tasks to develop reading comprehension skills. Using tasks to develop reading comprehension skills. Skills involved in reading. Questions and tasks in a reading lesson.
15 Chapter II: Methodology. Setting of the study. The questionnaire for the students. The questionnaire for the teachers.
Instrument 2-class observation. 19 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter III: Data analysis and findings. Data analysis and findings. Survey for students.
Survey for teachers. 28 Chapter IV: Suggested some focused tasks in teaching reading skills and sample work. Suggested some focused tasks in teaching reading skills. Bases for reading tasks.
Suggested some focused tasks. Suitability for students’ level. Suitability for reading purposes. 38 PART III: CONCLUSION.
Summary of the study. Limitation and Suggestion for further study. VI vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS N: Number CUP: Cambridge University Press OUP: Oxford University Press vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS Tables: 1. Students’ Attitudes towards reading in English 2.
Students’ Attitudes towards purpose of reading English 3. Kinds of tasks students are often asked to do 4. Students’ strategies of doing reading tasks 5. Students’ strategies when coming across a new word 6.
Students’ interest in doing supplementary tasks 7. Teachers’ attitudes towards students’ problems in reading Charts: 1. Students’ Attitudes towards reading materials 2. Students’ difficulties in doing reading tasks 3.
Teachers’ attitudes towards reading texts and tasks in textbook viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART I: INTRODUCTION I. Rationale Language itself plays an important part in our daily life and it is the most effective means of communication. Language distinguishes man from animals. That is because language is an effective means of information, transaction and interaction making experience so we can say that without language there would be no civilization, no culture, no intervention and no progress.
Nowadays, the demand of communication among people in all countries is greater, therefore it is really necessary for everyone to learn at least one foreign language. In our country, English is widely taught and learnt because it is an international language used in all aspects of life such as tourism, technology, literature, commerce and so on. Especially, English has become a compulsory in high schools. That is why it is vital to find out to teach and learn English effectively.
Teaching English involves four skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing. Among them, teaching reading plays an important role for high school students in enriching their general knowledge, enlarging their vocabulary and in helping them with their further study later. Reading also contributes to the development of other language skills. When teaching reading, some issues may arise such as how to assess students’ reading ability, how to give tests to students, techniques to improve students’ reading skills and so on.
Among these issues, I choose to do my research on the project entitled “Improving Grade 11 Students’ Reading Comprehension Skills through Focused Tasks at A High School in Nam Dinh” because I myself believe that reading can help learners to get information to the fullest, and that providing learners with useful techniques and tasks will motivate them in reading. Aims of the study The study is aimed at: 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1) better understanding the concepts of reading, content reading, reading comprehension. 2) identifying some problems in teaching and learning reading English at Ngo Quyen High School in Nam Dinh. 3) providing the 11th grade students at Ngo Quyen High School with useful focused tasks to improve reading comprehension skills.
The study is the hope of the author to make some contributions to the improvement of reading comprehension skills for the 11th form students. Scope of the study The study on reading in general is immense and covering every aspect of language theory and practice in this study is impossible. Due to the time limitation, only one small aspect of reading comprehension is mentioned to, that is reading comprehension tasks. Some focused tasks to help teachers and students better in teaching and learning reading comprehension would be recommended.
Methodology In seeking answers to the research questions, survey questionnaires and class observations were chosen to obtain relevant information for the study. The strategic method of the study is quantitative one. That is all remarks, considerations, and conclusions are made largely based on the analysis of the statistic data collected through the survey questionnaires. Class observations are carried out as a supplementary to the survey questionnaires.
Design of the study The study consists of three main parts: the Introduction, the Development and the Conclusion. Part I introduces rationales, aims of the study, scope and methods of the study. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Part II comprises four chapters. Chapter I deals with an overview of the theoretical background of the research.
It is concerned with the issues relevant to the topic of the research: reading and reading comprehension, classification of reading, the importance of improving reading skills, roles of reading teachers and those of reading students, focused tasks in reading. Chapter II describes the participants and instruments of the study. Chapter III is data collection and data analysis. Chapter IV offers some focused tasks to improve reading comprehension skills and a sample work.
Part III summarizes the issues addressed and presents recommendations for further improvements and some suggestions for further research. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND In this chapter, the review of the issues most relevant considered as a theoretical background to the study will be provided. It consists of definitions of reading and reading comprehension, the purposes of reading, classification of reading, stages in a reading lesson, factors affecting reading skills, and focused tasks and using tasks to develop reading comprehension skills. Definitions of reading, reading comprehension and purposes of reading I.
What is reading? Reading is a natural and common activity that people always do in their daily life. It is stated that reading is a kind of culture that people regardless of age, sex, or class should learn and have. Although no one can deny the high frequency of reading in every day life, to understand thoroughly what reading or reading comprehension is may not be well aware by many. There have been so many definitions of reading that they cause much confusion.
Hence, many linguists take reading into account to do research. They have studied and given various definitions of reading. According to Frank Smith (1978:2) “reading is to understand the author’s thought”. He also adds “Understanding print or even receiving communication can hardly be said to explain reading.
The problem still remains of how readers understand the print or receives the communication”.