MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M. THESIS IMPROVING THE 10TH GRADE STUDENTS’ READING ABILITIES IN ENGLISH AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN LANG SON PROVINCE Nâng cao năng lực đọc hiểu môn tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 10 tại một trường THPT của tỉnh Lạng Sơn NGUYEN THI LIEN Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Hanoi – 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY M. THESIS IMPROVING THE 10TH GRADE STUDENTS’ READING ABILITIES IN ENGLISH AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN LANG SON PROVINCE Nâng cao năng lực đọc hiểu môn tiếng Anh của học sinh lớp 10 tại một trường THPT của tỉnh Lạng Sơn NGUYEN THI LIEN Field: English Language Code: 8220201 Supervisor: Dr. DANG NGOC HUONG Hanoi – 2023 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority over the study project report entitled “Improving the 10th grade students’ reading abilities in English at a high school in Lang Son Province” submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in English Language.
Except where the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the text of the thesis. Hanoi, 2023 Nguyen Thi Lien Approved by SUPERVISOR Dang Ngoc Huong (Signature and full name) Date: …………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The topic "Improving the 10th grade students’ reading abilities in English at a high school in Lang Son Province" is the content that I researched and wrote my graduation thesis after studying at the Faculty of English, Open University. During the process of researching and completing my thesis, I received a lot of attention and help from my teachers, colleagues, family and friends. For the most successful thesis, I would like to send my sincere thanks to Faculty of English, Open University has created a very good learning and training environment, providing me with useful knowledge and skills to help me apply and easily carry out my thesis.
On this occasion, I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Dang Ngoc Huong, for all of his kind support, insightful criticism, careful supervision, and helpful advice throughout the completion of my thesis. I would like to thank all of the English teachers at Cao Loc High School for their informative and thought-provoking lectures. They have provided me with a wealth of knowledge.
Additionally, special gratitude must be expressed to the cherished Cao Loc High School students for their conscientious participation in the data gathering procedure. Last but not least, I want to express my gratitude to my family for helping me with my education. My lovely spouse, parents, and darling daughter deserve special recognition and gratitude for their unwavering support and encouragement, which enabled me to complete my paper on schedule. ii ABSTRACT The aim of the research was to ascertain: (1) the attitudes of the students toward the acquisition of reading comprehension skills; (2) the factors contributing to their challenges and the issues that educators might face when teaching reading comprehension skills to the 10th grade students at Cao Loc High School in Lang Son Province; and (3) potential solutions.
In-class observations, two survey questionnaires, and informal interviews were the three instruments the researcher utilized to carry out the study. The study shows that teachers have hurdles while they are teaching because of students' ignorance of language and cultural background, instructors' methods of instruction, and specific textbook issues. The results of the study also imply that teaching reading comprehension skills is made more difficult by students' low expectations of its importance in learning English. The issue has also been made worse by the school's lack of conductive amenities.
The study offers some workable ideas to improve the efficacy of teaching and acquiring English reading skills based on the conclusions drawn from the investigation. iii LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES CHARTS Chart 1: Students’ attitudes toward the importance of learning reading skills .30 Chart 2: Students’ opinion on the reading text in the textbook .31 Chart 3: Students’ activities in pre-reading.31 Chart 4: Students’ activities in while-reading ………….32 Chart 5: Students’ expectation in post-reading .33 Chart 6: Students’ way to overcome difficulties .34 Chart 7: The way teachers ask their students to read.36 Chart 8: Teachers’ expectation of the students in the post-reading .37 TABLES Table 1: The results of classroom observations .28 Table 2: Factors affecting students’ comprehension of the text .32 Table 3: Students’ problems in acquiring reading skill .33 Table 4: Students’ expectation of teachers’ solutions to their difficulties .34 Table 5: Teachers’ attitudes towards reading skill.35 Table 6: Description of teachers’ opinions on the sections for reading in English 10 .35 Table 7: Teachers’ perception of the students’ comprehension .37 Table 8: Description of teachers’ problems in teaching reading skills .38 Table 9: Description of the teachers’ solutions to face with the difficulties .39 iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY. iii LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS.
iv Chapter I - INTRODUCTION. Aims and objectives. Methods of the study. Scope of the study.
Significance of the study. Structure of Thesis .3 Chapter II - LITERATURE REVIEW. Review of previous studies. Review of theoretical background.
Definitions of reading and reading comprehension. Reading and Reading Comprehension?. Purposes of reading. The importance of reading in learning a foreign language.
Effective reading comprehension and Reading comprehension skills. What is Effective Reading Comprehension?. Reading Comprehension Skills. Teaching Reading Comprehension.
Relationship between Reading and Other Skills. Factors in teaching reading lesson. The Roles of the Teacher. The Role of the Students.
The role of reading material/ reading textbook. The three stages of a reading lesson. Before reading stage. While reading stage.
After reading stage. Difficulties in teaching reading. Reading skill problems. Cultural background knowledge.
The Reading and Reading Comprehension at Cao Loc High School. Summary of the chapter .20 Chapter III – RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Data collection instruments. Data analysis methods.
Data collection procedures. Teachers and Methods of teaching. Data analytical units. Summary of the chapter.26 Chapter IV - DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION OF THE FINDINGS.
Report of the data analysis. Questionnaire for students. Questionnaire for teachers. Discussion of the findings.
The teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the teaching and learning of reading. The difficulties do the teachers meet when dealing with a reading lesson. The suggestions concerning the ways to improve the teaching and learning the reading skills in English for the 10th form students at Cao Loc High School. Adapting and re-designing the tasks in the textbook to be more suitable to students.
Upgrading teaching aids. Techniques for creating reading interest and enhancing motivation. Using visual aids. Using brainstorming wed/ Networks.
Techniques for enriching vocabulary. Encourage students to have extensive reading habit. Using word games. Using word list.
Techniques for improving students’ background knowledge. Training students to become efficient readers. Summary of the chapter. Limitations of the study.
Recommendations for Further studies .51 vii Chapter I - INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale English is chosen as a required subject and is regarded as the most significant foreign language in the majority of Vietnamese schools. Reading has traditionally gotten a lot of emphasis in Vietnamese language instruction and acquisition. Reading is frequently seen as the most crucial of the four language skills for EFL learners, according to Erten & Razi (2003), as it gives them the chance to interact with the target language and get useful linguistic information that helps them become more proficient in it.
According to Carrell (1984), who shares a similar viewpoint, "reading is by far the most important of the four macro-skills, particularly for many students in English as a second or foreign language." Consequently, in every unit of the new textbook "Tieng Anh 10," reading is the first ability that is covered. This demonstrates the value of reading. This makes sense as well since reading gives pupils the skills necessary to comprehend written content. Nowadays, reading is not only a vital way for students to increase and broaden their general knowledge, but it also serves as a tool for future academic support.
Having taught for a number of years, I have encountered several challenges. The most difficult problems arise when teaching comprehension through reading. One of the challenges my colleagues at my school have faced is the dearth of opportunity and motivation among students to practice speaking in the target language. Teachers do their hardest, yet the pupils' reading comprehension remains stagnant.
Reading instruction will deteriorate and pupils will lose interest in studying English if such problems are not identified and no strategies are offered to lessen and resolve them. I selected "Improving the 10th grade students’ reading abilities in English at a high school in Lang Son Province" because I realized how important it is to teach reading and reading comprehension. Reading comprehension is one of the most important language skills that students of foreign language need to have. This is because the goal of most foreign language students is to get access to the knowledge, they need through the medium of the foreign language they are learning.
In addition, reading is a very important, even the most important source of linguistic input through which the students acquire the foreign language. In this study, the 10th graders were chosen because they are the first graders; if they build a solid foundation for using reading skills, 1 they will do well in the 11th and 12th years. Especially in grade 12, they will have a graduation exam where reading skills account for about 4/10 of the total score. In the test, two main skills used are reading and writing.
The research helps to detect difficulties in teaching or learning reading skills for the 10th graders at Cao Loc High School and makes suggestions on how to teach or learn English reading skills in the surveyed classes, which has practical significance and contributes to the theory of skills teaching. Reading ability was assessed not only in class but also for meaningful reference and sharing experiences with my colleagues at school and English teachers in general. Aims and objectives The purpose of the research is to improve the reading comprehension skills of 10th grade students at a mountainous school (Cao Loc High School in Lang Son province) with limited facilities and teaching materials, as well as their learning of English. To be more specific, the objectives of this study are: - To investigate how the 10th grade students at Cao Loc High School in Lang Son Province learn reading skills in English.
- To identify major difficulties in teaching and learning reading comprehension skills in English the teacher and students may face. - To suggest the ways to improve the teaching and learning the reading skills in English for the 10th grade students at Cao Loc High School. What are the Cao Loc High School teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the teaching and learning of reading? 2. What difficulties do the teachers and learners meet when dealing with reading lesson? 3.
What are the suggestions concerning the ways to improve the teaching and learning the reading skills in English for the 10th grade students at Cao Loc High School? 4. Methods of the study To find the answers to the research questions in this study, survey research is employed. Initially, a classroom observation was done to find out the real 2 difficulties the teachers were facing when teaching reading skills. Following that, students and teachers in eight English classrooms at Cao Loc High School were randomly selected to take part in two different kinds of questionnaires.
Apart from administering a questionnaire, informal interviews were conducted with select instructors to obtain more insights into the real-world situations related to reading comprehension instruction at Cao Loc High School.