VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -------- NGUYỄN THỊ THÚY A STUDY ON THE USE OF TOP-DOWN APPROACH TO IMPROVE READING SKILL FOR LEARNERS AT EQUEST ENGLISH CENTRE (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP TOP-DOWN ĐỂ NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC CHO HỌC VIÊN TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ EQUEST) M. Minor ProgrammeThesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Hanoi, 2014 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 THÚY A STUDY ON THE USE OF TOP-DOWN APPROACH TO IMPROVE READING SKILL FOR LEARNERS AT EQUEST ENGLISH CENTRE (NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG PHƯƠNG PHÁP TOP-DOWN ĐỂ NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC CHO HỌC VIÊN TRUNG TÂM ANH NGỮ EQUEST) M. Minor ProgrammeThesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111 Supervisor: Dr. PHẠM ĐĂNG BÌNH Hanoi, 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION To the best of my knowledge and belief, this minor thesis contains no material which has previously been submitted and accepted for any other degree in any university.
The thesis is my own work and based on my own research. It involves no material previously published or written by any other person, except where due reference is made in the paper. Hanoi, 2014 Nguyễn Thi Thuy ̣ ́ i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mr. Pham Dang Binh, from Vietnam National University, University of Languages and International Studies for his invaluable guidance, criticism and his continual encouragement to the process of completing this minor thesis.
My gratefulness is to all the teachers from Department of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies for their teaching and useful knowledge. My sincere thanks also go to all my colleagues who are the teachers at Equest Centre for their help and suggestions for the topic of my study. I truly wish to thank all my students at Equest Centre, especially those of class FAE C1 and FAE C2 who have actively participated in the study. Last but not least, my sincere thanks are extended to my family and my best friends who have constantly supported and encouraged me to carry out the thesis.
ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Learning English at a lot of English Centers is becoming more and more popular. Therefore, understanding the importance of English, all teachers at Equest English Centre have an attempt to satisfy the learners‟ need. However, to master English learners need to grasp a lot of different skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing. Among these skills, reading is an important one because it does not only help student develop other language skills, but also provides them knowledge on the target language.
The above has inspired the writing of this study as an attempt to apply top- down approach in teaching reading to improve reading skills for learners at Equest Centre. This study consists of three parts. Part one presents the rationale, aims, research questions, scope and methods of the study. Part two includes three chapters.
Chapter one sets up theoretical background that is relevant to the purpose of the study. The following chapter shows the setting, the subjects, the methods, the way to collect data and the effects of using top-down approach in teaching and learning reading skill at Equest English Centre. The last chapter in this part focuses on the findings, discussion and suggestions for improving reading skill to learners at Equest English. Part three summarizes the key issues in the study, points out the limitations and provides some suggestions for further study.
iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LISTS OF TABLES AND CHARTS 1. Descriptive statistics for the pre-test of the experimental and control groups Table 1. Comparison of mode, mean, median and SD for pre-test of the experimental and control groups Table1. Descriptive statistics for the post-test of the experimental and control groups Table 1.
Comparison of mode, mean, median and SD for post-test of the experimental and control groups Table 1. Comparison of mean and standard deviation between the experimental and control group in pre-test and post-test Table 2. Activities motivated students in the pre-reading stage Table 2. Activities attracted students in while-reading stage Table 2.
Useful activities to students in post-reading stage Table 2. Students‟ difficulties in reading Table 2. Teaching methods in helping students overcome difficulties in reading 2. Percentage of the raw mark in the pre-test Chart 1.
Percentage of the raw mark in the post-test Chart 2. The students‟ opinion about the reading tasks Chart 2. The students‟ opinion about teaching methods Chart 2. The students‟ opinion about learning reading with top-down process Chart 2.
The students‟ opinion about their reading skill after a course with top- down process iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .III LISTS OF TABLES AND CHARTS. IV PART A: INTRODUCTION. Aims of the study. Scope of the study.
Methods of the study. Design of the study. 4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Theory on Reading.
Definitions of Reading. Types of reading. Teaching Reading skill. Principles of teaching reading.
Stages of a reading lesson. Top-down approach. Top-down versus Bottom-up processing. Top-down approach in reading.
Top-down techniques in teaching reading. 22 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Setting of the study. Subjects‟ background information.
The teachers and teaching methods. The application of top-down techniques in reading class. 28 FINDINGS, DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS. Analysis of the test results.
Analysis of the questionnaire results. Discussion on the students‟ part. Discussion on the teacher‟s part. Top-down techniques should be applied widely at Equest Centre.
Arousing students‟ motivation and interest. Enlarging students‟ background knowledge. Suggested activities for improving reading skill through top-down approach. 51 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Summary of the study. I APPENDIX 2: THE PRE-TEST. V APPENDIX 3: THE POST-TEST. IX APPENDIX 4: SAMPLE LESSON .XIII vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale It is undeniable that English in the life of any society in the world today has been becoming more and more important. The widespread need for English as an international language puts a considerable pressure on the education resources of any countries. In case of our country, since our government carried out the open door policy to attract foreign investment and co-operate with other countries, teaching and learning English has become necessary. Moreover, English is a means of international communication in the fields of science, technology, culture, education, economy and so on.
That is the reason why at present, learning English is not only the interest but also the great and practical demand for many people, especially for people who always want to assess the modern world. Therefore, learning English at a lot of English Centre is becoming popular. Understanding the importance of English, all teachers at Equest English Centre have an attempt to satisfy the learners‟ need. At Equest English is the foreign language dominating the teaching and learning programs for 10 years.
Despite a prejudice that learning English at a center is less effective than that at some universities, colleges, or international schools, learners at Equest, regardless of their ages, always strive for a good command of English as they are well aware of their learning purposes. Through 10 years of development, Equest has provided a number of learning English programs. Therefore, there are 38 000 learners learning English at Equest in 2013. However, to master English learners need to grasp a lot of different skills such as listening, speaking, reading and writing.
Among these skills, reading is an important one because it does not only help student develop other language skills, but also provides them knowledge on the target language. According to Byrne (1986), “reading is an important way of expanding the students’ receptive 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com knowledge of the language and in terms of classroom activities, it is an effective way of simulating students to talk and write”. In addition, after a master course with methodology subject, I realized that top-down approach with its techniques and characteristics can be applied in teaching language skills effectively, especially in reading skill. All in all, the above has encouraged the writer of the thesis to carry out the study entitled “A study on the use of top-down approach to improve reading skill for learners at Equest English Centre”.
Hypothesis This study is designed to test the following hypothesis: “Top-down approach helps to enhance reading comprehension for learners at Equest English Centre”. Aims of the study This study is carried out to aim at: - Investigating the effects of using top-down t approach in teaching reading to learners at Equest English Center. - Investigating the teachers‟ and learners‟ perceptions regarding reading activities using top-down approach. - Formulating pedagogical implications and making suggestions for improving the teaching and learning of the reading skill at Equest English Center.
Scope of the study In this study, the investigator intends to use top-down techniques to help learners at Equest English Center to improve their reading skills. These techniques were experimented over a period of one course and were applied in the three stages of a reading lesson: pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading. Due to the limited time, the researcher could not implement the research for a longer period of time 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com and on a larger population. The sample population is 50 freshmen from two classes of the same English proficiency level.
Methods of the study To achieve the aims mentioned above, quantitative method has been chosen for the study. Data for analysis in this study are gained through the following sources: - Pre-test and post-test - Survey questionnaires 6. Design of the study This minor thesis consists of three parts: Part A: Introduction which presents the rationale, aims, research questions, scope and methods of the study. Part B: Development which is divided into 3 chapters: - Chapter 1: “Literature review”, sets up theoretical background that is relevant to the purpose of the study.
- Chapter 2: “Methodology”, shows the setting, the subjects, the methods, the way to collect data and the effects of using top-down approach in teaching and learning reading skill at Equest English Centre. - Chapter 3: “Findings, Discussion and Implication”. In this chapter, the findings and some discussions are shown. The implication of the study also includes some suggestions to improve reading skills for learners at Equest English Centre.
Part C: Conclusion which summarizes the key issues in the study, points out the limitations and provides some suggestions for further study. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter is primarily concerned with the theory on reading, including some definitions of reading as well as reading comprehension and types of reading. This will be followed by a review of teaching reading skill, consisting of principles of teaching reading, common methods of teaching reading and stages of a reading lesson. The next part presents a review of definition of top-down approach, the differences between top-down and bottom-up approach, and the top-down techniques in teaching reading.
Theory on Reading 1. Definitions of Reading For many students, reading is a very important skill. Concerning the role of reading, Anderson (1999) confirms that “the more exposure the student has to language through reading, the greater the possibilities that overall language proficiency will increase”. There are a numerous definitions of reading which range from simple to complex ones.
Each researcher focuses on different aspects of the teaching and learning process.