VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ DIỆU HUYỀN DEVELOPING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ READING MOTIVATION THROUGH EXTENSIVE READING: THE CASE OF 12TH GRADERS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HA NAM PROVINCE (Phát triển động lực đọc của học sinh trung học phổ thông qua việc đọc thêm: Trường hợp của học sinh lớp 12 tại một trường trung học phổ thông ở tỉnh Hà Nam) M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 8140231.01 HANOI, 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES VŨ DIỆU HUYỀN DEVELOPING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ READING MOTIVATION THROUGH EXTENSIVE READING: THE CASE OF 12TH GRADERS AT A HIGH SCHOOL IN HA NAM PROVINCE (Phát triển động lực đọc của học sinh trung học phổ thông qua việc đọc thêm: Trường hợp của học sinh lớp 12 tại một trường trung học phổ thông ở tỉnh Hà Nam) M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 8140231. Lê Văn Canh HANOI, 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that this minor thesis entitled “Developing high school students’ reading motivation through extensive reading: The case of 12th graders at a high school in Ha Nam Province” is entirely the study of my own work, which has not been submitted before any degree or examination in any other university, and that all the sources I have used or quoted have been indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references. Hanoi, November 2019 Signature Vu Dieu Huyen i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to people who gave me the possibility to complete this master‟s project. First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude and love to my thesis supervisor, Assoc.
Le Van Canh, who has been generous with his feedback, time and patience. It is his invaluable and insightful comments, guidance, and encouragement that helps me fulfill my minor thesis. My sincere gratitude is also extended to all lecturers and staff of Postgraduate Studies for their useful lectures, materials, guidance and enthusiasm during my course. I would like to gratefully acknowledge the support from my colleagues and students, especially students of classes 12A1 and 12A4, who have inspired and guided me in the accomplishment of the study.
Last but not least, I would like to thank my beloved family for their understanding, support and encouragement. Without them, I would not have been able to finish this thesis. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Extensive reading is believed to be one of the effective tools to develop students‟ good reading habit and reading motivation. However, little has been done to measure the effects of extensive reading on leaners‟ reading motivation.
Thus, the present study was conducted under the action research to investigate the effect of extensive reading on learners‟ motivation for reading. The participants were 86 students from classes 12A1 and 12A4 of a high school in Ha Nam Province through an 8-week trial period. In order to collect data for the research, a pre-intervention questionnaire, and post questionnaire were employed. After a preliminary investigation via pre-intervention questionnaire, an extensive reading program was designed and then implemented during 8 first weeks of the first semester of the school year 2019-2020.
The result from post questionnaire showed that there has been great improvement in the students‟ reading motivation. Besides, students also expressed positive attitudes towards this program and their intention to continue this program afterwards. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF ABBREVIATION .vii LIST OF TABLES.
viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Rationale of the study. Aims of the study. Scope of the study.
Significance of the study. Method of the study. Organization of the thesis. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Definition of reading. Roles of reading in second language teaching. Intensive reading vs. Definition of extensive reading.
Characteristics and principles of extensive reading. Constraints on developing an extensive reading program for students. Motivation for reading. Definition of motivation.
Factors affecting students‟ reading motivation in learning a second language. Extensive reading as a motivator to students to read. Previous studies on extensive reading and students’ reading motivation.20 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Overview of action research.
Rationale for the use of an action research. Steps of action research. The research procedures. Data collection instruments.
Data collection procedures. Pre-intervention questionnaire. Data analysis procedure .34 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION. Students‟ self-reports of the frequency of extensive reading assignments.
Students‟ preferred reading material genres and sources of reading materials. Students‟ perceived benefits of extensive reading. Students‟ perceived effects of extensive reading on students‟ reading comprehension and motivation.I v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX 1: PRE-INTERVENTION QUESTIONNAIRE (English version) .I APPENDIX 2: POST-QUESTIONNAIRE (English version). VII APPENDIX 3: AN INTERVENTION COURSE.
XI vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATION GCSE : General Certificate of Secondary Education ELT : English language teaching EFL : English as a Foreign Language vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Chart contrasting intensive and extensive reading (Welch 1997: 53) .7 Table 2: Schedule for an extensive reading program:.30 Table 3: Frequency of extensive reading assignments required by teachers .35 Table 4: Students‟ self-reports of their time spent on extensive reading and reasons of extensive reading .36 Table 5: Students‟ preferred reading material genres and sources of reading materials.39 Table 6: Students‟ perceived benefits of extensive reading .40 Table 7: Students‟ perceived effects of extensive reading on students‟ reading comprehension and motivation .42 Table 8: Students‟ assessment of the benefits of extensive reading .43 Table 9: Students‟ attitudes towards extensive reading program .45 Table 10: Summary of the Research Findings .47 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This part introduces the rationale, the aims, research questions, scope, significance, and research method of the study. This is followed by the structure of the thesis. Rationale of the study Reading is an important activity which provides linguistic input for the development of other language skills. However, I, as a classroom teacher, observed that the majority of students were not motivated to read English outside the classroom.
From my experience, I hypothesized that student‟s motivation and their vocabulary could be the reasons for their unsuccessful reading comprehension. Most of students seemed to be passive and reluctant to read. They were not aware of the benefits of reading to their English language learning. That‟s why they limited their reading to the reading texts in the textbook.
It is documented in the second language learning literature that, if learners only read texts from textbooks, it will be not enough for students who are going to take the 2 in 1 GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education) exams in which reading comprehension texts are much more challenging than texts in the national curriculum, and sometimes are beyond students‟ knowledge and reading skill. Most scholars agree that in language teaching, the use of extensive reading is quite useful to the learning process because it promotes students‟ confidence and motivation and makes the learning process quicker and easier, according to Hedgcock and Ferris (2009). Day and Bramford (1998) also add more points that, through extensive reading, students can develop reading habits, get prepared for further reading and develop some academic skills. More importantly, students develop positive attitudes towards second language learning.
In other words, it is agreed upon that reading extensively provides improvement in attitudes towards further reading. Despite the well-documented benefits of extensive reading, in my teaching context, not much research was conducted regarding the implementation of 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com extensive reading and students‟ reading motivation. This motivated me to undertake this action research project, which was aimed at motivating my students to be more active in extensive reading. Aims of the study This action research was conducted with a view to understanding the influence of extensive reading on students‟ changed reading motivation.
Extensive reading is believed to build up knowledge of vocabulary and structures for reading comprehension. It was hoped that when extensive reading was encouraged, students‟ reading motivation would change and their reading competence would be improved. Research questions This action research was carried out in an attempt to answer the two following questions: - To what extent does extensive reading change high school students‟ reading motivation? - What are the students' attitudes towards the employment of extensive reading materials? 4. Scope of the study The study was conducted on volunteer 12 graders in my two classes during the first semester of the school year 2019-2020.
The research was not aimed at generalizing the results. Rather, the purpose was to help me to understand whether the encouragement and support of students‟ extensive reading changed their reading motivation or not. Significance of the study The findings of this action research project is believed to be useful for the researcher because once completed, the study will provide an insight into the way extensive reading changes students‟ reading motivation. What will be achieved in this research may help teachers highly evaluate reading extensively as a way to improve students‟ reading motivation.
Moreover, the research will be much beneficial to students who would like to improve reading achievement. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Method of the study As the aim of this action research project is to gain understandings of the influence of extensive reading on high school students‟ reading motivation, it fits the purpose of an action research design. As Tsui (1993: 33) pointed out, “action research is a very effective way of helping teachers to reflect on their teaching and to come up with their own alternatives to improve their practice.” The author‟s desire is to measure the development in the students‟ reading motivation before and after applying extensive reading activity.
In order to get data, questionnaires were employed including a pre-intervention questionnaire, and post- questionnaire. The data collected was analyzed and discussed so that reliable findings could be clarified. Organization of the thesis The thesis consists of five chapters: Chapter 1: Introduction: introduces the rationale, aims, research questions, scope, significance, method of the study and organization of the thesis. Chapter 2: Literature review: covers the overview of the literature which includes relevant theoretical background and reviews of related studies concerning reading, extensive reading and the use of extensive reading in developing students‟ reading motivation.
Chapter 3: Research methodology: includes an overview of the approach used to conduct the study including the participants of the study, the instrumentation, the methods and procedures of data collection and data analysis. Chapter 4: Findings and Discussion: demonstrates the findings accompanied by data analysis and discussion. Chapter 5: Conclusion: recapitulates the major findings of the study, represents further recommendations for the implementation of authentic materials and acknowledges the limitations of the study. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter reviews the literature on extensive reading and students‟ reading motivation in foreign/second language learning.
The three main issues that are included in the chapters are the theoretical background of reading, extensive reading and reading motivation. First, the definition, roles and forms of reading are introduced. Next, an overview of extensive reading such as definitions, principles and characteristics of extensive reading and constraints on developing extensive program for learners are precisely analyzed. Last, motivation and motivation for reading definitions, factors affecting students‟ reading motivation in learning a second language, extensive reading as a motivator are also presented in this chapter.