MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY, NGUYEN THI HOA USING VISUAL SCAFFOLDING STRATEGY IN TEACHING READING TO EFL 10 GRADERS MASTER'S THESIS IN TESOL NGHE AN, 2022 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY NGUYEN THI HOA USING VISUAL SCAFFOLDING STRATEGY IN TEACHING READING TO EFL 10 GRADERS FIELD: THEORY AND METHODS OF TEACHING ENGLISH Code: 8.11 MASTER’S THESIS IN TESOL Supervisor : Dr. TRAN BA TIEN NGHE AN, 2022 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP The study titles “Using visual aids as a scaffolding for teaching EFL 10" graders? reading comprehension” which was carried out under the guidance of Dr. Tran Ba Tien, Vinh U versity. T swear that the data presented in this study are my own research and work, and that other theoretical information is cited from clearly documented sources, used with permission, Nghe An, October 2022 Nguyen Thi Hoa ABSTRACT This study is an attempt to investigate the effect of using visual aids as a scaffolding for teaching EFL 10" graders” reading comprehension.
This study was carried out at a high school in Tay Ninh, Vietnam with two groups. To achieve the aims of the study, a ten- week experiment was conducted using pretest-posttest design. One group was selected as the experimental group that was taught reading comprehension using scaffolding strategies and other group was selected as the control group that was taught according to the conventional method ie. without using visual aids as a scaffolding.
The data were collected from pre-test and post-tes This study found that there is a stati ically significant difference in the experimental group. It indicates that teaching by using scaffolding strategies is more effective than the presentation teaching or the Lecture Method teaching. AL the same time, the researcher also conducted pre-experimental questionnaires to both groups to determine the attitudes of all students towards reading skil learning. After the experiment, students of both groups continued to answer the same questions, but the experimental group was asked a few more questions about the visual scaffolding method, The results show that students in the experimental group have a clear change before and after the study in reading comprehension skills.
Hence, it is recommended that teachers should use visual aids as a scaffolding in teaching reading in class for the purpose of improving students’ reading comprehension, ACKNOWLEDGEMED TS First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Dr, Tran Ba Tien for detailed instructions, dedicate help and timely corrections during the time T was doing my thesis. Next, Iam extremely grateful to all the lecturers of Vinh University who were always patient cnough to impart invaluable lessons and helpful comments for me to complete the course, Next, | would like to express my sincere thanks to the administers, teachers, and students of Quang Trung High School for helping me to complete the research, especially my sincere thanks to the two homeroom teachers and the two-class students I collected information for my study. Finally, 1 would like to thank my husband, my family and my friends, who always cared, created favorable conditions and timely encouraged me to overcome difficulties in the process of studying and completing my research. iii Table of Contents STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP.
ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Table of Contents, LIST OF TABLES. LIST OF FIGURE! CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION. Aims of study: 1,3, Research questions 1. Scope of the study 1.
Design of thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.1, The reading process 2. Definition of reading 2. The nature of reading comprehension 2. Levels of reading comprehension.4, What makes reading comprehension difficult? 2.5, The reading process : 2.
Teaching the reading skill 2. Factors affecting EFL learners’ reading ability.2 Difficulties EFL learners have when learning reading.3, Assessing reading ability 2.1 The definition of using visual aids 2.2 The effect of using visual aids.1 The definition of scaffolding iv 2.2 The types of scaffolding .3 Origins of scaffolding metaphor.4 Scaffolding and Cognitive Theory 27 2.1 The introduction of visual scaffolding, 28 2.2 Visual Scaffolding and Cognitive Theory 29 2.3 Visual scaffolding strategies. The general proficiency test.2 Pre-test and post-test. CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.1 General English proficiency test results 4.2 The effects of using visual aids as a scaffolding on students” reading comprehension.3 Results from the questionnaire survey 4.
Discussion and main finding CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION.1 Summary of findings.4 Suggestions for further research REFERENCE ¥ APPENDICES. " 1 sesso EOD APPENDIX D. LIST OF TABLES. 1 Topics in English 10 (Adapted from English 10).
1 The detailed results of general English proficiency test in the two groups : the experimental group and the control group. 2 The general English proficiency test scores of two groups 40 Table 4. 3 The mean and standard deviations of general English proficiency test of the experimental group (group A) and the control group (group B). 4 The detailed results of pre-test in the two groups : the experimental group and the control group 4 Table 4.
5 The pre- test scores of two groups. 6 The mean and standard deviations of reading comprehension scores of both groups in pre-test. 7 The detailed results of post-test in the two groups : the experimental group and the control group 46 Table 4. 8 The mean and standard deviations of reading comprehen: of both groups in post-test.
9 Independent samples z-test on the post-test for both groups. 10 The detailed results about reading comprehension of pre-test and post-test in the two groups : the experimental group and the control group. 11 Comparison reading comprehension scores between the two groups on pre-test and post-test .cccscssssestininnsististiatutatituenenmaasieiteenins 52 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4. 1 Chart of the general English proficiency test scores of the experimental group (group A) and the control group (group B).
2 Results of score ranges in reading comprehension on Pre-test by students from the two groups. AS Figure 4, 3 Results of score ranges in reading comprehension on Post-test by students from the two groups et sans ưu 49 Figure 4. 4 Column chart of the results before and after the experiment. 53 Figure 4,5 Attitudes of experimental group students towards visual aids as a seaffolding (bar chart) 56 Figure 4, 6 Attitudes of experimental group students towards visual aids as a scaffolding (pie chart) 37 viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter includes five different parts : rational, aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study and design of thesis.
This chapter offers an overview of the study.1, Rationale First of all, we all know that the four language skills : listening, speaking, reading, and writing should be mastered by language learners to communicate effectively. However, reading is regarded as the most vital one for students in the classroom context and extracurricular environment (Grabe & Stoller, 2002). It becomes a way to communicate among human being. Humans are able to get a lot of knowledge from.
Reading gets our mind working across different areas. Reading is a neurobiological process that works out our brain muscles. When we read a lot, we undoubtedly learn a lot. Having a diverse set of knowledge will make us a more engaging conversationalist.
The knowledge from reading also helps us to speak to people from different backgrounds and experiences because we can connect based on shared information. Secondly, reading is an activity which engages a text, brain and eye to create a meaning. We could not get any meaning from the text, if we do not take any activity of reading. Reading is also a skill of how an author or a writers tries to communicate or delivers some messages to the readers through a written text.
Mastering reading skill is a must for all of the students who are studying English as a foreign language (Johnson, 2008). Comprehension processes occur in the mind; thus, making it more difficult to offer guidance, support and practice because it is not easy to see the reader's thought. Even though this is the case, research has suggested that comprehension strategies/skills can be taught, and when taught, can develop better processing systems that increase comprehension (e. These comprehension skills are taught and reinforced in a number of ways.
When approaching a text, teachers guide students to think of the title and build ideas about 1 what the text will say. Teachers help their students master the habit of evoking their prior knowledge and information on a subject when they read to enhance comprehension (Walqui, 2006). Thirdly, in recent decades, vi ual aids or visual organizers have been widely applied as the “scaffoldings” (Dixon-Krauss, 1996, p. 19) in the classrooms as well as in the textbooks in order to stimulate the foreign language learners to further interests and attention and, at the most, to enhance the understanding and comprehension of the foreign language knowledge, its language and its culture, However, some teach: when teaching reading comprehension only focus on translation and the meaning of new words, ignoring the context and thinking that this is the only strategy in teaching reading comprehension.
Students receive no other support. Because of those reasons, EFL teachers must apply diversified supports and suggest a variety of suitable reading comprehension strategies so as to help students overcome their difficulties in understanding texts, Last but not least, the students like using technology all the time, if possible. Keeping them motivated and actively participative in class has become a challenging task. Using multimedia audio-visual aids in the English classroom has become @ must if ‘we want to increase the students’ interest, knowledge and proficiency in the English language.
Modern technologies offer possibilities to integrate the visual aids into the. Iam an English teacher with ten years of experience in teaching, I myself find that teaching English is an important phase to prepare students for university education, work, and life. It helps them overcome language barriers and grasp new information and technology. In Vietnam, although English is taught as a foreign language from grade 3 to grade 12, I find that most students have difficulty understanding English texts, T always struggle to push myself to look fora way to help my students comprehend English texts more easily based on their vocabulary and grammar foundation.
With the concerns and reasons mentioned above, I hope the research will make a contribution to improving teaching and 2 learning reading comprehension skill as a foreign language in my school in particular and in Vietnam in general, 1.2, Aims of study : ~ Itis hoped that the findings of this study will contribute to further understanding of the role of using visual aids as scaffolding instruction in improving reading comprehension. If the use of scaffolding proves its effectiveness in improving English language learning, English teachers will have additional instructional techniques that can be used to support students’ learning with understanding, - Teachers may also help their students to find their way to a more interesting and meaningful learning, and teachers may have a clearer view of their role in the classroom, 1. Research questions Based on these above assumptions, the present research is an attempt to investigate the effect of using visual aids as scaffolding instruction on the achievement of Vietnamese EFL 10" graders in reading comprehension. More specifically, the study attempts to answer the two following questions : 1.
How does the use of visual aids as a scaffolding help students to improve 10 graders’ reading comprehension ? 2. What are the students’ attitudes towards the use of visual aids as a scaffolding? 1. Scope of the study This study only focused on using experimental and control group to find more suitable ways in guiding students how to lear reading comprehension skill more effective at a high school in Tay Ninh province. This study was set to investigate the effect of using visual aids as scaffolding instruction on the achievement of tnamese EFL 10" graders in reading comprehension.