MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -------- ∞0∞-------- TRINH THI MY DUYEN THE EFFECTS OF READ-ASK-PARAPHRASE (RAP) STRATEGY ON STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION AT THANH CONG ENGLISH CENTER MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL HO CHI MINH CITY, 2023 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY -------- ∞0∞-------- TRINH THI MY DUYEN THE EFFECTS OF READ-ASK-PARAPHRASE (RAP) STRATEGY ON STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION AT THANH CONG ENGLISH CENTER Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Major code: 8 14 01 11 MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: PHAM HUU DUC, Assoc. HO CHI MINH CITY, 2023 i TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỞ CỘNG HÒA XÃ HỘI CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH Độc lập – Tự do – Hạnh phúc KHOA ĐÀO TẠO SAU ĐẠI HỌC GIẤY XÁC NHẬN Tôi tên là: Trịnh Thị Mỹ Duyên Ngày sinh: 18/10/1993 Nơi sinh: Ninh Thuận Chuyên ngành: TESOL Mã học viên: 1881401110009 Tôi đồng ý cung cấp toàn văn thông tin luận văn tốt nghiệp hợp lệ về bản quyền cho Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Thư viện trường đại học Mở Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh sẽ kết nối toàn văn thông tin luận văn tốt nghiệp vào hệ thống thông tin khoa học của Sở Khoa học và Công nghệ Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh. Ký tên Trịnh Thị Mỹ Duyên ii CỘNG HÒA XÃ Hộ! CHỦ NGHĨA VIỆT NAM Độc lập - Tư do - Hạnh phúc Ý KIÉN CHO PHÉP BÁO VỆ LUẬN VĂN THẠC sỉ CỦA GIẨNG VIÊN HƯỚNG DẢN Giàng viên hướng dẫn:R^7S.
Học viên thực hiện: J^Í. Ngảy sinh: JbMQltâ9. Ijtótt£ỗmISỊẼãA5Z5jĩẨmtósLíẤđ£EãMÌTÊãy. Ý kiến cũa giảo viên hướng dẫn vè việc cho phép học viên.y£N dược báo vệ luận vân trước Hội đồng:.^ Thành phổ Hồ Chi Minh, ngày.b Người nhận xét iii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I certify that this thesis entitled “The effects of the Read – Ask – Paraphrase (RAP) strategy on students’ reading comprehension at Thanh Cong English Center” is my own work.
No materials of other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the thesis. This thesis has not been previously submitted in any other tertiary institution in order to gain any degree. Ho Chi Minh City, 2023 TRINH THI MY DUYEN iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First, I would like to express my deep appreciation to my supervisor, Assoc. Pham Huu Duc, for his encouragement, dedicated instruction and valuable comments to complete this research.
Next, I would like to express my gratitude to forty-three beloved students who agreed to take part in this research. Then, I am really grateful to all my instructors who have taught me in class MTESOL018A with their valuable lessons and my MA classmates at Ho Chi Minh Open University for their support. Finally, I would like to give a big thank to my beloved family members who always support and encourage me during my study. I am especially thankful to my beloved mother and my kind husband for looking after my newborn boy so that I could have time to complete my thesis.
v ABSTRACT Nowadays, learning a foreign language is indispensable for the worldwide integration of almost all nations, including Viet Nam. For Vietnamese students, learning a foreign language is required and beneficial to their future careers. Reading comprehension plays a crucially important role in learning a foreign language. However, learners at Thanh Cong English Center encountered several problems in learning reading and lacking the motivation to read.
This study, therefore, was conducted to investigate whether the application of the Read – Ask – Paraphrase (RAP) strategy had any impacts on learners’ reading comprehension ability and their perceptions after the period of twelve weeks. The study employed the two key data collection instruments of tests and questionnaire. The data were collected from 43 students who attended PET courses at Thanh Cong English Center. The researcher used an independent samples t-test to prove that the disparity between the mean values of the pre-tests and post-tests of both the control group and the experimental group was statistically significant while the questionnaire was used to determine the students’ attitudes.
The study findings demonstrated that the participants experienced remarkable changes in the implementation of the RAP strategy. The students of the experimental group made a considerable progress in their reading comprehension after the treatment while those of the control group did not show the improvement. Additionally, the results showed the participants’ positive perceptions on the application of the RAP strategy in the reading lessons. Key words: reading comprehension, the RAP strategy vi TABLE OF CONTENTS STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .v TABLE OF CONTENTS.
vi LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS .x LIST OF TABLES. xi LIST OF ABBREVIATION. xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Background of the study.
Aims of the study. Statement of the problem. Significance of the study. Overview of thesis chapters .3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
Definition of reading comprehension. Assessment of reading comprehension. The factors affecting reading comprehension in EFL context. The RAP strategy.
Definition of the RAP strategy. The procedures of the RAP strategy. Benefits of the RAP strategy to reading comprehension. The use of the RAP strategy in reading comprehension.
As a while-reading activity. Facilitating knowledge acquisition. Enriching vocabulary mastery. A communicative and interactive activity.
An interactive approach in reading comprehension. The application of the RAP strategy in a reading lesson. Pre-reading stage. While-reading stage.
Post-reading stage. Summaries of previous studies. The RAP strategy’s effects on reading comprehension. The RAP strategy’s effects on learners’ attitudes.28 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.
The measurement instruments. Pretest and posttest. Descriptive data analysis of tests. Descriptive data analysis of questionnaires.
Validity and Reliability .43 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. Research Question 1: To what extent does the RAP strategy affect students’ reading comprehension?. Resemblance of the two groups before the treatment. Distribution of pre-test scores.
Difference between the two groups after the treatment. Distribution of post-test scores. Comparing the improvement in reading ability of the two groups. Research Question 2: What are students’ attitudes towards the use of the RAP strategy in reading lessons at Thanh Cong English Center?.
Checking reliability of the questionnaire. Students’ self-evaluation of their reading skills. Pre-reading skills. While-reading skills.
Post-reading skills. Students’ attitudes towards the RAP strategy. Students’ feelings of the application of the RAP strategy. Students’ opinions about the implementation of the RAP strategy.
Discussion of the findings. Findings on the students’ improvement in reading ability. Findings on the students’ attitudes towards the strategy implementation. Students’ self-evaluation of their reading comprehension and reading skills.
Students’ feelings about the implementation of the RAP strategy .62 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. Suggestions for future research .102 x LIST OF FIGURES AND CHARTS Figure 2.1 How to use the RAP strategy .1 Pre-test score distribution of the two groups.2 The Q-Q Plot of the pre-test scores for the two groups .3 Post-test score distribution of the two groups .4 The Q-Q Plot of the post-test scores for the two groups .5 A comparison of the two groups .51 xi LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 Procedures and principles in strategy instruction .2 The instruction of pre-reading strategy .3 The instruction of while-reading strategy .4 The instruction of post-reading strategy .1 Sample’s Demographic Information .2 Pre-test and Post-test’s structure .1 Descriptive statistics of the pre-test scores for the two groups.2 Independent samples t-test of the two groups before the treatment .3 Tests of normality for the pre-test scores .4 Descriptive statistics of the two groups of the post-test .5 Independent samples t-test for the post-test scores .6: Tests of normality for the post-test scores .7 Reliability statistics of the questionnaire .8 Item-Total Statistics .9 Students’ responses to pre- reading skills .10 Students’ responses to while- reading skills .11 Students’ responses to post-reading skills .12 Students’ responses to the application of the RAP strategy .13 Students’ responses to the implementation of the RAP strategy .58 xii LIST OF ABBREVIATION EFL: English as a Foreign Language CEFR: Common European Framework of Reference GTM: Grammar Translation Method PET: Preliminary English Test RAP: Read Ask Paraphrase 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION This chapter consists of the background of the study and statement of the problem that contribute to the implementation of the research. Additionally, research aims, research questions and significance of the study are presented. The overview of the entire thesis is also included in this chapter.
Background of the study English is currently the most popular second language with so many Vietnamese learners. For many years, English has been taught in Vietnamese schools as a foreign language and has been regarded as a mandatory subject. Therefore, learners are expected to gain mastery of four different skills, namely Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. Within the skills mentioned, reading is a receptive skill that requires students to apply their prior knowledge, experience, and attitude in order to completely absorb the reading text (Adiguzel & Gurses, 2013).
Reading gives students the opportunity to learn more about their background knowledge by absorbing information when they have read. Furthermore, reading English was a basic form of language intake, and a method of actively reconstructing a communication from written language using psycholinguistics (Lee, 2012). Learning to read and spell sight words is among the most crucially important skills required for learners’ academic acquisition. When students are beginning readers, all written words are completely new to them.
In order to read these phrases accurately and proficiently, students must learn how to decode letters into blended sounds or infer words from context, which trains students to automatically read words from memory by sight (Ehri, 2020). However, at Thanh Cong English Center, learners who took the courses at B1 level, based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), were still having trouble in becoming successful readers since it was so difficult for them to entirely understand the reading texts. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine whether or not using the RAP strategy in reading instruction has an impact on students’ reading comprehension. RAP is short for: R: Read a Paragraph; A: Ask yourself what is the main idea and two details; P: 2 Put the main idea into your own words (Surayatika, 2018).
In addition, the researcher is expected to contribute to the positive effect on the instruction of the RAP strategy so as to enhance learners’ reading comprehension. Aims of the study This study was conducted because numerous studies claim that the RAP strategy had a positive effect on EFL learners (e., Afriadeni et at., 2021, Escudero et al., 2019; Flora, 2021; İlter, 2017; Karbalei & Amoli, 2011; Kemp, 2017; Sudarmawan, 2021), however, this approach is not widely applied in classroom environment in Viet Nam. The study’s aims are to determine whether using the RAP approach in reading sessions has an effect on students’ reading comprehension and to find out what they think of it at Thanh Cong English Center. The findings of this study will enable teachers to create an effective learning environment by stimulating students’ interest in reading and enhance their reading proficiency as well as vocabulary acquisition.
Statement of the problem It is found that Vietnamese students were not strategic readers since reading instructions frequently used the traditional Grammar Translation Method (GTM), which places the emphasis on teachers and makes students dependent on them passive readers. Obviously, in Viet Nam context, instructors and students must adhere completely to the curriculum (Le, 2010). The replies to the comprehension questions that follow the texts typically make up a reading activity, and teachers frequently spend minimal time instructing students the reading methods they will need to perform the reading assignments (Nguyen & Trinh, 2011).