1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG THÚY THE EFFECTS OF USING INTERNET-BASED MATERIALS IN DEVELOPING LEARNER AUTONOMY IN LEARNING ENGLISH READING SKILL FOR STUDENTS AT MY HAO HIGH SCHOOL, HUNG YEN Hiệu quả của việc sử dụng tư liệu trên Internet để phát huy tính tự chủ trong việc học kĩ năng đọc hiểu tiếng Anh của học sinh trường trung học phổ thông Mỹ Hào, tỉnh Hưng Yên MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 SUPERVISOR: DO BA QUY, MEd. HANOI – 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 1. Aims of the study 4 3. Methods of the study 5 5.
Scope of the study 6 6. Organization of the Thesis 6 PART II: DEVELOPMENT 7 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 7 1.1 Definitions of reading 7 1.2 Why develop learner autonomy ? 9 1.3 Characteristics of autonomous learners 10 1.4 The role of teachers in learner autonomy ? 11 1.3 Internet-based reading materials 12 1.1 Internet-based reading materials improve reading comprehension 12 1.2 Types of internet-based reading 14 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.3 Criteria for choosing Internet-based reading materials 17 1.4 Considerations in using Internet-based materials 18 1.4 Summary 18 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODS 19 2.3 Data collection instrumentation 20 2.2 Questionnaire 2 21 CHAPTER 3: DATA AND DATA ANALYSIS 22 3.1 Students‟ motivations, learning experiences and attitudes towards learning reading 22 before the experiment.2 Students‟ attitudes and ability after the experiment: Questionnaire 2 30 CHAPTER IV: MAJOR FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 36 4.2 Suggestions for the using of internet-based reading materials 37 PART III: CONCLUSION 39 1. Limitations and suggestions for further study 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 7 PART A: INTRODUCTION This part introduces the rationale, the aims, the research questions, the methods and the scope of the study. It concludes with a presentation of the organization of the thesis.
Rationale for the study In all of the educational contexts in Vietnam (including primary, secondary, and higher education), no significant steps are being undertaken to promote autonomous language learning within and beyond the classroom, and learning is mainly directed and evaluated by the instructors. With the predominance of teacher-led English language instruction in Vietnam, learners are seen as passive receivers of new information and are, therefore, unlikely to develop the necessary skills to learn how to assess and control their own progress. In such cases, learners do not sufficiently develop the skills to perform real-life communicative tasks effectively. Consequently, although Vietnamese learners are more and more highly motivated to learn English for socio-cultural and economic reasons, teacher feedback and classroom observation at various institutions lead to the conclusion that their proficiency in English is not at the desired level.
In such a context, Vietnamese learners need to develop a critical awareness of language learning and learning communication. These are the main considerations of learner-centred language curricula which promote language learning autonomy as proposed by Brindley (1990), Coleman (1988), the Council of Europe (2001), Hutchinson and Waters (1988), Munby (1991), Nunan (1989), and Wilkins (1976). The Common European Framework (CEF) (Council of Europe 2001) further elaborates upon the concept of language learning autonomy, describing in a comprehensive way what language learners have to learn to do in order to use a language for communication and what knowledge and skills they have to develop to act effectively as autonomous learners. Of the four language skills, reading seems to be the most important one because in the learning process, it helps students develop other skills and provides knowledge on the target language.
Educational researchers have found that “there is a strong correlation between LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 8 reading and academic success”. In other words, a student who is a good reader is more likely to do well in school and pass exams than a student who is a weak reader. Being aware of the importance of learning reading, authors of new English 11 have chosen interesting topics for reading lessons with the aim to promote students in reading and improve their reading comprehension. However, some of them are not familiar with students, genres and contents of the readings in the textbooks only are not enough to enhance students‟interest in reading and reading comprehension.
From the researcher‟s teaching experience, successful reading depends on many factors such as reading stratergies for processing the text, background knowledge and linguistic competence. Thus, besides the reading texts in the textbooks students need to read more outside the classroom to enrich their vocabulary as well as their background knowledge. That means students must read extensively. Through daily conversations with the teachers and students, the reseacher has found that the main reasons why students are not interested in reading lessons are their lack of background knowledge as well as vocabulary about the topics they are reading.
Some topics are unfamiliar, some others are boring so the students find it difficult to understand them. Some students say that there are texts that they have read several times without understanding anything. Moreover, time for reading lesson at high school is limited. There are 3 English lessons every week.
In five or six lessons, there is only one for reading, it means that there is not much time for reading. In extra classes at school the teachers tend to pay more attention to grammar exercises. The students have opportunities to practise vocabulary but in separated sentences, not in reading texts. Because teaching reading is time consuming, the teachers often neglect it.
Large class size adds to the difficulties the students encounter in the reading lessons. Another important reason is their lack of motivation. „Practice makes perfect‟, that is the reason why teachers have to find ways to enhance students to read more so that they can improve their reading ability. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 9 Materials for extensive reading are available everywhere.
But Internet-based materials seem to be the most suitable for high school students. There are several reasons for choosing Internet-based materials. First of all, in recent years, the use of the World Wide Web (WWW) as a resource for language learning materials has gained increasing popularity among language teachers and learners. The Internet can now be used for supplementing and reinforcing what we do in the classroom as well as providing rich opportunities whereby students can start learning languages on their own.
Moreover, students generally have positive feelings about learning languages via the Internet. For example, Kung and Chuo (2002) conducted a study of students‟ attitudes towards learning English through websites. Despite some difficulties encountered, they found that students had an overall positive attitude to using websites in their learning of English. Secondly, the Internet facilitates individualization of instruction and introduces a more interesting platform to learn by incorporating multimedia into the process (Soboleva, & Tronenko, 2002).
Thirdly, it enhances the accessibility of information, language materials in this case, as well as offering various ways to connect with the target speech community (Warschauer, 1996). Unlike traditional textbook-based teaching, language materials on the Internet can be updated periodically. Recent literature on methodological and pedagogical considerations requires language learners to become active participants in the process rather than passive recipients of information. In this age of information explosion, language learners are encouraged to be explorers and creators of language, and assessors of their own linguistic progress (Brown, 2001; Su & Kinshuk, 2002).
Two other important aspects are the issues of learner autonomy and motivation. Learner-oriented Internet-based language teaching materials demand that the individual background of learners, their needs, and learning styles are accommodated (Soboleva, & Tronenko, 2002). In other words, learner-directed language instruction provides learners with the control of choosing materials, sequencing it, as well as deciding on the pace of delivery (Su & Kinshuk, 2002). Communicative language teaching and learner autonomy have become increasingly important for language teachers in the last few decades.
Students are no longer expected to memorize LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 10 lists of grammar rules and vocabulary items but to understand and convey meaning with an adequate knowledge of the form, use, and appropriacy of the language (Brown, 2001). They do not need to be spoon-fed all the time. Mistakes are natural in the language acquisition process and learners are encouraged to be willing to learn and to take responsibility for their own progress. Finally, students at this age are curious and they like reading something new, atractive and linked with modern technology.
Internet-based materials are plentiful with various topics. In fact, at My Hao High school, teaching and learning reading are mostly based on textbooks. Therefore, the sutents don‟t seem to be interested in reading lessons. Many of them find reading difficult and boring and even some are afraid of reading.
After reading a text, they don‟t understand much about its content or they misunderstand the author‟s ideas. As a high school teacher, I think that something has to be done about raising students‟interest in reading and helping them comprehend the texts better. This minor study is inspired from the idea that whereas many educators enthusiastically embrace the use of Internet-based reading materials, little theoretical and empirical research exists that demonstrates how Internet-based reading materials are useful in improving high school students‟ reading comprehension skills and how to organize Internet-based reading activities effectively. Moreover, when seeking for materials to design the lessons, I realise that Internet is a useful source of information for high school students to increase their background knowledge.
And that‟s the reason why I decided to choose the topic “The Effects of Using Internet-based Materials in Developing Learner Autonomy in Learning Reading Skill for Students at My Hao High School, Hung Yen”. In light of these circumstances, this paper will investigate whether Internet-based materials are effective in developing learner autonomy in learning reading skill for students at My Hao High School, Hung Yen. To achieve this goal, the study will focus on the exploration of factors that affect the students‟ reading comprehension in My Hao High school, whether they are able to set language learning goals and work towards them, how the Internet-based reading materials used within and beyond the classroom promote autonomous learning. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Aims of the study This study aims at improving the quality of teaching/learning to read English as a second language for grade 11 students at My Hao high school by using Internet-based materials. To achieve this aim, the study sets out to obtain the three following specific objectives: 1. To investigate the situation of learner autonomy in learning reading among high school students in My Hao high school. To apply Internet-based materials in teaching reading and find out how effective they are in helping develop learner autonomy in learning reading skill.
To offer recommendations for the application of Internet-based materials to improve learner autonomy in reading comprehension skill of grade 11 students in My Hao high school. Research questions In order to achieve the mentioned aims, the study is intended to find answers to the following questions: 1. What is the current situation of students‟autonomy in learning reading? 2. What are the effects of Internet-based reading materials on the level of students‟autonomy? 3.
What are the recommendations for improving learner autonomy in learning reading at My Hao high school? 4. Methods of the study With the aim of finding out the role of Internet-based reading materials in helping improve learner autonomy in learning reading comprehension skill for students in high school, a survey approach is adopted for this study. Participants will be 48 students of class 11A12 of My Hao high school. First, interviews will be conducted on a group of 24 students.
These students will be randomly selected among the students of class 11A12.