Luận văn thạc sĩ VNU ULIS developing pre reading tasks with first year students of english major division, department of social science, vinh phuc college an action research

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

VŨ QUỲNH HOA

DEVELOPING PRE-READING TASKS FOR FIRST-YEAR
STUDENTS OF ENGLISH-MAJOR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT
OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, VINH PHUC COLLEGE: AN ACTION
RESEARCH PROCESS
(NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC PHÁT TRIỂN HOẠT ĐỘNG GIAI
ĐOẠN TRƯỚC KHI ĐỌC CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CỦA TỔ
NGOẠI NGỮ, KHOA XÃ HỘI, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĨNH PHÚC)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2016

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VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

VŨ QUỲNH HOA

DEVELOPING PRE-READING TASKS FOR FIRST-YEAR
STUDENTS OF ENGLISH-MAJOR DIVISION, DEPARTMENT
OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, VINH PHUC COLLEGE: AN ACTION
RESEARCH PROCESS
(NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC PHÁT TRIỂN HOẠT ĐỘNG GIAI
ĐOẠN TRƯỚC KHI ĐỌC CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT CỦA TỔ
NGOẠI NGỮ, KHOA XÃ HỘI, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG VĨNH PHÚC)

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Supervisor: Dr. Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã

HANOI – 2016

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DECLARATION
I certify that the work contained in this thesis is the result of my own research, and
this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or
institution.
Hanoi, January 2016
Signature

Vũ Quỳnh Hoa

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am indeed thankful to my supervisor, Dr. Vũ Thị Thanh Nhã, whose
sympathetic guidance has been the source of inspiration and knowledge for my
research. I am also grateful to other teachers of the Department of Post-Graduate
Studies for their encouragement and valuable advice.
I have profound regards for all the teachers of English-major Division of
Vinh Phuc College and for all of the English-major freshmen of the class 18 who
spent their precious time on completing my survey questionnaire. Without their
enthusiastic cooperation, my thesis would not have been completed.
My great thanks are also given to my family and my friends who have
constantly supported, inspirited and encouraged me during the process of my study.

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ABSTRACT
This action research focused on finding out the primary problem related to
using pre-reading tasks; hence, the major purpose of the study aimed to develop
pre-reading tasks for improving students‟ reading performance. The research was
conducted with first-year students of English-major Division, Department of Social
Science, Vinh Phuc College. Data were collected through 4 observed lessons and
two sets of survey questionnaire delivered to 32 freshmen of the class 18 English
after the lessons. The research findings revealed the problem of ineffective use of
pre-reading tasks in reading lessons as well as its causes and effects on students‟

reading performance. Finally, I also presented suggestions for developing prereading tasks that the teachers have used in their reading lessons for improving
students‟ reading performance.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
AR: Action Research
No: Number of students
Ss: Students

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LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 1: Action research procedure
Figure 2: Simple action research model (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2008, p.278)
Figure 3: Detailed Action Research Model (Susman, 1983)
Table 1: Students‟ assessment on the first lesson
Table 2: Students‟ assessment on pre-reading tasks used in the first lesson
Table 3: Reasons for effectiveness and ineffectiveness of pre-reading tasks
provided by the students
Table 4: Students‟ assessment on exercises and tasks at the while and post reading
stages in the first lesson
Table 5: Students‟ suggestions about efficient pre-reading tasks in the next reading
lesson

Table 6: Students‟ assessment on the first try-out lesson
Table 7: Students‟ assessment on pre-reading tasks used in the first try-out lesson
Table 8: Reasons for effectiveness of pre-reading tasks provided by the students
Table 9: Students‟ assessment on exercises and tasks at the while and post- reading
stages in the first try-out lesson

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION .............................................................................................. i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................ ii
ABSTRACT .................................................................................................... iii
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................... iv
LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES............................................................ v
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................... vi
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................. 1
1.1. Rationale .........................................................................................................1
1.2. Aims of the Study ...........................................................................................2
1.3. Research questions .........................................................................................2
1.4. Significance of the Study ...............................................................................2
1.5. Scope of the Study ..........................................................................................2
1. 6. Method of the research .................................................................................3
1. 7. Design of the study ........................................................................................3

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ..................................... 5
2.1. Introduction ....................................................................................................5

2.2. Theoretical background of reading ..............................................................5

2.2.1. Definitions of reading.................................................................... 5
2.2.2. Types of reading ............................................................................ 6
2.3. Teaching and learning reading skills ...........................................................9

2.3.1. The importance of reading in foreign language learning .......... 9
2.3.2. Stages of a reading lesson ........................................................... 10
2.4. Theoretical background of pre-reading tasks ...........................................11

2.4.1. Overview of pre-reading tasks ................................................... 11
2.4.2. Pre-reading Tasks ....................................................................... 12
2. 5. Summary ......................................................................................................16

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CHAPTER 3: THE METHODOLOGY ..................................................... 17
3.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................17
3.2. Situation analysis .........................................................................................17

3.2.1. Setting of the study ...................................................................... 17
3.2.2. Reading materials........................................................................ 17
3. 3. Participants ..................................................................................................20

3.3.1. The researcher ............................................................................. 20
3.3.2. The observed students ................................................................ 21
3.3.3. The researcher’s assistants ......................................................... 21

3.4. Data Collection Instruments .......................................................................21

3.4.1. Questionnaire............................................................................... 21
3.4.2. Classroom observations .............................................................. 22
3.5. Methods of Data Analysis ..........................................................................23
3.6. Research Method – Action research (AR) .................................................23

3.6.1. Definitions of AR ......................................................................... 23
3.6.2. Action research model ................................................................ 24
3. 7. Summary ......................................................................................................26

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS ............................................................................ 27
4.1. Introduction ..................................................................................................27
4. 2. Findings ........................................................................................................27

4.2.1. Cycle 1 .......................................................................................... 27
4.2.2. Cycle 2 .......................................................................................... 36
4.2.3. Cycle 3 .......................................................................................... 37
4. 3. Summary ......................................................................................................37

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 39
5. 1. Introduction ................................................................................................39
5.2. Discussion .....................................................................................................39
5.3. Implications ..................................................................................................40

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5.3.1. Employing pre-reading tasks suitable for students’ interests 40
5. 3.2. Varying pre-reading tasks ......................................................... 40
5. 3. 3. Pedagogical use of pre-reading tasks ...................................... 40
5. 3. 4. Improving the pre-reading tasks in the text book ................. 41
5. 4. Limitations and suggestions for further study .........................................41

REFERENCES .............................................................................................. 42
APPENDIXES .................................................................................................. I

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
In colleges, English has been a compulsory subject in the curriculum.
Attention is given to all of the four English skills including reading, listening,
speaking and writing. However, reading plays an important role in enriching the
student‟s general knowledge and in developing their further study later. In
highlighting the importance of reading, Langer (1981, p.153) stated that “reading is
the most important activity in any language class, not only as a source of
information and pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating and
extending one‟s knowledge of the language.” Moreover, reading helps students learn
other skills better. Reutzel (1985), for example, acknowledge that anyone who
reads more has various vocabularies and receives marks better for grammar and
writing tests. Also, Carrell (1984, p.1) confirms that, by far, for numerous students,
in English as a second language, reading plays the most crucial role of the four
skills. Teaching reading, consequently, has attracted greater attention. However, in
reading classes, it is common that students do not absolutely know about topic of the

text they are reading about. Thus, pre-reading stage in each reading lesson becomes
indispensable for introducing and for arousing interest in the topic; for motivating
learners by giving a reason for reading and for providing some language preparation
for the text (Williams, 1986, p.37).
At Vinh Phuc College, where I work, teaching reading is extremely essential
in developing all of the four basic English skills for students. As a teacher of
English here, I am teaching reading skill to first-year students of English-major
division, Department of Social-Science. I realize pre-reading stage in each lesson
has significant effects on the students‟ reading performance. However, using prereaching tasks in each pre-reading stage is far from satisfactory. In other words, prereading tasks I used in each reading lesson had not led to effective performance.
These tasks were so not only simple but also ineffective that they could not
motivate students for reading, provide prior knowledge or build necessary
background for comprehending the text. Therefore, I decided to carry out the action
research to develop pre-reading tasks for first-year students of English-major
Division, Department of Social-Science, Vinh Phuc College. Based on the findings
of this action research, some changes and improvements can be applied in my
lessons, and some appropriate strategies need to be designed with the hope that
students will work more effectively in a reading lesson. I hope that the findings of
this study will be shared with other teachers who have experienced similar
problems.

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1.2. Aims of the Study
The main purpose of the study is to develop pre-reading tasks in reading
lessons for English-major freshmen at Vinh Phuc college. Specifically, it aims at:

finding out the problems the first-year English-major students at Vinh Phuc

College encountered in pre-reading tasks.

giving the teacher‟s solutions for these problems and emphasizing on the
effects of the intervention on the students.

providing the implications for developing pre-reading tasks to improve
students‟ reading performances.
1.3. Research questions
The above aims of the study can be realized by the following research
questions:
1. What problems did the first-year English-major students at Vinh Phuc College
encounter in pre-reading tasks?
2. What could the teacher do to solve these problems? What were the effects of the
intervention on the students?
3. What were the implications for developing pre-reading tasks to improve students‟
reading performances?
1.4. Significance of the Study
Theoretical significance of the study:
The study synthesized the problems related to using pre-reading tasks in
reading lessons and their effects on students‟ performance. Furthermore, the
research suggested how to effectively develop pre-reading tasks to improve
students‟ reading performance.
Practical significance of the study:
The study is expected to improve using pre-reading tasks in reading lessons
at Vinh Phuc College. Based on some findings of the study, some suggestions of
developing effective pre-reading tasks are given for teachers and students to
enhance students‟ reading performances.
1.5. Scope of the Study
Although there are various factors that influence the students‟ reading
performance in reading lessons, I only focus my study on one of these factors – i.e.

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developing pre-reading tasks effectively to improve students‟ reading performance
in reading lessons. The study was conducted at course 18 English in 4 lessons. Each
lesson lasted 4 periods (45minutes/ period).
1. 6. Method of the research
The research method I used is the action research. The study was carried out
with the process adapted by Tsui (1993) including five concrete steps: identifying
problems, finding causes of the problem, designing strategies for improvement
(plan for action) and writing a proposal for action research, trying out the strategies
(action) and evaluating the try-out. These steps were grouped into four phases in the
following figure
(1) DIAGNOSING
Identifying the
problem & its causes

(2) ACTION PLANNING
designing strategies for improvement
writing a proposal for action research

(4) EVALUATING
evaluating the try-out

(3) TAKING ACTION
trying out the strategies

Figure 1: Action research procedure
These steps were described more concretely in the chapter 3 on methodology
1. 7. Design of the study
The main body of this thesis consists of five chapters:
Chapter 1: Introduction: presents the rationale, the aims, the significance, the
scope, the method and the design of the study. Herein, the research questions are
also raised.
Chapter 2: Theoretical background: provides the definition of related concepts
and reviews the related works that compose the theoretical background of the study.

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Chapter 3: The Methodolody: presents situation analysis, identifies the research
method and gives detailed descriptions of the data collection tools (survey
questionnaire and classroom observation), methods of analysis as well as the
participants of the study.
Chapter 4: Findings: presents, analyzes the findings of the research.
Chapter 5: Conclusion: summarizes the discussion of research findings, gives
some teaching implications, and discusses the limitations of the study as well as
suggestions for further research.

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CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1. Introduction
This chapter reviews the theoretical issues of pre-reading tasks divided into
three sections: the theoretical background of reading, teaching and learning reading
skills and the overview of pre-reading tasks. The first one discusses the theoretical
background of reading including definitions of reading, types of reading. The
second section focuses on teaching and learning reading skills consisting of
importance of reading in foreign language learning and stages of reading lesson.
The third one emphasizes on the theoretical background of pre-reading tasks which
comprises an overview of pre-reading tasks and a classification of these tasks.
2.2. Theoretical background of reading
2.2.1. Definitions of reading
There are various definitions of reading. Herein, I also would like to mention
different points of view on the definition of reading.
In the simple way, Ur (1996, p.138) defines that “reading means reading and
understanding”. In other words, specifically, reading is regarded as a process in
which the readers look at the reading text and receive the significance of the
message from the text (Williams, 1984 and Aebersold and Field, 1997).
Another interesting definition of reading by Harmer (1989) is that reading is
considered as an exercise with the eyes and the brain. The brain works to understand the
message from the reading text after this message is received by the eyes.
A definition of reading is offered by Rubin and Thomson (1994, p.91),
“reading is an active information-seeking process in which readers relate
information in the text what they already know”. From this point of view, both the
reader‟s knowledge of the language and their background knowledge play the
significant role for their reading success.
Reading is also defined as the interaction between the reader and the author.
According to Smith (1978, p.102), “reading is understands the author‟s thought”.
He also explained that “it means that we-the readers-read the author‟s mind not the
author‟s words”. In addition, reading is described in a more extensive way: “reading
is understanding written language”, “reading is a complex mental process”,

“reading is thinking” (Roe, Stood and Burns, 1987, p.2).
In short, from these theories above, it is obvious that no definition can likely
consist of all aspects or features of the definition of reading. Each linguist‟s

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definition only reflects what reading means as seen from his own point of view.
However, they all focus on the nature of reading.
2.2.2. Types of reading
According to Brown (1989), there have been several types of reading. These types
may be categorized as follows:
A. Oral
B. Silent
I.
Intensive
II.
Extensive
a. Skimming
b. Scanning
2.2.2.1. Oral reading
Doff (1988, p.70) states that oral reading involves “looking at the text,
understanding it and also saying it. Its purpose is not just to understand a text but to
convey the implication to someone”. From this point of view, oral reading is not
only the simple way of reading the text aloud, but it also is an effective way to
convey the significance of the text to someone.
Oral reading has both advantages and disadvantages. According to Natal
(1966), oral reading is regarded as an effective method for learners to improve their

pronunciation. It helps learners to make the connection between sounds and spelling
of letters and words and also assists the teacher to check learners‟ pronunciation.
Moreover, it is a technique for him to keep the class under control, since when one
student reads aloud, the others are asked to listen in case they may be required to
continue the reading.
However, Greenwood (1985) provides some disadvantages of oral reading.
The biggest problem of oral reading is that students may unable to focus adequately
on the text‟s meaning when they highly concentrate on pronouncing the words. In
other words, when reading aloud, students only focus on the pronunciation instead
of the meaning of the text. The second disadvantage is that when students take turn
to read a text aloud, only one student is active; the others do not have to read. It can
be inferred that there is little value in reading aloud for improving the readers‟
reading skills. Therefore, the teachers as well as educators should identify the level
of their students and decide whether to apply reading aloud or not in teaching
reading to their students.
2.2.2.2. Silent reading
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According to Doff (1988, p.67), “silent reading involves looking at sentence
and understanding the message it conveys, in other words making sense of a written
text. It does not normally involve saying the words we read nor even silently in our
heads”. When reading silently, students not only understand the message of the text
but also get the main ideas of the text for answering the questions.
In conclusion, silent reading is an effective skill for reading process in
general and reading comprehension in particular, since the teacher can check his or
her students‟ understanding easily and can adjust the reading materials and
exercises to suit the students‟ ability. Moreover, students also mainly focus on the

meaning of the text instead of pronunciation. Therefore, it should be applied in
teaching and learning a foreign language.
Within the category of silent reading, the two types of reading named are
intensive and extensive reading. Intensive reading is used to teach or practice
specific reading strategies or skills. The text is treated as an end in itself. Extensive
reading on the other hand, involves reading of large quantities of material, directly
and fluently. It is treated as a means to an end. It may include reading simply for
pleasure or reading technical, scientific or professional material. It can be concluded
that they are two contrasting ways of reading; however, actually, they are
complementary and both are necessary.
2.2.2.2.1. Intensive reading
Nuttall (2000, p.38) points out that “intensive reading involves approaching
the text under the guidance of a teacher or a task which forces the student to focus
on the text”. In other words, intensive reading is described as a classroom-oriented
activity in which the teacher guides his students mainly to focus on the text.
Another definition of intensive reading provided by Grellet (1981, p.41) is
that “intensive reading means reading short text to extract specific information. This
is an accuracy activity in involving reading for detailed”. Another author, Brown
(1990, p.297) has pointed out that reading “recalls students‟ attention to
grammatical forms, discourse markers, and other surface structure details for the
purpose of understanding literal meaning, implications, rhetorical relationships, and
the like”. From these points of view, we can infer that the objective of intensive
reading is to achieve a full understanding of the text not only of what it means but
also of how the meaning is produced. Through intensive reading, the reader must
arrive at a profound and detailed understanding of logical arguments, the rhetorical
arrangement, the pattern of the text, the attitude and purposes of the writer. In other

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words, intensive reading is reading for accuracy which is essential to the students‟
comprehension.
2. 2.2.2.2. Extensive reading
Grettle (1981, p.4) confirms: “extensive reading means reading longer text,
usually or one‟s own pleasure. This is a fluency activity mainly involving general
understanding”. Carrell and Carson (1997, p.49-50) share the same view point of
extensive reading with Grettle; they state that “extensive reading generally involves
rapid reading of large quantities of material or longer reading for general
understanding, with the focus generally on the meaning of what is being read than
on the language”. Thus, extensive reading is regarded as a useful activity for
students‟ self-learning. In Brown‟s view point (2001), extensive reading helps
students enrich their language elements because it is one of the key to achieve
reading ability, linguistic competence, vocabulary, spelling and writing.
To summarize, extensive reading is one of the best ways to improve
students‟ reading performance. The reason for this is that extensive reading is
carried out “to achieve a general understanding of a text” (Brown, 1989, p.31).
Basing on the purposes of reading, extensive reading may involve two specific
types of reading, scanning for key details and skimming for the essential meaning.
Firstly, scanning is one of the effective skills commonly used in reading
comprehension. There have been numerous definitions of scanning. According to
Brown (2001, p.308), scanning is defined as “quickly searching for some particular
piece or pieces of information in a text”. Also, Williams (1987, p.7) stated that
“scanning occurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly in order to find a
particular point of information”. From these view points, it is inferred that scanning
is very high speed reading for finding a particular piece of information. Therefore,
scanning is regarded as a useful skill to help the readers to skip over unimportant
words and to focus on searching the details they want. In addition to definitions of
scanning, Grellet (1981, p.19) also provides a more detailed one that “when

scanning, we only try to locate information and often we do not even follow the
linearity of passage to do so, and scanning is far more limited since it only means
retrieving what information is relevant to our purpose”. In brief, these above authors
all have the same point that scanning is a useful technique for quick and efficient
reading. Thus, it can be practiced with the great range of texts such as dictionaries,
maps and labels.
Secondly, based on the theory of skimming made by Brown (2001, p.304),
“skimming consists of quickly running eyes across the whole text for its gist.

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Skimming gives readers the advantage of being able to predict the purpose of the
passage, the main topic, or message, or possibly some of the developing or
supporting ideas”, it can be understood that skimming is also one of the specific
reading techniques necessary for fast and effective reading. Greenwood (1981, p.92)
also shares the same view point with Douglas (2001), he indicates that “the reader
goes through particular passage such as newspaper article merely to get the gist”.
From these two opinions, it can be inferred that skimming is also a skill that enables
readers to get the main idea of the text without any concern for details. In general,
skimming is a very useful reading skill for developing students‟ reading
performance, also it is advisable to apply at the first stage of teaching reading with
the hope that it can help them to have an overview of what they are reading.
Moreover, it will be easier for them to deal with the other tasks that followed.
2.3. Teaching and learning reading skills
2.3.1. The importance of reading in foreign language learning
In the process of teaching and learning English as a second foreign language,
the teaching and learning of reading are always received much attention, since

reading is considered as one of the most basic and important skills as what Carrell
(1984, p.332) indicates: “for many students, reading is by far the most important of
the four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or foreign language”. It is
also true for teaching and learning reading at English-major Division, Department
of Social-Science, Vinh Phuc College. In detail, at our college, teaching and
learning reading is also very crucial because reading is not only one of the most
important skills, but it is also remarkable for developing students‟ other skills.
According to Rivers and Temperly (1978), reading skill is an integrated-language
skill. Firstly, reading helps students enrich vocabulary and grammatical structures,
and improve students‟ performance in summarizing the reading materials. As
Richard (1992, p.4) states that “reading may help to increase knowledge of the
target language through exposure to new vocabulary and grammatical structures”.
Secondly, reading is also concerned for improving listening skill. Rivers and
Temperly (1978, p.259) point out that “listen to worthwhile reading or dramatic
presentation of what they have read. The aural element adds vividness and life to
the reading unit”. They also further state that “practice in direct reading of a text
which is readily accessible to the students at their present level of knowledge, while
they are simultaneously listening to a taped model reading it in meaningful and
expressive segments, can help students develop useful habits of anticipation and
syntactic identification in both of these skills”. Finally, that is integration of reading
and speaking skills. Reading materials are regarded as a useful source for oral
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presentations when students can get information as well as ideas from these
materials for discussion and presentation.
Besides, reading also helps students to approach the target culture. It is stated
by Richard (1992, p.4) as follows: “reading in the new language is also an important

way to learn about the target culture”. In details, reading is regarded as a significant
way for students to get knowledge of the target culture as lifestyle, behaviors,
thoughts, custom of the native people.
In short, “reading is the most important activity in any language class, not
only as a source of information and pleasurable activity, but also as a means of
consolidating and extending one‟s knowledge of the language” (Rivers, 1981,
p.147). In addition, reading also reinforces students‟ other language skills and
becomes a source of interesting knowledge of different culture for students.
2.3.2. Stages of a reading lesson
Many linguists all share the same view point that each reading lesson is
divided into three stages which are pre-reading stage, while-reading stage and postreading stage (William, 1984; Dubin & Bycina, 1991; Phillips, 1985). William
(1984) also indicates that each of these stages carries its own features and requires
different techniques and strategies.
Firstly, pre-reading stage is the first core step of the process of each reading
lesson. It not only creates motivation towards the reading text, but it also provides
students language preparation for the text before they read. In detail, William
(1984) lists three principle purposes of the pre-reading stage. The pre-reading phase
aims to introduce the topic of the reading text and stimulate students‟ interest, to
activate background knowledge and to provide preliminary vocabulary for the
reading. Sharing William‟s view point, Doff (1988) suggests several tasks in the
pre-reading phase. The first one is giving a brief introduction to the text. This task
provides students some ideas about the topic of the reading text before reading and
creates motivation with the reading text. The second activity is presenting new
vocabulary and revising grammatical structures whose aims are to provide
vocabulary related to the text and to review the old and new grammatical structures
for better preparation for the while-reading stage. The last task is giving students
guiding questions referring to the general idea of the text to brainstorm about the
topic before they read the text. General speaking, the pre-reading phase is extremely
necessary for an excellent preparation before reading. It can arouse students to focus
on the topic or the reading text. Furthermore, it also provides students vocabulary

and grammatical structures to deal with the text.

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Secondly, the while-reading stage is the main part of a reading lesson with
the following specific aims to help understanding of the writer‟s purpose, to help
understanding of the text structure and to clarify text content (William, 1984, p.38).
The techniques applied in this stage widely vary from guessing new words in
contexts, asking questions to note-taking. Teachers, at the phase, need to encourage
students to understand the text as well as the author‟s purposes conveyed through
the reading text. In conclusion, the while-reading phase plays the important role in
the process of a reading lesson. Therefore, the teacher should create various
activities in the stage for improvement of students‟ reading performance.
Finally, the post-reading phase is regarded as the time for students‟
production. What they produce will reflect how well they comprehend the reading
text. William (1984, p.39) points out that “the post-reading stage is aimed at
consolidating or reflecting upon what has been read and relating the text to the
learners‟ own knowledge, interests or views”. To summarize, this stage is also an
essential for a reading lesson. The teacher, at the phase, need to focus on create
activities for these above purposes. In addition, teacher should not ignore this stage.
2.4. Theoretical background of pre-reading tasks
In this section, I review the theoretical background and various studies
related to pre-reading tasks and present a list of different pre-reading tasks
suggested to conduct at the pre-reading stage. Hence, this section consists of two
main parts, namely, the overview of pre-reading tasks and a classification of various
lead-in tasks for the pre-reading stage.
2.4.1. Overview of pre-reading tasks

According to Ringler and Weber (1984), pre-reading tasks are defined as
enabling ones, since they help the readers get the necessary background for
understanding the reading materials. Another definition of pre-reading tasks
provided by Lazar (1993) is that pre-reading tasks are regarded as ones that provide
students with background knowledge, arouse their interest in the topic of the
reading text and pre-teach vocabulary. In addition, Chen and Graves (1995, p.664)
aslo define pre-reading tasks “devices for bridging the gap between the text‟s
content and the reader‟s schemata”.
It can not be denied that pre-reading tasks play a crucial role in not only motivating
students through the reading lesson, but also developing students‟ reading
performance. After their studies about effects of pre-reading tasks, different
researchers all provide the same view point that pre-reading tasks provide and
activate students background information prior to the reading text (Graves &
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Chen, 1995; Graves & Cooke, 1980; Hudson, 1982; Johnson, 1981, 1982;
Langer, 1984; Maghsoudi, 2012; Stevens, 1982; Taglieber & Johnson &
Yarbrough, 1988). Furthermore, in Chastain„s view point (1988), pre-reading tasks
also arouse students‟ interest in the topic and provide them with language
preparation before reading. In addition, Lewis and Hill (1992) emphasize that prereading tasks are used to make it easier for students to comprehend the text and
help them only focus their attention on the text.
In conclusion, pre-reading tasks are very necessary with three core purposes,
namely, building students‟ background information before reading, arousing
students‟ interest in the topic and providing students some language preparation for
the text before reading.
2.4.2. Pre-reading Tasks
Various researchers have focused on the pre-reading stage such as Bowen

(1982), Lewis and Hill (1985), William (1986), Doff (1988), Swaffar (1991), Moore
(1992), Wallace (1992), Nuttal (2000) and Chia (2001). In their studies, they have
also provided several pre-reading tasks of the first phase of each reading lesson.
2.4.2.1. Giving a brief introduction of the text
It is very essential for teachers to provide an introduction to the topic of an
informative text before students read. A good introduction consists of two main
purposes, namely, establishing a purpose for reading, activating and building
background knowledge. For the first aim, teachers should design appropriate tasks
to match students‟ interest to the content of the reading text, to motivate students to
read the text. Furthermore, the second purpose of an introduction to the text building background knowledge. It means that the introduction can recall any
information students already know about the topic, from their personal experience.
Sharing the same view point, Nuttall (2000) also provides several purposes of a
good introduction to the text, namely, motivating students to read the text,
activating students‟ background knowledge about the topic of the text, involving
students actively and being usually short. Hence, several following pre-reading
tasks are also suggested for a good introduction to the text before reading.
First, pre-reading questions are designed to ask students either orally or written on
the blackboard for introducing to the reading text. Doff (1988, p.61) stated
obviously that these questions are essential for students because “they give the
students a reason to read and to lead them to the main points of the text”. These
questions focus on general ideas of the reading text instead of detailed ideas.
Normally, pre-reading questions should be designed so that students could easily

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find out the answer. Students can work in groups or in pairs to discuss these
questions, this can make students feel excited to try their best for finding out the

answers. Also, this is an effective way to arouse students‟ interest into the topic of
the text. There are several types of pre-reading questions, namely, yes/no questions,
multiple-choice questions as well as „wh‟ questions.
Next, it is advised that visual aids should be used at the first stage of each
reading lesson to introduce the text. Visual aids consist of photographs, videos,
pictures, real objects, flashcards or charts.Visual aids not only provide input for the
lesson, but also keep students‟ attention as well as motivate students to read the text.
However, to make using visual aids more effective, visual aids should be related to
the topic of the reading and of students‟ interests.
In addition, telling a short story is another pre-reading task. It is advised that
the teacher may tell a short story with the topic related to the reading text. The story
is regarded as a brief introduction to the text. In addition, students also feel excited
with the content of the text, which relates to the story the teacher has already told.
Thus, teacher‟s story becomes a good introduction to the text by motivate students
to read the text.
Using games at pre-reading stage is also regarded as another effective way
for introducing to the text. Firstly, games encourage students to sustain their
interests. Also, through games, the teacher can create the new contexts where the
language is useful and meaningful. Several games are suggested to be useful for
introducing to the text, namely, lucky number, crossword and hangman.
Discussion about the topic of the text at the pre-reading is also an appropriate
and necessary technique in order to lead to the reading text. Discussion encourages
students to think about the topic as well as to increase their interests in the text. In
addition, obviously, discussion is very essential not only for the students‟
interaction with each other but also for improving their speaking performance.
Moreover, brainstorming is useful for a good introduction to the text.
Wallace (1992) also points out that brainstorming is considered as one of the most
popular pre-reading tasks. Firstly, this task is designed by giving students key
words. After that, they are asked to list all words related to key words either orally
or written down the paper. Hence, brainstorming can encourage students to remind

of their prior background knowledge to the topic of the text. Also, this task creates
an interesting atmosphere for all students as well as the lesson.
2.4.2.2. Providing some language preparation for the text

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This task is commonly called as pre-teaching vocabulary. Before reading,
teachers provide some new words and grammatical structures appearing in the text
so that students can deal with the text. According to Nuttall (1982), at the prereading phase, to have an efficient way to introducing to the reading text, one of the
most important things teachers need to do is pre-teaching certain key language
items in the reading text, this is better than presenting them as isolated items. In
brief, pre-teaching vocabulary is really needful for a better introduction. It is not
only a good way for students to study all new words and structures of the same
context, but it also gives them language preparation for the text.
Before reading, some pre-reading tasks are suggested for both teachers and
students to pre-teach vocabulary effectively.
Using definitions or explanation is a common way to teach vocabulary.
Normally, the teacher provides definitions or explanation of the new words and
structures, this not only helps students catch the meaning of vocabulary but also
aids them to study all new words and structures of the same context as well as
arouse their motivation in reading the text. It is advised for the teacher is that he
should provide short and direct definition and explanation of the new words and
structures for the best way of pre-teaching vocabulary before reading.
Another way is using synonyms and antonyms.A new word and structure can
also be defined with their synonyms and antonyms. Therefore, synonyms and
antonyms become useful clues for recalling students‟ background knowledge as
well as pre-teaching new and difficult vocabulary of the unfamiliar topic.

Next,using visual aids is regarded as one of the most effective strategies for
pre-teaching vocabulary.“Visual aids are of great help in stimulating the learning of
a foreign language”(Bowen, 1982, p.1). Students feel extremely excited with
presenting the meaning of vocabulary visually through pictures, real objects,
gestures and facial expressions.
Another effective way for pre-teaching vocabulary is using games. Several
games are also employed for pre-teaching vocabulary at the pre-reading stage. They
are language games such as puzzles, crossword and matching.
2.4.2.3. Previewing tasks
These tasks are considered to be the most useful preparation activities which
encourage students to build their own expectations about the content of the text and
how information in the text will be organized. Swaffar (1991) also indicated that
previewing tasks enable students to predict the content of the text. Sharing the same

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view point with Swaffar (1991), Chia (2001) points out the benefits of previewing
tasks that encourage students to predict or make some educated guesses about
information in the text.
Several tasks are suggested for anticipating the content of the text. They may
include using the title of the text, using questions, reading the introduction and
conclusion paragraphs, using key words, phrases and statements from the text,
reading the first sentence of each of body paragraphs, skimming the text.
The first strategy for anticipating the content of the text is using the title of
the text.Students are asked to work with the title of the text to establish expectations
about the content of the text since the title of the text directly relates to the content
of the text.

Moreover,the teacher uses a list of questions to predict the content of the
text. These questions should be brief and relevant with the topic to help students to
formulate hypothesis about the text. Sometimes, student can create their own
questions about information they would expect to read from the text.
In addition,reading the introduction and conclusion paragraphsenables
students to identify the main ideas to be discussed in the text. Normally, the
introduction paragraph introduces topics discussed in the text, while the conclusion
one frequently repeats the main ideas of the text.
Another strategy is using key words, phrases and statements from the text.By
focusing on several key words, phrases and statements of the text, students can get
vocabulary as well as anticipate information from the reading text. The words,
phrases and statements chosen should relate directly to the main ideas of the text.
Moreover, it is advised for the teacher that he should design relevant tasks with
these words, phrases and statements for students‟ efficient anticipation.
Furthermore, reading the first sentence of each of body paragraphs is also an
effective strategy to predict the content of the text. The first sentence of each of
body paragraphs is the topic sentence of each paragraph, which also sets up the
main idea of the paragraphs. Thence, students can synthesize all of these key ideas
from paragraphs in order to build their own prediction about the content of the text.
The last strategy is skimming the text. Students are asked to read the text
quickly so as to get the gist of the text.
In brief, obviously, pre-reading tasks have had great impact to students‟
reading performance. Consequently, developing pre-reading tasks is extremely
essential for improving students‟ reading skills.
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