An investigation into the use of powerpoint in teaching english reading for grade 7 students at my tho town junior high school dong thap province

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HUE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
------------

LE THI CAM TIEN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF
POWERPOINT
IN TEACHING ENGLISH READING
FOR GRADE 7 STUDENTS AT MY THO TOWN
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, DONG THAP PROVINCE

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY
OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

HUE, 2013


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HUE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
------------

LE THI CAM TIEN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE USE OF
POWERPOINT
IN TEACHING ENGLISH READING
FOR GRADE 7 STUDENTS AT MY THO TOWN
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL, DONG THAP PROVINCE

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY
OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING
CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: PHAM HOA HIEP, D.Ed.

HUE, 2013


BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO
TRƢỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ-ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ
-----------LÊ THỊ CẨM TIÊN

KHẢO SÁT VIỆC SỬ DỤNG
POWERPOINT TRONG GIẢNG DẠY KĨ NĂNG ĐỌC
TIẾNG ANH LỚP 7 TẠI TRƢỜNG THCS THỊ TRẤN
MỸ THỌ TỈNH ĐỒNG THÁP
LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƢƠNG PHÁP
DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH
MÃ SỐ: 60140111

NGƢỜI HƢỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TIẾN SĨ PHẠM HÒA HIỆP

HUẾ, 2013


STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP
I hereby acknowledge that this study is mine. The data and findings discussed in the
thesis are true and have not been published elsewhere.

Author
LE THI CAM TIEN

i


ABSTRACT
This research aims to get to know about teachers‟ perception towards the use of
PowerPoint ( PPT) in teaching reading lessons and students‟ attitudes towards PPT
as well as the difficulties in and suggestion for teaching and learning English
reading with PPT.
The data were collected by means of questionnaires, interviews and
observation with EFL teachers and English students at grade 7 at My Tho town
junior high school. The questionnaires were delivered to 80 students from grade 7
and five English teachers. In addition, interviews were carried out with 2 teachers
and 8 students. Moreover, the researcher also observed two English teachers in two
reading periods.
The findings reveal that the teachers in the study supported the use of PPT in
reading lessons. Therefore, they were able to design much more games and
activities which apply PPT in teaching reading lessons. As the results, the students
became more active, involved and encouraged in the lesson. Essentially,

most

students had positive attitudes toward learning with PPT.
However, the teachers and students in the study faced many difficulties in
conducting teaching and learning reading with PPT. The teachers did not have
sufficient time, ability and health in designing reading lesson with PPT and students
were distracted their concentration on the reading PPT lessons because of small font

size, harmonized colors and encrypted fonts. For better outcomes, there should be
the cooperation between students and teachers at the junior high school.

ii


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Management Board of
Hue University College of Foreign Languages for giving me a chance to study the
M.A thesis.
I would like to send my deepest appreciation to my supervisor Dr. Pham Hoa Hiep
for his insightful guidance and support. Without his professional advice and value
guidance, the completion of this thesis would have been extremely difficult.
I also take the chance to express my deepest gratitude to all the instructors of the
MA class first course who have provided me valuable knowledge during the period
I studied at Tien Giang University. Thank you very much for your assurance and
guidance. You are always the good examples for me to follow.
My special thanks also go to the administrators of My Tho town junior high school
who have givens me the best condition to access the classes to do the research. I am
also owed my thanks to all the students who have enthusiastically took part in the
research.
Finally, I must express my deep thanks to my beloved family, my closed friends and
our classmates, who have given me their best regards, helpful advice as well as
precious support during my study.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ......................................................................... I

ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. II
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................... III
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................... IV
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...............................................................................VII
CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION ............................................................................1
1.1 Background ...........................................................................................................1
1.2 Rationale ...............................................................................................................1
1.3 Research aims ........................................................................................................2
1.4 Research scope ......................................................................................................3
1.5 Thesis structure .....................................................................................................3
CHAPTER TWO - LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................5
2.1 Overview of Microsoft Power Point program.......................................................5
2.1.1 Definition of Microsoft Power Point program?......................................5
2.2 The advantages and disadvantage of Microsoft Power Point program.................6
2.3 Some considerations for designing lesson plan on Microsoft Power Point
program .......................................................................................................................8
2.4 Procedures of designing lesson plans on PowerPoint ...........................................9
2.4.1 Preparing stage: .....................................................................................9
2.4.2 On-computer designing stage .................................................................9
2.4.3 Projecting stage ....................................................................................10
2.5 The use of Microsoft Power Point program in teaching English reading skill. ..10
2.5.1 The use of Microsoft Power point in teaching English .........................10
2.5.2 The use of Microsoft Power Point in teaching English reading skill ...11
2.5.3 The process of designing a reading lesson plan including Microsoft
Power Point ....................................................................................................12
2.5.4 Steps of designing a reading lesson on Microsoft PowerPoint .............13
2.6 The reality of Application Technology in the classroom in Vietnam .................15
2.7 PowerPoint lesson plans using at My Tho Town (MTT) Junior High School ...15
2.8 The previous relevant studies ..............................................................................17

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2.9 Conclusion...........................................................................................................17
CHAPTER 3 - METHODOLOGY ........................................................................18
3.1 Introduction .........................................................................................................18
3.2 Research approach ..............................................................................................18
3.3 Research site........................................................................................................18
3.4 Participants ..........................................................................................................18
3.5 Instruments for Data Collection ..........................................................................19
3.5.1 The Questionnaires ...............................................................................19
3.5.2 The Interview.........................................................................................21
3.5.3 Observation ...........................................................................................22
3.6 Data analysis .......................................................................................................22
3.7 Procedure.............................................................................................................23
3.8 Conclusion...........................................................................................................24
CHAPTER 4- RESULTS ........................................................................................25
4.1 Introduction .........................................................................................................25
4.2 Results from students‟ questionnaires .................................................................25
4.2.1 Students' attitudes towards cognitive learning .....................................25
4.2.2 Students’ interest ...................................................................................26
4.2.3 Classroom interactions .........................................................................27
4.2.4 Students' difficulties ..............................................................................28
4.3 Results of teachers‟ questionnaires and class observations ................................29
4.3.1 Overall information about teachers’ use of PPT ..................................29
4.3.2 Teachers’ design of PPT lesson ............................................................32
4.4 Results from interviews.......................................................................................36
4.4.1 Teacher ..................................................................................................36
4.4.2 Students .................................................................................................39
CHAPTER 5- DISCUSSION, IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSION ...........42

5.1 Introduction .........................................................................................................42
5.2 Summary of the key findings ..............................................................................42
5.2.1 Teachers’ perception of PPT use in teaching reading .........................42
5.2.2 Students‟ attitudes towards PPT use .....................................................43
5.3 Discussions ..........................................................................................................44
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5.4 Implications .........................................................................................................47
5.5 Limitations of study ............................................................................................48
5.6 Suggestions for further research..........................................................................48
5.7 Conclusions .........................................................................................................49
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................50
APPENDICES .........................................................................................................55
APPENDIX 1 ...............................................................................................................55
APPENDIX 1A .........................................................................................................60
APPENDIX 2 ...............................................................................................................66
APPENDIX 2A .........................................................................................................71
APPENDIX 3 ...............................................................................................................75
APPENDIX 4 ...............................................................................................................76
APPENDIX 5 ...............................................................................................................77
APPENDIX 6 ............................................................................................................81
APPENDIX 7 ............................................................................................................83
APPENDIX 8 ............................................................................................................84
APPENDIX 9 ............................................................................................................91

vi


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CD-ROM: Compact Disc Read Only Memory
DOET: Department of Education and Training
ESL: English as Second Language
EFL: English as Foreign Language
IT: Information Technology
MOET: Ministry of Education and Training
MTT: My Tho Town Junior High School
M: Mean score
PPT : PowerPoint
SD: Standard Deviation
SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences

vii


CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
In modern society in Vietnam, English has become more and more popular and
a compulsory subject from primary school to high school in the educational
program. English provides a means of new communication which offers ability to
acquire knowledge and to use it in concrete situations and to be open to new ideas
over the world in order to integrate into the international community.
English taught in high schools helps students develop thinking. Firstly, that is
thinking of language. English helps contribute to take shape and develop dignity of
students. According to general tendency, English has become the means to succeed
in society. It is not only the conditions to apply the job but also the requirements of
society„s many fields so it demands to have ability to communicate others.
Therefore, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has designed the new
textbooks of Grades 6 to 9 and encouraged teachers to use modern methods to teach
students. Specifically, the use of PowerPoint for teaching English at junior high

school and many tools service for teaching such as web-based learning, video
conference systems, and social software has become a must in many schools now.
Nowadays many educational institutions, thus offer e-lectures to their students. An
electronic lesson plan can be defined as a media based lecture including an audio or
video recording, synchronized slides, table of contents and optional complementary
information (e.g., external links), learning materials in one integrated learning
environment.
1.2 Rationale
I choose to conduct a study on the Application of Electronic Lecture in Teaching
English for Grade 7 at My Tho Town Junior High School because of many
reasons:

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Education plays an important role in developing a country. In the recent years, there
have been many decisions and policies of the Party and State push up the
development of Education and Training. Besides changing program in education
levels, the innovative approach is also an important factor in promoting education
up.
When information technology is increasing, the application in teaching and
learning is no longer a distant story. The application of information technology is
expected to be a viable option to impulse the development of education.
In recent years, computers are used extensively in schools as a mean of
teaching with a variety of software. Forms of using computer in teaching are diverse
and rich; however, electronic lesson plan are commonly used today. Electronic
lesson plan can be written in many programming language such as Front page,
Publisher, Violet, Power point. Among them, PowerPoint, which design electronic
lecture on Microsoft Power point, is the easiest. It can efficiently support teaching
and learning English. The use of Power point for teaching presentations has

considerable potential for encouraging presentations that are more professional.
Although there are many achievements from innovation in education, the
application of electronic lectures in teaching English at the school level is still more
crest-fallen with teachers as well as students‟ ways. The effects of that become
controversial problems. In addition, the quality of education is still a hot question.
Therefore, this study is to focus on the actual state of application of electronic
lesson plan in teaching English in our situation and find out solutions so that the
quality of teaching English is improving.
1.3 Research aims
This study will seek to investigate teachers‟ perceptions about the use of
PowerPoint in teaching reading at My Tho Town Junior High School. This study
will concentrate on answering the following questions:

2


1. What are teachers‟ perception of using Powerpoint to teach English reading?
2. What are students‟ attitudes towards the use of PPT lessons in English reading
classes?
3. What are some difficulties in and suggestions for using Powerpoint lesson plans
in teaching and learning English reading?
1.4 Research scope
The research focuses on the situation of teaching reading English and the
current E-learning with PPT for students of grade 7 at My Tho Town Junior High
School.
1.5 Thesis structure
This research consists of five chapters. I would like to summarize as below:
Chapter 1: Introduction: Present a general overview of the study. It states
the reasons, the importance, the aims, and the scope and the organization of the
study.

Chapter 2: Literature review: Offer a literature review of the relevant
materials, which composes of four parts.
Chapter 3: Methodology: Present the thesis design and methodology,
participants, data collection and data analysis.
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion: Report on the findings from the
questionnaires and the interviews with teachers and students at at My Tho Town
Junior High School. The most important part is the explanation about teachers‟
perceptions of using PowerPoint in teaching reading English and students‟ behavior
in reading process with difficulties when using in teaching and learning.
Chapter 5: Conclusion and implication: Summarize the results of the study.
At the same time, this chapter focuses on the implications of the findings and
suggestions for further studies.

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In addition, the appendix of the questionnaires (English and Vietnamese) and the
reference source lists are also included at the end of the thesis.

4


CHAPTER TWO - LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter will first introduce the definitions of some key terms related to the
research. The advantages and disadvantages of Microsoft PPT program are also
presented . Some considerations for designing lesson plan on Microsoft Power Point
program are also included. The chapter continues to discuss the procedures of
designing lesson plan PPT, particularly the use of Microsoft Power Point program
in teaching English reading skill . The chapter will conclude with the discussion of
the situation of the use of PowerPoint at My Tho junior high school and the need

for carrying out this research.
2.1 Overview of Microsoft Power Point program
2.1.1 Definition of Microsoft Power Point program?
Fisher (2003) defined that PowerPoint is a type of presentation software that allows
one to show colored text and images with simple animation and sound. PowerPoint
is just one of many types of presentation software.
Microsoft PowerPoint is not only applied in education but also in business.
Mammadove (2012) asserts that Microsoft Office PowerPoint is a presentation
software that can be used by businesses, teachers, students or trainers for creating
effective presentations.
Last but not least, PowerPoint is an efficient assistant to help both teachers and
students in education because it is a multimedia tool. According to Al-Toutbat
(2006) defined PPT as a software package which includes word processing, desktop
publishing and media playing function used to combined colored text (written in
PPT or pasted in from other sources, such as word processing, documents, Internet,
Compact Disc Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) encyclopedias and others), images
(clip art from galleries, Internet, CD-Rom encyclopedias scanner, digital cameras),
video clips (from Internet, camcorders), and sounds (from Compact Disc (CD),
sound galleries or self-recorded).

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2.2 The advantages and disadvantage of Microsoft Power Point program
Advantages
When using PowerPoint in the classroom, many researchers have found that
PowerPoint‟s ability creates the advantages for students such as comprehension of
lesson, motivates classroom interaction, heightens students interest, provides a
structure and organization to a lesson and helps their teaching because of its timesaving and reusing. For example, Wilmoth and Wybraniec (1998) believe that one
of the most importance outcomes of using PPT to present lesson material is the

contribution to students comprehension. The power of images in helping students
remember the text is especially great if images and text are presented
simultaneously (Mayer, 1997). According to Moody (1998), PowerPoint (PPT) has
become an effective tool to make it possible to combine text and images on the
same frame and it helps many students remember concepts better than text alone.
Furthermore, PPT can increase classroom interaction because teachers spend lesson
time on the board and spend more time facilitating discussion (Wilmoth &
Wybraniec, 1998; Keefe & Willet, 2004; Daniels et al.,2008). As a result, students‟
talking time is increased (Moody, 1998; Lowry, 1999) and teachers free up a lot of
time for students to practice.
One of the main advantages of PPT is that it provides a structure and organization
to a lesson (Holzl, 1997). It aids the order and spacing of the lesson (Hlynka &
Mason, 1998) and makes it easier for teachers to present clear summaries. In some
case, students cannot read the teacher‟s handwriting and/or take confusing notes
(Pence, 1997). In a word, PPT lesson provides a structure framework of session
content (Holzl, 1997).
In other word, advantage of PPT is its ability to heighten student interest. PPT can
make lesson material more interesting, enjoyable and visually stimulating (Wilmoth
& Wybraniec, 1998). According to Wang (2005), in language teaching and learning

6


using modern teaching equipment like PPT can help teachers create a pleasant,
lively and interesting atmosphere for students.
Moreover, Roblyer (2006) noted that because PPT is readily easy to use, it often the
multimedia tool of choice for classroom use. In deed, PPT lessons can be easily
reused for the following years. Teachers can share their lesson plan, which helps
them save much time to design PPT lesson plan.
The disadvantages

While using it for preparing, power point presentation to storage into computer also
appears some disadvantages. One of the problems related to PPT use is teachers‟
lesson design and presentation (Wilmoth & Wybraniec, 1998). The problem
involves in using too many slides and too much information in a lesson. As a result,
the PPT lesson moves too quickly for most students ( Frey & Bimbaum, 2002).
Besides, hardware failure is not infrequent problem while technical support is not
always available, which often frustrates both teachers and students (Le & Nguyen,
2007; Bennett, Corbin & Auran, 2002).
Technical infrastructure such as equipment and room requirements and factors that
most teachers feel concerned about (Wilmoth & Wybraniec, 1998). Therefore,
before teaching a PPT lesson, teachers should check the equipment and room
requirements that are necessary to implement his or her plans. For example, out of
date computers can slow down a lesson, especially PPT lesson with many images
and animations.
In short, the use of PPT is still new in language teaching and learning. PPT lessons
can not simply be lectures in which the teacher talks and students listen. Therefore,
teachers need to know how to help students learn with PPT. Thus, when teacher
designs a PPT lesson plan, they should pay attention to some considerations
carefully.

7


2.3 Some considerations for designing lesson plan on Microsoft Power Point
program
Technology by itself does not replace good teaching. “ Effective use” is the key, not
just „ technology‟ (Calvalier, 1996). However, to answer the question how to make
a PPT lesson effective depends on creative use of design principles (Clark, 2008).
In fact, one of the most important factors that influence on the effectiveness of PPT
lesson is the teacher‟s

lesson designs. According to the suggestions of many

authors ( de Wet; Clark, 2002; Bitter & Legacy, 2006, Holzl,1997) some
considerations for designing lesson plan on PPT are as follows;
Text: Teacher need to limit the number of lines per screen, use no more than
six lines of text; use a mix of upper and lower case letters; keep sentences
short (De wet, 2006, Burke & Apperley, 2004). Clark (2002) suggested
limiting the use of boldface, italics, and underline in designing PPT slides.
Font: It is better to use sans serif fonts such as Arial, Tahoma, and Verdana
because they are easier to read on screen than serif fonts such as Courier and
Times New Roman. They suggested using no more than two or three
different fonts and font sizes on one slide because many fonts are unreadable
when projected on a screen. The font size should be at least 24 to 28-point
type (de Wet, 2006; Le & Nguyen, 2007; Clark, 2002).
Color: De Wet (2006) suggested using between three and six colors per
screen, highlighting important information with bright colors and using
colors to separate concepts. Moreover, teachers should be careful with color
contrast because what is easy to see on the computer screen may not easy to
on the eyes when it is enlarged or projected. The colors of text and
background should be contrasting (e.g., dark-on-light or light-on-dark, dark

8


blue on white, black on yellow) and background patterns usually make
screens harder to read ( Clark, 2002; Roblyer, 2006, Biltler & Legacy, 2006).
Graphic: Teachers should use graphics that are simple and big enough to be
seen from back of the room. The size of an image or text is important for the
understanding of a concept. If the image is too small, crucial detail and

connections can be lost or become difficult to differentiate. On the other
hand, too large images may lose resolution and clarity (Iwanski, 2000).
Animation and sound: Clark (2002) and Roblyer (2006) suggested limiting
the use of special effects (animation, sound, transition) because sound
interferes with communication when used solely for effect.

2.4 Procedures of designing lesson plans on PowerPoint
Kenneth Endfinger (2010) provides a presentation on website in PowerPoint 2007
with the following stages:
2.4.1 Preparing stage:
To have a successful presentation the teachers need follow the preparing steps such
as create your slide and insert picture and other content.
Firstly, open the view of the PowerPoint window to make the lesson plan. Secondly,
type the text which appears in the presentation in the slides. Third, add new slides to
service for designing. Fourth, navigate and add more text. Fifth, use text indents and
formatting to make easy-looking for the lesson. Sixth, work with text automatic and
text fit by controlling the content in the text suitably. Last, type the content and
view notes in the lesson.
2.4.2 On-computer designing stage
After finishing preparing stage, the teachers choose the theme, add more content if
necessary and apply a theme for the presentation‟s overlook. First, you choose a
theme for the presentation. After that, you insert pictures which are suitable for the
lesson. Next to, resize the picture if it is necessary. In addition, you add a caption to

9


highlight the key letters. Moreover, you align picture and a caption in order. Last
but not least, you add an animation affect, it make your presentation more
interesting.

2.4.3 Projecting stage
In project stage, you will have proof, printing handout and notes and preparing to
give the show. First, you must preview the show in the computer to check the steps
which you will follow to present. Second, you make computer run the spelling
check carefully. Third, you send a presentation for a comment to other to take
assistance if possible. Fourth, you will prepare to print handouts for you to
remember the steps on presentation. Fifth, you choose a color setting to help
learners see the lesson clearly and print handouts. Sixth, you check your note on
notes page view in order to ensure it properly. Finally, you package the presentation
in your laptop or usb.
2.5 The use of Microsoft Power Point program in teaching English reading
skill.
2.5.1 The use of Microsoft Power point in teaching English
Many researchers ( e.g., Fisher, 2003, Al-Toubat, 2006; Zhao, 2005; Lin & Chen)
studying PPT application in the classroom posit that the teachers could discover
many PPT‟s functions to present many diverse aspects of a new language. For
example, Fisher (2003) thinks that PowerPoint presentations can be used in many
ways in the ESL classroom as well as in other classrooms. Presentations can be used
for initial teaching, for practice and drilling, for games, for reviews, and for tests.
According to Al-Toubat (2006), PPT presentations can be used for initial teaching,
for practice and drilling, for games, for reviews, and for tests and teachers can use
PPT for teaching new vocabulary items effectively, grammar points, oral exam
preparation and creating slide shows for culture awareness.
Nowadays, the use of PowerPoint presentations in teaching English has become
more and more popular because of their direct instruction. The teachers can teach
students English vocabulary by showing them pictures of objects. They speak
10


slowly and clearly, repeat the vocabulary words several times. Therefore, the

learners can know how to pronounce the words properly. Moreover, the teachers
show pictures, and ask the students questions related to the pictures, keep the
questions simple, such as by asking the same question for each picture and have the
children respond. For example, "what is this?”. This helps students feel motivate in
classroom, so they will love English better.
Last but not least, Schonik and Kol (1999) discuss the two ways to use PPT that
they applied in the language classroom: one as a presentation tool, and the other as a
novel writing tool and they found that oral presentation through PPT improved
meaningful interaction.
2.5.2 The use of Microsoft Power Point in teaching English reading skill
In teaching reading English
According to Krashen (1982), language acquisition takes place through
comprehension (cited in Nunan, 1999, p.44). First of all, language comprehension is
generally viewed in cognitive theory as consisting of active and complex processes
including intentional thinking during which meaning is constructed through
interaction between text and reader (Harris and Hodges, 1995, cited in Teaching
reading, 2005). Comprehension is also a process in which reader construct meaning
by interacting with text through the combination of prior knowledge and previous
experience, information in the text (Pardo, 2004, cited in Teaching Reading, 2005).
From above concepts, we realize that reading skill is seen as an extremely
complicated activity involving a combination of perceptual, linguistics and
cognitive abilities. Therefore, combining PPT with teaching reading skill will make
them interesting in reading text and improve their reading skill effectively. Lin and
Chen (2007) asserted that visuals, such as pictures, or video, have gained popularity
in foreign and second language teaching for purpose and teaching reading
comprehension.
Indeed, Cheek & Beeman (1990) state that a visual aid refers to any thing the
audience can see and helps the speakers get his or her message across to the
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audience.
Generally speaking, reading can be classified into intensive reading and extensive
reading. Firstly, the term “extensive reading” means “reading book after book” and
“reading rapidly” (Palmer, 1968, p.137). Krashen (1989, p.89) gives the same as
terms to extensive reading such as “free voluntary reading”, or “sustained silent
reading”. In extensive reading, learners will “gain a general understanding of what
is read (Richards, Platt &Platt, 1993, p.133). Through extensive reading, students
can get background knowledge. However, it may spend much time of the teachers
or to make up extensive reading if materials are not available.
Meanwhile, Long and Richards (1987) say that it is a detailed in-class analysis, led
by the teacher, of vocabulary and grammar points, in a short passage. From these
perspectives, the term “intensive reading” is used to refer how to read from line to
line. It focuses on a target language, basely grammars and new words and its
purpose is for forms and information.
2.5.3 The process of designing a reading lesson plan including Microsoft Power
Point
According Braniac (2010) states that the process of designing a reading lesson
consists of these following parts.
GOAL The first element of lesson plans is the goal. This should be general
such as, "To teach the HR department to understand the new computer system"
or "To teach people to understand how to reduce their energy use."
OBJECTIVE Next in the lesson plans, list specific, concrete, measurable
objectives you want your students to learn. A great way to word this is: "The
student will be able to . . ." For example: "to enter records into the computer
program and save their work" or "to reduce gasoline use by 5 gallons a week."
ACTIVITIES Decide which tasks you need to do with the students to teach
that objective. It may be to read instructions or an article, brainstorm and
discuss as a group, and/or complete a hands-on project. Give enough detail

12


in your lesson plans to remind you of what to do and what materials you
need to bring or have prepared.
ACT After writing the lesson plans, comes the act of teaching the lesson. Be
flexible. You may have assumed that your class would come with
knowledge only to realize you need to back up in your lesson plans and
review. For example, your students may need help double clicking a mouse
before they can work Photoshop.
ASSESS If someone gives a lesson and nobody learns, did that person
teach? No. In the lesson plans, state what kind of "test" or assessment you
plan to give at the end of the class to make sure your students understood
and learned. It does not have to be a paper and pencil test. It may be
reporting back to the group about how much energy they saved that month
or demonstrating an understanding of the computer program with a sample
project.

The lesson plan usually begins with consideration of general goals for a lesson.
Therefore, this is very important part to any lesson plan in common and reading
lesson plan in particular. Second, build up a plan for the reading lesson. As we
know, a reading lesson includes three stages: pre-reading, while reading, and postreading. Besides that, the teacher should go to a detailed lesson plan so as to clarify
aims and activities at each stage as well as the basic and focus knowledge of the
reading lesson.
Third, using Powerpoint to build up the procedure of teaching through certain
activities. With each reading task or activities, the teacher should choose suitable
graphic images in order to avoid students non-concentration on reading the text.
Fourth, draft- performing, correcting and completing the reading lesson plan on
Power Point.
2.5.4 Steps of designing a reading lesson on Microsoft PowerPoint

According to Erin Finton (2010), there are many steps in designing a reading lesson
plan as follow:

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First, turn on your computer and open the PowerPoint program.
Second, click file and then click new presentation, if one does not appear
automatically upon opening the program.
Third, type the title of the presentation into the first slide (e.g. Food Vocabulary,
Present Perfect Practice, etc.).
Fourth, click insert and click New Slide.
Fifth, type the English vocabulary words or the English grammar exercise (leaving
out the answer, or leaving a blank line in its place) that you want to practice into the
title box.
Sixth, type the definition of the word or the answer to the grammar exercise into the
text box. Alternatively, for vocabulary practice, insert a picture defining the English
word into the box, either a picture from Clip Art or a photo saved on your computer.
Seventh, keep the slide on your screen and click on Custom Animation.
Eighth, click on the Title box and choose the entrance effect that you want to use.
Ninth, click on the text box with the definition, answer, or photo in it, and choose
the entrance effect that you want to use.
Tenth, insert slides with photos, reverse the animation order so that the definition or
picture comes first and you must guess the word. For definition and grammar
exercise slides, leave the animation order as it is.
Eleventh, repeat steps 4-10 for each vocabulary word or grammar exercise on your
list.
Last, click Slideshow and then View Slideshow to see your entire presentation and
practice. Click the mouse to check to see if you got the right answer and to move
from slide to slide. For instance, run through the presentation several times to see if

there are any modifications to be made. In addition, practice the show on a projector
at least once to make final adjustments.

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2.6 The reality of Application Technology in the classroom in Vietnam
In Vietnam, many policies have been applied to encourage to use information
technology (IT), especially the multimedia in classroom. Realizing the necessity of
IT, the Ministry of Politics issued the instructions N0 58-CT/TW on November 17,
2000 – “ Furthering and Developing Information Technology to Support the Cause
of Industrialization and Modernization”. The Ministry of Education and Training
(MOET) also issued the instructions N0 29/2001/CT-BGD&DT on July 30, 2001 –
“ Enhancing teaching, training and Applying Information Technology in Education
in the phase 2001-2005”. For example, the school year 2008-2009 has been called “
The School Year of

Information Technology Applications”. Moreover, in the

conclusive announcement at the meeting of the IT steering committee of MOET on
January 7, 2008 , Mr. Nguyen Thien Nhan, Vice-Prime Minister of MOET declared
that it is a central and meaningful duty to foster IT activities in the organizations of
education and training in Vietnam. Also, Vietnam education has gained many
achievements in applying IT in teaching.
2.7 PowerPoint lesson plans using at My Tho Town (MTT) Junior High School
In response to the above the instructions, junior high school teachers in My Tho
Town have been trying to change their teaching styles through using of new
teaching tool. The use of IT in the classroom has significantly increased. They are
encouraged to apply IT in teaching, particularly PPT lessons: Many PPT-based
lesson contests have been organized; teacher trainees are given bonus marks if they

use PPT in teaching practice. The number of PPT lessons is also considered by the
school in evaluating the teachers at the end of a semester or a school year. For
instance, each teacher must teach two PPT lessons at least if they do not use
frequently. Moreover, in the current school year 2012-2013 more technical
infrastructure has been supplied. MTT School has provided an IT room, an
audiovisual room, six projectors in six classrooms.

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