Khảo sát quan điểm của giáo viên và học sinh về các nhiệm vụ đọc hiểu hiệu quả trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 ở Trường THPT Đại Mỗ

1

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




NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG NHUNG



TEACHERS AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF EFFECTIVE
READING COMPREHENSION TASKS WITH REFERENCE TO
TIENG ANH TEXTBOOK 12: A SURVEY STUDY AT DAI MO
HIGH SCHOOL



Khảo sát quan điểm của giáo viên và học sinh về các nhiệm vụ đọc hiểu hiệu quả
trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 ở Trường THPT Đại Mỗ

M.A. MINOR THESIS
FIELD: METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410



HANOI – 2010



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




NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG NHUNG




TEACHERS AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF EFFECTIVE
READING COMPREHENSION TASKS WITH REFERENCE TO
TIENG ANH TEXTBOOK 12: A SURVEY STUDY AT DAI MO
HIGH SCHOOL

Khảo sát quan điểm của giáo viên và học sinh về các nhiệm vụ đọc hiểu hiệu quả
trong sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 ở Trường THPT Đại Mỗ






M.A. MINOR THESIS
FIELD: METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410
SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN BÀNG, M.A.



HANOI – 2010


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LISTS OF TABLES

Table 1. Students‟ perceptions of what teachers should do to make the reading lessons
effective
Table 2. Students‟ perceptions of the roles of various stages of an effective reading
comprehension lesson
Table 3. Students‟ perceptions of effective classroom reading activities
Table 4. How teachers should exploit the textbook effectively
Table 5. Students‟ perceptions of effective assessment of Reading Comprehension
Table 6. Teachers‟ perceptions of what teachers should do to make the reading lesson
effective

Table 7. Teachers‟‟ perceptions of the roles of various stages of an effective reading
comprehension lesson
Table 8. Teachers‟ perceptions of effective classroom reading activities
Table 9. How teachers should exploit the textbook effectively
Table 10. Teachers‟ perceptions of effective assessment of Reading Comprehension










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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration ……………………………………………………………………………
i
Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………
ii
Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………….
iii
Lists of tables………………………………………………………………………….
iv
Table of contents ……………………………………………………………………
v

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

1
1. Rationale……………………………………………….……………………
1
2.The scope of the study………………………………,,,,,………………
2
3. Aims of the study………………………………………………………
2
4. Research questions………………………………………………………
2
5. Methods of the study…………………………………………………
3
6. Significance of the study………………………………………………
3
7. Design of the study………………………………………………………
3

PART TWO

5
CHAPTER 1 : LITERATURE REVIEW

5
1.1 Definition of Reading………………………………………………………
5
1.2 The role of reading in foreign language learning…………………………
6
1.3 Good Readers vs. Bad Readers…………………………………………….
7
1.4 Approaches to teach reading comprehension………………………………

8
1.5 Effective reading comprehension tasks…………………………………….
11
1.6. Teaching Procedures………………………………………………………
14




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CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

17
2.1. Setting and background……………………………………………………
17
2.1.1. The school……………………………………………………………
17
2.1.2. Participants…………………………………………………………….
17
2.2. Data collection instrument…………………………………………………

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CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS
20
3.1. Data analysis………………………………………………………………
20
3.1.1. Data analysis of the students‟ survey questionnaire…………………
20
3.1.2. Data analysis of the teachers‟ survey questionnaire…………………
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3.2. Discussion and findings…………………………………………………
31
PART THREE: CONCLUSION
35
1. Summary of the major findings……………………………………………
35
2. Recommendations for Classroom Practice………………………………
36
3. Limitations and recommendations for further study………………………
37
4. Summary…………………………………………………………………
37
REFERENCES
38
APPENDICES








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PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

2. Rationale

Reading is an essential skill for English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL).
For many, reading is the most important skill to master. With strengthened reading skills,

ESL/ EFL readers will make greater progress and attain greater development in all
academic areas. In Vietnam, English is taught and learned in a non – native environment so
reading is not only an important means to gain knowledge but also a means by which
further study takes place. According to Carrell (1984:1): - for many students, reading is by
far the most importance of the four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or a
foreign language.

Reading is one of the most important language skills in academic settings. It is also
one of the most complex skills to develop strong second language (L2) fluency. Unlike
speaking and writing, the reader is not able to control the message or the language used. It
is also a skill that, like listening, must be carried out under the real time pressure if it is
done fluently. However, unlike listening, there are no opportunities to ask for clarification
or additional information. Moreover, the range of vocabulary encountered in reading is
much greater than is typically used in speaking and listening settings (Stanovich, 2000, p.
252-258). Given this starting point, it is fairly clear that the development of L2 reading
abilities represents a serious challenge for both the learners and the teachers.

Aware of the importance of teaching reading skill, all the teachers of Dai Mo
upper-secondary school are trying their best to make the reading lessons effective. The
teachers themselves always try to find out the best approach to apply in teaching. However,
the quality of English learning and teaching still remains very low. Although a great
number of attempts have been made by the teaching staff in order to improve the situation
such as applying various teaching approaches and techniques, adapting textbooks to make
the lessons suitable for the students to learn, their efforts seem not effective at all. The
students cannot improve their English competence. For all of these reasons, it would be


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necessary to have an investigation into teachers„ and students‟ perceptions of effective
reading comprehension tasks and the mismatch between teachers and students‟ perceptions

of effective learning. It is hoped that this study will reveal issues concerning teaching and
learning reading comprehension tasks to help teachers have a deep understanding about the
reading strategies to make decisions on how and what they should do to keep their students
much more involved in the reading process.

2. The scope of the study

Having effective reading comprehension lessons is one of the biggest concerns of
both the teachers and the learners of English. In this study, focus is mainly put on
investigating the teachers and students‟ perceptions of effective reading comprehension
tasks and the mismatch between teachers and students‟ perceptions of effective learning.
The study is conducted in only one high school of Dai Mo upper-secondary school on 182
students in four classes in twelfth grade and 7 teachers in the school.

3. Aims of the study

The study aims to investigate three things:
1) Teachers‟ and students' perceptions of effective reading comprehension tasks.
2) Differences between teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of effective reading
tasks.
3) To give some recommendations for the improvement of the reading lessons

4. Research questions:

This study seeks to answer the following research questions:

1. What reading tasks are perceived as effective by the students?
2. What reading tasks are perceived as effective by the teachers?

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3. Are there any differences between teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of
effective reading tasks?

5. Methods of the study

In order to find out the answers to the above research questions, a survey research
was adopted for this study.

6. Significance of the study

Results of the study will help the teachers and students have a more comprehensive
look at the present situation of teaching and learning English reading comprehension tasks.
And then, teachers will have appropriate and interesting ways to make the reading lessons
more effective.

7. Design of the study

The study is organized around three parts.

Part one: - Introduction – provides rationale for the study, states what the study is
aimed at and what specific tasks it resolves, specifies the scope of the study,
and sketches the general structure of the study.

Part two: - Development – consists of three chapters:

Chapter 1: - Literature Review – mentions the theoretical background of the
topic with a definition of reading, an overview of the roles of reading in
foreign language learning, good readers vs. bad readers, approaches to
teaching reading comprehension, effective reading comprehension tasks and

teaching procedures



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Chapter 2: - The study – provides information about the study. This includes
the setting of the study, the participants and the research instruments used
for this study.

Chapter 3: - Data analysis and findings – gives the discription of the students
and teachers survey questionnaie. This chapter also gives the discussion of
the results and suggestions for teachers and students at Dai Mo Upper-
secondary school and provides some suggestions for further study.

Part three: – Conclusion – gives a summary of the whole study, its implicaions for
the improvement of the classroom practice, its limitations and suggestions for
future research.

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PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter provides an overview of the theoretical background of the research

1.1 Definition of Reading

Reading is defined as being composed of four elements: the text, the reader,
fluency and reading strategies. Reading can be seen as an “interactive” process between a
reader and a text, which leads to automaticity or (reading fluency). In this process, the
reader interacts dynamically with the text as s/he tries to elicit the meaning and where
various kinds of knowledge are being used: linguistic or systemic knowledge (through
bottom-up processing) as well as schematic knowledge (through top-down processing).
Since reading is a complex process, Grabe argues that “many researchers attempt to
understand and explain the fluent reading process by analyzing the process into a set of
component skills” (Grabe: 1991, p. 379). According to Anderson (1999: 1), “Reading is an
active, fluent process which involves the reader and the reading material in building
meaning. Meaning does not reside on the printed page, nor is it only in the head of the
reader. A synergy occurs in reading which combines the words on the printed page with
the reader‟s background knowledge and experiences.” I think this definition is
comprehensive since it describes fully not only the nature of reading comprehension but
also process of reading comprehension. Reading competence is composed of the following
components or sub skills (Grabe, 1991):

1. Automatic recognition skills
2. Vocabulary and structural knowledge
3. Formal discourse structure knowledge
4. Content/world background knowledge
5. Synthesis and evaluation skills/strategies
6. Metacognitive knowledge and skills monitoring


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1.2 The role of reading in foreign language learning

In a second language classroom, reading plays a significant role in building both
linguistic and background knowledge for other language skills. Reading may contribute
significantly to competence in a second language. There is a good reason; in fact, to
hypothesize that reading makes a contribution to overall competence, to all four skills
(Krashen & Terrel, 1983:131).
Hoang et al. (2006: 191) even consider reading as the most effective means of
improving students‟ language competence. Especially, when there is a lack of L2
environment, reading is even more significant since it helps enlarge students‟ background
knowledge and vocabulary as well as supports other skills (Pham, 2005 cited in Hoang et
al., 2005:515). Since reading benefits grammatical knowledge and vocabulary
development, overall competence in the second or foreign language increases through
reading comprehension.
Hedge (2003) states that any reading component of an English language course
may include a set of learning goals for
 the ability to read a wide range of texts in English. This is the long-range goal
most teachers seek to develop through independent readers outside EFL/ESL
classroom.
 building a knowledge of language which will facilitate reading ability
 building schematic knowledge.

 the ability to adapt the reading style according to reading purpose (i.e. skimming,
scanning)
 developing an awareness of the structures of written texts in English
 taking a critical stance to the contents of the texts

The achievement of these learning goals is the measure of the effectiveness of a
reading comprehension program. However, the extent to which these learning goals


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depends on many variables such as reader variables and text variables. Learner variables
include students‟ interest level in the text, purpose for reading the text, knowledge of the
topic, foreign language abilities, awareness of the reading process, and level of willingness
to take risks. Text variables are text type, structure, syntax, and vocabulary (Hosenfeld,
1979). Therefore, comprehension is dependent on the interaction of the reader variables
and text variables.

1.3 Good Readers vs. Bad Readers

The reading comprehension literature classifies readers into good (effective)
readers and bad (ineffective) readers. It is commonly agreed that the good readers have
strong motivation for reading and appropriate reading strategies. To these readers, reading
is enjoyable. However, students‟ motivation to read is determined by how well they feel
they read. This implies that if the reading texts are carefully selected and therefore
contribute to motivation, the process of language learning will be greatly helped. In
addition to strong motivation, a good reader does not examine every word in a linear
fashion, but rather samples various linguistic cues (graphic, syntactic and semantic), and
uses knowledge of the world to arrive at a hypothesis about the meaning of the text. The
reader then tests this hypothesis in various ways (reading on, rereading). Put it another
way, a good reader is active in the process of constructing the meaning of the reading text.

Goodman (1967) describes a good reader briefly as the one who uses many sources of
information.
By contrast, bad or ineffective readers tend to struggle with the text. They too
frequently read a foreign language text with a painstaking dedication to deciphering every
word in a linear fashion, frequently spending more time looking up in a dictionary than
reading the text. The result is at best a highly imperfect translation, at worst frustration and
incomprehension (Revell & Sweeney, 1993). This is because these readers employ
inefficient strategies, which are quite contrary to the natural reading process.



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1.4 Approaches to teaching reading comprehension

(i) Bottom – up approach:

According to the bottom – up model, reading is viewed as “the process of meaning
interpretation” in which “the language is translated from one form of symbolic
representation to another” (Nunan, 1991). It was also understood as the process of
recognizing the printed letters and words and building up a meaning from the smallest
textual units at the bottom (letter and words) to larger units at the top (phrases, clauses,
intersentential linkages) (Rivers 1964, 1968; Plaister 1968; Yorio 1971). In other words, in
the bottom – up model, the reader begins with the written text (the bottom) and constructs
meaning from letters, words, phrases and sentences found within, and then processes the
text in a linear fashion. Clearly, in the view of this driven model, the reader seems to play a
relatively passive role because the basis of bottom – up processing is the linguistic
knowledge of the reader. Samuel and Kamil (188: 31) pointed out the shortcomings of
these models as follows:

Because of the lack of feedback loops in the early bottom – up models, it was

difficult to account for sentence – context effects and the role of prior knowledge
of text topic as facilitating variables in word recognition and comprehension.

Due to this limitation, the bottom – up view of reading fell into disfavor.

(ii) Top – down approach:

In this model, reading is seen as the process in which readers move from the top,
the higher level of mental stages down to the text itself. This approach emphasizes the
reconstruction of meaning rather than the decoding of form, the interaction between the
reader and the text rather than the graphic forms of the printed pages. The reader proves his
active role in the reading process by bringing to the interaction his/ her available


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knowledge of the subject, knowledge of and expectations about how language works,
motivation, interest and attitudes towards the content of the text.

According to Ur, P (1996: 138) “reading means reading and understanding” and
according to Anderson (1999: 1) “reading is not a passive process but an active fluent
process which involves the reader and the reading material in building meaning”. What is
more, meaning of the reading materials does not reside on the printed page, nor it is only in
the head of the reader. A synergy occurs in reading which is the combination of the words
on the printed page with the reader„s background knowledge and experiences.

Apparently, the strong points of top – down models outnumber those of the bottom
– up as the reader – the center of the reading process – proves his active role. However, for
some researchers, these models still reveal certain shortcomings. Stanovich (1988) stated
that “ the generation of hypotheses would actually be more time – consuming than
decoding” and Eskey (1988: 93) believed that ”in making the perfectly valid point that

fluent reading is primarily a cognitive process, they (N.B: researchers who approved top–
down models) tend to deemphasize the perceptual and decoding dimensions of that
process”.

Due to limitations of both bottom – up and top – down models, a new and more
insightful reading process has been proposed under the name of interactive model.

(iii) Interactive approach:

Interactive theorists appreciate the role of prior knowledge and prediction, and at the
same time emphasize the importance of rapid and accurate processing of the actual words
of the text.

According to Hayes et al (1991: 7) “in interactive models, different processes are
thought to be responsible for providing information that is shared with other processes. The


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information obtained from each type of processing is combined to determine the most
appropriate interpretation of the printed pages”.

To sum up, the arrival and popularity of interactive models show that interactive
models can maximize the strengths and minimizes the weaknesses of both bottom – up and
top –down models.

Most foreign language reading specialists view reading as interactive. The reader
interacts with the text to create meaning as the reader's mental processes work together at
different levels (Bernhardt, 1986; Carrell, Devine & Eskey, 1988; Rumelhart, 1977).

One important part of interactive process theory emphasizes "schemata," the

reader's preexisting concepts about the world and about the text to be read. Into this
framework, the reader fits what he or she finds in any passage. If the new textual
information does not fit into a reader's schemata, the reader misunderstands the new
material, ignores the new material, or revises the schemata to match the facts within the
passage.

Content schemata are background knowledge about the cultural orientation or
content of a passage. For example, readers might know that Mark Twain wrote stories
about life on the Mississippi River during the nineteenth century. Such content schemata
help the readers to understand and recall more than do readers less familiar with text
content (Carrell, Devine & Eskey, 1988).

Formal schemata define reader expectations about how pieces of textual
information will relate to each other and in what order details will appear (Carrell, 1987).
For example, in a detective story, a reader could expect the following chain of events: a
crime occurs, possible suspects are identified, evidence is uncovered, and the perpetrator is
apprehended.




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1.5. Effective reading comprehension tasks

(i) What is meant by “effective readers”?
Effective readers are those who are able to read fluently and strategically. They
know how to identify key information from the reading text and know how to vary their
reading speed depending on their reading purposes (see Grabe & Stoller 2001). This means
that effective readers are strategic readers. In other words, strategy training should be part
of reading comprehension instruction, which is discussed in the subsequent section.

(ii) Teaching strategies to achieve effectiveness in a reading comprehension lesson

Learners of a foreign language, especially at elementary and intermediate levels, are
rarely efficient readers in the foreign language. This has to do not only with deficiencies in
linguistic knowledge, but also with the strategies employed in reading. Thus, most
researches on reading now focus on the effective reading strategies that increase students‟
comprehension. Guthrie et al (1996) argues that most researchers study a single cognitive
strategy, rather than conducting a long-term study of multiple strategies. Besides, few
studies have addressed the issues related to “motivation” and “engagement”. As Guthrie
puts it:

Engaged reading is based on motivational and cognitive characteristics of the
reader…who is intrinsically motivated, builds knowledge, uses cognitive strategies,
and interacts socially to learn from text. These engagement processes can be
observed in student‟s cognitive effort, perseverance, and self-direction in reading.
(Ibid, p. 404)

We must develop learners‟ reading strategies in the ways, which reflect the reading
process in the native language. This requires that we focus on meaning and on solving
relevant problems, and not solely on interpreting individual words one after another. Smith
(1978:1267) emphasizes the preeminence of meaning and the essentially implicit nature of
questions that we constantly ask in order to build up a general pattern of comprehension.


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He claims that such skills are not even expressly taught, but where foreign language
readers are concerned there has been a traditional tendency to focus on „comprehension
questions‟.

It is the teachers‟ responsibilities to motivate reading by selecting the appropriate

materials and especially for those at the early stages of learning. Guthrie and Humenick
(2004) performed a meta-analysis of studies that manipulated several aspects of intrinsic
motivation support for reading. These findings suggest that “meaningful conceptual
content in reading instruction increases motivation for reading and text comprehension.”
The second motivation-supporting practice showed that students who were provided choice
of text performed higher on reading tasks than those with no choice. The third practice was
to use interesting texts. This conforms to Hedge‟s proposal that in selecting task texts,
teachers should seek interesting texts and consider variety of topics. Readers‟ interest can
be revealed by setting “a reading interest questionnaire” where students check the fields
that suit their interest, i.e. short stories, thrillers, science fiction, etc. Since “each learner
will have different strengths to build on and different weaknesses to overcome” (Hedge,
2003, p. 205), there is no one defined reading methodology. In the functional approach to
reading, Moorman & Ram (1994, p. 646) focus on science fiction genre since “stories offer
many opportunities for creative reading”.

Carrell et al (1989, p. 647) conducted a study on two metacognitive strategies,
semantic mapping (SM) and the experience-text-relationship (ETR) method, to study their
effect on second language reading. In semantic mapping, categories and associations are
displayed visually in a diagram. These authors went on to argue that besides “being
effective for vocabulary development, semantic mapping has proved to be a good
alternative to traditional pre-reading and post-reading tasks” (ibid, p.651). In fact, most
contemporary reading tasks include pre-reading tasks. Therefore, I believe pre-reading
tasks can be followed by SM strategy since the former aim at increasing learners'
motivation. While semantic mapping is used as a tool to assess students‟ schema, the
experience text-relationship (ETR) method emphasizes comprehension, i.e., reading for
meaning. This method is based on discussion aiming at linking what the reader already


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knows to what s/he will encounter in the text. It has essentially three simple steps:

experience, text, and relationship. In the experience step, the teacher leads the students to
the discussion of their own knowledge or experiences that are related in some way to the
passage to be read. In the text step, students read short parts of the texts; usually a page or
two, and the teacher asks the questions about the content after each section. In this step, the
teacher may also need to correct any misunderstandings of the text evidenced by the
students. In the final step, the relationship sequence, the teacher attempts to help the
students draw relationships between the content of the text (as developed in the text step),
and their outside experience and knowledge (as discussed in the experience step). In all
three steps the teacher is attempting to model and to guide the students systematically
through the cognitive processes related to understanding a written text. From the results
Carrell et al (1989, pp. 665-668) conclude that

…metacognitive strategy training does enhance L2 reading when compared to
nonstrategy training, as in the control group [and that] while there are similarities
between the two methods in their enhancement of second language reading on some
measures, on other measures there are differences between them. Finally, our results
show that there are significant interactions between students‟ learning styles and the
effectiveness of training in the two different strategies.

Hedge (2003) states that although such small-scale studies need substantiation by
“further experimental work”, they have “contributed to ELT methodology in raising
awareness about the characteristics of effective language learning”.

(iii) Recognizing and implementing effective foreign language reading strategies.

When foreign language teachers recognize that each reader brings to the reading
process a unique set of past experiences, emotional and mental processes, level of
cognitive development, and interest level in the topic, they also recognize that not all
teaching strategies will be effective for all students. When isolating the most effective
teaching strategies to use with a group of students, the foreign language teachers must also

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consider those reader strategies that are not necessarily related to content schemata. Such
reader strategies include the following:
- using titles and illustrations to understand a passage,
- skimming,
- scanning,
- summarizing,
- guessing word meanings,
- becoming aware of the reading process, and
- taking risks.
All of these strategies can be targeted for use with foreign language materials.

Another step in effectively teaching students how to read materials written in a
foreign language is to help the individual reader identify effective reading strategies based
on text variables. One important part of this step is alerting the readers to significant
aspects of text variables that will affect foreign language reading. For example, pointing
out the differences between a fairy tale and a newspaper article helps the reader recognize
the different text types and to prepare for the uncomplicated sentence structure, high-
frequency vocabulary, and, in most cases, happy ending that typically characterize a fairy
tale. On the other hand, the same reader would need to prepare very differently to read a
newspaper article about the technicalities involved in negotiating a disarmament treaty. In
this case, the vocabulary would be very specialized and the sentence structures more
complicated.

1.6 Teaching Procedures

In the literature, a reading comprehension lesson is usually composed of three
major stages. These stages are pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading. Each stage has

its own goals, but altogether is aimed at making the reading comprehension effective in the
sense that readers comprehend the text and develop their reading strategies. Below is a
discussion of these three stages regarding the goal and common tasks for each stage.


24
"Pre-reading" is the first stage of a reading comprehension lesson, in which tasks
are introduced to students with reference to a particular text. While the main motivation of
the pre-reading stage is to increase the students‟ interest in the reading process, the goals of
this stage are to elicit or provide appropriate background knowledge, and activate
necessary schemata. Pre-reading tasks help the students to approach the text in a more
meaningful and purposeful manner as the discussion compels them to think about the
situation or points raised in a text. The pre-reading phase helps students define selection
criteria for the central theme of a story or the major argument of an essay. Pre-reading
tasks include: discussing author or text type, brainstorming, reviewing familiar stories,
considering illustrations and titles, skimming and scanning (for structure, main points, and
future directions).
"While -reading" tasks help students develop reading strategies, improve their
control of the foreign language, and decode problematic text passages. Helping students to
employ strategies while reading can be difficult because individual students control and
need different strategies. Nevertheless, the teacher can pinpoint valuable strategies, explain
which strategies individuals most need to practice, and offer concrete exercises in the form
of "guided reading" task sheets. Such practice exercises might include guessing word
meanings by using context clues, word formation clues, or cognate practice; considering
syntax and sentence structure by noting the grammatical functions of unknown words,
analyzing reference words, and predicting text content; reading for specific pieces of
information; and learning to use the dictionary effectively.
"Post-reading" exercises first check students' comprehension and then lead students
to a deeper analysis of the text, when warranted. Because the goals of most real world
reading are not to memorize an author's point of view or to summarize text content, but

rather to see into another mind, or to mesh new information into what one already knows,
foreign language reading must go beyond detail-eliciting comprehension drills to help
students recognize that different strategies are appropriate with different text types. For
example, scanning is an appropriate strategy to use with newspaper advertisements
whereas predicting and following text cohesion are effective strategies to use with short


25
stories. By discussing in groups what they have understood, students focus on information
they did not comprehend, or did not comprehend correctly. Discussions of this nature can
lead the student directly to text analysis as class discussion proceeds from determining
facts to exploring deeper ramifications of the texts.
The three above-mentioned stages have different purposes, but they together make
a coherent reading comprehension lesson. The pre-reading stage is aimed at activating the
students‟ background knowledge relevant to the information in the reading text, thereby
helping students to use their existing knowledge in order to comprehend the new
information in the reading text. Also, in this stage, the teacher helps the students to deal
with possible linguistic difficulties or challenges such as vocabulary and grammar. The
while-reading stage focuses more on the developing students‟ sub-skills of reading
competence through doing various reading tasks. By doing these tasks, students‟ reading
strategies are also developed. The post-reading stage is where linguistic skills are
integrated. Integrative tasks use text language and ideas in foreign language listening,
speaking, and/or writing. Integrative skills exercises include such tasks as students reacting
to texts with summaries, new endings, or pastiches; reenacting text; dramatizing interviews
based on the text; carefully listening for key words or phrases in authentic video or audio
tapes; and creating role-play situations or simulations of cultural experiences. Also, in this
stage, students‟ linguistic competence will be developed in this stage. For example, the
teacher can focus on helping students with problematic vocabulary or grammar.
This chapter reviews some theoretical issues of teaching reading approaches. The
role of reading in foreign language learning and approaches of teaching reading have been

elaborated. Also, teaching strategies to achieve effectiveness in a reading comprehension
lesson, recognizing and implementing effective second language reading strategies and
teaching procedures are presented in this chapter. The next one presents the study.




26
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
This chapter provides information about the study. This includes the setting of the
study, the participants and the research instruments used for this study.
2.1. Setting and background

2.1.1. The school

Dai Mo is a nearly 7-year-old high school, located in Dai Mo commune - Tu Liem
district, where students come from different communes nearby. It was set up in 2003 with
10 classes, and widened its number of classes up to over 25 up to now. Each of class has
from 40 to 50 students. Besides, facilities are brought into question. The class is not
equipped with tapes, cassette players, speakers, TVs, CDs or overhead projectors except
for a board, chalks, pictures or other visual aids designed by teachers themselves. A
modern classroom for language teaching and learning has not been equipped with teaching
aids devices such as OHP's, internet, etc. Students only have a chance to use these devices
when the teachers present model lessons on special occasions like Vietnamese Teacher's
Day.
2.1.2. Participants

The process of data collection involved the participation of both teachers of English
and grade 12
th

students as follows:

(i) Teachers of English

In Dai Mo High School, there are totally 7 teachers of English, including the
researcher, aged from 28 to 41. Two of them are studying for an M.A degree and the three
others hold a B.A TEFL degree. The two others had in-service TELT training courses.
The number of female teachers formed the majority (5 female teachers and 2 male
teachers). Some of them, however, are middle-aged which prevents them from learning


27
new things to some extent. These teachers are not very happy to attend training programs
to get the ideas about the textbook and new teaching methodologies. The participants of
this study were members of this team.

(ii) Grade 12
th
students

The subjects of the study were 182 students coming from four different classes at
Dai Mo High School. All of them were born in 1992 and they are both male and female
and live around the school. All of them basically are beginners of English despite finishing
the English program for the secondary system. Most of them are not good at using
language skills and they do not have a good English learning and speaking environment.
Only in the classroom can they learn and use the language. They do not have other places
to practice the knowledge they have learnt from school and have no chance to expose to
the target language. In addition, their lack of awareness on the importance of English as
well as motivation make them not interested in learning English. Although most of them
have already learnt English for at least four years at lower secondary school, their

knowledge of English is still poor and limited. Hardly can they say a complete sentence in
the target language.

2.2. Data collection instrument

For a collection of sufficient, reliable and valid data for the study, two sets of survey
questionnaires were administered to 182 students and 7 teachers of English at Dai Mo High
School. The questionnaire was composed of 20 closed items and 3 open-ended items. The
questionnaire was written in Vietnamese (see appendix A & B) to make sure that the
teachers and students understand the questions accurately. Questions were developed on
the basis of the information related to effective reading comprehension in the literature.

(i) The questionnaire for students

The questionnaire was designed to get information concerning:



28
1. Students‟ perceptions of what teachers should do to make the reading lessons
effective
2. Students‟ perceptions of the roles of various stages of an effective reading
comprehension lesson
3. Students‟ perceptions of effective classroom reading tasks
4. How teachers should exploit the textbook effectively
5. Perceptions of effective assessment of Reading Comprehension
6. Students‟ evaluation of the reading lessons
7. Students‟ recommendations for the improvement of the reading lessons

(ii) The questionnaire for teachers

Questionnaire designed for the teachers aims at finding out:

1. Teachers‟ perceptions of what teachers should do to make the reading lessons
effective
2. Teachers‟ perceptions of the roles of various stages of an effective reading
comprehension lesson
3. Teachers‟ perceptions of effective classroom reading tasks
4. How teachers should exploit the textbook effectively
5. Perceptions of effective assessment of Reading Comprehension
6. Teachers‟ evaluation of the reading lessons
7. Teachers‟ recommendations for the improvement of reading lessons

In short, this chapter has presented the information about the study. This includes
the setting of the study, the participants and the the research instruments used for this
study. The next chapter presents the data analysis and findings.





29
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

3.1. Data analysis

3.1.1. Data analysis of the students’ survey questionnaire

(i) Students’ perceptions of what teachers should do to make the reading lessons
effective

The data obtained from the students‟ questionnaire will be discussed to find out the
students‟ perceptions of effective reading comprehension tasks. The result of statements 1,
7, 2, 3, 6 is presented in Table 1.

Statements
Strongly
agree
(%)
Agree

(%)
No
ideas
(%)
Disagree

(%)
Strongly
disagree
(%)
S1. Teachers must teach all the new words in
the reading text.
44
40
5
10
1
S7. Teachers must help students understand
every single sentence in order to

comprehend the whole text.
17
24
17
39
3
S2. Teachers needn‟t teach all the new words
but students can understand the main ideas
of the text.
20
31
8
38
5
S3. Teachers need to activate students‟
background knowledge to help them
understand more.
50
41
4
2
3
S6. Students should be let to read and get the
general ideas before coming to the text
detail.
29
57
7
5
2

Table 1: Students’ perceptions of what teachers should do to make the reading lessons effective