Improving students' reading comprehension through predicting strategy instruction an action research at Cao Ba Quat Upper Secondary school

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



HOÀNG THỊ KIM QUẾ



IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH
PREDICTING STRATEGY INSTRUCTION: AN ACTION RESEARCH
AT CAO BA QUAT UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

(NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CỦA HỌC SINH THÔNG QUA
VIỆC GIẢNG DẠY CHIẾN LƯỢC DỰ ĐOÁN:
NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT CAO BÁ QUÁT)

M.A. Minor Programme Thesis




Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 601410

HANOI, 2011

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



HOÀNG THỊ KIM QUẾ



IMPROVING STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH
PREDICTING STRATEGY INSTRUCTION: AN ACTION RESEARCH
AT CAO BA QUAT UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL

(NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CỦA HỌC SINH THÔNG QUA
VIỆC GIẢNG DẠY CHIẾN LƯỢC DỰ ĐOÁN:
NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG TẠI TRƯỜNG THPT CAO BÁ QUÁT)

M.A. Minor Programme Thesis



Field : English Teaching Methodology
Code : 601410
Supervisor : Phạm Minh Tâm, M.Ed

HANOI, 2011


iv

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1 Language Learning Strategies, O‘ Maley and Chamot, 1990……… ………….… I
Table 1.2 Reading Strategies in O‘Malley and Chamot‘s Scheme………………………… 11
Table 1.3 Reading Strategies Recommended by Teachers at Chinese University of
Hongkong ………………………………………………………………………….
Table 1.4 Predicting Strategies and Activities to Develop Predicting Strategies………… 12
Table 1.5 Grammar-Translation Method and Communicative Language Teaching……….….13
Table 1.6 Task-based Learning Framework Reproduced by J. Willis, 1996…………….…….II
Table 1.7 Model of Reading Comprehension Instruction……………………………….…….15
Table 1.8 Models of Reading Strategy Instruction…………………………………….……….
Table 2.1 Background Information on the Participants…………………………………….…22
Table 2.2 Procedures for Questionnaire Development……………………………………… 22
Table 2.3 Procedures for Test Development………………………………………………… 23
Table 2.4 Syllabus of Predicting Strategy Instruction Course……………………………… 25
Table 2.5 Procedures for Predicting Strategy Instruction Development…………………… 25
Table 3.3 Percentage of the Students‘ Correct Answers in the Pre-test and Post-tests……… 33
Table 3.4 Percentage of the Students‘ Correct Answers to Each Question in the Pre-test and
Post-tests………………………………………………………………………… 33

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1 Components of Reading……………………………………………………………5
Figure 2.1 Action Research Model………………………………………………………… 21
Figure 3.1 Students‘ Awareness and Use of Predicting Strategies………………………… 28
Figure 3.2 Students‘ Awareness and Use of Other Reading Strategies………………………29
Figure 3.3 Students‘ Awareness of Predicting Strategies…………………………………….31



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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………………………………………….…… …ii
ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… iii
LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ………………………………………………………………………………… …. iv
PART A : INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………….…………
1. Rationale for the Study …………………………………………………………………………………………………… … 1
2. Aims and Research Questions of the Study …………………………………………………………………….…… 2
3. Scope of the Study ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
4. Significance of the Study ………………………………………………………………………………………………………3
5. Research Methodology ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
6. Organization of the Thesis …………………………………………………………………………………………………… 3
PART B : DEVELOPMENT …………………………………………………………………………………………. 4
CHAPTER 1 : LITERATURE REVIEW …………………………………………………………… …… ……
1.1 The Nature of Reading Comprehension ……………………………………………………………………………… 4
1.1.1 Definitions of Reading Comprehension………………………………………………………………….4
1.1.2 Reading Models…………………………………………………………………………………………………… 5

1.1.2.1 Bottom-up Reading Models …………………………………………………………………. 5
1.1.2.2 Top-down Reading Model …………………………………………………………………… 6
1.1.2.3 Interactive Reading Model …………………………………………………………………… 7
1.1.3 Schema Theory……………………………………………………………………………………………………….7
1.2 Reading Comprehension Strategies …………………………………………………………………………………… 7
1.2.1 Foreign Language Learning Strategies………………………………………………………………….8
1.2.1.1 Definitions of Foreign Language Learning Strategies ………………………… 8
1.2.1.2 Classification of Language Learning Strategies …………………………………… 9
1.2.1.3 The Importance of Language Learning Strategies for Students…………… 9
1.2.2 Reading Comprehension Strategies…………………………………………………………………… 10
1.2.2.1 Definitions of Reading Comprehension Strategies ………………………………11
1.2.2.2 Classification of Reading Comprehension Strategies ………………………… 11
1.2.3 Predicting Strategies.………………………………………………………………………………………… 11
1.3 Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction ……………………………………………………………………12
1.3.1 Approaches to Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction …………………………….13
1.3.2 Model of Reading Comprehension Instruction ……………………………………………………14
1.3.3 Models of Reading Strategy Instruction …………………………………………………………… 15
1.4 Related Studies ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 17
1.5 Summary …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….18

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CHAPTER 2 : RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ……………………………………………………………….
2.1 Research Context ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 19
2.2 Research Questions …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….20
2.3 Research Approach …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….20
2.4 Participants …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………21
2.5 Data Collection Instruments ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 22
2.5.1 Questionnaire……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 22
2.5.2 Pre-test and post-tests ……………………………………………………………………………………… .23
2.5.3. Teacher’s diary and students’ reflective journal……………………………………………… 23
2.6 Intervention ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 24
2.7 Data Collection Procedures ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 25
2.8 Data Analysis Procedures ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 26
2.8.1 Questionnaires …………………………………………………………………………………………………….26
2.8.2 Pre-test and post-test ………………………………………………………………………………………… 26
2.8.3 Diary and Journals……………………………………………………………………………………………… 27
2.9 Summary …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 27
CHAPTER 3 : RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ……………………………………………………………………
3.1 Preliminary investigation ……………………………………………………………………………………………………28
3.1.1 Students’ Awareness and Use of Predicting Strategies……………………………………… 28
3.1.2 Students’ Awareness and Use of Other Reading Strategies ……………………………… 29
3.2 Evaluation ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 30
3.2.1 To what extent does the use of predicting strategy instruction improve the
students’ reading comprehension? ……………………………………………………………… …
3.2.2 What are effective techniques to teach predicting strategies as perceived by
the students and the teachers? …………………………………………………………………………
3.3 Summary …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….41
PART C : CONCLUSION …………………………………………………………………………………………….42
1. Summary of the Main Findings ……………………………………………………………………………………………42
2. Pedagogical Implications of the Study …………………………………………………………………………………42
3. Limitations of the Research ………………………………………………………………………………………………… 44

4. Suggestions for Further Research ……………………………………………………………………………………… 44
REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 45
APPENDIXES …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. I
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I

1

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale for the Study
Reading is an essential skill for English as a foreign language (EFL) students; and for
many, reading is the most important skill to master. With strengthened reading skills, EFL
readers will make greater progress and attain greater development not only in English but also
in all academic areas. Therefore, ―reading is the most heavily researched single area of the
whole curriculum, and yet, paradoxically, it remains a field in which a good deal of
fundamental work has yet to be approached, and one in which a great many teachers would
claim to be almost wholly ignorant‖ and secondary teachers ―who have generally had no
training at all related to reading but nevertheless feel conscious that the ability to read fluently
is the basis for most school learning, and one of the surest predictors of academic attainment‖
(Harrison and Gardner, 1977).
Traditionally, attempts to improve the comprehension of texts for EFL students have
focused on familiarizing the students with vocabulary needed to comprehend the passage.
However, within the last 15 years, much of the research conducted in the field of reading
comprehension has concentrated on the knowledge and control of reading strategies, and more
and more emphasis has been put on the importance of training EFL learners to be strategic
readers. Studies have revealed that the use of appropriate reading strategies may improve
reading comprehension (Olsen and Gee, 1991), and using reading strategies can be of great
help to non-native readers because they may serve as effective ways of overcoming language
deficiency and obtaining better reading achievement on language proficiency tests (Wong,

2005; Zhang, 1992).
However, empirical research indicates that in most reading classrooms, students have
received inadequate instruction on reading skills and strategies (Miller and Perkins, 1989). EFL
teachers seldom teach a strategy explicitly in class. In other words, teachers normally stress on
the production of reading comprehension rather than the reading process. Reading lessons are
more of reading tests, in which teachers ask the students to read the text and complete several
reading tasks. This problem can be found in many EFL reading classes in the world, and
Vietnam is not an exception. Vietnamese learners of English, in general, and students at Cao
Ba Quat Upper Secondary School in particular, after several years of learning English, turn out
to be word-by-word readers; they tend to read very slowly to understand the meaning of every
single word. When they encounter unfamiliar words or unfamiliar concepts, they feel
discouraged and resort to wild guessing to construct the text meaning. Some students do not

2

understand the main idea of a text even when they have translated every word into their mother
tongue. Very few students deliberately look at the title of a text to think about its topic before
reading. Fewer students use their background knowledge to facilitate their comprehension.
They are completely dependent on the decoded messages from the text, so once their decoding
mechanisms fail due to their deficient language proficiency, comprehension breaks down.
With a view to gaining some insight into reading strategies and reading strategy
instruction, I chose to study how to improve students‘ reading comprehension through
predicting strategy instruction. The rationale for my focus on predicting strategies is that they
are of key importance in the comprehension process. It has been found out that efficient
reading often includes the use of predicting strategies (Goodman, 1976; Palincsar & Brown,
1984). Interacting with text, readers use their prior knowledge in concert with cues in the text
to generate predictions. Although the importance of prediction in comprehending texts has
been demonstrated by recent research, much remains to be learned about predicting strategies.
2. Aims and Research Questions of the Study
The study aims at exploring the impact of predicting strategy instruction on the reading

comprehension of 10
th
grade students at Cao Ba Quat Upper Secondary School with a view to
giving recommendations on how to teach the students to use predicting strategies effectively to
improve their reading comprehension. The specific aims of the research are as follows:
 To examine the impact of the predicting strategy instruction on the reading
comprehension of 10
th
grade students at Cao Ba Quat Upper Secondary School
 To determine effective techniques to teach predicting strategies in reading
comprehension in their reading classes, from the teacher‘ and students‘ perspectives.
In order to achieve the above aims, the following research questions will be addressed
(1) To what extent does the use of predicting strategy instruction improve Cao Ba Quat
Upper Secondary School’s grade 10 students’ reading comprehension?
(2) What techniques are effective to teach these students’ predicting strategy, as perceived
by the teacher and the students?
3. Scope of the Study
This study only focuses on the teaching of predicting strategies to 10
th
grade students at
Cao Ba Quat Upper Secondary School, so the teaching of other reading strategies or to other
subjects would be beyond the scope.



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4. Significance of the Study
The study examines the impact of the predicting strategy instruction on the participants‘
reading comprehension and suggests effective techniques to teach predicting strategies, so it

would be of great value to the teaching of reading skill. In the light of the research, teachers
can adjust their reading instruction so as to help to train strategic readers.
5. Research Methodology
In order to achieve these aims, an Action Research was employed to measure the
influence of the intervention-predicting strategy instruction-on the students' reading
comprehension. The data was collected via a number of instruments including a questionnaire,
a pre-test, two post-tests, teacher’s diaries and students’ journals. After a preliminary
investigation had been carried out, a predicting strategy instruction course was designed, and
then implemented in the second semester of the school year 2010 - 2011 with the participation
of 50 students from Group 10A10 at Cao Ba Quat Upper Secondary School. The data was then
analysed by means of descriptive statistic devices and content analysis method. The results
indicated that with the combination of these instruments the study yielded reliable findings.
6. Organization of the Study
The thesis consists of three main parts: INTRODUCTION which provides an overview
of the study, DEVELOPMENT which is the main part and consists of 3 chapters, and
CONCLUSION which includes the summary, pedagogical implications, limitations of the
study and suggestions for further study.
Three chapters in the main part are as follows:
Chapter 1:
Literature Review is review of the literature related to the research topic,
which serves as a theoretical foundation of the study.
Chapter 2:
Research Methodology provides information about the research context,
participants, research approach, data collection instruments, data
collection procedures, and data analysis procedures.
Chapter 3:
Results and Discussion is the main part of the study, which reports and
discusses the main findings according to the research questions.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter is primarily concerned with the nature of reading comprehension,
including some definitions of reading comprehension, models of reading and the schema
theory. This will be followed by a review of language learning strategies, classifications of
language learning strategies, the importance of language learning strategies, reading strategies
and predicting strategies. The next part presents a review of approaches to reading
comprehension strategy instruction, the model of reading comprehension instruction, and
models of reading strategy instruction. Finally, it is a summary of related studies
1.1 The Nature of Reading Comprehension
1.1.1 Definitions of Reading Comprehension
For many students, reading is a very important skill, particularly in English as a second
or foreign language. Concerning the role of reading, Anderson (1999) confirms that ―the more
exposure the student has to language through reading, the greater the possibilities that overall
language proficiency will increase‖.
There are numerous definitions of reading and reading comprehension which range
from simple to complex ones, from the decoding view to the comprehending view, from
readers‘ passive role to their active one.
Goodman (1971, p. 135) regards reading as ―a psycholinguistic process by which the
reader, a language user, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message encoded by a writer as a
graphic display‖.
Reading comprehension is a process of deriving meaning from the print and integrating
the new information with the old one (Koda, 2005, p. 14; Sweet and Snow, 2003, p. 1). The
old information is the reader‘s prior background knowledge and experience. Goodman (1975)

added that reading should be ―an active, purposeful and creative mental process‖ of extracting
meaning partly from textual clues and partly from their prior background knowledge. In this
way, readers show their active parts in the process of comprehending a written text; they are
not normally a decoding machine, but they must think and consider what sort of old
information should be activated and when it should be made use of to facilitate the
comprehending process. In other words, reading is the construction of meaning of a written text
through the interactions between text and reader (Durkin, 1993).
Reading can also be defined as ―a fluent process of readers combining information from
a text and their own background knowledge to build meaning. The goal of reading is

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comprehension…The text, the reader, fluency, and strategies combined together define the act
of reading‖ (Anderson, 2003, p. 68). The following figure represents the definition of reading:









Figure 1.1 Components of Reading
The definitions presented above give us an overview of reading comprehension. With
the literature review of reading models, we can determine what factors are involved in efficient
reading.
1.1.2 Reading Models
In the last 40 years, reading researchers have been studying the link between the
reading process (what goes on in the brain) and how to teach reading. Although there are many

models of reading, reading researchers tend to classify them into three kinds: Bottom-up, Top-
down and Interactive.
1.1.2.1 Bottom-up Reading Model
All the proponents of bottom-up models agree that comprehension begins by processing
the smallest linguistic unit (phoneme) and working toward larger units (syllables, words,
phrases, sentences), and proceeds from part to whole. In this way, bottom-up theorists view
reading as a passive process dependent on the written or printed text.
Gough (1972, as cited in Hudson, 2007) considers reading process as a sequential or
serial mental process of detecting the parts of written language (letters) and converting them
into phonemes, combining these phonemic units to form individual words, and finally putting
the words together to understand the author‘s written message, hereby the mechanism called
Merlin is utilized to apply syntactic and semantic rules in order to determine the meaning of the
sentences. The process ends with the oral realization of the sentence based on phonological
rules (pp. 34 – 5).
Strategies
Fluency





The Reader





The Text
Reading

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Nuttall (2005) indicates that reading is a process of identifying letters and words,
figuring out sentence structures and then constructing a meaning from the printed words. He
also compares ―bottom-up‖ processes with the image of a scientist with a magnifying glass
investigating every minute part of the little area to grasp it thoroughly (p. 17). However, in
many cases, readers can read aloud almost all the text, or they know almost all the words in the
text, but they can hardly recall any of its meaning.
These models depend too much on the reader‘s linguistic knowledge and overlook their
prior background knowledge. The bottom-up or decoding model of reading was also criticized
by Eskey (1973) for its failure to account for the contribution of the reader, whose expectations
about the text, which are informed by his/her knowledge of language and his/her prior
background knowledge, are employed as part of the reading process. For these limitations,
together with the advent of top-down models, bottom-up models fell into disfavors.
1.1.2.2 Top-down Reading Model
This model, beginning in mind of the readers with meaning-driven processes, or an
assumption about the meaning of a text, emphasizes what the reader brings to the text; reading
is driven by meaning, and proceeds from whole to part. From this perspective, readers identify
letters and words only to confirm their assumptions about the meaning of the text. Goodman
(1967) views reading process as a ―psycholinguistic guessing game‖- a process of predicting,
sampling, and confirming in which readers interact with texts by combining information they
discover there with the knowledge they bring to it in constructing a comprehensive meaning for
the text as coherent discourse (pp. 364 - 5). ―The knowledge, experience, and concepts that
readers bring to the text, in other words, their schemata, are part of the process‖ (Dechant,
1991, p. 25), and reading is more a matter of bringing meaning to than gaining meaning from
the printed page (Dechant, 1991; Goodman, 1985; Smith, 1994).
Stanovich (1980) criticizes the top-down models by arguing that the generation of
hypotheses would be actually more time-consuming than decoding would be. Another criticism
by Samuels and Kamil (1988, p. 32) reveals that a reader will be unable to generate hypotheses

about a text if he/she has insufficient prior knowledge of the topic, so according to the top-
down theory, reading process will not occur.
In the light of the perceived shortcomings of both bottom-up and top-down models,
another model of reading process called interactive model is put forward.



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1.1.2.3 Interactive Reading Model
An interactive reading model attempts to combine the valid insights of bottom-up and
top-down models. It attempts to take into account the strong points of the bottom-up and top-
down models, and tries to avoid the criticisms leveled against each, making it one of the most
promising approaches to the theory of reading today. As in top-down models, the reader uses
his or her expectations and previous understanding to guess about text content and, as in
bottom-up models, the reader decodes what is in the text. Text sampling and higher- level
decoding and recoding operate simultaneously.
In Rumelhart‘s (1977) model, the ―visual information store‖ receives input from the
text to be processed. These data then go through the ―feature extraction device‖ into the
―pattern synthesizer‖, which utilizes input from the ―syntactic, semantic, orthographic, lexical
and pragmatic knowledge‖ to comprehend the text. During the reading process, all sources of
data are made full use of simultaneously, and provide the basis on which readers can accept or
reject their prior expectations and put forward the new ones as long as they make their final
decisions on the meaning of the text (as cited in Hudson, 2007, pp.41- 2).
Stanovic (1980) refers to his model as an ―interactive compensory‖ one in which
weaknesses in any levels of processing the inputs can be compensated for by others. Those
deficient in a low-level skill such as word recognition can be made up for by higher-level skills
such as use of knowledge about the topic of the text, whereas those with few clues of the topic
of the text can be helped by their good word recognition skill (as cited in Hudson, 2007, p. 46).
Nuttall (1996, p. 16) assumes that top-down and bottom-up processing are

―complementary ways of processing a text. They are both used whenever we read; sometimes
one predominates, sometimes the other, but both are needed.‖ This author adds that ―in
practice, a reader continually shifts from one focus to another, now adopting a top-down
approach to predict the probable meaning, then moving to a bottom-up approach to check
whether that is really what the writer says‖
1.1.3 Schema Theory
Schema theory deals with the reading process, where readers are expected to combine
their previous experiences with the text they are reading. Carrell and Eisterhold (1983)
formalise the role of background knowledge in language comprehension as schema theory, and
claim that any text either spoken or written does not itself carry meaning, and that ― a text
only provides directions for… readers as to how they should retrieve or construct meaning
from their own, previously acquired knowledge.‖ Therefore, a reader‘s comprehension depends

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on her ability to relate the information that she gets from the text with her pre-existing
background knowledge. According to Harmer (2001), only after the schema is activated is one
able to see or hear, because it fits into patterns that she already knows.
Many reading researchers intend to subcategorise the term schema, with the most
popular categorisation being the distinction between formal and content schema. Formal
schema is background knowledge relating to the formal and rhetorical organisational structures
of different types of texts (Carrell and Eisterhold, 1983; Alderson, 2000). Carrell (1985) says
reading comprehension is affected by the reader‘s formal schemata interacting with the
rhetorical organisation of a text. In the meanwhile, content schema is defined as background
knowledge of the content area of the text that a reader brings to a text (Carrell and Eisterhold,
1983; Carrell, 1987) such as knowledge about people, the world, culture, and the universe
(Brown, 2001). Carrell and Eisterhold propose that appropriate content schema is accessed
through textual cues. According to Alderson (2000), readers need knowledge about the content
of the passage to be able to understand it.
From the schema theory, meaning is reconstructed or created during the reading process

through the interaction of text and the reader‘s background knowledge. So what the teacher
should do is to teach the students to link their prior knowledge with the text so that the students
better understand the global meaning of the text.
1.2 Reading Comprehension Strategies
1.2.1 Foreign Language Learning Strategies
1.2.1.1 Definitions of Foreign Language Learning Strategies
Over the last two decades, the study of language learning strategies has seen an
―explosion of activity‖ (Ellis, 1994) with the contributions of such well-known researchers as
O‘Malley and Chamot (1990) and Oxford (1990).
According to Oxford (1990), learning strategies are ―specific actions taken by the
learners to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective and
more transferable to new situations‖ (p. 5). This definition is not precise in the sense that it
regards learning strategies as ―specific actions‖, which are mostly observable while it has been
shown in numerous studies in this field that learning strategies are sometimes difficult to
observe.
The definition that has been widely accepted was proposed by O‘Malley and Chamot
(1990). Learning strategies are ―the special thoughts or behaviors that individuals use to help
them comprehend, learn or retain new information.‖ (p. 1). Though short, this definition covers

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the most important characteristics of learning strategies, both behavioral and mental (therefore,
both observable and unobservable), and individually characterized (learners‘ strategies are
different). Because of its comprehensive features, the present study utilizes this definition as
the key direction.
1.2.1.2 Classification of Language Learning Strategies
Language learning strategies have been classified in a number of ways.
Oxford (1990, pp. 16 - 22) classifies second language learning strategies into two major
classes: Direct Strategies (strategies which directly involve the subject matter) and Indirect
Strategies (strategies which do not directly involve the subject matter itself, but are essential to

language learning). Direct Strategies are classified into memory strategies; cognitive strategies;
and compensation strategies. Indirect strategies include metacognitive strategies; affective
strategies; and social strategies.
In O‘Malley and Chamot‘s framework, there are three major types of language learning
strategies named metacognitive, cognitive and social/ affective. In comparison with Oxford‘s
classification, this framework is far less complicated but sufficient and applicable to learning
strategy studies on the four language skills; listening, speaking, reading and writing. Therefore,
the current study will adopt O‘Malley and Chamot‘s classification of learning strategies as the
theoretical framework for investigation. (see Appendix 1: Table 1.1)
1.2.1.3 The Importance of Language Learning Strategies for Students
Language learning strategies can enable students to become more independent,
autonomous, lifelong learners (Allwright, 1990; Little, 1991 as cited in Oxford, 2003, p. 9).
Thanks to appropriate language learning strategies, students are freer to act, to make their own
decision and able to learn continuously and permanently. In addition, language learning
strategies ―make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and
more transferable to new situations‖ (Oxford, 1990, p. 8). They ―are tools for active, self –
directed involvement, which is essential for developing communicative competence‖, and
those who have developed appropriate learning strategies have greater self – confidence and
learn more effectively.
However, the effectiveness of language learning strategies ―may depend largely on the
characteristics of the given learner, the given language structure(s), the given context, or the
interaction of these‖ (Cohen, 1998, p.12). Besides, effective second language/ foreign language
learners are aware of the language learning strategies they use and why they use them
(O'Malley and Chamot, 1990).

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1.2.2 Reading Comprehension Strategies
1.2.2.1 Definition of Reading Comprehension Strategies
Researches reveal that effective readers spontaneously use reading strategies in the

reading process (Pritchand, 1990, as cited in Zhang, 1993), and the use of appropriate reading
strategies may improve reading comprehension (Oxford, 1990; Olsen and Gee, 1991; as cited
in Zhang, 1993). Using reading strategies can be of great help to non-native readers because it
may serve as an effective way of overcoming language deficiency and obtaining better reading
achievement both for regular school assignments and on language proficiency tests (Zhang,
1992).
According to Garner (1987), reading strategies are ―actions or series of actions
employed in order to construct meaning (as cited in AD-Heisat, M.A, et al., 2009). Reading
strategies can also be understood as ―the special thoughts or behaviors that individual use‖ to
help them to comprehend, learn and retain new information from the reading text (O‘Malley
and Chamot, 1990). More specifically, reading strategies are special actions students take on
paper, in their heads, or aloud that help them understand what they are reading. Therefore, they
are both observable and unobservable.
It is a common mistake that skills and strategies are interchangeable. Strategies are
deliberate and goal-directed (Afflerbach, Pearson, and Paris, 2008), whereas skills are
automatic, and they lead to increasingly fluent and efficient reading (Afflerbach, et al., 2008).
Readers who are aware that they must apply a cognitive strategy and do so may become less
reliant on the strategy over time. As this happens, a cognitive strategy becomes a skill.
1.2.2.2 Classification of Reading Comprehension Strategies
In the scheme of O‘Malley and Chamot (1990), there are three major categories of
reading strategies; cognitive, meta-cognitive and social/affective, but this study only focuses on
cognitive and metacognitive ones. Cognitive strategies help readers to construct meaning from
the text, whereas metacognitive strategies are utilized to regulate or monitor cognitive
strategies (Devine, 1993; as cited in Sani, et al., 2011). According to Block (1986), Carrell
(1989), Davis and Bistodeau (1993) (as cited in Sani, et al., 2011), in the actual reading,
cognitive strategies can be classified as bottom-up and top-down. Following is the possible
classification of reading strategies:

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Metacognitive
Cognitive
Planning
Monitoring
Evaluating
Top-down
Bottom-up
Advance organizers
Self-monitoring
Self-evaluation
Elaboration
Grouping
Directed attention


Transfer
Deduction
Functional planning


Inferencing
Recombination
Selective attention


Summarizing
Translation

Self-management



Key word method
Table 1.2 Reading Strategies in O’Malley and Chamot’s Scheme
Previous research in reading strategies proved there were differences between good
readers and poor readers in terms of strategy use. Overall, more proficient readers combine
both top-down and bottom-up strategies in reading, but tend to use more top-down strategies
than bottom-up ones. Specifically, effective readers tend to use the following strategies:
Reading Strategies
1. Having a purpose
8. Inferring
15. Identifying sentence structure
2. Previewing
9. Predicting
16. Inferring unknown vocabulary
3. Skimming
10. Reading actively
17. Identifying figurative language
4. Scanning
11. Identifying genres
18. Using background knowledge
5. Clustering
12. Reading to present
19. Identifying style and its purpose
6. Evaluating
13. Integrating information
20. Identifying paragraph structure
7. Reviewing

14. Noticing cohesive devices
21. Avoiding bad habits
Table 1.3 Reading Strategies Recommended by Teachers at Chinese University of
Hongkong (as reviewed by Nunan, 1999).
1.2.3 Predicting Strategy
It has been proved that predicting is of key importance in reading comprehension.
Efficient reading often includes the use of prediction strategies (Goodman, 1976; Palincsar &
Brown, 1984). Interacting with text, readers use their prior knowledge in concert with cues in
the text to generate predictions. Predicting is also an integral part of competent readers'
metacognitive strategies, which are used to monitor comprehension as the text is read (Collins
& Smith, 1982).
According to Duke and Pearson (2002), predicting is better conceived as a family of
strategies than a single strategy. It entails such pre-reading activities as activating prior
knowledge, previewing and overviewing, which encourage readers to use their existing
knowledge to facilitate their understanding of new ideas encountered in text, and while-reading

12

activities to confirm the prior predictions. The theoretical foundations for this strategy are
schema theory (Anderson and Pearson, 1984), and comprehension as the bridge between the
known and the new (Pearson and Johnson, 1978).
Making predictions can help students to become good readers and make reading more
fun. Anderson (1976) found that procedures which encourage predictions facilitate learning.
Predicting also arouses readers‘ interest (Mason & Au, 1986; Nichol, 1983), sets the purpose
for their reading and focuses on important details. According to James N. Nichols (1983), by
using this strategy in combination with such strategies as skimming and previewing a text,
students are motivated to read and encouraged to study the text carefully to confirm their prior
hypothesis (p. 225).
The researcher considered the definition by Duke and Pearson (2002) the most
comprehensive. However, all of these are only pre-reading strategies, predicting should also

involve reading to confirm or modify the prior predictions and anticipating the upcoming
information and events. Therefore, predicting strategy can be used both before reading and
while reading. The table below is a summary of predicting strategies and some activities that
are usually used to develop these strategies:
BEFORE READING
Activating background
knowledge
 Open prediction
 True/ False prediction
 Pre-question
 Network
 If You Don‘t Know, Ask, OK?
Previewing
 Look at the title and the headings for each section
to predict what the reading text is about.
 Look at the pictures to predict what the reading
text is about.
Overviewing
 Read the first and the last paragraphs each
paragraph to predict what it is about.
WHILE READING
Reading and Confirming Prior
Predictions
 Read and confirm or reject the prior predictions
Predicting What to Come Next
 Use the prior knowledge about the topic to
predict what to come next in the passage
 Use the prior knowledge about the textual
structure of the text to predict what to come next.
Table 1.4 Predicting Strategies and Activities to Develop Predicting Strategies

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1.3 Reading Comprehension Strategy Instruction
1.3.1 Approaches to Reading Comprehension Instruction
Among numerous methods and approaches ever emerging and still existing nowadays
are the two approaches language teachers often use in their teaching of reading comprehension;
Grammar-Translation Method and Communicative Language Teaching Approach.

Grammar-Translation Method
Communicative Language Teaching
Theory of
language

- Detailed analysis of grammar
rules, followed by application of
this knowledge to the task of
translating sentences or texts into
and out of the target language
- A system for the expression of
meaning; primary function-interaction
and communication.
Theory of
learning
- Little more than memorizing
rules and facts to understand the
morphology and syntax.
- Real communication activities;
meaningful tasks and meaningful
language.

Objectives
- To be ―scholarly‖ or, in some
instances, to gain a reading
proficiency in a foreign language.
- Reflecting the needs of the learner
and including functional skills and
linguistic objectives.
Syllabus
- Include ―endless lists of unusable
grammar rules and vocabulary and
perfect translations of stilted or
literary prose‖
- Include some/all of the following;
structures, functions, notions, themes,
tasks and is order by learner needs.
Activity types
- Drills in translating disconnected
sentences from the target language
into the mother tongue.
- Communicative activities; involving
information sharing, negotiation of
meaning and interaction.
Learner roles
- Memorizer and translator.
- Negotiator and interactor.
Teacher roles
- Require few specialized skills on
the part of teachers.
- Facilitator of the communication
process, participants; need analyst,

counselor, and process manager.
Roles of
materials
- Exercises in grammatical
analysis.

- Primarily promoting communicative
language use; task-based materials;
authentic.
Table 1.5 Grammar-Translation Method and Communicative Language Teaching

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Like other modern approaches and methods, Communicative Language Teaching
Approach bears the following features:
- Learner-centered teaching
- Cooperative and collaborative learning
- Interactive learning
- Whole language education
- Content-based instruction
- Task-based instruction
(Brown, 2001, pp. 46-51)
The present study adopts Communicative Language Teaching approach as the
framework for the teaching of predicting strategy in reading comprehension, and task-based
language teaching is applied in the lesson of reading strategy instruction.
The learning principle underlying the task-based approach is that learners will learn
language best if they engage in activities that have interactional authenticity (Bachman, 1990),
e.g., require them to use language in ways that closely resemble how language is used naturally
outside the classroom. According to Willis (1996), the task-based framework consists of three
main phrases, provides 3 basic conditions for language learning; Pre-task, Task-cycle and

Language focus.
(1) Pre-task: introduces the class to the topic and the task activating topic-related
words and phrases.
(2) Task Cycle: offers learners the chance to use whatever language they already know
in order to carry out the task and then to improve their language under the teacher‘s guidance
while planning their reports on the task. There are three components of a task cycle: Task,
Planning, and Report.
(3) Language Focus: allows a closer study of some of the specific features naturally
occurring in the language used during the task cycle. Learners examine the language forms in
the text and look in detail at the use and the meaning of lexical items they have noticed.
Language focus has two components: Analysis and Practice.
A more detailed task-based framework is given in Table 1.6 in APPENDIX.
1.3.2 Model of Reading Comprehension Instruction
It is common practice that a reading lesson includes three stages: pre-, while-, and post-
reading (William, 1984; Dubin and Bycina, 1991; as cited in the course book ―ESL/ CFL
Classroom Techniques and Practices‖ used at Vietnam National University, Hanoi University
of Languages and International Studies). According to these authors, each stage has its own
aims and procedures as followed:


15

Stages
Aims
Pre-
reading
(1) To activate or build the students‘ knowledge of the subject.
(2) To get the students become familiar with some of the language needed in
coping with the text.
(3) To motivate the students to read.

While-
reading
To help the students to understand the content and become aware of the
rhetorical structure of the text
Post-
reading
(1) To review the content
(2) To work on bottom-up concerns such as grammar, vocabulary, and
discourse feature
(3) To consolidate what has been read relating the information from the text to
the students‘ knowledge, interests and opinions
Table 1.7 Model of Reading Comprehension Instruction
1.3.3 Models of Reading Strategy Instruction
In the past decades, a great deal of research has been done in the field of
comprehension strategy instruction. Several sophisticated instructional models composed of
specific reading strategies have been identified, and they provide solid frameworks of effective
comprehension strategy instruction. Among these models are four prevalent models ; Reciporal
Teaching by Palincsar and Brown (1984), the Direct Explanation by Duffy et al. (1987),
Transactional Strategy Instruction by Presley et al. (1992), and the Collaborative Strategic
Reading by (Klingner et al., 1998).
Reciprocal Teaching
(Palincsar and Brown, 1984)
The Collaborative Strategic Reading
(Klingner et al., 1998)
 The teacher explicitly models the four
strategies.
 Students take turns leading the group dialogue
and practicing the strategies, and the teacher
becomes a mediator guiding and giving feedback.
 The teacher gradually diminishes the

scaffolded assistance as students begin to control
the four strategies.
 The students understand and share most of the
thinking responsibilities.
 An explicit description of the
strategy and when and how it should be
used.
 Teacher and/or student modeling of
the strategy in action.
 Collaborative use of the strategy in
action.
 Guided practice using the strategy
with gradual release of responsibility.
 Independent use of the strategy.

16

The Direct Explanation model
(Duffy et al., 1987)
Transactional Strategy Instruction
(Presley et al., 1992)
 The teacher gives detailed explanations of
the reading strategy and contributes mental
modeling of their use.
 The teacher applies a think-aloud model
that includes the reasoning involved in
using the strategy, thereby revealing his/
her reading processes.
 Students proceed to guided practice on the
strategy just presented.

 The teacher gives detailed explanations of
the reading strategy and contributes
mental modeling of their use.
 The teacher applies a think-aloud model
that includes the reasoning involved in
using the strategy, thereby revealing his/
her reading processes.
 Students proceed to guided practice on
the strategy just presented.
 Students transact with the text and among
group members to construct meaning
together.
* A small number of comprehension
strategies are instructed and practiced over a
long period of time including predicting,
generating images, seeking clarification and
summarizing.
Table 1.8 Models of Reading Strategy Instruction
Among the four models of reading comprehension strategy instruction reviewed above,
the present study adapts Direct Explanation model (DE) (Duffy et al , 1987) for three reasons.
Firstly, before the study the informants may have no idea of any reading comprehension
strategies, and they, therefore, need explicit instruction of the strategy. Secondly, the study was
conducted in a short period of time whereas the Reciporal Teaching and Transactional Strategy
Instruction require a great deal of time as well as effort. Finally, the Direct Explanation model
does not require the class to be divided into groups including a better reader and poorer
readers. However, independent practice stage was added to this model.
During the course of applying a reading strategy instruction, it is advisable to take into
consideration some factors (Andreassen and Braten, 2010). Firstly, reading strategies should be
―explicitly labeled and taught not only by explanation but also repeated modeling and

scaffolding support, with the goal being self-regulated strategy use on the part of the students‖
(Hilden and Pressley, 2007). Secondly, activation and generation of background knowledge, as

17

proved in empirical studies to play an influential role in reading comprehension, are important
instructional concerns. Thirdly, cooperation in small reading groups where students share
thoughts about how texts can be comprehended by means of multiple reading strategies was
claimed to facilitate self-regulated strategy use because in such groups students of various
abilities and skills are supposed to provide scaffolding support for each other‘s reading
processes. Fourthly, interesting texts and exciting reading activities should be used to create
reading motivation, which facilitates the strategy use. In addition, effective strategic reading
instruction should provide opportunities for all learners to reflect on their thinking during
reading, so corrective and performance feedback can be given to them (Aek Phakit; 2006).
1.4 Related Studies
In terms of predicting strategy in reading, Goodman and Burke (1980) describe the
successful reader as one who actively constructs meaning, using prediction and confirmation
strategies. According to these researchers, competent readers are adept at using their language
experience and world knowledge to choose appropriate cues in text to help generate
predictions. In turn, these predicting strategies help the reader anticipate the meaning of the
text. Once a prediction is made, the reader's task is to monitor and check the prediction against
subsequent information from the text (Collins, Brown, & Larkin, 1980). Thus, the generation
of a prediction is a crucial step in the development of a metacognitive system, in which
information concerning the appropriateness of a prediction is obtained from the text through
self-monitoring.
Accomplished readers actively control the generation of predictions (Bruce & Rubin,
1984). For example, if several predictions have been made and are still pending verification,
the reader might decide to forego the generation of further predictions until the pending
predictions have been verified or modified. Bruce and Rubin also propose that the reader with
little applicable prior knowledge for the content or form of the text being read may "limit the

proliferation of hypotheses" (p. 112). That is, as predictions are educated guesses about what
will happen in the text, competent readers monitor the appropriateness of making a prediction,
a strategy which includes an on-going assessment of applicable prior knowledge for the text
and task at hand. In contrast, readers' failure to monitor predictions may inhibit text
comprehension, as predictions made without an appropriate prior knowledge base, and without
subsequent monitoring of their accuracy, can be a liability to comprehension (Kimmel &
MacGinitie, 1984).

18

It has been found out that the generation of predictions and the verification of these
predictions through the text contribute a great deal to readers‘ comprehension, but most
researches are biased to narrative texts (Pearson and Fielding, 1991). Through their works,
Hansen (1981) and Hansen and Pearson (1983) proved that by generating expectations about
what the characters might do based on their experience in similar situations, students could
improve their comprehension of the stories. Fielding, Anderson and Pearson (1990) noted that
prediction activities promoted overall story comprehension only if the predictions were
explicitly compared to text ideas, suggesting that the verification process may be as important
as making predictions.
Investigating readers‘ predicting strategies as they read two specific genres; expository
and narrative, Olson, Mack and Duffy (1981; 1984) proposed that readers of the former did not
engage in ―rich‖ prediction and hypothesis testing, whereas readers of the latter did. Thus,
these researchers concluded that text genre had a significant influence on whether or not
readers used predictions in constructing meaning for a text. In contrast, Afflerbach (1990) and
Johnston and Afflerbach (1984) noted that competent readers used predicting strategies while
reading expository texts. Results from these studies suggested that prior knowledge for the
content of the text, in addition to knowledge of text genre, influenced readers‘ predicting
strategies. Familiar materials, which may engage readers‘ formal and content schema, ensured
more appropriate predictions in the reading process (Anderson, Pichert, and Shirey (1983).
1.5 Summary

This chapter has highlighted the key issues related to the study; the nature of reading
comprehension, language learning strategies, reading strategies, predicting strategies,
approaches to reading comprehension instruction, models of a reading comprehension lesson,
models of reading strategies. The literature review shows that reading is a process composed of
the text, the reader, fluency and strategies. Among these components, strategies play a very
important role in the reading comprehension. As a fraction of reading strategies, predicting
strategies are beneficial to the reading comprehension in many ways. A thorough review of
predicting strategies together with the reading strategy instructions strongly supports the
hypothesis that predicting strategies could improve the students‘ reading comprehension. With
this theoretical background, it is hoped that the study would yield satisfactory results.



19

CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter presents a detailed description of how the research was carried out
including the research context, research questions, research approach, participants, data
collection instruments, intervention, data collection procedures, and data analysis procedures.
2.1 Research Context
The study was conducted at Cao Ba Quat Upper Secondary School, a public school in
the suburb of Hanoi. There are 40 classes with the total number of more than 1,000 students
from some villages and towns nearby, and 10
th
grade students make up 13 classes. These
students‘ English proficiency is, on average, not very high even though they have learnt
English for at least seven years. Reading is a very difficult skill for them, and their most
common problem with this skill is that they cannot understand a reading text due to their lack
of vocabulary, as perceived by themselves and their teachers. Besides, their teachers
complained that they were word-by-word readers and, consequently, read at very low rates, and

they frequently tried to translate the text into Vietnamese.
The teaching staff includes eight teachers of English, all of whom graduated from the
University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
Among them, four teachers have more than 10 years of teaching experience, two others have
more than 5 years, and the rest has less than 3 years. Their ages vary from 25 to 50; 4 of them
are under 30. All of these teachers attended the training workshop on implementing the new
methodology, organized by the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, in the summer of
2006. The researcher is also a teacher of English at this school. She is 35 years old and has
about 10-year teaching experience. She is pursuing the post-graduate study of English at the
University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
Therefore, she has certain experience and knowledge in teaching English as a foreign language,
which is valuable for the implementation of the strategy instruction course.
The textbooks used as the official English materials for the students at this school are
Tieng Anh 10, Tieng Anh 11 and Tieng Anh 12 - standard syllabus. According to their authors,
they are theme-based and skill-based, with the adoption of the ‗two currently popular teaching
approaches, i.e. the learner-centered approach and the communicative approach. Task-based
learning is regarded as ―the leading methodology‖ (Van et al., 2006, p. 12). The themes or
topics covered in the textbooks series consist of education, community, nature, environment
and recreation. It is expected that within this task-based framework, students actively engage in
meaningful interaction and negotiation of meaning through individual, pair, and group work

20

(Van et al., 2006, p. 10). However, in the light of task-based teaching and from the researcher‘s
teaching experience, these series of textbooks seem to be far beyond their authors‘ expectation.
The tasks included in these textbooks are not ―activities where the target language is used by
the learner for a communicative purpose in order to achieve an outcome‖ (Willis, 1996, p. 23),
and the aim of tasks is not ―to create a real purpose for language use and to provide a natural
context for language study". In addition, the main stages of tasked-based learning are not
explicitly presented. Consequently, to what extent this approach is realized in the actual

teaching mainly rests on the teachers. As regards Vietnamese teachers of English, in general,
and Cao Ba Quat Upper School teachers of English in particular, task-based learning is quite
unfamiliar to them. For all these reasons, Vietnamese students, including students may not be
accustomed to task-based approach.
It was the students‘ reading problems that urged the researcher to conduct a research to
find a new way to improve her students‘ reading comprehension, and predicting strategy
instruction was chosen.
2.2 Research Questions
To achieve the aims of the study, (1) to examine the impact of the predicting strategy
instruction on the students‘ reading comprehension and (2) to determine effective techniques to
teach predicting strategies in reading comprehension, two research questions were addressed:
(1) To what extent does the use of predicting strategy instruction improve Cao Ba Quat
school’s grade 10 students’ reading comprehension?
(2) What techniques are effective to teach these students’ predicting strategy, as
perceived by the students and the teacher?
2.3 Research Approach:
The study is carried out under the approach of Action Research. Before dealing with the
specific steps in the research procedure, it is essential to explain the selection of the
methodology because good understanding of action research is indispensable for a deep
understanding and analysis of the research.
Action research, as defined in Cohen and Manion (1994, p.186), is ―small-scale
intervention in the functioning of the real world and a close examination of the effects of such
intervention‖.
Some characteristics of action research are stated in Hult and Lennung (1980) and Mc
Kerman (1991) as follows:
- Aiming at improving the quality of human actions.