Some suggested techniques in the pre reading stage to improve reading comprehension for the 12th form student at xuan truong a high school

HANOI PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY No2
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FACULTY
--- ---

NGUYEN THI HOAN

SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES IN THE PRE-READING
STAGE TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION FOR
THE 12TH FORM STUDENTS AT XUAN TRUONG B HIGH
SCHOOL

(GRADUATION PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF ARTS IN ENGLISH)

SUPERVISOR: NGUYEN THI PHUONG LAN, M.A

Hanoi, 2014


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor Ms. Nguyen
Thi Phuong Lan, M.A. for the invaluable support, guidance, and timely
encouragement she gave me while I was doing this research. I am truly grateful to
her for her advice and suggestions right from the beginning when this study was
only in its formative stage.
My special thanks also go to teachers of English and students of the 12th
form at Xuan Truong B High school for their participation to the study as the
subjects of the study. Without them, this project could not have been so
successful.

I am particularly grateful to my close friends for their helping me with

valuable reference documents and data for my research.

Last but not least, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my family who have
constantly inspired and encouraged me to complete this research.

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ABSTRACT
The important role of reading comprehension is apparent for any student who
has success in the command of foreign language in general, English in particular. For
many 12th students in Xuan Truong B High school, reading has been paid more
attentions to as the students have to take the examinations which are grammar and
reading based. However, they have encountered a lot of difficulties in reading
comprehension especially at the pre-reading stage.
With the desire to improve students’ reading comprehension, this graduation
paper limits itself to the study of the current situation of learning reading
comprehension in the pre-reading stage for the 12th form students of Xuan Truong B
High school. The results of the study are conducted by questionnaires for students and
then are illustrated by charts. This study has also given some suggestions techniques to
apply for the 12th students to help them to learn reading comprehension effectively at
the pre-reading stage.

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

Title: Some suggested techniques in the pre-reading stage to improve reading
comprehension for the 12th form students at Xuan Truong B High school

(Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for degree of Bachelor of Arts in
English)

I certify that no part of this report has been copied or reproduced by me from
any other person’s work without acknowledgements and that the report is originally
written by me under strict guidance from my supervisor.

Date submitted: May 2014

Student

Supervisor

Nguyen Thi Hoan

Nguyen Thi Phuong Lan, M.A

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .......................................................................................... i
ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................ii
STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP ............................................................................ iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................ iv

PART A: INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale of the study ............................................................................................... 1
II. Aims of the study .................................................................................................... 2
III. Scope of the study .................................................................................................. 2

IV. Tasks of the study .................................................................................................. 2
V. Methods of the study ............................................................................................... 2
VI. Significance of the study ........................................................................................ 3
VII. Design of the study ............................................................................................... 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
I.1. Literature review in brief ....................................................................................... 4
I.2. Overview of reading .............................................................................................. 5
I.2.1. Definition of reading comprehension .................................................................. 5
I.2.2. Classification of reading ..................................................................................... 7
I.2.2.1. According to the manner of reading ................................................................. 7
I.2.2.1.1. Reading aloud ............................................................................................... 7
I.2.2.1.2. Silent reading ................................................................................................ 8
I.2.2.2. According to the purposes of reading ............................................................... 9
I.2.2.2.1. Skimming ..................................................................................................... 9
I.2.2.2.2. Scanning ..................................................................................................... 10
I.2.2.2.3. Intensive reading ......................................................................................... 10
I.2.2.2.4. Extensive reading ........................................................................................ 11
I.2.3. Reading process ................................................................................................ 11
I.2.4. Schema ............................................................................................................. 13
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I.2.5. Stages of a reading lesson ................................................................................. 14
I.2.5.1. Pre-reading stage ........................................................................................... 14
I.2.5.2. While-reading stage ....................................................................................... 14
I.2.5.3. Post-reading stage .......................................................................................... 14
I.3. Overview on the pre-reading stage ....................................................................... 15
I.3.1.The importance of the pre-reading stage ............................................................ 15

I.3.2.What to do in the pre-reading stage .................................................................... 16
I.3.2.1. Activating or building students’ knowledge related to the text’s topic ............ 16
I.3.2.2. Helping students with difficult new language items ....................................... 16
I.3.2.3. Preparing students for other reading activities in the while-reading stage ....... 17
I.4. Related activities in reading process .................................................................... 17
I.5. The roles of the teacher and the students in a reading lesson ................................ 18
I.5.1. The roles of the teacher ..................................................................................... 18
I.5.1.1. As an organizer in a reading lesson ................................................................ 18
I.5.1.2. As a model reader .......................................................................................... 19
I.5.2.The roles of the students .................................................................................... 19
I.5.2.1. Students play the role of the readers ............................................................... 19
I.5.2.2. Students play the role of the listeners ............................................................. 19
I.5.3.The roles of reading text .................................................................................... 20
I.5.3.1. Improving reading skill for the students ......................................................... 20
I.5.3.2. Broaden knowledge ....................................................................................... 21

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY
II.1. Participants......................................................................................................... 22
II.2. Data collection instrument .................................................................................. 22
II.3. Data collection procedures ................................................................................. 23
II.4. Data analysis procedures .................................................................................... 23

CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
III.1. Results of the survey ......................................................................................... 24
III.1.1. Students’ attitude toward the learning of reading comprehension ................... 24
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III.1.2. What do students usually do when tackling a reading text especially at the prereading stage? ............................................................................................................ 27
III.1.3. Students’ ideas on what they should be taught in the pre-reading? ................. 30

III.2. Discussion......................................................................................................... 31
III.2.1.The current situation of learning reading of the 12th form students at Xuan
Truong B High school................................................................................................ 31
III.2.2. Students and teachers’ method of learning and teaching reading especially at
the pre-reading stage .................................................................................................. 32

CHAPTER IV
SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES IN THE PRE-READING STAGE
TO IMPROVE READING SKILLS FOR THE 12TH FORM STUDENTS
AT XUAN TRUONG B HIGH SCHOOL
IV.1. Introducing the text ........................................................................................... 34
IV.1.1. Using introductory sentences ......................................................................... 34
IV.1.2. Using questions and answers .......................................................................... 35
IV.2. Eliciting students’ background knowledge related to the text ............................ 35
IV.2.1. Giving discussions about some main points related to the text ....................... 35
IV.2.2. Brainstorming ................................................................................................ 36
IV.3. Encouraging students to guess the main content of the text ............................... 36
IV.3.1. Using networks .............................................................................................. 36
IV.3.2. Using the title of the text ................................................................................ 38
IV.4. Presenting new vocabulary ............................................................................... 38
IV.4.1. Using visual aids ............................................................................................ 38
IV.4.1.1. Using pictures ............................................................................................. 38
IV.4.1.2. Using real objects........................................................................................ 39
IV.4.2. Showing the meaning of words in context ...................................................... 40
IV.5. Giving guiding questions .................................................................................. 40

PART C: CONCLUSION
1. Summary of the study ............................................................................................ 43
2. Limitations for further study .................................................................................. 43
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3. Recommendations for further study ....................................................................... 44
REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 45
APPENDIX ............................................................................................................... 47
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE ................................................................................... 47

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PART A: INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale of the study
As an international language, English is widely used all over the world. In
Vietnam, English is also considered the most important foreign language and it is
taught as a compulsory subject in most schools throughout the country. When teaching
English, the teacher teaches students not only the English language but also its usage.
And under the right guidance, right help of the teacher, the students have to try their
best to master 4 language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking in order to
communicate in English successfully. Among these four skills, reading plays an
important role in enriching the students’ general knowledge and in helping them with
their further study later.
In general, a reading lesson in classroom includes three stages: pre-reading,
while-reading and post-reading. Pre-reading is perceived to be very important,
especially at lower language proficiency and at earlier stages of reading instruction.
Since it introduces background knowledge concerning what students are going to read,
possibly prepares them for some new language items and the way to tackle the reading
tasks or arouses their interest in the topic of the text. Students then are motivated to
read and do the comprehension exercises.
However, in high schools in Vietnam, reading texts are exploited as the main
source where both teachers and students acquire and provide vocabulary and grammar

items rather than reading skills itself. The teacher often presents the new words
appearing in the text and students are required to read and do exercises afterwards. In
addition, they are rarely provided with the background knowledge concerning the
reading text. Consequently, students might be lacking of involvement, motivation and
interest to read and do the comprehension exercises.
The above mentioned facts motivated the researcher to carry out the study
“Some suggested techniques in the pre-reading stage to improve reading
comprehension for the 12th form students at Xuan Truong B High school”. The
reason for choosing 12th grade students to focus on the fact that the new syllabus has
applied in the 12th form curriculum so limited amount of research has been conducted
in this field. Moreover, the researcher is interested in seeking the answer to the
question whether the teaching and learning reading including the pre-reading of the
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12th form students and their teachers of English, with such a change in the syllabus,
have any adjustment or not.
In conducting this study, the researcher hopes to supply an insight into the
current situation of teaching and learning reading including the pre-reading stage, and
where applicable, suggesting some techniques in this stage with the hope that the
reading lesson could be more effectively.
II. Aims of the study
This study specifically aims at:
-

Investigating the present situation of teaching reading comprehension
including the pre-reading stage of the 12th form students in reading lessons at
Xuan Truong B High school

-

Suggesting useful techniques to improve the reading comprehension skills
in the pre-reading stage for the 12th form in Xuan Truong B High school

III. Scope of the study
As stated in the title, this study is designed to focus on techniques in the prereading to improve the reading comprehension skills for the 12th form students.
Therefore, techniques used in the while-reading and post-reading will not be the main
focus of this study. The object of this research is the 12th form students at Xuan
Truong B High school.
IV. Tasks of the study
The study involves fulfilling the following tasks:
-

To study the definition, the classification of reading comprehension

-

To investigate the situation, the method of teaching and learning reading
comprehension of the students and teacher at the pre-reading stage

-

To propose some techniques in the pre-reading stage to motivate students
learning reading comprehension effectively.

V. Methods of the study
To implement this study, the following methods are used:
-

Consulting related materials: For the sake of getting knowledge and useful

ideas, I read many books and other materials in addition to earlier researches
about reading and teaching reading comprehension.

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-

Delivering survey questionnaire: To fulfill this thesis, survey questionnaires for
students were carried out to find out the students’ attitudes toward learning
reading.

VI. Significance of the study
The study highlights the importance of motivation to the reading skills in
general and to the pre-reading stage in particular. Moreover, the findings of the study
are thought to be useful for teachers of English to be aware of the essential role of the
pre-reading activities to the students’ motivation in reading lessons.
VII. Design of the study
The thesis is divided into three parts:
Part A is the Introduction which includes rationale, aims, scope, tasks, methods,
significance and design of the study
Part B - Development is the main part which consists of four chapters. Chapter
I is about theoretical background relating to reading comprehension. Chapter II
describes the methodology of the study including the selection of informants, data
collection instrument and the procedures of data collection and analys. Chapter III
discusses the major findings through the survey conducted. Chapter IV gives some
suggested techniques used in the pre-reading stage to improve the reading skill for the
12th form students
Part C is the Conclusion of the study, discusses the limitations of the study and
proposes further researches. Following this part are the references and appendix.

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
I.1. Literature review in brief
In language learning and teaching, it is important that the teachers and learners
be fully aware of the role of reading comprehension especially in the pre-reading
stage. How to make reading lesson effectively and how to motivate students before
reading a text? In fact, it has been studied by any methodologists like Grellet (1981),
L. Billows (1982), D. Brown (2001), C. Anderson and D. Pearson (1984), M. Lewis
and J. Hill (1985), E. Williams (1986), C. Nuttall (1989) and so on. Each of them gives
different opinions to improve reading comprehension at the pre-reading stage.
Grellet (1981) in Developing Reading Skills gives the definition of reading
comprehension, some strategies that can help students read more quickly and
effectively include previewing, predicting, skimming and scanning, guessing from
context, paraphrasing. Especially, he introduces some pre-reading activities to prepare
students for reading such as introducing students to a particular text, reviewing
vocabulary or grammatical structures, giving students the background knowledge
necessary for comprehension of the text, using the title, subtitles, and divisions within
the text to predict content and organization or sequence of information, looking at
pictures, maps, diagrams, or graphs and their captions and reading over the
comprehension questions to focus attention on finding that information while reading.
In Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language is written by C. Nuttall
(1989) describes how the texts we read are organized to communicate meanings. It
examines what is involved in effective reading and suggests ways of helping students
to develop into effective readers in a foreign language.
In the book Practical Techniques for Language Teaching, M. Lewis and J. Hill
(1985) claimed that it is correspondingly artificially difficult to ask students to read an

unseen text with no preparation. Preparation before reading a text not only provides
students with necessary new words, structures and background knowledge to read the
text more easily but also motivates them to feel interested in reading that text.

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Brown (2001) lists some important microskills that learners should use in
reading tasks in Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. According to him,
students should follows some principles for designing interactive reading techniques,
such as: don’t overlook the importance of specific instruction in reading skills (balance
extensive and silent reading), use techniques that are motivating, balance authentic
texts, encourage the development of reading strategies include both bottom-up and
top-down techniques, subdivide the techniques into pre-reading, during-reading and
after-reading phases. He also advises the introduction of the topic before reading the
text, the practice of skimming, scanning, predicting and activating schemata. The
author emphasizes that students bring the best of their knowledge and skills to a text
when they have been given a chance to ease into the passage.
In brief, each person can have a different opinion to improve reading
comprehension and we can not tell which is better because each of them focuses on
one important matter of reading comprehension. However, the findings they drew out
were too simple and general. They do not find out the real situation of teaching and
learning reading comprehension at the pre-reading stage. In fact, there are a lot of
difficulties that learners have to face before reading a text. Therefore, being a language
teacher, we must understand the nature of reading thoroughly to help our students read
effectively.
I.2. Overview of reading
I.2.1. Definition of reading comprehension
Reading comprehension takes a very important part in teaching and learning
reading a language and a foreign language as well. It can be seen as the ability to retain

information of a written text to the fullest of the readers.
Grellet (1981:34) stated “reading comprehension or understanding a written text
means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible”.
According to the author, reading comprehension is an activity which aims at decoding
the meaning of word combination in the text in the most efficient way.

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For Roe, Stood and Burns (1987:2) consider “reading comprehension is
reconstruction, interpretation and evaluation of what author of written content means
by using knowledge gained from life experience”.
According to interactive model of reading, comprehension is built up or
constructed from knowledge sources which interact with each other on the input from
the written page. Comprehension, by definition, is the process of relating new or
incoming information to information already stored in memory. Readers make
connections between the new information on the printed page and their existing
knowledge. They must allow the new information to enter and become a part of their
knowledge store (Lee and Vanpatten, 1995:191).
Moreover, Abbott (1981:82) gives out a research on the nature of reading
comprehension. According to him, “there are two broad aspects or levels. Firstly, there
is basically visual task that of deciphering the marks on the page, the brain receiving
signals from the eyes. Secondly, there is cognitive task that of interpreting the visual
information, so one is not simply barking at point”.
Also concerning the reading comprehension, Richard and Thomas (1987:9)
considered “reading comprehension is the best described as an understanding between
the author and the reader. The emphasis is on the reader‘s understanding of the printed
pages based on the individual’s unique background of experience. Reading is much
more than just pronouncing words correctly or simply knowing what the author
intends. It is the process whereby the printed pages stimulate ideas, experiences and

responses that are unique to an individual”. This definition emphasized that reading
comprehension is not limitted in the recognition of words or understanding the
message sent in the writing. It stressed the importance of what the reader brings to the
text combines with the ideas in the reading text to form the reader’s understanding
because when reading, people call into mind any experiences and associated
knowledge that they already have about the topic of the text.
From the above mentioned definitions, it is possible to draw a conclusion that it
is meaningless if readers spend time reading but have no comprehension or attain
nothing or even little from a written text. In other words, it is no use of reading without
comprehension. Therefore, reading comprehension plays an important part in teaching
and learning a foreign language in general and teaching reading in particular. And it is
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a need to improve reading skills so that reading motivation is increased, benefits from
reading such as being able to progress through assignments faster and to retain more
information, learning more and being more knowledgeable, improving spelling and
grammar skills, and having a more active imagination,… are to the fullest.
In conclusion, in reading comprehension, the reader not only reads written
graphic forms in the text but also recognizes the intention of the writer. They are
opinions and point of views which the writer had in mind when they wrote. Therefore,
readers can master the structures, vocabulary presented in the real situations. However,
the reasons for reading differ from one person to another. As a result, the ways we read
are also different. In other words, the purposes of reading determine the ways or the
styles of reading. Now it is necessary to have a close look at the classification on
reading according to manner and the purposes of reading to identify different types of
reading.
I.2.2. Classification of reading
I.2.2.1. According to the manner of reading
I.2.2.1.1. Reading aloud

Reading aloud is an unnatural activity because most people do not read aloud in
real life, and it is difficult for the speaker to pay attention to the meaning of the text
when reading aloud. Reading aloud involves “looking a text, understanding it and also
saying it” (Doff, 1988:67) and he considers “reading aloud as a way to convey
necessary information to someone else”. Very few people are required to read aloud as
a matter of daily routine. The readers are asked to read the text so loudly that other
people can hear it. Reading aloud does not happen outside the classroom as Doff
(1988:67) said, “reading aloud is not an activity we engage in very often outside the
classroom”.
This kind of activity seems to be more popular in the language classroom. It
focuses on the pronunciation of words in the text rather than understanding. In reading
a text, students come across many new words and phrases that they do not know how
to pronounce. The teacher, in this case may help his students pronounce words by
reading the text orally and loudly.
Aloud reading is often applied for beginners and limited in upper classes
because of some reasons. Firstly, it takes up a long time as students often read slowly
7


when they focus on pronunciation. They consequently have not enough time to deduce
the meaning of the text or complete comprehension exercises. Secondly, because
students are concerned with pronunciation, it is hardly for them to understand the
meaning of the text as Lewis and Hill (1985:110) mention “asking a student to read
aloud also means that he may concentrate inadequately on their meaning. He may read
correctly but afterward will not be able to tell what he has read”.
That is the reason why, only for the early stages of foreign language learning,
aloud reading should become an established part of a lesson to help the beginners read
words, phrases with correct stress and intonation in a sentence. But for uppersecondary schools in general and the 12th form students in particular, it is difficult to
read aloud and to understand the text at the same time, so it is advisable for the teacher
to teach reading aloud when necessary.

I.2.2.1.2. Silent reading
Silent reading is the nearest approach to the essence of reading. Silent reading
can be applied effectively to teaching and learning a reading comprehension text
because reading a text silently helps students concentrate on understanding its
meaning.
In Doff’s opinion (1988:67), silent reading or reading for meaning “is the
activity we normally engage in where we read books, newspapers, road signs, etc. It
involves looking at sentences and understanding the message they convey, in other
words, ‘making sense’ of a written text ”.
According to Doff, we know that silent reading is of great help in developing
reading skills. Students do not have to pay attention to the exact pronunciation of
words, they will try their best to focus on the ideas of the texts. Therefore, they can
cover the greatest possible amount of the text in a shortest possible time. Furthermore,
through silent reading, students can all read at their own speed. If they do not
understand the sentence or an idea, they can go back and read it again. So silent
reading is a very effective in the reading comprehension process.
Lewis and Hill (1985:110) find out that “the simplest method of reading,
frequently forgotten by language teachers is silent reading. It is the method we
normally uses with our native language, and on the whole the quickest and most
efficient”.
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However, the nature of silent reading skill is far from uniform. It varies
according to the use to which it is being put.
In sequence, the depth and detail of understanding, of comprehension increase
as we go though the ways of doing silent reading. In all, silent reading is a useful
technique in a reading comprehension process applied to students to exploit reading
lessons and it is also a good way to help teachers control the class.
I.2.2.2. According to the purposes of reading

I.2.2.2.1. Skimming
Skimming is commonly used in reading comprehension. It is one of specific
reading techniques necessary for quick and efficient reading. There have been many
definitions of skimming.
Grellet (1981:19) states that “when skimming, we go through the reading
material quickly in order to get the gist of it, to know how it is organized, or to get an
idea of the tone or intention of the writer”. It means that the purpose of skimming is
simply to see what a text is about. The reader skims in order to satisfy a very general
curiosity about the text
According to Greenwood (1985:92), “skimming occurs when the reader looks
quickly at the content page of a book, or at the chapter headings, subheading, etc. This
is sometimes called previewing”. Therefore, the key that actually encourages learners
to skim is to give them a series of texts and ask them to select appropriate titles from
groups of ones. Moreover, in order to teach skimming effectively, the teacher should
have the students read the beginning or end of a text or a paragraph because it may
provide students with a statement relating to the topic. Skimming gives students the
advantage of being able to predict the purpose of the passage, the main topic or
message, or possibly some of the developing or supporting ideas. Skimming also helps
student organize their thoughts and specify what information they can get from a book
so that the subsequent reading will become more efficient.
In brief, skimming is understood as a necessary technique for reading
comprehension which enables readers to get the main points of the text without being
concerned with the details. Therefore, skimming should be applied at the first stage of
teaching reading to help students have an overview of what they are going to read.
And it is sure that they will understand the whole text later.
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I.2.2.2.2. Scanning
Similar to skimming, scanning is a necessary technique in reading efficiently.

Brown (2001:308) defines scanning as follows: “Scanning was quickly searching for
some particular piece or pieces of information in a text”.
Sharing the same opinion with Brown, Williams (1986:100) emphasizes:
“Scanning occurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly in order to find a
particular point of information”. It reveals the key to scanning is to decide exactly what
kind of information we are looking for and where to find it.
In addition, Grellet (1981:19) gives a more detailed definition of scanning:
“When scanning, we only try to locate information and often we do not even follow
the linearity of passage to do so, and scanning is far more limited since it only means
retrieving what information is relevant to our purpose”.
These authors have the same point that while scanning reader does not need to
read form cover to cover, they only look for the information they want by running their
eyes rapidly along the lines. It can be practised with the great range of texts such as
dictionaries, maps, advertisements, labels, etc. This kind of reading is very useful in
reading selectively.
In general, both skimming and scanning are effective techniques for quick and
efficient reading. It is advisable to make use of them to improve reading
comprehension skills for students in reading classes.
I.2.2.2.3. Intensive reading
Intensive reading is also widely used in a reading class. It is an effective way to
explore the text, to go deeply into the meaning and the organization of the text.
According to Grellet (1981:4) “intensive reading means reading short text to
extract specific information. This is an accuracy activity involving reading for details”.
In addition, Nuttall (1989:23) writes “intensive reading involves approaching
the texts under the close guidance of the teacher…, or under the guidance of a task
which forces the students to pay great attention to the ext. the aim of intensive reading
is to arrive at a profound and detail understanding of the text: not only of what is
means but also of how the meaning is produced”.

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From the mentioned opinions intensive reading’s aim is to achieve full
understanding of the logical arguments, attitude, and purposes of the writer as well as
his linguistic means to achieve these purposes.
Sharing the same opinion with Nuttall, Brown (2001:312) defines “intensive
reading is usually a classroom oriented activity in which students focuses on linguistic
or semantic details of a passage. Reading calls students’ attention to grammatical
forms, discourse markers and other surface structure details for the purpose of
understanding literal meaning, implication, rhetorical relationships and the like”.
In short, intensive reading is a basic classroom activity. It is really effective if
the teacher and his students know how to fully exploit this activity in class with the
help of reading exercises.
I.2.2.2.4. Extensive reading
Extensive reading is also called “reading for fluency”. The students read long
texts to have general understanding, to develop fluency in reading or to relax. This is
an activity involving global understanding just as Grellet (1981:4) confirms
“extensive reading means reading longer text, usually or one’s own pleasure. This is a
fluency activity mainly involving general understanding”.
In Brown’s opinion, besides practising fluency, extensive reading helps
students enrich their language elements because it is one of the keys to achieve reading
ability, linguistic competence, vocabulary, spelling and writing (2001:301).
And to Nuttall (1989:168), this kind of reading is also a very useful skill for
students to widen their knowledge as he wrote: “The best way to improve one’s
knowledge of foreign language is to go and live among its speakers. The next best way
is to read extensively in it”.
To summarize, extensive reading is one of good ways to improve one’s
knowledge of a foreign language because its aim is to cover the content of text in the
shortest possible period of time. In the language classroom, the teacher must introduce
some suitable reading materials to students, as it is useful for them to form a good

habit of reading.
I.2.3. Reading process
Bottom-up and top-down approaches are the complementary ways of process a
text and they are used whenever people read. Although they are normally unconscious
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process, both of them can be adopted as conscious strategies by a reader when
approaching a difficult text. It is quite necessary for the reading teacher to grasp the
nature of the two approaches as they can help him in providing his students with
suitable reading activities to develop their reading competence as well as set
appropriate preparation for them before tackling the text.
According to Brown (2001:199), “in bottom-up processing, readers must first
recognize a multiplicity of linguistics signals (letters, morphemes, syllables, words,
phrases, grammatical cues, discourse makers) and use their linguistic data-processing
mechanism to impose some sorts of order on their signals”. In other words, the reader
derives the meaning from the black marks on the page by recognizing letters and
words and working out sentence structures. Bottom-up approach can be used to make
sure that the readers have understood the plain sense of the text correctly by reading it
again and checking the vocabulary, syntax, etc. It is of great help in developing the
reader’s detailed comprehension; however, in order to get full understanding, it must
be used in conjunction with top-down processing.
From Nuttall’s perspective “in top-down processing, we draw on our own
intelligence and experience - the predictions we can make, based on the schemata we
have acquired to understand the text” (1989:16). The top-down approach gives a sense
of perspective and makes use of all that the readers bring to the text: prior knowledge,
common sense, etc. Obviously, they do not have to read word by word but rather use
their background knowledge, ecperience, interest,… to see the writer’s purpose, get
the likely trend of the argument or predict what is coming next in the text. The topdown approach can be used effectively in the pre-reading stage. As detailed work on
the text is more rewarding after students first get a global impression of the kind of

text as well as a rough idea of the way it is organized.
Some recent researches on teaching reading have also shown that a combination
of top-down and bottom-up processing, or what has come to be called interactive
reading, is almost always a primary ingredient in successful teaching methodology
because both processes are important. Nuttall (1989:17) also highlighted “in practice, a
reader continually shifts from one focus to another, now adopting a top-down
approach to predict probable meaning, then moving to the bottom-up approach to
check whether what is reading is really what the writer says”.
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I.2.4. Schema
Schema is an important concept in the teaching of English as a second
language. It has been claimed to provide numerous benefits to the process of
comprehending a text as Nuttall (1989:7) wrote: “The way we interpret depends on the
schemata activated by the text, and whether we interpret successfully depends on
whether our schemata are sufficiently similar to the writer’s”. However, it is likely that
there will be never a total coincidence of schema between writer and reader.
Moreover, some students’apparent reading problem may be the problem of insufficient
schemata or their existing ones have not been activated before reading. If it is the case,
some disruption of their comprehension may occur. Teachers then are recommended to
do some pre-reading activities which are often designed to build or activate the
learners’ schemata. However, before proceeding any further, the definition as well as
several types of schemata should be mentioned.
According to Brown (2001:299), schema is the information, knowledge,
emotion, experience, and culture which the reader brings to the printed words. Besides,
schemata have been described by Widdowson (1988:83) as “cognitive constructs
which allow for the organization of information in long-term memory”. The teacher
should also be aware of the classification of schemata as they can apply appropriate
pre-reading activities which can help build new background knowledge and activate

students’deficient ones. Methodologists have identified several types of schemata:
content, formal and linguistic schemata in which the former one refers to the reader’s
knowledge of the world beyond the texts. Formal schema, also known as textual
schema, refers to the organization forms and rhetorical structures of written texts. It
can include knowledge of different text types and genre in addition to the
understanding of the various types of text organization, language structures,
vocabulary, grammar and level of formality. While formal schema covers discourse
level items, linguistic one includes the decoding features needed to recognize words
and how they fit together in a sentence.
Constructing new background knowledge as well as activating the existing
schemata are the main goals that the pre-reading activities must accomplish.
Therefore, teachers should select suitable activities in order to support their students
prior to reading.
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I.2.5. Stages of a reading lesson
The process of teaching a reading lesson is often divided into three stages
commonly known as pre-reading stage, while-reading stage and post-reading stage.
Each of these stages carries its own features and purposes and requires different
techniques and strategies (Williams, 1986:37).
I.2.5.1. Pre-reading stage
The pre-reading stage aims at activating or building students’ knowledge
related to texts’ topics. It also help students to become familiar with some of the
language items needed in the process of interpreting texts. Another goal of the prereading stage is to interest and motivate student to read.
In general in the pre-reading stage, it is necessary to set a good preparation for
students, provide them the sense of what they are going to do in their reading lesson.
I.2.5.2. While-reading stage
While-reading stage is regarded as the main part of a reading lesson. In this
phase, students have opportunities to understand the text thoroughly and clarify its

content in detail. The aims of this stage focus on making the students anticipate in the
process of understanding the whole text, and interpreting exactly what the author
wrote. In addition, it helps the students break up the organization of the text;
understand the text structures; classify the text content and recognize the writer’s
purpose and attitude. This stage also trains the students to think about other ideas
rising from the text and to form judgement and opinions on the basis of the fact
presented. Moreover, it helps the students improve their reading speed and techniques.
Besides, this stage offers an opportunity to apply effectively what they have learnt
from the text to their purpose of study and communication. Last but not least, this
stage helps the students develop their decision - making and problem solving skills.
Because this stage plays a very important role in a reading lesson, it must be
designed carefully.
I.2.5.3. Post-reading stage
Post-reading stage is the final but it does not mean that it is less important stage
of a reading lesson in comparison with the former phases as it is the good time for
students to revise and apply what they have got from the text into real life
communication.
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In Williams’s opinions (1986:39), one of the purposes of the post-reading work
is to check whether the students have understood the text or not. The teacher can ask
the students some questions about the texts which are not given in the book or require
them to discuss in group and in pair and so on. Another purpose is to consolidate or
reflect upon what the students have read. To achieve this, the teacher should help the
students focus on the important points as writer’s opinion, the main ideas of the text,
the specific paragraph or phrase in the reading text. The third purpose of the postreading work is to expand on the topic or language of the reading text, and perhaps
transfer things learned to another context. Therefore, the students can relate the text to
their background knowledge and interest and be able to express their personal opinion
toward the text. Moreover, post-reading activities also offer the students a real practice

of using language.
Setting up and organizing post-reading work depend very much on all the
objectives of the program as a whole. Post-reading work should, thus, contribute in a
coherent manner, to the writing, speaking and listening skills that the program aims to
develop.
In summary, the three above mentioned stages play different roles in the
reading process. It cannot be said that teachers have to follow mechanically all three
stages in every case; however, they are suggested following the three stages to have
effective reading lesson.
I.3. Overview on the pre-reading stage
I.3.1.The importance of the pre-reading stage
Pre-reading stage plays an important part in the whole process of teaching a
reading text since it is of great help in motivating students and setting them a good
preparation before reading. Williams (1986:37) mentioned that the pre-reading stage
aims at introducing and arousing interest in the topic, motivating learners by giving a
reason for reading and providing some language preparation for the text.
What Williams poited out is just general function of the pre-reading stage. They
will vary depending on each particular text. In other words, not all of these aims will
be relevant for all texts. In some cases, there may be no particular language problems;
therefore teachers have no need to provide language presentation for the text. In the
case that language presentation is needed. It does not mean that teachers should
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explain every possible unknown word and structure in the text. This is due to the fact
that there are some new language items students can guess meaning on their own in
the process of reading text. Doff explained “they can guess the meaning of many
words from the context. An important part of reading is being able to guess the
meaning of many unknown words, and it can help students to develop their reading
skill by giving practice this” (1988:59).

The teacher can ask students some useful questions to prepare for effective prereading phase such as: What knowledge, ideas, or opinions might the students already
have on this topic and how can this knowledge be exploited? How many grammatical
items and vocabularies should be taught? How much time may be spent on the prereading activities? What tasks can be given to students before they read? Answering
these questions will give teachers clues to ways of introducing the text and motivating
learners.
I.3.2.What to do in the pre-reading stage
For each particular text, the teacher will have specific activities; however, there
are three main things that are often applied in the pre-reading stage in cluding
activating or building students’ knowledge related to the text’s topic, helping students
with difficult new language items and preparing them for other activities.
I.3.2.1. Activating or building students’ knowledge related to the text’s topic
This activity aimed at helping students to predict content of the text they are
going to read. Teachers are supposed to pressume whether the text’s topic is relevant
with students’ existing schemata or not. If students have already had knowledge on the
text’s topic, teachers will help them recall and activate their already existing
knowledge. If the text’s topic is new to students, teachers will prepare activities to set
background information for students, providing them the new knowledge related to the
text.
I.3.2.2. Helping students with difficult new language items
Teachers are supposed to identify difficult language items to pre-teach for
students. Teachers can relate new and difficult language words to the ones that
students have already learnt by using synonyms, antonyms, definitions, etc. In other
way, teachers can give instructions for students to guess the meaning of difficult words
from the context. Together with presenting unknown vocabulary, teachers should also
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give explaination to some difficult grammatical items if they appear in the reading
text. This laguage preparation will help students avoid difficulties in the process of
interpreting the reading text.

I.3.2.3. Preparing students for other reading activities in the while-reading stage
Several texts may require students to do strange type of tasks; as a result,
teachers also should spend time preparing students for new types of tasks by giving
clear instructions or explanation.
I.4. Related activities in reading process
In the process of teaching and learning English, it is very crucial for learners to
realize the integration of language. That is the possibilities of other aspects of foreign
programme. Therefore, reading skill is closely related to writing, listening and speaking
skills. Understanding relations will help learners succeed.
According to Rivers and Temperly (1978), reading skill is not a single skill but
an integrated language skill. Firstly, reading is related to writing. That is when students
are asked to summarize or continue the reading material such as resume, end of a
story, short descriptions of the characters, etc. Secondly, reading is concerned with
listening comprehension. Students may listen to a story, a play… than read it or read
first and “listen to a worthwhile reading or dramatic presentation of what they have
read. The aural element adds vividness and life to the reading unit” (Rivers and
Temperly, 1978:259). They further note that “practice in direct reading of a text which
is readily accessible to the students at their present level of knowledge, while they are
simultaneously listening to a taped model reading it in meaningful and expressive
segments, can help students develop useful habits of anticipation and syntactic
identification in both of these skills”.
Thirdly, that is integration of reading and speaking. Reading materials serve as
a fundamental source for oral presentations as they can base on these ideas they have
read to discuss or debate for their own purposes. This is the best way for them to share
what they have been reading with others.
To summarize, those combinations between reading and, writing, listening,
speaking comprehension should be put into serious consideration when teaching and
learning English as a foreign language.

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