VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - NGUYỄN HÀ SÂM AN ACTION RESEARCH ON IMPROVING 10th GRADE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH THE TEACHING OF LEXICAL INFERENCE STRATEGY AT HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS, HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION (NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CỦA HỌC SINH THƠNG QUA VIỆC GIẢNG DẠY CHIẾN LƯỢC ĐỐN NGHĨA CỦA TỪ VỰNG TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG CHUYÊN, ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 Hanoi, 2014 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - NGUYỄN HÀ SÂM AN ACTION RESEARCH ON IMPROVING 10th GRADE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH THE TEACHING OF LEXICAL INFERENCE STRATEGY AT HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIFTED STUDENTS, HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION (NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CỦA HỌC SINH THÔNG QUA VIỆC GIẢNG DẠY CHIẾN LƯỢC ĐOÁN NGHĨA CỦA TỪ VỰNG TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG CHUYÊN, ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM HÀ NỘI) M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Võ Đại Quang Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the minor thesis entitled “An Action Research on Improving 10th Grade Students’ Reading Comprehension through the Teaching of Lexical Inference Strategy at High School for Gifted Students, Hanoi National University of Education” is the result of my own work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English Teaching Methodology at Faculty of Post - Graduate Studies, Hanoi University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University The research has not been submitted to any other university or institution wholly and partially Hanoi, 2014 Nguyen Ha Sam i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This thesis could not have been completed without the help and support from a number of people First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Assoc Prof Dr Vo Dai Quang, my supervisor, who has patiently and constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly through my growth as an academic researcher A special word of thanks goes to my students, without whom it would never have been possible for me to have this thesis accomplished Last by not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for the sacrifice they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work ii ABSTRACT This study was intended to investigate the impact of lexical inference strategy on 10th grade students‟ reading comprehension ability More specifically, the researcher strived to (1) examine whether students‟ lexical knowledge had any correlation to their reading ability, (2) whether the teaching of lexical inferencing had a positive effect to enhance tenth grade students‟ reading comprehension, (3) investigate the students‟ attitudes towards the instruction, and (4) propose some recommendations for instructing this strategy to other teachers To achieve those abovementioned aims, an action research was conducted with the participation of 46 tenth grade students from a class at High School for Gifted Students, Hanoi National University of Education The teaching program aimed at instructing the students with lexical inferencing to help them enhance their reading comprehension ability The study included: (1) pretest and a questionnaire (2) the instruction of lexical inferencing, (3) posttest and a questionnaire, (4) teacher‟s notes and students‟ learning logs Later, (5) interviews were included to support the findings The main findings of the research were as follows: (1) Lexical competence served as good prediction of reading ability in a foreign language The higher scores students got in vocabulary tests, the higher scores they received in reading comprehension tests (2) Overall, the instruction of this vocabulary-learning strategy improved their reading comprehension (3) Most of the students held positive attitudes towards the instruction of lexical inferencing (4) The students had a habit of guessing words from context using local clues or information from around the target word iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, TABLES AND FIGURES Figure 1: Action Research Model 18 Table 1: Classification of Reading Strategies Table 2: Background Information of the Subjects 17 Table 3: Procedures of the Study 26 Table 4: Results of Question in the Questionnaire After the Pretest 28 Table 5: Results of Question in the Questionnaire After the Pretest 28 Table 6: Results of Question in the Questionnaire After the Pretest 28 Table 7: Results of Question in the Questionnaire After the Pretest 29 Table 8: Results of Question in the Questionnaire After the Pretest 29 Table 9: Correlation between the Two Tests Before Lexical Inferencing Instruction 30 Table 10: Correlation between the Two Tests After Lexical Inferencing Instruction 30 Table 11: Percentage of the Students’ Correct Answers in the Pretest and Posttest 31 Table 12: Results of Question in the Questionnaire After the Posttest 33 Table 13: Results of Question in the Questionnaire After the Posttest 33 Table 14: Results of Question in the Questionnaire After the Posttest 33 Table 15: Results of Question in the Questionnaire After the Posttest 34 Table 16: Results of Question in the Questionnaire After the Posttest 34 Abbreviations T: Teacher S1: Subject in the interview S2: Subject in the interview S3: Subject in the interview HNUE: Hanoi National University of Education L2: second language iv TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION……………………………………………………………………… i ACKNOWLEDGEMENT………………………………………………………… .ii ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………… iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, TABLES AND FIGURES………………………………iv TABLE OF CONTENT…………………………………………………………… … V PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the Study 1.2 Aims of the Research 1.3 Objectives of the Research 1.4 Research Questions .3 1.5 Scope of the Research 1.6 Significance of the Research 1.7 Structural Organization of the Thesis .3 PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature Review 1.1 Theoretical Background 1.1.1 Definition of Reading Comprehension 1.1.2 Reading Comprehension Strategies 1.1.2 Lexical Inference Strategy 1.1.2.1 Definition of Lexical Inference Strategy 1.1.2.2 Value of Lexical Inference Strategy 11 1.1.2.3 Factors that Affect Lexical Inferencing 11 1.2 Review of Previous Studies Related to the Research Area of the Thesis 12 1.3 Summary .15 Chapter 2: Research Methodology 16 2.1 Research Setting 16 2.2 Subjects 16 2.3 Research Types .17 2.4 Research Approaches 17 2.5 Data Collection Instruments 19 2.5.1 Pretest and Posttest 19 2.5.1.1 Vocabulary Multiple-Choice Tests 20 2.5.1.2 Reading Comprehension Tests 20 2.5.2 Questionnaires 20 2.5.3 Interviews .21 2.5.4 Teacher‟s Notes and Students‟ Learning Logs 22 2.6 Intervention: Instruction of Lexical Inferencing in Class .22 v 2.6.1 Reading Materials 22 2.6.2 Steps of the Instruction in Lexical Inferencing 23 2.7 Data Collection Procedures 25 2.8 Data Analysis 26 2.9 Summary .27 Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions 28 3.1 Preliminary Investigation 28 3.1.1 Findings 28 3.1.2 Discussion 29 3.2 Evaluation 30 3.2.1 Research Question 30 3.2.2 Research Question 31 3.2.2.1 Results from Pretest and Posttest 31 3.2.2.2 Discussion .31 3.2.3 Research Question 32 3.2.3.1 Results from Questionnaire After the Posttest 33 3.2.3.2 Discussion .34 3.2.3.3 Results of the Interview 35 3.2.3.4 Discussion .37 3.3 Summary 37 PART C: CONCLUSION 39 3.1 Recapitulation 39 3.2 Conclusions 39 3.3 Limitations of the Research .40 3.4 Suggestions for Future Research .41 REFERENCES 43 APPENDICES……………………………………………………………………………I vi PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale for the Study In the last few decades, second/foreign language vocabulary acquisition has been an increasingly interesting topic of discussion for researches, teachers, curriculum designers, theorists and others involved in second language learning All consider vocabulary as being a very important element in language, especially in reading skills When mentioning the relationship between vocabulary and reading comprehension, Nation (1990) claimed that vocabulary knowledge is one of the best predictors of reading ability and the ability to acquire new information from the text As a result, it can be said that the threshold for reading comprehension is, to a large extent, lexical Lexical problems will, therefore, hinder successful comprehension In fact, second/foreign language readers often cite lack of adequate vocabulary as one of the most common obstacles to text comprehension Kim‟s (1995) study also shows that learners‟ lack of vocabulary knowledge or their being unfamiliar with words is a major problem affecting readers‟ reading comprehension Many readers have claimed that they would like to read more, but when they encounter unknown lexis they lose their interest From observations, the researcher also realize that Vietnamese learners of English, in general, and grade 10 students at High School for Gifted Students (HNUE), 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 Students feel insecure when they read without the aids of glossing or dictionaries When they encounter a new word in the reading context, they simply not show any effort to guess its meaning The reason is that they always rely on the glossing of Vietnamese translation of unfamiliar words in reading texts, or resort to using dictionaries immediately Yet, this habit was proved to be a bad habit and affect students‟ reading comprehension (Dechant, 1991) The results are limited vocabulary knowledge and inadequate reading ability One possible explanation for the abovementioned problem can be found in Miller and Perkins‟ study (1989), in which the researchers indicated that in most reading classrooms, students have received inadequate instructions on reading skills and strategies Teachers normally stress on the production of reading comprehension rather than the reading process Therefore, a better way of teaching and learning reading skills, as many researchers have suggested, is to equip students with the strategy of guessing word meaning from context and to help them become independent readers Particularly, 10th grade students may have not been taught any reading strategy before They have acquired a range of vocabulary and grammar after five to seven years of learning English Now it is urged that they be taught learning strategies to become better and more efficient learners 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 the teaching of lexical inference strategy The rationale for my focus is that lexical inference strategy plays a critical role in successful reading (Sullivan, 1978) Although the importance of lexical inferencing has been highlighted in a number of empirical studies, much remains to be learned about it 1.2 Aims of the Research The study aimed at improving reading comprehension ability of 10th grade students at High School for Gifted Students (HNUE) through lexical inference strategy instruction, and giving recommendations on how to teach students to use lexical inference strategies effectively to enhance their reading abilities 1.3 Objectives of the Research The specific objectives of the research were as follows:  Examine whether there is a correlation between lexical knowledge and reading comprehension  Apply the teaching of lexical inference strategy to improve reading comprehension ability of 10th grade students at High School for Gifted Students  Explore the students‟ attitudes towards lexical inference strategy instruction  Give recommendations to other teachers of English on how to teach the students to use lexical inference strategy effectively to improve their comprehension in reading classes ... EDUCATION (NGHIÊN CỨU HÀNH ĐỘNG VỀ VIỆC NÂNG CAO KHẢ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CỦA HỌC SINH THƠNG QUA VIỆC GIẢNG DẠY CHIẾN LƯỢC ĐỐN NGHĨA CỦA TỪ VỰNG TẠI TRƯỜNG TRUNG HỌC PHỔ THÔNG CHUYÊN, ĐẠI HỌC SƯ PHẠM HÀ NỘI)... PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Võ Đại Quang Hanoi, 2014 DECLARATION I hereby certify that the minor thesis entitled “An Action Research... UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES - NGUYỄN HÀ SÂM AN ACTION RESEARCH ON IMPROVING 10th GRADE STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION THROUGH THE TEACHING