1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG NHUNG TEACHERS AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF EFFECTIVE READING COMPREHENSION TASKS WITH REFERENCE TO TIENG ANH TEXTBOOK 12: A SURVEY STUDY AT DAI MO HIGH SCHOOL Khảo sát quan điểm giáo viên học sinh nhiệm vụ đọc hiểu hiệu sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 Trường THPT Đại Mỗ M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 HANOI – 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HỒNG NHUNG TEACHERS AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF EFFECTIVE READING COMPREHENSION TASKS WITH REFERENCE TO TIENG ANH TEXTBOOK 12: A SURVEY STUDY AT DAI MO HIGH SCHOOL Khảo sát quan điểm giáo viên học sinh nhiệm vụ đọc hiểu hiệu sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 Trường THPT Đại Mỗ M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: METHODOLOGY CODE: 601410 SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN BÀNG, M.A HANOI – 2010 LISTS OF TABLES Table Students‟ perceptions of what teachers should to make the reading lessons effective Table Students‟ perceptions of the roles of various stages of an effective reading comprehension lesson Table Students‟ perceptions of effective classroom reading activities Table How teachers should exploit the textbook effectively Table Students‟ perceptions of effective assessment of Reading Comprehension Table Teachers‟ perceptions of what teachers should to make the reading lesson effective Table Teachers‟‟ perceptions of the roles of various stages of an effective reading comprehension lesson Table Teachers‟ perceptions of effective classroom reading activities Table How teachers should exploit the textbook effectively Table 10 Teachers‟ perceptions of effective assessment of Reading Comprehension TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration …………………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………… ii Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………… iii Lists of tables………………………………………………………………………… iv Table of contents …………………………………………………………………… v PART ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale……………………………………………….…………………… 2.The scope of the study………………………………,,,,,……………… Aims of the study……………………………………………………… Research questions……………………………………………………… Methods of the study………………………………………………… Significance of the study……………………………………………… Design of the study……………………………………………………… PART TWO CHAPTER : LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Definition of Reading……………………………………………………… 1.2 The role of reading in foreign language learning………………………… 1.3 Good Readers vs Bad Readers…………………………………………… 1.4 Approaches to teach reading comprehension……………………………… 1.5 Effective reading comprehension tasks…………………………………… 11 1.6 Teaching Procedures……………………………………………………… 14 CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 17 2.1 Setting and background…………………………………………………… 17 2.1.1 The school…………………………………………………………… 17 2.1.2 Participants…………………………………………………………… 17 2.2 Data collection instrument………………………………………………… 18 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 20 3.1 Data analysis……………………………………………………………… 20 3.1.1 Data analysis of the students‟ survey questionnaire………………… 20 3.1.2 Data analysis of the teachers‟ survey questionnaire………………… 24 3.2 Discussion and findings………………………………………………… 31 PART THREE: CONCLUSION 35 Summary of the major findings…………………………………………… 35 Recommendations for Classroom Practice……………………………… 36 Limitations and recommendations for further study……………………… 37 Summary………………………………………………………………… 37 REFERENCES APPENDICES 38 10 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION Rationale Reading is an essential skill for English as a second or foreign language (ESL/EFL) For many, reading is the most important skill to master With strengthened reading skills, ESL/ EFL readers will make greater progress and attain greater development in all academic areas In Vietnam, English is taught and learned in a non – native environment so reading is not only an important means to gain knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place According to Carrell (1984:1): - for many students, reading is by far the most importance of the four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or a foreign language Reading is one of the most important language skills in academic settings It is also one of the most complex skills to develop strong second language (L2) fluency Unlike speaking and writing, the reader is not able to control the message or the language used It is also a skill that, like listening, must be carried out under the real time pressure if it is done fluently However, unlike listening, there are no opportunities to ask for clarification or additional information Moreover, the range of vocabulary encountered in reading is much greater than is typically used in speaking and listening settings (Stanovich, 2000, p 252-258) Given this starting point, it is fairly clear that the development of L2 reading abilities represents a serious challenge for both the learners and the teachers Aware of the importance of teaching reading skill, all the teachers of Dai Mo upper-secondary school are trying their best to make the reading lessons effective The teachers themselves always try to find out the best approach to apply in teaching However, the quality of English learning and teaching still remains very low Although a great number of attempts have been made by the teaching staff in order to improve the situation such as applying various teaching approaches and techniques, adapting textbooks to make the lessons suitable for the students to learn, their efforts seem not effective at all The students cannot improve their English competence For all of these reasons, it would be 11 necessary to have an investigation into teachers„ and students‟ perceptions of effective reading comprehension tasks and the mismatch between teachers and students‟ perceptions of effective learning It is hoped that this study will reveal issues concerning teaching and learning reading comprehension tasks to help teachers have a deep understanding about the reading strategies to make decisions on how and what they should to keep their students much more involved in the reading process The scope of the study Having effective reading comprehension lessons is one of the biggest concerns of both the teachers and the learners of English In this study, focus is mainly put on investigating the teachers and students‟ perceptions of effective reading comprehension tasks and the mismatch between teachers and students‟ perceptions of effective learning The study is conducted in only one high school of Dai Mo upper-secondary school on 182 students in four classes in twelfth grade and teachers in the school Aims of the study The study aims to investigate three things: 1) Teachers‟ and students' perceptions of effective reading comprehension tasks 2) Differences between teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of effective reading tasks 3) To give some recommendations for the improvement of the reading lessons Research questions: This study seeks to answer the following research questions: What reading tasks are perceived as effective by the students? What reading tasks are perceived as effective by the teachers? 12 Are there any differences between teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of effective reading tasks? Methods of the study In order to find out the answers to the above research questions, a survey research was adopted for this study Significance of the study Results of the study will help the teachers and students have a more comprehensive look at the present situation of teaching and learning English reading comprehension tasks And then, teachers will have appropriate and interesting ways to make the reading lessons more effective Design of the study The study is organized around three parts Part one: - Introduction – provides rationale for the study, states what the study is aimed at and what specific tasks it resolves, specifies the scope of the study, and sketches the general structure of the study Part two: - Development – consists of three chapters: Chapter 1: - Literature Review – mentions the theoretical background of the topic with a definition of reading, an overview of the roles of reading in foreign language learning, good readers vs bad readers, approaches to teaching reading comprehension, effective reading comprehension tasks and teaching procedures 13 Chapter 2: - The study – provides information about the study This includes the setting of the study, the participants and the research instruments used for this study Chapter 3: - Data analysis and findings – gives the discription of the students and teachers survey questionnaie This chapter also gives the discussion of the results and suggestions for teachers and students at Dai Mo Uppersecondary school and provides some suggestions for further study Part three: – Conclusion – gives a summary of the whole study, its implicaions for the improvement of the classroom practice, its limitations and suggestions for future research 14 PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provides an overview of the theoretical background of the research 1.1 Definition of Reading Reading is defined as being composed of four elements: the text, the reader, fluency and reading strategies Reading can be seen as an “interactive” process between a reader and a text, which leads to automaticity or (reading fluency) In this process, the reader interacts dynamically with the text as s/he tries to elicit the meaning and where various kinds of knowledge are being used: linguistic or systemic knowledge (through bottom-up processing) as well as schematic knowledge (through top-down processing) Since reading is a complex process, Grabe argues that “many researchers attempt to understand and explain the fluent reading process by analyzing the process into a set of component skills” (Grabe: 1991, p 379) According to Anderson (1999: 1), “Reading is an active, fluent process which involves the reader and the reading material in building meaning Meaning does not reside on the printed page, nor is it only in the head of the reader A synergy occurs in reading which combines the words on the printed page with the reader‟s background knowledge and experiences.” I think this definition is comprehensive since it describes fully not only the nature of reading comprehension but also process of reading comprehension Reading competence is composed of the following components or sub skills (Grabe, 1991): Automatic recognition skills Vocabulary and structural knowledge Formal discourse structure knowledge Content/world background knowledge Synthesis and evaluation skills/strategies Metacognitive knowledge and skills monitoring ... REFERENCE TO TIENG ANH TEXTBOOK 12: A SURVEY STUDY AT DAI MO HIGH SCHOOL Khảo sát quan điểm giáo viên học sinh nhiệm vụ đọc hiểu hiệu sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 12 Trường THPT Đại Mỗ M.A MINOR THESIS... important language skills in academic settings It is also one of the most complex skills to develop strong second language (L2) fluency Unlike speaking and writing, the reader is not able to control... perceived as effective by the students? What reading tasks are perceived as effective by the teachers? 12 Are there any differences between teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of effective reading tasks?