Luận văn tiếng Anh: An evaluation of pre-reading activities in the new textbook TiengAnh 11 in motivating and improving students’ reading performance = Đánh giá các hoạt động tiền đọc của sách giáo khoa Tiếng Anh 11 mới nhằm tạo động lực và nâng cao kết quả đọc của học sinh . M.A Thesis Linguistics: 60 14 10
Nhà xuất bản: University of Languages and International Studies
Ngày: 2013
Chủ đề: Đọc hiểu
Kỹ năng đọc
Tiếng Anh
Phương pháp giảng dạy
Miêu tả: M.A. Thesis English language teaching methodology -- University of Languages and International Studies. Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 2013
Electronic Resources
ABSTRACT
This research investigated whether adaptation of pre-reading activities
increased the classroom motivation, involvement as well as reading performance of
learners at an upper-secondary school. The main methods were employed in this
study namely document analysis, students survey questionnaire, teachers interview,
classroom observation and pre-test post-test experimental design. Eighty four
students selected from two classes (11A3 was employed as the control group and
11A5 as the experimental group) at Dao Duy Tu high school were used for the
study. The students selected were made up of both male and female. The findings
revealed that pre-reading activities in the textbook were too monotonous to get
students involved in the reading lesson. Students and teachers were not in favor of
these activities available in the current textbook. Also, adaptation of textbook
activities would be helpful in increasing the students‟ motivation in pre-reading
stage and better comprehension can be gained through exposure to pre-reading
activities. The study recommended that teachers could use pre-reading activities as
a useful tool to facilitate students‟ motivation and reading comprehension
performance. It also could be suggested that teachers should change some
inappropriate pre-reading activities of students‟ interests in the reading class to get
them join in those activities with great eagerness.iv
LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS
TTT: Teacher talking time
STT: Students talking time
T: Teacher
Ss: Students
EFL: English foreign language
Df: Degree of freedom
T: Test
M: Mean
Std Dev.: Standard Deviation
Sig.: Significance
No.: Number
P: Probability value
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LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 3.1: Students‟ beliefs towards the reading texts in the new English 11
Figure 3.2: Students‟ attitudes to their teacher‟ pre-reading activities
Figure 3.3: Frequency of undertaking extra pre-reading activities in reading class
Figure 3.4: Students‟ involvement in pre-reading activities in reading lessons
Figure 3.5: Students‟ preference for participation in pre-reading activities
Figure 3.6: Teachers‟ evaluation of reading texts in the textbook
Figure 3.7: Teachers‟ evaluation on pre-reading activities in English 11
Figure 3.8: Frequency of adaptation for pre-reading activities
Figure 3.9: Teachers‟ methods for adaptation
Table 3.1: Description of topics in English 11
Table 3.2: Activities of reading stage in 6 units are analyzed
Table 3.3: Pre-reading activities of 6 units are analyzed
Table 3.4: Difficulties students encounter in reading lessons
Table 3.5: The most frequently used activities to start a reading lesson
Table 3.6: Students‟ beliefs about good effects of pre-reading activities
Table 3.7: Students‟ beliefs about bad effects of pre-reading activities
Table 3.8: Frequency of using pre-reading activities by the teachers
Table 3.9: Students‟ preferences for pre-reading activities
Table 3.10: Students‟ evaluations on pre-reading activities in the textbook
Table 3.11: Students‟ recommendation on pre-reading activities to make a reading
lesson more interesting
Table 3.12: Teachers‟ beliefs about the purposes of carrying out pre-reading
activities
Table 3.13: Teachers‟ beliefs about students‟ participation in pre-reading activities
Table 3.14: Teachers‟ recommendation to increase students‟ participation
Table 3.15: Teachers‟ difficulties when undertaking pre-reading activities
Table 3.16: Number of students involve in teacher‟s activities of pre-reading stage
in the control and experimental group
Table 3.17: Teacher talking time (TTT) and students talking time (STT) of the
control group and the experimental group at pre-reading stage
Table 3.18: The summary of independent-and paired-samples t-tests
Table 3.19: The t-test for the experimental and control groupsvi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION...................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT....................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iii
LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................. iv
LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES......................................................................v
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................ vi
1. Rationale to the study ..........................................................................................1
2. Aims and objectives of the research ....................................................................2
2. 1. Aims of the research.....................................................................................2
2. 2. Objectives of the research ............................................................................2
3. Research questions...............................................................................................2
4. Scope of the research ...........................................................................................3
5. Methods of the research.......................................................................................3
6. Expected findings ................................................................................................4
7. Significance of the research.................................................................................4
8. Limitations of the research ..................................................................................5
9. Outline of the research.........................................................................................5
PART B: DEVELOPMENT.....................................................................................6
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................6
I. 1. Theoretical background about pre-reading activities .......................................6
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I. 1. 1. Definition and the importance of pre-reading activities in teaching
reading ..................................................................................................................6
I. 1. 2. Types of pre-reading activities..................................................................7
I. 2. Theoretical background about motivation........................................................8
I. 2. 1. Definitions and types of motivation..........................................................8
I. 2.2. The importance of motivation in learning reading ....................................9
I. 2.3. Common factors affecting students‟ motivation in learning the reading
skill .......................................................................................................................9
I. 2. 3.1. Students‟ factors .................................................................................9
I. 2. 3. 2. The reading materials factors ..........................................................10
I. 2.3. 3. The teacher‟s factors.........................................................................10
I. 4. Theoretical background about textbook evaluation .......................................10
I. 4. 1. Definitions...............................................................................................10
I. 4. 2. Criteria for textbook evaluation ..............................................................11
I. 5. Theoretical background about textbook adaptation .......................................11
I. 5. 1. Definitions...............................................................................................11
I. 5. 2. The necessity of textbook adaptation when teaching foreign languages12
I. 5. 3. Techniques for textbook adaptation........................................................13
PART II: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................15
II. 1. Setting of the research...................................................................................15
II. 2. Subjects of the research.................................................................................15viii
II. 2. 1. The students ...........................................................................................15
II. 2. 2. The teachers ...........................................................................................16
II. 3. Data collection instruments...........................................................................17
II. 3. 1. Document analysis.................................................................................17
II. 3. 2. Survey questionnaire for students..........................................................17
II. 3. 3. Interview for teachers ............................................................................17
II. 3. 4. Classroom observation...........................................................................18
II. 3. 5. Pre-test post-test experimental design ...................................................18
II. 4. Data collection procedure .............................................................................18
CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ..............................................20
III. 1. Document analysis.......................................................................................20
III. 2. Data collected from survey questionnaire for students ...............................24
III.2.1. Students‟ experience of English learning...............................................24
III.2.2. Students‟ beliefs towards the reading texts in the new English 11 ........24
III.2.3. Difficulties students encounter in reading lessons .................................25
III.2.4. The most frequently used activities to start a reading lesson.................26
III.2.5. Students‟ attitudes to their teacher‟ pre-reading activities.....................26
III.2.6. Students‟ beliefs about good effects of pre-reading activities ...............27
III.2.7. Students‟ beliefs about bad effects of pre-reading activities .................27
III.2.8. Frequency of undertaking extra pre-reading activities in reading class.28
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III.2.9. Students‟ participation in pre-reading activities in reading lessons.......29
III.2.10. Students‟ preference for participation in pre-reading activities...........29
III.2.11. Frequency of using pre-reading activities by the teachers ...................30
III.2.12. Students‟ preferences for pre-reading activities...................................31
III.2.13. Students‟ evaluations on pre-reading activities in the textbook...........33
III.2.14. Students‟ recommendation on pre-reading activities to make a reading
lesson more interesting.......................................................................................34
III. 3. Data collected from teacher interview.........................................................35
III.3.1. Teachers‟ evaluation of reading texts in the textbook ...........................35
III.3.2. Teachers‟ evaluation on pre-reading activities in English 11 ................35
III.3.3. Teachers‟ beliefs about the purposes of carrying out pre-reading
activities..............................................................................................................36
III.3.4. Teachers‟ belief about students‟ participation and their suggestions to
increase students‟ participation in pre-reading activities ...................................37
III.3.5. Frequency of adapting pre-reading activities and methods of adaptation
............................................................................................................................39
III.3.6. Teachers‟ difficulties when undertaking pre-reading activities .............40
III.4. Data collected from classroom observation..................................................41
III.5. Data collected from pre-test post-test experimental design..........................46
PART C: CONCLUSION.......................................................................................50
1. Summary of the study........................................................................................50x
2. Recommendations for using and adapting pre-reading activities in reading class
at grade 11 effectively ...........................................................................................52
2.1. When and how to use pre-reading activities ...............................................52
2.1.1. When using pre-reading activities ........................................................52
2.1.2. How to use pre-reading activities .........................................................53
2.2. When and how to adapt pre-reading activities in reading class ..................55
2.2.1. When conducting pre-reading activity adaptation in reading class ......55
2.2.2. The way of conducting pre-reading activity adaptation .......................56
3. Limitations of the study.....................................................................................57
4. Suggestions for further study.............................................................................57
REFERENCES........................................................................................................58
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... I
APPENDIX 1 .............................................................................................................. I
APPENDIX 2 .............................................................................................................V
APPENDIX 3 ........................................................................................................... VI
APPENDIX 4 ..........................................................................................................XX
APPENDIX 5 ....................................................................................................... XXII
APPENDIX 6 .......................................................................................................XXV
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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale to the study
Recently, the renovation in education especially in the textbook of 11th form
has brought many achievements but requires innovating in teaching methods of four
language skills, among which reading comprehension is regarded as a very
important skill, the starting point of each unit. Therefore, it is necessary to apply
different techniques to Giúp students learn reading comprehension more effectively,
in which pre-reading activities hold an important role in motivating students to read
and understand the lesson more easily. It is a matter of fact that English 11 apart
from suitable points still has some unsuitable points. Clearly, the textbook is just a
tool that helps teachers succeed in language teaching. While teaching language,
teachers are expected to organize the tasks and activities in order to respond the
objectives of the teaching and learning process. Nonetheless, the students‟ levels of
English are different in various areas in Vietnam. Not all students have the same
English proficiency in a class while the current English textbooks are compulsory
for teaching at all high schools. Furthermore, it is a common knowledge that
motivation is related to success in second language learning in general and learning
reading in particular. It is assumed that if the students are motivated, especially
from the pre-reading stage, their reading tasks will be completed more successfully
and obstacles while reading will not affect to their understanding any longer.
Therefore, the research entitled “An evaluation of pre-reading activities in
the new textbook Tieng Anh 11 in motivating and improving students‟ reading
performance” is conducted to explore not only the current situation of adapting prereading stage at Dao Duy Tu high school in Thanh Hoa province but also the
positive results and its effects on student‟s motivation as well as reading
performance. Hopefully, the paper is also to offer some practical suggestions for not
only teachers but also textbook writers or designers to adapt pre-reading activities in
reading classes more effectively.2
2. Aims and objectives of the research
2. 1. Aims of the research
The study is carried out with the aim to analyze pre-reading activities in the
new textbook English 11. Moreover, it explores the situation of teaching prereading activities in reading comprehension lessons at Dao Duy Tu high school.
Eventually, it provides some effective adaptations enabling students of learning
English to be motivated and improved in reading performance.
2. 2. Objectives of the research
The paper is intended to achieve the following objectives:
1. Exploring suitable and unsuitable points of pre-reading activities in the new
textbook English 11 published in 2007 by Education Publishing House.
2. Investigating into the current situation of pre-reading stage in teaching
reading lessons to 11th form at Dao Duy Tu high school-Thanh Hoa.
3. Suggesting some practical adaptation for pre-reading stage in order to
increase students‟ motivation and performance in reading comprehension
lessons.
3. Research questions
In order to achieve the above aims and objectives, the investigation is supposed
to answer the following research questions:
1. What are some suitable and unsuitable points of pre-reading activities in the
new textbook English 11?
2. What is the current situation of using pre-reading activities in the new
textbook English 11 at Dao Duy Tu high school?
3. How can we make pre-reading stage more effective in motivating and
improving students‟ reading performance?
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4. Scope of the research
Within the scope of a study, adapting reading activities is a vast topic and it
results in difficulties for the researcher to get in depth into the analysis of all the
aspects of the issue. Consequently, this paper only concentrates on investigating
some pre-reading activities in reading class. In addition, due to limited time, the
author can only focus on students at grade 11, especially group 11A3 and 11A5 as
well as some teachers at Dao Duy Tu high school to carry out the survey
questionnaire, interview, observations and pre-test post-test design.
5. Methods of the research
The study attempts to evaluate pre-reading activities in motivating and
improving reading performance on the 11th form students at Dao Duy Tu high
school. In order to achieve the mentioned aims, the following methods are
employed: textbook analysis, survey questionnaire for students, interviews for both
teachers and 11th graders, classroom observations and pre-test post-test
experimental design.
Initially, the researcher analyzes the textbook English 11 to explore the
suitable and unsuitable points of pre-reading activities.
Moreover, the situation of conducting pre-reading activities at Dao Duy Tu
high school is investigated by distributing questionnaire for students and interview
for teachers.
Next, the researcher observes two classes (11A3 and 11A5) in the twelve
reading lessons focusing on the pre-reading stage. 11A3 is employed as the control
group using original pre-reading activities in the textbook. While for the
experimental group (11A5), the same lessons are taught with adjusted pre-reading
activities. Analyzing and comparing the number of students‟ involvement in
teacher‟s pre-reading activities, students talking time to prove whether the4
adaptation of textbook activities will be helpful in increasing the students‟
motivation in pre-reading stage.
Finally, a pre-test post-test experimental design was administered for the
study to reveal that providing pre-reading activities might serve as useful tools for
language teachers and reading teachers in facilitating learners‟ reading
comprehension ability. Both groups were pre-tested the same reading
comprehension passage; however, only the experimental group received the
treatment regarding pre-reading activities.
6. Expected findings
Hopefully, my study is able to:
Explore the suitable and unsuitable points of pre-reading activities in
the new textbook English 11.
Investigate into the current situation of pre-reading stage in teaching
reading to 11th form at Dao Duy Tu high school.
Seek out the effective ways of using pre-reading stage in teaching
reading to Giúp students achieve the goals of reading lessons.
7. Significance of the research
The study highlights the vital role of pre-reading stage in offering an
overview of the materials and making the structure and organization of the text for
students. The research, hence, makes an important contribution to illuminate not
only the current situation of adapting some activities in pre-reading stage at Dao
Duy Tu high school but also the positive results and its effects on student‟s
motivation as well as reading performance. Much more importantly, this research
would like to give out some practical suggestions for teachers to adapt pre-reading
activities in reading classes more effectively.
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8. Limitations of the research
This research can only explore the use of pre-reading stage in teaching
reading to make reading lesson more effective to 11th form students at Dao
Duy Tu high school.
The success of this study depends much on the attitudes of the participants,
including students and teachers involved.
9. Outline of the research
The research is organized into three main parts as follows:
Part A - Introduction presents the background to the study, states the aim,
the research questions, the scope, and the methods of study and outlines the
organization of the research.
Part B - Development consists of three chapters:
Chapter I - Literature Review conceptualizes the study‟s theoretical
background, presents the concepts relevant to the topic of the thesis: pre-reading
activities, motivation, textbook evaluation and suggested adaptation for using prereading stage effectively to make reading lessons comprehensible.
Chapter II - Methodology describes the research instruments and detailed
information about the subjects of the study as well as the research procedure is also
provided.
Chapter III - Findings and Discussions analyzes the initial data and the data
to monitor the change to evaluate the effects of pre-reading activity adaptation on
student‟s motivation and reading comprehension improvement.
Part C - Conclusion summaries the main points presented as well as supplies
some practical suggestions to Giúp teachers increase effectiveness of pre-reading
stage. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further possible research are also
discussed in this section.6
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter provides the theoretical background of pre-reading activities,
motivation, textbook evaluation and suggested adaptation for using pre-reading
stage effectively to make reading lessons comprehensible.
I. 1. Theoretical background about pre-reading activities
I. 1. 1. Definition and the importance of pre-reading activities in teaching
reading
So far, different researchers such as Lazar (1993:83), and Graves (1995:664)
have provided many definitions of pre-reading activities. Lazar, for example,
defined pre-reading activities as activities that Giúp students with cultural
background, stimulate student interest in the story, and pre-teach vocabulary.
Besides, Graves defined pre-reading activities as “devices for bridging the gap
between the text‟s content and the reader‟s schemata.”
It cannot be denied that pre-reading activities play a crucial important role in
motivating the students through the reading lesson. The aims of pre-reading stage
are to activate the student‟s knowledge of the subject, to provide any language
preparation that might be needed for coping with the passage and, finally to
motivate the learners to want to read the text, according to Celce-Murcia
(1991:225). Furthermore, Tudor (1989:17) called pre-reading activities
“enabling activities” because they provide a reader with the necessary background
to organize activity and to comprehend the material (these experiences involve
understanding the purposes for reading and building a knowledge base necessary for
dealing with the content and the structure of the material). They said that prereading activities elicit prior knowledge, and focus attention.
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I. 1. 2. Types of pre-reading activities
Based on the crucial role of pre-reading stage in encouraging students to read
and motivating them in order to enable them to read the text more effectively,
teacher should make full use of pre-reading stage as it is important in building
confidence and creating interest within learners as well as activate their background
knowledge and schema in regard to the target text. This can be achieved by using
following activities as Doff (1997:59) stated.
Presenting some new vocabulary
It is a fact that learners often have difficulty in reading when they encounter
new words and new words may de-motivate students. Therefore, some unfamiliar
words especially ones that make it difficult to understand the text need to be
presented before-hand. Nonetheless, it is not necessary to introduce all new words
before reading. Students can get the meaning of many new words basing on the
context.
Introducing the text
Teacher may Giúp students get familiar with the topic by giving them some
expected ideas about the text they are going to learn and having some ideas about
the topics increases students‟ interest and desire to read. Students can get exposure
to the topic by many ways: playing games, listening to story, music or teacher can
host a short discussion to start students thinking about the topic. Another common
way to introduce the topic is to give a simple sentence “We are going to read
about…” or “The text is about…”
Giving guiding questions
By giving some guiding question before reading teacher can Giúp students
activate their prior knowledge about the topic. The guiding questions aim at giving
students a reason to read by giving them something to look for as they read the text
and leading students towards the main points of the text, so that after the first
reading they should have good general idea of what it is about.8
I. 2. Theoretical background about motivation
I. 2. 1. Definitions and types of motivation
It is common knowledge that motivation is thought to be important and
inevitable in most fields, without which one is difficult to succeed. Motivation to
learn a second language is seen as referring to the extent to which the individual
work or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the
satisfaction experienced in this activity. According to Kleinginna (1981:6)
motivation considered as “a desire or want that energizes and directs goal-oriented
behavior”. Sharing the same point, Brown (2002:160) indicated that “motivation is
some kinds of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve
something”. Motivation is also suggested by Woolfolk (2001:136) as “an internal
state that arouses, directs and maintains behavior”. Moreover, “motivation involves
the attitudes and effective states that influence the degree of effort that learners
make to learn a second language.” (Ellis, 1997:5) Overall, motivation refers to the
combination of effort and desire plus favorable attitudes toward learning the
language and occurs as a result of connection of external and internal influences.
Apparently, kinds of motivation and their features have been discussed by
scholars and psychologists, who referred to motivation which comes from inside
and from outside. Among them, Moore (1992) separated motivation into two main
categories intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation that have an important part
in classroom motivation and they are partially accessible to teacher‟s influence.
According to Moore (1992:261) “intrinsic motivation is what learners bring to
learning environment, that is, their internal attitudes: attitudes, values, needs and
personality factors.” For example, students who love to read are intrinsically
motivated to read-there is something about reading that they enjoy and that makes
them want to do it even if there is no reward for it. In addition, he said that
“extrinsic motivation originates outside the individual and is concerned with
external environments factors that Giúp shape students‟ behavior” (Moore,
1992:261). For instance, for students who do not enjoy reading, a token economy
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involving stickers or a class store may prompt them to read more often. In short,
most writers agreed that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation interact with each other
and play an important role in second language learning. As a result, students can be
either motivated by internal or external factors depending on the circumstances and
conditions the activity is performed.
I. 2.2. The importance of motivation in learning reading
Actually, most of the English learners usually find reading the toughest and
the most boring of the four practical skills. They complain that they feel bored with
the reading lesson. Moreover, the students‟ motivation in learning the reading skill
is quite low, some of them are unwilling to participate in the reading activities, and
others read the text without any interest. From these facts, it is advisable for the
reading teachers to stimulate their students or arouse their interest in dealing with
reading activities, especially at the opening stage of the lesson. Girard (1997:120)
once emphasized that: “it is an important part of a reading teacher‟s job to motivate
learners.” There are certain ways for the teachers to activate their students‟
motivation. To have an effective one, it is essential to examine factors affecting
their motivation.
I. 2.3. Common factors affecting students’ motivation in learning the reading
skill
I. 2. 3.1. Students’ factors
There are many factors that can Giúp learners become interested in what they
are reading such as their thought, feelings, interests, and their background
knowledge. Actually, background knowledge, which refers to the existing
information on a specific topic, is vital to the reading skill. Consequently, if
students lack background knowledge, it is difficult for them to get involved in the
activities, especially for reading activities. They will be unable to use their existing
knowledge to comprehend the new material and more importantly they will lose
their interest in reading the text.10
I. 2. 3. 2. The reading materials factors
Reading material is another important factor that greatly influences the
students‟ motivation in a reading lesson. First of all, if the reading material is
interesting and relevant to the students, it will motivate them to read more. Reading
material should have suitable contents, this means, the texts are considered suitable
will tell the students thing they do not know and introduce them to new and relevant
ideas. Secondly, reading material‟s language items such as vocabulary and
grammatical structures may have an impact on the students‟ motivation “knowing
vocabulary and structures is necessary for getting meaning from a text” (Aebersold
& Field, 1997:138). Through the texts, the students can comprehend the way the
others feel or think and make them read for themselves.
I. 2.3. 3. The teacher’s factors
Definitely, teachers also pose an important factor in motivating the students
in a reading lesson. The teachers, in fact, play the key role in creating a good
classroom environment, since it has a powerful effect on the encouragement or
discouragement of motivation to learn. Furthermore, the teachers‟ activities and
tasks are the chief component to the students‟ motivation learning reading skill.
Therefore, the teachers need to choose carefully for a specific phase of a reading
text, especially for the pre-reading stage. If not, the students will be left in confusion
and unable to get involved in dealing with the reading passage.
I. 4. Theoretical background about textbook evaluation
I. 4. 1. Definitions
Many authors have defined material evaluation so far. Hutchinson & Water
(1987:96) suggested that “evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something
for a particular purpose”. Especially, Dudley & St John (1998:128) affirmed that
“evaluation is a whole process which begins with determining what information to
gather and ends with bringing about the change in current activities or influencing
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future ones”. An utmost important characteristic of materials evaluation is defined
by Tomlinson (1998: xi) as “the systematic appraisal of the value of materials in
relation to their objectives and to the objectives using them”.
From the above definitions, it can be inferred that materials evaluation
involves that determination of what needs to be evaluated, the objectives and
requirements for the materials, and the judgments of the value of the materials being
evaluated in relation to the objectives and requirements determined.
I. 4. 2. Criteria for textbook evaluation
Certain sets of criteria have been mentioned by different scholars. Among
them, Hutchinson & Torre (1994:32) proposed four criteria need to be considered
when evaluating materials as follows:
(i) Information about target learners;
(ii) Aims and objectives of the course (to find out if the materials can satisfy
those aims and objectives);
(iii) Content of the materials (to measure if the content of the materials is
suitable to the content prescribed in terms of language description, language point,
macro-skills and their proportion, and micro-skill);
(iv) Methodology (to indicate if the theories of learning on which the course
is based are in line with the one of the materials under evaluation, to determine
whether the kind of exercises/ tasks included in the materials are suited to course
requirements).
I. 5. Theoretical background about textbook adaptation
I. 5. 1. Definitions
Adaptation by its nature is the act or process of adapting, or fitting or the
state of being adapted or fitted. In terms of language teaching, course book
adaptation involves changing existing course books so that they become more
suitable for specific learners, teachers or situations, according to Tomlinson12
(1998:236). There are several definitions of adaptations by different scholars.
Madsen & Bowen (1978: ix) claimed adaptation is an action of employing “one or
more of a number of techniques: supplementing, expanding, personalizing,
simplifying, modernizing, localizing, or modifying cultural/ situational content.”
Ellis, M. (1986:47) considered adaptation as the process of “retaining, rejecting, reordering and modification” and Tomlinson (1998b: xi) referred to “reducing,
adding, omitting, modifying and supplementing”.
I. 5. 2. The necessity of textbook adaptation when teaching foreign languages
Actually, it can be said that textbook is a key component in most language
course and it is considered as a source of language, a learning support. It is also for
stimulation and for reference. Among many important components of English
language instruction, textbooks used by language instructors are considered as the
most essential constituent to any language program.
“The textbook is an almost universal element of ELT teaching. […] .
No teaching- learning situation, it seems, is complete until it has its relevant
textbook.”
(Hutchinson & Torres, 1994:315)
Despite the above-mentioned undeniable advantages of the textbooks in
language teaching, there is no perfect course book for every course. Cunningsworth
(1984:6) stated that “No course-book will be totally suited to particular teaching
situation”. A course-book can be ideal in this situation but in the others is not.
Sheldon (1988:239) addressed lack of cultural appropriation of some textbooks, for
instance, the thinking underlying the textbook writing may be different from or in
conflict with the assumptions held by the teachers.
To sum up, teaching materials are a crucial component in any language
teaching context. So both the benefits and limitations of the use of textbooks needs
to be considered, and if the textbooks that are being used in a program are judged to
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have some negative consequences, remedial action should be taken, such as by
adapting or supplementing books or by providing appropriate guidance and support
for teachers in how to use them appropriately.
I. 5. 3. Techniques for textbook adaptation
After recognizing a gap (mismatch or non-congruence) between published
teaching materials and the needs and objectives of the classroom, the teacher has to
address the practicalities of adapting the material to meet her class objectives more
closely. Mc Donough & Shaw (1993) and Cunningsworth (1994) offered lists of
techniques that may be used when adapting materials better to fit a specific class, as
follows:
Adding: When adding to published material the teacher is supplementing the
existing materials and providing more materials. The teacher can do this by
either extending or expanding.
Extending: means the teacher supplies more of the same type of materials,
thus making a quantitative change in the material.
Expanding: is to add something different to the materials. The change is
qualitative.
It is important to note that to materials can come at the beginning, at the end or
in the middle of the materials being adapted.
Deleting: subtracting and abridging
As with the technique of adding, material can be deleted both quantitatively
(subtracting) or qualitatively (abridging). For instance, a teacher can decide to do
five of the questions practicing the simple past tense instead of the ten in the
textbook. When abridging, however, the teacher may decide that focusing attention
on pronunciation may inhibit the learner‟s fluency and decide not to do any of the
pronunciation exercise in a course-book.14
Simplifying
When simplifying, the teacher could be rewording instructions or text in
order to make them more accessible to learners, or simplifying a complete activity
to make it more manageable for learners and teachers.
Reordering
When reordering, the teacher has decided that it makes more pedagogic
sense to sequence activities differently. An example is beginning with a general
discussion before looking at a reading passage rather than using the reading as a
basis for discussion.
Replacing materials
When replacing material a teacher may determine that a more appropriate
visual or text might serve an activity better than the ones presented in the published
material. This is often the case with culturally specific or time-specific activities. A
teacher maybe replace an illustration for one that students could identify with more
closely or use information concerning a popular figure with whom the students are
familiar rather than the one presented in the textbook. Teachers may also decide to
substitute a whole activity depending on the goals of a particular class or lesson. For
example, a reading activity might be replaced with a listening activity.
On the whole, adaptation is a very practical activity carried out mainly by the
teachers in order to make their work more relevant to the learners with whom they
are day to day contact. Moreover, it is a fact that no published textbook can possibly
cater for every teacher, learner or teaching situation. Thus, each teacher has to take
responsibility of textbook adaptation in order to ensure an optical match between
materials and the particular teaching context.
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PART II: METHODOLOGY
This chapter introduces information about the setting and subjects of the study. The
main data collection instruments employed the data collection procedure are also
explored here.
II. 1. Setting of the research
The study is conducted at Dao Duy Tu high school which was established 82
years ago. Since then this school has increasingly developed and become one of the
two largest and most prestigious schools in Thanh Hoa.
The school has 36 classes and over 85 teachers of all subjects. English is
taught as a compulsory and all students must attend three English classes a week.
Currently, there are seven teachers of English and over 1500 students ranged from
grade 10 to grade 12. Most of the students come from Thanh Hoa city. There are 12
classes in grade 11 in this school. The size of the class is rather large. Each class has
42 students. It is obvious that due to large-class size, there are some negative effects
on teaching and learning English in the school.
Furthermore, the high school‟s facilities are quite good. There are five
cassette players for listening skill teaching. Additionally, there is one projector that
is installed in a stable place in a separate room for learning language. Other modern
equipment supporting for learning and teaching English effectively such as
computers, laptops, language teaching labs, etc. are available.
II. 2. Subjects of the research
II. 2. 1. The students
The participants in this research are 84 students from two 11th grade classes:
11A3 and 11A5 at Dao Duy Tu high school in Thanh Hoa. These are the normal
classes and the students in these two classes do not belong to any specialized
groups, and they are studying English 11- the textbook published by the Ministry of16
Education and Training Press in 2007. Each class consists of 42 students. The
control group in this research is class 11A3 (30 females and 12 males) while the
experimental group, class 11A5 with 22 females and 20 males.
The two groups seem to have a relatively similar level of proficiency in
English as determined by their previous term exam on English grammar, reading
and writing. All students have been learning English since they were in the 6th form,
which means that they have 4 years of learning English at lower secondary school.
Although most students are aware of the importance of learning, English is not paid
much attention by most of them in school. Few students choose English as a subject
to take university entrance exam. Most of students usually feel bored with the
reading lessons. Moreover, the students‟ motivation in learning the reading skill is
quite low, some of them are unwilling to participate in the reading activities, and
others read the text without any interest.
II. 2. 2. The teachers
There are six English teachers at Dao Duy Tu high school who have
graduated from pedagogic universities and have English teaching experience for
years. All of them are young, well-trained and rather professionally with at least
five years of teaching English. Although none of the teachers has lived, traveled or
studied abroad or even cooperated frequently with English native teachers, their
English language is recommended to be good enough to teach English for general
course.
Teaching English, especially teaching English reading has met some
obstacles. The size of the class is rather large with 42 students in each class. As a
result, it is hard for teachers to set up activities, especially pre-reading ones, monitor
class and give feedback. Besides, the students are seated stably in the table line. It is
obvious that this can demotivate students in participating in activities at the first
time of reading lessons.
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II. 3. Data collection instruments
II. 3. 1. Document analysis
In order to make pre-reading activities more effective and to attract students‟
interest, pre-reading section of six units in the textbook (unit 3: A party, unit 4:
Volunteer work, unit 6: Competitions, unit 7: The world population, unit 9: The post
office and unit 12: The Asian games) are analyzed interpretively to find out whether
they are interesting or not for students (demonstrated pictures and illustrations are
real, clear and attractive to students or not, pre-reading activities are various or not,
those activities are relevant or not to the content of the text).
II. 3. 2. Survey questionnaire for students
Students are delivered questionnaire (see Appendix 1) with the hope to find
out their attitudes towards pre-reading activities, their preferences for pre-reading
techniques as well as comments on the pre-reading activities in the textbook and
some suggestions to make pre-reading stage of the reading lesson more interesting.
To minimize drawbacks of questionnaire and Giúp the students understand
the content and to be able to decide how to respond the questions in a relevant way,
clear instructions are given at the beginning of the survey section and when the
questions are distributed. At the time students do the survey, the researcher always
presents in order to instruct the subjects and helps respondents if necessary.
II. 3. 3. Interview for teachers
An interview (see Appendix 2) to six teachers who have ever taught English
11 at Dao Duy Tu high school is carried out to get information about their
evaluation on pre-reading activities in the textbook, problems they come across
when taking pre-reading activities in a reading lesson, students‟ involvement and
what they have done to increase students‟ involvement in pre-reading stage.
3. Which service do you use if you want to have your newspapers delivered to
your house?
4. Which service do you use if you want to send your brother some money?
*Suggested answers:
1. Mail and parcel service Lucky Star
2. Phone call and faxes service
3. Press distribution
4. Express money transfer
Picture: ThanhHoa Post Office
Activity 6: Game Lucky Number
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
Choose the correct answer:
1. How often are the Asian Games held?
A. every year B. every 2 years C. every 4 years
2. When was the first Asian Games?
A. in 1950 B. in 1951 C. in 1952
3. Lucky number!
4. How many athletes took part in the first Asian Games?
A. 489 athletes from 11 nations
B. 490 athletes from 12 nations
C. 491 athletes from 13 nations
5. Where was the second Asian Games held?
A. in Manila, the Philippines B. in New Delhi, India C. in Tokyo, Japan
6. What sports were added at the 3rd Asian Games?
A. boxing, shooting and wrestling
B. tennis, volley ball, table tennis and hockey
C. squash, rugby, fencing and mountain biking
Do Drive thay đổi chính sách, nên một số link cũ yêu cầu duyệt download. các bạn chỉ cần làm theo hướng dẫn.
Password giải nén nếu cần: ket-noi.com | Bấm trực tiếp vào Link để tải:
Nhà xuất bản: University of Languages and International Studies
Ngày: 2013
Chủ đề: Đọc hiểu
Kỹ năng đọc
Tiếng Anh
Phương pháp giảng dạy
Miêu tả: M.A. Thesis English language teaching methodology -- University of Languages and International Studies. Vietnam National University, Hanoi, 2013
Electronic Resources
ABSTRACT
This research investigated whether adaptation of pre-reading activities
increased the classroom motivation, involvement as well as reading performance of
learners at an upper-secondary school. The main methods were employed in this
study namely document analysis, students survey questionnaire, teachers interview,
classroom observation and pre-test post-test experimental design. Eighty four
students selected from two classes (11A3 was employed as the control group and
11A5 as the experimental group) at Dao Duy Tu high school were used for the
study. The students selected were made up of both male and female. The findings
revealed that pre-reading activities in the textbook were too monotonous to get
students involved in the reading lesson. Students and teachers were not in favor of
these activities available in the current textbook. Also, adaptation of textbook
activities would be helpful in increasing the students‟ motivation in pre-reading
stage and better comprehension can be gained through exposure to pre-reading
activities. The study recommended that teachers could use pre-reading activities as
a useful tool to facilitate students‟ motivation and reading comprehension
performance. It also could be suggested that teachers should change some
inappropriate pre-reading activities of students‟ interests in the reading class to get
them join in those activities with great eagerness.iv
LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS
TTT: Teacher talking time
STT: Students talking time
T: Teacher
Ss: Students
EFL: English foreign language
Df: Degree of freedom
T: Test
M: Mean
Std Dev.: Standard Deviation
Sig.: Significance
No.: Number
P: Probability value
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LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figure 3.1: Students‟ beliefs towards the reading texts in the new English 11
Figure 3.2: Students‟ attitudes to their teacher‟ pre-reading activities
Figure 3.3: Frequency of undertaking extra pre-reading activities in reading class
Figure 3.4: Students‟ involvement in pre-reading activities in reading lessons
Figure 3.5: Students‟ preference for participation in pre-reading activities
Figure 3.6: Teachers‟ evaluation of reading texts in the textbook
Figure 3.7: Teachers‟ evaluation on pre-reading activities in English 11
Figure 3.8: Frequency of adaptation for pre-reading activities
Figure 3.9: Teachers‟ methods for adaptation
Table 3.1: Description of topics in English 11
Table 3.2: Activities of reading stage in 6 units are analyzed
Table 3.3: Pre-reading activities of 6 units are analyzed
Table 3.4: Difficulties students encounter in reading lessons
Table 3.5: The most frequently used activities to start a reading lesson
Table 3.6: Students‟ beliefs about good effects of pre-reading activities
Table 3.7: Students‟ beliefs about bad effects of pre-reading activities
Table 3.8: Frequency of using pre-reading activities by the teachers
Table 3.9: Students‟ preferences for pre-reading activities
Table 3.10: Students‟ evaluations on pre-reading activities in the textbook
Table 3.11: Students‟ recommendation on pre-reading activities to make a reading
lesson more interesting
Table 3.12: Teachers‟ beliefs about the purposes of carrying out pre-reading
activities
Table 3.13: Teachers‟ beliefs about students‟ participation in pre-reading activities
Table 3.14: Teachers‟ recommendation to increase students‟ participation
Table 3.15: Teachers‟ difficulties when undertaking pre-reading activities
Table 3.16: Number of students involve in teacher‟s activities of pre-reading stage
in the control and experimental group
Table 3.17: Teacher talking time (TTT) and students talking time (STT) of the
control group and the experimental group at pre-reading stage
Table 3.18: The summary of independent-and paired-samples t-tests
Table 3.19: The t-test for the experimental and control groupsvi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION...................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT....................................................................................... ii
ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iii
LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS .............................................................................. iv
LISTS OF FIGURES AND TABLES......................................................................v
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................ vi
1. Rationale to the study ..........................................................................................1
2. Aims and objectives of the research ....................................................................2
2. 1. Aims of the research.....................................................................................2
2. 2. Objectives of the research ............................................................................2
3. Research questions...............................................................................................2
4. Scope of the research ...........................................................................................3
5. Methods of the research.......................................................................................3
6. Expected findings ................................................................................................4
7. Significance of the research.................................................................................4
8. Limitations of the research ..................................................................................5
9. Outline of the research.........................................................................................5
PART B: DEVELOPMENT.....................................................................................6
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................6
I. 1. Theoretical background about pre-reading activities .......................................6
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I. 1. 1. Definition and the importance of pre-reading activities in teaching
reading ..................................................................................................................6
I. 1. 2. Types of pre-reading activities..................................................................7
I. 2. Theoretical background about motivation........................................................8
I. 2. 1. Definitions and types of motivation..........................................................8
I. 2.2. The importance of motivation in learning reading ....................................9
I. 2.3. Common factors affecting students‟ motivation in learning the reading
skill .......................................................................................................................9
I. 2. 3.1. Students‟ factors .................................................................................9
I. 2. 3. 2. The reading materials factors ..........................................................10
I. 2.3. 3. The teacher‟s factors.........................................................................10
I. 4. Theoretical background about textbook evaluation .......................................10
I. 4. 1. Definitions...............................................................................................10
I. 4. 2. Criteria for textbook evaluation ..............................................................11
I. 5. Theoretical background about textbook adaptation .......................................11
I. 5. 1. Definitions...............................................................................................11
I. 5. 2. The necessity of textbook adaptation when teaching foreign languages12
I. 5. 3. Techniques for textbook adaptation........................................................13
PART II: METHODOLOGY ................................................................................15
II. 1. Setting of the research...................................................................................15
II. 2. Subjects of the research.................................................................................15viii
II. 2. 1. The students ...........................................................................................15
II. 2. 2. The teachers ...........................................................................................16
II. 3. Data collection instruments...........................................................................17
II. 3. 1. Document analysis.................................................................................17
II. 3. 2. Survey questionnaire for students..........................................................17
II. 3. 3. Interview for teachers ............................................................................17
II. 3. 4. Classroom observation...........................................................................18
II. 3. 5. Pre-test post-test experimental design ...................................................18
II. 4. Data collection procedure .............................................................................18
CHAPTER III: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS ..............................................20
III. 1. Document analysis.......................................................................................20
III. 2. Data collected from survey questionnaire for students ...............................24
III.2.1. Students‟ experience of English learning...............................................24
III.2.2. Students‟ beliefs towards the reading texts in the new English 11 ........24
III.2.3. Difficulties students encounter in reading lessons .................................25
III.2.4. The most frequently used activities to start a reading lesson.................26
III.2.5. Students‟ attitudes to their teacher‟ pre-reading activities.....................26
III.2.6. Students‟ beliefs about good effects of pre-reading activities ...............27
III.2.7. Students‟ beliefs about bad effects of pre-reading activities .................27
III.2.8. Frequency of undertaking extra pre-reading activities in reading class.28
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III.2.9. Students‟ participation in pre-reading activities in reading lessons.......29
III.2.10. Students‟ preference for participation in pre-reading activities...........29
III.2.11. Frequency of using pre-reading activities by the teachers ...................30
III.2.12. Students‟ preferences for pre-reading activities...................................31
III.2.13. Students‟ evaluations on pre-reading activities in the textbook...........33
III.2.14. Students‟ recommendation on pre-reading activities to make a reading
lesson more interesting.......................................................................................34
III. 3. Data collected from teacher interview.........................................................35
III.3.1. Teachers‟ evaluation of reading texts in the textbook ...........................35
III.3.2. Teachers‟ evaluation on pre-reading activities in English 11 ................35
III.3.3. Teachers‟ beliefs about the purposes of carrying out pre-reading
activities..............................................................................................................36
III.3.4. Teachers‟ belief about students‟ participation and their suggestions to
increase students‟ participation in pre-reading activities ...................................37
III.3.5. Frequency of adapting pre-reading activities and methods of adaptation
............................................................................................................................39
III.3.6. Teachers‟ difficulties when undertaking pre-reading activities .............40
III.4. Data collected from classroom observation..................................................41
III.5. Data collected from pre-test post-test experimental design..........................46
PART C: CONCLUSION.......................................................................................50
1. Summary of the study........................................................................................50x
2. Recommendations for using and adapting pre-reading activities in reading class
at grade 11 effectively ...........................................................................................52
2.1. When and how to use pre-reading activities ...............................................52
2.1.1. When using pre-reading activities ........................................................52
2.1.2. How to use pre-reading activities .........................................................53
2.2. When and how to adapt pre-reading activities in reading class ..................55
2.2.1. When conducting pre-reading activity adaptation in reading class ......55
2.2.2. The way of conducting pre-reading activity adaptation .......................56
3. Limitations of the study.....................................................................................57
4. Suggestions for further study.............................................................................57
REFERENCES........................................................................................................58
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................... I
APPENDIX 1 .............................................................................................................. I
APPENDIX 2 .............................................................................................................V
APPENDIX 3 ........................................................................................................... VI
APPENDIX 4 ..........................................................................................................XX
APPENDIX 5 ....................................................................................................... XXII
APPENDIX 6 .......................................................................................................XXV
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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale to the study
Recently, the renovation in education especially in the textbook of 11th form
has brought many achievements but requires innovating in teaching methods of four
language skills, among which reading comprehension is regarded as a very
important skill, the starting point of each unit. Therefore, it is necessary to apply
different techniques to Giúp students learn reading comprehension more effectively,
in which pre-reading activities hold an important role in motivating students to read
and understand the lesson more easily. It is a matter of fact that English 11 apart
from suitable points still has some unsuitable points. Clearly, the textbook is just a
tool that helps teachers succeed in language teaching. While teaching language,
teachers are expected to organize the tasks and activities in order to respond the
objectives of the teaching and learning process. Nonetheless, the students‟ levels of
English are different in various areas in Vietnam. Not all students have the same
English proficiency in a class while the current English textbooks are compulsory
for teaching at all high schools. Furthermore, it is a common knowledge that
motivation is related to success in second language learning in general and learning
reading in particular. It is assumed that if the students are motivated, especially
from the pre-reading stage, their reading tasks will be completed more successfully
and obstacles while reading will not affect to their understanding any longer.
Therefore, the research entitled “An evaluation of pre-reading activities in
the new textbook Tieng Anh 11 in motivating and improving students‟ reading
performance” is conducted to explore not only the current situation of adapting prereading stage at Dao Duy Tu high school in Thanh Hoa province but also the
positive results and its effects on student‟s motivation as well as reading
performance. Hopefully, the paper is also to offer some practical suggestions for not
only teachers but also textbook writers or designers to adapt pre-reading activities in
reading classes more effectively.2
2. Aims and objectives of the research
2. 1. Aims of the research
The study is carried out with the aim to analyze pre-reading activities in the
new textbook English 11. Moreover, it explores the situation of teaching prereading activities in reading comprehension lessons at Dao Duy Tu high school.
Eventually, it provides some effective adaptations enabling students of learning
English to be motivated and improved in reading performance.
2. 2. Objectives of the research
The paper is intended to achieve the following objectives:
1. Exploring suitable and unsuitable points of pre-reading activities in the new
textbook English 11 published in 2007 by Education Publishing House.
2. Investigating into the current situation of pre-reading stage in teaching
reading lessons to 11th form at Dao Duy Tu high school-Thanh Hoa.
3. Suggesting some practical adaptation for pre-reading stage in order to
increase students‟ motivation and performance in reading comprehension
lessons.
3. Research questions
In order to achieve the above aims and objectives, the investigation is supposed
to answer the following research questions:
1. What are some suitable and unsuitable points of pre-reading activities in the
new textbook English 11?
2. What is the current situation of using pre-reading activities in the new
textbook English 11 at Dao Duy Tu high school?
3. How can we make pre-reading stage more effective in motivating and
improving students‟ reading performance?
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4. Scope of the research
Within the scope of a study, adapting reading activities is a vast topic and it
results in difficulties for the researcher to get in depth into the analysis of all the
aspects of the issue. Consequently, this paper only concentrates on investigating
some pre-reading activities in reading class. In addition, due to limited time, the
author can only focus on students at grade 11, especially group 11A3 and 11A5 as
well as some teachers at Dao Duy Tu high school to carry out the survey
questionnaire, interview, observations and pre-test post-test design.
5. Methods of the research
The study attempts to evaluate pre-reading activities in motivating and
improving reading performance on the 11th form students at Dao Duy Tu high
school. In order to achieve the mentioned aims, the following methods are
employed: textbook analysis, survey questionnaire for students, interviews for both
teachers and 11th graders, classroom observations and pre-test post-test
experimental design.
Initially, the researcher analyzes the textbook English 11 to explore the
suitable and unsuitable points of pre-reading activities.
Moreover, the situation of conducting pre-reading activities at Dao Duy Tu
high school is investigated by distributing questionnaire for students and interview
for teachers.
Next, the researcher observes two classes (11A3 and 11A5) in the twelve
reading lessons focusing on the pre-reading stage. 11A3 is employed as the control
group using original pre-reading activities in the textbook. While for the
experimental group (11A5), the same lessons are taught with adjusted pre-reading
activities. Analyzing and comparing the number of students‟ involvement in
teacher‟s pre-reading activities, students talking time to prove whether the4
adaptation of textbook activities will be helpful in increasing the students‟
motivation in pre-reading stage.
Finally, a pre-test post-test experimental design was administered for the
study to reveal that providing pre-reading activities might serve as useful tools for
language teachers and reading teachers in facilitating learners‟ reading
comprehension ability. Both groups were pre-tested the same reading
comprehension passage; however, only the experimental group received the
treatment regarding pre-reading activities.
6. Expected findings
Hopefully, my study is able to:
Explore the suitable and unsuitable points of pre-reading activities in
the new textbook English 11.
Investigate into the current situation of pre-reading stage in teaching
reading to 11th form at Dao Duy Tu high school.
Seek out the effective ways of using pre-reading stage in teaching
reading to Giúp students achieve the goals of reading lessons.
7. Significance of the research
The study highlights the vital role of pre-reading stage in offering an
overview of the materials and making the structure and organization of the text for
students. The research, hence, makes an important contribution to illuminate not
only the current situation of adapting some activities in pre-reading stage at Dao
Duy Tu high school but also the positive results and its effects on student‟s
motivation as well as reading performance. Much more importantly, this research
would like to give out some practical suggestions for teachers to adapt pre-reading
activities in reading classes more effectively.
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8. Limitations of the research
This research can only explore the use of pre-reading stage in teaching
reading to make reading lesson more effective to 11th form students at Dao
Duy Tu high school.
The success of this study depends much on the attitudes of the participants,
including students and teachers involved.
9. Outline of the research
The research is organized into three main parts as follows:
Part A - Introduction presents the background to the study, states the aim,
the research questions, the scope, and the methods of study and outlines the
organization of the research.
Part B - Development consists of three chapters:
Chapter I - Literature Review conceptualizes the study‟s theoretical
background, presents the concepts relevant to the topic of the thesis: pre-reading
activities, motivation, textbook evaluation and suggested adaptation for using prereading stage effectively to make reading lessons comprehensible.
Chapter II - Methodology describes the research instruments and detailed
information about the subjects of the study as well as the research procedure is also
provided.
Chapter III - Findings and Discussions analyzes the initial data and the data
to monitor the change to evaluate the effects of pre-reading activity adaptation on
student‟s motivation and reading comprehension improvement.
Part C - Conclusion summaries the main points presented as well as supplies
some practical suggestions to Giúp teachers increase effectiveness of pre-reading
stage. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further possible research are also
discussed in this section.6
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter provides the theoretical background of pre-reading activities,
motivation, textbook evaluation and suggested adaptation for using pre-reading
stage effectively to make reading lessons comprehensible.
I. 1. Theoretical background about pre-reading activities
I. 1. 1. Definition and the importance of pre-reading activities in teaching
reading
So far, different researchers such as Lazar (1993:83), and Graves (1995:664)
have provided many definitions of pre-reading activities. Lazar, for example,
defined pre-reading activities as activities that Giúp students with cultural
background, stimulate student interest in the story, and pre-teach vocabulary.
Besides, Graves defined pre-reading activities as “devices for bridging the gap
between the text‟s content and the reader‟s schemata.”
It cannot be denied that pre-reading activities play a crucial important role in
motivating the students through the reading lesson. The aims of pre-reading stage
are to activate the student‟s knowledge of the subject, to provide any language
preparation that might be needed for coping with the passage and, finally to
motivate the learners to want to read the text, according to Celce-Murcia
(1991:225). Furthermore, Tudor (1989:17) called pre-reading activities
“enabling activities” because they provide a reader with the necessary background
to organize activity and to comprehend the material (these experiences involve
understanding the purposes for reading and building a knowledge base necessary for
dealing with the content and the structure of the material). They said that prereading activities elicit prior knowledge, and focus attention.
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I. 1. 2. Types of pre-reading activities
Based on the crucial role of pre-reading stage in encouraging students to read
and motivating them in order to enable them to read the text more effectively,
teacher should make full use of pre-reading stage as it is important in building
confidence and creating interest within learners as well as activate their background
knowledge and schema in regard to the target text. This can be achieved by using
following activities as Doff (1997:59) stated.
Presenting some new vocabulary
It is a fact that learners often have difficulty in reading when they encounter
new words and new words may de-motivate students. Therefore, some unfamiliar
words especially ones that make it difficult to understand the text need to be
presented before-hand. Nonetheless, it is not necessary to introduce all new words
before reading. Students can get the meaning of many new words basing on the
context.
Introducing the text
Teacher may Giúp students get familiar with the topic by giving them some
expected ideas about the text they are going to learn and having some ideas about
the topics increases students‟ interest and desire to read. Students can get exposure
to the topic by many ways: playing games, listening to story, music or teacher can
host a short discussion to start students thinking about the topic. Another common
way to introduce the topic is to give a simple sentence “We are going to read
about…” or “The text is about…”
Giving guiding questions
By giving some guiding question before reading teacher can Giúp students
activate their prior knowledge about the topic. The guiding questions aim at giving
students a reason to read by giving them something to look for as they read the text
and leading students towards the main points of the text, so that after the first
reading they should have good general idea of what it is about.8
I. 2. Theoretical background about motivation
I. 2. 1. Definitions and types of motivation
It is common knowledge that motivation is thought to be important and
inevitable in most fields, without which one is difficult to succeed. Motivation to
learn a second language is seen as referring to the extent to which the individual
work or strives to learn the language because of a desire to do so and the
satisfaction experienced in this activity. According to Kleinginna (1981:6)
motivation considered as “a desire or want that energizes and directs goal-oriented
behavior”. Sharing the same point, Brown (2002:160) indicated that “motivation is
some kinds of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order to achieve
something”. Motivation is also suggested by Woolfolk (2001:136) as “an internal
state that arouses, directs and maintains behavior”. Moreover, “motivation involves
the attitudes and effective states that influence the degree of effort that learners
make to learn a second language.” (Ellis, 1997:5) Overall, motivation refers to the
combination of effort and desire plus favorable attitudes toward learning the
language and occurs as a result of connection of external and internal influences.
Apparently, kinds of motivation and their features have been discussed by
scholars and psychologists, who referred to motivation which comes from inside
and from outside. Among them, Moore (1992) separated motivation into two main
categories intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation that have an important part
in classroom motivation and they are partially accessible to teacher‟s influence.
According to Moore (1992:261) “intrinsic motivation is what learners bring to
learning environment, that is, their internal attitudes: attitudes, values, needs and
personality factors.” For example, students who love to read are intrinsically
motivated to read-there is something about reading that they enjoy and that makes
them want to do it even if there is no reward for it. In addition, he said that
“extrinsic motivation originates outside the individual and is concerned with
external environments factors that Giúp shape students‟ behavior” (Moore,
1992:261). For instance, for students who do not enjoy reading, a token economy
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involving stickers or a class store may prompt them to read more often. In short,
most writers agreed that intrinsic and extrinsic motivation interact with each other
and play an important role in second language learning. As a result, students can be
either motivated by internal or external factors depending on the circumstances and
conditions the activity is performed.
I. 2.2. The importance of motivation in learning reading
Actually, most of the English learners usually find reading the toughest and
the most boring of the four practical skills. They complain that they feel bored with
the reading lesson. Moreover, the students‟ motivation in learning the reading skill
is quite low, some of them are unwilling to participate in the reading activities, and
others read the text without any interest. From these facts, it is advisable for the
reading teachers to stimulate their students or arouse their interest in dealing with
reading activities, especially at the opening stage of the lesson. Girard (1997:120)
once emphasized that: “it is an important part of a reading teacher‟s job to motivate
learners.” There are certain ways for the teachers to activate their students‟
motivation. To have an effective one, it is essential to examine factors affecting
their motivation.
I. 2.3. Common factors affecting students’ motivation in learning the reading
skill
I. 2. 3.1. Students’ factors
There are many factors that can Giúp learners become interested in what they
are reading such as their thought, feelings, interests, and their background
knowledge. Actually, background knowledge, which refers to the existing
information on a specific topic, is vital to the reading skill. Consequently, if
students lack background knowledge, it is difficult for them to get involved in the
activities, especially for reading activities. They will be unable to use their existing
knowledge to comprehend the new material and more importantly they will lose
their interest in reading the text.10
I. 2. 3. 2. The reading materials factors
Reading material is another important factor that greatly influences the
students‟ motivation in a reading lesson. First of all, if the reading material is
interesting and relevant to the students, it will motivate them to read more. Reading
material should have suitable contents, this means, the texts are considered suitable
will tell the students thing they do not know and introduce them to new and relevant
ideas. Secondly, reading material‟s language items such as vocabulary and
grammatical structures may have an impact on the students‟ motivation “knowing
vocabulary and structures is necessary for getting meaning from a text” (Aebersold
& Field, 1997:138). Through the texts, the students can comprehend the way the
others feel or think and make them read for themselves.
I. 2.3. 3. The teacher’s factors
Definitely, teachers also pose an important factor in motivating the students
in a reading lesson. The teachers, in fact, play the key role in creating a good
classroom environment, since it has a powerful effect on the encouragement or
discouragement of motivation to learn. Furthermore, the teachers‟ activities and
tasks are the chief component to the students‟ motivation learning reading skill.
Therefore, the teachers need to choose carefully for a specific phase of a reading
text, especially for the pre-reading stage. If not, the students will be left in confusion
and unable to get involved in dealing with the reading passage.
I. 4. Theoretical background about textbook evaluation
I. 4. 1. Definitions
Many authors have defined material evaluation so far. Hutchinson & Water
(1987:96) suggested that “evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something
for a particular purpose”. Especially, Dudley & St John (1998:128) affirmed that
“evaluation is a whole process which begins with determining what information to
gather and ends with bringing about the change in current activities or influencing
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future ones”. An utmost important characteristic of materials evaluation is defined
by Tomlinson (1998: xi) as “the systematic appraisal of the value of materials in
relation to their objectives and to the objectives using them”.
From the above definitions, it can be inferred that materials evaluation
involves that determination of what needs to be evaluated, the objectives and
requirements for the materials, and the judgments of the value of the materials being
evaluated in relation to the objectives and requirements determined.
I. 4. 2. Criteria for textbook evaluation
Certain sets of criteria have been mentioned by different scholars. Among
them, Hutchinson & Torre (1994:32) proposed four criteria need to be considered
when evaluating materials as follows:
(i) Information about target learners;
(ii) Aims and objectives of the course (to find out if the materials can satisfy
those aims and objectives);
(iii) Content of the materials (to measure if the content of the materials is
suitable to the content prescribed in terms of language description, language point,
macro-skills and their proportion, and micro-skill);
(iv) Methodology (to indicate if the theories of learning on which the course
is based are in line with the one of the materials under evaluation, to determine
whether the kind of exercises/ tasks included in the materials are suited to course
requirements).
I. 5. Theoretical background about textbook adaptation
I. 5. 1. Definitions
Adaptation by its nature is the act or process of adapting, or fitting or the
state of being adapted or fitted. In terms of language teaching, course book
adaptation involves changing existing course books so that they become more
suitable for specific learners, teachers or situations, according to Tomlinson12
(1998:236). There are several definitions of adaptations by different scholars.
Madsen & Bowen (1978: ix) claimed adaptation is an action of employing “one or
more of a number of techniques: supplementing, expanding, personalizing,
simplifying, modernizing, localizing, or modifying cultural/ situational content.”
Ellis, M. (1986:47) considered adaptation as the process of “retaining, rejecting, reordering and modification” and Tomlinson (1998b: xi) referred to “reducing,
adding, omitting, modifying and supplementing”.
I. 5. 2. The necessity of textbook adaptation when teaching foreign languages
Actually, it can be said that textbook is a key component in most language
course and it is considered as a source of language, a learning support. It is also for
stimulation and for reference. Among many important components of English
language instruction, textbooks used by language instructors are considered as the
most essential constituent to any language program.
“The textbook is an almost universal element of ELT teaching. […] .
No teaching- learning situation, it seems, is complete until it has its relevant
textbook.”
(Hutchinson & Torres, 1994:315)
Despite the above-mentioned undeniable advantages of the textbooks in
language teaching, there is no perfect course book for every course. Cunningsworth
(1984:6) stated that “No course-book will be totally suited to particular teaching
situation”. A course-book can be ideal in this situation but in the others is not.
Sheldon (1988:239) addressed lack of cultural appropriation of some textbooks, for
instance, the thinking underlying the textbook writing may be different from or in
conflict with the assumptions held by the teachers.
To sum up, teaching materials are a crucial component in any language
teaching context. So both the benefits and limitations of the use of textbooks needs
to be considered, and if the textbooks that are being used in a program are judged to
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have some negative consequences, remedial action should be taken, such as by
adapting or supplementing books or by providing appropriate guidance and support
for teachers in how to use them appropriately.
I. 5. 3. Techniques for textbook adaptation
After recognizing a gap (mismatch or non-congruence) between published
teaching materials and the needs and objectives of the classroom, the teacher has to
address the practicalities of adapting the material to meet her class objectives more
closely. Mc Donough & Shaw (1993) and Cunningsworth (1994) offered lists of
techniques that may be used when adapting materials better to fit a specific class, as
follows:
Adding: When adding to published material the teacher is supplementing the
existing materials and providing more materials. The teacher can do this by
either extending or expanding.
Extending: means the teacher supplies more of the same type of materials,
thus making a quantitative change in the material.
Expanding: is to add something different to the materials. The change is
qualitative.
It is important to note that to materials can come at the beginning, at the end or
in the middle of the materials being adapted.
Deleting: subtracting and abridging
As with the technique of adding, material can be deleted both quantitatively
(subtracting) or qualitatively (abridging). For instance, a teacher can decide to do
five of the questions practicing the simple past tense instead of the ten in the
textbook. When abridging, however, the teacher may decide that focusing attention
on pronunciation may inhibit the learner‟s fluency and decide not to do any of the
pronunciation exercise in a course-book.14
Simplifying
When simplifying, the teacher could be rewording instructions or text in
order to make them more accessible to learners, or simplifying a complete activity
to make it more manageable for learners and teachers.
Reordering
When reordering, the teacher has decided that it makes more pedagogic
sense to sequence activities differently. An example is beginning with a general
discussion before looking at a reading passage rather than using the reading as a
basis for discussion.
Replacing materials
When replacing material a teacher may determine that a more appropriate
visual or text might serve an activity better than the ones presented in the published
material. This is often the case with culturally specific or time-specific activities. A
teacher maybe replace an illustration for one that students could identify with more
closely or use information concerning a popular figure with whom the students are
familiar rather than the one presented in the textbook. Teachers may also decide to
substitute a whole activity depending on the goals of a particular class or lesson. For
example, a reading activity might be replaced with a listening activity.
On the whole, adaptation is a very practical activity carried out mainly by the
teachers in order to make their work more relevant to the learners with whom they
are day to day contact. Moreover, it is a fact that no published textbook can possibly
cater for every teacher, learner or teaching situation. Thus, each teacher has to take
responsibility of textbook adaptation in order to ensure an optical match between
materials and the particular teaching context.
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PART II: METHODOLOGY
This chapter introduces information about the setting and subjects of the study. The
main data collection instruments employed the data collection procedure are also
explored here.
II. 1. Setting of the research
The study is conducted at Dao Duy Tu high school which was established 82
years ago. Since then this school has increasingly developed and become one of the
two largest and most prestigious schools in Thanh Hoa.
The school has 36 classes and over 85 teachers of all subjects. English is
taught as a compulsory and all students must attend three English classes a week.
Currently, there are seven teachers of English and over 1500 students ranged from
grade 10 to grade 12. Most of the students come from Thanh Hoa city. There are 12
classes in grade 11 in this school. The size of the class is rather large. Each class has
42 students. It is obvious that due to large-class size, there are some negative effects
on teaching and learning English in the school.
Furthermore, the high school‟s facilities are quite good. There are five
cassette players for listening skill teaching. Additionally, there is one projector that
is installed in a stable place in a separate room for learning language. Other modern
equipment supporting for learning and teaching English effectively such as
computers, laptops, language teaching labs, etc. are available.
II. 2. Subjects of the research
II. 2. 1. The students
The participants in this research are 84 students from two 11th grade classes:
11A3 and 11A5 at Dao Duy Tu high school in Thanh Hoa. These are the normal
classes and the students in these two classes do not belong to any specialized
groups, and they are studying English 11- the textbook published by the Ministry of16
Education and Training Press in 2007. Each class consists of 42 students. The
control group in this research is class 11A3 (30 females and 12 males) while the
experimental group, class 11A5 with 22 females and 20 males.
The two groups seem to have a relatively similar level of proficiency in
English as determined by their previous term exam on English grammar, reading
and writing. All students have been learning English since they were in the 6th form,
which means that they have 4 years of learning English at lower secondary school.
Although most students are aware of the importance of learning, English is not paid
much attention by most of them in school. Few students choose English as a subject
to take university entrance exam. Most of students usually feel bored with the
reading lessons. Moreover, the students‟ motivation in learning the reading skill is
quite low, some of them are unwilling to participate in the reading activities, and
others read the text without any interest.
II. 2. 2. The teachers
There are six English teachers at Dao Duy Tu high school who have
graduated from pedagogic universities and have English teaching experience for
years. All of them are young, well-trained and rather professionally with at least
five years of teaching English. Although none of the teachers has lived, traveled or
studied abroad or even cooperated frequently with English native teachers, their
English language is recommended to be good enough to teach English for general
course.
Teaching English, especially teaching English reading has met some
obstacles. The size of the class is rather large with 42 students in each class. As a
result, it is hard for teachers to set up activities, especially pre-reading ones, monitor
class and give feedback. Besides, the students are seated stably in the table line. It is
obvious that this can demotivate students in participating in activities at the first
time of reading lessons.
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II. 3. Data collection instruments
II. 3. 1. Document analysis
In order to make pre-reading activities more effective and to attract students‟
interest, pre-reading section of six units in the textbook (unit 3: A party, unit 4:
Volunteer work, unit 6: Competitions, unit 7: The world population, unit 9: The post
office and unit 12: The Asian games) are analyzed interpretively to find out whether
they are interesting or not for students (demonstrated pictures and illustrations are
real, clear and attractive to students or not, pre-reading activities are various or not,
those activities are relevant or not to the content of the text).
II. 3. 2. Survey questionnaire for students
Students are delivered questionnaire (see Appendix 1) with the hope to find
out their attitudes towards pre-reading activities, their preferences for pre-reading
techniques as well as comments on the pre-reading activities in the textbook and
some suggestions to make pre-reading stage of the reading lesson more interesting.
To minimize drawbacks of questionnaire and Giúp the students understand
the content and to be able to decide how to respond the questions in a relevant way,
clear instructions are given at the beginning of the survey section and when the
questions are distributed. At the time students do the survey, the researcher always
presents in order to instruct the subjects and helps respondents if necessary.
II. 3. 3. Interview for teachers
An interview (see Appendix 2) to six teachers who have ever taught English
11 at Dao Duy Tu high school is carried out to get information about their
evaluation on pre-reading activities in the textbook, problems they come across
when taking pre-reading activities in a reading lesson, students‟ involvement and
what they have done to increase students‟ involvement in pre-reading stage.
3. Which service do you use if you want to have your newspapers delivered to
your house?
4. Which service do you use if you want to send your brother some money?
*Suggested answers:
1. Mail and parcel service Lucky Star
2. Phone call and faxes service
3. Press distribution
4. Express money transfer
Picture: ThanhHoa Post Office
Activity 6: Game Lucky Number
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10 11 12
Choose the correct answer:
1. How often are the Asian Games held?
A. every year B. every 2 years C. every 4 years
2. When was the first Asian Games?
A. in 1950 B. in 1951 C. in 1952
3. Lucky number!
4. How many athletes took part in the first Asian Games?
A. 489 athletes from 11 nations
B. 490 athletes from 12 nations
C. 491 athletes from 13 nations
5. Where was the second Asian Games held?
A. in Manila, the Philippines B. in New Delhi, India C. in Tokyo, Japan
6. What sports were added at the 3rd Asian Games?
A. boxing, shooting and wrestling
B. tennis, volley ball, table tennis and hockey
C. squash, rugby, fencing and mountain biking
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