Đề tài Kỹ năng đọc sách tiếng Anh

the task: Talk about the role of music in your lives. Unit 13: FILMS AND CINEMA Lesson A: Reading (English 10, p. 132-p.134) Shape of the lesson Activities/Tasks Comments “Before you read” Work with a partner. Answer the questions. - The task is for introducing the topic, the new lesson, not for pre-reading. - Add pre-reading activity such as true/false statements prediction, or predict what the text will say. “While you read” - Task 1: Find the word in the passage that can match with the definition on the right column. Task 2: Work in pairs. Answer these questions. - Task 3: Decide which of the options below is the best title for the passage. - The orders of the tasks are not proper. - Change the orders of the tasks: task 1, task 3, and task 2. “After you read” - Task 4: Work in groups. Talk about the passage, using the cues bellow. - The task is suitable. UNIT 14: THE WORLD CUP Lesson A: Reading (English 10, p. 142-p.144) Shape of the lesson Activities/Tasks Comments “Before you read” Work with a partner. Answer the following questions. - The task can be used for pre-reading. However, it is better to add more questions. “While you read” - Task 1: The words in A appear in the reading passage. Match them with their definitions in B. - Task 2: Scan the text and complete each of the following sentences with a word or a number. - Task 3: Read the text again and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F). Correct the false ones. - The orders of the tasks are not proper. - Use task 3 as pre-reading activity. - Maybe, add some questions as Task 4: Answer questions. “After you read” - Task 4: Work in groups. Talk about the events mentioned in the passage, using the following figures as cues. - The task is proper. Unit 15: CITIES Lesson A: Reading (English 10, p. 156 – p. 158) Shape of the lesson Activities/Tasks Comments “Before you read” - Work in pairs. Below are some well-known places in New York. Match the names to the pictures. - Answer the questions. - The task is for introducing the topic, the new lesson, not for pre-reading. - Use task 2 for pre-reading activity. “While you read” - Task 1: The words in A appear in the reading text. Match them with their definition in B. - Task 2: Decide the whether the statements are true (T) or false (F). - Task 3: Answer the questions. - The orders are not proper. -Change the orders: Task 2, task 1, and task 3. “After you read” - Task 4: Work in groups. If you could visit New York, which place(s) of interest there would you like to see? Why? - The task is not easy for the student do well because New York is not familiar to the students. - Change the task: Talk about a city in Vietnam that you want to visit. Via analyzing some Reading lessons of the textbook English 10, something wrong was found as following: - The shape of the reading lessons often has no pre-reading activity. - The suggested activities are not very plentiful. - The orders of the tasks are not very proper. - Some tasks are over students’ ability. 4.1.2 Results of questionnaires 4.1.2.1 Questionnaire for students Table 4.1.1 The students’ habit of reading Question 1 Every day Once to twice Never Other ideas CNotes: count / number of responses % percent C % C % C % After class, how often do you read a week? 41 20.8 63 32.0 93 47.2 0 0 The number of the students who read everyday is much less than the others who rarely read. It is the fact that a large amount of the student (79.2%) has no habit in reading. Table 4.1.2.a The students’ interest in reading Question 2 Yes No C % C % Do you like reading? 151 76.6 46 23.4 The answers to the questions reveal that the number of students who like reading is more than those who do not like reading three times. It means the students may still like reading. Table 4.1.2.b The students’ interest in reading Question 3 The content is poor The topic is useful The topic is not interesting Other ideas - The text is good - The topics are new C % C % C % C % When you read, you feel… 29 14.7 37 18.8 46 23.4 105 53.3 More than half of the students support the content and the topics of reading text in the textbook. However, the others (38.1%) do not agree, they maybe want the text to be changed. Table 4.1.2.c The students’ interest in reading Question 4 Difficult Easy Very difficult Very easy C % C % C % C % In your opinion, learning reading is… 91 46.2 21 10.7 28 14.2 57 28.9 Over half of the students feel reading is difficult, and a few of them (39.6%) feel reading is not difficult. This may be the problems of reading classes because the negative feelings can prevent the students from reading. Table 4.1.3.a The students’ preparation vocabulary for reading Question 5 Every reading lesson Sometimes Never Other ideas C % C % C % C % How often do you prepare new words for reading lessons? 49 24.9 52 26.4 96 48.7 0 0 The table shows that 26.4% of the students “sometimes” prepare vocabulary for reading, and 48.7% of them “never” do. It means 75.1% of them do not prepare well and 24.9% of them do well. After all, there is no doubt that the students do not prepare for their reading lessons may be one of the problems in reading. Table 4.1.3.b The students’ preparation vocabulary for reading Question 6 Every day Sometimes Never Other ideas C % C % C % C % How often do you learn new words at home? 84 42.6 87 44.2 26 13,2 0 0 The table also reflects there are less than half of the students (42.6%) learn the vocabulary “everyday”. It means many the students do not learn the vocabulary at home. This problem can make the students lack vocabulary for better reading. Table 4.1.4.a The students’ memory in learning vocabulary Question 7 More than 70% 50% - 70% Less than 50% Nothing C % C % C % C % How many percents of new words you can learn by heart in class? 21 10.7 86 43.6 79 40.1 11 5.6 According to the result, there are only 10.7% of the students learn the vocabulary well in class as soon as the reading class finishes. It is possible to say that most of them are not able to remember the words quickly. Table 4.1.4.b The students’ memory in learning vocabulary Question 8 More than 80% 60% - 80% About 50% Less than 50% Other ideas C % C % C % C % C % You can remember about … of the words, you learn. 12 6,1 7 3.6 86 43.6 92 46.7 0 0 As we have known, the number of the words can be taught is more than 5 and less than 8 words. It is not too much. However, there are only 6.1% of the students are able to remember the words they learn quite well. It means many students are not able to remember well. Via the results of question (7) and question (8), it is possible that the students have no good memory in learning vocabulary. Table 4.1.5 The teachers’ using techniques in teaching vocabulary Question 9 Always Often Sometimes Rarely Other ideas C % C % C % C % C % How often does your teacher elicit the words in reading lessons? 31 15.7 57 28.9 68 34.6 41 20.8 0 0 Whether the teacher uses techniques to elicit the words is very important, because images, actions, and explanations can make impression on the students. They help the students remember the words more easily and better. However, it is the fact that the teachers do not often use techniques for eliciting vocabulary. 54.4% of the students admit their teachers “sometimes” or “rarely” teach new words with techniques. Therefore, it is not doubtful; the teachers do not often use techniques to elicit the words for their students to guess. This can make the students remember the words difficultly. Table 4.1.6.a The students’ skills in reading Question 10 What you have already known about the topic Vocabulary related to the topic Predict what the text will give you Nothing C % C % C % C % Before reading, what do you think of? 41 20.8 96 48.7 46 23.4 24 12.2 To prepare for reading, the students also have to use proper skills. However, the result reflects that the students have no skills for pre-reading. Half of them still think very highly of vocabulary in reading texts and approximately 1/8 of them think nothing about the topic. And 44.2% of the students seem to have skill to prepare for reading. However, frankly speaking, more than half of the students have no skills for preparing reading. This is also obstacle of reading. Table 4.1.6.b The students’ skills in reading Question 11 Read the text carefully and try to know the meaning of all the words to understand the text. Move your eyes quickly through the whole reading. See the titles, the headings, the illustrations and the photos. Other ideas C % C % C % C % If you want to get the main idea, you will 137 69.5 47 23.9 13 6.6 0 0 Question 12 Move your eyes quickly over the reading until you find the specific piece of information that you want. Read the text carefully and try to know the meaning of all the words to understand the text. See the titles, the headlines, the illustration and the photos, and so on. Other ideas C % C % C % C % If you want to get specific information, you will 36 18.3 109 55.3 52 26.4 The students’ answers to the two questions above show that there are not so many students having skill to get the main idea of the reading text, while, 7/10 of them lack the skill. There is no doubt that most of the students have no primary skill for reading – skimming. A large percentage of students do not know how to get the specific information from the reading text. There are fewer than 19% of the students being able to get the scanning skill. Table 4.1.6.c The students’ skills in reading Question 13 The main idea The detailed information Other ideas Have not known C % C % C % Scanning helps you find out…of the text. 37 18.9 78 39.6 82 41.5 Question 14 The main idea The detailed information Other ideas Have not known C % C % C % Skimming helps you find out...of the text. 71 36.1 41 20.8 85 43.1 The two next questions were used to check the problems again. It is not doubtful that most of the students have not known what skimming or scanning is. They do not know when they have to use skimming and when they have to use scanning. There are fewer than 40% of the concerned students know two these primary skills. Table 4.1.7.a The students’ reasons for not being good at reading Question 15 The reading contains many new words You forget some words that you learned You forget the use of some grammatical structure The previous tasks are not useful for you to do the after tasks Other ideas C % C % C % C % C % You cannot do the tasks well when you read because 79 40.1 41 20.8 59 30.0 18 9.1 0 0 The question was designed to seek the reasons why the students cannot do the tasks better. According to the students’ answers, the main reasons are that the students have no enough vocabulary for understanding the reading texts - 60.9% of them revealed, and that the students do not know some grammatical structures – 30.0% of them admitted. In addition to, most of the students do not consider so much about the connection between the tasks - 9.1% of them agreed that the previous tasks do not help them to do the next ones more easily. Table 4.1.7.b Using activities in reading Question 16 Yes No Other ideas C % C % C % Does your teacher use some activities outside the textbook to make difficult tasks easier? 51 25.9 146 74.1 0 0 The teachers also contribute to the students’ success in doing the tasks, because the teachers can make the tasks simpler, use different activities to make the tasks more attractive or new to the students. However, the students’ answers to the question tell us that the teachers may often use the tasks designed in the textbook without redesigning. Table 4.1.8.a The students’ dealing with the tasks/activities Question 17 More than 80 % About 60% - 80 % About 50 % - 60 % Less than 40% Other ideas C % C % C % C % C % While you read, you can do…of the tasks. 22 11.2 34 17.2 62 31.5 79 40.1 0 0 We cannot deny that how well the students do the tasks reflect their abilities in reading. However, the amount of students who can do the tasks well is low. As we can see, many students cannot do the tasks well is more than the students who can do the tasks at acceptable level. In addition, the numbers of students who do the tasks rather well more than the number of them who do the tasks better. It means the students cannot do the tasks, in spite of reading. Table 4.1.8.b The students’ dealing with the tasks/activities Question 18 Yes No Other ideas Sometimes C % C % C % After a Reading class, can you summarize the main idea of the text? 69 35.0 116 58.9 12 6.1 According to the results, there is no doubt that most of the students are not able to understand what the reading text about, they have no skill of restating the text’s content – 65% of the students revealed. Table 4.1.9.a Students’ using reference book in reading Question 19 Always Sometimes Rarely Never Other ideas C % C % C % C % C % How often do you use reference book to do the tasks in Reading? 76 35.6 91 46.2 18 9.1 12 6.1 0 0 The results also show that more than 1/3 of the students “always” use reference books in reading, and 15.2% of the students “rarely” and “never” use them. It means that the fact the students use reference books is very popular and that the students can do the tasks well is not perfectly true. Table 4.1.9.b Students’ using reference book in reading Question 20 Compare with your answers to know your ability in English To get the correct answer only Other ideas To translate the texts and the correct answers C % C % C % If you use the reference book, you use it to… 47 25.4 126 68.1 12 6.5 As mentioned above, the students use reference books popularly. However, the results reflect that about 74.6% of the students who use reference books just to get the correct answers and translate the reading text into Vietnamese. It means the students do not know how to use reference books effectively. In brief, via analyzing the questionnaire for the students, some common problems were found as follows: - The students have no habit of reading after class. - The students do not well prepare vocabulary for reading. - The students do not remember well the words they learnt. - The students have no enough primary skills for reading to do the tasks well. - The students use reference books in reading. - The teachers do not often use techniques to elicit vocabulary. - The teachers do not redesign the tasks more proper. 4.1.2.2 Questionnaire for teachers Table 4.2.1.a Teachers’ dealing with vocabulary Question 1 Yes No Other ideas C % C % C % Is it easy for you to select vocabulary for pre-teaching vocabulary? 0 0 10 100 0 0 Table 4.2.1.b Teachers’ dealing with vocabulary Question 2 From 6 to 8 words Less than 6 words More Other ideas C % C % C % C % How much vocabulary do you often provide 10 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 The results tell us that the teachers can select the words for pre-teaching vocabulary. Table 4.2.2 Amount of vocabulary for reading Question 3 Enough Not enough Sometimes enough Other ideas Students’ preparation The text’s complexity C % C % C % C % The amount of vocabulary you provide is…for the students to read well. 0 0 4 40 6 60 7 70 It is common that the teachers think very highly of the students’ preparation for vocabulary and the text’s complexity. The number of the words they teach is not still enough for the students. Table 4.2.3 Teachers’ using techniques to elicit vocabulary Question 4 All words Never A little Rarely Other ideas Sometimes / Usually C % C % C % C % C % How often do you elicit the words in reading lessons? 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 100 As we can see, most of the teachers do not use techniques to elicit vocabulary. It can imply that the teachers usually teach the words constantly – the teachers write all the words and the meanings on the words and then the students copy down. This problem really prevents the students from remembering the words. Table 4.2.4 Teachers’ ability in linking the tasks Question 5 Easy Normal Difficult Other ideas Sometimes difficult C % C % C % C % It is … for you to make the stages in reading lessons relate to the others. 0 0 7 70 0 0 3 30 The teachers’ answers to the question reflect that most of the teachers can link the tasks. However, a small percentage of them find it difficult to do the job. It means linking the tasks is not too difficult for the teachers to perform. Table 4.2.5.a Teachers’ ability in making reading interesting Question 6 Easy Normal Difficult Other ideas It is up to the topic C % C % C % C % It is … for you to make reading lessons interesting. 0 0 10 100 0 0 7 70 According to the results of the question, it is not doubtful that making reading interesting is not both easy and difficult to the teachers. It is up to the topic of the reading text given to the students. Therefore, redesigning the text to make reading more interesting is an essential job. Table 4.2.5.b Teachers’ ability in making reading interesting Question 7 Always Sometimes Rarely Never Other ideas Not enough time C % C % C % C % C % How often do you give information out of the texts for the students? 2 20 4 40 1 10 3 30 8 80 Question 8 Yes No Other ideas Usually use the tasks in the textbook C % C % C % Do you use different reading activities in each stage of reading lessons? 10 100 0 0 3 30 Table 4.2.6 Teachers’ ability in redesigning the tasks Question 9 Always Sometimes Rarely Never Other ideas - The tasks are designed to get the aims of the lesson. - It is compulsory. C % C % C % C % C % How often do you remove some tasks in reading lessons? 0 0 2 20 2 20 6 60 0 0 Question 10 Always Sometimes Rarely Never Other ideas Not enough time C % C % C % C % C % How often do you add some tasks in reading lessons? 0 0 2 20 4 40 4 40 8 80 Question 11 Always Sometimes Rarely Never Other ideas To help students practice skills C % C % C % C % C % How often do you change difficult tasks in reading lessons to make them easier for the students? 1 10 3 30 6 60 0 0 7 70 Question 12 Always Sometimes Rarely Never Other ideas C % C % C % C % C % How often do you change some tasks’ orders in reading lessons? 8 80 2 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 According to the results of four questions above (see the table 4.2.6), it is the fact that firstly the teachers may not often add and remove the tasks; second, they also do not often make difficult tasks less difficult to the students; finally, they often change the tasks’ orders. Their reasons for the jobs may be that the textbooks are designed as model for the teachers and the students to follow, or a 45-minute lesson is not enough to do other tasks; however, removing the tasks do not seem to be supported. Therefore, the thing they often do is reorder the tasks. Table 4.2.7 Teachers’ integrating skills in reading classes Question 13 Yes No Other ideas - Not so many - Sometimes C % C % C % Do you integrate other skills in reading classes? 10 100 0 0 3 30 The results reflect that most of the teachers integrate reading skill with the other skills in reading classes. They also reveal that the job is not used often. However, as we know, it is beneficial to integrate receptive skills – reading and listening and productive skills – speaking and writing because the students must be allowed to show off what they learn. The job - integrating is used during the lessons and most in post- stage of the lessons. Therefore, it can help teachers check how well the students in reading and establish the report between students and teachers. Reading is usually integrated with speaking because it is naturally that teachers often let the students talk as much as possible; and because via speaking, students can show what they obtain after reading quickly and speaking can make the class more exciting. Table 4.2.8 Reasons for students problems in reading classes Question 14 Answers According to your experiences, why are not the students very good at reading? - Students are used to reading word by word. - They translate the text into Vietnamese in their mind and they cannot understand the text. Therefore, there is no time for doing the tasks. Table 4.2.9 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching reading Question 15 Answers What are your difficulties in teaching reading? - The students are weak in reading comprehension. - They have not enough skills for reading comprehension. - The students do not prepare for the lesson. Table 4.2.10 Teachers’ solutions to common problems in reading classes Question 16 Answers What can you do to solve the problems in reading classes? - Check students ‘ preparation to enable it become their habits - Remove or simply some tasks - Redesign the tasks Table 4.2.11 Teachers’ solutions to improving students’ reading skill Question 17 Answers What can you do to improve your students’ English reading skill? - Ask the students to use English-English dictionary. - Ask the students not to read loud and translate everything. - Elicit the words for the students to guess. - Make the reading lessons more interesting. In general, through teachers’ answers to the questions and the ideas to the problems, some common problems were found from teachers as following: - The teachers may not very often elicit the words. - The teachers may not often redesign the tasks. - The teachers may not use activities outside the textbook for reading. - The teachers may find it not easy to make reading more interesting. - The students may not prepare well for reading. - The students have no skills for reading - The students are used to translating every word from English into Vietnamese. 4.1.3 Results of observation Observation was employed during the study to check the results of textbook analysis and questionnaires analysis. In observation, some aspects was taken note such as whether the teachers solve the problems in the textbook, whether the teachers use techniques to elicit the words, etc. TEACHER OBSERVATION SHEET Teacher’s name: Duong Duy Linh Observer: Chau Lan Phuong School : Thanh Binh-1 High School Date: February 27th, 2009 Grade : 10cbA1 Type of lesson: Reading Time Content/ activities Comments 5’ 9’ 15’ 15’ 1’ Unit 11: NATIONAL PARKS 1. Warm-up: Game: Brainstorming The game is not interesting 2. Pre-reading 2.1 Pre-teach vocabulary (all the words in task 1, p.113) : Matching - Checking vocabulary (Rob out & Remember) - The students could guess the words quite quickly. -The activity helped the teacher save time. - The lesson lacked pre-reading activity. 3. While reading - Task 2: Answer the following questions (p. 114) -Game: Lucky flowers (9 flowers, including 3 lucky flowers) - The teacher added 3 questions: 1. How many national parks does Vietnam have? 2. Why does Nairobi National Park make the visitors surprised? 3. Why is Everglades National Parks special? - The activity was exciting. However, most of the students could not find out the answers quickly. - Some of the students write the answers in the textbooks before. - The teacher should not ask the students to write down the answers on the board. - The teacher should add more activities. 4. Post-reading Discuss in groups. (p. 114) - The teacher gave some guiding questions: 1. What do you want to know? 2. What can you learn from the park? -The task was done rather well. 5. Homework - Learn by heart vocabulary. - Prepare the next lesson. -Write what you talk in notebooks. - The task was proper. * Good points: - The teacher used matching activity to help the students guess the words easily. - The teacher used game to make the lesson more interesting. - The teacher helped the students to talk easily by giving some guiding questions. * Can improve: - The teacher should add pre-reading activity such as True/False statements prediction or predict what the text will mention. - The teacher should spend time for activities, not for writing on the board. It should for homework. - The teacher should use more pictures of these national parks and the others and share more information about the topic with the students, TEACHER OBSERVATION SHEET T