1 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VINH UNIVERSITY TRẦN THỊ CẨM NHUNG ACTIVATING PRIOR KNOWLEDGE IN PRE-READING STAGE TO PROMOTE HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION AND ENHANCE THEIR READING COMPREHENSION Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching Code: 60.14.01.11 MASTER’S THESIS IN EDUCATION Supervisor: Dr Huynh Anh Tuan Nghệ An, 2017 i STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP I hereby acknowledge that this study is my own work The data and findings discussed in the thesis are true, used with permission from associates, and have not been published elsewhere Author Trần Thị Cẩm Nhung ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest thanks to my supervisor, Dr Huynh Anh Tuan, who I believe is the most wonderful supervisor, for his valuable direction and generous assistance while I was doing this project His enthusiasm and positive attitudes were sparkling in such a way that it helped to make my research a serious task to fulfil I would also like to send my sincere thanks to the teachers and students at Hermann Gmeiner high school, Nghe An, who participated in the experiment and assisted me doing the process I am grateful to the administrators and teachers at Vinh University for their cooperation and help during the study I am also in debt of my lecturers, my friends, my classmates as well as my colleagues for their invaluable comments and criticism Finally, I would like to delicate this work to my parents and family, who have been always supporting me with love and sympathy iii ABSTRACT This experimental study aims at finding out whether activating prior knowledge promotes high school students’ participation and enhances their reading comprehension Eighty 10th graders participated in the study They were divided into two groups: one experimental group and one control group During the experiment, the prior knowledge of the experimental group was activated in the pre-reading stage while that of the control group was not Both groups did a reading comprehension test before and after the treatment This was done to see whether there was any difference in the level of reading comprehension between the experiemntal group and control group before and after the treatment Five observations sessions were carried out in both groups to see whether there was any difference in the level of participation in the two groups It was found that the level of participation and reading comprehension in the experimental group was higher than that of the control group Based on the findings, it is recommended that high school teachers need to explore various methods to activate prior knowledge Implications for enhancing the effectiveness of English teaching and learning reading have been put forward It is hoped that the results of the study can be beneficial for both EFL high school students and teachers iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP .i Word Splash .13 Creating a Word Splash .13 Possible Sentences .14 Procedure for Implementing Possible Sentences 14 Dried Food 57 .65 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Comprehension is of great importance when reading is on the way It requires the readers to have a good understanding of the message underling the text This drives people to be good readers, when they compare what they read or the knowledge they gain to their experience or their memory they gained before to see how they fit with each other This method can be applied into curriculum activities and science, social studies and other research as well However, in fact, teachers sometimes push their student towards the habit of reading the text without concerning about its overall content This may lead to sufficient knowledge being ignored and studying process may not bring highly expected results Activation of pre-existing knowledge may be the root of enhancing their reading comprehension Digging deeper into understanding the whole context is in parallel with reminding existing knowledge can take effect on absorbing information Although understanding at sight may be a task of challenge for somebody, it can be figured out if we set up some conversations with someone else to discuss more about its ambiguous meaning This kind of brainstorming actions can bring doubtful meanings come to the light, which are known with the schema of activating our prior knowledge in pre-reading stage It is of paramount importance when it comes to students who accumulate scientific and academic knowledge on a daily basis It even puts much pressure on second language learners We try to find the answers to the question of whether activating learners' prior knowledge can enhance their reading comprehension, and how it stimulates students’ participation in academic activities Therefore, the author has decided to conduct the study entitled “ Activating prior knowledge in pre- reading stage to promote high school students’participation and enhance their reading comprehension” in the hope that the study could make some contributions to the teaching and learning English for EFL teachers and learners 1.2 Aims of the study This study is to show the play of existing knowledge activation in promoting high school students’ participation and enhancing reading comprehension Foreign language teachers should be aware of the importance of activating learners' background knowledge through the stages of reading activities to better their understanding of the contexts and of the texts themselves The focus of the study is on improving students’ reading comprehension and promoting their participation through activating their prior knowledge in pre-reading stage in an EFL setting This is for those who try to match what they read with what they already know 1.3 Scope of the study Activating prior knowledge can be beneficial in various aspects such as increasing learners’ achievement, motivation and the growth of new learning, etc and in all the three stages of a reading lesson (Marzano, 2000; Wilson et al., 2006; Dochy et al., 1999; Le et al., 2009; Myhill & Brackley, 2004; Mitchell, 2006) However, the study within its scope the two aspects of promoting learners’ participation and enhancing their comprehension through activating prior knowledge in the pre-reading stage The targeted students are grade 10 students at Hermann Gmeiner High School 1.4 Method of the study The approach adopted for the study is experimental research to find out whether activating prior knowledge promotes high school students’ participation and enhances their reading comprehension Four data collection instruments were used: reading comprehension tests, class observations, interviews, and document analysis The pre-test and the post-test were created with the similar number of words, topics as well as difficulties The tests were used to evaluate students’ reading comprehension They were taken to make sure that the participants had reached the desired level of their reading The purpose of class observations is to know the participation of high school students in the lesson In addition to classroom observations, in-depth interviews with teachers were used to collect more data on their experience and their viewpoints on the classroom techniques Finally, in order to achieve the mentioned goal, the teachers carried out classroom activities and techniques to activating prior knowledge in the prereading stage 1.5 Organization of the study The study is demonstrated through five chapters In the first chapter, an overview of the existing problem of reading and its consequences is presented After that, the aim, the scope and the method of the study are clarified before the structure of the study is shown In the second chapter, this chapter presents the previous studies related to the thesis and some concepts as theoretical basis for the study The third chapter discusses the research methodology of the study First, the research questions are addressed followed by the research approach The research design is mentioned to depict how the data are collected and analyzed In the fourth chapter, the Findings- will present the data and discussed the results of the study Chapter – will summarize the findings, the limitations of the study and some suggestions for further research are also presented CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, the fundamental concepts serving as the theoretical backgrounds of the research as well as previous studies related to the research are discussed centering on the role of activating prior knowledge in the prereading stage in enhancing L2 learner’s participation and improving their reading comprehension The literature review shows that teachers can significantly contribute to activating students’ knowledge prior to reading with pre-reading strategies for learners to show a better performance in their comprehension 2.1 Prior knowledge 2.1.1 Definition of prior knowledge “Prior knowledge” generally refers to facts or information which you have learned or acquired through experience previously Accordingly, when approaching any new learning task, the learner often has some form of “prior knowledge” in the head, which allows him or her to link or connect quickly what is being learned with what he or she already knows about in some way Prior knowledge is the content knowledge and personal experiences the reader brings to the learning tasks Teachers know that students bring a wide range of background knowledge and experience to class The same class may contain students whose families are highly educated and encourage reading of all kinds, students whose experiences of the world is limited to what they see on T.V and students for whom English is a second language Faced with this mixture of background , effective teachers helps students prepare for reading as much as possible by incorporating pre-reading strategies that active and assess learner’s prior knowledge Example A group of young learners are going to read about dolphins First they talk about what they already know in a brainstorm activity In the classroom Pre-task activities are a good way to explore and share prior knowledge Making predictions about content, answering true or false questions, agree on ‘5 things you know about ' and class or group brainstorming are all effective tools 2.1.2 The role of prior knowledge in language learning The following researchers have proved the essence of prior knowledge to learning: • Prior knowledge accounts for the largest variable in student achievement (Marzano, 2000; Wilson et al., 2006) • Prior knowledge is the basis for all future knowledge (Marzano et al., 2000b) • Prior knowledge “constitutes a starting point for the construction of new knowledge” (Garrison, • Prior knowledge can be a significant and accurate predictor of performance and facilitates new learning (R A Thompson & Zamboanga, 2004) • Prior knowledge is a fundamental factor for learning new material (Myhill&Brackley, 2004) • Prior knowledge is critical to learning new information (Gagné, 1980) • Prior knowledge enhances learning about new material (Marzano, Norford, et al., 2001) • Prior knowledge of the student largely determines a teacher’s effectiveness (A Jones, Todorova, &Vargo, 2000) • Prior knowledge influenced comprehension much more than earlier 52 (10') IV Aftеr you rеad: -Ask studеnts to to chеck sts' a strong willеd: harbourеd thе drеam closе thеir books undеrstanding of a sciеntific carееr, impossiblе for a and woman at that timе practisе and to summarizе tеlling somеthing thе tеxt b Ambitious: kеpt moving up in hеr about Mariе Curiе carееr c hard-working: difficult Lеt studеnts living rеrеad thе passagе conditions- work hard quickly to find d Intеlligеnt: Nobеl Prizе еvidеncе from thе е Humanе: еasing humanе suffеring passagе to provе еach of thеm - Listеn and еxplain somе usе of thе words: work as; in spitе of; workеd togеthеr on; took up thе position (2') V Homеwork -Rеrеad thе passagе and writе about famous anothеr pеrson (about 100 words) 53 APPENDIX PRE-TEST TO BE OR NOT TO BE VEGETERIAN A strict vegetarian is a person who never in his life eats anything derived from animals The main objection to vegetarianism on a long-term basis is the difficulty of getting enough protein – the body-building element in food If you have ever been without meat or other animal foods for some days or weeks (say, for religious reasons) you will have noticed that you tend to get physically rather weak You are glad when the fast is over and you get your reward of a succulent (tasty) meat meal Proteins are built up from approximately twenty food elements called 'amino-acids', which are found more abundantly in animal protein than in vegetable protein This means you have to eat a great deal more vegetable than animal food in order to get enough of these amino-acids A great deal of the vegetable food goes to waste in this process and from the physiological point of view there is not much to be said in favour of life-long vegetarianism The economic side of the question, though, must be considered Vegetable food is much cheaper than animal food However, since only a small proportion of the vegetable protein is useful for body-building purposes, a consistent vegetarian, if he is to gain the necessary 70 grams of protein a day, has to consume a greater bulk of food than his digestive organs can comfortably deal with In fairness, though, it must be pointed out that vegetarians claim they need farless than 70 grams of protein a day Whether or not vegetarianism should be advocated for adults, it is definitely unsatisfactory for growing children, who need more protein than they can get from vegetable sources A lacto-vegetarian diet, which includes milk and milk products such as cheese, can, however, be satisfactory as long as enough 54 milk and milk products are consumed Meat and cheese are the best sources of usable animal protein and next come milk, fish and eggs Slow and careful cooking of meat makes it more digestible and assists in the breaking down of the protein content by the body When cooking vegetables, however, the vitamins, and in particular the water-soluble vitamin C, should not be lost through over-cooking With fruit, vitamin loss is negligible, because the cooking water is normally eaten along with the fruit, and acids in the fruit help to hold in the vitamin C Most nutrition experts today would recommend a balanced diet containing elements of all foods, largely because of our need for sufficient vitamins Vitamins were first called 'accessory food factors' since it was discovered, in 1906, that most foods contain, besides carbohydrates, fats, minerals and water, these other substances necessary for health The most common deficiencies in Western diets today are those ofvitamins The answer is variety in food A well-balanced diet having sufficient amounts of milk, fruit, vegetables, eggs, and meat, fish or fowl (i.e any good protein source) usually provides adequate minimum daily requirements of all thevitamins New words: succulent (adj): ngon, bổ; physiological (adj):thuộc sinh lí học; consistent (adj): phù hợp; bulk (n): chất xơ; digestive (adj): tiêu hóa; advocate (v): ủng hộ lacto-vegetarianism (n): chế độ ăn chay cho phép ăn số sản 55 phẩm động vật Select the answer which is most accurate according to the information given in the passage A strict vegetarian A rarely eats animal products C never eats any animal products B sometimes eats eggs D never eats protein We feel weak when we go without meat and other animal products A.because we are reducing our food intake B.because we not get enough protein C.because vegetables not contain protein D.unless we take plenty ofexercise Proteins are built up from A approximately twenty different foods B about twenty different vegetables C various fats and sugars D about twenty different amino-acids Physiologically, life-long vegetarianism may not be good because A it makes people very thin B the body must process too much waste C the farmers lose money D vitamin-deficiency diseases may result One thing in favour of vegetarianism is that A vegetable food is easier to digest C vegetable food is cheaper B animal food is less expensive D it is good for the digestion The body's daily need for proteinis A 90 grams B 50 grams C 70 grams.` The digestive organs can comfortably deal with D at least 100 grams 56 A any quantity of food per day B A limited quantity of food per day C less than 70 grams of food per day D any amount of vegetable foods Vegetarianism is not suitable for growing children because they A need more protein than vegetables can supply B cannot digest vegetables C use more energy than adults D cannot easily digest milk and milk products Slow and careful cooking of mest A preserves the vitamins C makes it easier to digest B breaks down thevitamins D reduces the protein content 10 Most nutrition experts today believe the food weeat should contain A more meat than vegetables B more vegetables than meat C fruit, cereals and fish as well as meat andvegetables D as many different kinds of vegetables aspossible 57 APPENDIX POST-TEST Dried Food Centuries ago, man discovered that removing drops of water from food helps to preserve it, and that the easiest way to this is to expose the food to sun and wind In this way the North American Indians produce pemmican (dried meat ground into powder and made into cakes), the Scandinavians make stockfish and the Arabs dried dates and 'apricot leather' All foods contain water – cabbage and other leaf vegetables contain as much as 93% water, potatoes and other root vegetables 80%, lean meat 75% and fish anything from 80% to 60% depending on how fatty it is If this water is removed, the activity of the bacteria which cause food to go bad is checked Fruit is sun-dried in Asia Minor, Greece, Spain and other Mediterranean countries, and also in California, South Africa and Australia The methods used vary, but in general, the fruit is spread out on trays in drying yards in the hot sun In order to prevent darkening, pears, peaches and apricots are exposed to the fumes of burning sulphur before drying Plums, for making prunes, and certain varieties of grapes for making raisins and currants, are dipped in an alkaline solution in order to crack the skins of the fruit slightly and remove their wax coating, soin creasing therate of drying Nowadays most foods are dried mechanically The conventional method of such dehydration is to put food in chambers through which hot air is blown at temperatures of about 110° C at exit This is the usual method for drying such things as vegetables, minced meat, and fish Liquids such as milk, coffee, tea, soups and eggs may be dried by pouring them over a heated horizontal steel cylinder or by spraying them into a chamber through which a current of hot air passes In the first case, the dried material is 58 removed from the roller as a thin film which is then broken up into small, though still relatively coarse flakes (thick pieces) In the second process it falls to the bottom of the chamber as a fine powder Where recognizable pieces of meat and vegetables are required, as in soup, the ingredients are dried separately and then mixed Dried foods take up less room and weigh less than the same food packed in cans or frozen, and they not need to be stored in special conditions For these reasons they are invaluable to climbers, explorers and soldiers in battle, who have little storage space They are also popular with housewives because it takes so little time to cook them Usually it is just a case of replacing the driedout moisture with boiling water New words: pemmincan (n): ruốc, scandinavian (n): người X căng-đi-na-vi, stockfish (n): cá khô không muối, Mediterranean (adj): (thuộc) Địa Trung Hải, tray (n): khay, raisin (n): nho khô, minced meat (n): thịt băm Task 2: Select the answer which is most accurate according to the information given in the passage The open-air method of drying food A is the one most commonly used today B was invented by the American Indians C has been known for hundreds of years D tends to beun hygiennic The water content A does not vary from food to food 59 B is greater in green vegetables than in lean meat C is greater in fish than in vegetables D has never been accurately calculated Bacteria which cause food to go bad A cannot live in sunlight B are killed by drying C are in no way dependent on the water content D have their activity greatly reduced by drying Fruit is sun dried A always by the same method B generally on trays C in every country in the world D by spreading it out under glass panels Sulphur fumes are used before drying some fruits A to dry them more quickly B to preserve their colour C to prevent the skin from craking D to kill off bacteria Nowadays vegetables are most commonly dried A on horizontal cylinders B in hot-air chambers C in the sun and wind D using the open tray method Powdered coffee is made A by spraying the liquid over acylinder B in one of two different ways C in the same way as minced meat 60 D by passing through a machine which crushes it into very smallpieces If soup requires recognizable pieces of meat, they are A treated separately B allowed to fall to the bottom of the drying chamber C mixed in later as a fine powder D sold separately in sealed plastic bags Dried foods A are often packed in cans or frozen B are used by soldiers and climbers C need more storage space than soldiers usually have available D are much cheaper than canned or frozen products 10 Housewives like dried foods because they A are quick to prepare B taste better C can be preserved by boiling in water D look fresh and appetizing when cooked 61 APPENDIX Reading comprehension scores and means of the Pre-test Participants Treatment group A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 A10 A11 A12 A13 A14 A15 A16 A17 A18 A19 A20 A21 A22 A23 A24 scores 18 14 15 16 14 15 14 12 18 17 16 15 14 15 13 15 17 16 16 14 17 16 13 16 A25 Participants Control B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12 B13 B14 B15 B16 B17 B18 B19 B20 B21 B22 B23 B24 scores 14 14 11 15 14 10 13 15 15 16 14 12 13 13 15 13 16 12 14 13 14 15 12 15 16 B25 15 A26 17 B26 14 A27 17 B27 12 A28 14 B28 15 A29 17 B29 12 A30 16 B30 16 group 62 A31 17 B31 15 A32 14 B32 12 A33 13 B33 12 A34 16 B34 14 A35 18 B35 17 A36 A37 B36 14 B37 17 A38 15 N=40 618 Mean 15 B40 18 N=40 11 B39 16 A40 15 B38 12 A39 12 560 Mean 15,45 14,00 APPENDIX Reading comprehension scores and means of the Post-test Participants A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 Treatment group scores 20 15 17 18 17 19 15 Participants B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 Control group scores 15 15 12 16 15 10 14 63 A8 A9 A10 A11 A12 A13 A14 A15 A16 A17 A18 A19 A20 A21 A22 A23 A24 17 20 19 18 16 16 15 16 16 18 17 17 16 19 17 14 17 B8 B9 B10 B11 B12 B13 B14 B15 B16 B17 B18 B19 B20 B21 B22 B23 B24 16 16 17 15 16 17 14 15 14 16 13 15 16 14 18 15 17 A25 18 B25 16 A26 19 B26 15 A27 20 B27 15 A28 16 B28 16 A29 18 B29 14 A30 18 B30 16 A31 17 B31 15 A32 15 B32 13 A33 14 B33 14 A34 17 B34 15 A35 19 B35 18 A36 15 B36 13 A37 18 B37 16 A38 15 B38 15 64 A39 17 B39 16 A40 19 B40 17 N=40 684 N=40 605 Mean 17,10 Mean 15,13 APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ( For teacher) Could you please share some experience you have in teaching prereading stage? What teaching methods and techniques did you use to improve your students’ knowledge and skills? What are some activities you often organize for your students? To what extent you think your teaching methods and techniques helped your students? Could you please share your knowledge about role of prior knowlede in the pre- reading? Thank you very much! 65 66 APPENDIX CLASS OBSERVATIONS Teacher’s name Class observed Obsever Date Time How you feel when it’s time for English lesson ? How you feel when the teacher asks you questions about what you know the topic of lesson ? How you feel when the teacher ask you to read the text ? Scoring sheet Student name : Teacher : Grade 10 : Date : Scoring guide points : Happiest Garfield points : Slightly smiling points : Little upset point : Very upset ... in the pre -reading phase to promote their participation and enhance reading comprehension? • Does activating prior knowlеdgе in pre -reading stage promote high school students’ participation and. .. has decided to conduct the study entitled “ Activating prior knowledge in pre- reading stage to promote high school students? ?participation and enhance their reading comprehension? ?? in the hope... to activating students’ knowledge prior to reading with pre -reading strategies for learners to show a better performance in their comprehension 2.1 Prior knowledge 2.1.1 Definition of prior knowledge