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Using while- reading techniques to improve reading comprehension for the 11th form students at phan dang luu high school
1 PART 1: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study Nowadays, English is the most popular language in the world As an effective means of international communication, it is used as the official language in many fields of life such as economics, politics, science, technology, sports and many others This leads to an increasing demand of learning English There are more and more people who learn English and consider it as an inevitable factor in their work and life In Vietnam, English has been brought into the school curriculum as a compulsory subject, and the teaching and learning of that international language has been recently paid great attention to When teaching English, the teacher teaches his students not only the English language but also its usage And under the right guidance, right help of the teacher, the students have to try their best to master language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking in order to communicate in English successfully Among these four skills, reading plays an important role in enriching the students’ general knowledge and in helping them with their further study later Owing to the importance of reading itself, the growing interest in learning English in Vietnam creates a wide learning environment It can be seen that the teaching of reading of reading comprehension has been paid in increasing attention to its different aspects As time goes by, many experts and methodologists have come to understand that reading comprehension is important not only at schools but also afterwards That is reading helps students as readers develop their language ability in general and comprehension skills in particular at schools as well as gives them other benefits to avoid cultural and language bias, etc in daily communication Recognizing the importance of reading, I decide on choosing “Using While- Reading Techniques to Improve Reading Comprehension for the 11th Form Students at Phan Dang Luu High School ” Aims of the study The specific aims of the study are as follows: - Clarifying the nature of reading comprehension in accordance with some important points in teaching this skill - Investigating the present situation of teaching and learning reading comprehension of the 11th form students to find out advantages as well as problems facing both teachers and students in reading lessons - Suggesting useful techniques to develop the reading comprehension skills in the while- reading stage for the 11th form in Phan Dang Luu high school Scope of the study Due to the limitation, all the techniques suggested are used in the while- reading stage And the object of this study is the 11th form students at Phan Dang Luu high school Methods of the study To implement this study, the following methods are used: - Consulting related materials: For the sake of getting knowledge and useful ideas, I read many books and other materials in addition to earlier researches about reading and teaching reading comprehension - Delivering survey questionnaire and observing reading lessons: To fulfill this thesis, two survey questionnaires, one for students and another for teachers and some reading class observations were carried out to find out the teachers’ and students’ attitudes toward teaching and learning reading as well as their working methods Significance of the study The findings of the study are believed to be useful for reading teachers to be aware of the essential role of while- reading stage in a reading lesson Furthermore, the suggestions for while- reading techniques hopefully can help the students to improve their reading skills as well as the teachers Design of the study The thesis is divided into three parts The first part is the Introduction which includes rationale aims, scope, methods, significance and design of the study The secondDevelopment is the main part which consists of three chapters Chapter I is about review of literature relating to reading comprehension Chapter II investigates the present situation of learning and teaching reading to the 11th form students at Phan Dang Luu high school Chapter III gives some suggested techniques used in the while- reading stage to develop the reading skill for the 11th form students Part III is the Conclusion of the study PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, I attempt to deal with definitions of reading in general and reading comprehension in particular, types of reading and teaching reading comprehension 1.1 Theoretical background of reading comprehension 1.1.1 Definitions of reading The term “Reading” is widely used in practice However, reading is differently defined due to the areas of defining in term of activities or goals at any one level on grade That is why, no definition of reading can possibly include all points of views and features Moreover, each one’s definition only reflects what reading means to that person However, a careful considered definition of reading is very necessary for the reading teacher Because reading is the most critical aspect of any teaching programme and for the teachers to decide what they will teach in the classroom Herein, I would like to mention some definitions of reading extracted from different sources on the theme Elias and Ingram (1977:55) states: “Reading was defined as the abstraction of meaning from a visual configuration, and was shown to involve desirably not a painstaking grapheme- by- grapheme decoding but the postulation of alternatives of meaning which one reduced by the parsimonious interaction of the component process with the visual configuration.” Besides, Goodman (1982) points out reading as psycholinguistic guessing game Because it deals with how language and thought are interactive, but it operates within a sociolinguistic context According to the Gould, Diyanni, Smith and Standford (1990), reading is related to interpretation, making sense of all events taking place around us for a process of making potential meanings for readers Especially, Buzan (1997) finds that all common reading definitions only relate to a part of the process and an accurate definition of reading must contain the full range of reading skills, or reading as a multi- level process which comprise the following steps: • Recognition: You are concerned with understanding of alphabetical symbols This step occurs instantly before physical reading begins • Assimilation: This step starts with word then to the eye and via the optic nerve to the brain • Intra- Integration: This step refers to the link of all parts of the information being read with all other appropriate parts • Extra- Integration: This step requires learners to bring all of their previous knowledge to what they read, making appropriate connections, analyzing, criticizing, appreciating, selecting and rejecting • Retention: This step requires the basic storage of information of the readers • Recall: This process shows the ability of the readers to get back the storage when it is needed • Communication: This process includes written and spoken in which information is used immediately or eventually It also contains very crucial and often neglected human function: Thinking- “thinking is your ongoing extra integration” (Buzan, 1997:34) Although those reading definitions are of different attitudes to reading, they seem to have some features in common It is because they all concentrate on the nature of reading To make this point clear, Abbot, Wingard, Greenwood and McKeating (1981: 81) shows that “Here are two broad aspects or levels First there is basically visual task, that of deciphering the marks on the page, the brain receiving signals, from the eyes Secondly, there is cognitive task, that of interpreting the visual information, so the one is not simply “barking at print”” Deriving from those opinions, reading is considered a process in which a reader looks at and understand what has been written out 1.1.2 Definitions of reading comprehension In teaching reading, it is necessary to understand the nature of reading comprehension What the teacher understands about it will have a great influence on what he or she teaches in the class He would know what to teacher and how to make his reading lesson effectively In fact, methodologists have been providing different definitions of reading comprehension According to Grellet (1981: 3): “Reading comprehension or understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible.” The author means that reading comprehension is an activity which aims at decoding the meaning of word combination in the text in the most efficient way Also concerning the reading comprehension, Richard and Good (1978:9) provide a clearer point of view: “Reading comprehension is best described as an understanding between the author and the reader The emphasis is on the reader understanding of the printed page based on the individual reader’s unique background of experience Reading is much than just pronouncing words correctly or simply what the author intends It is the process whereby the printed pages stimulate ideas, experiences and responses that are unique to an individual” According to the above authors, reading comprehension is not only simply understanding what is written, but also is what stimulates students to remember from their experiences That knowledge is then used to get meaning out of printed page, but in the mind of the readers which included not only facts or details but also emotion, belief and critical evaluation From these opinions, it can be concluded that reading comprehension is a process of understanding what is conveyed in the text It does not mean that the reader needs to understand every single word in the text but actively work on the text and extract the required information efficiently 1.1.3 The importance of reading Deriving from some of reading definitions above, we find that reading is a very important factor in language acquisition It is important because it is considered an essential skill both at school and afterwards Reading takes its place alongside the development of oral ability in the school programme Reading also gives us as readers a lot of opportunities to contact with different contexts in our daily life Byrne (1988:46) provides three reasons for the importance of reading as follows: “* It offers language learners another areas of success We should accept that not all students will be good speakers and at least give them credit if they become good readers *It gives the students a skill which they can use on their own (i.e it is a key to selfaccess work) * It is likely to be one of the skills that most students will need in the long term Certainly, it is one that they will always be able to put to use That is, they can read even if they not get any opportunities to speak ” Generally, no one can deny that reading brings readers an ocean of knowledge of different areas They can learn more experience of life Then they have necessary benefits to avoid difficulties in mutual understanding in communication such as: culture shock, language shock due to different cultures, habits, and languages Moreover, reading is also an important way of expanding students’ receptive knowledge of language and stimulating students to talk and write However, all reasons mentioned earlier show that in terms of classroom activities it is good for students to read but we can not assume that all students are efficient readers Much depends on how well they have been taught to read in their mother tongue 1.1.4 Types of reading We read different texts in different ways According to the way of reading, we have aloud reading and silent reading Depending on the purpose of reading, we can classify reading into skimming, scanning, intensive reading and extensive reading 1.1.4.1 According to the ways of reading 1.1.4.1.1 Aloud reading Aloud reading is an unnatural activity because most people not read aloud in real life, and it is difficult for the speaker to pay attention to the meaning of the text when reading aloud According to Doff (1988:67), “aloud reading involves looking at a text, understanding it and also saying it Its purpose is not just to understand a text but to convey the implication to someone else.” This kind of activity seems to be more popular in the language classroom It focuses on the pronunciation of words in the text rather than understanding In reading a text, students come across many new words and phrases that they not know how to pronounce The teacher, in this case may help his students pronounce words by reading the text orally and loudly Aloud reading is often applied for beginners and limited in upper classes because of some reasons Firstly, it takes up a long time as students often read slowly when they focus on pronunciation They consequently have not enough time to deduce the meaning of the text or complete comprehension exercises Secondly, because students are concerned with pronunciation, it is hardly for them to understand the meaning of the text as Lewis and Hill (1995:110) mention: “Asking a student to read aloud also means that he may concentrate inadequately on their meaning He may read correctly but afterward will not be able to tell what he has read” That is the reason why, only for the early stages of foreign language learning, aloud reading should become an established part of a lesson to help the beginners read words, phrases with correct stress and intonation in a sentence 1.1.4.1.2 Silent reading Silent reading is the nearest approach to the essence of reading Because only by reading silently, can the readers best comprehend the written materials in the shortest possible time According to Broughton, Brumfit and other linguistics (1980:92), the nature of silent reading skills is far from uniform It is changeable according to the use to which it is being put Some of them are mentioned as follows: • To survey material which is to be studies, to look through indexes, chapter heading and outlines • To skim- particularly when one item of information is being sought in a mass of other printed information • To gain superficial comprehension, as when reading for pleasure or preparing to read aloud • To study the content of what is read in some detail • To study the language in which the material is written Through these ways of using reading, the readers’ depth and detail of understanding, of comprehension will be improved effectively 1.1.4.2 According to the purposes of reading 1.1.4.2.1 Skimming Skimming is commonly used in reading comprehension It is one of specific reading techniques necessary for quick and efficient reading There have been many definitions of skimming Greenwood (1981:92) writes: “the reader goes through particular passage such as newspaper article merely to get the gist” In this term, Douglas Brown has the same opinion but it is clearer than that of above author He wrote: “Skimming consists of quickly running eyes across the whole text for its gist Skimming gives readers the advantage of being able to predict the purpose of the passage, the main topic, or massage, or possibly some of the developing or supporting ideas.” Considering the two opinions, it can be concluded that skimming is a skill that enables readers to get the main point of the text without being concerned with details They only go through the text very fast to get general sense or the gist of it In brief, skimming is a very useful study technique to help the learner organize his thoughts and specify what information he can get from a book, so that his reading is more efficient Hence, skimming should be applied in teaching reading to help students have an overview of what they read 1.1.4.2.2 Scanning Similar to skimming, scanning is a necessary technique in reading efficiently Douglas (2001:308) defines scanning as follows: “Scanning was quickly searching for some particular piece or pieces of information in a text” Sharing the same opinion with Douglas Brown, Williams (2001:100) emphasizes: “Scanning occurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly in order to find a particular point of information.” It reveals the key to scanning is to decide exactly what kind of information we are looking for and where to find it In addition, Grellet (1981:19) gives a more detailed definition of scanning: “When scanning, we only try to locate information and often we not even follow the linearity of passage to so, and scanning is far more limited since it only means retrieving what information is relevant to our purpose.” These authors have the same point that while scanning reader does not need to read form cover to cover, they only look for the information they want by running their eyes rapidly along the lines It can be practised with the great range of texts such as dictionaries, map, advertisements, labels, etc This kind of reading is very useful in reading selectively In general, both skimming and scanning are effective techniques for quick and efficient reading It is advisable to make use of them to improve reading comprehension skills for students in reading classes 1.1.4.2.3 Intensive reading Intensive reading is also widely used in a reading class Its is an effective way to explore the text, to go deeply into the meaning and the organization of the text According to Grellet (1981:4) “Intensive reading means reading short text to extract specific information This is an accuracy activity involving reading for details.” In addition, Nuttal (1989:23) writes: “Intensive reading involves approaching the texts under the close guidance of the teacher…, or under the guidance of a task which forces the students to pay great attention to the ext the aim of intensive reading is to arrive at a profound and detail understanding of the text: not only of what is means but also of how the meaning is produced ” From the mentioned opinions intensive reading’s aim is to achieve full understanding of the logical arguments, attitude, and purposes of the writer as well as his linguistic means to achieve these purposes Sharing the same opinion with Nuttal, Douglas (2001:312) defines: “Intensive reading is usually a classroom oriented activity in which students focuses on linguistic or semantic details of a passage Reading calls students’ attention to grammatical forms, discourse markers and other surface structure details for the purpose of understanding literal meaning, implication, rhetorical relationships and the like”” In short, intensive reading is a basic classroom activity It is really effective if the teacher and his students know how to fully exploit this activity in class with the help of reading exercises 1.1.4.2.4 Extensive reading Extensive reading is also called “reading for fluency” The students read long texts to have general understanding, to develop fluency in reading or to relax This is an activity involving global understanding just as Grellet (1981:4) confirms: “Extensive reading means reading longer text, usually or one’s own pleasure This is a fluency activity mainly involving general understanding.” In Brown’s opinion, besides practising fluency, extensive reading helps students enrich their language elements because it is one of the keys to achieve reading ability, linguistic competence, vocabulary, spelling and writing (2001:301) 10 And to Nuttal (1989:168), this kind of reading is also a very useful skill for students to widen their knowledge as he wrote: “The best way to improve one’s knowledge of foreign language is to go and live among its speakers The next best way is to read extensively in it.” To summarize, extensive reading is one of good ways to improve one’s knowledge of a foreign language because its aim is to cover the content of text in the shortest possible period of time In the language classroom, the teacher must introduce some suitable reading materials to students, as it is useful for them to form a good habit of reading 1.2 1.2.1 Teaching reading comprehension Relationship between reading and other skills In the process of teaching and learning English, it is very crucial for learners to realize the integration of language That is the possibilities of other aspects of foreign programme Therefore, reading skill is closely related to writing, listening and speaking skills Understanding relations will help learners succeed According to Rivers and Temperly (1978), reading skill is not a single skill but an integrated- language skill Firstly, reading is related to writing That is when students are asked to summarize or continue the reading material such as resume, end of a story, short descriptions of the characters, etc secondly, reading is concerned with listening comprehension Students may listen to a story, a play… than read it or read first and “listen to a worthwhile reading or dramatic presentation of what they have read The aural element adds vividness and life to the reading unit” (Rivers and Temperly, 1978:259) They further note that “Practice in direct reading of a text which is readily accessible to the students at their present level of knowledge, while they are simultaneously listening to a taped model reading it in meaningful and expressive segments, can help students develop useful habits of anticipation and syntactic identification in both of these skills.” Thirdly, that is integration of reading and speaking Reading materials serve as a fundamental source for oral presentations as they can base on these ideas they have read to discuss or debate for their own purposes This is the best way for them to share what they have been reading with others To summarize, those combinations between reading and, writing, listening, speaking comprehension should be put into serious consideration when teaching and learning English as a foreign language 39 3.2.2.3True/ False questions Similar to reading for general understanding, while asking the students to scanning for pieces of information in the text, it is useful to provide the students with True/ False exercises For instance, for the text “A party”, the students will read the following statements and decide if they are true, false or not given in the passage Lisa’s family and friends are at her eighth birthday party Everyone makes cake and ice cream at the birthday party Lisa opens birthday cards and food from her family and friends Many Americans over the age of 30 don not like to talk about their anniversaries Fifty months ago, Rosa and Luis got married People call the 5th wedding anniversary the “golden anniversary” Rosa and Luis are happy to be together for their silver anniversary 3.2.2.4Blank- filling The teacher uses this kind of activity to focus his students on specific information in the text The students have to use information in the text to fill in the provided blanks by inserting a single word or a group of words Filling in the blank is generally used in the section of scanning for detail in the textbook English 11 For example, in “Sources of energy” (English 11: 124) one environment alternative limited unlimited sources energy fuels We need energy to live and work Our major source of (1) is oil Oil is (2) kind of fossil fuel The amount of fossil (3) in the world is (4) Therefore, we must save it, and at the same time, we must find new sources of energy Geothermal heat and nuclear power are (5) sources of energy They can give us electricity Other alternative (6) are the sun, waves and water These sources are not only (7) and available but also clean and safe for the (8) People should develop and use them more and more in the future 3.2.2.5Completing tables 40 Completing tables is one form of the completing exercises along with completing notes, completing summary or completing sentence In reading for specific information, completing tables seems to be the most often used techniques among the others For example, in the text “The Asian Games” (English 11:136), the students read it quickly and complete the table: Year (1) 1954 (3) 1998 (5) Events The Asian Games began in New Delhi, India Boxing, shooting and wrestling were added at st (2) Tennis, volleyball, table tennis and hockey were added at the 3rd Asian Games held in Tokyo, Japan (4) were introduced at the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand The 14th Asian Games were held in Busan, Korean In conclusion, scanning helps students exploit information of the text in a short period of time To achieve this purpose, the teacher must involve his students in certain activities as mentioned above, and limit their working time 3.3 Reading for further understanding The students may some other activities for further understanding 3.3.1Understanding the organization of the text In reading for detailed understanding, the teacher can ask his students to pay attention to the organization of the text This task can also be used in skimming or reading for general understanding Indeed, if the students grasp the method used to present the information, they can recognize the pattern that is being used so that they can apply their reading strategies to exploit the text and predict what is likely to follow Furthermore, carefully looking at the way in which information is organized, the students can understand the relationship among ideas or perceive the structure that ties a group of sentences together This enables them to think about the ideas in the text and get closer to the writer’s thinking 3.3.1.1Technique: Identifying the relationship among sentences To understand the organization of the text, the students need to pay an adequate attention to the relationship among sentences- that is how idea go together The teacher’s job in this case is to help his students to identify the types of text organization There are some 41 common types of organization that the teacher should instruct his students to recognize Paragraph in the text can normally be organized by main ideas and supporting ideas and supporting ideas, by chronological sequence, in comparison and contrast way as well as enumeration expression, etc Notably, the writer can combine some ways of expression in one text, for example, main ideas and supporting ideas with chronological sequence 3.3.1.1.1Main ideas and supporting ideas This is the most commonly used of the text organization The author introduces the main ideas first for the whole text, or for each paragraph in the text, which is then developed throughout The text “Hobbies” (English 11: 146) is one of a good illustration “I keep stamps, too However, I would not call myself an avid stamp collector Actually, I just collect the stamps from discarded envelopes that my relatives and friends give me Mostly, I get local stamps Once in a while, I get stamps from places like Russian, the USA, Britain, Australia, China and others I keep the less common ones inside a small album The common ones I usually give away to others or if no one wants them I simply throw them away.” In the above paragraph, the writer stated the main idea first i.e “I keep stamps” 3.3.1.1.2Chronological sequence The text with its ideas organized in a chronological sequence seems to be easy for students to follow The ideas are put in order according to the time in which events happen For example, in the text: “Illiteracy” (English 11: 56), the writer used chronological sequence to talk about illiteracy “In the summer of 2000, the Vietnam Society of Learning Promotion started a campaign for illiteracy eradication In the campaign, six hundred ethnic minority students from the northern highlands were asked to provide reading and writing skills to 1200 illiterate people living in their home villages In 2001, eight hundred volunteer students took part in the campaign The number of people receiving reading and writing lessons reached 4623 this was an effective way to help people in remote and mountainous areas to read write ” 3.3.1.1.3Comparison and contrast 42 For this kind of text organization, the ideas are conveyed in comparison or contrast to each other If the students can recognize this, it is much easier for them to understand the writer’s message Let take the paragraph in the text “Sources of energy” (English 11: 124) as an example “ The wind turns windmills and moves sailboats It is a clean source of energy, and there is lots of it Unfortunately, if the wind does not blow, there is no wind energy When water moves from a high place to a lower place, it makes energy This energy is used to create electricity Water power gives energy without pollution However, people have to build dams to use this energy And as dams cost a lot of money, so water energy is expensive.” The students can notice that the ideas of wind power are expressed by making a comparison between advantages and disadvantages of wind power They can pay attention to some common signals such as “unfortunately, however, as” 3.3.1.1.4Enumeration Another commonly used way of organization is enumeration, in which the ideas are presented in turn Students take some signals as “first, second, or, next, then, etc.” into consideration in dealing with this kind of text This way of organizing ideas is applied in the text “Nature in danger” (English 11: 114) “It can be said that human are changing the environment in all respects through their actions and by their habits This has resulted in two serious consequences The first is that many kinds of rare animals are killed The second is that the environment where these animals are living is badly destroyed As a result, the number of rare animals is decreasing so rapidly that they are in danger of becoming extinct.” In general, there are many different ways of organizing the reading text A suitable way to help the students follow organizational patterns is to make them think about the content in the way the text is constructed This may be done providing them with different types of questions that emphasize the relationship among sentences in the text 3.3.1.2Suggested question types 3.3.1.2.1Distinguish main ideas and supporting ideas 43 In attempt to direct students to the text organization, the teacher can ask them to distinguish main ideas and supporting ideas For instance, read the following statements from the text “Friendship” (English 11: 12) Which ones are main ideas and which ones are supporting ideas of the text? A friend in need is a friend in deed The first quality is unselfishness Constancy is the second quality Loyalty and trust are important features of true friendship 3.3.1.2.2Reordering information or events This type of activity can b most commonly used with the text organized in chronological sequence For example, with the text “Celebrations” (English 11: 90), it is useful to ask the students to put the following things in the right order Homes are often decorated with plants and flowers Many people go to the pagoda to pray for a happy year for themselves and their family Tet marks the beginning of spring and, for a agrarian people, the start of a new year Streets are decorated with colored lights and red banners 3.3.1.2.3Completing tables and diagrams Completing tables and diagrams is often used for texts with the ideas organized in numeration or in comparison and contrast For instance, the students have to complete the diagram after reading the text “Nature in danger” (English 11: 114) Human beings have a great influence on the world changing affecting destroying 44 As a result 3.3.2Understanding liking sentences and ideas 3.3.2.1Techniques It is undeniable that text is not made up of independent sentences or clauses but a web of related ideas that are announced, introduced and taken up again later throughout the passage with the participation of references In reading for detailed understanding, it is possible to ask students to pay attention to linking sentences and ideas It is one of the useful tasks which helps them understand more about the text The students may be instructed to recognize and understand reference or understand the value of linking words 3.3.2.1.1Recognizing reference Using reference is a common way of linking structurally independent sentences for a meaningful text In reading texts, the author may use reference such as this, that, it, etc., to repeat something mentioned or to refer to something which is going to be mentioned To understand the text thoroughly, it is useful for students to recognize and understand the reference in the reading text In fact, failing to understand the reference probably leads to a serious misunderstanding of the text For example in the text “Sources of energy” (English 11: 124) “At present, most of our energy comes from fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) However, such reserves are limited .When water moves from a high place to a lower place, it makes energy This energy is used to create electricity .The sun releases large amounts of energy every day This energy can be changed into electricity” In the above paragraph, the students should notice that “such” is used to refer to “fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas)”, “this” (in paragraph 2) is used to refer to “water”, “this” (in paragraph 3) is used refer to “solar”, which are already mentioned in the previous sentences Such “such, this” are called references They are used to link sentences and ideas in the paragraph aiming at creating a meaningful passage 45 3.3.2.1.2Considering linking words Understanding linking words or logical connectors is one of the key factors which enables students to understand more about the text It is worth drawing students’ attention to linking words because they are not only essential to the understanding of the ideas and facts mentioned in the passage, but they also indicate the rhetorical value, such as reinforcing and explaining of what follows For example in the text “Celebrations” (English 11: 90) “On the days of Tet everyone tries to be nice and polite to each other People believe that what they on the first day of the year will influence their luck during the whole year Thus, only positive comments should be made.” “Thus” is a linking word which joins the ideas of the previous sentences It signals a consequence for the previously mentioned idea Because the first day of Tet influences people’ luck during the whole year, they only say positive comments 46 3.3.2.2Suggested question types In reading for understanding linking sentences and ideas, the teacher may provide his students with some questions or exercises focusing on reference and linking words Finding equivalence and completing text with missing linking words are strongly suggested in this case 3.3.2.2.1Finding equivalents In these types of exercise, the teacher may ask his students to find the equivalents for the reference used in the whole text or a short paragraph of the text For instance, in order to get a detailed understanding of the 1st and the 2nd paragraph in the text “The wonders of the world” (English 11: 178), the students may be asked to find the equivalent for reference “The Great Pyramid of Giza was built by the Egyptian pharaoh Khufu around the year 1560 B.C The purpose of this huge stone pyramid was to serve as a tomb when he died and to protect the burial chamber from the weather and from thieves who might try to steal the treasures and belongings here The Great Pyramid is believed to have been built over a 20- year period First, the site was prepared and then the huge blocks of stone were transported and put in their places When it was built, the Great Pyramid was 147 meters high on a base of 230 meters square It ranked as the tallest structure on earth for more than 43 centuries, only to be surpassed in height in the nineteenth century A.D The structure consisted of approximately million blocks of stone, each weighing about 2.5 tons.” he it each who it 47 3.3.2.2.2Completing texts with missing linking words Linking words may be taken out of the passage and the students are made to choose between several possibilities (three or four) to complete each blank This will lead them to look at the context carefully for the function of the missing linking- word By doing this, the students not only understand the general ideas but also more detailed information of the text For instance, in the text “Sources of energy” (English 11: 124), the students may be asked to complete the passage below by choosing from the provided linking words “At present, most of our energy comes from fossil fuels (oil, coal, and natural gas) ., such reserves are limited power demand is increasing very rapidly, fossil fuels will be exhausted within a relatively short time ., people must develop and use alternative sources of energy.” A However B Although C As a result of A As a result of B Because C Because of A On the contrary B Therefore C Despite A more difficult variant of this type of exercise is that the teacher does not provide them with some alternatives to make choice They have to find the appropriate linking words to complete the paragraph or the whole text 3.3.3Deducing the meaning and use of new lexical items in the text 3.3.3.1Techniques In fact, in reading lesson, it is advisable to teach students to use some clues to ascertain word meanings to provide them with opportunities for vocabulary growth There are two often- used clues, i.e contextual clues and word formation and derivation 48 3.3.3.1.1Looking for contextual clues Contextual clues are words that come before or after a word, phrase, or statement, etc., which help to show its meaning It may also be the broader social situation in which a linguistic item is used To make use of contextual clues, students should be taught to recognize the common kinds which help them to recognize the words meanings more easily The four following kinds of contextual clues can be used - Clues of definition: The author will sometimes precede or follow a word with a definition, synonym or illustration: - Clues of explanation: This relates to clues of definition It offers the information in a longer form that often includes the whole sentences: - Clues of comparison and contrast: Sometimes, students can work out the meaning of the words they not know by seeing words or expressions that are similar or opposite in meanings In teaching students to look for contextual clues, the teacher must warn his students that contextual clues might not allow them to deduce the exact meaning of a word Their experiences in this case will play as a decisive factor Contextual clues may also be so far removed from the unknown words The students, therefore, must be ready to search for clues elsewhere in the paragraph, even in other paragraphs 3.3.3.1.2Understanding word formation ad derivation The meanings of words are deduced not only from the contextual clues around them, but also within the words themselves It is the reason why the students need to understand word formation and derivation It is true that being aware of how words are formed and of the value of prefixes, suffixes, roots and the parts of compound words will enable students to discover the meaning of a great number of unfamiliar words: In teaching the students how to use prefixes, suffixes to deduce the meaning of words, it is unreasonable to ask them to memorize long lists of prefixes, suffixes, roots and their meanings It would be more productive if the teacher let his students practice it first through familiar words The knowledge they acquire can be applied later to other unfamiliar words 49 In short, deducing meaning of the new words is one of effective way to understand more about the text Students can use contextual clues and the rules of word formation and derivation as a means to achieve the purpose To make this activity efficient, the teacher must ask his students to some types of exercises relating to unfamiliar items in the text 3.3.3.2Suggested question types 3.3.3.2.1Recognizing synonyms and antonyms This activity can be done through some kinds of exercises such as: multiple choice exercises, finding equivalents and matching exercises For example, in Unit “The post office” (English 11: 100), the students can the multiple- choice exercise Circle the letter A, B, C or D before the word that has the opposite meaning to the italicised word Thanh Ba Post Office has a spacious and pleasant front office A large B beautiful B rude C friendly D open This speedy and secure service of transferring money can be useful A rapid B hurried D open Our well- trained staff are always courteous to customers A helpful C cramped C careful D slow If you want to send a document and not want to lose its original shape, send it by a fax machine A unique B outdated C changed D imaginative In the case of finding equivalents, the students may be asked to find not only equivalents for words but also phrases or expression For instance, in Unit “Illiteracy” (English 11: 56), students are asked to find the words or phrases which mean: Universalization of Primary Education The Vietnam Society of Learning Promotion Illiteracy eradication farming techniques family planning 50 The third possible type of exercise in finding synonyms and antonyms is matching exercises The students are provided with a list of new words parallel with a list of definitions, and they have to match the words from this list with their definitions The text “Competitions” in Unit (English 11: 66), match the words or phrases on the left with their definitions on the right representatives annual stimulate a without problems or difficulties b enthusiasm and energy c altogether or as a total d a person chosen or appointed on behalf of another person in all or a group e encourage or make something more active f happening or done once every year spirit smoothly 3.3.3.2.2Cloze exercise In deducing the meaning and use of the new words in the text, it is effective to provide students with cloze exercises Students have to fill in the blanks in separated sentences or in a passage with the words from the text For example, in Unit 11 “Sources of energy” (English 11: 124), students are asked to fill each lank with a suitable word alternative limited energy released exhausted Six hundred balloons were at the ceremony They are looking for methods of making it People use to run machines, heat and cool their homes The food in the restaurant is cheap, but the choice is rather Fuel supplies are nearly In summary, how to find out the meaning of new lexical items in the text is very important In doing exercises relating to this aspect, the students can put the new words in context or pay attention to their forms to make out their meanings Depending on each particular text, the teacher can provide suitable activities or exercises for his students He can ask them to recognize synonyms and antonyms, close exercise or complete tables 3.4 Summary To sum up, there have been a number of activities in the while- reading stage presented in this chapter In an attempt to develop different sub- reading skills such as 51 skimming or scanning, the teacher should direct his students to some certain techniques In the process of teaching reading, it is necessary to take notice of some points There are no fixed reading techniques A technique can be used separately or integrated with others More importantly, because teaching is a creative and artistic process, the teacher must be flexible when using different activities in the while- reading stage for a particular text Depending on teaching and learning conditions, the reading text and the students’ level it is effective to choose the most suitable and effective techniques to help students develop their reading skills The teacher may ask his students to complete every reading task in a limited period of time since it will force them to try more, accordingly help them build up and develop their reading skills What is more is that a reading lesson would be better if the teacher asks his students to discuss their answers and opinions in pairs or groups eliciting their responses Reading in this way actually makes them feel more relaxed while- reading and help them read effectively 52 PART3: CONCLUSION Results obtained The teaching and learning of reading comprehension has become more and more important in secondary schools Teachers of English are, therefore, trying their best to find more useful techniques to help the students develop their reading skills This study is conducted to find effective techniques in the while- reading stage to teach the 11th form students at Phan Dang Luu high school The thesis has presented some useful techniques accompanied by a number of activities to develop certain reading skills for students in the while- reading stage, i.e reading for general understanding, reading for specific information and reading for further understanding Students can skim for the gist, and then scan to locate for specific information or read more for further understanding For each technique, the teachers may ask students to find topic sentences when skimming, complete tables while scanning or guess meaning of unfamiliar words in context for further understandings All these techniques and activities are suggested basing on the theory of reading and teaching reading comprehension It is also based on the present situation of teaching and learning reading in the secondary schools at Phan Dang Luu high school, especially in the while- reading stage The actual teaching and learning status was clarified through the two survey questionnaires and some class observations at Phan Dang Luu high school The statistics indicate that both students and teachers have positive attitudes toward teaching and learning reading, but the whilereading activities the teachers used were not sufficient enough to develop their students reading skills It is advisable for them to apply more techniques in their reading lessons There are actually a lot of activities in the while- reading stage but teachers must be flexible in using them They should depend on the reading texts, their students’ level or the learning condition to provide their students with suitable and useful activities to exploit the text efficiently and develop their effective reading skills In conclusion, from what have been presented, the thesis is hoped to be useful and referred to by secondary school teachers for the while- reading activities in their reading lessons Suggestion for further study 53 Due to the shortage of time and the lack of practical experience, all the issues of the teaching process cannot be covered as a whole It is expected that the further studies will be the continuance for this one, which suggest techniques to the remained stages, the prereading and the post- reading stage The quality of teaching and learning reading in English as a result can be step by step improved Furthermore, mistakes are also inevitable in the thesis because of the limitation of time, references and ability Comments and recommendations would be highly appreciated to better the thesis both in content and in the form ... teaching reading to the 11th form students at Phan Dang Luu high school Chapter III gives some suggested techniques used in the while- reading stage to develop the reading skill for the 11th form students. .. useful techniques to develop the reading comprehension skills in the while- reading stage for the 11th form in Phan Dang Luu high school Scope of the study Due to the limitation, all the techniques. .. ask them to guess the title, to match the heading etc He also may ask students to find out the specific information in the text by answering the questions, to use the information in the text for