VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE and HUMANITY @@@ Lê Thái Hưng APPLYING GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS TO TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (TESOL) Supervisor Senior lecturer Nguyễn Thị Kiều Thu, Ph.D Ho Chi Minh City, September 2008 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: APPYING GRAPHIC ORGANISERS TO TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION In terms of the statement of requirements for Thesis in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee Ho Chi Minh City, Septemper 2008 Lê Thái Hưng i RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Lê Thái Hưng, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements for the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for the purpose of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for care, loan and reproduction of theses Ho Chi Minh City, September 2008 Lê Thái Hưng ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would first like to express my deepest gratitude to the precious instructions given by my respectable advisor, Ms Nguyễn Thị Kiều Thu, Ph.D Without her wholehearted guidance, long-standing encouragement, invaluable comments, and strong support during the research, this thesis could not have been accomplished The greater part of the credit for this complete work goes to her I also wish to say my heartfelt gratitude to all my teachers of the Master course in TESOL, 2005-2008 at Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, whose highly informative, interesting lectures, academic advice and enthusiastic guidance helped me form a more scientific approach to my career My special thanks to Ms Trần Thị Thái, my respectable teacher, who was willing to share some invaluable experiences of her own during my research work I am indebted as well to some of my colleagues at the Department of Foreign Languages, An Giang University, especially Ms Nguyễn Thị Tâm and Ms Trương Thị Thanh Nga, who were willing to permit me to attend their classes and gave me their helpful hands in testing Many thanks are also offered to all the students of the two classes DH7D1 and DH7D2 for their enjoyable companionship and honest support Grateful acknowledgement is made to my beloved for their data collection, feedback and supportive opinions in accomplishing this thesis, as well as to my family for their deep love and heartedly constant encouragement iii ABSTRACT Recent educational researches have pointed to the cognitive view of learning, which examines what goes on inside the learner’s mind Teaching methods based on this view are thought to concentrate on the procession of information of learners As any educator knows, regardless of prior knowledge of student, for individual students to feel competent of doing or completing a task given, it’s up to the educator to make that task organized, comprehensible, and challenging as well The idea or information the instructor is conveying, should be as clear as possible for a student to handle, and should be at the level of understanding of the learner Educators can achieve this goal by applying and providing cognitive strategies such as an organizational framework which facilitates the thinking process for learners One of the major cognitive-related ways in which students can be trained is through the use of graphic organizers (G.Os) In respect to the more specialized area of language acquisition, recent overviews of reading have argued that G.Os, as an instructional tool, greatly contribute to reading comprehension In order to expand the knowledge on G.Os and learning outcomes, this thesis examines the effects of G.Os on reading comprehension of university students The current research attempts to use G.Os in order to see if they can help teach and learn the English language more effectively The hypothesis embedded in the thesis is: When given a reading text, students who have been familiar with G.Os will better understand and remember the facts as well as the relationships between these facts so as to more easily reproduce the text in written and oral forms For such a proposition to stand valid, a study was conducted to provide realistic evidence The over-four-week investigation, which contained a period of experimental teaching, two tests and one form of questionnaire, examined the iv effectiveness of G.Os on language achievement of the second year students of English major at An Giang University (AGU) The result of quantitative analysis indicated that (1) G.Os were of great benefits in practicing the three skills of language learning, i.e reading, writing and speaking; and that (2) the students of English major had positive attitudes toward G.Os after exposing to them The findings of the present study confirm the usefulness of G.Os in teaching English at university On recommending a step-by-step procedure to incorporate G.Os into classroom activities, this thesis is the initial step toward the application of G.Os in teaching English at AGU Furthermore, it is dedicated to making it easier to implement G.Os as an creative method in teaching and learning the English language in Vietnamese context v TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality .i Retention and use of the thesis .ii Acknowledgement iii Abstract iv Table of contents vi List of tables x List of figures xi Appendices .xii Abbreviations xiii Chapter I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY .1 1.1.1 Vietnamese education in the international integration 1.1.2 The current methods of teaching reading comprehension at AGU .2 1.1.3 Lack of visual tools in reading classes 1.1.4 Textbook 1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT .4 1.3 THE PURPOSE OF THE RESEARCH 1.4 METHODOLOGY 1.5 LIMITATIONS .8 1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS 10 Chapter II: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 DEFINITION OF TERMS AND TYPES OF G.OS 12 2.2 RATIONALE FOR USING G.OS 20 2.3 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF G.OS 23 2.4 PRINCIPLES OF READING COMPREHENSION .26 vi 2.4.1 The nature of reading 26 2.4.2 Schema theory 28 2.4.3 The interactive model 29 2.5 LEARNING STYLES AND STRATEGIES 30 2.5.1 Learning styles .30 2.5.2 Learning strategies 33 2.6 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH 36 2.6.1 Theories of learning process 36 2.6.1.1 Right brain versus left brain 36 2.6.1.2 Theories of interactive visual-verbal learning .37 2.6.2 Theories of the cognitive role of G.Os .40 2.7 PREVIOUS RESEARCHES ON THE PEDAGOGICAL EFFECTIVENESS OF G.OS IN READING COMPREHENSION 43 2.8 SUMMARY 47 Chapter III: METHODOLOGY 3.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 49 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN .49 3.2.1 Subjects 50 3.2.2 Instruments 51 3.2.2.1 Pre-test 51 3.2.2.1.1 Written test 51 3.2.2.1.2 Oral test 54 3.2.2.2 Experimental teaching .55 3.2.2.3 Post-test 56 3.2.2.3.1 Written test 56 3.2.2.3.2 Oral test .57 vii 3.2.2.4 Questionnaires 57 3.2.2.4.1 Participants .57 3.2.2.4.2 Questionnaire description .58 3.2.3 Data collection procedure 60 3.2.3.1 Test scoring .60 3.2.3.2 Questionnaire administration 61 3.2.4 Some problems with the tests 61 3.3 SUMMARY .62 Chapter IV: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 4.1 OVERVIEW OF ANALYZING PROCEDURE 63 4.2 ANALYSIS ON TEST SCORES 64 4.2.1 Descriptive statistics 64 4.2.1.1 Pre-test scores .64 4.2.1.2 Post-test scores 65 4.2.2 Pre-test – post-test comparison .66 4.2.2.1 Gain score computing .66 4.2.2.2 Gain scores of the two groups .67 4.2.2.3 Gain score analysis 69 4.3 RESPONSES TO QUESTIONNAIRES 76 4.3.1 Students’ experiences with G.Os 76 4.3.2 Students’ comments on the effects of G.Os 77 4.3.3 Students’ preference for G.Os being applied in teaching and learning 79 4.4 DISCUSSIONS ON MAIN FINDINGS 80 4.5 SUMMARY 82 viii Chapter V: RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 IMPLICATIONS 84 5.2 CONCERNS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH .86 5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS 87 5.3.1 Constructing G.Os with “ASAS” and “5 IFS” 88 5.3.2 Introducing G.Os to students with “3 Steps” 90 5.3.3 Implementing G.Os in stages of teaching a lesson .91 5.3.4 Creating G.Os with technology .92 5.3.5 Using G.Os to assess students 92 5.3.6 Integrated – skill approach using G.Os 93 5.3.7 Overcoming challenges 93 5.3.8 Textbook recommendation 96 5.3.9 Summary 97 5.4 CHAPTER SUMMARY 98 CONCLUSION 100 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 102 APPENDIX 111 ix Worksheet – paragraph C (Those in italic are missing words to be fulfilled by Ss) Garbage Collection GREEN EXCHANGE How does this help the city ? Cleans the streets of trash Recycles 2/3 garbage Gives jobs to poorest people exchange trash for fresh produce/ bus tickets good for the environment their lives improved Worksheet – paragraph D (Those in italic are missing words to be fulfilled by Ss) No traffic problems as in most cities Transportation Careful planning in Population: increasing twice 1974; but traffic 30% decreasing unusual bus system in wide streets pay in advance, wide doors What is good about this system ? * Getting on & off quickly and efficiently * Pleasant commuting * No air pollution problems 150 Worksheet – paragraph E (Those in italic are missing words to be fulfilled by Ss) Mayor’s serious talks with factory & shop owners Street children Cared by businesses hired to clean public parks by the city small jobs in the garden & office Worksheet – paragraph F (Those in italic are missing words to be fulfilled by Ss) Strict laws against polluters 1,5 million trees for neighborhoods to plant & take care of cleaner & more beautiful Environment Low taxes for companies with green areas pedestrian zone for shopping area 151 Worksheet – paragraph G (Those in italic are missing words to be fulfilled by Ss) worldwide overcrowding serious problems Careful planning Curitiba solutions Creative thinking Symbol of the possible D Application (13) Writing: T distributes worksheets with a G.O summarizing the text T has the whole class write down a short summary, using the worksheet as a prompt T collects Ss’ writing paper (The scores will be recorded as encouraging scores) Homework: T asks Ss to the section After read as homework and to prepare for part 2: Sick-Building Syndrome 152 Writing worksheet Summarize the text, using the G.O as a prompt GOOD NEWS Curitiba City, Brazil Environment Quality of life Creative solutions Garbage collection Environment Street children Transportation + Good environment, + Lives improved + Cleaner & more beautiful + Cared by businesses, + Hired to clean parks + Pleasant commuting, + No air pollution Creative thinking + Careful planning solve Serious problems from overcrowding 153 APPENDIX MARK SCHEME FOR WRITING SECTION Relevance and adequacy of content The answer bears almost no relation to the task set Totally inadequate answer 0.5 Answer of limited relevance to the task set Possibly major gaps in treatment of topic and/or pointless repetition For the most part answers the tasks set, though there may be some gaps or redundant information 1.5 Relevant and adequate answer to the task set Compositional organization No apparent organization of content 0.5 Very little organization of content Underlying structure not sufficiently apparent Some organization skills in evidence, but not adequately controlled 1.5 Overall shape and internal pattern clear Organizational skills adequately controlled Adequacy of vocabulary for purpose Vocabulary inadequate even for the most basic parts of the intended communication 0.25 Frequent inadequacies in vocabulary for the task Perhaps frequent lexical inappropriacies and/or repetition 0.5 Some inadequacies in vocabulary for the task Perhaps some lexical inappropriacies and/or circumlocution 0.75 Almost no inadequacies in vocabulary for the task Only rare inappropriacies and/or circumlocution Grammar Almost all grammatical patterns inaccurate 0.25 Frequent grammatical inaccuracies 0.5 Some grammatical inaccuracies 0.75 Almost no grammatical inaccuracies Mechanical accuracy (Spelling) Low standard of accuracy in spelling 0.25 Some inaccuracies in spelling 0.5 Almost no inaccuracies in spelling (Following Weir, 1993) 154 APPENDIX MARK SCHEME FOR SPEAKING TEST Adequacy of vocabulary for purpose Vocabulary inadequate even for the most basic parts of the intended communication 0.5 Vocabulary limited to that necessary to express simple elementary needs; inadequacy of vocabulary restricts topics of interaction to the most basic; perhaps frequent lexical inaccuracies and/or excessive repetition Some misunderstandings may arise through lexical inadequacy or inaccuracy; hesitation and circumlocution are frequent, though there are signs of a developing active vocabulary 1.5 Almost no inadequacies or inaccuracies in vocabulary for the task Only rare circumlocution Relevance and adequacy of content Response irrelevant to the task set; totally inadequate response 0.5 Response of limited relevance to the task set; possibly major gaps and/or pointless repetition Response for the most part relevant to the task set, though there may be some gaps or redundancy 1.5 Relevant and adequate response to the task set Grammatical accuracy Unable to function in the spoken language; almost all grammatical patterns inaccurate, except for a few stock phrases 0.5 Syntax is fragmented and there are frequent grammatical inaccuracies; some patterns may be mastered but speech may be characterized by a telegraphic style and/or confusion of structural elements Some grammatical inaccuracies; developing a control of major patterns, but sometimes unable to sustain coherence in longer utterances Intelligibility Severe and constant rhythm, intonation and pronunciation problems cause almost complete unintelligibility 0.5 Strong interference from L1 in rhythm, intonation and pronunciation; understanding is difficult, and achieved often only after frequent repetition Rhythm, intonation and pronunciation require concentrated listening, but only occasional misunderstanding is caused or repetition required (Following Weir, 1993) 155 APPENDIX SCORES OF G.O GROUP No 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 CODE G01 G02 G03 G04 G05 G06 G07 G08 G09 G10 G11 G12 G13 G14 G15 G16 G17 G18 G19 G20 G21 G22 G23 G24 G25 G26 G27 G28 G29 G30 G31 G32 G33 G34 G35 Pre-test 17.00 13.25 13.38 11.13 9.13 13.88 12.00 16.38 7.25 8.38 13.25 15.63 11.75 10.75 13.88 18.25 15.88 12.75 8.75 11.75 13.50 14.50 11.25 13.88 15.63 13.88 7.88 8.13 11.75 10.63 12.88 15.88 10.63 13.00 10.63 Post-test 17.50 13.25 14.38 11.88 9.13 13.75 13.13 16.38 9.00 9.50 13.25 15.63 12.75 10.00 14.25 18.25 14.75 14.13 10.13 11.63 14.00 16.88 10.38 13.25 15.63 13.88 9.63 6.25 11.88 10.63 15.50 16.75 10.50 13.00 10.25 156 Gain score 0.50 0.00 1.00 0.75 0.00 -0.13 1.13 0.00 1.75 1.13 0.00 0.00 1.00 -0.75 0.38 0.00 -1.13 1.38 1.38 -0.13 0.50 2.38 -0.88 -0.63 0.00 0.00 1.75 -1.88 0.13 0.00 2.63 0.88 -0.13 0.00 -0.38 APPENDIX SCORES OF NON-G.O GROUP No 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 CODE NG01 NG02 NG03 NG04 NG05 NG06 NG07 NG08 NG09 NG10 NG11 NG12 NG13 NG14 NG15 NG16 NG17 NG18 NG19 NG20 NG21 NG22 NG23 NG24 NG25 NG26 NG27 NG28 NG29 NG30 NG31 NG32 NG33 NG34 NG35 Pre-test 11.50 11.13 10.63 14.75 16.50 12.25 8.50 13.00 9.63 16.63 12.25 14.25 7.63 13.50 9.50 12.63 10.00 13.38 13.25 13.50 15.00 15.75 12.88 11.38 10.00 9.25 16.88 12.25 9.88 12.63 15.00 8.38 17.50 13.63 15.00 Post-test 14.38 13.00 12.00 17.25 16.50 15.75 11.88 16.38 10.13 17.50 12.25 16.75 11.50 14.25 11.63 13.38 12.38 15.63 15.50 13.50 16.13 17.50 15.75 14.50 11.25 11.38 16.88 16.13 10.50 14.88 17.13 9.50 18.75 14.88 17.00 157 Gain score 2.88 1.88 1.38 2.50 0.00 3.50 3.38 3.38 0.50 0.88 0.00 2.50 3.88 0.75 2.13 0.75 2.38 2.25 2.25 0.00 1.13 1.75 2.88 3.13 1.25 2.13 0.00 3.88 0.63 2.25 2.13 1.13 1.25 1.25 2.00 APPENDIX 10 GUIDELINES FOR CHOOSING TYPES OF G.OS If you want to show series of items a comparison super ordinate/subordinate then use lists or sequential framework, cycle diagram parallel lists, Venn diagram, t-charts branching, web diagram classification web diagram, matrix, t-chart data reporting graphs/tables part to whole pictures, branching cause and effect fishbone, cycle diagram, flow charts, matrix (Source: http://www.specialconnections.ku.edu) 158 APPENDIX 11 SAMPLE G.O-EMBEDDED LESSON FORMAT by Literacy Leaders (2007) Step Pre-reading Schema Activation Without showing the prepared graphic to the class, announce the topic, and ask students what they think they will read about in the selection As students make suggestions, begin a rough construction of the G.O on the board or overhead, while students copy it on their papers Step 2: Metacognitive Monitoring Students read silently to complete the G.O While they read silently, students add information to their G.Os as they find it in the selection The incomplete G.O produced in Step provides a ready-made “reading guide”, reminding students to read actively, question their understanding, and note important points, details, and relationships Step 3: Schema Building Once students have read, the teacher guides a discussion based on students’ additions to the pre-reading G.O, or students are directed to compare their work in cooperative groups Optionally, the G.O may be used as a writing prompt For example, the GO may be divided into sections, with each section assigned to a small group of students Each group then works together on their portion of the organizer to “retranslate” it from pictorial form into a connected paragraph or to add some deeper level of understanding and research on the topic 159 APPENDIX 12 A SAMPLE LESSON WITH BLANK G.OS 160 161 (source: Zeilik and Gausted, 1983) 162 APPENDIX 13 GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS: OPINION SURVEY Dear students, Would you be so kind as to give your opinion on the graphic organizer (G.O) approach, after a time of learning with it, by filling in the below questionnaire Your opinions are of great importance to the study being conducted on the applicability of G.Os in English teaching at An Giang University in the future Please read each question carefully and answer it to the best of your ability There are no correct or incorrect responses; we are merely interested in your personal point of view Please answer each of the following questions by making a cross (X) on the choice that best describes your opinion Did you ever learn English or any other subjects with G.Os before this semester ? Yes No Did you use G.Os while you were doing the test yesterday? Yes No In your opinion, your understanding lessons in G.O approach, compared with other learning methods, is: more the same less To what extent G.Os help you in practicing language skills (listening, speaking, reading or writing) ? very little to a great deal How you expect G.Os to be used in English language teaching ? never always always To what extent will you apply G.Os to your learning ? never Thank you very much for your participation in this study 163 BẢNG KHẢO SÁT Ý KIẾN SINH VIÊN VỀ SƠ ĐỒ HÌNH Chào anh chị sinh viên, Sau thời gian học tiếng Anh với phương pháp dùng sơ đồ hình, xin anh/chị vui lòng cho biết ý kiến phương pháp cách điền vào bảng câu hỏi duới Ý kiến đóng góp anh/chị có vai trò quan trọng nghiên cứu tiến hành khả ứng dụng sơ đồ hình vào q trình giảng dạy Tiếng Anh trường đại học An Giang tương lai Xin vui lòng đọc kỹ câu hỏi trả lời theo suy nghĩ anh/chị Khơng có câu trả lời hay sai, điều chúng tơi quan tâm ý kiến chủ quan anh/chị Anh/chị vui lòng đánh dấu chéo (X) vào lựa chọn hợp với ý Trước học kỳ này, anh/chị có học Tiếng Anh mơn học khác với sơ đồ hình khơng? Có Khơng Anh/chị có sử dụng sơ đồ hình q trình làm kiểm tra hơm qua hay khơng? Có Khơng So sánh với phương pháp khác, anh/chị cảm thấy việc hiểu học phương pháp học với sơ đồ hình là: nhiều Sơ đồ hình giúp anh/chị việc thực hành kỹ (nghe, nói, đọc, viết) mức độ nào? rất nhiều Anh/chị mong muốn sơ đồ hình sử dụng q trình dạy Tiếng Anh? khơng ln ln Anh/chị ứng dụng sơ đồ hình vào việc học mức độ nào? khơng Rất cảm ơn tham gia nhiệt tình anh chị! 164 ln ln ... for a student to handle, and should be at the level of understanding of the learner Educators can achieve this goal by applying and providing cognitive strategies such as an organizational framework... of language acquisition, recent overviews of reading have argued that G.Os, as an instructional tool, greatly contribute to reading comprehension In order to expand the knowledge on G.Os and... presentation This shows that their reading comprehension is not yet well-built and that their reading skill is not well-trained, either To find an answer to these problems will require certain changes