Extensive reading patterns and attitude of EFL adult learners in Australia international English center

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

Extensive reading patterns and attitude of EFL adult learners in

Australia International English Center

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master

of Arts in TESOL

Submitted by TRINH THI NGOC THAM

Supervisor DANG TAN TIN, Ph.D.

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2016

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STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis entitled “Extensive reading patterns and attitude of EFL adult

learners in Australia International English Center” is my own work.

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contain material

published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have

qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma.

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main text

of the thesis.

This thesis has not been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other

tertiary institution.

Ho Chi Minh City, September 2016

Trinh Thi Ngoc Tham

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank such important people for their great help and encouragements.

First, I want to express my deepest appreciation to Dr Dang Tan Tin for his guidance

and constructive comments during my study. He is my great supervisor.

Next, I would like to say I am greatly indebted to my teacher- Mr Le Huy Liem for

helping me complete my thesis.

I also readily acknowledge my indebtedness to Dr Pham Vu Phi Ho for being always

supportive and understanding. In fact, without him I couldn’t complete my thesis.

Moreover, I owed my students for their great contribution in the paper.

Finally, I do not know how to express my deep gratitude to my parents, grandma and

siblings who always stood by me during this hard time, and especially, to my partner

who gave me motivation to complete the thesis and to win myself since I nearly gave

up.

I am greatly indebted to all lecturers of TESOL program at Ho Chi Minh City Open

University for their insightful knowledge which set a solid foundation for me to carry

out my thesis.

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ABSTRACT

Extensive reading (ER) is an approach to teaching and learning a foreign language

without looking up unknown words in the dictionary or answering comprehension

questions, but aiming to have learners read extensively for pleasure. The approach

follow strictly Day and Bamford (2002) guideline of having learners choose books and

read on their own pace for general comprehension and enjoyment (Day and Bamford

1998; Prowse 1999). It was conducted in the Vietnam context with English as a foreign

language (EFL) in Australia International English Center (AIEC) during a period of

nine weeks from August 1st to October 3rd in 2015.

37 learners (N=37) at intermediate level from 18 to 22 years old who are taking a

two-year communication course taught by the researcher in Australia International

Center (AIEC). They were invited to join into the extensive reading program. At the

beginning, the researcher met the participants in her AIEC to discuss the materials and

provide reading diary for recording during the treatment time. Learners were given

instruction to select an easy interesting book, and to read as much as possible, preferably

at least one book a week. Keeping and completing the reading diaries in order to submit

for the researcher in late of week ninth of the treatment time.

The current research aimed at investigating two questions. First, what patterns of

ER the learners employ during the period of ER practice. Second, do the learners hold

a positive attitude toward ER after their ER practice. Three main instruments were used

to collect data to achieve the current research purposes. First, reading diary was used to

collect data to answer what patterns of ER the learners employ during the period of ER

practice. Reading diary was considered one of the key instrument to collect dada for

such a primarily qualitative research. Second, the post experiment questionnaire was

delivered and collected after the treatment to gather data to answer if the learners’ hold

a positive attitudes towards ER after their ER practice. Third, the in- depth interview

was also considered a supplement for the interpretation of the results of the attitude

questionnaire. The findings suggest four pattern of ER that the learners employed during

nine weeks and provide conclusive evidence of learners’ positive attitude towards ER.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................... 1

1.1 Rationale of the study ......................................................................... 1

1.2 Research aims..................................................................................... 3

1.3 Research questions.............................................................................. 4

1.4 The significance of the study.............................................................. 5

1.5 Scope of the study............................................................................... 6

Chapter 2. Literature review....................................................................................... 7

2.1 Theoretical framework........................................................................ 7

2.1.1 Definition of reading skill .........................................................7

2.1.1.1 The Bottom-up Reading Model.....................................8

2.1.1.2 The Top-down Reading Model .....................................9

2.1.1.3 The Interactive Reading Model.....................................9

2.1.2 Reading sub-skills used in the study.......................................10

2.1.2.1 Scanning ......................................................................10

2.1.2.2 Skimming ....................................................................10

2.1.2.3. Careful reading ...........................................................10

2.1.2.4. Predicting....................................................................10

2.1.3 Extensive Reading...................................................................11

2.1.3.1 Definitions of ER.........................................................11

2.1.3.2 The nature of ER .........................................................11

2.2 Review of related literature .............................................................. 14

2.2.1 Patterns of ER .........................................................................14

2.2.2 Positive attitudes towards ER .................................................14

2.2.3 Implications for the study .......................................................18

2.3 Chapter summary.............................................................................. 18

Chapter 3. Methodology .......................................................................................... 20

3.1 Research context............................................................................... 20

3.2 Participants ....................................................................................... 21

3.3 Research design ............................................................................... 22

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3.4 Instructional design........................................................................... 23

3.4.1 Teaching Material: Four Corners............................................23

3.4.2 Treatment materials: Graded readers......................................23

3.4.3 Training procedure ..................................................................24

3.5 The measurement instruments.......................................................... 25

3.5.1 Reading diary ..........................................................................25

3.5.2 Post experimental questionnaire .............................................25

3.5.3 The in- depth interview...........................................................26

3.6 Methods of analysis.......................................................................... 26

3.6.1 Reading diary ..........................................................................27

3.6.2 Post experiment questionnaire ................................................28

3.6.3 The in- depth interview...........................................................28

3.7 Data collection .................................................................................. 29

3.7.1 Reading diary ..........................................................................29

3.7.2 Post experiment questionnaire ................................................29

3.7.3 The in- depth interview...........................................................30

3.8 Summary........................................................................................... 30

Chapter 4. Results and Discussion............................................................................ 32

4.1 Result and Discussion regarding Patterns of ER.............................. 32

4.1.1 Results regarding Patterns of ER ............................................32

4.1.2 Comparison of the four ER patterns .......................................41

4.1.3 Discussion regarding patterns of ER.......................................45

4.1.4 Summary on the four patterns of ER in the current study ......49

4.2 Results and Discussion regarding Attitudes toward ER................... 50

4.2.1 Results regarding Attitude toward ER ....................................50

4.2.1.1 Results of Attitude Post- Questionnaire ........................50

4.2.1.2 Results of Attitude In-depth Interview..........................53

4.2.2 Discussion on Attitude toward ER..........................................58

4.2.3 Summary on Attitude toward ER............................................61

4.2.4 Factors behind the learners’ positive Attitude towards ER ....62

4.3 Summary........................................................................................... 63

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Chapter 5. Conclusion................................................................................................ 64

5.1 Summary of the findings .................................................................. 64

5.2 Contributions of the study ................................................................ 66

5.3 Limitations of the study.................................................................... 66

5.4 Suggestion......................................................................................... 66

5.5 Recommendations for further research............................................. 68

References……………………………………………………………………………69

Appendix A: Post experiment questionnaire................................................................ 79

Appendix B: Grade Readers used in the study............................................................. 81

Appendix B1: Graded Readers Learners Selected ....................................................... 85

Appendix C: Reading Diary ......................................................................................... 88

Appendix C1: A typical reading diary from a learner.................................................. 89

Appendix C2: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 1............................................. 91

Appendix C3: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 2............................................. 94

Appendix C4: Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 3............................................. 97

Appendix C5 : Summary of Learners’ Diary in Pattern 4............................................ 99

Appendix D: Results of Post- Questionnaire..............................................................102

Appendix E: In- depth Interview................................................................................104

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.4 : Data collecting instruments used in the present study.............................. 27

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: The number of books read during 9 weeks of learners in pattern 1............... 34

Table 2: The number of books read during 9 weeks of learners in pattern 2............... 36

Table 3: The number of books read during 9 weeks of learners in pattern 3............... 38

Table 4: The number of books read during 9 weeks of learners in pattern 4............... 40

Table 5: The average number of books read per week of learners in four patterns..... 42

Table 6: Learners’ attitudes toward ER........................................................................ 52

Table 7: The Frequency of positive statements seen in learners’ diaries..................... 61

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LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1: The number of books read among 10 learners in pattern 1 ............................ 34

Chart 2: The number of books read among 5 learners in pattern 2 .............................. 36

Chart 3: The number of books read among 10 learners in pattern 3 ............................ 38

Chart 4: The number of books read among 12 learners in pattern 4 ............................ 40

LIST OF ABBREVIATION

AIEC: Australia International English Center

EFL : English as a foreign language

ER : Extensive Reading

L1 : First Language

L2 : Second Language

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