The effects of Task-Based learning on Non-English major students' reading comprehension at NIIE Nguyen Tat Thanh University

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

THE EFFECTS OF TASK-BASED LEARNING ON NON-ENGLISH

MAJOR STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION AT NIIE NGUYEN

TAT THANH UNIVERSITY

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements

for the degree of Master of Arts in TESOL

Submitted by HUYNH HUU NGHIEM

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. PHAM VU PHI HO

Ho Chi Minh City, 2019

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HO CHI MINH CITY OPEN UNIVERSITY

HUYNH HUU NGHIEM

THE EFFECTS OF TASK-BASED LEARNING ON NON-ENGLISH

MAJOR STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION AT NIIE NGUYEN

TAT THANH UNIVERSITY

Major: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Code: 60 14 01 11

MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL

Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. PHAM VU PHI HO

Ho Chi Minh City, 2019

i

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I certify that this thesis entitled “The Effects of Task-Based Learning on Non￾English Major Students’ Reading Comprehension at NIIE Nguyen Tat Thanh

University” represents my own work.

Except where reference is made in the text of the thesis, this thesis contains no

material published elsewhere or extract 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 acknowledgment in the main

text of the thesis.

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

in any other tertiary institution.

Ho Chi Minh City, 2019

Huynh Huu Nghiem

ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The long journey of the study cannot be completed without the encouragement of many

people in a variety of ways.

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mr.

Pham Vu Phi Ho (Assoc. Prof.) for his on-going support, invaluable feedback, and patience

throughout the study.

I am also thankful for my students at NIIE Nguyen Tat Thanh University for their

contributions as willing participants.

Lastly, my special thanks go to my family, friends, and colleagues who always love and

support me unconditionally during the time I conducted the study.

iii

ABSTRACT

Teaching reading is an indispensable part of English teaching. However, choosing

appropriate teaching method is not simple. For this reason, this research “The Effects of

Task-Based Learning on Non-English Major Students’ Reading Comprehension at

NIIE Nguyen Tat Thanh University” was carried out with the aims to investigate if Task

Based Learning (TBL) was better than Grammar Translation Method (GTM) which had

been used widely in improving reading comprehension. Moreover, the researcher wanted

to investigate if there was significant difference in task focus achievements between TBL

and GTM. Finally, this study was designed to research how the students felt when

implementing TBL in reading classroom practice. The study was conducted within 12

weeks over 29 students from experimental group taught by TBL and 30 students from

control group taught by GTM. The data collection instruments were pre-test, post-test and

interview.

The findings of this study indicated that generally TBL is more effective than GTM

in improving students’ reading comprehension. Moreover, GTM is beneficial for teaching

reading tasks related to identifying appropriate vocabulary and structural words while TBL

is suitable for teaching reading tasks related to authentic readings, reading for gist or real

conversations. Finally, this study also pointed that the students did express the positive

attitudes towards TBL.

Based on the findings, this study concluded with some recommendations for both

teachers and students and limitations for future research in terms of TBL.

Key words: GTM = Grammar Translation Method, TBL= Task Based Learning

iv

TABLE OF CONTENT

STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

TABLE OF CONTENT iv

LIST OF FIGURES viii

LIST OF TABLES ix

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1. Background of the study 1

1.2. Statements of problem 3

1.3. Aims of the study 5

1.4. Research questions 5

1.5. Significance of the study 6

1.6. An overview of the study 6

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 8

2.1. Reading 8

2.1.1. Definition of reading 8

2.1.2. Reading comprehension 9

2.1.2.1. Reading strategies 9

2.1.2.2. Reading factors 12

2.1.3. Levels of reading 12

2.1.4. Teaching reading 14

2.1.4.1. Principles in teaching reading 15

2.1.4.2. Principles in learning reading 16

2.1.4.3. Reading activities 16

2.1.4.4. Problems in reading comprehension 17

v

2.1.4.5. Models of reading process 18

2.2. The task-based learning 20

2.2.1. Definition of task-based learning 20

2.2.2. The task-based learning framework 21

2.2.3. Task types 24

2.2.4. Advantages of task-based learning 26

2.2.5. The roles of teachers and students in task-based learning 27

2.2.5.1. The roles of teachers in task-based learning 27

2.2.5.2. The roles of students in task-based learning 28

2.3. Grammar translation method in teaching reading 28

2.4. Previous studies 31

2.5. Research gaps 36

2.6. Chapter summary 37

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY 38

3.1. Research design 38

3.2. Pedagogical setting 39

3.3. Participants 40

3.4. Teaching material 41

3.5. Instruments 42

3.5.1. Pre-test and post-test 43

3.5.2. Interview 45

3.6. Training procedure 46

3.7 Data collection 48

3.8. Data analysis 48

3.9. Chapter summary 50

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 51

4.1. Reading comprehension ability of experimental and control 51

groups in the pre-test

4.2. Research question 1:” Which method is more effective to teach reading 52

vi

comprehension at NIIE Nguyen Tat Thanh University. GTM or TBL?”

4.2.1. A comparison of students’ reading performance in pre-test and 53

post-test

4.2.1.1. Control group 53

4.2.1.2. Experimental group 53

4.2.2. A comparison of students’ reading performance in post-test in both groups 54

4.3. Research question 2: “Is there any significant difference in task focus 56

achievements between TBL and GTM?”

4.4. Research question 3: “What attitudes do the students express 59

towards TBL?”

4.4.1. Students’ preference about TBL 59

4.4.2. How TBL enhances students’ reading achievement 62

4.4.3. Reading challenges 63

4.5. Discussion 65

4.5.1. Research question 1: “Is there any significant difference in achievement 66

between non-English major students taught reading comprehension by

TBL and those taught reading comprehensions by GTM?”

4.5.2. Research question 2: “Is there any significant difference in task focus 68

achievements between TBL and GTM?”

4.5.3. Research question 3: “What attitudes do the students express 69

towards TBL?”

4.6 Chapter summary 70

Chapter 6: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 71

5.1. Conclusions 71

5.2. Recommendations 72

5.2.1. Recommendations for the researcher 72

5.2.2. Recommendations for the students 73

5.3. Limitations and recommendations for further studies 73

5.4. Chapter summary 74

vii

REFERENCES 75

APPENDIX A: LESSON PLAN 84

APPENDIX B: PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST SPECIFICATION 86

APPENDIX C: LESSON CONTENT 88

APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS 89

APPENDIX E: PRE-TEST 98

APPENDIX F: POST-TEST 102

APPENDIX G: STUDENTS’ TEST SCORES IN BOTH GROUPS 106

APPENDIX H: PRE-TEST AND POST-TEST DATA ANALYSIS 107

APPENDIX I: TEXTBOOK DESCRIPTION 119

APPENDIX J: ANSWER KEY 120

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1. Task based learning framework 22

Figure 2.2. Principles of Grammar Translation Method 30

ix

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1. Research design 39

Table 3.2. Pedagogical settings descriptions 40

Table 3.3. Student information 41

Table 3.4. The connections between research questions and instruments 42

Table 3.5. Summary of training procedure 47

Table 4.1. The comparison of experimental and control groups in the pre-test 51

Table 4.2. A comparison of students’ reading comprehension in 53

pre-test and post-test of the control group

Table 4.3. A comparison of students’ reading comprehension in 54

pre-test and post-test of the experimental group

Table 4.4. Students’ reading performance in post-test in both groups 55

Table 4.5. Differences in task focus achievements between TBL and GTM 56

Table 4.6. Students’ interests 59

Table 4.7. Students’ favorite activities 61

Table 4.8. Students’ improvement in reading comprehension 62

Table 4.9 Students’ reading difficulties 64

x

1

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION

Overview

The purposes of this study are to investigate the effects of TBL on non￾English major student’s reading comprehension at NIIE Nguyen Tat Thanh

University. This chapter firstly mentions the background of the study. Then it

describes the problems the researcher has faced during his teaching reading

comprehension. After that, the aims of te study, reseach questions and significance

of the study are also mentioned.

1.1. Background of the study

Language is considered as a mean of communication. Communication occurs

between two or more speakers but also readers and texts. It is said that reading in a

second language is an easy process and it is taught once and that is enough for all

years of schooling. What is more, reading is commonly considered to be

straightforward process: reading words, knowing how to pronounce words and then

understand the meaning of them like the way people do in daily spoken conversations

(Ruddell & Unrau, 1994). Reading skill, however, is not that simple process of

comprehensing every single word in texts. It is actually a difficult procedure where

readers have to make sense out of not only words, phrases, sentences in the pare but

also thoughts, awareness and background information. In addtition, reading is a

process of identifying, interpreting and then perceptualizing the reading materials.

Moreover, reading creates a connetion between authors and readers (Sheng, 2000).

Regarding to educational domain, especially English language learning, reading is

one of leading sources of education. Without fundamental foundation in English

reading, EFL students are not be able to access the diversity of curriculum.

Additionally, being able to reading in English can help EFL students develope in

language learning owning to reading supports in obtaning knowledge, gives plenty