Sáng kiến kinh nghiệm Using pre-reading activities to help students feel more interested in reading

chosen during the innovation process
Activity 1 : MIND-MAPPING
Al-Jarf (2011) defines mind-mapping as “a graphic organizer in which the major categories radiate from a central idea and subcategories are represented as branches of larger branches” (p.4). He also asserts that, this visual tool can be used to assist learning because it helps students “to generate ideas, take notes, organize thinking and develop concepts”
This activity is used to:
attract the students’ attention to the content of the new lesson
present concepts in the classroom
deliver an overview of the topic without superfluous information
give students a chance to review and widen their vocabulary.
Before teaching the new lesson, the teacher takes a key word in the reading passage and asks the students to suggest all the words which associate with it. Write each suggestion on the board with a line joining it to the original word in a circle, so that you get a “sunray” effect.
Let’s take Unit 1: HOME LIFE (English 12) as an example:
Teacher writes down the word FAMILY on the board and has students brainstorm all the words they can think of:
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FAMILY
The word FAMILY may produce something like the sketch below
respect
close-knit family
father
household chores
grandparents
FAMILY
join hands
secure
take care of
responsible
Let’s take Unit 11: SOURCES OF ENERGY - English 11 as another example:
Teacher writes down the word ENERGY on the board and has students brainstorm all the words they can think of:
ENEGRY
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The word ENERGY may produce something like the sketch below
electricity
geothermal
solar
Non-renewable
windmill
ENERGY
heat
fuel
petroleum
renewable
Variation:
The teacher may divide the class into groups of four, give them some handouts. The groups will work together to identify from the given list as many words related to the word ENERGY as possible in 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes, the teacher invites the representative of each group to come to the board and write their list. One point is given for the correct answer. The group gets the highest points wins the game.
For example in Unit 11: SOURCES OF ENERGY - English 11 List:
Wildlife, power, habitat, fuel, fog, nuclear, extinction, solar, erosion, wind, water, heat, sewage, geothermal, moon, renewable, Mars, biodiversity, non-renewable, fertilizer, earthquake, windmill, oil, creature, coal, famine, gas, rainforest, electricity, petroleum, climate, urbanization, pesticide
Answers:
power, fuel, nuclear, solar, wind, water, heat, geothermal, renewable, non-renewable, windmill, oil, coal, gas, electricity, petroleum
Activity 2: MATCHING
Matching games improve language, concentration and memory.
We can use this kind of activity to introduce the new lesson as well as draw students’ attention on the theme of the unit.
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Let’s take Unit 12: THE ASIAN GAMES – English 11 as an example:
Divide the class into two groups A & B
Stick the pictures of sports on the board.
Distribute the cards of the names of the sports to the students: Volleyball; Shooting; Weightlifting; Wrestling; Fencing; Table tennis
Call out the pictures in any order and the representatives of each group should run to the board and stick the names under the pictures.
The group with more correct answers will be the winner.
Give more information about these sports (e.g. in what countries they are played, indoor or outdoor sports, who are the famous players of these sports) and introduce the new lesson.
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KEY
volleyball
shooting
weightlifting
wrestling
fencing
table tennis
Let’s take Unit 3: WAYS OF SOCIALIZING – English 12 as another example:
The teacher has students look at the pictures showing facial expressions and match the pictures with suitable expressions.
Crying
Smiling
Angry
Unhappy
Surprising
Staring
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1
2
3
4
5
6
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KEY
1.
Crying
Picture 1
2.
Smiling
Picture 4
3.
Angry
Picture 2
4.
Unhappy
Picture 3
5.
Surprising
Picture 6
6.
Staring
Picture 5
Let’s take Unit 5: TECHNOLOGY AND YOU (English 10) as another example:
The teacher has students work in groups of four and asks them to look at the picture of different parts of a computer and match each picture with the word or phrase in the box
The group that gives the correct answers first is the winner.
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printer

keyboard

speakers

visual display unit (VDU) or computer screen
mouse

A Central Processing Unit (CPU)

Floppy disks

CD ROMS
KEY
Picture 1: visual display unit (VDU) or computer screen
Picture 2: mouse
Picture 3: printer
Picture 4: keyboard
Picture 5: A Central Processing Unit (CPU)
Picture 6: speakers
Picture 7: Floppy disks
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8. Picture 8:	CD ROMS
Activity 3: COMPETITION GAME – HANGMAN
As Hadfield (1998) points out that one of the strategies to teach English is by using games. A game is an activity with rules, a goal and an element of fun.
Wright, Betteridge and Buckby (2005) also agree that language learning is very hard and efforts are required over a long period of time. Games help the teacher to create contexts in which language is useful and meaningful, therefore; they help and encourage students to sustain their interest and work.
The use of Hangman game really helps teachers to motivate students and create fun atmosphere in the classroom before the new lesson is presented
In this activity students are shown a set of blank letters that match a word or phrase and they have to guess what these letters are reveal the hidden word.
The teacher divides the class into two groups A & B and draws each of them a gallows on the board.
Team A	Team B
The teacher explains to students that they are going to play a “Hangman” game.
The teacher explains the rules of the game: students are given a secret word and the groups will take turn to guess it by telling what letters they think there are in this word.
If students choose a letter that appears one or more times in the secret word the letter(s) will be revealed from the blank letters and students can keep on guessing the next letter. On the other hand, if students guess a letter that is not in the secret word, then a piece of the man being hanged will be added to the gallows and they will lose their turn.
Students will get one point for each letter they can guess correctly. When the game is over, teacher will count how many points each group has collected and the group with more points will win the game.
Students will have fun playing this game, feel more excited to start the new lesson and also improve their English at the same time.
Let’s take Unit 6: COMPETITIONS – English 11 as an example:
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In this lesson, the secret word is “COMPETITIONS” teacher draws the same number of dashes as the number of letters in this word. For this word, teacher would need 12 dashes like this: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Let’s take Unit 4: SCHOOL EDUCATION SYSTEM – English 12 as another example:
In this lesson, the secret word is “EDUCATION” teacher draws the same number of dashes as the number of letters in this word. For this word, teacher would need 9 dashes like this: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.
Activity 4: DISCUSSION
We use “Discussion activities” to
give students an opportunity to talk about the things they really care about
encourage students to think more critically and actively participate in the classroom
increase students’ interests and engagement in reading lessons
arouse students’ curiosity about a certain topic
help students process the information rather than simply receive
help develop students’ habits of collaborative learning.
Let’s take Unit 11: BOOKS– English 12 as an example:
The teacher has students work in groups of four and discuss some of the questions relating to the topic of the reading lesson.
The teacher invites some students to report their ideas in front of the class, gives comments and then starts the new lesson.
Do you like reading? Why or why not?
Which is your favourite book?
Do you usually read for leisure or for study purposes?
What do you think are the benefits of reading in general?
Do you think there is a difference between reading habits in the past and in the present day?
What kinds of books did you read when you were a child?
Which book has affected or influenced you the most so far?
Do you think people don’t read enough books these days?
What is the impact of e-books on reading habits?
10. In your opinion, will paper books disappear completely in future?
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Let’s take Unit 1: HOME LIFE (English 12) as another example:
Students are asked to work in groups of four and discuss some of the questions relating to the topic of the reading lesson.
The teacher invites some students to report their ideas in front of the class, gives comments and then starts the new lesson.
How much time do you manage to spend with members of your family?
In what way is your family important to you?
Did/Do you get well with your family? Why?
Who are you closest to in your family?
Should we rely heavily on our families or is it better to try to be independent?
What sorts of things do you like to do together?
What is your responsibility in the family?
Which are more important to you: your family or your friends?
Let’s take Unit 13: HOBBIES (English 11) as another example:
The teacher has students work in groups of four discuss some of the questions relating to the topic of the reading lesson and share their opinions about various leisure activities
The teacher invites some students to report their ideas in front of the class, gives comments and then starts the new lesson.
Do you have any hobbies?
What do you like to do in your free time/spare time?
Do you require any special equipment for your hobby?
What hobbies are popular in Viet Nam?
Is it important to have a hobby?
Is it harmful to spend too much time on a hobby?
What sort of hobbies would you like to try in the future?
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Let’s take Unit 14: INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS (English 12) as another example:
The questions that are related to the topic of the reading passage help arouse students’ curiosity and students are eager to read the reading passage to satisfy their curiosity about the topic.
Do you know anything about the Red Cross?
What is its mission?
Where is its headquarters?
Who initiated the Red Cross?
Does The Red Cross provide medical aid and other help to victims of natural disasters?
How many colours does the symbol of the Red Cross have?
Activity 5: WORD SORT
The use of Word Sort is very helpful for all kinds of students. It is an interactive activity providing students with oral language development opportunities and also arousing students’ interests in the new lesson.
Let’s take Unit 12: WATER SPORTS– English 12 as an example:
The teacher has the class work in groups of 4
The teacher writes the headings on the board.
(jobs, animals, water sports and kinds of books)
The teacher asks the students to look at the words in the box and put each word under the correct heading.
The teacher gives an A0 sheet of paper to each group to write the words on, and then stick these sheets of paper on the board.
The group with the most correct words wins the game.
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Teacher
Dictionary
Whale
Historical novel
Water Polo
Dentist
Scuba Diving
Tiger
Cookery book
Bear
Pilot
Giraffe
Designer
Craft book
Surfing
EncyclopediaThriller
Swimming
Fairytale
Water Skiing
Engineer
Romance
Synchronized Swimming
Elephant
Accountant
Monkey
Rhinoceros
Sailing
Fox
Hairdresser
Wind Surfing
Actress
Science fiction
Comic
Canoeing
Leopard
Lion
Jet Skiing
Suggested answers:
Jobs
Animals
Water sports
Kinds of books
Teacher
Leopard
Surfing
Comic
Dentist
Tiger
Sailing
Dictionary
Pilot
Lion
Swimming
Romance
Engineer
Monkey
Wind Surfing
Thriller
Designer
Giraffe
Jet Skiing
Craft book
Accountant
Elephant
Water Skiing
Fairytale
Hairdresser
Rhinoceros
Scuba Diving
Science fiction
Actress
Fox
Synchronized Swimming
Cookery book
Businessman
Whale
Water Polo
Historical novel
Carpenter
Bear
Canoeing
Encyclopedia
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Advantages and disadvantages of applying these Pre-reading activities in the class.
Advantages:
It is beneficial to use these activities before teachers start the new lessons in order to draw students’ attention on the theme of the unit as well as arouse students’ curiosity about reading topic.
Pre-reading activities give students a chance to interact with each other as a result they study more actively and feel more interested in the lesson.
The use of these Pre-reading activities does help teachers review and widen students’ vocabulary, develop students’ habits of collaborative learning and also increase students’ interests and engagement in reading lessons
Disadvantages:
Designing these activities places heavy demands on teachers in planning and organizing time beforehand.
If these activities are not well-prepared they may take too much time away from reading.
Evaluation
a) Novelty of the research
These activities can be applied for all levels of students and not very time-consuming for the teachers to prepare and carry out in reading classes.
They are also very essential for the teachers to attract students’ attention on the theme of the unit, which stimulates them to study better and more effectively.
The use of these Pre-reading activities creates opportunities for students to interact and share their opinions with each other, which arouses their interests in the reading periods
Evaluation of the research
A questionnaire (see Appendix 1) and a class observation form (see Appendix 2) were used to evaluate the innovation. The questions given to 40 students aimed at exploring the students’ feeling and attitudes to reading lessons and the class observation form conducted by the two teachers observing the class.
The results are presented in the table below:
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Table 1: Students’ attitudes and feelings to reading classes
Levels of agreement
Number of students
Percentage of levels
Disagreement
7
17.5%
Neutral
1
2.5%
Agreement
32
80.0%
As shown in the table above, most of the students 32/40 (80.0%) have positive attitude and are interested in reading lessons.
Table 2: A general evaluation of class atmosphere
Levels of
Number of periods
Percentage of class
evaluation
atmosphere
Negative
2
12.5%
Neutral
0
0.0%
Positive
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87.5%
The table 2 reveals that the class atmosphere became more enjoyable, more dynamic and friendlier. As a result of this, many students are enthusiastic in contributing their ideas to the lessons as well as expressing their opinions in front of the class.
Applicability of the research
The study of using activities before reading to help students feel more interested in reading is really essential in my teaching reading for the following reasons. First of all, my students have a chance to interact with each other from the beginning of the lesson thanks to the above mentioned activities. Second, the researcher wishes to create a more relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere in the classroom as well as build students’ confidence in practicing reading skill. Last but not least, the success of this research will also provide the teachers of English in my school as well as in other high schools in Dong Nai Province with some new ideas and suggestions in their teaching English.
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CONCLUSION
In conclusion I strongly believe that the above designed activities do help teachers enable high school students feel more interested in and actively get involved in reading periods. The interest may be, in my opinion, very useful for learning a foreign language in many ways.
Just at the beginning of the lesson, these activities more or less force students to take part in their lesson. They have no fear and no longer consider reading lessons a burden. These various activities can also make students feel more motivated to read, and the reading itself becomes more purposeful, because of the challenge of finding out whether they have got their answers right or not. Probably at least some of their answers are in fact right.
I hope the feeling of enjoyment will be with them throughout the lesson, helping them grasp the meaning of the lesson more effectively.
Like my colleagues, I expect my students not to fear of my lessons for any reason.
HỘI ĐỒNG CÔNG NHẬN SÁNG KIẾN TẠI CƠ QUAN, ĐƠN VỊ NƠI TÁC GIẢ CÔNG TÁC

Đồng Nai, ngày 12 tháng 6 năm 2020
TÁC GIẢ SÁNG KIẾN
(Ký, ghi rõ họ tên)
(Xác nhận: công nhận sáng kiến)
(Ký tên, đóng dấu)
Bùi Phú Xuân
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REFERENCES
_________
Al-Jarf, R. (2011). Teaching spelling skills with a mind-mapping software. Asian EFL journal professional teaching articles, 53, doi: ISSN : 1738-1460
Allwright, R. (1984). The importance of interaction in classroom language learning. Applied Linguistics, 5(2), 156-171.
Carrell, P. (1984). The effects of rhetorical organization on ESL readers. TESOL Quarterly, 18(3), 441- 469
Carrell, P. L., Devine, J., and Eskey, D., E. 1988. Interactive approaches to second language reading. Cambridge: CPU.
English Book 11. Education Publishing House
English Book 12. Education Publishing House
Hadfield, J. (1998). Elementary Vocabulary Games. Longman
Harmer, J. (1998). How to Teach English: An Introduction to the Practice of
English Language Teaching. England: Longman.
Sookchotirat , M. (2005). Reading: Learning sooner, teaching well. Nanmee,
Bangkok, Thailand .
Yeeding, S. (2007). “Using pre-reading activities to increase learners’ motivation in reading comprehension”: A case of 2nd year vocational students enrolled in the Electrical and Electronic Certificate Program at Industrial Technology College, King Mongkut. Pranakorn.
Wright, A., Betteridge, D., & Buckby, M. (2005). Games for language learning (3rd ed.). New York: Cambridge University.
***
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APPENDIX 1
SURVEY
(Student Survey)
Questionnaire
Dear students,
The purpose of this survey is to find out about your achievements in reading classes, your feelings and attitudes to the reading lessons you have studied. Your responses do help us to improve your English learning.
Do not write your name on the questionnaire
Please take time to fill out every single item in the questionnaire Thank you very much for your co-operation
(Please indicate your attitudes towards the following things by circling the most appropriate number.)
How far do you agree with the following statements?
strongly disagree
disagree
neutral
agree
strongly agree
I feel more confident to read with joy, and without fear or anxiety in the class.
The atmosphere in my reading class is more relaxing and enjoyable.
I feel more excited and engaged in reading lessons.
I have more chance to interact with my friends in reading periods.
I like reading more if I have free time after class.

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APPENDIX 2
CLASS OBSERVATION FORM
Name of high school: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Name of class observed: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Date of observation: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Time of observation: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
The class observation includes 5 rating scales which vary as follow:
not at all
slightly
neutral
very
completely
Please circle the most appropriate number
Class atmosphere:
The atmosphere in class is very enjoyable
The students are willing to exchange ideas with their friends
The students are kept actively involved in the lessons
The students show their confidence when expressing their ideas
There is a great deal of laughter in the class
The students raise their ideas in a very friendly way.
Many questions are asked in the class
Students feel comfortable and safe in the class

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