Thạc Sĩ Luận văn thạc sĩ: Giáo dục học - Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và Phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh - eff

CHÂU THỊ HOÀNG HOA - LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ: GIÁO DỤC HỌC - Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và Phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh - EFFECTS OF METACOGNITVE STRATEGY INSTRUCTION ON STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION

CHÂU THỊ HOÀNG HOA - EFFECTS OF METACOGNITVE STRATEGY INSTRUCTION ON STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION
LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ: GIÁO DỤC HỌC
Chuyên ngành: Lý luận và Phương pháp dạy học bộ môn Tiếng Anh

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research paper is completed thanks to the support of many people. I would like to
show my gratitude to all of them.
The first acknowledgements are made to my research methodology instructor Dr. Trinh
Quoc Lap who trained me research methodology and initiated the idea of choosing the
research field, and research topic. He spent his time giving valuable comments to my
proposal. His encouragement was unforgettable to me. My thanks are also sent to Dr. Le
Phuoc Loc, who taught me how to research in Vietnamese.
Secondly, I would like to show my deep appreciation and to my supervisor, Ms. Le Thi
Tuyet Mai for her intellectual and material assistance. She was the one who first taught me
what metacognitive reading was. I also owed her for valuable advice as well as supports. I
am indebted to her for her patience to read the drafts of the thesis and gave feedback on
them again and again. She not only leaded me to make first steps in researching way but
also helped me how to be a good teacher. I admired her devotion, sympathy and
responsibility because they all made my research work burdenless but full of happiness.
Next, I appreciate Mr. Le Van Don, Director of Tra Vinh Teacher Training College
(TVTTC) and Mr. Vo Hoang Khai, Vice-Director of TVTTC because of their acceptance
and support for my participation in the postgraduate program in TEFL at Can Tho
University. My deep thanks go to all the people at the Department of Administration at
TVTTC especially Ms. Le Thi Kim Loan - my chief – and Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Hieu, my
colleague. They covered most of my work during the time I studied at Can Tho University
and implemented my M.A. research.
I am heartedly grateful to those who contributed much to my research. I would like to thank
Ms. Cao Thi Hong Cam, a teacher of English at TVU, for her assistance to score the
students’ reading tests and Ms. Hua Thi Tuong Vi, for her control of metacognitive
instruction on the control class. Besides, my thanks go to Ms. Tran Nhu Minh Phuong, Ms.
Nguyen Thi Ngoc Lan, members in my MA class who helped me to read and gave me
ideas for improving my questionnaire. I could never forget their affection and cooperation
in studying together.
In addition, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my classmates for their supports. I
owed special debt of appreciation to Mr. Nguyen Duy Khang, Ms. Dinh Thi Kim Oanh,
Ms. Tran Thi Le Huyen, Ms. Huynh Thi My Duyen who gave me good advice for
quantitative data analysis. My deep gratefulness goes to Ms. Dang Thi Thu Nguyet for her
countless spiritual assistance and sharing. Especially, I highly appreciate enthusiastic
participation of my beloved students in joining in the intervention program like taking the
test, keeping diary and trying new reading strategies willingly.
Finally and most importantly, my deepest gratitude goes to all of my family members: my
parents, mother – in - law, my brothers who were always ready to help me in need. Without
their love, sympathy and care, I would not have been able to complete this postgraduate
program and this thesis. I also thank my daughters: Phuc An for her independence when I
was away from home and Binh An for her lovely accompany during the time when I was in
Can Tho University. I cannot express my gratefulness to my husband by words for his
silent encouragement, assistance, and consideration of in every step I go.

TÓM LƯỢC

Mục đích của đề tài là kiểm chứng tính hiệu quả của việc dạy chiến lược đọc phản tĩnh đối
với sự nhận thức về chiến lược này và khả năng đọc hiểu của sinh viên. Đối tượng tham gia
trong đề tài này là 61 sinh viên học Tiếng Anh không chuyên ở trường Cao đẳng Sư phạm
Trà Vinh: có 31 sinh viên trong nhóm thực nghiệm và 30 sinh viên trong nhóm đối chứng.
Đề tài sử dụng bảng câu hỏi trắc nghiệm và bài kiểm tra đọc hiểu để đo trình độ nhận thức
và khả năng đọc hiểu của sinh viên trước và sau khi thực nghiệm. Bên cạnh đó, sinh viên
viết nhật ký học tập để ghi nhận lại quá trình vận dụng chiến lược đọc phản tĩnh trong khi
đọc. Kết quả nghiên cứu khẳng định rằng nhận thức về chiến lược đọc phản tĩnh của nhóm
thực nghiệm tăng nhưng nhóm đối chứng không tăng. Khả năng đọc hiểu của hai nhóm đều
được cải thiện nhưng nhóm thực nghiệm thể hiện sự vượt trội hơn so với nhóm đối chứng.
Qua các bài nhật ký học tập của sinh viên và kết quả của phép toán thống kê, đề tài này
khẳng định có sự tương quan giữa nhận thức phản tĩnh và khả năng đọc hiểu của sinh viên
sau chương trình thực nghiệm. Cho nên, tác giả đề tài khẳng định vai trò tích cực của việc
dạy sinh viên đọc phản tĩnh để cải thiện kỹ năng đọc của mình và từ đó kiến nghị rằng
chiến lược đọc phãn tĩnh cần được chú trọng và sinh viên nên luyện tập thường xuyên để
nhận thức về chiến lược này trở thành kỹ năng. Tuy nhiên, một vài điểm mà đề tài này cần
chú ý là đề cập đến các yếu tố như sự khác nhau về giới, kinh nghiệm và thói quen đọc
trong Tiếng mẹ đẻ của đối tượng tham gia trong đề tài. Đó cũng chính là hướng tác giả đề
xuất cho các nghiên cứu sâu hơn trong lĩnh vực này.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is investigating the effects of metacognitive strategy instruction
on students’ metacognitive awareness and reading comprehension ability. The participants
of this study were 61 non – English majored students in TVTTC: 31 in the experimental
group, 30 in the control group. A metacognitive self - report questionnaire and a reading
comprehension test were used to measure students’ metacognitive awareness and reading
comprehension ability in the pre – and post - test. Besides, they were also asked to write
journals to record their metacognition and comprehension process. The findings of the
study showed that the experimental group made a meaningful increase in metacognitive
level after the intervention, but the control group did not. Both of the experimental and
control group gained a higher level of reading comprehension in the post – test but the
experimental group surpassed the control group in the test scores. Students’ journal reports
and the result of correlation test revealed that the growth of students’ metacognition was
interrelated with their comprehension progress. This finding confirmed the role of
metacognitive instruction in teaching reading. Hence, the study strongly recommended that
metacognitive strategies should be taught and frequently used to improve reading
comprehension. Nonetheless, the study showed some shortcomings for ignoring some
important issues in foreign language learning like gender, L1 reading habits and
experiences which should be considered in further research.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration . v
Acknowledgements vi
Abstract in Vietnamese . viii
Abstract in English ix
Abbreviations x
Table of Contents xi
List of Tables and Figures xiv
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1. Rationale 1
1.2. Research aims 2
1.3. Research questions 2
1.4. Hypotheses .2
1.5. Significance of the study .3
1.6. Thesis organization .3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .5
2.1. Introduction .5
2.2. Metacognition and its related aspects .6
2.1.2. Metacognition: definitions and components .6
2.1.2. Cognition and metacognition 8
2.1.2. Metacognition and reading comprehension . 9
2.3. Reading comprehension .11
2.3.1. Reading and comprehension .11
2.3.2. Levels of comprehension .12
2.4. The possible relationship among the three factors: metacognitive strategy
instruction, metacognitive strategy awareness, and reading comprehension in
related research 14
2.4.1. Positive effects of metacognition on reading comprehension .15
2.4.2. Questionable effects of metacognition on reading comprehension 18
2.5. Conclusion .19
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .20
3.1. Research Design 20
3.2. Participants 20
3.2.1. Students 20
3.2.2. Teachers . 21
3.3. Settings .21
3.4. Instruments 21
3.4.1. Questionnaire on metacognitive reading strategy awareness . 22
3.4.2. Pre-test and post- test on reading comprehension 24

3.4.3. Journals . 26
3.5. Procedure .26
3.5.1. Reading strategy training .27
3.5.2. Data collection and analysis procedure .28
3.6. Materials 30
CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH RESULTS 31
4.1. Quantitative analysis 31
4.1.1. Introduction .31
4.1.2. Comparison of the mean scores of metacognitive reading awareness
and reading comprehension ability between the experimental and control group
before the intervention .31
4.1.3. Comparison of the mean scores of metacognitive reading awareness
and reading comprehension ability within each group before and after the
intervention 34
4.1.4. Correlation between metacognitive awareness and reading
comprehension ability 39
4.2. Qualitative analysis .41
4.2.1. Introduction .41
4.2.2. Analysis of students’ journals .41
4.2.3. Summary .52
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, LIMITATIONS
SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH AND CONCLUSION .53
5.1. Summary and discussions of the findings .53
5.2. Implications of the findings 56
5.3. Limitations of the study 57
5.4. Suggestions for further research .58
5.5. Conclusion .59
REFERENCES 61
APPENDICES .65
CURRICULUM VITAE 107