Optimizing graphic organizers to improve students’ reading comprehension

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
In this globalization era, English has become the important means of international communication. It plays recognizable roles in almost every society, whether large or small, across the globe. Today, everyone needs to know English in order to get connected with world communities and to exploit their knowledge resources. Indeed, the use of English has been increasing throughout the world. In Vietnam, today English is taught in every level; Vietnamese students are required to study the language from primary school to university. In fact, most of them spend more than six years learning English through formal education. Despite such a long time of learning English in school, the results of their studying immensely vary.
In teaching and learning English, there are four micro language skills, they are speaking, listening, reading and writing. One of those components, reading is regarded as a decoding skill, that is interpreting codes into ideas. Through reading, people can get the information entire the world without going anywhere. Furthermore, people can get the information from various media of communication such as internet, television, radio, newspaper, magazines and also books. As an English Teacher, I found some students’ difficulties in reading comprehension: (1) students have difficulty to identify explicit information in a text; (2) students have difficulty to comprehend the text as they lack of vocabulary; (3) students are unable to find the main idea in a paragraph; (4) and students are unable to infer the meaning of the text. The activities for reading skills in the book English are good, however, for students who are eager for new knowledge and various activities, changing the activities to make them more interesting is necessary which can contribute to the success of the lesson as well as the final results.
Based on these reasons, I am interested in conducting a study on “ Optimizing graphic organizers to improve students’ reading comprehension”
2. Aims of the study
This study aims at determining how graphic organizers can help to improve students’ reading comprehension. 
3. Research questions
From the explanation above, the research questions in this study can be formulated as follows: 
How effective is graphic organizers in students’ reading comprehension?
 2. How is the situation when Graphic organizers are used in the reading class?
4. Scope of study
There might be many different ways to improve students’ reading comprehension. For the limited time within the scope of this study, I limit the participants to grade 11th students at Trieu Son I high school in the academic year 2016. More specifically, the total time for this study is 10 months, the number of students is 76, and I would try to focus on choosing the activities: using graphic organizers in reading lessons, evaluating the results and give implications.
5. The methodology
The research will be conducted by using Experimental method. Experimental method is an observation in order to know the effect of Graphic organizers on students’ achievement in reading comprehension, where the sample is divided into two groups: experimental group and control group. The experimental group is the group that receives treatment by using Graphic organizers strategy, while the control group is the one that receives the treatment by using the traditional method
5.1. Participants
This study was carried out in Trieu son 1 High school. The sample was taken from the grade 11 students which consist of 2 parallel classes (class A2 and class A6) where every class consists of 38 students, so the total of students in the school year were 76 students. The class A2 is experimental group and the class A6 is control group.
5.2. Instrument
The instrument which is used to collect the data is multiple-choice test. multiple-choice test is effective for measuring and its objective scoring is quick, easy and consistent. it also encourages the students to develop a comprehensive knowledge of specific facts and the ability to make fine discrimination among them.
The test consists of 10 items to measure students’ reading comprehension. Each item of test consists of four options namely, a, b, c, and d. I realize that multiple choice test is the most widely used and highly regarded among the selection type of items for test development. The test could be designed to measure the recall understanding and applying of specific concepts, or principle because the students can answer a large number of such questions in short time, a large sample of items can be incorporated in that test. They were used in pre-test, and post-test instrument.
To collect opinion of my students about using graphic organizers, I also gave students a questionnaire (appendix A). The questionnaire was composed of questions to evaluate the students’ attitudes towards graphic organizers after the intervention period. They asked how the students felt about using graphic organizers and how the use of them affected their attitudes and grades. 
PART B: CONTENT
I. Theoretical basis.
Reading comprehension is the process of constructing meaning from a text and involves the complex coordination of several processes, including “decoding, word reading, and fluency along with the integration of background knowledge and previous experiences” (Klinger & Geisler, 2008, p. 65). Students’ reading comprehension can be influenced by their vocabulary knowledge, word recognition skills, understanding of text structure, oral English language proficiency, and cultural background differences. Besides, the students have lack of motivation in language learning since the students get bored with teaching method used by teachers. One of possible solutions for such problems is using graphic organizers because these organizers can help students depict key concepts and construct the meaning of the reading text. An application of graphic organizers that match the structure of the message, teachers will be able to assess student comprehension of what they are reading, observe their thinking process on what they read as a class, as a group, or individually. Furthermore, graphic organizers are considers as miraculous techniques to make students actively engaged in their learning. Because organizers include words, visual images, illustrative shapes, meaningful labels and logical displays, they are effectively for a variety of students with different language levels. 
II. Factual basis.
Before making the topic, I had a test to examine the quality of the students’ reading comprehension. Both experimental group and control group are given the same pre-test. The pre -test has 10 questions including typical types of reading comprehension questions: identifying the main idea, finding supporting details, making interferences, answering questions about vocabulary, fact and opinion. This test is used to find the students’ reading comprehension achievement of both groups. The result of the tests would be compared to find out the effect of applying Graphic organizers Strategy on the students’ reading comprehension achievement. 
The table 1 below is the result of the pre-test:
Types of Questions
Experiential groups
Class A2 (38 students)
Control groups
Class A6 (38 students)
Number of students can answer
Percentage 
Number of students can answer
Percentage
Identifying the Main Idea
1
2.6
2
5.2
Finding the Supporting Details
8
21.1
5
13.1
Vocabulary
3
7.9
4
10.5
Fact and Opinion
3
7.9
2
5.2
Making Inferences
0
0
1
2.6
Total 
15
39.5
14
36.8
The table shows that the percentage of students who can answer questions of reading comprehension is low. The problem above may be caused by several reasons, could be the students or teacher
III. Solution
1. Definition of Graphic Organizers
A graphic organizer is a visual representation of knowledge that structures information by arranging important aspects of a concept or topic into a pattern using labels (Bromley, et al., 1995). There are numerous kinds of graphic organizers called maps, graphs, charts, diagrams or clusters. Each of these patterns can be expressed in different lay outs but they have a similar purpose that depicts the relationships between facts, terms, and or ideas within a learning task. Using graphic organizers gives students alternatives to these inefficient methods of reading or comprehending a passage. In contrast to their usual approach to reading or comprehending a passage, they classify the content of the passage and then try to decode it. This study explores how classifying a reading passage using graphic organizers has shown better results compared with reading a passage without using these organizers.
2. Why to use graphic organizers
In order for a learner to understand the information they have read, they must be able to comprehend the text. Teachers can begin by talking about the structure of the text that will be studied. There are a variety of graphic organizers that can be used to do this, and they can be done at any time during a lesson in order to help students understand what they have read . Learning is extremely effective when students can connect new information with past experiences. It is important to have a selection of learning strategies that can be used to master a new topic or skill. Teachers may use graphic organizers to prepare students for reading. Graphic organizers are effective tools for thinking and learning as they help students to: 
- Represent abstract ideas in more concrete forms,
- Depict the relationships among facts and concepts,
- Organize ideas
- Store and recall information
 Graphic organizers enable teachers to show and explain relationships between content and sub content and how they in turn relate to other content areas. On the other hand, through the use of the organizers, students can make more abstract comparisons, evaluations, and conclusions. In short, graphic organizers allow students an active role in their learning. Graphic organizers have many forms and provide students with visual information that complements the class discussion or text. After carrying out extensive research on the effect of graphic organizers on student reading comprehension, Fisher (2002) says that students who belonged to the experiment group consistently reported that the graphic organizer is the most helpful strategy that they employed. Many teachers believe that it is not hard for good readers to symbolize key concepts and the core value from the text or to depict the given information in different ways regardless which genres or formats the comprehension task is presented in. However, they are not totally sure that what kinds of formats can stimulate student learning modalities, and which techniques can promote student critical thinking skills
With the mentioned benefits, teachers should use graphic organizers to help students prepare themselves for reading, to explore the text with a deeper understanding, to externalize their thinking, and to promote effective learning. Appropriately use, graphical organizer instructions can significantly reduce the amount of time required to achieve the objective of a reading lesson for both the teacher and learners. However, the appropriate choice of organizers for the reading lesson depends on the teacher’s knowledge of the topic presented in the passage, knowledge of pedagogical content that requires the teacher to plan and conduct an effective lesson with a supportive learning environment, and knowledge of language learners in order to develop students’ creativity and critical thinking.
When to Use Graphic Organizers
Graphic Organizers can be used to facilitate students’ activation of background knowledge and to create anticipation for future learning at the beginning of a unit. They can also be effective ways to facilitate review of previously taught materials. In a reading lesson, Graphic Organizers are often used in pre-reading, note-taking and summarizing.
Pre-reading: graphical reading guides showing sequences and relationships prepare students for the important themes or concepts they will encounter in their assigned readings.
Note-taking: codifying information in graphical form (such as a two-column compare and contrast chart), while reading, helps students lock down and retain pertinent concepts, facts, figures, etc.
Summarizing: summarizing information (such as cause and effect factors) in a cause/effect diagram helps students follow processes, make inferences and 
draw conclusions.
4. How to use graphic organizers
Graphic organizers can have various forms, from representations of objects to hierarchical and cyclical structures. Although their use in learning activities is preferred by people who have a visual style of learning, graphic organizers are extremely useful to different learners. Graphic organizers are known by different names such as semantic map, structured overview, web, concept map, semantic organizer, story map, graphic organizer, etc. no matter what the special name, a graphic organizer is a “visual” representation of knowledge. The following description of six basic graphic organizers, namely Venn diagram, sequencing Time-line, problems & solution map, compare & contrast matrix, and network tree These visual representations are followed by specific samples taken from the new English textbook for grade 11 in Vietnam but adapted for a better use in English reading classrooms.
4.1. Sequencing Time-line 
Description
 A sequencing time-line is  a type of graphic organizer that shows specific events in sequence, usually with dates, in a linear fashion. Time-lines are particularly useful for studying or reviewing history, because the time-line will visually display major events over a period of time. Storyboard that adds another dimension beyond dates and descriptions, by making it easy to illustrate important events. Using Sequencing Time-line helps students put events in chronological order, show progress or change, chronicle historical events.
Procedures: 
Copy the blank sequencing time-line template for students. 
List the topic of the organizer
Ask students to conclude the main events in sequential order using this time-line template while reading a passage
4. Discuss the events with students. 
Application: Unit 12: The Asian Game - reading (English 11, textbook, page 136, 137) 
 Sequence of time
The 1st Asian games began in New Delhi, India.
1951
Boxing, shooting and wrestling were added at The 2nd Asian Games in Manila, the Philippines
1954
1958
Tennis, volleyball, table tennis and hockey were added at the 3rd Asian Games held in Tokyo, Japan
1998
Squash, rugby, fencing and mountain biking were introduced at the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
2002
The 14th Asian Games were held in Busan, Korea.
4.2. Venn diagram
Description
Venn Diagram is the simple of Graphic Organizer Strategy. Venn diagram is used to promote the development and a refinement of students’ knowledge. One of the ways to develop students’ knowledge of something is trough comparison. Venn diagram is used to compare two concepts, topics or procedure. By using the comparison, students will be helped to organize their thought therefore, they can understand the reading passage
During reading a text, the Venn diagram allows students to help them to structure the way they “think” about the similarities and differences between concepts. What they have compared will be put in the visual term namely circle. They work best when the students complete them, instead of having the teachers do it for them. It has endless possibilities for adaptations and can be used in all content areas.
Procedures: 
Copy the Venn diagram template for students. 
Identify and label above each circle the two people, places or things to compare and contrast. 
Discuss the similarities and differences with students. 
Record shared traits or characters in the overlapping section of the circle 
Record unique traits and list them in the appropriate circle
Application: Unit 3: a Party (English 11, textbook, page 33)
VENN DIAGRAM
 Activities
Birthday party	wedding anniversary
- Husbands and wives give flowers and gifts to each other
- People says “ happy anniversary”
- Blow the candles 
- Eat cakes
- Give gifts
- People gives toys and clothes to the girl having the party
- People sing “happy birthday” song
/
4.3. Problem & solution map
Description
 The critical thinking necessary to problem-solve by posting and evaluating solutions is an important skill students need throughout their lives. Being able to write clearly and persuasively about proposed solutions is as important as being able to think clearly and logically in formulating solutions. This reading guide helps students organize and write about problems and proposed solutions. This activity is also applied into a writing class where students are aware of the relevant problem and discuss reliable methods. Students can do this task individually and then share what the information in the diagram with their partner or their group members
Procedures: 1. Have students identify the problem in the text and write it in the diamond at the top of the template labelled “problem”. 
Ask student(s) to find out what specifically makes this a problem. Have the students write the given evidence for defining this as a problem in the box labelled “evidence” . 
Let students list each of the solutions presented in the text in the box labelled “solutions”. 
Have students predict and write the results expected from the chosen solutions in the box labelled “results”. (optional) 
Students then have presentation about the discussed topic, using the template as a guide. Remind students to use the key organizing words to help connect ideas
Application: Unit 10: reading (English 11, textbook, page 114,115) 
- The environment where animals are living is badly destroyed
- Rare animals are in danger of becoming extinct
 Nature in danger
Problem 
People are: 
- changing the environment by building cities and villages.
- affecting the water supply by using water for industry and agriculture.
- changing weather conditions by cutting down trees in the forests.
- destroying the air by adding pollutants like smoke from factories and fumes from cars 
Evidence
- Many organizations have been set up and money has been raised to save rare animals.
- Thousands of national parks have been established.
- Laws have been passed to prohibit killing endangered animals.
Solutions 
If people interfere less with the environment
 - More species will survive and produce 
 offspring.
 - The Earth will be a happy planet
4.4. Compare & contrast matrix
Description
The compare and contrast matrix has a wide variety of classroom applications.Use the compare and contrast matrix in reading comprehension activities to help learners analyse and understand the similarities and differences between characters and objects in texts they are reading. Learners should place each attribute or characteristic in the left-hand column. After that, they can compare and contrast each character or object with regards to that characteristic.
Procedures
Copy the compare and contrast matrix template for students. 
Help the students create headings for major concepts on the vertical and horizontal axis. 
Walk around as the students read the text together and think aloud. 
Discuss the similarities and differences with them if necessary. 
5. Make sure the students are recording details from the text in appropriate places on the matrix graphic organizer
Application
Kinds of energy
Advantages
Disadvantages
Nuclear power
It’s unlimited.
It can be very dangerous.
Solar energy
It’s not only plentiful and infinite but also clean and safe.
It’s only possible 
during the day time.
Water power
It’s clean and unlimi