Raise high school students' scores in reading tasks_ Teaching tips

TABLE OF CONTENT
PAGE NUMBER
1. INTRODUCTION.............................................................................. 2
1.1. Rationale.................................................................................... 2
1.2. Aims of the sudy......................................................................... 2
1.3. Scope of the study...................................................................... 2
1.4. Methods of the study...................................................................2
2. DEVELOPMENT................................................................................ 3
 2.1. Scientific background .................................................................3
 2.2. Current situation..........................................................................3
 2.3. Teaching tips to help high school students raise their scores
 in reading comprehension tasks ....................................................3
 2.3.1. Getting students to identify the types of reading comprehension questions......................................................................................................4
 2.3.2. Helping students use reading skills effectively to answer each type of question...........................................................................................7
 2.3.3. Employing reading strategies..........................................................8
 2.3.4 . Focusing on mistakes.......................................................................9
 2.4. 5. Verifying the solution of the study.............................................. 9
3. CONCLUSION ...................................................................................... 10
REFERENCES ..........................................................................................11
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Reading is really important skill for learning foreign language, not except for English. While reading involves translating and decoding text into sounds and spoken words, reading comprehension involves taking what was just read and deriving meaning from those words. In simpler terms, reading comprehension is the ability to read, understand, process, and recall what was just read. So. it is also a very difficult skill for high school students and reading tasks are truly struggles. As a high school teacher of English for ten years, I see this and I have always wondered a lot about improve reading comprehension skills for students and how to raise their score in reading tasks. I decided to choose the topic " Raise high school students' scores in reading tasks_ Teaching tips " to show some practical tips which I hope is useful for my colleges in their work .
1.2 Aims of the study 
In this study, I propose using teaching techniques to:
Improve students' reading skills.
Help students to have practical skills in doing tests.
To encourage students to confidently cope with this type of tests so as to
complete the tests at best they can.
1.3 Scope of the study
	Given the rationale and the aims of the study, it is necessary to limit the study to the areas which are manageable. The topic revolves around the study of the use of teaching tips which focus on improve students' reading skills and practical skills in reading tasks.
1.4 Methods of the study
To complete this study, the following steps implemented:
Resarching the standard curriculum 
Reading related materials
Practicing in class with observing students.
Collecting students’ feedback
DEVELOPMENT
2.1. Science background
Among the four language skills, reading is possibly the most extensively and intensively studied by experts in the field of language teaching. The results of the researches conducted for many decades on nature of reading—how people learn to process textual information—have contributed contrasting theories about what works best in the teaching of reading. As a result, language educators can choose among a wide variety of teaching methods and techniques for students learning to read in their second language or foreign language .
For students who are high school students, reading is the most crucial skill to master due to several reasons. First, students can usually perform at a higher level in reading than in any other skills. They can quite accurately understand written materials that they could not discuss orally or in writing with equivalent accuracy or thoroughness. Such condition will undoubtedly enhance their motivation to learn. Second, reading necessitates very minimum requirements. Different from speaking which requires opportunities to interact with sparring partner, or from writing which needs a lot of guidance and time to practice, reading necessitates only a text and motivation. Third, reading is a service skill. After learning how to read effectively, students will be able to learn effectively by reading.
2.2 Current situation
As a teacher of English for ten years, I realize that reading is a challenge with my students.I feel that the majority of students always find it hard to do this type of tests. At first sight, they do not figure out the content of the passage, but they are not patient enough to read the passage to the end under the pressure of time during the test. Also, this part accounts for a small percentage in the whole test. As a result, students usually put this part aside and return to it at the end of the test time. At that time, students will make ticks on this part without intention. 
On the other hand, teachers rarely show or sometimes refuse to teach students how to do the Reading Comprehension test due to the seemingly unsuccessful results despite their unfailing endeavor to improve students’ reading. Although there have been plenty of descriptions of what teachers have done or what materials have been presented, there have still been few practical results of how or / and what our students learn.
2.3. Teaching Tips to raise high school students in reading comprehension tasks.
2.3.1 Getting students to identify types of reading comprehension questions 
There are a handful of reading comprehension question types that constitute the bulk of questions students will face in this section. The ability to recognize these question types quickly and understand the aim of the question and the common traits of correct and incorrect answers is extremely important. The reading comprehension questions are designed to measure how well the students understand what they have read. Typically, about half of the questions on the test will be based on passages, and the number of questions based on a given passage can range from one to six. Questions can cover any of the topics listed above, from the meaning of a particular word to assessing evidence that might support or weaken points made in the passage. For high school , depending upon how specific one is in classifying questions, there are about eight question types.
1. Main Idea 
This question type can be asked in the following way:
- What is the topic of this passage? 
- What is the main idea expressed in this passage? 
- Which title best reflects the main idea of the passage? 
Example
 The main idea of the passage is____________________.
	A. how parents should make a child a musician.
	B. how parents should bring up a child.
	C. what differences there are between two kinds of parents.
	D. what aim of a child can be much earlier to reach.
2. Factual Questions 
This question type can be asked in the following way:
- According to the passage, why/ what/ how? 
- According to the information in paragraph 1, what? 
 Example
 According to the text, in the future, _______.
	A. it will be difficult for us to select Internet information 
	B. people will prefer taking a bus to buying a car
	C. food will not be sold at shops 
	D. TV viewers will not be able to escape from seeing a lot of advertising
3. Negative factual Questions 
This question type can be asked in the following way:
- EXCEPT , NOT mention. , LEAST likely 
Example
All of the following are true of the festival EXCEPT_______.
 	A. giving thanks to Gods
 	B. lighting up candles
 	C. exploding firecrackers
 	D. having sports competition between children
4. Vocabulary Questions 
This question type can be asked in the following way:
- The expression " - " in line " - " could best replaced by
- The word " - " in line " - " is closest meaning to
Example
The expression government-operated could best be replaced by _______.
	A. state B. independent C. boarding D. vocational
5. Reference Questions 
This question type can be asked in the following way:
- It/ They , Them, Those in line " - " refers to " - "
- It/ They, Them, Those 
Example
The word " they" in paragraph 5 refers to _______________
A. parents who work part-time
B. children who spend more time with fathers than mothers
C. fathers who spend more time with their children	
D. husbands who stop working to stay with the children
6. Inference Questions 
This question type can be asked in the following way:
- It is probable that 
- It can be inferred from the passage that 
- In the paragraph 2, the author implies/ suggests that 
Example
 It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
A. English teachers abroad don’t know the language of the country where they work 
B. traveling careers have more disadvantages than many other 
C. it’s essential that the job you choose have more benefits than drawbacks 
D. people who want to travel are more likely to get a job
7. Questions on author’s purpose
 This question type can be asked in the following way:
- Why does the author mention ____ ? 
- The author's main purpose in paragraph 2 is to 
Example
What was the author's purpose in writing this passage?
A. To entertain the reader. 
B. To bore the reader. 
C. To persuade the reader. 
D. To inform the reader.
8. Questions on author's attitude 
This question type can be asked in the following way: 
- What is the author's opinion / attitude of  ____? 
- Which of the following most accurately reflects the author's opinion of ____? - Example
1.The author’s attitude toward school uniforms might best be described as
A.   intrigued
B.    scornful
C.   nostalgic
D.   appreciative
2.3.2. Helping students to use reading skills effectively to find the answer for each type of questions.
When given a text that students have not read before or do not know much about, they quickly need to become familiar with it, especially when they are in exams like IELTS or GCSE where time management is everything. The easiest way and most effective way to become familiar is to skim and to scan.
Furthermore, when taking exams, they have to read long texts, often filled with complicated vocabulary as well as answer questions with not a lot of time on the clock. By applying the skills of skimming and scanning; they become not only familiar with the text but will find it easier to locate and answer the questions. So, teaching students to use skimming and scanning skills effectively is really necessary to help them raise their scores in reading tasks.
Skimming refers to looking only for the general or main ideas, and works best with non-fiction (or factual) material. You hone in on what is important to your purpose. Skimming takes place while reading and allows you to look for details in addition to the main ideas.
Which types of questions is skim used for?
It can be used for
- Main idea 
- Questions on author’s purpose 
- Questions on author's attitude 
How to Skim?
 Read the table of contents or chapter overview to learn the main divisions of ideas.
Glance through the main headings in each chapter just to see a word or two. Read the headings of charts and tables.
Read the entire introductory paragraph and then the first and last sentence only of each following paragraph. For each paragraph, read only the first few words of each sentence or to locate the main idea.
Stop and quickly read the sentences containing keywords indicated in boldface or italics.
When you think you have found something significant, stop to read the entire sentence to make sure. Then go on the same way. Resist the temptation to stop to read details you don't need.
Read chapter summaries when provided.
Example 
Try to locate the topic and the main idea.
Most teenagers and young adults do not know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. It is a big decision. There are a number of things you can do to narrow the choices. For example you can take an interest test, do some research on your own about a career, try volunteer work in the field in which you are interested, or “job-shadow”, in which you spend a day with a person who is working in a field that interests you. These are just a few helpful ideas as you begin to choose a career. 
 In this paragraph:
the topic is jobs or career choices
the main idea is a few ideas to help the reader choose a career
Scanning is another useful tool for speeding up reading. Unlike skimming, when scanning, they look only for a specific fact or piece of information without reading everything. 
Which types of questions is skim used for?
- Factual Questions 
- Negative factual Questions
- Vocabulary Questions
- Reference Questions
- Inference Questions
 How to Scan?
Read each question completely before starting to scan. Choose your keywords from the question itself.
Look for answers to only one question at a time. Scan separately for each question.
When you locate a keyword, read the surrounding text carefully to see if it is relevant.
Re-read the question to determine if the answer you found answers this question.
Example 
When they were asked what they thought was a fair division of labor, women with jobs felt that housework should be shared equally between male and female partners. Women who did not work outside the home were satisfied to perform 80% - the majority of the household work – if their husbands did remainder. Research has shown that, if levels increase beyond these percentages, women become unhappy and anxious, and feel they are unimportant.
(extracted from the second term exam2016-2017)
Question 2: The word “they” in paragraph 2 refers to__________
men	B. women	C. jobs	D. labour
the word " they" refers to "women"
2.3.3. Employing reading strategies :
1. Read the questions first to identify the type of the questions: show the students that if they read the text, then the questions, then the text again, they will end up reading the texts too many times, and they simply don’t have time for that. Read the tasks and questions first, before they read, and think about the information they need to find to answer those questions while they’re reading.
2. Skimming or Scanning? ask students to apply skimming and scanning for each question effectively after identifying them. Get Better at Scanning to find information faster, they no longer read everything word for word.
3. Timing is crucial: If students spend too much time on one question they will leave less time for the other questions, however, if they try to do the test too quickly they will miss information and may get confused. So, ask them to be decisive to get the answer as soon as they get the related information with it and skip the difficult, time- consuming questions to the end.
4. Do not focus on vocabulary: Vocabulary typically gets way too much attention from students, but it's not obvious that vocab actually is not helping their score. The tasks are now asking students to figure out the meaning of more common words the way the author intended. 
5. Never leave blank boxes: Demand the students answer all the questions even if they do not know the answer. Try their luck and bubble the most probable option.
2.3.4. Analyzing common mistakes on doing reading tasks :
1. Translation: Most of students tend to translate and try to understand all the words in the passage. This is a waste of time and sometimes makes them confused when they get a passage with lot of new words. Stress that they can get the answer easily by reading techniques without understand throughout the passage.
2. Word - by - word reading : This may occur because the reading material is too difficult or because the reader does not have the necessary skills to be able to recognition words automatically. Ask them to learn related words : idioms, phrasal verbs to get to know the idea of the author and do the tasks correctly.
3. Question arrangement: the multiple choice tests do not arrange the questions according to the organization of the passage so this way is not proper . Advise students to answer the simply questions first and leave the complicated ones later.
4. Time arrangement : Lots of students do not know to take their time. They spend too much time on factual questions and have no time to read the text for main idea ones. Guide them to get simply tasks quickly and save the time for time-consuming questions.
5. Reading speed adjustment : Some students read the text so rapidly that they can not approach the idea of the text, other students read too slowly to have enough time for the tasks. Therefore, it is necessary to remind them to give priority to those which are important such as : topic sentences, concluding sentences , sub - title...
2.4. Verifying the solution of the study
I have applied these tips for some years at Tong Duy Tan upper secondary school and I realized that my students improve remarkably their reading skills and raise their scores. They can deal with reading tasks in regular tests. I can apply this kind of method to all students and see how they make progress. The result expressed in the final grade last year, the first term and second term of this school year was satisfactory.
2016 - 2017 
Total
Poor
Below average
Average
Good
Excellent
217
2
0.92%
60
27.65%
106
48.85%
33
15.21%
16
7.37%
The first term of 2017 - 2018 
Total
Poor
Below average
Average
Good
Excellent
195
0
0.00%
19
9.74%
102
52.31%
66
33.85%
8
4.10%
The second term of 2017 - 2018 
Total
Poor
Below average
Average
Good
Excellent
194
0
0.00%
5
2.58%
60
30.93%
97
50.00%
32
16.49%
CONCLUSION
Teaching comprehension reading tips really play an important role in the process of teaching English as a second language for high school students. It not only provide them with effective methods of learning but also make them more confident before reading tasks on the tests to get fully mark. My students can complete their tasks on text books easily and they are not afraid to deal with the texts on the opened topics.
From achieved result, I believe that I have fitted my students necessary information to help them in learning English at high school and on the ground they can gently approach the source of documents which is essential for them in the future study. 
XÁC NHẬN CỦA THỦ TRƯỞNG 
ĐƠN VỊ
Thanh Hóa,ngày16 tháng 5 năm 2017
Tôi xin cam đoan đây là SKKN của mình viết, không sao chép nội dung của người khác.
Đào Thị Như Hoa 
REFERENCES
1. "How to teach reading skills – from theory to practice" by Mohamet Rhalmi
2. "A Review on Reading Theories and its Implication to the Teaching of Reading" https://parlindunganpardede.wordpress.com/
3.https://gmatclub.com/forum/strategies-for-the-6-reading-comprehension-question-types-135040.html
4. "Skimming And Scanning: Two Important Strategies For Speeding Up Your Reading" by Abby Marks Beale | Feb 4, 2013 | Articles 
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