Strategies for improving scores of reading english comprehension tests in national high school exam at Nong Cong 2 high school

DEPARTMENT OF THANH HOA EDUCATION AND TRAINING
NONG CONG 2 HIGH SCHOOL
----------------------------
EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING SCORES OF
READING ENGLISH COMPREHENSION TESTS
IN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL EXAM
AT NONG CONG 2 HIGH SCHOOL
 Doer: Mai Thị Kim Dung
 Duty: Teacher
 Subject: English
THANH HOA, 2017 - 2018
TABLE OF CONTENT
PART ONE : INTRODUCTION 
 I. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY 
 II. AIMS OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE 
 III. SCOPE OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE 
 IV. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 
PART TWO : DEVELOPMENT 
 I. LITERATURE REVIEW 
 II. THE PROBLEMS OF READING ENGLISH COMPREHENSION TESTS. 
 1. The shortage of vocabulary related to the topics 
 2. The types of multiple-choice questions 
 3. Time pressure 
 4. The ways to approach the passage 
 III. STRAGERIES FOR IMPROVING SCORES OF READING ENGLISH COMPREHENSION TESTS IN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL EXAM 
 1. Developing vocabulary for reading comprehension
 1.1. Synonyms and Antonyms
 1.2. Vocabulary trees
 1.3. Word formation charts
 2. Categorizing the types of questions in reading 
 comprehension and how to do these.
 2.1. Main idea question
 2.2. Overview questions
 2.3. Factual questions
 2.4. Negative questions 
 2.5. Vocabulary- in – context questions
 2.6. Reference questions
 2.7. Inference questions
 3. Use time properly
 4. The ways to approach the passage
 IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULT 
PART THREE : CONCLUSION AND PROPOSAL 
 I. Conclusion
 II. Proposal
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 PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
I. RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
 In the tendency of integration of the global economy, English is one of the effective communicative tools for everyone. The role of English is considered to be very important in the fields of economies, politics, science, culture and education.
	Responding to the trend, English lessons are taught with four skills (speaking, reading, listening, writing) and new teaching methods to motivate students in each unit. This really helps students, especially the 12th grade students who are going to take part in the National High School Exam, improve their reading comprehension skills to get better scores in reading part. According to the regulations enacted by the Ministry of Education and Training, the 12th grade students will take a national exam instead of the traditionally separated high school graduation and university entrance exams and English [10] – a foreign language – is one of the main subjects assessed under Multiple Choice Questions. In a 60 - minute English test candidates ( students) are required to finish 50 multiple choice questions including phonetics; vocabulary; grammar; antonym; synonym; cloze reading; reading comprehension; transformation; error correction [8]. The reading comprehension part of the exam tests students’ ability to read and answer questions about passages. It usually contains two passages and after each passage there are usually from seven to ten multiple choice questions which candidates should complete in a relatively short time [9].
	However, many 12th grade students, especially students at Nong Cong 2 High School are quite confused to read two reading comprehension passages in English tests. In fact, it is the most challenging and difficult language skill which involves the interaction of other sub – skills namely skimming, scanning and careful reading and predicting [5]. Most of them guess the answers without reading or find information in reading passage. They have problems with vocabulary knowledge and time contribution. They are not well - prepared how to recognize the types of questions appearing in the reading comprehension and how to deal with these ones. Moreover, the way to approach the passage is not mentioned enough well to get better marks in reading part in an English test in National High School Exam. 
 The above mentioned reason leads to the choice of studying about experience initiative in analyzing “ STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING SCORES OF READING ENGLISH COMPREHENSION TESTS IN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL EXAM AT NONG CONG 2 HIGH SCHOOL.”
II. AIMS OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
	The aims of the experience initiative are:
To investigate candidates’ difficulties in reading comprehension skills when they participate in English Tests in National High School Exam.
To give students some strategies to reduce candidates’ pressure and improve reading comprehension skill to have higher marks in reading part in English tests.
III. SCOPE OF THE EXPERIENCE INITIATIVE
	The writer attempt not only to introduce some strategies to apply skills in reading English passages to reduce students’ difficulties but also make them more self – confident and motivated in reading and understand English passages in a short time in exams. The author applies into the class 12A2 at Nong Cong 2 High School, Thanh Hoa.
IV. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 
	Reading reference books 
	Discussing with other teachers
	Applying in teaching
	Observing and drawing out experiences.
PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT
LITERATURE REVIEW
 Reading is not a passive task, but rather an active one. In fact, reading requires both the learner’s mental and experimental inputs of who is expected to comprehend the written message. In highlighting the importance of reading comprehension, “reading is the most important activity in any language class, not only as a source of information and a pleasurable activity, but also as a means of consolidating and extending one’s which are knowledge of the language” [7]. The most important reading problems are lacking of essential vocabularies, linguistics, text structure knowledge, and limited contents backgrounds. This is related to the results of foreigner researchers who found that students learning English as a foreign or second language cannot comprehend their English passage. Most of their reading problems are improper reading texts, misunderstanding of grammar, vocabularies, and limited background knowledge on the reading passage. Comprehensive reading is an interactive process between reader’s background and contents. Reader, who once encounters difficulties in comprehension, always employs reading strategy to get over those difficulties [11]. The competency of high school students in reading English is still a matter of concern. The recent curriculum objective is to enable students to understand and use the language appropriately in accordance with the appropriate situations. 
 The 2018 national high school exam include 60 minutes for Foreign Languages – mainly English [8]. Candidates are compulsory to take an 50 – multiple choice question English test consisting of two reading comprehension passages ( 30%); phonetics ( 8%); communication ( 4%); closing reading ( 10%); Vocabulary and grammar (38%) and writing(10%). Therefore, reading comprehension passages is not avoidable in the next multiple – choice English exam.
 Skills for finishing a reading comprehension passage with the highest scores in a short time are not easy for candidates taking an exam. There are different types of learning strategies which help candidates to solve their problems. Reading strategies as actions make candidates’ task easier, enjoyable, effective and self – directed [6]. Reading strategy helps readers increase their comprehension [4]. Reading strategy refers to an action or a series of action of cognitive steps readers use while reading in order to acquire, store, and retrieve new information to construct meaning from the text [3]. Reading strategy is one of the factors which influenced English comprehensive reading [11]. In order to attain a high level of comprehension, readers have to know what strategy to use, how to use, and why to use them [11]. The reading strategies refer to techniques that help candidates solve the problems they face whenever they read. As a result, candidates need a guide to assist themselves to maximize their scores in reading comprehension part in an English test. 
THE PROBLEMS OF READING ENGLISH COMPREHENSION TESTS
	 The most difficult problems that many 12th grade students in other places as well as at Nong Cong 2 High School have when they complete their reading comprehension are the limitation of vocabulary; the use of time in a test; the recognition of the types of reading comprehension and the method to do them and the way to approach the passage.
The shortage of vocabulary knowledge
 Candidates or students may suffer mainly from understanding vocabulary with suitable contexts in reading comprehension passages. The difficulties that can be found among readers is the existence of various meanings within the same word. For example, the word “ present ” means “ gift ”, but in the context of reading passages it is understood “ the action of existing”. The problem with such category is that the candidates knows only one meaning can lead him to a wrong understanding of the passage. Insufficient vocabulary often drives candidates to many obstacles in reading comprehension since lexis has a very important role for a successful reading. 
The types of multiple – choice questions
 When candidates or students have some troubles answering reading comprehension questions about the passage in an English test in National High School exam, it is assumed that they did not read the passage or were not paying close enough attention while reading. For many candidates or students, however, this is not the case. They did read, they are just unsure of how to locate information within the passage to help them answer the question posed. Students need to be explicitly prepared how to recognize the multiple choice questions being asked and how to locate the information to help them answer. One approach that can help them do this is the strategy to distinguish the types of multi-choice reading comprehension questions they are being asked and how to find the answers to those questions. This has an positive influence on scores of the test they do in the National High School Exam.
Time pressure
 Timing is known as an important factor in scoring higher in reading comprehension part in English tests. Most test-takers find this the hardest to complete a reading comprehension part because reading the passages takes up so much time. Near the end of the test, candidates may realize that they won’t have enough time to finish.
The ways to approach the passages
Candidates or students sometimes wonder which approach is better while solving reading comprehension questions, first reading the passage and then the questions or first reading questions and the passage. Moreover, they read one word at a time like this: “ Different cultures follow their special customs when a child’s baby teeth fall out . In Korea , for example , they have the custom of throwing lost teeth up on the roof of a house.”[5]. This word-by-word reading slows candidates down and interfere with their comprehension and affect their scores. Additionally, in reading comprehension, they do not know how to skim and scan the passages, read them carefully and predict the answers. These are considered at the same time as the sub-skills of reading. 
 Basing on these views, an action research is to improve scores at reading comprehension skill in English tests at Nong Cong 2 High School as well as to reduce these difficulties.
SUGGESTED STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING SCORES OF READING COMPREHENSION SKILL IN ENGLISH TESTS
 In this part, some strategies for reading comprehension skill in English tests are presented to reduce the students’ difficulties and motivate them getting higher marks at Nong Cong 2 High School. The author’s own experience suggests that these techniques make candidates more confident to take English tests.
Developing vocabulary for reading comprehension
The vocabulary used in the Reading Comprehension portion is fairly sophisticated. Therefore, students should be well prepared vocabulary knowledge of the topics in English books from grade 10th to 12th before taking an important exam for graduation. They can be taught how to learn vocabulary relating the topics by the following tips:
Synonyms and Antonyms
When learning new vocabulary, try to find synonyms and antonyms for each word. This is especially important when learning adjectives or adverbs.
In English 12 [2]
Unit
Vocabulary
Synonyms
Antonyms
Unit 1
Join hand
Secure (a)
Mischievous (a)
Work together
Safe (a)
Obedient (a)
Unit 4
Compulsory ( a)
Curriculum (n)
Upper secondary school
Study program
High school
Optional (a)
Unit 8
Pessimistic ( a)
Incredible ( a)
Contribute (v)
Unbelievable (a)
Donate (v)
Optimistic (a)
Unit 10
Derive from
Enact (v)
Reserve 
vulnerable
Stem from
Preserve
Prevent (v)
Protected
Unit 14
Appeal (v)
Dedicate (v)
Initiate (v)
Call upon
Devote(v)
Start (v)
Unit 15
Advocate (v)
Look down upon
Lose touch with
Neglect (v)
Agree (v)
Ignore (v)
Look up to
Keep in touch with
Vocabulary trees
Vocabulary trees help provide context. Once students have mapped a few vocabulary trees, they will discover themselves thinking in vocabulary groups. 
 In English 11 book [2]
 Unit 3: Party
 When students see the word “ Party”, their mind will quickly relate such words as birthday cakes; candles; birthday songs; gifts; etc.
 Unit 15: Space conquest [2]
 When students learn the word “ space conquest”, they think about words as astronaut = cosmonaut, spacesuit, spacecraft, orbit, portable life support system, etc.
Word formation charts
 Word formation refers to the form a word takes. For example, the word satisfaction ( Unit 9 – in English 11 book) [2] has four forms:
Noun: satisfaction Verb: satisfy Adjective: satisfying / satisfied
Adverb: satisfyingly
 Word formation is one of the keys to success for candidates to prepare for English exams. These word formation charts provide the concept noun, personal noun, adjective, and verb forms of key vocabulary listed in alphabetical order.
 There will almost certainly be words that candidates or students do not recognize. Sometimes they can guess the meaning of these words by context. However, it is not necessary to understand all the vocabulary in the passages in order to answer the multi- choice questions.
Categorizing the types of questions in reading comprehension and how to do these.
 When students know the kinds of questions they must answer, it will be easier to find the answers or choose the correct answers. In English tests of National High School Exam, multi-choice questions can be categorized into main idea, factual questions, negative question, scanning questions , inference questions, vocabulary – in – context questions, reference questions.
Main idea questions
 After almost every passage, the first question or the last one is an overview question about the main idea, main topic, or main purpose of the passage. Main idea questions ask students to identify an answer choice that correctly summarizes the author’s main idea, the subject of the whole passage, or the author’s reason for writing the passage.
Sample questions: 
“ What is the main idea of the passage?”
“ What is the passage primarily about?”
“ Why is the author write the passage?”
“ The main point of this passage is __________”
Sample answer choices
“ To define ...”
“ To relate.....”
“ To discuss .....”
“ To propose .”
“ To illustrate ..”
“ To support idea that ..”
“ To distinguish between _____and _______”
“ To compare _________and ____________”
 Students should not answer the initial overview question about a passage until they have answered the other questions. The process of answering the detail questions may give you a clearer idea of the main idea, topic or purpose of the passage. The correct answers for main idea, main topic, and main purpose questions correctly summarize the main points of the passage; they must be more general than any of the supporting ideas or details, but not so general that they include ideas outside the scope of the passages. 
 If students are not sure of the answer for one of these questions, go back and quickly scan the passage. They can usually infer the main idea, main topic, or main purpose of the entire passage from an understanding of the main ideas of the paragraphs that make up the passage and the relationship between them.
Sample item: 
 “Different cultures follow their own special customs when a child's baby teeth fall out 
 Birds aren't the only animals thought to take lost teeth
 The idea of giving lost teeth to an angel or fairy is also a tradition in the West. ”
(Source: Reading Challenge 2 by Casey Malarcher & Andrea Janzen) 
Question 28. What is the passage mainly about? 
A. Traditions concerning children's lost teeth 
B. Presents for young children's lost teeth 
C. Animals eating children's lost teeth 
D. Customs concerning children's new teeth
(Code 401 – In the English test in National High School Exam 2017) [9]
 In the reading comprehension passage, when students read the main ideas of three paragraphs and the relationship among them, they will have their key A.
Overview questions
 A number of other questions are asked that require an overall understanding of the passage. These are often the last question in a set of questions.
 Tone questions ask students to determine the author’s feelings about the topic by the language that he or she uses in writing the passage. Look for vocabulary that indicates if the author’s feelings are positive, negative or neutral.
Sample questions: 
“ What tone does the author take in writing this passage?”
“ The tone of this passage could be best described as ”
“ Which of the following best describes the tone of the passage?”
Sample answer choices:
Positive Humorous Worried
Favorable Negative Ironic
Optimistic Critical Neutral
Amused Argumentative Objective
Pleased Angry Informative
Respectful Informative Sarcastic
 If students read the following sentence in passages, they may realize the tone of the passages would most likely be positive or negative.
Sample items: 
 “ That was just the beginning of a remarkable series of performances by this brilliant actress” => These underlined words show a positive tone because it contains positive words.
 “ At the time his poems were first published, they were very popular, but today most critics find them simplistic and rather uninteresting.”=> The sentence contains positive language ( “ very popular”) but overall, the tone is negative. ( Words like but)
“ Humans are bringing about another global-scale change in the atmosphere: the increase in what are called greenhouse gases. Like glass in a greenhouse, these gases admit the Sun's light but tend to reflect back downward the heat that is radiated from the ground below, trapping heat in the Earth's atmosphere. This process is known as the greenhouse effect. Carbon dioxide is the most significant of these gases – there is 25 percent more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere today than there was a century ago, the result of our burning coal and fuels derived from oil. Methane, nitrous oxide, and CFCs are greenhouse gases as well.
 Scientists predict that increases in these gases in the atmosphere will make the Earth a warmer place. They expect a global rise in average temperature somewhere between 1.0 and 3.5 degrees Celsius in the next century. Average temperatures have in fact been rising and the years from 1987
to 1997 were the warmest years on record. Some scientists are reluctant to say that global warming has actually begun because climate naturally varies from year to year and decade to decade, and it takes many years of records to be sure of a fundamental change. There is little disagreemen