Strategies for the reading comprehension part on the National Secondary Education Examination

TABLE OF CONTENTS
page
PART I. INTRODUCTION...2
1. Reasons for choosing the research....2
2. Aims of the research.....3
3. Object of the research...3
4. Methods of research ...3
PART II. CONTENTS...4
1. Rationale of the study...4
2. Practical basis...4
3. Strategies for the reading comprehension part on the National Secondary Education Examination” . ....5
3.1. Brainstorm vocabulary knowledge ...5
3.2. Analyze the questions to group them ...6
3.3. Find down the best methods for each kind of the questions.....8
3.4. Reading comprehension test sample...12
4. Research achievement.17
PART III. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION ...18
1. Conclusion..18
2. Recommendation....18
REFERENCES..20
PART I. INTRODUCTION
1. Reasons for choosing the research.
My research comes from a request by the students preparing for the upcoming important examination and they have difficulties in doing reading comprehension excercises as a inevitable part of the English test in the National High School Examination which organized for worldwhile students by the Ministry of Education and Training. As you can see, the 2017-2018 academic year is the second year of carrying out the new English test format .In this standalized examination , reading comprehension excercises makes up nearly 30 percents of all questions on the test with two passages :the one has about 250-300 words and the other is about 350-400 words followed by 7 questions and 8 questions respectively.One of the big challenges that students have to face with respect to time pressure. I often hear these kinds of complaints: “I know all the answers but I didn’t have no enough time to solve them.” or “It is difficult for me to read the passage,to understand the passage within the given time constraint.” , “How can I answer such a lot of questions in that timeframe?”, etc.The other predominant problem that most test-takers always feel worried about in English tests is vocabulary. When they encounter unfamiliar words or unfamiliar concepts because they do not have a wide-ranging vocabulary , they are unable to understand the given reading comprehension and resort to wild guessing to construct the text meaning.They feel discouraged and just want to give it up .Many of them seem to choose the answers by their feeling .As a result, low scores in reading sections are unavoidable. As a high school English teacher, I thought a lot of this actual situation and I applied some strategies that help my students in my school to overcome all the obstacles.After practising some reading passages with the conduced methods, I see my students’ scores climb to new heights.Thanks to these stratergies,my students become more confident and more exercited in reading comprehension exercises. The most important examination for all high schoo students is coming soon, I would like to share my theme “Strategies for the reading comprehension part on the National Secondary Education Examination” with any collegues who had the same problem . My collegues can also consider my teaching strategies as useful suggestions to help their students more interested and confident in solving English reading comprehension.
2. Aims of the research
 This research aims to specifically help grade 12 students to better prepare for the vocabulary ,get them to be knowledgeable and experienced in given question formats on the national high shool examination,and solve the reading section more confidently and efficently.
3. Object of the Research 
	This research focuses on “Strategies for the reading comprehension part on the National Secondary Education Examination” for grade 12 students in order to help them to deal with the reading comprehension section on the English test more easily.
4. Methods of study
- Find out difficulties students have in reading comprehension.
- Read reference books.
- Discuss with my colleagues.
- Attend classes of co-workers
- Analyze the questions to group them and find down the best methods for each kind of the questions.
- Apply some strategies in teaching
- Observe and draw out experience.
PART II. CONTENTS
1.Rationale of the study
 Reading comprehension is an important skill not only because it occupies much of the test structure but it is also a practical skill for any English learner to master.If you are a high school student, taking tests is a fact of life. Even after you are out of school, you may still have to take tests to get certain jobs. In teaching theory ,if students want to be good at reading comprehension exercises,It’s vital that they have vocabulary knowledge  in order to be able to comprehend what is about in the piece of writing.But it’s also important that students in fact should be taught reading test-taking strategies so as to makes them generate interest,build up confidence and facility comprehension when they get very limited time to answer each question in a timed tesing environment.According to Scruggs & Mastropieri( 1992), “Students who are test wise can outperform students of equal ability but lacking test-wiseness.”.Wiseness can be recognized as a stratergy.A good stratergy enables test-takers to deal with reading texts smoothly and strategically.About 171 students from different classes at Hoang Le Kha high school participated in the research “Strategies for the reading comprehension part on the National Secondary Education Examination” and they achieve the surprising success.This shows that my initiative actually proves the necessary and usefulness to help students get over the challenges and be able to perform to the best of their abilities in reading comprehension tasks. 
2. Practical basis.
Reading comprehension is probably one of the most challenging activities that often create high levels of anxiety and stress among learners.And learners often regard reading as the most difficult language skill to acquire and evaluate. Students are often habituated to solve simple and direct passages in their classroom evironment.So when it comes to standarlized competitive exam samples ,the task becomes more diverse and challenging. Of them show their fearfulness and unconfidence towards the real reading task format. They read without comprehending what they read . Some do not understand the main idea of a text even when they have translated every word into their mother tongue.Thus they have fewer chances of succeeding academically .In addition to this,time pressure of a real exam situation is seemingly unavoidable.It is these problems that urge me to find out the solutions to help students get over the challenges and tackle the reading section in a flexible and easy manner. 
3. Strategies for the reading comprehension part on the National Secondary Education Examination” 
Different people have different strategies to succeed in doing their reading comprehension exercises.In this paper,I describe the method I propose for my students to achieve good results in the reading comprehension part,including building up their vocabulary with the common topics, analyzing the question types to group them and finding the best methods for each kind of questions before taking the reading proficiency exam.
3.1.Brainstorm your vocabulary knowledge
	 According to wikipedia: “Reading comprehension and vocabulary are inextricably linked together.”. Truly,reading comprehension is much easier if you already know the keywords in the reading. This means that having a strong vocabulary is a key component of reading comprehension. The more words you know, the more you will be able to understand what you read. People who possess a limited vocabulary have a much tougher time to understand the gist of the passage or have to stop at every new word in the reading comprehension part. Because the reading part in a test usually concentrates on some common topics such as population, environment and pollution, family and friends, education, recreation, places, events..,the teacher can help provide the vocabulary knowledge of these topics before the examination so that students can familiarize themselves with vocabulary needed to comprehend the passage and will be better prepared to understand what they read. 
Example : Important words related to evironment
* Some natural disasters
– Tsunami
– Hurricane 
– Earthquake
– Pollution 
– Aftershock 
– Blizzard 
– Volcanic Eruption 
– Hailstones 
– Flood
– Landslide 
– Drought 
– Tornado 
– Famine
– Wildfire 
– Avalanche
– Soil erosion
* Potential threats (harmful to environment)
– Deforestation
–Greenhouse emissions
– Overpopulation
– Endangered species
– Overconsumption
– Contamination
– Global warming
– Industrial waste
– Greenhouse effect
– Greenhouse emissions
*Some related verbs:
- To pollute 
- To contaminate/pollute 
- To exploit 
- To make use of/take advantage of 
- To conserve 
- To damage/destroy 
- To over-abuse 
-To tackle / cope with / deal with 
- To dispose/release/get rid of 
- To cause / contribute 
- To cut/reduce 
-To threaten 
* Other related words
- Solar panel (n.ph)
-Biodiversity(n)
- Protection (n)
-Extinction(n)
-Preservation (n)
- Habitat(n)
- Natural resources (n.ph)
-Energy/power (n)
-Landfill (n) 
- Renewable energy (n.ph)
-Serious (adj)
- Non-renewable energy(n.ph)
- Effective/efficient/efficacious (adj)
- Fossil fuels (n.ph)
- Excessive (adj)
-Natural resources (n.ph)
- Fresh/pure (adj)
-Sea level (n.ph)
- Toxic/poisonous (adj)
-Endangered species (n.ph)
- Pollutive (adj)
- Ecosystem (n)
3.2. Analyze the questions to group them 
The English test in the national examination consists of two passages with 15 questions for both.Questions on each passage are divided into four main kinds of questions. The ability to recognize these question types quickly and understand the aim of the question will give you a huge advantage because you know what order we are going to come in each of them requires a different approach and strategy.
Below are groups of different common question types
3.2.1. Main Idea-type questions 
 Main idea questions may refer to the main idea or general concept of the passage or the author’s primary purpose in writing .It is not difficult to recognize this kind of questions. 
Below is a list of sample language with the bolded key words  that allows us to recognize a main idea question. 
- Which of the following would be the best title?  
- On the whole, this story is about.
- What is the topic of the passage? 
- The primary purpose of the passage is to
-The main point made by the passage is that
-What/who is the entire passage about? 
-Why did the author write this?
--What does the passage mainly discuss?
- What is the subject of the passage? 
- What is the main idea of the passage? 
- With what is the author primarily concerned? 
3.2.2. Detail questions
 Detail questions are usually concerned with information explicitly stated in the text.You are asked  about something stated or unstated in the passage, and you have to locate that something in the passage.they tend to be more difficult than main idea questions because they require a more detailed recollection of the test. Detail questions are often preceded by "according to the passage" , “According to the author,” or "the passage states that..”. 
The following key phrases help you  recognize this question type 
- According to the passage
- According to the author
- It is stated in the passage...
- The passage indicates that
- According to the passage which of the following is (Not) true...? 
- The passage mentions each of the following EXCEPT.
3.2.3 Vocabulary questions
 Vocabulary questions ask you to identify the meanings of the words and phrases as employed in a particular context. These words are usually highlighted or underlined or italicized to help you see them easily in the reading passage. Some tests ask for synonyms and some ask for antonyms .Start reading in English:newspapers, stories, comics, text books.anything that keeps you immersed in English. New words gradually sink into your subconscious mind and become familiar.
Below are some common stems:.
- "X, as used in the passage, can best be defined as...."
- In stating “x”,the author means that.
- The word “x” is closest in meaning to.
- The phrase "x" in the passage mostly means
- what is the meaning of the word?
- Which of the following words could best replace the word..?
- Which of the following is most probably the meaning of.?
3.2.4. Inference questions 
Inference questions ask about the meaning of a line, paragraph, or even an entire passage. You have to make a very small logical conclusion that is strongly implied based upon information in the passage.The answer to inference questions is often a near paraphrase of a fact in the passage or a fact that the information in the passage rules out. 
Common Question Stems:
- The passage implies that which of the following was true of x
- It can be inferred from the passage that..
- The passage suggests which of the following about x
- The author implies that  x occurred because
-The author implies that all of the following statements about x are true EXCEPT
3.3. Stratergies for each kind of the questions
 The first step in reading should be to skim the passage and underline the key words.Skimming means to read through the passage quickly to get a general idea of what a passage is likely to be about.The next step is to read through the questions and make sure to fully understand what the type of the questions are . This is extremely important before you read the text in detail.Because questions will tell you what information you need so that when you read the text,you will be able to pick out the answers. and group them to identify the corect answers. 
* General strategies: You should start with the vocabulary questions because they may be among the easier ones in the reading comprehension section. Then, tackle the detail questions before you identify the main idea of the passge. Inference questions should be the last ones because they are the hardest questions.But sometimes,in case that you are not able to answer any question,make a mark and move on to the next question.If you have time,you can come back to it later.Never get stuck anywhere in the passage.Whether is the meaning of a word or maybe you are not be able to find an answer to a question,do not get stuck-it will eat up your time.
* Strategies for each type of questions:
In addition to above general strategies for taking standardized reading tests, the following strategies are useful for tackling each of the above question types:
3.3.1. For main idea questions
To answer a detail question, you need to know the main idea. In reading test passages, sometimes the main idea is stated in the opening sentence and developed with examples and evidence in the sentences that follow. Or a passage may conclude with the main idea.To find out the answer for these questions . You should implement the following steps:
- Step 1: Reread the first and the last sentences of the passage
- Step 2: Find the relationship between the first sentence and the sentence after.
- Step 3: Skim the supporting sentences to test the answer you choose. While you skim the passage, you have to identify the words repeated many times.
- Step 4: Learn to spot incorrect answers .Wrong answers for main idea questions are often:
 + the ones are not directly related to the question
+ the ones has no information in the passage
+ contrary to the information mentioned in the passage.
+ too detailed ( time, place, description.)
 + too broad – the answer covers too much, is too “big” in some way 
Example :
 In the words of Thomas De Quincey, “It is notorious that the memory strengthens as you lay burdens upon it.” If, like most people, you have trouble recalling the names of those you have just met, try this: The next time you are introduced, plan to remember the names. Say to yourself, “I’ll listen carefully; I’ll repeat each person’s name to be sure I have it, and I will remember.” You’ll discover how effective this technique is and probably recall those names for the rest of your life.
Question: The main idea of the paragraph maintains that the memory:
A. always operates at peak efficiency 
B. breaks down under great strain 
C. improves if it is used often
D. becomes unreliable if it tires 
- The first sentence is: “ It is notorious that the memory strengthens as you lay burdens upon it.”
- The last one “You’ll discover how effective this technique is and probably recall those names for the rest of your life.”
- The phrsase “the memory strengthens” are the keywords in the passage.
- The answer A is talking about not remembering about
- The answer B:remembering names is a normal thing,not as a great strain
- The answer D is contrary to the information mentioned in the passage.
- The best answer is C. improves if it is used often 
3.3.2. For detail questions
 Detailed questions often occupy about 50 percents in the reading part and follow the reading sequence. They mention an detailed information in the passage such as time, place, reason, result,etc.. Each question has four answers and the best answer contains the closest information in a paragraph or is expessed in a different way ,such as changing the sentence structure or using synonyms, or antonym.. You should follow these steps to identify the correct answer more easily.
- Step 1: Underline the key words in the questions.
- Step 2: Read carefully the sentences containing the key words.
- Step 3: Eliminate the incorrect answers which might 
+ not be mentioned in the passage
+ has any part of an answer choice which is wrong.
- Step4: Find the correct answer among four answers.
Example
Flutes have been around for quite some time, in all sorts of shapes and sizes and made from a variety of materials. The oldest known flutes are, about 20,000 years old, they were made from hollowed-out bones with holes cut in them. In addition to bone, older flutes were often constructed from bamboo or hollowed-out wood.
 Today flutes are generally made of metal, and in addition to the holes they have a complicated system of keys, levers, and pads. The instrument belonging to well-known flautist James Galway is not just made of any metal, it is made of gold.
 Question: According to the passage, the oldest flutes .
A. had holes cut in  them
B. were made of metal
C. were made 200,000 years ago
D. had a complicated set of levers and pads
=>The key word in the question is “oldest flutes” and we can see it in the second sentence of paragraph 1: “The oldest known flutes are, about 20,000 years old, they were made from hollowed-out bones with holes cut in them.”
-The answer B,D are the ones are not directly related to the question.Because the key word in the question is “oldest flutes”
- The answer C gives false information,because : “The oldest flutes are 20,000 years old”, not “200,000 years old.”
-The best answer is A. had holes cut in  them
3.3.3 . For vocabulary questions
 Vocabulary questions or vocabulary in context questions will tell you where the word is located in the passage. This area of the passage surrounding the word is called the context. Context clues are the words, phrases, and sentences that surround the word you do not know. Many sentences and paragraphs contain enough information for you to use the clues that the writer has left to figure out the meanings of many words you do not know when you have to choose the correct meaning of a word, it is helpful to follow these steps:
- Step 1: Read the sentence that the word is in 
- Step 2: Read sentence right before and the sentence right after to find the evidences.
- Step 3: Notice how the word is used in the sentence, and plug in the answer choices to see which one works best.
Example
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