Reading strategies and reading comprehension - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 38 Words: 11299 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Statistics Essay Did you like this example? GEPT: General English Profiency Test HP: Higher proficiency Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Reading strategies and reading comprehension" essay for you Create order LP: Lower proficiency HETC: Harvard Education Training Center Rationale Hammadon (1991) says: Reading comprehension is not just understanding words, sentences, or even texts, but involves a complex interartion of the readers prior knowledge, language profiency and their learning strategies (p.30). So reading strategies are very important to achieve the comprehension. Many types of reading strategies are introduced to guide students of all different levels. However, there were few researchers who investigate the relationship of reading comprehension strategies and reading comprehension of students. At HETC, reading has a key place in any English courses when students study English not only as the interest but also the demand for improving their study and promoting in their careers to achieve the long-term goals, especially some of them were assigned to live and work abroad. In their learning process, almost the students meet great challenges when dealing with the reading texts. They usually do not understand texts and cannot complete the tasks so they fe el tired in reading lessons. Therefore, what are the main causes of this current situation? In order to find out the answer, the researcher started a survey on the reading comprehension strategy use. For teachers at HETC, it is hoped that this study may offer them the ways on how to identify strategies used by the students and then they can decide what they should do to promote their students reading comprehension and in their learning as well. Literature review 2.1. Reading comprehension strategies and reading skills Oxford (1990) gives a detailed definition of language learning strategies: Learning strategies are specific actions taken by the learner to make learning easier, faster, more enjoyable, more self-directed, more effective, and more transferable to new situations (p.8) and described concretely how learning strategies are applied to the four language skills: listening, speaking, writing and reading. According to her, four strategies: listening strategies, , or reading strategies are those learning strategies themselves that applied to each of the four skills. Of course, skills and strategies are two big words and common terms of the reading activities, as well. Nutall (1982) pointed out that reading was certainly a process of the readers, who used strategies to work with the meaning of the texts actively and then made sense from them. By the interesting interactions from the readers and texts, more and more researchers keep working to research the relationship between the use of reading strategies and reading comprehension. However, strategy and skill, are they different? Yes, it was actually apparent that they were different. Strategy meant people used the planned methods and implements to achieve their goals, but skill was known as a routine. Moreover, strategy was the result of conciously work towards goals. It helped readers to understand the meaning of contents in order to find out the answer or obtain a certain performance level in reading that they want for themselves (Gagn, 1985). However, it is not always easy to make such a clear differnces between these two terms. Grabe and Stoller (2002) said that many abilities that are commonly identified as strategies are relatively automatic in their use by fluent readers (e.g. skipping an unknown word while reading, rereading to reestabilsh text meaning (p.15) Paris et al (1991) supposed an emerging skill can become more efficient and developmentally advanced when they become generated and applied automatically as skills (p.61). Sometimes this differen ce is not clear at all because that is part of the nature of reading. In this study, reading strategies are used to show specific actions, steps and plans that students conciously apply in their reading process to improve their comprehension. 2.2. The relationship between reading strategies and reading comprehension Reading comprehension must occur rapid in almost any purposeful context, and the more rapidly a text is read, the better reading processes are to effect. Those specific processes must be implemented effectively in combination to ensure the reading comprhension. Reading comprehension requires the reader be strategic. The reader needs to identify processing difficulties, address balances between text information and background knowledge, decide for monitoring comprhension, and shifing goals for reading. When a good reader use strategies, they can read fluently, flexible in line with changing purpose and then continue monitoring the comprehension. Similarly, reading is an process that evaluating the reader, who must decide if the reading information is coherent and finds out the purpose for reading.Alderson (2003) said reading as the interaction of four things. He claimed that the reader and the text together must be fluent reading or the ability to reach at an appropriate rate with ad equate comprehension, or the ability of the reader to use a wide variety of reading strategies to accomplish a purpose for reading (p.149). So discovering the best methods and strategies are the way that a good learner apply during a reading process. 2.3. Previous research on reading comprhension strategies Grellet, F. (1981) wrote a book Developing Reading Skills. This book showed the important role of reading and provided some techniques which help learners improve their reading skill. Nutal, C. (1989) proved reading is to enable students to read without help unfamiliar authentic texts at appropriate speed, silently with adequate understanding. Ozek, O. (2006) researched A study on the Use of Cognitive Reading Strategies by ELT Students. This study carried out to find out which reading strategies are commonly employed by ELT students while reading a text, and which reading strategies are needed to be developed to understand the text better, and to continue academic studies successfully. San San Kung (2007) did an investigation into the relationship between reading comprehension and the use of reading strategies among EFL students in colleges in Taiwan. Through the study, the researcher knew what the reading strategies the EFL students use more or less and what the differences between different grade students. Methodology This chapter will describe research methods used to collect data to answer the research questions and then explain how and why the methods are used. 3.1. Research questions This study aims to find out reading strategy use of HETCs students. This also has objectives to discover if there are any differences in strategy use between lower and higher proficiency readers, as well. Then to suggest some recommendations to raise students awareness of using reading comprehension strategies in the classroom. It aims at answering the following questions: 1. What reading strategies are used by students at HETC? 2. What are the differences in the use of reading strategies between lower and higher proficiency readers? 3.2. Descriptions of variables 3.2.1. Independent variables In this study, the independence variables were the students at HETC. 51 students were chosen as representatives of this particular group sudents to collect needed data. These 51 students were divided into four groups in which students are the members of higher and lower proficiency groups. These 2 groups were chosen to get information to answer the second research question ( More details about these groups and about higher and lower proficiency readers will be found in 3.3.1 and 3.4.2) 3.2.2. Dependent variable: The dependent variable in this research were the strategies applied in reading comprehension, i.e. reading comprehension strategies. 3.3. The data collection instruments: This study employs a combibation of 3 data collection instruments: * General English Proficiency Test (GEPT) * Questionaire * Think-aloud interviews As one of the objectives of this study is to find out if there are any dfferences in the strategy use between higher proficiency (HP) and lower proficiency (LP) readers. The test was used to divide the subjects into difference groups in which groups of higher and lower proficiency were chosen to collect the data. Think-aloud interviews aimed at getting qualitative data and quesionaire was used to get quantiative data. The author can collect a large information of all mentioned strategies and the information from students who share their thought of strategy use in the think-aloud interviews. Of course, the think a loud interviews in this study can be one of the best ways to reaffirm the result got from the questionaire. For example, in the questionaire, the subjects report that they use life experiences to understand the meaning of texts or read the first and last paragraphs and then go back to read the paragraphs; the author will know they use these strategies or not in the interview. 3.3.1. Test A General English proficiency test is a procedure taken to collect data on students ability or the knowledge of disciplines as Information about peoples language ability is often very useful and necessary (Nunan, 1992). The GEPT was taken form the book IELTS for Academic Purpose: A short insentive course (see the appendix 3). Based on the result of the test, the subjects were classified into 4 groups. Group 1 consists students who just got from mark 1 to 2.5; group 2 has those who got mark from 3 to 5. The students in these 2 groups are LP learners. Meanwhile, the students who are in group 3 got mark from 5.5 to 6.5 they are at medium levels. And the last group group 4 consists of HP ones who got mark from 7 and over. After having the result of the test, the author decided to chose group 2 and 4 to collect the data to answer the second research question. So there are 51 subjects in these 2 groups. The author did not choose group 1 because their proficiency were too low and they we re only 1% of the subjects. Details of the test can be found in Appendix 1. 3.3.2. Questionaire: Questionaire is the second data collection instrument in this study. This is also a pretty popular means of data collection. Many researchers suppose that using questionaire in language research has many advantages. First, questionaire can be given to a great amount of students at the same time and it is self-administered. Second, to protect the privacy and keep the fairness, the subjects names might not be appeared on the questionaire. So subjects tend to share the information more naturally, even some sensitive information. Third, the data collected are more accurate because questionaire is usually given to all the subjects at the same time. This study used one survey questionaire to gather the information about reading strategies as well as the differences in strategy use between these two kinds of readers. According to the result of the questionaire (and interviews), the athor can make some recommendation to help students improve their reading abilities. The quesionaire was designed based on the questionaire of Shan Shan Kung (2007). This part consists 3 parts. Of couse, in this study, the author modified the first part personal information part. The next part concept of reading had 3 questions to explore the perceptions of English reading. The last part had thirty eight questions of strategy use. In the beginning of third section, thirty four questions utilized a Liker Scale point systems. The subjects were asked to respond to each statement by choosing among four answers: 1) usually; 2) sometimes; 3) rarely; 4) never. Each section has four to six questions (except section 1 has 10 questions because of discoverin g the reading process). Through the survey, the author found out which strategies actually actracted HP readers more than LP readers. 3.3.3. Think aloud interviews In addition to the quetionaire, interviews are used to obtain information by actually talking to the subject. The interviewer asks questions and the subject responds. Interviews are the good way for collecting data as Seliger, H.W. (1989) claimed Interviews are personalized and therefore permit a level of in-depth information gathering, free response and flexibility that cannot be obtained by other procedures (p.166). However, it can be costly and time consuming. In this study, think aloud interviews were used to collect the data about the students reading strategy. The Interviewer Guide for Reading Strategies developed by Honsenfeld et al. (1981). In oder to make the Guide appropriate for objectives of thi study, the researcher has made some changes in the strategies they posed ( see Appendix 3). 3.4. Participants in the study: At the time the study was carried out, the subjects had just finished an English course. Their textbook was Therefore, their commonly assumed proficiency was intermidiate. They were members of three classes. One class included 25 students , 24 in the other class and 21 in the last one and they stuied the same textbook. Their ages ranged from 19 to 24. Almost all of students had at least 3 years of learning English before this class. They were delivered a reading proficiency test to be divided into higher and lower proficiency readers. In this study, gender has minimal effect on the results because the number of male students is quite small in the total of the subjects. 3.5. Procedure The data were collected by the researcher during a week in autum 2009. After contacting the English teachers of the subjects in person to get approval for asking their students to participate in the study, the researcher pre-arranged the time. The researcher went to English classes to administer the tests. The students were asked to complete the test in 60 minutes. The English teachers and the researcher supervised and marked the test papers later. The 2 days after, subjects were distributed the questionanires. The researcher gave some directions to the subjects and of then encouraged students to ask for any clarifications they might need and any other extra time when they filled out the questionaire. And of couse, the researcher wanted to protect the privacy and the students fairness, so the students names would not fill in the questionaires. In order to advoid misunderstanding the questions, the questionaire were translated into Vietnamese which were enclosed with the English version. The questionaire administration took about 30 minutes in each class. For days later, six chosen students were interviewed individually at the researcher s office in HETC. The reseacher pre-arranged the time and contacted to the students by the phone. Before the interview, the reseacher gave the instructions and explained the purpose of the study to students so they could understand what they had to do clearly. Each interview took from 10 to 15 minutes. Data analysis and findings 4.1. The result of the questionaire 4.1.1. Demographic Data Table 4.1 Demographic Information of Students (N=51) Subject Frequency Percentage Total N % Gender Male 9 17.6 51 100 Female 42 82.4 Level Lower proficiency 32 63.7 Higher proficiency 19 36.3 Years of English learning experience 2 3 5.9 51 100 4 9 17.6 5 15 29.4 6 11 21.6 7 6 11.8 8 2 3.9 9 4 7.8 10 1 2.0 Look at the table 4.1, of the 51 students participating in the study, 9 (17.6%) were males and 43 (82.4%) were females. Of the 19 HP students (36.3%) and 32 (63.7%) were LP students. When asking about years of English learning experience, just 1 students (2.0%) has been studying English for ten years. 9 students (17.6%) have been studying English for four years, 15 students (29.4%) have been studying English for five years, 11 students (21.6%) have been studying English for six years, 6 students (11.8%) have been studying English for seven years, 2 students (3.9%) have been studying English for eight years, 4 students (7.8%) have been studying English for nine years. Because foreign language in general and English in particular were given into school from sixth grade in secondary school, and from tenth grade in high school ( in some remote areas), the most students years of English learning experience were between four and seven years. To answer the second section of the questionnaire about concepts of reading, the results were presented in Table 4.2. Table 4.2 The Relationship between the Important of Reading for Language Learning and Reading Hours per Week by higher and lower proficiency students Reading hours per week 2 3 4 Over 4 N % N % N % N % Higher proficiency students (N =19) Very important 2 10.5 5 26.3 6 31.6 3 15.8 important 1 5.3 2 10.5 Not important Lower proficiency students (N =32) Very important 6 18.8 7 21.9 5 15.6 important 4 12.5 5 15.6 4 12.5 Not important 1 3.1 According to the illustration of Table 4.2, HP students who thought reading was very important for language learning were 2 (10.5%) spent two hours per week on reading, 5(26.3%) for three hours per week, 6 (31.6%), for four hours per week and 3 (15.8%) for over four hours per week. HP students who thought reading was important for language learning were 1 (5.3%) spent two hours per week on reading, 2 (10.5%) for four hours per week. There were not any students who thought reading was not important for language learning. In the LP group, 6 (18.8%) students thought reading was very important for language learning and spent two hours per week for it, 7 (21.9%) spent three hours for reading, 5 (15.6%) spent four hours for reading. These LP students supposed reading was important for language learning were 4 (12.5%) spent two hours per week on reading, 5 (15.6%) for three hours per week. There was 1 (3.1%) students said reading was not important for language learning but still spent two hours per week on it. 4.1.2. Findings for Research Question One The research question one was What reading comprehension strategies are used by students at HETC ? After collecting data, it showed what the same or different strategies were used more or less by HP or LP students for helping them understand the contents of the reading materials in different reading situations and were ranked from low to high to represent which strategy would be used more or less by the students during their reading process in different situations. The results were listed in the following by all of students reading ability levels when they used reading strategies in different reading situations. The total results came from the 51 students in Table 4.3, 4.4, 4.5 and 4.6. Table 4.3 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students at HETC When I read English materials, Mean Mean SD Rank 1. I read a table of contents, and then read the contents 1.82 1 .90 2. I focus on the first sentence of each paragraph for helping me understand the main points of the whole paragraph 2.51 7 .12 3. I underline the main points when I am reading 2.03 4 .97 4. I write Vietnamese on the margin for vocabulary words I dont understand during reading 1.86 2 .90 5 I skim over the full text, and then read details 1.88 3 .92 6 I use life experiences helping me understand the meaning of texts 1.86 2 .90 7 I use the background knowledge of the English culture to understand the contents 2.57 8 1.03 8 I use key words or sentences to guess the main idea of the articles 1.88 3 1.08 9 After reading each paragraph, I ask myself if I understand what I read before, and paraphrase the main idea, then keep reading the next paragraph 2.25 5 1.09 10 I discuss what I read with classmates 2.45 6 1.05 In Table 4.3, the result indicated which strategies the 51 students used more or less when they read English materials. The table showed the data with mean, mean rank, and standard deviation. As illustration of Table 4.3, the mean was from 1.82 to 2.51 and the rank was S1 (1.82) S4 = S6 (1,86) S5= S8 (1.88) S3 (2.03) S9 (2.25) S10 (2.45) S2 (2.51) S7 (2.57). The data express that strategy 1 had lowest mean scores. It meant that strategy 1 I read the table of contents, and then read the contents most students would like to use to help them understand the contents during reading process. On the contrary, they used the two least strategies: strategy 2 and strategy 7. Table 4.4 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students at HETC When I do not understand a vocabulary, Mean Mean SD Rank 11 I check the dictionary immediately 2.37 3 1.1 12 I mark and pass it, keep reading and then go back 2.33 2 1.08 13 I use other words in the sentence to infer the meaning of vocabulary 2.09 1 .87 14 I analyze its suffix and prefix to get its meaning 3.00 4 1.21 Through Table 4.4, strategy 13 I use other words in the sentence to infer the meaning of vocabulary was most used by the students when they did not understand a vocabulary during the reading process. On contrary, strategy 14 I analyze its suffix and prefix to get its meaning was the strategy which most students used least in this reading situation. Table 4.5 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students at HETC When I do not understand a sentence, Mean Mean SD Rank 15 I use the context (topic, subject) to derive the meaning of each sentence 1.86 1 .91 16 I translate word for word into Vietnamese to better understand the meaning of the sentences 2.35 4 1.12 17 I take grammar analysis (ex: finding subject and verb etc.) to understand the meaning of the sentences 2.33 3 1.02 18 I analyze the structure of sentences (ex: sample sentence, adjective clause, or adverb clause, etc.)to derive the meaning of sentence 2.37 5 .97 19 I will analyze the verb tense (ex: past tense or future tense) or verb mood (ex: subjunctive mood or imperative mood) for better understanding 2.27 2 .95 In Table 4.5, those strategies had close mean scores between each other, but it also pointed out the differences from 2.27 to 2.37, except the strategy 15 had the mean score less 1.86. It described that strategy 15 I use the context (topic, subject) to derive the meaning of each sentence were the most used by the students when they did not understand a sentence during reading process. Vice versa, the means of the strategy 16 and strategy 18 to derive the meaning of sentence meant that they were used least than other strategies in this section. Table 4.6 Means, Ranks, and Standard Deviations of the Uses of Reading Strategies in First Section by students When I dont understand (including vocabulary and sentences,) except above reading strategies, Mean Mean SD Rank 20 I check books (ex: grammar books or encyclopedia) for references 2.16 2 1.14 21 I go on the Internet to find related information 1.98 1 .92 22 I ask teachers or classmates for clarification 2.27 3 1.03 23 I read the difficult parts several times 2.63 5 1.12 24 I read the contents orally several times 2.47 4 .94 25 I will memorize the vocabulary pertaining to the contents before reading 2.16 2 .99 According to the data, it presented that strategy 21 I go on Internet to find related information was used by almost students. The information technology nowaday becomes quite popular to students so they would like to search information on the Internet. The S20 = S25 (2.16) both stood the second position. The strategy that students used least was strategy 23 I read difficult parts several times. 4.1.3. Findings for Research Question Two Research question two was What are the differences in the use of reading strategies of the higher and lower proficiency students at HETC? Through mean, standard deviation, t-tests and p value, the data analysis depicted detailed information about the differences of reading strategy performance between these two groups of students. The comparative groups focused on higher and lower proficiency student. Table 4.7 Means, Standard Deviations, t-Tests and p Value between higher and lower proficiency students at HETC when I read English materials, Lower proficiency students Higher proficiency students T p (N=19) (N=32) Mean SD Mean SD 1. I read a table of contents, and then read the contents 2.00 1.054 1.72 .813 .999 .322 2. I focus on the first sentence of each paragraph for helping me understand the main points of the whole paragraph 2.16 1.118 1.78 .792 1.288 .20 3. I underline the main points when I am reading 2.00 1.105 2.06 .914 -.208 .84 4. I write Vietnamese on the margin for vocabulary words I dont understand during reading 2.79 1.084 2.78 1.069 .026 .98 5. I skim over the full text, and then read details 2.05 1.026 1.78 .870 .965 .34 6. I use life experiences helping me understand the meaning of texts 1.89 .937 1.84 .917 .189 .85 7. I use the background knowledge of the English culture to understand the contents 2.05 1.129 2.86 .871 -2.729 .00** 8. I use key words or sentences to guess the main idea of the articles 2.37 1.261 1.59 .911 2.412 .02* 9. After reading each paragraph, I ask myself if I understand what I read before, and paraphase the main idea, then keep reading the next paragraph 2.00 1.202 2.53 .983 -1.630 .11 10. I discuss what I read with classmates 2.53 1.264 2.41 .946 .359 .72 p.05*, p.01** As indicated in Table 4.7, strategy 7 and strategy 8 attended to the significant difference level (p.05) which meant there were significant differences in usage between the two groups of students. Looking at the means of strategy 1, 2, 5, 10 the analyzing data showed that good students had lower frequency of use than lower ones. Meanwhile, look at strategy 9, HP students had higher frequency to use these strategies to help their read than LP students As for the rest strategies in this section, there were no significant differences between two groups. Table 4.8 Means, Standard Deviations, t-Tests and p Value between higher and lower proficiency students at HETC When I do not understand a vocabulary, Higher proficiency students Lower proficiency students t p (N=19) (N=32) Mean SD Mean SD 11. I check the dictionary immediately 3.32 .749 1.81 .896 6.432 .00** 12. I mark and pass it, keep reading and then go back 2.89 1.1 2.06 .878 2.809 .00** 13. I use other words in the sentence to infer the meaning of vocabulary 2.05 .911 2.13 .871 -.279 .78 14. I analyze its suffix and prefix to get its meaning 2.84 1.344 3.13 1.07 -.782 .44 p.05*; p.01** In table 4.8, strategy 11 and strategy 12 attended to the significant different level (p.05). That meant that the two strategies both had significant differences on frequencies of use between HP students and LP students mean scores. Good students had higher frequency to use the strategy to solve their vocabulary problems during the reading process. The mean score of strategy 11 showed that HP students would prefer to use it for solving their vocabulary problems, but LP students did not. Other strategies in this part, there were no significant differences. Table 4.9 Means, Standard Deviations, t-Tests and p Value between higher and lower proficiency students When I do not understand a sentence, Higher proficiency students Lower proficiency students t p (N=19) (N=32) Mean SD Mean SD 15. I use the context (topic, subject) to derive the meaning of each sentence 1.89 1.1 1.84 .808 .176 .86 16. I translate word for word into Vietnamese to better understand the meaning of the sentences 3.21 0.976 1.84 0.884 5.005 .00** 17. I take grammar analysis (ex: finding subject and verb etc.) to understand the meaning of the sentences 2.16 1.167 2.44 .948 -.885 .38 18. I analyze the structure of sentences (ex: sample sentence, adjective clause, or adverb clause, etc.)to derive the meaning of sentence 1.84 .898 2.69 .896 -3.253 .00* 19. I will analyze the verb tense (ex: past tense or future tense) or verb mood (ex: subjunctive mood or imperative mood) for better understanding 1.84 .898 2.53 .915 -2.630 .01* p.05*, p.01** As indicated in Table 4.9, strategy 18 and strategy 19 attended to significant different level (p.05). These strategies had significant differences between the two groups. Through the mean score, we know these significant differences were that HP students preferred to use this strategy more often to help them reading fluently, but LP ones did not. However, in strategy 16 I translate word for word into Vietnamese to better understand the meaning of the sentences, LP students preferred this strategy to HP students. Table 4.10 Means, Standard Deviations, t-Tests and p Value between higher and lower proficiency students When I dont understand (including vocabulary and sentences,) except above reading strategies, Higher proficiency students Lower proficiency students t p (N=19) (N=32) Mean SD Mean SD 20. I check books (ex: grammar books or encyclopedia) for references 2.32 1.157 2.06 1.162 .755 .45 21. I go on the Internet to find related information 2.05 .970 1.94 .914 .419 .68 22. I ask teachers or classmates for clarification 2.16 1.214 3.25 .984 -3.326 .00** 23. I read the difficult parts several times 3.37 .761 2.19 1.091 4.54 .00** 24. I read the contents orally several times 2.53 .905 2.44 .982 .328 .74 25. I will memorize the vocabulary pertaining to the contents before reading 2.05 1.312 2.22 .792 -.501 .62 p.05*, p.01** In table 4.10, strategy 22 and strategy 23 attended to the significant difference level (p.05). It meant that the two strategies had significant differences on frequency of use between efficient student and less efficient student mean score. It seemed that HP students like to use the strategy 22 when they don not understand their reading. Vice versa, the LP students like to use strategy 23 I read the difficult part several times even it would waste of their time. Other strategies did not have significant differences between these two groups. In order to know the futher information about the strategy of the two groups. There were think-aloud interviews to conduct the results. 4.4. The results of the interviews As mentioned in 3.3.3, in this study, six students with 1 girls and 3 boys were given think alound interviews to get further information about their reading strategy use and to reaffirm the results of the quetionaire. Among them, 2 are successful and 2 are unsuccessful. The first trend the researcher took notes is the use of strategies of skimming and scanning by both goood and poor students. When students were asked When you read a text like this, what do you usually do? they all answered First, I look through the text to get the main ideas of it. After that, I read the required tasks and come back to the text to find the answers. It seemed that most of them did in this way automatically. And All of them dont know that they were using reading strategies in their reading process. The second trend is that the students used translating strategy at a lower rate than they answered in the questionaire. Both two poor readers claimed they were trying to translate the text into Vietnamese to understand it and do the task easily. While students read, they always had a pencil in their hands and underlined the new words: they then looked at dictionary or glossary. Their physical habits made the reseacher no surprise. They opened the dictionary when they met a new words. They said: There are a lot of new words and I have to use it. If not, I can not understand the text. Only one strongest students never used the glossary and finished reading in 15 minutes with comprehension as good as or better than others who took more than 20 minutes to read the article while using their dictionary. He said: I only use the dictionary as the last resort. During the intervies, nobody ask the teacher for help. This is not like what they actually did in thr classroom where they certainly make questions when they do not understand something. So the strategies I ask teacher or classmates for clarifications were not directly observed in the interviews because the students were interviewed individually. conclusion In conclusion, The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of reading strategies by higher and lower proficiency students, to find out the common and uncommon strategies used by these students at HETC. The findings may use to predict the possible students viewpoints of learning to read in Vietnam. Although the study was limited by fifty-one students coming from HETC, The principal emered from the study: 1. Most students had English learning experiences from four to seven years, so they actually understood the important role of reading in Enlish language acquisition, but they still did not spend much time on it. The main reason might be most teachers in Vietnam would mainly focus on teaching grammar. Because they believed it was useful for the tests. 2. Most students (even fewer learning experiences ones) could choose appropriate strategies to help them read effectively when they could not understand the text or met some reading problems. 3. The HP students knew how to use more strategies to help them read better and apply more strategies than LP students because they thought that reading strategies were useful for helping reading comprehension. Thereforce, from the findings of this study and from the teaching and learning context at HETC, the researcher recommends that teacher should raise their students awareness of using learning strategies in common, especially reading strategies, teach them how to use strategies appropriately and encourage them to use the strategies more often not only in the classroom but also in new contexts. Future research can investigate if teaching particular reading strategies results in better reading scores on standardized tests. Appendix 1 Survey questionnaire The questionnaire is aimed to investigate reading comprehension strategies. We are grateful for your goodwill and cooperation in truthfully completing the questionnaire. Please respond to each question as frankly and accurately as possible. Thank you very much! I. Personal information (please fill in the blanks with numbers) 1. You are in group: _________ (1) GE2/08/2 _________ (2) GE2/22/4 2. Gender ___________(1) male ___________(2) female 3. How many years have you studied English? _________ II. Concepts of reading (please fill in the blanks with numbers) 1. Do you think that reading is important for language learning? __________ (1) very important, __________ (2) important, __________ (3) not important, __________ (4) not very important. 2. Do you read English materials other than the teachers assignments? _______(1) yes _______(2) no 3. How many hours do you spend reading English very week? (including textbooks) ______(1) two hours ______ (2) three hours ______ (3) four hours ______ (4) over four hours. III. The use of reading strategies Please fill in the blanks with ( ) according to how offen you use a certain reading strategy : 1 = usually 2 = sometimes 3 = less 4 = never When I read English material, 1 2 3 4 1. I read a table of contents, and then read the contents 2. I focus on the first sentence of each paragraph for helping me understand the main points of the whole paragraph 3. I underline the main points when I am reading 4. I write Vietnamese on the margin for vocabulary words I dont understand during reading 5. I first skim the text then go back and read carefully 6. I use life experiences helping me understand the meaning of texts 7. I use the background knowledge of the English culture to understand the contents 8. I use key words or sentences to guess the main idea of the articles 9. After reading each paragraph, I ask myself if I understand what I read before, and paraphase the main idea, then keep reading the next paragraph 10. I discuss what I read with classmates When I do not understand a vocabulary, 11. I check the dictionary immediately 12. I mark and pass it, keep reading and then go back 13. I use other words in the sentence to infer the meaning of vocabulary 14. I analyze its suffix and prefix to get its meaning When I do not understand a sentence, 15. I use the context (topic, subject) to derive the meaning of each sentence 16. I translate word for word into Vietnamese to better understand the meaning of the sentences 17. I take grammar analysis (ex: finding subject and verb etc.) to understand the meaning of the sentences 18. I analyze the structure of sentences (ex: sample sentence, adjective clause, or adverb clause, etc.)to derive the meaning of sentence 19. I will analyze the verb tense (ex: past tense or future tense) or verb mood (ex: subjunctive mood or imperative mood) for better understanding When I dont understand (including vocabulary and sentences,) except above reading strategies, 20. I check books (ex: grammar books or encyclopedia) for references 21. I go on the Internet to find related information 22. I ask teachers or classmates for clarification 23. I read the difficult parts several times 24. I read the contents orally several times 25. I will memorize the vocabulary pertaining to the contents before reading Appendix 2 PHIU IU TRA Phiu iu tra ny iu tra v chin lc c hiu ca sinh vin. Chng ti rt bit n s thin ch v hp tc ca bn hon thnh phiu iu tra ny. Xin vui lng tr li nhng cu hi di y mt cch trung thc v chnh xc nht. Chng ti xin cm n s gip ca cc bn. I. Thng tin c nhn (xin vui lng in vo khong trng theo ch s) 1. Bn hc lp _________ (1) K19a1_________ (2) K19a3 2. Gii tnh ___________(1) nam _________ (2) n 3. Bn hc ting Anh c bao nhiu nm? ___________ II. Cc quan nim v k nng c hiu (xin vui lng in vo khong trng theo ch s) 1. Bn c ngh rng k nng c hiu l quan trng trong vic hc ngoi ng khng? ____________(1) rt quan trng, ___________(2) quan trng, ____________(3) khng quan trng, ___________(4) rt khng quan trng. 2 .Bn c c cc ti liu ting Anh nhiu hn so vi cc bi tp m thy c giao cho bn khng? _______(c) _______(khng) 3. Mi tun bn dnh bao nhiu ting c ting Anh? (bao gm c sch gio khoa) ________(1) hai ting ________ (2) ba ting________ (3) bn ting ________(4) hn bn ting III. V vic s dng chin lc c hiu: Xin vui lng in du ( ) vo khong trng theo mc t 1 n 4 l : 1 = thng xuyn s dng 2 = thnh thong s dng 3 = t khi s dng 4 = cha tng s dng Khi ti c ti liu ting Anh, 1 2 3 4 1. Ti thng c phn mc lc, sau c phn ni dung 2. Ti thng tp trung vo cu u ca mi on gip ti hiu chnh ca ton on 3. Ti thng gch chn nhng chnh trong khi ti c 4. Ti thng vit nhng t mi trn l khi m ti khng hiu trong khi c 5. Ti c lt qua ton on, sau c chi tit 6. Ti s dng nhng kinh nghim ca cuc sng gip ti hiu ngha ca bi c 7. Ti s dng hiu bit v nn vn ho Anh hiu ni dung 8. Ti s dng nhng t hoc nhng cu chnh on chnh 9. Sau khi c mi on, ti t hi liu ti c hiu nhng g m ti c phn trc cha, v din gii bng cch khc nhng chnh, sau tip tc c on tip theo 10. Ti tho lun nhng g ti c vi bn cng lp Khi m ti khng hiu t vng, 11. Ti tra t in ngay lp tc 12. Ti nh du v tip tc c, sau quay li nhng t vng 13. Ti s dng nhng t khc trong cu suy ra ngha ca t 14. Ti phn tch phn tin t v hu t bit ngha ca t Khi ti khng hiu on vn, 15. Ti s dng bi cnh (tiu , ch ) hiu ngha ca mi on 16. Ti dch tng t ra ting Vit hiu hn ngha ca on vn 17. Ti phn tch ng php (v d nh tm ch ng, ng t) hiu ngha ca cu 18. Ti phn tch cu trc ca cu (v d nh cu mu, mnh tnh ng, mnh trng ng) hiu ngha ca cu 19. Ti phn tch thi ca ng t (thi qu kh, thi tng lai) hoc l tnh thi ca ng t (gi nh thc hoc mnh lnh thc) hiu hn Khi ti khng hiu (bao gm c t vng v cu), tr nhng chin lc c trn, 20. Ti tra sch(sch ng php hoc t in bch khoa ton th) tham kho 21. Ti vo mng tm thng tin lin quan 22. Ti hi thy c hoc bn b gii thch 23. Ti c nhng phn kh hiu nhiu ln 24. Ti c to phn ni dung nhiu ln 25. Ti nh t vng gn vi phn ni dung trc khi c Appendix 3 READING READING PASSAGE 1 VENUS The planet Venus, named after the Roman goddess of love, is the second closest planet to the Sun (Mercury is the closest), and the second brightest natural object in the night sky (after the Moon). From Earth, Venus is brightest just after sunset and just before dawn. Because of this, the planet is often known as the Morning Star of the Evening Star. Venus is also sometimes known as the Earths sister, because both planets share similarities in terms of size Venus surface area and volume are just a little smaller than Earths. However, scientists believe that, several billion years ago, Venus and Earth were much more similar than they are today. Back then, Venus atmosphere was more like Earths, and there was almost certainly water in liquid form on the surface. Over time, Venus became hotter, and this water evaporated. Today, the planets surface is a dry dusty desert. Above the ground on Venus are sulphuric acid clouds. These thick clouds prevent the surface of the planet being seen from Earth. Indeed, it is only in the last few decades that scientists have discovered what the surface of the planet is really like. In the early 1990s, NASAs Magellan spacecraft mapped the surface of Venus in detail for the first time. Its radar images of hills, ridges and craters are almost photographic in their quality. Questions 1 3 Which THREE of the following statements are true, according to the reading passage? NB Your answers may be giver in any order. 1 _______ 2_______ 3_______ A The Moon is the brightest natural object in the night sky. B From Earth, Venus is at its brightest in the middle of the night. C Venus is a slightly larger planet than Earth. D Venus atmosphere has changed greatly over billions of years. E A telescope is required to see Venus surface from Earth. F Scientists now have a detailed map of the surface of Venus. G The surface of Venus is almost completely flat. Questions 4 10 Complete the sentences. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. 4 The ancient Romans had a _____________ called Venus. 5 Only ____________ is closer to the Sun than Venus. 6 Venus has been called the _____________, the Morning Star and the Evening Star. 7 It is highly likely that there was __________________ on Venus in the past. 8 Venus is a much ___________________ planet than it used to be. 9 Venus thick clouds are made of _________________ to create pictures of the surface of Venus. READING PASSAGE 2 SUPERCONDUCITIVITY In 1908, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes became the first scientist to produce liquid helium. Achieving the lowest temperatures recorded up to that point. A number of researchers that materials behaved differently at very low temperatures, and this substance was important in allowing experiments that confirmed it. Working with solid mercury, Onnes demonstrated the phenomenon of superconductivity. This is when the electrical resistance of the metal drops suddenly to zero. No energy is lost as an electric current travels through the material, making it very efficient for storing or transmitting power. Since the work done by Onnes, other superconducting materials have been discovered that can be used at higher temperatures and which are therefore more economical. There are a number of practical applications of superconducting materials, Many of these applications are based on the fact that the materials can be made into extremely powerful electromagnets. These are used in scientific experiments to direct beams of particles. They also form part of maglev trains trains that float a small distance above the rails because of magnetic forces. Because there is no contact between the train and the rail, this form of transport is capable of very high speeds, although it is unlikely to be in widespread use until cost drop considerably. Questions 11 15 Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage? Write TRUE if the statement agrees with the information FALSE if the statement contradicts the information NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this 11 Many people had tried to produce liquid helium before Onnes. ____________ 12 Onnes was the only scientist interested in very low temperatures. ____________ 13 Liquid helium was used for science at very low temperatures. ____________ 14 only metals can be used as superconductors. _______ 15 Superconductors that work at higher temperatures are more expensive. _____ Questions 16 20 Complete the summary of the second paragraph. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer. Superconductors are used in a variety of contexts. Very 16 __________ can be made out of superconducting materials and scientists use them in 17 _____________. In transport, maglev trains rely on the 18 ____________ produced in superconductors to raise the train above the rails, the lack of 19 __________ meaning that high velocities can be reached. The 20 ___________ of maglev systems limit their use. Appendix E Reading Activities Use for think-aloud Interviews _______________________ Reading Activities for think-aloud interviews Name Class The Legislature of the United Kingdom The main legislative body in Britain is the Parliament. It is one of the oldest representative authorities in the word. Historically, Parliament developed from the councils that in early tomes were appointed to advise the King. The Britain Parliament consists of two houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Queen is the formal head of Parliament. The House of Commons in an elected chamber and has more power than the House of Lords. The role of the House of Lords is restricted to revising the legislation passed by the Commons and it can only delay the enactment of some bills. New laws can come into force when they passed through Parliament. A proposal for a new law is called a bill. According to very ancient practice, each bill must have three readings in order to become a law. The bill becomes a law or, in other words, an Act of Parliament, after it receives Royal Assent from the Queen. Britain is a constitutional monarchy without a written constitution. In this respect, the United Kingdom is unique among nations as constitutions are usually written documents. But this doesnt mean that Britain lacks a body of constitutional laws. Some parts of the governmental system are written down in Act of Parliament, which are also called laws of statutes. Others are regulated by conventions, which are commonly accepted assumptions about the ways things should be done, mostly based on precedents. As there are none of the usual legal restraints imposed by a written constitution, Parliament is the supreme authority in Britain and legislates as it pleases subject only to Britains obligation as a member of the European Union. Parliament has direct control over legislation. It can make new laws, replace any of the laws already in force with other laws, turn conventions into laws, or even overturn established conventions. Other law making bodies in the country (such as local councils) exercise their power only so long as Parliament authorizes them to do so. The accountability of government to Parliament for the policy of the Government as a whole, and each minister is individually responsible for the work of his or her department. Cabinet ministers may be forced to resign by the vote of confidence in the Parliament if their actions do not meet with Parliaments approval. Activity 1: Answer the following question 1. What is the topic of the text? 2. What are the historical origins of the Britain Parliament ? 3. What is the role of the House of Commons? 4. What is a bill? 5. Why are conventions important in the Britain governmental system, and what are they based on? 6. What can Parliament do with laws already in force? Activity 2: Say if the following statements are true or false. Write T for true and F for false. The first one done for you as an example. 7. T The Britain Parliament is one of the oldest representative authorities in the world. 8. The Queen choose the member of the House of Commons. 9. A bill becomes law immediately after its third reading. 10. Only the Queen can give Royal Assent. 11. Britain does not have a constitution. 12. In some cases, the European Union has authority over the Britain Parliament. 13. Local councils exercise their power independently of Parliament. 14. All ministers are responsible to Parliament for the policies of the Government. Activity 3: Using the words in the text to fill in the gaps left in the following short passage. There are two (15) in the Britain Parliament. They are called the House of Commons and (16) -. Britain Parliament is the legislative (17) of Britain, which means that it makes new (18) and revises existing ones. Britain is a constitutional (19) -, so the Queen is the formal head of Parliament, but she does not have any real power; it is the with the most seats, that runs the country. Each department is headed by a (21) and the most important of these are together called the (22) . APENDIX 4 Details of Think-aloud Interviews Notes: P stands for Interviewees The italicized part is the original text I stands for interviewer. Interview 1: Ho Thai Khanh, 6th November 2009 (Test proficiency score: 7) I: I see you are reading something. What are you reading? P: Im reading a text called The Regislature of the United Kingdom. I: What for? P: MmTo do the exercises given below I: So what is the text about? P: I think it is about the Regislature of the United Kingdom I: OK, how do you know that? P: Oh, so simple. The title. I: Good. Do you usually read something like this? P: Yes, of course. But I mainly read in Vietnamese I: So, when you read a text like this, what do you usually do? P: I always look at the first sentence of each pparagraph for helping me understand the main points of the whole paragraph. I: OK, now do the activities and describe the ways you complete them, please? P: Yes, Regislature of the UK. Im sure the content is about the Regislature of the UK (smile). Regislature Question 2, orgins Parliament I: What are you thinking? P: Im looing for these words in my dictionaryhmm OK. Thats right, as I think, the historical orgins of the British Parliament is a councils. Next, question 3,the role of the House of Commonsoh line 7 The role of the House of Lords is restricted to revising the legislation passed by the Commons Oh, passing the legislation.Question 4, certainly it is a new law because I see it in the line 10. Question 5,conventionwhat is this? I: What are you doing? P: Im looking for the meaning of convention, precedent and assumptions I: Are they new words? P: No, not all of them. Ive read this words assumptions before but I cant remember. OK, I think may be because some parts of the govermental sysytems are written down in Acts of Parliament, but others are regualted by laws. Question 6, Parliament can replace any of the laws already in force with other laws. Yes, Parliament. I: Do you understand that sentence? P: No, because I dont knoe the word inforce I: OK. Now go on with the activity 2, please. P: Yes. Question 8 is True because I think the Queen is the most powerful. Oh, wait a minute. Its False because the House of Commons is an elected chamber. Question 9, False. It is stated in the paragraph 3. Question 10, I can answer it s true. Question 11, its False, obviously . Question 12, Oh, no I: What are you thinking? P: There are many new words. I cant find the answer here. So I will pass and then go back. Question 13, I think its False. I: Why do you think so? P: I see 2 words : only and independently, one in the question and one in the text. I just predict. I: Now, I see you always read the text again when you finish one part. Why? P: Because I need to understand the details of the text. I have to read again and again to remember it. I: I know. You dont remember the information? P: Yes, I need to check it again to advoid forget it. I: Why dont you have some notes or summerise of what you read? These ways will help you remember the inforamtion. P: I dont think about it. I: You have just finished some questions. Are you sure you have the right answer? P: Just some of them I: Do you understand the text now? P: Yes, I do I: Do you know what help you understand the text? P: May be I know a little about this topics before I: When you have to deal with difficult reading text or when youre bored with your reading, do you discuss with your classmates to share the information and find out the correct answer together? P: Yes, I do I: Do you know it is a reading strategy P: No, I dont even I usually do this I: Thanks a lot. Interview 2: Nguyen Thanh Hai, 7th Novem 2009 (Test proficiency score: 5.5) I: I: I see you are reading something. What are you reading? P: Im reading a text. I: What for? P: MmTo do the tasks. I: So what is the text about? P: I think it is about the Regislature of the United Kingdom I: OK, how do you know that? P: I read the title. I: So, when you read a text like this, what do you usually do? P: I skim over the full text first, then read the details and the required tasks. I: Oh, what are you looking for? P: Im looking for the answer for question 5. Uhm Why areconvention (Ti saoconvention I: Why dont you translate the word convention? P; Because it is a new word. I: Oh, what will you do? P: Ill check in dictionary I: But if you dont have the dictionary or glossary with you? P: Ill ignore. Question 6lawsin force I: What are you doing? P: Im having a quick look. OK, here It can make new laws, replace any of the laws already in force with other laws, turn conventions into laws, or even overturn established conventions. I: OK. Now go on with the activity 2, please. P: Yes. I think the Queen doesnt choose the members of the House of Commons because it is an elected chamber. Question 9 is acgtually false because they mentioned in the last paragraph here the bill becomes a law after it receives So question 10 is true. Question 11, its False every country has their own consitutions. Question 12 I: What are you thinking? P: Im trying to translate the question and the last sentense in paragraph four. Unfortunately, there are some new words so I cant understand.So I can not answer this question. I: Now, I see you always read the text again when you finish each part. Why? P: Because the text too long to be able to remember it immidiately so I have to reread to find the inforamtion again. I: Why dont you have some notes or summerise of what you read? These ways will help you remember the inforamtion. P: Sometimes I do. I: You have just completed the task. Are you sure you have the right answer? P: I dont know I: Do you understand the text now? P: Yes, I do I: When you have to deal with difficult reading text or when youre bored with your reading, do you discuss with your classmates to share the information and find out the correct answer together? P: Yes, I do like to disscuss with my classmates. I dont like read in silent. I like to read aloud and disciss with my classmates. I: Do you know it is a reading strategy P: Reading strategy? No. I: Do you like to ask your teacher or your classmate for help? P: Both of them. But I always ask my friends first. I: Why? P: Because Im afraid of wasting my teachers time. I: Afer reading each paragraph, do you ask yourself if you understand what you read before? P: No, never. I: Thanks a lot. Interview 3: Nguyen Chien Thang, 7th November 2005 (Test proficiency score: 4.5) I: I: I see you are reading something. What are you reading? P: Im reading a text called the Regislature of the United Kingdom I: What for? P: To do the exercise I: OK, how do you know that? P: I read the title. I: So, when you read a text like this, what do you usually do? P: I look through the article to get the main ideas and read the tasks to fing out the answer I: Good. Now you have to do these exercises. Tell me what do you often do if you have this kind of exercise. Lets begin with the first exercise. P: Yesuhm I: Oh, what are you looking for? P: Im looking for some words that I dont know. I: Oh, what are they? P: A lot of words. For example: authority, restrict, ect. Now I think the topic of the text is the Legislation of the United Kingdom. Question 2, nguyn gc lch s ca House of common. I think it is the councils. I: Good. How do you know that? P: I can read in the paragraph 1. I: OK. Lets do the question 3 and 4! P: You can find the answer easily in the paragraph 2 and 3. Question 5 I: What are you thinking? P: Im trying to translate the fourth paragraph to get the answer but I cant. It is too difficult. Ill pass. Question 6uhmhere in the text . It can make new laws, replace any of the laws already in force with other laws, turn conventions into laws, or even overturn established conventions. Other law making bodies in the country (such as local councils) exercise their power only so long as Parliament authorizes them to do so. I: OK. Now go on with the activity 2, please. P: Yes. I think its false because the Queen doesnt choose the members of the House of Commons, she just choose the members of the Lords.. Question 9 I think its true. I: Can you explain why? P: Because the text says each bill must have three resding in order to become a law So I guess its true. I: Where you can find it? And how do you guess? P: I look at the word three in the sentence and third in the question (smile) I: Good, can you explian on that? Is it stated in the text? P: No, . But in the last paragraph, I see the Government three times. I: Good I see you sometimes reread the text. Why? P: I always do this because I cant remember the information. I: Why dont you have some notes or summerise of what you read? These ways will help you remember the inforamtion. P:I nevr do this. I: Could you complete all the tasks? P: No I: Which question couldnt you answer? P: two last questions. I: Are you sure all your answer are correct? P: No, I dont I: Why dont you cooperate with your friends? P: Yes, I do. But I just disscuss with some of them I: Why? P: Because I think working with the friend I know well is better. I: Do you know it is a reading strategy P: Reading strategy? No. I: Do you like to ask your teacher or your classmate for help? P: Both of them. But I always ask my teacher first. I: Why? P: Because I think teacher will give me the correct answer. I: Afer reading each paragraph, do you ask yourself if you understand what you read before? P: Yes, I do. I: Thank you very much. Interview 4: Bui Viet Thanh, 7th November 2005 (Test proficiency score: 8) I: I: I see you are reading something. What are you reading? P: Im reading a text called the Regislature of the United Kingdom I: What for? P: I read it to find out the needed information to do the tasks.So the text iis about the legislature of UK. I: OK, how do you know that? P: I read the title and first sentence. I: Do you often read something like this? P: Yes, sometimes. I: So, when you read a text like this, what do you usually do? P: I read the text, the question and return to find out the answer. I: Good. Now you have to do these exercises. Tell me what do you often do if you have this kind of exercise. Lets begin with the first exercise. P: I think the topic of the text is the Legislation of the United Kingdom. Question 2, I think it is the councils because Parliament, developform. The meaning of develop from is pht trin t. Question 3House of Commonthe role I: What are you thinking? P: Im looking for the answer in the text but in the text they only say the role of the House of Lords is revising the legislation passed by the Commons. Oh, just a second. The role of House of Commons is passing the legislature. I: OK. How do you know that? P: I just have a guess. I dont know its true or not. Question 4, its quite clearly in the text. Question 5,convention I: What do you think about? P: Im thinking about the meaning of some words: convention,precedent. I dont know these words. But I can find the answer in the text. this doesnt mean some Britain lacks a body of constitutional lawsother regulated by convention. So I can guess. I: In this case if you dont have dictionary or gllosary, what do you often do? P: I try to guess the meaning the the word I know through the other words in the sentence. I only use the dictionary as the last resort. I: OK. Continue with the activity 3. P: Yes, wuestion 15, I think it is the word Houses, question 17, body, question 18 is the word law, question 19, mornarchy, question 20uhmquestion 21 I can not answer them. I: From the question 15 to 19, you answer so quickly. But you met difficlt when answer the qustions 20-22? P: Oh, because I can find the answer of them in the text. Question 20ohmay be gorvement because I read it before. I dont know the word departemnt so I cant do it and question 22, of course. I: Right. I see you read the text again and again. P: Yes. I have to find a lot of information I: You dont remember the information? P: I remember some. But I check it again. I: I see you noted and underline in the text. Its good. But do you often have some summerise what you read? P: I never do this before. But Ill try in the next time when I have some other readings. I: DO you understand the text? P: Yes, I can. I: Tell me, what help you to understand the text? P: Uhmm May be somethings I knew before. I: Why dont you cooperate with your friends? P: Yes, I do like this. I: Do you know it is a reading strategy P: Reading strategy? No. I: Do you like to ask your teacher or your classmate for help? P: Both of them. I: Do you like to share your feeling what you read with your friend? P: Yes, I do. I: Thank you very much.

Why Do Marriages Fail - 982 Words

Why Do Marriages Fail? In the world today, there are a lot of people wanting to marry the first person they fall in love with. However, many married couples realized that this kind of marriage is not what they want, so they turn to divorce as an answer. Even though there are many ways to fix the problems that occur in a marriage, sometimes, nobody wants to use them. It is certain that the causes of divorce vary from couple to couple. The most common reasons marriages fail are communication, the altering role of women, infidelity and unconsciously of choosing a mate based on your parents. Firstly, one of the most common reasons why marriages fail is that people will not listen to one another . In today s society there are very few†¦show more content†¦This can often lead to disaster. 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With a marriage that is held together solely by the expected inheritance of his grandfathers money, the Patches begin living the luxurious lifeRead MoreDivorce Essay992 Words   |  4 Pages Divorce can destroy family Not too long ago, â€Å"divorce† was forbidden, unaccepted, unheard of, difficult to get, and considered as an act of sin among married couples. Many changes in the last fifty-years have affected marriage and divorce rates. The rise of the women’s liberation movement, the advent of the sexual revolution, and an increase in women’s labor force participation altered perceptions of gender roles. As of today, in â€Å"modern society† divorce has become more acceptable. The guilt andRead More Gay Marriage Should be Legal Essay1123 Words   |  5 PagesMany conservative groups do NOT agree with this decision. The believe that gay marriage should not be permitted but civil unions should be granted to lesbians and homosexuals. 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Through the Tunnel by Doris Lessing Free Essays

Conflicts can arise in many ways. In the story â€Å"Through the Tunnel† by Doris Lessing, an eleven year old boy named Jerry is vacationing at the shore in France. Feeling lonely and bored he wanders off to a rocky beach to join a group of French boys, older than he, who are diving and swimming there. We will write a custom essay sample on Through the Tunnel by Doris Lessing or any similar topic only for you Order Now As a foreigner he finds himself ignored by them, but discovers they are swimming through a long underwater tunnel and he is determined that he will do the same someday. In the beginning of the story an external conflict appears when Jerry wants to be independent of his mother she is understandably protective of her only child. His mother wants to take care of him because she is concerned that something might happen. Jerry loves his mother and likes to be with her, but sometimes he wants to be on his own. To assert his independence from his mother Jerry must swim through the underwater tunnel to test him. Another conflict arises when Jerry wants to fit in with the French boys. The author explains how much Jerry wants to be part of their group when the author writes â€Å"To be with them, of them, was a craving that filled his whole body. † Jerry wants to be accepted into their group. This group of boy is the experts of swimming. They easily swim through the underwater tunnel. Even after he knows he doesn’t belong to the older boys group, Jerry still wants to prove himself worthy of being one of the expert swimming through the mysterious tunnel. Finally, the most obvious external conflict is the one between Jerry and nature. Jerry trains his lungs and pushes his limits and because of that â€Å"his nose bleeds badly†. For hours he has been practicing holding his breath he begins to feel weak and dizzy. Jerry has to battle the forces of nature pushing his lung capacity to its limits. He is engaged in a conflict of nature and physical barriers to attain his goal. If Jerry doesn’t hold his breath long enough he will drown. After what seems like ages, Jerry passes through the tunnel, going in as a little boy and coming out feeling like a man. Now, Jerry has won his battle against almighty nature his hunger for acceptance and fight for independence. He has broken the chains of his conflicts. As soon as he swims out, Jerry broke free. How to cite Through the Tunnel by Doris Lessing, Papers

Renaissance In The History Of Art Essay Research Paper Example For Students

Renaissance In The History Of Art Essay Research Paper The Renaissance was much more than Just an episode in the history of art. The Renaissance gave birth to so many new ideas and styles beyond Just art, that are still being used today. Many of the greatest painters and architects rose during the renaissance era, such as Michelangelo, Brucellosis and Albert. The Renaissance brought forth much more than Just art. The Renaissance gave birth to new talent and artwork that will forever be remembered in history. In the early years of Michelangelo, Brucellosis and the other great artists of this era, pursuing art was discouraged in the household. The adults saw it as a shameful career. Once these artist started showcasing their talents to the world, the view of art was changed to many. Artists gained new respect from the Europeans and were viewed as craftsman and useful to making goods. These artists inspired many with their work such as the Sistine Chapel and the Florence Cathedral. Also, architecture greatly contributed to this age of art. Alberta argued that buildings should mirror the human body in their supports and openings, which inspired many great artists such as Michelangelo. Much of the architecture during this era was created in this image of human likeness. Also, you can see the work of renaissance in modern day architecture. The Renaissance study of architecture came up with a grid pattern to lay out towns in a simpler way, which you can still see being used today. As you can see, there are many ways you can still see the Renaissance culture in modern day life. The Renaissance should not only be remembered for the art and talent it produced but the new ways and how culture changed as a whole.

America the Grand essays

America the Grand essays "The population in the prison system of the US has doubled since nineteen eighty-five." ( System of a Down, The Prison Song, Toxicity.) It is things like this that make me feel that all is not well in America at the time being. It seems that America's patriotism has come back not soon enough after the events that took place on September eleventh, 2001. Even though; our prisons are crammed tight, people die daily, and rapes and other crimes take place continuously I still feel proud to be a citizen of the good ol' USA I am so proud to be an American that I will take up arms for this country if anything were to happen. To me, life in America is beautiful. We live in a country where we have so many rights and privileges. And yet; so many people take living in America for granted. I don't think that people realize what they have been given. Since; my birth I have been able to speak my mind freely without worrying about prosecution or worrying about getting my tongue cut out of my mouth. I have lived in a country without too much racism, or terror I feel that this is because our Declaration of Independence stated that "all men are created equal" (Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of Independence) and it makes people think that if they felt this way back then, than why can't we now. The privileges that people mainly take for granted are driving. People think that it is a right and that they deserve to be able to drive the way they want to. Another privilege that people take for granted is public education. In most other countries there is public education, kids are lucky if they e ven get any sort of education at all. There is more so don't get to comfortable. Maybe, public transportation here we have free rides to school or we can pay close to nothing to ride a bus for as long as we want to. We also have access to libraries in every town. Freedom of religion is practiced in the US also. We can believe...

Free Essays on Stand Waties Confederate Indians

The Confederate Indians The American civil war was a dark chapter in America ¡Ã‚ ¦s history. It was a fight for African-American freedom in a supposedly  ¡Ã‚ §free county ¡Ã‚ ¨. Contrary to many people ¡Ã‚ ¦s beliefs, our civil war wasn ¡Ã‚ ¦t fought by the white and black Union army and the all white Confederate army. The confederates had an Indian General who also happened to be a Cherokee chief. His name was General Stand Watie. He sided with the south ¡Ã‚ ¦s cause even though it was the south who drove them from their land. General Watie and his tribesmen were very loyal to the confederate ¡Ã‚ ¦s cause. Cherokee Indian chief Stand Watie became a Confederate general officer with his Cherokee tribesmen following him from Wilson's Creek, Missouri, to the end of the war in the West. A majority of his tribe blamed him and his faction for the removal of the Cherokees along what would later be referred to as  ¡Ã‚ §The Trail of Tears ¡Ã‚ ¨. General Watie was an aristocratic, slaveholding planter and Cherokee mixed bloods. Chief Watie and the civilized tribes of Indian territory sided with the same South that had expelled them from their ancestral homelands less than 30 years before is a fascinating study in human nature. Rather than blame Southerners, the Indians directed their animosity toward the Federal government, whose intrusion was as much a continued threat in their lives as it was to Confederate states' rights. The Confederacy's inability to properly support the Five Civilized Tribes caused major dilemmas for the loyal Cherokees. Already poor in resources, the Indians often went to battle without adequate weapons, hoping to obtain battlefield residue. Watie's Indians loyally supported secession until the end, even though they were ill supplied. Unfortunately, the Indians were not only on the losing side, they were still Indians. Post-war Federal policies treated them doubly harsh. A gentleman-soldier of great character, Watie stuck by his co... Free Essays on Stand Watie's Confederate Indians Free Essays on Stand Watie's Confederate Indians The Confederate Indians The American civil war was a dark chapter in America ¡Ã‚ ¦s history. It was a fight for African-American freedom in a supposedly  ¡Ã‚ §free county ¡Ã‚ ¨. Contrary to many people ¡Ã‚ ¦s beliefs, our civil war wasn ¡Ã‚ ¦t fought by the white and black Union army and the all white Confederate army. The confederates had an Indian General who also happened to be a Cherokee chief. His name was General Stand Watie. He sided with the south ¡Ã‚ ¦s cause even though it was the south who drove them from their land. General Watie and his tribesmen were very loyal to the confederate ¡Ã‚ ¦s cause. Cherokee Indian chief Stand Watie became a Confederate general officer with his Cherokee tribesmen following him from Wilson's Creek, Missouri, to the end of the war in the West. A majority of his tribe blamed him and his faction for the removal of the Cherokees along what would later be referred to as  ¡Ã‚ §The Trail of Tears ¡Ã‚ ¨. General Watie was an aristocratic, slaveholding planter and Cherokee mixed bloods. Chief Watie and the civilized tribes of Indian territory sided with the same South that had expelled them from their ancestral homelands less than 30 years before is a fascinating study in human nature. Rather than blame Southerners, the Indians directed their animosity toward the Federal government, whose intrusion was as much a continued threat in their lives as it was to Confederate states' rights. The Confederacy's inability to properly support the Five Civilized Tribes caused major dilemmas for the loyal Cherokees. Already poor in resources, the Indians often went to battle without adequate weapons, hoping to obtain battlefield residue. Watie's Indians loyally supported secession until the end, even though they were ill supplied. Unfortunately, the Indians were not only on the losing side, they were still Indians. Post-war Federal policies treated them doubly harsh. A gentleman-soldier of great character, Watie stuck by his co...

Micro economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Micro economics - Essay Example Moreover, a shift in other variables with price as an exception would cause a shift in the whole of the demand curve. The shift in the whole demand curve can be attained to be a shift in demand. Income Certain changes or alterations in income may mean increases or decreases in demand. A commodity whose demand tends to rise with a corresponding rise in income can be called a normal commodity. A commodity whose demand falls with a corresponding increase in income can be called an inferior commodity. This means that increases in income would tend to increase the demand for the mp3 player in the market. This is hence true since this is economically measures by economic experts in the economic field. Prices of other commodities Slight alterations or changes in the pricing of other commodities may result to a rise or fall in demand. A commodity that results to a rise in demand for another commodity when its price tends to increase can be called a substitute commodity. A commodity that brin gs about a fall in demand for another commodity when its price tends to rise can be referred to as a complementary commodity. This ultimately means that, an increase in the price of the mp3 player of another manufacturer or brand, may result to a corresponding rise in the demand of the original mp3 player in question, since it may be used as a substitute for the other commodity. Even if, one takes the case of beverage giants in the name of Coke and Pepsi, one realizes that an increase in the price of Pepsi would result in the rise, in demand of Coke. This is solely because these two products can be considered to be substitutes. . Number of buyers in the market A rise in the number of buyers, both potential and current buyers, would result to a rise in the demand for the mp3 player. Demand can be mainly based on the rise of population in that area. Future pricing actions A rise in the anticipated future prices of a commodity would certainly tend to cause a rise in the current demand. A fall in the anticipated future prices of a commodity would certainly decrease the future price. So a firm must highly be considered its future pricing of the mp3 player in question. Consumer tastes and preferences Shifting of the demand curve may also arise due to changes in the consumer tastes and preferences. If the consumers’ taste changes and starts liking more of the mp3 player, there would be a consistent rise in the quantity demanded. Derived quality Shift in the demand curve can be as a result of changes in the quality derived from the mp3 player by the consumer. If commodities produced are of a higher quality than the rival commodity, then this would bring a rightward shift of the demand curve (Heigy 1945, p.453). 2. The demand and supply schedules for wheat in a free market are as follows: Price per tonne (?) 120 160 200 240 280 320 360 400 Tonnes demanded per week 725 700 675 650 600 550 500 425 Tonnes supplied per week 225 300 400 500 600 750 1000 1300 I. Draw and briefly comment the demand and supply curves on the following diagram II. Define what is the equilibrium price and state what the equilibrium price is from your graph ? The equilibrium price is 280. The equilibrium price from my graph is 260. III. Suppose the government fixes a maximum price of ?200 per tonne. What will be the effect? Suppose the government fixes a price ceiling of 200 per tonne, it would result to certain effects. First, a disequilibrium

Corporate strategy of pirelli Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Corporate strategy of pirelli - Essay Example It is a pioneer in the field of rubber related industries. It has perused expansions in tire and telecom industry both vertically and horizontally. Pirelli generated tremendous employment opportunities ever since its inception. Even in 1872 it employed close to one thousand people, an indication of the economic contributions, since their inception. Pirelli’s growth ensured economic prosperity not only in Italy but also in other parts of the World. Pirelli expanded its business and spread prosperity by increasing the GDP of the nation’s it operates. Developed nations were more than interested to avail the services of Pirelli as it would bring economic prosperity to their nations. When an organization wants to expand, it can pursue growth strategies. Some of the growth strategies are a) Expansion through integration b) Expansion through diversification c) Expansion through cooperation. Pirelli’s expansion plans consisted of all the above mentioned options. Integration basically means combining activities on the basis of the value chain related to the present activity of the company. From rubber sheets, belts, slabs, and vulcanized products initially to making of two wheeler and four wheeler tires is an example of their vertical forward integration. Pirelli was also seen making rapid progress in its horizontal integration. Pirelli was a pioneer in diversification of its businesses. In fact, integrating in the lines of the existing business it self is an act of concentric diversification. Apart from that Pirelli started growing geographically at a rapid, yet in a systematic manner. Pirelli’s internationalization started from the beginning of 1900 onwards. Its expansion to Barcelona in Spain was followed by a similar venture in Britain in 1914, and by 1920 factories had also been set up in Brazil, Greece, Argentina, Turkey, and German is a fact of Pirelli’s clinical approach towards internationalization of their businesses. Initiatives were also made

In Libya human rights are severely violated by Moammar Gaddafi Essay

In Libya human rights are severely violated by Moammar Gaddafi - Essay Example Libya as an independent state emerged on 24th Dec 1951 through negotiation in United Nations by King Idris. Libya was proclaimed a constitutional and a hereditary monarchy under King Idris. Libya was firstly a poor state with a weak economy, but the condition immensely changed when a discovery of significant oil reserves was made in 1959.Economy boosted from a subsequent income of petroleum sales to many countries in need of oil to progress and within a span of time, Libya got recognized as one of the wealthiest country as measured by per capita GDP. King Idris ruled Libya for about 11 years after independence when he was thrown by a military coup named Col. Moammar Gaddafi in 1969 in the name of Revolutionary Command Council, who legally owned no position but ruled the state for about 42 years. Gaddafi’s regime was proceeding with a motto of unity, freedom, socialism and was taking an active part in Palestanian Arab cause, unity between Arab states and encourages domestic pol icies according to social justice. Gaddafi’s new government worked on non exploitation and on an equal distribution of wealth. In his early years Gaddafi claimed the withdrawal of all foreign military officials, along with the closure of Air base for U.S and British Military in 1970s. Afterwards, he also ordered for the expulsion of thousands of Italian residents and the closure of libraries, community centers and cultural councils operated by foreign governments. Later in late 70s his political, religious and cultural ideology which was known as Revolutionary Views were being transferred through peoples bureau and institutions operated overseas. Gaddafi ruled Libya for about 41 years in the name of democracy and equality. His son carrying the same theory said: â€Å"My father has been promoting the idea of direct democracy in Libya for almost 26 years now,† he said to New York Times reporter Craig S. Smith in December, 2004. â€Å"It’s quite rational and logic al that we have to continue in that direction.† Here one can decide the level of democracy governed by a Colonel and not letting fresh mind and blood to come with better ideas to rule the country. Gaddafi stuck to his position until the outer forces forced him to leave his governance. Gaddafi’s false democracy was a disguise of dictatorial views which he kept on imposing on civilians in the name of democratic elections. But there must be a lot good that he has done with his people for which the public was quiet and happy for about 41 years. It is undeniable that Gaddafi provided his people the best sources of income and highest per-capita income in Africa.Fight in Libya is now no more a civil war but expanded until NATO forces interfered and branched out the issue into different aspects: United States and E.U was concerned for Libya’s interest in long range ballistic missiles and other development of missiles, and both conventional weapons and weapons of mass des truction. Sanctions were also passed through International Governmental Organization to Russia to stop arms export to Libya. Human Rights were violated in Libya by Gaddafi’s regime. Peacemaking in Libya cannot be achieved until there is a close civil-military co-operation. All these issues will be analyzed and discussed further

Smoking Cessation Interventions In England Health And Social Care Essay

Smoking Cessation Interventions In England Health And Social Care Essay Smoking causes a range of health issues and diseases in people particularly Cardiovascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer and a range of other cancers, peptic ulcer and various other medical conditions. (National Health Service, 2010)The survival rates are low even after the person undergoes surgery. Post operative Complications may also develop which causes delays in recuperation and often people experience respiratory issues due to this. (National Institute of Clinical Excellence, 2010). Further, it can cause complications in pregnancy and labour among women who smoke during their pregnancy period, including ectopic pregnancy, bleeding, premature detachment of placenta and premature rapture of membranes. These women also suffer from a high risk of miscarriages in comparison to those who do not smoke. Also, the babies born to such mothers carry a lighter weight (average 200-250 gm) than women who do not smoke. (NICE, 2010). This can reduce the immunity system of children and place them at risk of developing diseases in childhood or death. It has been found that Smoking in pregnancy increases infant mortality by about 40 percent. (NICE, 2010). The number of deaths attributed to smoking were estimated to be 83,900 in adults aged 35 and above in 2008. Among these deaths, 23,200 resulted from respiratory diseases (mainly obstructive lung disease) and 37,000 accounted for cancer conditions (lung cancer, Cancer of the Oesophagus). (HSCIC, 2009) Given the varied benefits of stopping smoking and adopt healthy lifestyle, some smokers are willing to quit smoking and 70 percent of them make efforts to quit at least once in their lifetime. At present, the self reported rates of smoking in England is 21 percent among adults aged 16 and above. Despite the trends of reduction in smoking prevalence, it is still considered as a serious public health concern in England (Allender et al, 2008). NHS Stop smoking services It is reported that over two third (67%) of the smokers in the English population attempt to quit every year (ONS, 2009). However, smokers are often require to put in repeated efforts and attempts towards quitting smoking before succeeding (NHS, 2010). To support smokers who want to quit smoking and help them succeed in their quit efforts, National Health Service (NHS) founded a unique initiative program called as NHS Stop Smoking Services (NHSsss) in 1999. This national programme came into being following the White paper on Smoking kills published by Government in 1998.This policy guidance expressed strong commitment to address the serious health consequences of smoking and tackle the growing concern of rising prevalence rate of smoking in the population. It laid down plans for the development of a special national unit, Smoking Cessation Services) along with other initiatives (implementation of advertisement ban, ban of smoking at work and public places). NHSSS forms the part of th e wider Tobacco Control program run by Government to reduce the prevalence of smoking among the local population. Their primary role is to provide and deliver a high- quality clinical smoking cessation services to smokers who are motivated to quit smoking. Since its establishment, NHS Stop smoking services (SSS) have supported over two million people to quit smoking in the short run and 500,000 people to quit smoking in the long run without relapse. In total it has saved 70,000 lives uptill now. Even though smoking rates have dropped down since 1990s the progress has been slower in the last decade among the Routine and Manual workers population. It has been estimated that the dropping rate of smoking is 0.4 percent a year. (NICE, 2010). This suggests that health inequalities exist between different socio- economic groups. There have been expectations that SSS will make significant contributions in reducing the gap of smoking prevalence between these groups. This issue was taken up as one of the main priority in NHS Operating Framework and treatments and support were offered by Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) to people who were willing to stop smoking in deprived localities of England. (Low et al, 2007). However, quit rates among socially di sadvantaged groups remain low. Currently, out of the total smoking population, smoking rates among Routine and Manual workers are 26 percent. Also, the smoking rate is high among people who belong to ethnic minority groups in the UK population. Studies conducted in various ethnic minority communities have reported that people from these populations do not access the services offered by NHS SSS due to limited information about the accessibility and effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions. Thus, to maximise the potential of NHS Stop Smoking Services, a high and effective level of intervention is essential to target this public health concern and reach people from all socio economic and ethnic minority groups who are willing to stop smoking and benefit from it. NHS Stop Smoking Cessation Services- Delivering of interventions NHS Stop smoking support are offered and delivered in range of ways. The treatments are provided to people in a separately or a combined manner. Recommended treatments that have shown evidence to be effective over the years comprise (NICE, 2010): Brief interventions given by GP, nurses or other health practitioners practicing in the local community in the form of advice, self help materials or referrals for further clinical treatment. Individual Behaviour counselling in a one to one sessions Group Behaviour therapy ( Also known as Closed Groups) Pharmacotherapies ( providing alternate medications like Nicotine Replacement therapy, Buropion or Vareniclin) Self help materials (leaflets, quick kits) Telephone counselling and quitlines Media campaigns to spread awareness of smoking related ill health and interventions available to stop smoking. The sources of mass media campaigns include a combination of television, radio, newspaper advertising. Smokers who are willing to discontinue smoking are offered the above range of treatments options so that they can chose the one which suits them the most. The health professionals may provide, as appropriate, a combination of interventions that are sensitive to the needs, preferences and ethnic diversity of their local smoking population and at the same time being mindful of bridging the gap between health inequalities. These interventions are considered to be cost effective way of reducing ill health and prolonging life. So every smoker should be advised to stop smoking and offered help if they feel like wise in doing so. (NHS, 2010) All the interventions provided under Stop Smoking Services Clinics share some common properties. Such as Behavioural support offered in both individual and group therapies by health professionals and they normally advise the usage of Nicotine and Nicotine- based therapies along with it. (NHS, 2010). This clinical service is provided over multiple sessions to the smoker and a quit target date is set at a follow up of 4 weeks. Success ranges of quit rates by smokers depends upon the type of intervention received by them. Interventions that combine group support with Nicotine reduction therapy are more effective in achieving 4 weeks quit rates (71 percent) in comparison to individual support given in clinical settings. (Bauld et al, 2009). Though both types of intervention implement complimentary modes of action, the quit rates maintained over long term differ considerably. Other interventions like counselling support and information provided over quit lines, internet and mobile phones may be easily accessible by wide smoking population but may be less intensive and effective in comparison to the support given in clinical settings (NHS, 2010). Aims of this Research: This research is designed to meet the following aims: To assess the effect of the different interventions and support offered by Smoking cessation services to help achieve success rates of smoking abstinence over long period of time. To make a comparison between the studies that have evaluated the effectiveness of interventions undertaken by the smoker with the assistance of self help interventions in comparison to the clinical treatments provided under NHS stop smoking cessation services over the last decade. The comparative assessment will be done between the following: Self help materials (leaflets, information kits); Mobile phone and Web based support, Smoking Quitlines Vs Brief advice offered by GPs and other health professionals Brief GP advice + Nicotine reduction therapy, Bupropian and Vernaciline; Attending a smoking clinic and receiving Behavioural support +NRT, Bupropian and Vernaciline Highlight those interventions among the clinical and less clinical interventions which are more likely to produce successful quit rates at 4 weeks follow up. Rationale for conducting this Literature review Research Disease Burden from smoking: Smoking imposes a huge burden on the countrys economy. It imposes direct costs on National Health Service for health care and indirect costs on loss of productivity (ASH, 2010). It has been estimated that National Health Service spends approximately 2.7 billion on treatments and control this public health issue. In addition, it puts the smoker and their families and others through discomfort, pain and suffering. Among them, the cost of bereavement and consequent emotional and social distress, the payment of social security and benefits is given to the dependants of those who die as a result of smoking related disease. Also, it has been suggested that total number of deaths associated with smoking has not changed much in the last 10 years (Allender et al, 2008) Thus, given the expenditure spent by NHS in providing interventions under its National Program, it becomes highly important to deliver treatments that are evidenced based and help in maintaining consistent quit rates of between 35% and 70% in the population and meet the PSA target of reducing smoking prevalence rate by 21% or less by 2010 (NHS, 2010). This research will make a comparative assessment and provide information and insight of the effectiveness of the both highly clinical and less clinical interventions which will help in the meeting the current NHS targets for 2010. Knowledge transfer: For the purpose of achieving the third aim, the author has a personal interest in highlighting it. The author here wishes to gain wider information about the most effective smoking cessation intervention with the objective of transfer knowledge. The author of this dissertation belongs to India and she wanted to make an international comparative assessment of the effectiveness of national smoking cessation interventions between England and India. However, due to the limited published documents of current trends and related literature, it has not been possible to examine and make comparisons with India on this topic. But the author found some useful information from a national report produced under Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (MOHSW, 2004) raised awareness about the widespread production, consumption and resulting impact of ill health impinging on Indian population and its economy. So the author would like to transfer knowledge by sharing the results and outcomes of this research with the health professionals with the main purpose of sensitising Indian health care system; and promoting most effective tobacco cessation interventions based on the examples of English Stop Smoking Cessation services; and minimize the economic burden on Indian government. (MOHSW, 2004) Thus, Tobacco Control programmes worldwide are designed with the aim of reducing the burden of disease, disability and death related to the consumption of tobacco. In order to determine the effectiveness of such programmes in England, it is essential to describe the smoking cessation interventions; document implementation and show results and outcomes to guage their contribution towards bringing down the smoking rate in the population. Hence, The next section, Preliminary Literature review will discuss in detail the workings of NHS Stop smoking services; different Smoking Cessation treatments, and manner of implementation with statistical facts to support their contribution in bringing down the smoking rate in English population.