Table of contents

Chapter 1: Introduction.................................................................................................................................. 2
1.1 School context.....................................................................................................................................2
1.2 Problem statement..............................................................................................................................2
1.3 Theoretical background.......................................................................................................................2
1.4 Core product idea................................................................................................................................3
1.5 Research goal and question................................................................................................................3
Research goal................................................................................................................................................3
Research question.........................................................................................................................................3
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 School context
This research will take place at Yuverta College VMBO in Heerlen, in a first-year VMBO B
class at a ‘green school’. The ‘green school’ means that the students get practical courses
dealing with animals, as in taking care of them, they learn how to make flower bouquets, they
learn how to cook and bake and they learn how to build objects. It is a very hands-on school
with a lot of practical courses. The classes to which this research applies to are two first-year
classes at VMBO Basis level.

During the English classes I like to use a classical way of teaching, which is to have a short
introduction to the class and the subject of the day, followed by a brief presentation phase in
which the grammar will be explained or a text will be read or anything that needs extra
attention, because it could be potentially difficult for students to understand, after the
presentation phase there will be practicing and checking the answers afterwards. During the
practice phase students will be able to get extra help with the subject or get an extra
explanation. The materials that are used in the English class are the coursebooks, extra
material that can be found on the internet, for example, the British Council and materials that
have been shared by co-workers. We often have English department meetings where we can
ask questions for extra materials for lesson and generally being able to spar with each other
about utilize extra lessons.

1.2 Problem statement

The issue that is being faced in a bilingual classroom is the difficulty of comprehending texts.
Especially literature in languages other than their native tongue. One of the issues is lack of
vocabulary might delay comprehension since unexpected words or phrases can generate
confusion. When meeting specialist or technical terms, idiomatic idioms, or sophisticated
language structures, difficulties develop. Another obstacle is the language barrier: reading
comprehension can be difficult for someone learning a second language due to poor skill,
unfamiliarity with idiomatic terms, or cultural differences in language usage. The
improvement of vocabulary is needed to ensure understanding of a text, but it is also
important to read many texts to become familiar with the structure of texts and thus find out
the general information of a text more quickly.

1.3 Theoretical background

This research is about the reading comprehension challenges faced by English language
learners (ELLs) in ESL classrooms. ELLs often struggle with vocabulary, syntax, and
grammar, which can hinder their ability to understand complex texts (Olson & Torrance,
2009). Additionally, limited background knowledge in the subject matter may impede
comprehension. To address these issues, teachers need to provide explicit instruction in
reading skills and vocabulary development. Some students may face specific challenges such
as phonological dyslexia, reading fluency difficulties, or a lack of syntactic awareness.
Insufficient reading fluency can impact comprehension, as it is a crucial aspect of
understanding text. As reading comprehension is fundamental to academic success across
various subjects, its absence can have significant consequences for students' educational
achievements and future prospects (Okkinga, 2018).
Causes of difficulties in reading comprehension can be issues with partial skills and issues
with the construction of a situation model (De Jong & Koomen, 2011). Partial skills are
technical reading, vocabulary knowledge, and working memory capacity. Issues with the
construction of a situation model are that weak comprehension readers are faulty at making
inferences and especially when this involved making a connection between background
knowledge and information in the text. A situation model refers to the mental image created
by students based on the information they received from the classroom environment. It
integrates various elements such as certain texts, experiences, and background knowledge of a
topic. The situation model helps students to understand the material being taught by making
connections with already existing information possible (McMaster et al., 2012). The reasons
that are causing problems are making inferences are that they appear to align their reading
strategy less well with the purpose with which the text is to be read, they have less knowledge
of strategies for understanding a text, they have less knowledge of text structures and weak
comprehension readers notice inconsistent bits of information less well which is especially a
problem when the information is not in consecutive sentences but is spread across different
parts of text (De Jong & Koomen, 2011).

1.4 Core product idea

The basic idea is to create a reading file in which students have to face different challenges
and improve different skills. For example, one part can be improving vocabulary, using
vocabulary that students eventually need to use in daily life, for this ‘green school’ that could
be veterinarian vocabulary. The students will receive tools to help them improve reading
comprehension, consequently the students will have more practice with reading compared to
the other skills.

1.5 Research goal and question

Research goal
The goal for this research is to improve students’ reading comprehension. And to check which
reading strategies can help which student, one might work for one students where as it might
not work for another student.

Research question
How can first year VMBO B students in a bilingual class improve their comprehension of text
using reading strategies?

Feedback:
-language issues! -> laten lezen door buddy zodat alles op het academische niveau van 1.3
komt
-core product idea is too vague: who provides the texts, where’s the direct instruction? how
many ‘challenges’, what’s a challenge, what skills, vocabulary expansion or repetition?
-research goal is too vague: just reading comprehension? How ‘check’ what strategies work?
Offer several and they pick or? -> use the info in 1.3 in 1.4 and 1.5!