Trying K-W-L Strategy on Teaching Reading Comprehension to Passive Students in Vietnam

-administered Questionnaire, the 
students can be captive audience and feel obliged to fill 
out the questionnaire (giving a high return rate), as well 
as teachers can be present to explain any ambiguities as 
they arise and know exactly what conditions existed 
when questionnaires were filled out. 
- Validity: (internal and external validity) 

 To prevent from anything that happen to the subject, 
other intended treatment, only one strategy was used. 
No history, so one of the internal validity was gained. 

 There is no "testing effect" (practice reflect) on the 
result of the experiment because different tests were 
used for pre-test and post-test. The first test used was 
just the test for choosing population. The result of the 
experiment was evaluated by only one set of test 
(multiple-choice and cloze test) that was done only one 
time and the conclusion gained from the comparison 
between the control and the experimental group that 
were at the same level before doing experiment. 

 The research also gained the interaction of selection 
biases because the treatment was tried on the three 
sources of population. It can prevent from the fact that 
a particular population may cause the treatment to be 
effective where it would not be in another population. 
- The measuring instruments were designed with care 
without ambiguity and large scope concepts. 
- The questionnaire and test content was clear, and so were 
the rubic or instructions. This may lead to reliable data, 
because the drafts of the instruments had been checked 
by colleagues and the questions in the questionnaire 
were answered correctly. 
5.2. Weak Points Existed and May Happen 
- Researcher expectancy: Because of strongly belief in the 
effect of the KWL strategy, teacher could be not equal 
when giving mark. To prevent from this, some colleagues 
were asked to re-score and compare the two results. 
- Intervening variable appeared to have effect on the result, 
that may lead to the situation that any differences 
discovered in the score of method A (without using KWL 
strategy) and method B (using KWL strategy) were caused 
by an unanticipated intervening variable rather than the 
method themselves. For instance, the teacher of the 
experimental group was a better teacher than the teacher of 
the control group. Therefore, to prevent from this case, only 
one teacher taught both kinds of participants: control group 
and experimental group. However, this case of intervening 
variable sometimes can appear: teacher’s feeling due to 
teacher’s admiration of the KWL strategy, teacher might do 
the better job with all effort to the experimental group. 
Recognizing the problem, teacher must remind herself not 
to make this mistake. However, it can be appear 
unconsciously during the lesson when teacher completely 
concentrates on her lecture. 
- Problem that might appear when using Self-administered 
used questionnaire: 
1. They often have very low return rate. 
2. They must be completely self-explanatory because 
further clarification is not possible. 
- Hawthorn effect: When the experiment is used to 
research people, they often act in complex and 
unexpected ways that are beyond the parameters of 
experimental hypothesis. Experimental exactitude, 
which might require controlled conditions, tends to make 
people behave self-consciously or unnaturally. 
- Self-rating: People want to be honest burn effect but 
some time they are not completely honest. Questionnaire 
without having to write the name can reduce the problem 
if the reason is to be afraid of the teacher. But this 
problem can happen if the reason is to pleased the 
teacher or trying not to make the teacher disappointed 
when students have some bad comments. 
6. Conclusion 
KWL strategy helps teachers activate learners prior 
knowledge called schema, concerning a topic or subject and it 
promotes research, active reading and inquisition since 
Schema theory can be a very useful theory which helps us 
understand how our brain processes information. Therefore, 
no one can deny that K-W-L strategy can promotes active 
learning. Active learning has become an important factor of 
education success and it involves other activities that learners 
do together in class apart from simply listening to lectures. 
Studies show students comprehend the topics better and also 
retain them for long if they can actively react to course 
material or lecture. That means K-W-L fosters active learning 
492 Tran Thi Thanh Dieu: Trying K-W-L Strategy on Teaching Reading Comprehension to Passive Students in Vietnam 
through enabling instructors to better assess their student 
learning levels during the course. In addition, KWL strategy 
also encourages academic success since learners learn actively 
using the K-W-L. It is likely that they will become even more 
connected to class and the topics or subject matter. They will 
therefore interact with class members and teacher, increasing 
their chances for academic success. Furthermore, this also 
enhances their probability of staying in school and graduating. 
The great relationship between faculty and students as an 
essential part of K-W-L fosters student retention in school. 
Last but not least, K-W-L strategy enhances learning as the 
prior knowledge has usually has a huge effect on learner 
performance. In other words, there is also a well-recognized 
relationship between learning comprehension and prior 
knowledge. Regardless of the ability of a student to read, high 
prior understanding of a certain subject area normally means 
better scores. Moreover, high prior understanding is also 
associated with enhanced learner interest in specific topics. In 
short, the use of K-W-L charts is particularly beneficial like a 
pre-reading strategy and it also serves like a test of what 
learners have studied during a certain study unit. K denotes 
what the learners know while W signifies what they desire 
learning, with the L standing for the knowledge gained by the 
learners as they research or read. 
To sum up, following the proverb: "Seeing is believing", 
this research tried to prove the effect of the treatment. It also 
suggested a way to control a reading class, to create an 
interesting and exciting atmosphere. Hopefully, this research 
will be one way of motivating teachers to overcome the 
difficulties when teaching reading, and provide students 
opportunity to practice and improve their reading skill. 
Moreover, the treatment will be one of the ways to improve 
students’ all basic skills in learning a language (reading, 
speaking, listening and writing); not only in English but also 
in all the languages they have opportunity to study, including 
their mother tongue to be successful in communication, 
especially in the process of globalization. 
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