Investigating Informational Texts Teaching and Learning in Developing Countries: The Case of Vietnamese High Schools

Abstract

Reading comprehension of informational texts has been largely debated and introduced at all levels of education across western countries. However, it has not received enough attention in developing countries including Vietnam. This paper aims to investigate the procedure of reading and comprehension of informational texts in high schools in Vietnam. The study surveyed 588 teachers and 2744 high school students across all regions of Vietnam. The survey questionnaires asked teachers and students' opinions on the teaching and learning of informational texts. Through statistical analysis with Excel sheets, the results show that the part of informational texts in the curriculum was small when compared with literary texts. This shows that there is very little requirement of teaching and learning informational text in high schools which results in students' limited ability in reading informational text. The findings also suggest that understanding and reading informational texts have been contended as essential to the educational performance of students. The research also revealed that both teachers and students need to be more prepared in the classrooms to teach and learn informational texts. It is recommended that Vietnamese general education curricula should include a greater amount of informational texts in textbooks and instruction on informational texts should be given more attention to improve students' understanding. Contribution/Originality: This study revealed that informational text reading comprehension was a fairly new concept at high school level in Vietnam. In fact, the proportion of informational texts in the curriculum was small when compared with literary texts. High school students were not instructed techniques and strategies to read informational texts. In this context, this study will provide useful new insights. 1. INTRODUCTION In the modern society, a great deal of information is conveyed through informational texts, such as a congressional report, a presentation of a new technology, a handbook for running a home appliance, or a health problem booklet (Li, Beecher, & Cho, 2018). In general, an informational text-engages the reader with aspects of the real world by conveying and communicating factual information‖ (Ness, 2011). The ability to generate details and produce fully comprehend informational texts is an exceptionally important ability for adults and students of school age to have knowledge in a world around them (Reutzel, Jones, Clark, & Kumar, 2016). Recently, the role of informational text in the school environment has attracted much attention. Owing to their frequent use for common purposes, it is important to improve the level of competence of students to understand these informational texts (Li

Is Demonstration Effective In Teaching ESP Procedure Text? A Qualitative Study: How to Make a Scrunchie

“…Procedural text is a vital genre within the spectrum of English texts, particularly in the realm of fashion design (Elfeky & Elbyaly, 2021;Jemberie, 2021;Maya & Saragih, 2021;Pham et al, 2020;Setyowati & Sukmawan, 2019). Characterized by step-by-step instructions, procedural texts guide processes, such as crafting a scrunchie.…”