EXPLORATORY ACTION RESEARCH

The Problem :

    “The more you read, the more things you know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” This is a famous quote by Dr Suess. And it’s 100% accurate. The importance of reading skills cannot be stressed enough. Reading has many benefits, but it’s a skill that even a lot of adults don’t use enough. Reading is a gateway to learning anything about everything. It helps you discover new things and educate yourself in any area of life you are interested in. 

A child's reading skills are important to their success in school as they will allow them to access the breadth of the curriculum and improve their communication and language skills. In addition, reading can be a fun and imaginative time for children, which opens doors to all kinds of new worlds for them.  

A lot of reading difficulty can come about because children feel like reading is hard work, or they just aren’t interested in what they are reading.

In my classroom (5th Grade) also, I found those difficulties in reading. I’m not satisfied with their reading-related works. My dissatisfaction with the reading skill of my students led to the journey of this classroom-based action research.

Objectives :

• To identify why students are not doing well in reading in English.
• To find out effective techniques for improving students’ reading skills.

Plan for Exploration-

 First of all, I wanted to know about my students present scenario in the classroom. Along with students, I would like to know responses from my fellow teachers and parents regarding with the English Reading skill. 

These were the exploratory questions came to my mind in regarding with the reading topic.

Students (5th Class standard)-

1. What is your opinion on English (Easy/Moderate/ difficult)
2. Do you like to read any text in English, Yes/No?
3. Do you read any texts in English other than textbooks?
4. Do your parents allow you to show interest in reading English?
5. Do your previous/Present teachers supported you to read English, How?
6. Do you feel comfortable while reading?
7. What are your teachers techniques to develop your English reading skills? (Picture Reading, Reading Aloud, Authentic Materials, proper chunking by Teacher)

Fellow Teachers- 

1. Do you feel that your students have fear regarding English?
2. Why do you think the fear is continuing?
3. What do you think reasons for lagging in English especially reading and Writing?
4. What are the best practices that you are practising which intends to develop reading skills in your classroom?

In this, I also mentioned my responses as a teacher.

Parents-

1. Do you allow your children to read at home(especially Reading English)?
2. Is he/She showing Interest to read English Texts at home?
3. Did you ever see your children reading performance at your homes/ Did you ever suggest any suggestions for their reading skills?
4. Have you tried to read any English Texts whenever you are free?

I collected data using the questionnaire.  I used both open and closed-ended questions on it to find out the students opinion on reading English. As a few of my students were unable to share their responses through Google Forms, I asked these questions to them individually as an informal talking (so that I could make the questionnaire clear to them) and recorded their opinions in the answer sheet. For a few students I shared the Google Forms link, they shared their responses through the Internet.

I also discussed with the fellow teachers and recalled their activities to point out when they do and do not read in English. For fellow Teachers and Parents, I received their responses through Phone calls and Survey Forms.

Data Collection-

Students responses (5th Class):                                      Click here to submit a response

Link for Students responses:                                                

https://forms.gle/99zwe1HmZfwiiwY1A

Sl No	Student Name	Opinion on English	Do you like to read Text in English	Do you read other than English texts	Do your parents allow you to show interest in Reading	Do your Previous/Present Teacher support your reading English	Do you feel comfortable While reading
1	Deeksha	Moderate	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
2	Sai Kiran	Difficult	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
3	Laxman	Difficult	No	No	Yes	Yes	No
4	Manasa	Moderate	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
5	Praveen	Easy	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
6	Harika	Moderate	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
7	Sai Praneeth	Moderate	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
8	Deepika	Easy	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
9	Bunny	Difficult	No	No	No	No	No
10	Durgesh	Difficult	No	No	No	Yes	No
11	Koushik	Easy	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
12	Ram Charan	Moderate	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
13	Niharika	Easy	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

Fellow Teachers Responses:                            Click here to submit a response

Sl No	Teacher Name	Do you feel that your students have fear regarding English	Why do you think the fear is continuing	What do you think reasons for lagging in English especially reading and Writing	What are the best practices that you are practising which intends to develop reading skills in your classroom
1	Vamshi Krishna	Yes	Lack of Exposure & Motivation	Wrong Construction from the past, So-called English phobia	Drilling, Word Games, Reading Aloud by students
2	Naresh	Only few Yes	Lack of Teachers, Subject Experts, Over Burden on Teacher	So-called phobia, Lack of Vocabulary	Translation to Mother tongue, Vocabulary development
3	Anjaneyulu	No		Lack of exposure to language, Mother Tongue Influence	English environment Creation, Picture Reading
4	Laxmi	Yes	Lack of Teacher's concern	Lack of Practice, No basics awareness, Fear among students	Paper reading, Authentic Materials
5	Laxmi Priya	Yes	Lack of Teacher's concern	Mother Tongue Influence	Book Reading, 2, 3 Letter words Introduction
6	Devi Singh	Only few Yes	Language diversity	Language diversions, Overuse of Mother tongue in the classroom	Alphabets and Mother Tongue pronunciation technique, Introduction of 3-5 letter words
7	My self  Thakur Shiva Bhargav Singh	Yes	Lack of exposure to language, Previous Teachers not showed Interest in Reading,	Fear, Lack of exposure to language, Overuse of Mother Tongue In classroom, Language pronunciation rules, Interior places	Picture Reading, Authentic Materials

Parents Responses:

Sl No	Parent Name	Do you allow your children to read at home(especially Reading English)	Is he/she showing Interest to read English Texts at Home	Did you ever see your children reading performance at your homes/ Did you ever suggest any suggestions for their reading skills	Have you tried to read any English Texts whenever you are free
1	Parent 1	Yes	Yes	No	No
2	Parent 2	Yes	Not every time	Yes	No
3	Parent 3	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
4	Parent 4	Yes	Based on Homework	Whenever I’m free	No
5	Parent 5	Yes	Don’t know ( Illiterate)	certainly	No
6	Parent 6	Based on Students Interest	Don’t know ( Illiterate)	On-Demand	No

DATA ANALYSIS :

Students consolidation-

Do you like to read Text in English	Yes	70%
Do you read other than English texts	Yes	30%
Do your parents allow you to show interest in Reading	Yes	85%
Do your Previous/Present Teacher support your reading English	Yes	92%
Do you feel comfortable While reading	Yes	70%
Opinion on English	Easy	31%
	Moderate	38%
	Difficult	31%

Teachers Consolidation:

Do you feel that your students have fear regarding English	Yes- 72%
Reasons for fear and Lagging in English	Lack of language Exposure
	Lack of Teachers
	Over Use of Mother Tongue
	Wrong conception from the past
	Lack of Motivation

Parents Consolidation:

Question	Positive response - Yes
Do you allow your children to read at home(especially Reading English)	86%
Is he/she showing Interest to read English Texts at Home	50%
Did you ever see your children reading performance at your homes/ Did you ever suggest any suggestions for their reading skills	50%
Have you tried to read any English Texts whenever you are free	15%

As per the data from the responses of students, Teachers and Parents, I came to know that 

• Most of the students have the fear of English reading due to various reasons. It's not only limited to my class but also one of the major problems in surrounding schools.
• There is a misconception that was formed among the students, parents and few teachers from the past that English is a very difficult one to learn.
• While doing the survey I noticed that only a few people are interested to read texts in their homes other than textbooks.  Most of the students don't want to read any texts other than textbooks. 
• Only a few people are feeling comfortable while reading.
• Even though most of the parents and teachers are supporting them in their classes but the result was not in the action.
• Coming to parents side, Most of the parents don't read any texts of English frequently even. They don't have any time to spare with their kids.
• Most of them are illiterate. They feel that their children’s will learn accordingly.
• Only a few will check their progress and only a few will suggest for better improvement in reading.
• I feel responsibility should be there from the parent’s side also. They should read somewhat texts. They should sit for the children's assessment. I suggest the amount of time that they are spending on students development for academic purpose at their homes should be increased.
• Teachers are using conventional methods to teach them reading but it's time to change. A few teachers are not creating such environments to learn. They are not giving enough practise to students.
• From the data, we can notice that teachers are supporting but the result isn’t up to the mark.
• Few teachers are getting overburden as they are handling several classes and subjects. This is also one of the major problems.
• Teacher concern is also much needed. The wrong forwarding from the teachers that “ English is for only rich people”. This is not justifiable.

Plan for Action :

    With this exploratory action research, I came to know that, many obstacles are there to improve children's English reading skills. This major one is the so-called English phobia among children. They should give up that phobia then only they can learn anything.  It's time to change our attitude towards English. It shouldn’t be treated as tough, difficult & not for everyone.  As many things came to my notice during this action research time, those should be implemented to create an environment where English is not a burden.  English is a free & interesting language where we can learn without any burden.  I would like to create an environment where mistakes are also celebrated butt the initiation towards English speaking and reading is much needed. I’m planning for an environment where students should have the significant chance to get exposed to the language and most probably I would like to reduce the usage of mother tongue in my classrooms as well as regular transactions.
    

    The misconception which was formed from the past years should be turned into English is not that much difficult as we feel.  I would like to motivate regularly through various activities just like showing the real-life videos of the importance of English as a foreign language, language of communication, language of higher studies, language of Supremacy and Language of enrichment.
    

    The activities which all the teachers are using right now are good however we need some changes in our classrooms so that we can teach them and we can make a comfortable learning place for reading English.  

    I implemented a few activities before and I would like to introduce a few techniques to develop reading skills among my children.

• Picture reading

• Proper chunking 

• Use of authentic materials 

• Reading aloud and reading Silent by students & teachers 

• Introducing daily new concepts-interlinking with mother tongue

• Implementation of video lessons 

• Language games

• Regular programs in a different way( Use of English in their real-life)

• Tongue twisters 

• Diary writing & Reading 

• Allotting and implementing Newspapers & story reading time in regular schedule and etc

    As I mentioned earlier, along with me, my fellow teachers also using some conventional methods in regular classroom transactions. It’s time to bring new methods into our classroom practice. I will go for professional development activities as a part of the teaching profession. I will suggest my fellow classroom teachers and try to implement them in their classrooms.

    Along with Teachers, parents also have a vital role in the development of reading skills among children. I would like to motivate them to read texts in English and insist them to sit along with their children while doing homework so that they can suggest improvements.
    

 For this project, I planned an action plan for 10 Weeks approximately. May be the duration may increase due to several unknown factors.

Here is the action plan for 10 weeks.

Sl No	Week	Plan	Activities to implement
1	Week 1 & 2	Creation of fearless environment in schools as well as homes	Encouraging students to read, speak and converse in English
			Showing videos, Authentic materials
			Motivating parents to read
2	Week 3 to 5	Introduction to reading	Storybooks
			Newspaper Readings
			Use of authentic materials
			Motivating parents to keep an eye in students reading
			Picture reading and eliciting responses from the Children
3	Week 6 & 7	Reading Phase- I	Introduction of Proper Chunking method
			Silent reading
			Reading aloud activities
			Diary writing
4	Week 8 & 9	Reading Phase - II	Intensive and Extensive reading activities
			Practice of Diary readings
5	Week 10	Assessment phase	Assessment using various tools
			Classroom observation by fellow teachers

    I know all these activities, all the plans that I have and the expectations that I am expecting from my students after implementation of these activities, will not reflect in overnight.  It will take a lot of time.  The primary actions I need to do is, as a teacher, implementing all the activities with patience, reflecting back on continuous note, giving constant support to students and motivating the parents.
    

    I hope, the action phase for this classroom research should definitely start in June from the next academic year. As from the last year, we are unable to run classes for primary sections in our state in physical mode. And there is no chance for this academic year as we are witnessing a huge spike of Covid cases from the past 15 to 20 Days. As we all know, It’s a somewhat difficult task for implementing all these activities now due to various reasons through online mode, Like lack of internet connection, lack of digital devices for the students etc.

Conclusion :

    The classroom practises, methods and techniques may not work all the time due to the need and interest of the students might be different. As a result, our best strategies may go into vain for that particular circumstances. So, on the suggestion of Dr Ravi Narayan Chakrakodi Sir, Professor RIESI Bangalore and on my personal interest I initiated this action research. 

A well begun is half done. I hope, I did my level best to initiate this action research. It’s a need of the hour for my classroom for my students all-round development in the early days of my teaching career. I hope, I could conclude this action research with fruitful results.

Reference :

1. A Handbook for Exploratory Action Research by Richard Smith and Paula Rebolledo.

2. Exploring for action, acting for change: Stories of exploratory action research in Nepal          Edited by Janak singh Negi.

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For enquiry and suggestions (always waiting for the Suggestions)

Thakur Shiva Bhargav Singh

Secondary Grade Teacher

MPUPS Raparthy, Mdl: Kalher, Dist: Sangareddy, State: Telangana.

Contact : 8121963757

email: bhargavthakur175@gmail.com