A STUDY ON DIFFICULTIES IN READING ENGLISH FOR ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING AT VINH TECHNICAL TEACHERS’ TRAINING UNIVERSITY

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PART 1: INTRODUCTION


1. Rationale
Actually, reading is given the most important account of four skills. In comparison with
writing, speaking and listening, reading will be used most often in the students’ future work.
In teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam, reading has always
received a great deal of attention. That is because reading is not only the important means to
get knowledge but also means of further study. By means of English, the learners can take it
professionally in their future work as well as reading their specialized materials. It is
completely true for students of EEE.
At VTTTU, after finishing three semesters of GE, students of EEE departments begin
to take 60 ESP periods of EEE.
Being an ESP teachers of EEE, the researchers has always been aware of the
importance of the important of developing reading skills for EEE students. If students read
well, they are able to handle subjects related written materials in English and to work with
modern technological equipment. But in fact, despite the effort of the teachers and students,
the researcher finds her students reading skills disappointed, which do not meet the
requirements of the college. With some years English teaching experience, the researcher
recognized that there are many factors that affect the teaching and learning process such as
inappropriate teaching methods and classroom techniques, inappropriate attitude of the
teachers and learners about the subjects, unsuitable teaching materials…
For all the above reasons, the researcher would like to find out the areas of students
reading difficulties at VTTTU when learning English for EEE and the cause of these
difficulties. It is also hoped that the study will make some suggestions for teachers and
learners to improve the teaching and learning English for EEE at VTTTU.
2. Aims of the study
The study aims to examine the difficulties in reading English for Electrical and

Electronics Engineering of the second year students at VTTTU.
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To be more specific, the objectives of the study are:
- To investigate the present situation of teaching and learning English for EEE reading
in order to find out the teachers and learners’ areas of difficulties when learning English for
EEE.
- To suggest the ways to overcome the difficulties and help learners to improving their
ESP reading skills.
It is hoped that the findings from this study will be of some benefits to the students at
VTTTU.
3. Methods of the study
With the aims of finding out the area of difficulties in reading English for EEE at
VTTTU, this study adopts a case study approach. To achieve the aim of the study, the survey
questionnaire is used as the main method to collect the needed data from the learners as well
as the researcher’s observation and informal discussion with the students and the college.
4. Scope of the study
The study mainly focuses on some problems in ESP reading experience by the second
year students of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at VTTTU, then suggest some
techniques to help them improve their reading.
5. Organization of the study
This study consists of 3 parts: Introduction, development and conclusion
The first part concludes the rationale for choosing the topic of the study, the significance of
the study, the research questions, the scope of the study and the design of the study.
The second parts inncludes four chapters. Chapter one reviews the theoretical
backgrounds to the nature of reading and ESP reading. Chapter two discusses the current
situation of teaching and learning English for EEE at VTTTU. Chapter three presents the
research methodology, which focuses on the participants, the data collection method and the
data collecting procedure; the data analysis and. Chapter four suggests some recommendations

to reduce difficulties in reading English for EEE.
The last part- Conclusion- summarizes the main issues of the study, points out the
limitations and makes some suggestions for further research.
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PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW

1. The nature of reading
1.1. Definition of reading
So far, there are numerous definitions of reading by numerous perspectives- linguists,
psychologists, educators and second language researchers. Each author defines in different
way as seen from his own point of view. Goodman (1971; 135) considers reading “a
psycholinguistic process by which the reader, a language user, reconstructs, as best as he can,
a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display”.
Frank Smith (1985; 102) defined “reading is understanding the author’s thought”.
Sharing the same opinion, Harmer (1989; 153) considered reading as a mechanical process
that “eyes receive the message and the brain then has to work out the significance of the
message”. Therefore, reading can be viewed as a cylindrical process of recognizing,
understanding, comparing, and evaluating the information they encounter.
From all the opinions above it is clear that no definition can possibly capture all the
ideas and features of reading. However, they all try to find out the nature of reading, that is
“understanding”, in which they emphasize on reading process, reading message and readers.
1.2. Reading comprehension
Reading comprehension takes an important role in teaching and learning reading. It is
the ability to get information from the text as efficiently as possible. There are three elements
involving in the reading process, the text being read, the background knowledge of the readers
and the contextual aspects relevant for interpreting the text.
According to Gallet (1981; 3), “reading comprehension or understanding a written text

means extracting the required information from it as effectively as possible”. Richard and
Thomas (11987;9) also points out : “Reading comprehension is the best describe as
understanding between the author and the reader”
And according to Swam (1975; 1), “a student is good at comprehension ” if “ he can
read accurately and efficiently, so as to get the maximum information of a text with the
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minimum understanding”. After reading, readers can master the grammatical structures, words
pronunciation, understand the context of the texts and use it in real life as effective as possible.
Though these ideas are not exactly the same, they all seem that “reading without
comprehension is meaningless” (Karlin and Kartin, 1982:2)
1.3. Classification of reading according to the purpose of reading
According to the purpose of reading Wood (1985), Williams (1986) and Grellet (1990)
categorize reading into intensive, extensive, skimming and scanning.
1.3.1. Intensive reading
Intensive reading means the careful reading of shorter, more difficult foreign language text
with the goal of complete and detailed understanding. Francoise (1981: 41) defined: “Intensive
reading means reading short texts to extract specific information. This is an accuracy activity
involving reading for details”. And according to Nuttal (1982; 36) “Intensive reading involves
approaching the text under the guidance of a teacher or a task which forces the student to
focus on the text”. That means intensive reading is related to progress in language learning.
The aim of intensive reading is “to arrive at a profound and detailed understanding of the
text: not only of what it means, but also of how the mean is produced” (Nuttal, 1989: 23).
1.3.2. Extensive reading
Extensive reading means to read widely and in quantity. According to Grellet (1981;2)
, extensive reading means “reading longer texts usually for one’s own pleasure. This is a
fluency activity, mainly involving general understanding”. Hammer (1986,479) also has the
same view. He states: “extensive reading would normally start with reading for the main idea
or for general comprehension and finally, after much practice, for detailed comprehension”.

In fact, most of extensive reading is done silently and out of the classroom and it gives the
students opportunities to use their target language knowledge for their own purposes.
1.3.3. Skimming
Skimming is a very useful reading skill for students to locate specific item of
information that they need. Grellet (1981: 19) stated “when skimming, we go through the
reading material quickly in order to get its main points out the intension of the writer, but not
to find the answer to specific questions”. Because of its nature, the key to skimming is to
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know where to find the main idea of different paragraphs and to be able to synthesize them by
way of generalization.
1.3.4. Scanning
Scanning is another useful skill to locate a specific item of information that we need.
Williams (1986:100) said: “scanning occurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly in
order to find a particular point of information”. In contrast with skimming, scanning is far
more limited since it only means retrieving needed information. This kind of reading is widely
used in reading comprehension.
In sum, there are different ways of reading. In order to understand a text effectively,
the readers should not use these ways isolatedly. They must know how to use suitable ways to
achieve their reading purpose.
2. Reading in ESP teaching and learning
2.1. Definition of ESP
There are different definitions of ESP by different linguistics. According to Hutchinson
and Waters (1987; 16), “ESP- an approach not a product- does not involve a particular kind of
language, teaching materials or methodology”. In their opinion, ESP is not a matter of
teaching specialized varieties“, not different in kind from other form of language teaching”.
They states ESP “is an approach to language in which all decisions as to content and method
are based on the learners’ reason for learning”. So an ESP course should differ from a GE
course in selection of skills, themes, topics, situation and function. And, all ESP courses

should be based on the learners’ needs and meet the learners’ needs”
However, Strevens’ (1988) definition of ESP makes a distinction between 4 absolute
characteristics and two variable characteristics:
- The absolute characteristics of ESP are:
+ designed to meet specified needs of the learners
+ related in context (that is in its themes and topics) to particular disciplines, occupations
and activities.
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+ centered on language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis, discourse,
semantics, and so on, and analysis of the discourse
+ in contrast with GE.
- The variable characteristics are that ESP:
+ may be restricted to skill to be learned (for example reading only)
+ may not be taught according to any pre- ordained methodology.
Robinson’s definition is based on two key defining criteria and a number of characteristics
that are found to be true of ESP. The key criteria are that ESP is “normally goal-directed” and
that ESP courses develop from a need analysis, which “aims to specify as closely as possible
what exactly it is that students have to do through the medium of English” (Robinson, 1991:3).
2.2. Reading skills in ESP
In case of reading skills in ESP, Kenedy and Bolitho (1991: 74) designate some
necessary reading skills: skimming, scanning, reference skills, relating graphs to text, relating
diagram to text, predicting and sequencing the structure of a text, and reading notice and
instruction.
2.3. ESP reading materials
Materials are very important in teaching and learning process, especially in teaching
ESP.
ESP is designed to meet specific purpose of the learners. Therefore, selecting reading
materials is very important. Selecting materials involves making choices and decision. To

make good choices, we need to have good criteria on which to base the decision. These criteria
such as factors about the learners, the role of materials, the topics, the language, the
presentation have been put forwards for the analysis of materials and each of them have
validity. A good ESP material must contain interesting texts and enjoyable activities which
make students think, opportunities for them to use their existing knowledge, skill and content
that they and their teacher can cope with; truly reflect what you think and feel about learning
process; provide clear and coherent unit structure to guide the students through various
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activities to maximize the chances of learning; create a balance outlook which both reflects the
complexity of the task, yet make it appear manageable; introduce teachers to new techniques
and provide models of correct and appropriate language use (Hutchinson and Waters
1987:107).
3. Summary
In short, this chapter provides a theoretical framework for the study. It provides an
overview on the nature of reading in which definitions of reading and reading comprehension
as well as classification of reading according to the purpose of reading are mentioned. What is
more, this chapter also discusses the definition of ESP, reading skills in ESP and ESP reading
materials.

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CHAPTER TWO: THE CURRENT SITUATION OF TEACHING
AND LEARNING ENGLISH FOR EEE AT VTTTU
2.1. Institution
VTTTU has been operated for over 40 years. Initially, it was only a Vocational School.
Gradually, it was upgraded and became a Technical Teachers’ Training College in 1996, a
Technical Teachers’ Training University in 2006. Now its duty is to train students to become
upper- secondary school teachers in four major fields: Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical
Dynamic Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Information Technology.
The students are provided with a lot of general educational subjects and different
specializations like other institutions, of which English has been regarded as a vital component
in the program. But in fact, the conditions for teaching and learning are not ideal due to the
large class- size (more than 60 students in total), no language environment, out-of-date
reference documents, lack of facilities for language learning and teaching such as videos, tape
recorders, multimedia labs, and so on.
2. 2. Teachers
There are 10 teachers of English at the VTTTU, aged from 26 to 35. Four of them are
M.A., the other four are taking M.A. course. They have responsibility to teach both GE and
ESP. They are energetic and willing to devote their time and energy to teaching. However,
they are inexperienced in teaching ESP because none of them has been trained in teaching
ESP and they have no specialist knowledge on the subject matter. They are unexpectedly
required to teach a subject which is new and unfamiliar with them. Most of them have little

chance to access to the latest alterations of language teaching methods. So, they have to face
many difficulties, of which the lack of the professional knowledge and the choice of
appropriate teaching methodologies seem to be the major concerns. The majority of them still
adopted a teacher-centered, non-oral approach which emphasizes translation activities, learner
conformity in task completion, and success in an examination format. Students are passive and
only ask the teachers when they encounter difficult words that they cannot find in the
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dictionary. And the success rests on how flexible and adaptable the individual teacher is to
respond to the requirement of the new teaching situation.
2.3. Students
The learners of English at VTTTU are of approximately 18 – 25 in age so they
belonged to the same psychological age group. They come from different parts of the country.
Most of them are from the rural or remote areas, where there are no good opportunities for
studying English. They are varied in terms of English proficiency. The others come from
cities, who, theoretically, have all finished three years or seven years of learning English at
high schools before entering the college, but in fact, their levels are rather mixed. Moreover,
their length of English learning was different: 32% started learning at grade 6, 51% started
learning at grade 10, 10% learn French or Russian and 7% have never learned any foreign
languages.
To some extent, there are some students whose English is very excellent, but generally
the target students’ English proficiency is still of low level.
Moreover, the students come to the class with different English background and
different attitude, motivation, learning style towards learning the language. Some have learnt
English at school, some have learnt Russian or French and others have never learnt a foreign
language. Thus, the first thing the teachers have to do is to improve the students’ level of GE
before they can deal with subject matters in this language.
Another problem is that most of students do not have the habit of learning
independently and tend to depend on the textbooks and the teachers for knowledge. These

provide the ESP teachers with a basic understanding of the subject of ESP.
Besides, the class size is very big (more than 60 students) so it is very difficult for the
teachers and students to fulfill their task of teaching and learning.
2.4. The teaching and learning English at VTTTU
Due to the particular tasks of our technical college, English at VTTTU is allowed to be
non- major and of course not the compulsory subject for entrance exam. Like many other
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subjects, English is taught in a formal setting (classroom) without language environment and
the students have to do two English courses: 120-period GE and 60-period ESP.
As far as materials are concerned, some textbooks for GE such as “Kernel-One”;
“Kernel-Plus”; “Streamline (Departure)”, “Headway (Elementary)” and now “New Headway”
(Elementary) have been in used recently. ESP at VTTTU includes “English for Technical
Engineering”, “English for Electrical and Electronics Engineering” and “English for Computer
Science”.
The ESP textbooks were designed with the stated purposes of providing the students
with an amount of vocabulary relating to the investigation topics and training reading skill
which would be helpful for their future job. They focus on language skills: reading, writing,
and translation. The ESP textbooks put greater emphasis on content teaching – the knowledge
of the specific areas rather than the language skills. However, for most of the students learning
these ESP textbooks, reading is the most challenging task.
In term of methodology, ESP teachers usually employ the traditional method of
teaching. Classes are conducted in the form of lecture. Teachers often play the key role in the
lesson, being the main speaker. Students are passive and only ask the teachers questions when
they encounter difficult words that they cannot find in the dictionary.
Actually, we find it very difficult to obtain effective teaching. The reasons for the
difficulties are: (i) English is not a compulsory subject for the entrance exam; (ii) students at
VTTTU are varied in terms of English proficiency, some of them have learned some English
at schools while others (those from the rural and remote areas) have not; and (iii) ESP is

generally not taken into much consideration by the college authority because no ESP training
course for teachers has ever been provided.
2.5. Summary
This chapter has provided an overview of Vinh Technical Teachers’ Training
University, given some information about the institution, the students, the teachers. The
researcher has also pointed out some problems that the teachers and students at VTTTU face
in the teaching and learning of ESP reading.
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CHAPTER THREE: THE STUDY

3. 1. The participants
The participants of this study were 77 second- year- students of the of Electrical
Engineering Department of the VTTTU
The reason for choosing the second year students for this study is as follows: Students
in this university only take the ESP course after finishing a 120- period GE course which was
studied in the first year and half of the second year.
The 77 students among those of Electrical Engineering Department were selected at
random to participate in the research. It was difficult to select a random sample of individuals
since students had already been assigned to different classes. In this case cluster random
sampling was more feasible, which means that instead of randomly selecting the individuals,
the researcher randomly selected the group or classes for investigation (Fraenkel and Wallen,
1996). This approach is more appropriate and convenient for the researcher to observe the
participants who filled in / or completed the questionnaire in classes. Besides, 9 other teachers
who were teaching at the college were invited to participate in the study for informal
discussion.
3. 2. The data collection method
To reach the primary purpose of the study, a survey questionnaire has been chosen as
the main instrument for data collection for this particular research. One survey questionnaire

with 9 questions were designed for EEE students to identify their opinions on reading lessons
and to find out their expectation to achieve better reading competence. The questionnaire is
constructed based on the literature, the difficulties in reading English for EEE, the researcher’s
observation of the students during some years of teaching at VTTTU as well as her
discussions with the other 9 teachers of the University.
The questionnaire consists of two main parts: Part one aimed to collect information
about the students background which included their places of domicile, the number of years
they had been learning English and their proficiency levels in English measured by their
average marks in English in the first two years. Part two aimed to collect information about
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the students’ attitude towards reading English for EEE, their difficulties in reading skills and
the causes; and their expectations of the teachers’ methodology and materials.
Survey questionnaire is intended to serve as the main source of data because it is
undeniable that question is valuable tool for investigating the attitude, images, concerns,
needs, etc. held by a group of interest. Hence, it will certainly be valuable for the author in
exploring the subjects’ difficulties in reading English for EEE.
Moreover, this research tool is also relatively more comfortable, time- saving and
economical to administer as compared with other survey methods like interviewing,
telephoning, mailing, video taping, especially when it comes to the investigation of ESP
reading skill, not other language skills. This method is supposed to be of great advantage in
the sense that it is easier for the subjects to answer the questions. Besides, the survey
questionnaire preserves the subjects’ anonymity so they are more likely to give unbiased
answers. Another advantage is that the researchers can get information from a large population
in a short time. On the one hand, it makes the analysis of data easy and simple as all subjects
answer the same questions.
3.3. Data collection procedure
To collect data for the study, 77 photocopied copies of the questionnaire were
delivered to the students during the class time. Before giving the questionnaires to the

respondents, the researcher explains the purpose of the questionnaires, the requirement for the
respondents and answers any questions asked by the respondents. The respondents were also
encouraged to ask if there was anything they did not understand in the questionnaire. Then
they were instructed to take as much time as they need to complete the questionnaires.
3.4. Data analysis
Data from the questionnaire were classified into different categories such as students’
attitudes towards reading English for EEE, their difficulties in reading in the areas of
vocabulary, discourse, reading strategies and cultural background knowledge, the cause of the
reading problems and their expectations of the teachers’ methodology. Because the number of
respondents is small, the data is manually analyzed using descriptive statistics and
interpretations. The information was then displayed in forms of tables and bar charts.
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3.4.1. The students’ attitude towards ESP reading.
Question 1 Number of responses %
Strongly agree 19 24.7
Agree 48 62.3
Disagree 9 11.7
Strongly disagree 1 1.3
Table 1. Students’ favourite in ESP reading
According to the result in Table 1, we can see that not all the students like learning
English for EEE very much and have positive attitude towards learning English for EEE.
Indeed, there are 87% the students agree and strongly agree and 13% of the students disagree
in this question.
Question 2 Number of responses %
Strongly agree 27 35
Agree 39 50.6
Disagree 11 14.3
Strongly disagree 0 0

Table 2: Students’ perception about the importance of ESP reading
As can be seen from table 2, the students mainly agree that reading is an important
skill in learning English for EEE (85.6%) whereas 14.3% disagree .
From figure 3, we can see that most of the students consider that reading English for
EEE necessary for their future job (98.7%). Only one student disagrees in this question.
Question 3 Number of responses %
Strongly agree 59 76.6
Agree 17 22.1
Disagree 1 1.3
Strongly disagree 0 0
Table 3: Students agreement on the necessity of EEE for future job
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3.4.2. Students' perception of ESP reading difficulties.
Reading difficulties in English for EEE perceived by our second year students are
categorized in terms of vocabulary, grammar, discourse, reading skills. Four questions were
designed to explore the students' perception of ESP reading difficulties. The students were
asked to rate on a 4- point scale (4 being "very difficult", 3 being "difficult", 2 being " easy" ,
1 being "very easy "). The responses were then calculated in terms of the mean, the standard
deviation and the percentages. The means were classified as follows: 1-1.5 means "very easy",
1.6-2.5 means "Easy", 2.6-3.5 means "Difficult", and 3.6-4.0 means "Very difficult".
3.4.2.1. In the area of vocabulary.
In Q4, the students were asked to point out the difficulties in some aspects of
vocabulary. The results are presented in Table 4 and diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 1.
Level of difficulty (%) Scale rating
Question 4
Mean SD
VD D E VE
a. Understanding and remembering

professional technical words
3.1 0.71 18.1 64.9 15.6 1.4
b. Guessing the meaning of words from
the contexts
3.0 0.67 22.1 55.8 22.1 0
c. Finding the appropriate meaning for
polysemantic words
2.8 0.63 7.8 28.6 41.6 22
d. Guessing the meaning of words
through their formation
2.2 0.99 13 22 37.7 27.3
Table 4. The difficulties in the areas of vocabulary
As can be seen from the table, the mean in this section ranged between 2.2 and 3.1.
Item 4a (Understanding and remembering professional technical words) had the highest mean
(M=3.1, SD=0.71). There are 18.1% of students considering that it is very difficult for them to
understand and remember professional technical words. The percentage perceived it to be
“difficult” is 64.9%. Only 1.4% considered it “very easy” and the rest (15.6%) thought that it
is “easy”.
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Item 4d (Guessing the meaning of words through their formation) had the lowest mean
(M=2.2, SD= 0.99) which showed that the meaning of words that have the same root seemed
to be the easiest for students to guess
Item 4b (Guessing the meaning of words from the contexts) had rather high means,
with M=3.0 (SD=0.67). This suggested that it was also “difficult” for the students to guess the
meaning of the words from the contexts. No one found this item as “very easy”.
3 . 1
3
2 . 8

2 . 2
0
1
2
3
4
4 a 4 b 4 c 4 d
M e a n

Figure 1. Mean number of difficulties in the area of vocabulary
3.4.2.2. In the area of grammar
Question 5 investigated the difficulties in some grammar aspects. The results are shown in
table 5 and the means are dramatically presented in Figure 2.
level of difficulty (%) Scale rating
Question 5
Mean SD
VD D E VE
a. Recognizing the word's part of
speech: Nouns, verbs, adjectives
2.4 0.62 3.9 37.6 53.2 5.3
b. Understanding and using verb tenses
and forms
2.8 0.62 11.7 59.7 27.2 1.4
c. Understanding and identifying the
types of sentences: simple or complex,
passive and active voice
2.5 0.72 7.8 37.7 49.3 5.2
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d. Identifying the main and subordinate
clauses in complex sentences
2.7 0.66 10.3 54.6 33.8 1.3
e. Understanding the relationship
between clauses of compound and
complex sentences
2.8 0.71 11.7 55.8 28.5 3.9
Table 5. The difficulties in the areas of grammar
According to table 5, we can see that the means of the rated difficulties ranged from
2.4 to 2.8 which were lowered than those in the vocabulary.
Item 5a had the lowest mean (M=2.4, SD=0.62), which showed that the students had no
difficulty in recognizing the word's part of speech: Nouns, verbs, adjectives
Item 5c (Understanding and identifying the types of sentences: simple or complex,
passive and active voice) also had a small mean (M=2.5, SD=0.72). Indeed, 45.5% believed
that understanding and identifying the types of sentences: simple or complex, passive and
active voice caused them no problem at all.
2 . 4
2 . 8
2 . 5
2 . 7
2 . 8
2 . 2
2 . 3
2 . 4
2 . 5
2 . 6
2 . 7
2 . 8
5 a 5 b 5 c 5 d 5 e
M e a n

Figure 2. Mean number of difficulties in the area of grammar
Item 5b (Understanding and using verb tenses and forms) and 5e (Understanding the
relationship between clauses of compound and complex sentences) both had the same means
(SD=2.8), which was the highest compared with the other items. 71.4% of the students found
it “difficult” and “very difficult” for them to understand and use verb tenses and forms
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whereas 67.5% found it “difficult” and “very difficult” to understand the relationship between
clauses of compound and complex sentences.
Item 5d (Identifying the main and subordinate clauses in complex sentences) had fairly
high mean with M=2.7, SD=0.66, which also shows that this item was rated as “difficult”
(64.9%). Only 1.3% found it “very easy”.
3.4.2.3. In the area of discourse
level of difficulty (%) Scale rating
Question 6
Mean SD
VD D E VE
a. Understanding the relationship
between sentences in the text
2.6 0.69 6.5 53.2 35.1 5.2
b. Understanding the relationship
between paragraphs in the text
2.5 0.79 7.8 41.5 40.3 10.4
c. Understanding the graphs, diagrams
and figures
2.5 0.82 10.4 31.1 48.0 10.5
d. Identifying and recognizing
conjunctions and discourse markers

2.2 0.88 10.4 23.4 45.5 20.7
e. Identifying organization of ideas:
Main ideas, subordinate ideas, topic
sentences
2.7 0.87 12.9 50.6 23.4 13.0
Table 6. The difficulties in the areas of discourse
From table 6, we can see that all the items had a mean higher than 2.5. This means that
the students had difficulties in all aspects of discourse except item 6d (Identifying and
recognizing conjunctions and discourse markers).
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2 . 6
2 . 5 2 . 5
2 . 2
2 . 7
0
0 . 5
1
1 . 5
2
2 . 5
3
6 a 6 b 6 c 6 d 6 e
M e a n

Figure 3. Mean number of difficulties in the area of discourse

To be more specific, item 6e (Identifying organization of ideas: Main ideas, subordinate
ideas, topic sentences ) had the highest mean (M= 2.7, SD=0.87). 87.1% found it “very

difficult” and “difficult”
Item 6a (Understanding the relationship between sentences in the text) also had a high
mean (M=2.6, SD=0.69). There are 59.7% of the students finding it difficult and very difficult
to understand the relationship between sentences in the text whereas only 5.2% found it “very
easy”.
Item 6d (Identifying and recognizing conjunctions and discourse markers) produced
the smallest mean (M=2.2, SD=0.88). This means that the students found it very easy to
identify and recognize conjunctions and discourse markers.
The other items 6b (Understanding the relationship between paragraphs in the text)
and 6c (Understanding the graphs, diagrams and figures) produced the same mean (M=2.5,
SD= 0.79 and 0.82 respectively) which show a rather high percentage of students having
difficulties with these items (See table 6 and figure 3).
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3.4.2.4. In the area of reading skills
level of difficulty (%) Scale rating
Question 7
Mean SD
VD D E VE
a. Skimming to get the main ideas 2.9 0.68 15.6 55.8 27.3 1.3
b. Scanning to get the specific
information
2.8 0.62 10.4 57.2 32.4 0
c. Guessing the new words in the
contexts
2.7 0.82 13 57.3 19.4 10.3
d. Summarizing the main ideas of the
text
2.8 0.75 13 54.5 27.3 5.2

e. Translating into Vietnamese 2.7 0.71 13 50.6 33.8 2.6
f. Answering the comprehension
questions
2.2 0.88 7.8 28.6 41.6 22
Table 7. The difficulties in the areas of reading skills
Question 7 explored the difficulties in the areas of reading skills. The results are shown
in table 7.
As can be seen from the table, we can see that the mean in this section ranged between
2.2 and 2.9. The responses to question 7 in this section spread from “very difficult” (VD) to
“very easy” (VE) for all items, except for item 7b with none choosing the VE responses. The
means are illustrated in Figure 4.
The highest mean was the mean of item 7a (Skimming to get the main ideas) (M=2.9,
SD=0.68), with 71.4% of the participants finding it difficult and “very difficult”, and 1.3%
found it “very easy”.
Followed by this item were items 7b (Scanning to get the specific information) and 7d
(Summarizing the main ideas of the text), items 7c (Guessing the new words in the contexts)
and 7e (Translating into Vietnamese) which had fairly equal means: M=2.8 for 7b and 7d,
M=2.7 for 7c and 7e, which showed a rather high percentage of students having difficulties
with these items (See table 7 and figure 4).
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

Item 7f (Answering the comprehension questions) produced the smallest mean (M=2.2,
SD=0.88). Thus, it is clear that a considerable number of the students had no difficulties in
answering the comprehension questions (63.6 % rated it “easy” and “very easy”). In fact,
comprehension questions are simple to answer because they are readily available in the text.
2 . 9
2 . 8
2 . 7
2 . 8

2 . 7
2 . 2
0
0 . 5
1
1 . 5
2
2 . 5
3
7 a 7 b 7 c 7 d 7 e 7 f
M e a n

Figure 4. Mean number of difficulties in the area of reading skills
3.4.2.5. Rank order of ESP reading difficulties based on the average mean.
In order to rank the area of language the students perceived as the most difficult the
researcher based on the average mean of all the items in each area. The results are showed in
the following table.
Mean of each item
Area of difficulties
a b c d e f
Averag
e mean
Vocabulary (Q4) 3.1 3.0 2.8 2.2 2.77
Grammar (Q5) 2.4 2.8 2.5 2.7 2.8 2.64
Discourse (Q6) 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.58
Reading skills (Q7) 2.9 2.8 2.7 2.8 2.7 2.2 2.68
Table 8. The average mean of the items in each area of difficulties
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Table 8 shows that the students in their own perception found difficulties in all the four areas.
They found items 4a, 4b, 4c, 5b, 5e, 7a, 7b, 7d the most difficult ones (which had the
highest means). Items 4a, 4b, 4c belonged to vocabulary, and other items belonged to grammar
and reading skills.
The items which had the smallest means were 4d, 5a, 5c, 6b, 6c, 7f. Among the six
easiest items, two items belonged to the grammar section, two to discourse area and one to
reading skills.
Thus, based on the average mean in each area, it can be concluded that vocabulary was
the most difficult area for the students (M= 2.77) and the area of discourse seemed to be the
least difficult for the students (M=2.58). Grammar, reading skills and discourse presented
nearly the same mean (M=2.68 and M=2.64 respectively) .
3.4.3. The causes of difficulty.
Question 8 investigated the sources of difficulties in reading English for EEE. The
causes are to do with the reading materials, the teachers and the students themselves. The
results are calculated by percentage and illustrated in table 9
Question 8
Yes No
a. The texts are too long and full of new words
64.9 35.1
b. The texts are full of new grammar structures
14.3 85.7
c. The teacher doesn’t teach you sufficient reading skills.
64.5 45.5
d. The teacher is too demanding.
3.9 96.1
e. You lack motivation.
20.8 79.2
f. You lack ESP vocabulary.
77.9 22.1
g. You lack knowledge about the topic you are reading.

62.3 37.7
Table 9: Students’ views of sources of difficulties
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3.4.3.1. The reading materials
As can be seen from table 8, 64.9% of the students found the main cause of their
difficulties to be the very/ too long texts which contained a lot of new words, whereas only
14.3% (11 out of 77 students) stated that the texts are full of new grammar structures. Indeed,
in ESP text, there were not many complex grammatical problems. Most of them were studied
carefully in GE course for the three terms before students started studying ESP.
3.4.3.2. The teachers
As a matter of fact, the success of the reading lesson depends largely on the ways the
teachers teach the students. Therefore, students encounter difficulties in their learning process,
teachers may be partly responsible for their difficulties.
As it is played in table 8, 64.5 % of the students complained that their teachers didn’t
teach them sufficient reading skills. Through the interview and small talk, the students
reported that they do not know how to use appropriate techniques or strategies to deal with
different types of texts. They just look at every single word, sometimes get stuck when
encountering new vocabularies or structures. They even do not know which words are
unimportant to ignore. They think that is not good because they should understand every
detail. These problems clearly prevent the students from improving their reading abilities.
The teacher’s attitude also affects the learning atmosphere of the class. The too strict
teacher will make the lesson more difficult. For item 8d, only 3.9% of the students complained
that the teacher was too strict. Most of them agreed that their teachers even were very
sympathetic with them.
3.4.3.3. The learners
We can see from table 8 that most of the students (78%, 60 out of 77 students) found the
cause of their difficulties was the vocabulary of ESP. This finding is quite consistent with the

results presented in Figure 7: Students found the area of vocabulary the most difficult of all.
Lacking knowledge about the topic is also a problem for the students in reading ESP. 62.3%
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reported that they lack knowledge about the topic they were reading. Only 20.8% of the students
do not interest in ESP reading. Our students will be technical officers and they are aware of the
importance of reading skill in their future jobs as electric and electronic engineers. Thus most of
them have a positive attitude to learn and clear motivation in learning ESP.
3.4.4. The learners’ expectation in term of methodology
Question 9 looked into the learners’ expectations about the teachers’ methodology in
teaching ESP reading
Question 9
Yes No
I expect the teacher to give and carefully explain the ESP
terminologies.
81.8 18.2
b. I expect the teacher to explain more carefully unfamiliar
grammatical structures in the texts.
66.2 33.8
c. I expect the teacher to help us to choose suitable reading strategies
for each reading texts.
59.7 41.3
d. I expect the teacher to provide more exercises to remember
vocabulary more easily.
70.1 29.9
e. I want the teacher to check us more often about the new words
and translation.
72.7 27.3
f. Others……………………

Table 10: The learners’ expectation in term of methodology
The results showed that 81.8% of the students expected the teacher to give and carefully
explain the ESP terminologies found in the text before reading (9a) and 70.1% preferred to be
provided more exercises to remember vocabulary more easily (9d). We know that how
important the new words are. So it is very necessary for the students to know what a words or
a terminology means. Therefore, they expect the teacher to teach the new words or
terminologies in the ways that the students not only be able to know the meaning of words but
also retain them in their memory.
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An other finding is that 75% of the participants wanted to provide more background
knowledge related the topic they were reading (9e) and 59.7% expected to be taught suitable
reading strategies for each reading text (9c). This finding perfectly matches with the finding
presented in table 8 about the causes of reading difficulties.
We also can see in table 8 that 66.2% of the students expected the teacher to explain more
carefully unfamiliar grammatical structures in the texts (9b). It is very necessary for the
students to have a good knowledge of grammar so that they can understand the text well. And
there are only 42.7% expected the teacher to examine them more often about the new words
and translation.
3.4.5 Summary
In this chapter the researcher has presented methodology of the study included the
participants, the data collection methods, the data collection procedure, the data analysis. To
reach the aims and objectives of the study, the researcher decided to use the survey
questionnaire, informal discussion with the teachers and informal interview of a focused
group. By employing these different instruments, the researcher hopes to achieve a
triangulation of data, which help to make data more reliable.
This chapter has also presented the difficulties in ESP reading and the causes of them,
and the learners’ need in term of teacher’s methodology.

Firstly, based on the results of the questionnaire as well as small talk and interview, we
can see that the students face difficulties in all the four areas of language. The most common
difficulties is in the area of vocabulary. The discourse appears to be the least difficult of all.
Secondly, according to the students, reading difficulties might come from different
sources: the students’ limitation of background, inadequate linguistic knowledge, the teaching
methods as well as the students’ negative attitude
Thirdly, the students suggested that in order to teach and learn ESP effectively, the
teaching method should be tailored to suit the level of the students.
The following chapter will suggest some techniques which can help to improve the
students’ ESP reading efficiency.
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
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CHAPTER FOUR: RECOMMENDATIONS

As have seen from this research, reading skill was a problem for many second year
students at VTTTU. Thus, within the scope of the study I would like to put forwards some
recommendations to reduce the students’ difficulties in reading English for EEE and improve
the teaching and learning of English for EEE.
4.1. Increasing students’ reading interest and motivation.
According to the results of the research, one of the causes of difficulties in reading English
for EEE is that 13% of the students in VTTTU have a negative attitude, low interest and
motivation in ESP reading. So, in order to reduce the difficulties, teacher should enhance the
students interest and motivation by making the ESP course useful and the lessons fun.
From the results in Question 8, 64.9% of the students found the texts too long and full of
new words. So, it makes the lessons boring and not motivating enough for students. Therefore,
teacher should make his reading lessons fun.
Firstly, teacher should provide easy reading lessons by simplifying, adapting the materials
to suit students’ level of proficiency so that they will find themselves at ease and read on.
Then, teachers should diversify the techniques such as using pictures, real objects, … to

introduce the lessons at the pre-reading texts so as to stimulate the students. After that, while
reading, teacher should create exciting reading atmosphere by requiring students to work
individually, in pairs or in groups…Finally, teacher should vary reading activities and give
different reading tasks to students in different lessons to avoid boredom.
For example, in order to teacher Unit 5- Electric motor, firstly, teacher should give some
pictures about electric motors (both direct current and alternating current motors) to introduce.
These pictures help students to have a fully sight about electric motors so they will be
interested in reading the text.
 At while- reading stage, teacher should require whole class to read the first paragraph
in order to have a full sight in electric motor, then divide students into 4 groups. The first
group reads about the rotor (the second and third paragraph), the second reads about the stator
and the last- operating principle. After that, teacher requires students to present the main point