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DECLARATION
I, Nguyen Thi My Hao, certify that this thesis is the result of my own research and
the substance of this thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to any
other university or institution.
Hanoi, May 2008
Nguyen Thi My Hao
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Mr.
Le Van Canh, M.A for his invaluable comments and suggestions, generous assistance and
continual encouragement in completion of this research.
Secondly, my special thanks go to all the teachers and students of the classes I have
visited in order to gather information for my survey questionnaire and classroom
observations.
My gratefulness is to my husband, who has given me so much love, patience and
encouragement, who spent hours working with the computer to help me with computer
entry and processing.
In addition, I am in debt of my mother-in-law, who has constantly supported and
encouraged me to carry out this thesis, who has shared with me all the housework so that I
could concentrate on doing research.
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ABSTRACT
Reading is a very important skill because together with listening, reading provide
indispensable input for students. However, the teaching and learning reading in many
schools in Viet nam in general and at Phan Boi Chau specialized school in particular is still
far from satisfactory.
Students’ satisfaction with the reading lessons is of great concern. In fact, there are
many factors affecting the students’ satisfaction that are worth considering such as
students’ interest, needs teachers’ activities, the topic of the text, the text type…This thesis

only aims at investigating the students’ level of satisfaction with the teachers’ reading
activities because reading activities play a key role in making students satisfy with their
reading lessons.
A set of survey questionnaire and classroom observations are used to explore the
11
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non - English majors’ attitudes towards the teachers’ reading activities, situation o f
using reading activities by the teachers at Phan Boi Chau school and students’ preferences
for these activities in order to narrow the gap between teaching styles and learning styles as
a goal of learner-centredness in language education. From that, some recommendations
from using reading activities to better the situation of teaching and learning reading at Phan
Boi Chau school would be made.
The findings from the study indicates that almost all the students are fully aware of
the sheer importance of reading activities. A great variety of reading activities are reported
to have been used during reading lessons. Among them, activities such as giving some pre-
reading questions to think before reading, pre-teaching new vocabulary and structures,
asking students to do tasks in limited time are found to be the most frequently used but not
interesting ones. Using visual aids and games is rarely applied by the teachers despite the
fact that they are in greatest favour by the students. The students also enjoy taking part in
many other activities such as predicting, brainstorming and translating….Besides, the
teachers’ characteristics also play an important role in motivating students to learn the
lessons. The data from the classroom observations highlight the importance of using
activities in encouraging and satisfying the students in reading lessons.
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Finally, the study recommends that to better the situation, the teachers should vary
and apply reading activities flexibly and appropriately, focus on students’ personal factors,
provide the students with a variety of extra tasks, material and activities and be helpful,
enthusiastic and humorous as well.
Hopefully, the thesis can be considered a small contribution to the teaching and

learning reading at the school.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS i i
DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS viii
PART ACHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1
I.1. Rationale of the study 1
I.2. Aims of the study 2
I.3. 2
Research questions 2
I.4. Scope of the study 2
I.5. Methods of the study 3
I.6. Significance of the study 3
I.7. Design of the study 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5
CHAPTER II. 5
LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1II.1. Introduction 5
5
II.21. Learner- centred approach 5
II.23. Teaching styles and lLearning styles: The need to narrow the gap between the
teachers’ teaching styles and the students’ learning styles 7
II.23.1. Learning styles: 7
At this point you need to discuss further how the issue of learners’ statifaction is related to
teaching styles and learning styles 9

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II.23.2. The need to narrow the gaps between the teacher’s teaching style and the learners’
learning styles: 9
Again, how this is related to learners’ satifaction? Clarify 12
I.3. Learners’ perceptions/satisfaction in language education 12
II.4. Reading and reading activities 12
II.4.1. Definition of reading 12
II.4.2. Reading activities: 12
II.4.2.1. Pre-reading questions 13
II.4.2.2. Using a class discussion 13
II.4.2.3. Pre-teaching new vocabulary and structures 13
II.4.2.4. Giving a simple and short introduction about the text 13
II.4.2.5. Asking students to tasks in a limited time 14
II.4.2.6. Using games 14
II.4.2.7. Using visual aids 14
II.4.2.8. Giving feedback 14
II.4.2.9. Writing a summary after reading 14
II.4.2.10. Applying rewards and punishment policy 15
In what way is the discussion of this related to the issue of learners’ satisfaction.? 15
Have a CONCLUSION section: What are the major points from the literature review that
is connected to your topic of investigation – learners’ satisfaction with reading lessons? 15
II.5. Conclusion 15
CHAPTER III. THE STUDY 17
Introduction 17
III.1. Situation Analysis 17
II.1.1. The setting of the study 17
III.1.1.1. The school 17
III.1.1.2. The teacher and the students: 18
III.1.1.3. The TIENG ANH 11 textbook 18

III.1.2. Subjects 19
III.23. Instruments: 20
IHow was observation carried out? And how was the data analysed? 21
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Hopefully, with four different teachers, four different classes and four different units, the
researcher can get a lot of choice for the reading activities and can get involved in various
classroom settings 22
II.34. Data analysis process 22
CHAPTER IIIIV 23
DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 23
IVIII.1. Survey questionnaire 23
IIIIV.1.1. Students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s reading activities 23
26
IIIV.1.2. The current situation of using reading activities in a reading lesson at Phan Boi
Chau school 26
IIIV.1.3. Students’ preferences for reading activities 30
IIIIV.1.4. Students’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the teacher’s ways of teaching
reading 31
IIIV.2. Classroom observations 33
CHAPTER IV. 38
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 38
FOR USING READING ACTIVITIESFOR MAKING STUDENTS SATISFIED WITH
THE READING LESSONS 38
IV. 1. Findings: Most important in this is WHAT ARE YOUR ANSWERS TO THE TWO
RESEARCH QUESTIONS? 38
IV.1.1. The students’ attitudes towards the teacher’s reading activitiesThe importance of
reading activities: 39
IV.1.2. The current situation of using reading activities at Phan Boi Chau school 39
V.1.2.1. The frequency of reading activities used by the teachers at Phan Boi Chau school

40
IV.1.32.2. Reading activities that can help to increase the students’ satisfaction: 41
IV.1.43. Students’ preferences for reading activities 42
IV.1.54. Students’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the teacher’s way of teaching
reading 43
IV.2. Recommendations for making students satisfied with the reading lessonsusing
reading activities in a reading lesson 43
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V.3. Sample work 46
CHAPTER VI. 48
CONCLUSION 48
VI.1. Summary of the study 48
VI.2. Limitations and suggestions for further study 49
REFERENCES 42
APPENDIX 1. SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE I
APPENDIX 2. OBSERVATIONAL PROTOCOLS III
LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
TABLES
Table 1: The frequency of using reading activities
Table 2: Students’ preferences for the reading activities used by the teachers
CHARTS
Chart 1: The role of teachers’ reading activities in reading lessons.
Chart 2: Factors affecting the students’ satisfaction with the reading lessons
Chart 3: Activities that can help to increase the students’ satisfaction
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PART ACHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
I.1. Rationale of the study
One of the tenets of a learner-centered approach to language teaching is student

satisfaction. If it is true that we cannot teach the language to the students , but just create
conditions for the learning to happen, it is crucial to make our students satisfied with their
lessons. This is because students cannot be sufficiently motivated to learn without feeling
satisfied with what they are provided for
In teaching and learning English as a foreign language, reading has always received
a great deal of attention. This is understandable because where English is learnt and taught
inis a non-English environment, so reading is not only an important means to get
knowledge but also a means of further study. According to Richard (1993:9), “Becoming
an effective and fluent reader in another language has a number of important benefits for
the learner”. In order to motivate learners to learn and become fluent readers, it is
necessary for teachers to understand students’ degree of satisfaction with the way the
reading skills are taught so that improvements can be made on the part of the teachers.
Despite the need of understanding how students evaluate the lessons teachers teach, there
has yet been a single study that looks into this matter in my school.
When dealing with a reading lesson, the teachers always try to their best to make
the reading lesson a success. However, because of the differences between the teachers and
the students with regard to the experience in using the language and expectation as well as
to cognitive styles, teachers’ satisfaction with their teaching does not necessarily mean
students’ satisfaction. it seems that some of them are not satisfied with their learning.
Actually, satisfaction is a very necessary element in learning in general and in learning
reading in particular but helping students to be satisfied with their reading lessons is a
challenging task. There are many factors that are worth considering such as students’
needs, interest, teachers’ reading activities, the topic of the text, the text type.
As said above, the issue of students’ satifactionsatisfaction remains unexplored in
my school, this study was an attempt to fill the gap. However, with the limitation of the
time, the author only intends to pay more attention to investigate the students’ satisfaction
with the teachers’ reading activities because reading activities play an important role in
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making students satisfy with their reading lessons. Suitable reading activities can enhance

the students’ interest in reading. Needless to say, it is necessary for the teachers to know
what reading activities their students would like to take part in.
At Phan Boi Chau school, teachers have used a variety of reading activities in the
classroom. Despite their great effort, the students are sometimes not satisfied with their
reading lessons and the reading lessons are said to be boring. This issue has brought the
author a desire to conduct a research study on how far the students are satisfied with their
reading lessons and to give some suggestions for using and choosing suitable reading
activities.
I.2. Aims of the study
The study aims at:
- examining the 11
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non-English majors’ attitudes towards the teachers ’ reading
activities.
- investigating the current situation of using reading activities by teachers at Phan

Boi Chau school.
- exploring the students’ satisfaction with the teachers’ reading activities.
- giving some recommendationssuggestions for teachers to employemploying
reading activities to satisfy the students by satisfy non-English to improve their reading
skills.
I.3.
Research questions
- What are the 11
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non-English majors’ attitudes towards the teachers’ reading
activities?
- What is the current situation of using reading comprehension activities at Phan
Boi Chau school?
- What reading comprehension activities do students most and least prefer?

- To what extent are they satisfied with their reading comprehension lessons in
general?
I.4. Scope of the study
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As mentioned above, students’ satisfaction with their reading lessons depends on
different factors such as students’ needs, interest, teachers’ reading activities, the topic of
the text, the next type. All these factors can not be covered in this paper. So, the author
only intends to study on reading activities that may affect students’ satisfaction in learning
English in general and in reading comprehension in particular. More specifically, the
author only focuses on investigating reading activities employed by teachers at Phan Boi
Chau school and students’ preferences for these reading activities. After that, some
suggestions are given for the teachers to improve their reading activities to satisfy their
students.
I.5. Methods of the study
In order to achieve the goal of the study, which was to investigate the studnents’
degree of satisfaction with their reading comprehension lessons, a questionnaire survey
was chosen for this study. In addition to the questionnaire, which was administered to the
students, classroom observations were also made to help the researcher interpret the
questionnaire data more accurately.The study was carried out on the basis of material
collection, survey questionnaire and class observation.
For the theoretical basic, materials are collected, gathered and analyzied carefully.
For the practical basic, questionnaires and class observation are carried out with
target teachers and students to collect the most reliable data for the thesis.
I.6. Significance of the study
The students’ satisfaction with their teachers’ reading activities plays a very
important role to the reading lessons. This contributes to make the lesson successful or not.
The findings of the study are believed to be useful for teachers to realize the essential role
of reading activities to the students’ satisfaction with their reading lessons. More
importantly, the recommendations for reading activities hopefully can help the teachers to

satisfy their students in reading lessons.
I.7. Design of the study
The study consists of three five parts:chapters
Part AChapter I: , Introduction,- presents the rationale, aims, research questions,
scope, methods, significance and the design of the study.
Chapter IIPart B: Development- consists of three chapters:
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Chapter I,:, Literature review, presents the learner-centred approach, the teaching
and learning style, studies on learners’ satisfaction in language education reading and
reading activities.
Chapter III,:, The study, provides the setting of the study, subjects, instruments
and data analysis process
Chapter IV:, Data analysis and discussion, analyses and discusses the data
collected from the survey questionnaire and classroom observations
Chapter IIIV,:, Major findings and suggestionsrecommendations, offers the
major findings and some suggestions recommendations for employing reading activities.
Part CChapter VI:,: Conclusion,n- summarizes the study, presents and gives
some limitations during the process of doing the research and gives some suggestions for
further study.
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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER II.
LITERATURE REVIEW
1II.1. Introduction
Understanding students’ satisfaction with the way we teach is part of our endeavor to
make our teaching more learner-centered. This chapter reviews the relevant literature.
First, I will present some major principles of the learner-centered approach to language
teaching. Then, the issue of the gap between teachers’ teaching styles and students’

learning styles is briefly discussed. This will be followed by the why and the how of
narrowing such a gap. Finally, the definition of reading and some common reading
activities will be presented. the issue of students’ statisfcationstudents’ satisfaction in
language learning will be discussed.

II.21. Learner- centred approach.
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Recently, there has been a shift in focus from the teacher to the learner, from
exclusive focus on how to improve teaching to an inclusive concern for how individual
learners go through their learning. There are two reasons for this shift. The first reason is
that the goals of language learning as well as insights into language and into the process of
language learning have changed. The second reason is that learner-centredness is not a
theory about teaching, but rather a theory about learning. Each individual decides what is
important and what is relevant to construct a meaningful concept.
According to Nunan Nunan (20001988:11), learner-centred classrooms are the
places where “key decisions about what will be taught, how it will be taught, when it will
be taught, and how it will be accessed will be made with reference to the learner”.
In fact, the concept “Learner- centred approach” is not a new one in the world. It
rooted from the ancentancient times based on a lot of the famous educationalist’ points of
view. This was then strongly developed and applied to language teaching.
In Viet Nam, this viewpoint was also paid a lot of attentionlearner-centeredness has
been encouraged and promoted for several years, especially in education and training a
long time ago. In 1986, at the 6
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congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam, the policy
of DOI MOI (Renovation) was adopted. New approaches to planning in all fields emerged,
affecting all sectors of society. Education is just one of them.
The view was presented clearly in Article 35 of the 1992 Constitution of Viet Nam
as follows:

“Education and Training is the priority national policy. The government develops
education aiming at improving people’s knowledge, training human resources and
fostering talents”.
Therefore, it’s necessary of all educationalists to be aware of the important role in
changing their attitude toward education in order to meet the demands of the renovation.
The learner-centred approach is based on the principle that learning is totally determined
by the learner. As teachers we can influence what we teach, but what learners learn is
determined by the learners alone.
According to Nguyen Bang and Nguyen Ba Ngoc (year and page of reference?
2002:40), learner-centred instruction includes:
- techniques that focus or account for learners’ needs, styles and aims
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- techniques that give some control to learners (group work, strategy training for
example)
- syllabus that include the consultation and input of learners and that do not
presuppose objectives in advance
- techniques that enhance a learner’s sense of competence and self-worth
- techniques that allow for learner creativity and innovation
It is clear that if the learner-centred approach is fully applied to any teaching and
learning process, the learners will be more dynamic, more active and more self-confident.
They not only have good opportunies to show their performance and competence, but they
also have the ability to develop and create what they have learnt.
In the teaching and learning foreign language, this approach brings a lot of
advantages as Tudor (1993) suggests the following ones:
- The teaching aims may be suitably set if the learners can participate in building the
subject syllabus based on their own experiences.
- The study will be more effective if the teaching method is suitable to learning
method of the learners’ interest.
- The learners will be more effective if the learners feel involved in building their

own syllabus.
II.23. Teaching styles and lLearning styles: The need to narrow the gap
between the teachers’ teaching styles and the students’ learning styles.
II.23.1. Learning styles:
The first step in pursuing more learner-centred teaching is to understand students’
learning styles so that every student can be well catered for. An area of research which has
received a lot of attention in many areas of education is the issue of learning style. The idea
of learning style comes from general psychology. It refers to the characteristic ways in
which individuals orientate to problem-solving. Keefe (quoted in Ellis 1994:499) defines
learning style as “the characteristic cognitive, affective and physiological behaviours that
serve as relatively stable indicators of how learners perceive, interact with and respond to
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the learning environment…Learning style is a consistent way of functioning, that reflects
underlying causes of behaviour”
According to (the teachers’ Edition (November 2001)Richard and Lockhard
(quoted in Record, D 2001:27)which author?), learning styles are defined as
“predispositions to particular ways of approaching learning and are intimately related to
personality types” (Richard and Lock hard). Another definition is: “A student’s orientation
toward learning” (Numan). Mariani defines learning styles as “a learner’s overall approach
to learning his or her typical consistent way of perceiving and responding to learning
tasks”.(Mariani:, quoted in Record, D 2001:27).
Although several learning style tests are available, each with lightly different
categories, Richard and Lock hard (cited in Record, D 2001:27). classified the following
learning styles:This is NOT the right way of citation!- quoted in Teacher’s Edition 2001)
classified the following learning styles:
• Visual learners: These learners respond to new information in a visual fashion
and prefer visual, pictorial, and graphic presentations of experiences. They benefit most
from reading and learn well by seeing words in books, wordbooks, or on the blackboard.
They can often learn on their own with a book, and they take note on lectures to remember

new information.
• Auditory learners: These learners learn best from oral explanation and from
hearing words spoken. They benefit from listening to tapes, teaching other students, and
conversing with their classmates and teachers.
• Kinesthetic learners: Learners of this type learn best when they are physically
involved in the experience. They remember new information when they actively participate
in activities, field trips, and role-plays.
• Tactile learners: These learners learn best when engaged in “hand-on”
activities. They like to manipulate materials and to build, fix, or make things, or to put
things together
• Group learners: These learners prefer group interaction and class work with
other students, and learn best when working with others. Group interaction helps them
learn and understand new material better.
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• Individual learners: Learners of this type prefer to work on their own. They are
capable of learning new information by themselves, and they remember new material
better if they have learned it alone.
Understanding students’ learning styles is very necessary for a number of reasons.
Firstly, it is important to learner-centred language acquisition because it helps English
foreign language teachers prepare lessons based upon their students’ learning styles and to
avoid the one-size-fits-all mentality. Secondly, As Paulus Brantner-Artenie, and Turton
(wrong way of citation quoted in “Teacher’s Edition 2001”) stated “Mmaking students
aware of their learning style preference increases student autonomy and motivation.
Knowledge of their learning styles can help students to develop strategies, which will help
strengthen their weaker perceptual styles. These strategies can be transferred to university
classes where information is often presented through one modality” (Paulus Brantner-
Artenie and Turton, quoted in Record, D 2001:29author, page, year?). In other words, if a
student is able to gauge his/her own unique learning style, he/she will be able to seek out
and make the most opportunities to learn.

Besides, when the teachers apply suitable teaching methods to teach their students,
they will be able to understand the lessons mmore easily. The more suitable and relevant
the teaching and learning styles are to the students’ interests, habits and learning ability…,
the more they can get from the lesson. Therefore, they are more satisfied with their lessons.
At this point you need to discuss further how the issue of learners’ statifaction is
related to teaching styles and learning styles
II.23.2. The need to narrow the gaps between the teacher’s teaching style and
the learners’ learning styles:
Narrowing the gaps between teaching style and learning style is of great
importance. Kumaravadivelu (1991:98) states that “…the narrower the gap between
teacher intention and learner interpretation, the greater are the chances of achieving desired
learning outcomes”
In fact, there is always a gap between teaching and learning. This is because
students are always different in terms of needs, purposes for learning, and ways of
obtaining knowledge. Teachers also apply many ways of teaching. What the teacher
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teaches, in many cases, does not mean what the students learn. Therefore, mismatching
between teaching and learning is understandable. So that, in a class when such a mismatch
occurs, the students tend to be bored and inattentive, do poorly on tests, get discouraged
about the course and may conclude that they are not good at the subjects of the course and
give up (Oxford et al, 1991)
It’s necessary to narrow the gap between teaching and learning. According to
Brown (1994), it is when students’ learning styles are matched with appropriate
approaches in teaching that their motivation, performances, and achievements will increase
and be enhanced.
There are some approaches to match teaching styles with learning styles in East
Asia settings adapted from Zhenhui (2001):
+ Diagnosing learning styles and developing self-aware EFL learners: Effective
matching between teaching style and learning style can only be achieved when teachers

are, first of all, aware of their learners’ needs, capacities, potentials, and learning style
preferences in meeting these needs. Zhenhui suggests that to end this, teachers may use
assessment instruments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indications Survey (Myers and Mc
Caulley, 1985), the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (Keirsey& Bates, 1984) and the
Classroom work Style Survey (Kinsella, 1996). However, there are dangers if learning
assessment, diagnosis, and prescription are misused. Further, Reid (1987:102) warns:
“Both teachers and students involved in identifying and using information on learning on
learning styles should proceed with caution and be aware that no single diagnostic
instrument can solve all learning problems”.
For this reason, Zhenhui further recommends using diaries as a supplemental tool.
By reflecting the processes that go on inside the writers’ minds, they open up fields that are
normally not accessible to reseachers.
+ Altering the Teaching Style to Create Teacher- student Style Matching: There is
always a fact that no matter what the subject matter, there will be students with multiple
learning styles and students with a variety of major, minor and negative learning styles.
Don Snow (quoted in Record, D 2001:28quoted in Teacher’s Edition 2001) writes “a study
method that may be intolerably boring, confusing, or intimidating for one student may
prove comfortable and effective for another”. An effective means of accommodating these
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learning styles for teachers is to change their own styles and strategies and provide a
variety of activities to meet the needs of different learning styles.
It is, therefore, very necessary for teachers to recognize the differences in their
students’ learning styles and find out the most effective teaching methods that can match
all the students’ learning styles so that the lessons become more interesting.
+ Encouraging changes in students’ behaviourbehaviour and fostering guided style
stretching: Teachers should create a variety of learning activities to cater for the range
styles that are available in the classroom. By doing this, all students have chances, more or
less, to take part in activities depending on their own learning styles. This can motivate and
encourage students to learn much more.

+ Providing activities with different groupings: It is always helpful for the teacher
to divide the students into groups by learning styles and give them activities based on their
learning styles. This should appeal to them because they will enjoy them and be successful.
The teacher can also use style-varied groups for generating greatest flexibility of styles and
behaviours. But before being divided into groups, students should be aware of the divisions
and understand what they are doing and why they are doing it. In addition, no matter how
students are to be grouped, teachers should make a great effort to include various learning
styles in daily lesson plan.
In conclusion, bringing the gap between teachers’ and learners’ perception,
narrowing the gap between teaching and learning play “an important role in enabling
students to maximize their classroom experience” (Zhenhui: 2001). However, there are
probably as many ways to teach as there are to learn. Moreover, a study method which may
be intolerably boring, confusing or intimidating for one student may prove comfortable and
effective for another. It can result in the assumption that any teacher is likely to confront
mismatch between teaching and learning. This gap can be narrowed only when it’s
necessary to narrow the gap between the teacher’s teaching style and the learners’ learning
styles. This can only be done when all students’ needs, expectation, habits….are met. To
understand and respect each student’s learning styles, teachers are suggested to employ
instruments to identify students’ learning styles and provide instructional alternatives to
address their differences. Teachers should also plan lessons to match students to diversify
their learning style preferences. For students, they should also cooperate with their teachers
in matching teaching and learning styles. They should try to change their learning habits to
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become more effective language learners. This may lead to general improvement of
teaching and learning, which both teachers and students expect to make. As a result of this,
the students feel more satisfied with the lessons.
Again, how this is related to learners’ satifaction? Clarify
I.3. Learners’ perceptions/satisfaction in language education
II.4. Reading and reading activities

II.4.1. Definition of reading
There are a number of different definitions of reading:
According to Harmer (1989:153), reading is considered as a mechanical process
that “eyes receive the message and the brain has to work out the significance of the
message”.
Goodman (1971:135) defines reading as “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”.
Rumelhart (1977) points out “reading involves the reader, the text, and the
interaction between the reader and the text”.
To sum up, reading requires a lot of other skills such as analyzing, obtaining,
predicting, confirming….in which the reader match what they read with what the writer
writes.
II.4.2. Reading activities:
Reading activities play an important role in the process of teaching reading. They
motivate, and keep students’ interest in learning and therefore, better their understanding
and improve their reading skills. Reading activities are considered good if:
- The students are fond of the topic and eager to read
- The students find the reading text easier to read and understand
- The students can obtain or remember something about the reading text
- The students feel eager to read other following reading texts.
In fact, a lot of researchers studied reading activities, for example Ur (19841996),
Michael Lewis and Jimmie Hill (1985), Nguyen Bang & Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2001).
Followings are some of suggested reading activities for teachers to apply during a reading
lesson:
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II.4.2.1. Pre-reading questions
According to Michael Lewis and Jimmie Hill (1985), pre-questions help students
understand the text by focussing attention on key words and ideas. They are also intented

intended to indicate the basic structure of the text, and help students’ anticipation.
Actually, asking students questions will make them think about the topic they are going to
read. By doing this, students can build their prior knowledge and at the same time, use
vocabulary and structures that are connected with a particular function. Above all, it makes
students feel interested and gets them involved in the coming listening activities.
II.4.2.2. Using a class discussion
It’s necessary for the students to discussion in pairs or in groups before and after
reading. For the pre-reading stage, this activity helps activate students’ background
knowledge and ideas and then encourages them to share with friends. It also helps students
to get more involved and to concentrate on the task. For the post-reading stage, it develops
students’ skills of arguing, giving opinions about the text or related topics. What’s more,
this activity helps students develop speaking and listening skills.
II.4.2.3. Pre-teaching new vocabulary and structures.
There is a fact that vocabularies and structures in a reading text has have a great
influence on the students’ understanding. For them, a large number of unknown words and
structures may hinder reading, and certainly lower their motivation and confidence.
Therefore, it is necessary to pre-teach new vocabulary and structures, especially the
difficult ones. There are many ways of presenting new vocabulary: using games, visual
aids, definition, explanation or translation. Basing on particular contexts, the teacher can
apply a suitable activity.
II.4.2.4. Giving a simple and short introduction about the text
According Nguyen Bang & Nguyen Ba Ngoc (2001)m it is important to introduce
the text before the teacher asks students to read it. This serves two purposes:
- to help students in their reading, by giving them some ideas what to expect
- to increase their interest and so make them want to read text.
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The introduction, in fact, is not necessary long. A simple and short introduction is
enough for the students to know and to be ready for what they are going to read.
II.4.2.5. Asking students to tasks in a limited time.

This activity helps students get into the habit of working effectively basing on a
clear plan. At first, the students may feel to be put under pressure for time. They get
confused and anxious. As a result, some of them cannot fulfill the task. But later, they will
get accustomed to this. Especially for the weaker students, they will gradually know how
to set up a clear goal for doing things. For the teachers, if they know how to divide suitable
time for each activity, their lessons (with more diversified activities) are surely more
interesting
II.4.2.6. Using games
Most of the students are in favour of this activity. Understandably, the young have
the same hobby of playing games. They make students more relaxed and the lesson
purposeful. Besides, games arouse the students’ interest and help them remember the
reading text easily.
II.4.2.7. Using visual aids
In addition to the above activities, using visual aids is also an effective activity,
especially in teaching new words. This activity not only helps student to remember the
words easily but also makes the lesson diversified. The students are always eager to
explore to new things.
II.4.2.8. Giving feedback
Giving feedback is a necessary activity not only in reading lessons but also
in other different lessons. For the students, when receiving the teacher’s feedback, they are
simply informed how well or badly they have performed. For the teachers, this is one of
the most important responsibilities. By providing ongoing feedback the teacher can help
their students evaluate their success and progress. Feedback can take a number of forms:
giving praise and encouragement, correcting, setting regular tests, having discussions about
how the group as a who is doing, giving individual tutorials, etc…
II.4.2.9. Writing a summary after reading.
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This activity may be difficult but useful one. It helps students develop writing
skills. At the same time, it is a chance for students to use their source of vocabulary and

practice grammar. With this activity, the students can remember the text deeply after the
lesson.
II.4.2.10. Applying rewards and punishment policy.
This activity encourages students to learn. Receiving rewards from the teacher
makes them feel happy and eager to learn. Punishment makes them remember their
mistakes and at the same time is a motivational tool which makes them have to try their
best another time.
To sum up, no one can deny the importance of reading activities in satisfying the
students in reading comprehension lessons. In fact, they motivate, keep the students’
interest in learning, help them understand and remember the reading text better and
therefore can make them satisfy with the lessons. Needless to say, it is necessary for the
teachers to know and apply the reading activities their students would like to take part in.
The above ones are the most common for the teachers to employ.there are numberous
reading activities. Basing on different reading contexts and for different purposes, teachers
may chooseuse different and suitable activities. However, all of them serve the same goal:
helping the students understand the reading text better and therefore can improve their
reading skill.
In what way is the discussion of this related to the issue of learners’ satisfaction.?
Have a CONCLUSION section: What are the major points from the literature
review that is connected to your topic of investigation – learners’ satisfaction with
reading lessons?
II.5. Conclusion
In this chapter, I have presented a variety of issues relevant to my topic of
investigation. These include the learner-centred approach, learners’ learning styles and the
need to narrow the gap between teaching and learning styles to achieve more learner-
centredness in language classroom and some common reading activities that help satisfy
the students in reading lessons. The next chapter will present The study
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CHAPTER III. THE STUDY
Introduction
In the chapter, the author presents the current situation of teaching and learning the
reading skill at Phan Boi Chau school as well as the setting for the study. The subject and
instruments are also mentioned in this chapter. Then, the author analyses the data
collectedthe data analysis process will be discussed.
III.1. Situation Analysis
II.1.1. The setting of the study
III.1.1.1. The school
The study was conducted at Phan Boi Chau specialized school, which is the only
specialized one in Nghe An province. The school was set up in 1974 with only two classes:
one class specialized in math and the other specialized in literature. Today, it is widened.
There are 35 classes specialized in different subjects: mathematics, informatics, physics,
chemistry, biology, literature, history, geography, English, French and Russian. The school
selects all the best teachers and students from school in the province. The main duty of the
school is to train and foster talents for the province and the country. The size of the class in
the school is rather small. Each class only has from 35 to 40 students. This is a very
convenient condition for the students to study comparing with those in other schools in
province. Such small classes reduce the noise in the class and therefore help students be
easier to concentrate in the lesson.
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