Nghiên cứu các yếu tố gây mất hứng thú trong giờ học đọc hiểu tiếng của học sinh lớp 10 Trường THPT Mỹ Đức A, Hà Nội

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************




NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG





A STUDY ON DEMOTIVATING FACTORS IN ENGLISH
READING COMPREHENSION LESSONS OF THE 10
TH
–
FORM STUDENTS AT MY DUC A HIGH SCHOOL, HANOI

(Nghiên Cứu Những Yếu Tố Gây Mất Hứng Thú Trong Các Giờ
Học Đọc Hiểu Tiếng Anh Của Học Sinh Lớp 10
Trường THPT Mỹ Đức A, Hà Nội.)


M.A. Minor Programme Thesis




Major: English Teaching Methodology

Code : 60 14 10




HANOI, 2012


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************





NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG





A STUDY ON DEMOTIVATING FACTORS IN ENGLISH
READING COMPREHENSION LESSONS OF THE 10
TH
–
FORM STUDENTS AT MY DUC A HIGH SCHOOL, HANOI

(Nghiên Cứu Những Yếu Tố Gây Mất Hứng Thú Trong Các Giờ

Học Đọc Hiểu Tiếng Anh Của Học Sinh Lớp 10
Trường THPT Mỹ Đức A, Hà Nội.)


M.A. Minor Programme Thesis


Major: English Teaching Methodology
Code : 60 14 10
Supervisor: NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC QUỲNH



HANOI, 2012
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************




NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG





A STUDY ON DEMOTIVATING FACTORS IN ENGLISH
READING COMPREHENSION LESSONS OF THE 10

TH
–
FORM STUDENTS AT MY DUC A HIGH SCHOOL, HANOI

(Nghiên Cứu Những Yếu Tố Gây Mất Hứng Thú Trong Các Giờ
Học Đọc Hiểu Tiếng Anh Của Học Sinh Lớp 10
Trường THPT Mỹ Đức A, Hà Nội.)


M.A. Minor Programme Thesis




Major: English Teaching Methodology
Code : 60 14 10




HANOI, 2012


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES
*****************

NGUYỄN THỊ PHƯƠNG





A STUDY ON DEMOTIVATING FACTORS IN ENGLISH
READING COMPREHENSION LESSONS OF THE 10
TH
–
FORM STUDENTS AT MY DUC A HIGH SCHOOL, HANOI

(Nghiên Cứu Những Yếu Tố Gây Mất Hứng Thú Trong Các Giờ
Học Đọc Hiểu Tiếng Anh Của Học Sinh Lớp 10
Trường THPT Mỹ Đức A, Hà Nội.)


M.A. Minor Programme Thesis


Major: English Teaching Methodology
Code : 60 14 10
Supervisor: NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC QUỲNH



HANOI, 2012
iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGES
Declaration
i
Abstract
ii
Acknowledgements
iii
Table of contents
iv
List of tables and charts
vi
PART A: INTRODUCTION.

1. Rationale
1
2. Aims of the study
2
3. Research questions
2
4. Significance of the study
2
5. Scope of the study
2
6. Method of the study
2
7. Organization of the paper
3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
4
Chapter 1: Literature Review
4
1.1. Definitions of reading and reading comprehension
4
1.1.1. Reading
4
1.1.2. Reading Comprehension
5
1.2. Motivation
6
1.2.1. Concept of motivation
6
1.2.2. The importance of motivation in reading second
language
7
1.3. Demotivation
8
1.3.1. Concept of demotivation
8
1.3.2. Previous studies on de-motivation
9
v

CHAPTER 2: Methodology
15
2.1 Setting
15
2.1.1. The school

15
2.1.2. Participants
15
2.1.3. The English textbook 10
16
2.2. Data collection
2.3. Data analysis procedures
17
18

CHAPTER 3: Data Analysis
19
3.1 Data analysis of students‟ responses
19
3.2 Data analysis of teachers‟ responses
29
3.3 Summary of the findings
36
3.4. Discussion
3.5. Implications
36
38
PART C: CONCLUSION
41
REFERENCES
43
APPENDIX 1
I

vi

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 3.1: Students‟ attitudes towards the learning of reading English
Figure 3.2: Students‟ interest in English reading lessons
Figure 3.3: Students‟ participation in English reading comprehension lessons
Figure 3.4: Teachers‟ attitude toward the importance of teaching reading
comprehension skills at school
Figure 3.5 Teacher‟s perception of students‟ participation in activities in the reading
lessons.
LIST OF TABLES
Table 3.1: Students‟ purposes of learning English reading
Table 3.2: Table 3.2: Students‟ opinions on factors demotivating them in learning
reading English
Table 3.3: Students‟ opinions on their teachers‟ teaching methods
Table 3.4: Students‟ opinions on teachers‟ employment of activities
Table 3.5: Students‟ expectations towards teachers of reading skills
Table 3.6: Teachers‟ perceptions of students‟ demotivation in reading skills
Table 3.7: Teachers‟ frequency of using activities in reading lessons
Table 3.8: Techniques and activities by the teacher, and the preference of the students
for those activities
1

PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Since English was chosen as an international language, learning English has long
been important to students of almost all levels in Vietnam. The remarkable shift
from traditional method to communicative language teaching approach emphasizes
the need for developing the communicative competence of the learners in four
language skills namely speaking, reading, reading and writing. Though a great deal
of effort has been made to achieve the goal, there are still a lot of shortcomings in
teaching and learning English in general and reading comprehension in particular.
To much extent, the reason is due to the fact that the students have to pass their
exams which mainly focus on extensive vocabulary and grammatical rules.
In most of Vietnam high schools, English teaching and learning is taken place in a
non-native environment, so reading English is not only an important means to gain
knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place. For many students,
reading is so far the most important of the four language skills.
It is commonly acknowledged that reading is one of the most complex skills. When
one reads, they are not able to control the message or the language used like they
can in speaking and writing. Reading is also a skill that must be carried out under
the real time pressure if it is done fluently. In addition, there is no chance for
readers to ask for additional information or clarification like they can in speaking or
listening. Moreover, “the range of vocabulary encountered in reading is much
greater than is typically used in speaking and listening settings” (Stanovich, 2000:
252-258). It is fairly clear that developing L2 reading abilities represents a serious
challenge for both the learners and the teachers.
Being aware of the importance of reading skill, all the teachers of My Duc A high
school have been trying their best to make their students motivated in learning
English reading lessons, but their efforts seem not to be effective yet. The students
2

seem to be still demotivated in learning English in general, and in learning English

reading comprehension in particular.
For all of those reasons, it would be necessary to have a study on factors causing
demotivation in reading lessons for students at My Duc A High School, Hanoi.
2. Aims of the study
The main purposes of the study are:
- To investigate the demotivating factors in reading lessons of the 10
th
form
students at My Duc A High School, Hanoi.
- To give some suggestions to minize the demotivating factors in reading lessons
in order to improve the students‟ reading skills.
3. Research questions
To achieve the aims mentioned above, the following research questions were
proposed:
(1) What are demotivating factors in reading lessons of the 10
th
form students at My
Duc A High School, Hanoi?
(2) What should be done to minimize the demotivating factors of the students in
their reading lessons?
4. Significance of the study
This study points out factors causing demotivation in reading lessons of the 10th
form students at My Duc A High School, Hanoi. Besides, it can be used as an evidence
for demotivating factors when learning English reading that Vietnamese Secondary-
School students encountered. The findings and recommendations of this study will be
useful to improve the teaching and learning of reading of Upper Secondary School
students in general and of the 10
th
form students at My Duc A High School, Hanoi in
particular.

5. Scope of the study
3

This study mainly focuses on the demotivating factors that the 10
th
form
students at My Duc A High School have in their reading lessons. It does not cover the
scope of demotivating factors in other skills. It involves the participants of 10 teachers
of English and 105 students in the 10
th
form at My Duc A High School.
6. Methods of the study
The study uses two main methods to achieve its aims. Firstly, two types of survey
questionnaires were conducted with 10 teachers of English and 105 students from three
classes at My Duc A High School. In addition to the questionnaires, informal interviews
with the 10 randomly selected students, who have done the survey questionnaires, were
also employed.
7. Organization of the thesis paper
The thesis paper is organized as follows:
Part A, Introduction, provides rationale for the study, states what the study is
aimed at and what specific tasks it resolves, specifies the scope of the study, and
sketches the general structure of the study.
Part B, Development, consists of the following chapters:
Chapter 1, Literature Review, presents the theoretical background related to
reading and reading comprehension, motivation and the important of motivation in
second language learning. Besides, it reviews the concept of demotivation and previous
studies on demotivation.
Chapter 2, Methodology, provides information about the study. This includes
the setting of the study, the participants and the research instruments used for the study.
Chapter 3, Data Analysis, gives a detailed analysis of data. Besides, the chapter

also presents some discussion and interpretations of the findings of the study, and then
gives suggestions for the teachers and the students at.
Part C, Conclusion, summarizes the major findings and points out implications for the
improvement, its limitations and suggestions for future research.
4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: Literature Review

1.1. Definitions of reading and reading comprehension
1.1.1. Reading
“Reading” has been defined by a lot of linguists, psychologists, educators and second
language researchers so far. Each definition proposes a different the notion of the
term in different points of view. Goodman (1971, p.135) considered reading as “a
psycholinguistics process by which the reader, language user, reconstructs, as best as
he can, a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display”. In his
opinion, when reading, the readers not only learn how to read the text, to master
grammatical structure but also understand the content expressed in the text.
Sharing the same point with Goodman (1990, p.2) stated that “reading is a process
whereby one looks at and understands what has been written”. According William,
in reading process, there are also two parallel activities: looking and understanding.
Therefore, readers have to “encode” meanings of a word depending on the context in
which it appears
Reading is considered to be a process of mechanic by Harmer (1989:153):
“eyes receive the message and the brain then has to work out the significance of the
message”. The mechanical process of reading consists of two actions which are
monitored by the eyes and brain. Thus, it is the reader that decides how fast the text
runs.
Smith (1985:102) shared a similar opinion with Harmer: “reading is understanding
the author’s thought”. In other words, the readers “read the author’s mind not the

5

author’s words”.
Harper and July (1982:4) considered reading as a process which involves the
identification and recognition of printed and written symbols through one‟s past
experiences or relevant concepts.
To sum up, it is obvious that attempts to define reading have been various. However,
the definitions all focus on the interaction between readers and authors. This can be
considered the nature of reading.
1.1.2. Reading Comprehension
Reading comprehension is ability to get information from the text as efficiently
as possible. It has long been considered to play an important role in teaching and
learning reading. There are three elements involving in the reading process: the text
being read, the background knowledge of the reader and the contextual aspects relevant
for interpreting the text.
Grellet (1981:3) stated “reading comprehension or understanding a written text means
extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible”.
Concerning what reading comprehension is, Swan (1975:1) stated that “A student is
good at comprehension we mean that he can read accurately and efficiently, so as to
get the maximum information of a text with the minimum of understanding”. It is
obvious that the student can show his understanding only by doing some tasks such as
summarizing the text, answering questions, making true or false etc. After reading,
readers can master the grammatical structures, words pronunciation, understanding the
context of the texts and use it in real life as effective as possible.
6

Though expressing the nature of reading comprehension in different ways, most of the
scholars seem to agree that “reading without comprehension is meaningless” (Karlin
and Kartin, 1982:2).
1.2. Motivation

1.2.1. Concept of motivation
In learning second language, motivation is considered to be an important factor
determining the success of the learners. Thus, there have been a number of motivation
concepts by different authors. Keller (1984) assumed that "interest" is one of the main
apparatus of motivation in foreign and second language learning. Meanwhile Gardner
(1985) considered the importance of efforts and desires to obtain the learning goal
“Motivation in the present context refers to the combination of effort plus desire to
achieve the goal of learning plus favorable attitudes towards learning the language”
(p. 10).
Sharing the same opinion, Ellis (1997) attached importance to the role of
attitudes and effective states, which affect learner‟s efforts in learning a second
language.
However, Littlewood (1998) found that motivation is complexly combined by
different components including “the individual’s drive, need for achievement and
success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience, and so on” (p. 53)
Besides, McKay and Tom (1999) emphasizes it is the need to communicate with
others in a new language that provide strong motivation for most learners (p.2)
Meanwhile, Gardner and Lambert (1972) propose that the broad concept of the
“integrative motive” includes three main components: attitude, integrativeness and
motivation.
7

In addition, there are some other researchers attempting to make close the gap
between theories of motivation in educational psychology and in the L2 field. The
researchers of this period added some new elements to the concept of L2 motivation.
Dornyei (1994) classifies three levels: language level, learner level and learning
situational level and each level posses different elements. Few years later, Marion
Williams and Bob Burden (1997) offered a detailed framework of L2 motivation with
the Internal and External motivational impact. Nine internal factors are analyzed by
them: intrinsic interest of activity, perceived value of activity, sense of agency,

mastery, self-concept, attitudes, affective states such as confidence, anxiety and fear,
developmental age and gender. Human factors supposed to be included in the internal
factors such as parents, teachers, peers, feedback, rewards or punishments, the learning
environment and the boarder context (Adapted from Dornyei, 2001)
In this study, the researcher adopted Littlewood‟s (1998) definition: Motivation is a
complex phenomenon and includes many components: the individual’s drive and need
for achievement and success, curiosity, desire for stimulation and new experience that
make up her motivation. In other words, motivation is both intrinsically and
extrinsically- originated.”
In brief, there have been a number of concepts and definition of motivation, all of
which embody different implications for L2 teaching and learning. One important one
among those implications is the proper consideration of motivation in L2 teaching and
learning. Being motivated, L2 learners will therefore make more effort in learning.
1.2.2. The importance of motivation in reading second language
It is commonly acknowledged that reading motivation plays a vital role in second
language reading process. Reading motivation is a kind of desire to read and it has a
major role in students‟ success because most academic knowledge is gained through
8

reading. To become effective readers throughout their school years, students must read
early and often.
Motivation for reading is important to develop their reading skills and make strong
efforts to get over their shortcomings. Students only become skilled at reading when
they read a lot, and motivation is crucial for them to realize this change.
Being aware that “it is an important part of a reading teacher’s job to motivate
learners” (Girard, D. 1977: 120), teachers should raise their students‟ interest and
curiosity in the text, encourage their expectation and activate them in reading activities.
1.3. Demotivation
1.3.1. Concept of Demotivation
Traditionally, motivation has been considered as a many-sided construct

consisting of various positive influences. However, there is another aspect of
motivation left without being properly attended, it is demotivation.
Dornyei (2001: 143) defines demotivation as “specific external forces that reduce or
diminish the motivational basis of a behavioral intention of an ongoing action”. In
other words, Dornyei regarded motivation and demotivation as two contrary forces in
the learning process of learners. According to him, there are two sources of
demotivating factors: external and internal. External factors include grading and
assignment, learning facilities etc and internal factors include reduced confidence and
negative attitude toward the foreign language. In his study, Dornyei (2001: 143) also
identifies the three negative factors that cannot be considered as instances of
demotivation: powerful distractions, continuing loss of interest in a long-lasting,
ongoing activity, and the sudden recognitions of the costs of an activity.
Dornyei (2001) also insisted that demotivation does not mean that a learner has
9

lost his or her motivation entirely. In contrast, the positive influences that originally
made up the motivational basis of behavior can still be there. For example, a learner
can still be motivated to learn English (because it is an important world language; for
instance), even if the teachers were lacking ability.
In addition, there is distinction between demotivation and amotivation proposed
by Dornyei (2001). The term amotivation is first used by Deci and Ryan (1985). It
means “the relative absence of motivation that is not caused by a lack of initial interest
but rather by the individual’s experiencing feelings of incompetence and helplessness
when faced with the activity” (cited in Dornyei 2001). According to Doryei,
„amotivation‟ is associated with motivation lack which can be realized in the same
meaning with „there is no point…‟ or „it’s beyond my ken…”.
1.3.2. Previous studies on de-motivation
Motivation for foreign language learning researches has evolved considerably
for many years. These researches focus on from describing what constitute student
motivation to a detailed list of suggestions that help teachers initiate, and enhance

student motivation.
Despite the fact that demotivation is important subject to concern in learning English
in general, and second language and foreign language learning in particular, just a few
studies focused on student demotivation. Even in most of the studies addressing
demotivation, it is likely to mention low motivation, not examining demotivation as a
separate phenomenon. Some among the early studies such as Gorham and Christophel
(1992), Chambers (1993), Rebecca Oxford (1998), Dornyei (1998), Hamada and Kito
(2008) and Tran and Baldauf (2007) which examined the issue of demotivation, were
done in the field of instructional communication.
10

Gorham and Christophel (1992) tried to find out what factors were perceived as
demotivators by college students who took introductory communication classes. From
students‟ responses to the open-ended question: “What things decrease your motivation
to try hard to do your best in that class?” demotivators were pointed out. Their
research findings pointed out three major categories of demotivating factors, i.e.,
context demotivating factors (factors likely to be regarded as antecedent to the
teacher‟s influence), structure/format demotivating factors (factors over which the
teacher is likely to have some degree of influence, if not complete control), the teacher
behavior (factors likely to be perceived as under the teacher‟s direct control. 79% of all
responses is about teacher-related factors consisting of class structure, or format-related
demotivating factors and the demotivating factors resulted from teacher behavior. In a
follow-up study to find out whether the perceived demotivation sources could be the
same, Christophel and Gorham (1995) used the same question to spot demotivating
factors with another group of college students studying communication. The findings
of the research were consistent with those from the first study. Nonetheless, no attempt
was made in both studies to examine the cases of the students having already been
demotivated before they enter the class.
In his study, Chambers (1993) also examined the matter by using questionnaires
to gather perspectives of both student and teacher, providing the only evidence, that is,

his research is the only study that is fully concerned about demotivation in L2 learning
so far. The findings are contrary to those in the study of Gorham (1997). The
underlying causes of student demotivation perceived were quite differently by the
teachers and their students. Teachers perceived them to be related to psychological,
attitudinal, social, historical and geographical reasons. The students‟ perceived cause of
demotivation were various, i.e., teacher‟ behaviors, class size, etc. Nevertheless,
Chambers did not try to determine what demotivating factors were or to look at them
11

critically. Instead, he just listed the students‟ points of view. Therefore, just a few
conclusions about the impact of demotivating factors were drawn on the language
learning experience.
Thus, while there have been studies addressing the issues related to
demotivating factors, no attempt has been made either to set a framework to help to
enhance understanding about the phenomenon, or to consider it in the relation with the
issues of curriculum and teaching.
Besides, Oxford (1998) analyzed the content of essays written by approximately
250 American students (in high schools and universities) about their experiences in
their learning over a period of five years. During this time, a variety of prompts were
used, such as “describe a situation in which you experienced conflict with a teacher‟s
and “talk about a classroom in which you felt uncomfortable”. In the content analysis
of the data, four broad themes emerged:
 The personal relationship between the teacher and the students, including a lack
of care, general belligerence, hypercriticism, and patronage/favoritism.
 The attitude of the teacher towards the course or the materials, including lack of
enthusiasm, sloppy management and close-mindedness.
 Teachers‟ style conflicts with the students, including multiple style conflicts,
conflicts about the amount of structure or detail and conflicts about the degree
of closure or “seriousness” of the class.
 The nature of classroom activities, including irrelevance, overload and

repetitiveness.
12

However, as Oxford‟s prompts specifically referred to the teacher‟s
responsibility as a source of demotivation, participants in the study might not provide
the other potential sources.
Dornyei (1998) in his study started a qualitative analysis by conducting
structured long interviews in 10 to 30 minutes of 50 students studying English as a
foreign language at high school. However, they were not of cross-sectional students but
were those who had been considered as being particularly demotivated by the teachers
or peers. Nine types of demotivating factors were identified in the findings:
(1) the teachers were demotivating factors in terms of personality,
commitment, competence, and teaching method;
(2) school facilities were inadequate (group is too big or not the right level;
frequent change of teachers);
(3) students‟ self-confidence were reduced (experience of failure of lack of
success);
(4) The students have negative attitudes towards the L2;
(5) The nature of l2 learning is compulsory;
(6) There was interference another foreign language being studied;
(7) The students had negative attitudes towards L2 community;
(8) Group members show demotivated attitude; and
(9) Course book used in the language class were not motivating their
learning.
13

In this study, the compulsory nature of L2 studies and the interference of a L3
were first discovered. The negative effect of the compulsory nature of L2 learning is
obviously related to the lack of learner autonomy and lack of self-determination.
Among nine factors, the teacher factor ranks first. The teacher‟s personality

commitment to teaching, attention paid to the students, competence, teaching method,
style and rapport with students can have a direct impact on students demotivation.
Students also blame teacher‟s indirect negative influence such as rigid classroom
management for their lack of confidence. Those results were consistent with earlier
studies. Therefore, it is of important to analyze the teacher factors in order to ascertain
possible solutions to demotivation.
Tran and Baldauf (2007) made a review on typical previous studies and then
conducted a case study project with Vietnamese students. In that study, they used
stimulated recall essays of 100 students of their foreign language learning experiences.
The students were asked to write their essays in Vietnamese within a week outside
class time. The results pointed out 48 demotivating factors, which were grouped into
14 categories, and classified into two groups: internal attributions and external
attributions. The internal attribution included student‟s attitudes towards English, their
experiences of failure, and the incidents related to their self-esteem. The external
attributions consisted of teacher-related factors, the learning environment and other
external factors.
Nguyen (2010) also made a study on the demotivators in speaking lessons of the 10
th

form students at Nam Sach high school, Haiduong Province. In the study, a survey
questionnaire was delivered to 126 students of 10
th
grade at Nam Sach high school.
Besides, a structured interview was conducted with 10 students who were randomly
chosen. There is also a designed survey questionnaire for 8 teachers in the school to
identify their perception of the demotivators in speaking classes. The findings of the
14

study show five demotivation factors: (1) teachers‟ competence and teaching style; (2)
learning environment and facilities; (3) assessment of speaking skill; (4) self-

confidence and (5) little intrinsic motivation. In contrast with what previous researches
suggested, textbook and curriculum were found not to be a strong source of
demotivation.
Though a lot of studies have been made on the issue of demotivation, their various
findings are just applied for their own teaching contexts, or in teaching other subjects
not English reading comprehension. Thus, there is still a need for a case study on
demotivating factors in English reading comprehension lessons of 10
th
grade students
at My Duc A high school to improve the current situation.
Summary
In brief, this chapter has presented the issues and aspects concerning the topic of
the study. First, it concerns the definition of reading and reading comprehension. Then
comes an overview on “motivation” in which the concept of motivation, the
importance of motivation in reading second language is discussed. Besides, the concept
of demotivation and a brief review of the previous studies on demotivation are also
presented.
The following chapters will present the methodology of study, and data analysis
under the light of the above-discussed theories.





15

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
This chapter deals with the context of the study, subjects and methods of the
study.
2.1. Setting

2.1.1. The school
The study was conducted at My Duc A High School which is located in a suburb
district of Hanoi. The school was originally founded as a specialized school in 1974,
after more than ten years; yet, there was no class specializing in English. At first, the
school had more than 10 classes each year. After many years of establishment and
development, it has been widened with 40 classes but it is no longer the specialized
school.
Each class in the school has from 32 to 37 students. This class size is rather favorable
for students to study English comparing with that in other schools in the province. Like
other high schools in the country, My Duc A High school applies English as among the
compulsory subjects to be taught.
Regarding the learning facilities for learning English at the school, there is only one
laboratory, which is used for many purposes. Thus, it is not good enough for the
students to learn the language lessons there often. Besides, the teachers and the students
sometimes get troubles when using the laboratory.
2.1.2. Participants
The teachers of English in My Duc A high school graduated from various
colleges and universities including College of Foreign Languages of Vietnam
National University, Hanoi University of Education; Thai Nguyen University, etc.
Most of them have been teaching English for more than 3 years.
Though most of the teachers did have chance to attend a number of training
programs inside and outside the province on teaching methodology, they still
16

commonly use the traditional method of teaching, especially the method of grammar-
translation.
The subjects of the study also include 105 students coming from three different
classes at My Duc A High School. All of them were born in 1996, and they are 47
male, and 58 female. Most of them have already learned English for at least four years
at High School but many of them are at the low level of English proficiency.

Most of the students consider English as an important subject to learn, but just a few
of them are interested in learning it. Thus, many of the students do not spend time and
make efforts learning English.
2.1.3. The English textbook 10
On the whole, the current English textbook in use at high school is oriented to
communicative language teaching, and task-based approach.
The English textbook 10 is designed into 16 different units. The reading section in
each unit accounts for 20 %. Most of the reading passages are over 200 words in
length. There is diversity in the themes of the reading passages: Personal information,
Education, Community, Health, Recreation, The world around us. Those themes are
represented through five sections: Reading, Speaking, Reading, Writing, and
Language Focus respectively.
The tasks in the reading sections are designed into different types: answer the
questions, multiple choice, guessing words, giving Vietnamese equivalent, gap filling,
true or false, matching words and definitions or meaning, summarizing, and
discussing, etc.
In each unit, three kinds of tasks are designed. Each task has its own aim.
- Task 1 helps the students to understand words or phrases in the passage;
- Task 2 helps the students to comprehend the content of the passage; and
- Task 3 helps the students to have an overall understanding of the passage.
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Tasks 1 and 2 are often complicated and require more time to work on. These
tasks themselves cause a lot of difficulties for students.
2.2. Data collection
2.2.1. Data collection instruments
The data were collected by means of questionnaires and interviews at My Duc A high
school. Among these instruments, questionnaires are the main ones. A separate set of
questionnaires were designed for students, and another one for the teachers.
The questionnaires for the students consisted of three main parts:

- Questions 1, 2, 3, and 4 (part I) request the matter concerning Students‟ motivation
in learning Reading English
- Questions 5, 6, 7, and 8 (Part II) aim at finding out students‟ opinions on factors
demotivating them in learning reading English
- Question 9 (Part III) aim at finding out students‟ expectations towards teachers of
reading skills
The teacher questionnaires included five questions and were sent to ten teachers of
English at My Duc A high school.
Besides, with an aim to obtain more in-depth understanding, the researcher also
randomly chose 10 students who have taken part in the survey questionnaires for
interviewing. In order to assure the validity of the information, all the questions in the
interviews were conducted in Vietnamese.
2.2.2. Data collection procedures
The copies of the questionnaire were delivered to 105 students from 3 different classes
and 10 teachers of English in My Duc A High School during their English classes.
The researcher herself delivered the copies to participants. Before the participants
answered the questions, all of them had been informed in Vietnamese about the
purposes of the questionnaire and how to answer all the questions so that they were
clear about what and how they would to do. When the students were writing their
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answers, the researcher was there with them to give any explanation if necessary.
About 30 minutes later, the questionnaires were collected by the researcher herself.
The answers from student interviews were recorded, transcribed for the analysis
purpose, and then translated into English.
2.3. Data analysis procedures
The data obtained through the questionnaire, the interview was first read through for a
sense of overall data. After that, they were analyzed both descriptively and
interpretatively. The information from the questionnaires was displayed in the form of
tables and figures, while the information from the interviews was used as reflective

notes and quotation.