sử dụng tài liệu đọc bổ trợ để cải thiện kĩ năng đọc của sinh viên trường Cao đẳng Cơ khí - Luyện kim, Thái Nguyên

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUY N QU NH D

NG

USING SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS FOR
IMPROVING STUDENTS' READING SKILL AT THAI NGUYEN
COLLEGE OF MECHANICS AND METALLURGY

S d ng tài li u
sinh viên tr

c b tr

ng Cao

c i thi n k n ng

cc a

ng C khí - Luy n Kim, Thái Nguyên

M.A. MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60 14 10

HA NOI - 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUY N QU NH D

NG

USING SUPPLEMENTARY READING MATERIALS FOR
IMPROVING STUDENTS' READING SKILL AT THAI NGUYEN
COLLEGE OF MECHANICS AND METALLURGY

S d ng tài li u
sinh viên tr

c b tr

ng Cao

c i thi n k n ng

cc a

ng C khí - Luy n Kim, Thái Nguyên

M.A. MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE: 60 14 10
SUPERVISOR: INH H I Y N, M. Ed.

HA NOI - 2010


-v-

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration

p. i

Acknowledgements

ii

Abstract

iii

List of abbreviations

iv

List of figures and tables

iv

Table of contents

v

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1

1. Rationale of the thesis

1

2. Aims of the thesis

1

3. Significance of the thesis

2

4. Scope of the thesis

2

5. Organization of the thesis

2

PART 2: DEVELOPMENT

3

Chapter 1: Literature Review

3

1.1. Supplementary materials

3

1.1.1. Definitions and roles of supplementary materials

3

1.1.2. Criteria for selecting supplementary materials

3

1.2. Reading comprehension skill

4

1.2.1. Definitions of reading & reading comprehension

4

1.2.2. Purposes & roles of reading in language learning

6

1.2.3. Reading approaches

6

1.2.3.1. Bottom-up approach

6

1.2.3.2. Top-down approach

7

1.2.3.3. Interactive approach

8

1.2.4. Types of reading

9

1.2.4.1. Intensive reading

9

1.2.4.2. Extensive reading

10

1.2.5. Reading strategies

13

1.3. Summary

16


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Chapter 2: Research Methodology

16

2.1. The context of the study

16

2.2. Research method

17

2.2.1. Research questions

17

2.2.2. Instrumentation

17

2.2.2.1. Tests

17

2.2.2.2. Questionnaire

19

2.2.3. Participants

19

2.2.4. Data collection procedures

20

2.3. Summary
Chapter 3: Data analysis and Discussion

21
22

3.1. Tests results

22

3.2. Results of the questionnaires

24

3.3. Findings

33

3.4. Summary

35

PART 3: CONCLUSION

36

1. Conclusions

36

2. Implications for teaching methodology

36

3. Limitations and recommendations for further research

38

References

39

Appendices
Appendix 1: Pre-test

I

Appendix 2: Post-test

IV

Appendix 3: Weekly reading log

VII

Appendix 4: Book report

VIII

Appendix 5: Questionnaire (English version)

XI

Appendix 6: Questionnaire (Vietnamese version)

XVI

Appendix 7: Test result

XXI


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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CMM: College of Mechanics and Metallurgy
ER: Extensive Reading
ERP: Extensive Reading Program
ESP: English for Special Purposes
BR: Bad Readers
GR: Good Readers
MR: Medium Readers
SRM: Supplementary Reading Materials

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES
Figures
Figure 1. Efficient reading
Figure 2 - Students’ attitudes towards importance of reading skill in English learning.
Figure 3 - Students’ perception about reading section in their coursebook
Figure 4 - Students’ perception about time allocation for reading in their coursebook.
Figure 5 - Students’ self-evaluation of their reading speed
Figure 6 - Students’ extra reading before ERP
Figure 7 - Students’ reading strategies in getting the main ideas of the texts
Figure 8 - Students’ strategies in working with new vocabulary
Figure 9 - Students’ preferred topics for reading

Tables
Table 1 - Tests results of the three groups BR, MR and GR
Table 2 - Students’ tests results
Table 3 - Students’ orientation before reading
Table 4 - Students’ reading strategies when working with texts
Table 5 - Students’ attitudes towards Extensive Reading Program
Table 6 - Students’ suggestions for good supplementary reading materials

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PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the thesis
Reading is an important mental process which belongs only to human beings. It helps to
open the door into mankind's treasures of knowledge. Good reading skills can help readers
make great progress in academic purposes. It also brings people enjoyment and enriches
our life. Undeniably, reading is an essential skill a person has to master.
In English teaching and learning, reading is one of the four important major skills.
However, the effectiveness of teaching and learning of this skill is still limited in many
schools and colleges. Methodologically, many teachers are influenced by the Grammartranslation method. According to them, teaching of reading means introducing vocabulary,
grammatical structures and translating the text into their mother tongue. Furthermore, the
reading materials are not sufficient, relevant and interesting enough to students which,
accordingly, leads to students’ demotivation in learning reading.
With regards to English teaching and learning methodology, there have been a lot of books
and researches done on reading. Some names to be considered are Nunan, D. (1991, 1999)
in the series about language teaching and learning, Brown, H.D. (1994), Anderson, N.J.
(1999), Nuttall, C. (1982), Williams, E. (1984), to name but a few. The given authors share
an opinion that once appropriate strategies are applied, intensive and extensive reading will
help improve students' reading skill.
In order to explore the efficiency of using supplementary reading materials in improving
students' reading skill, the author conducted an action research at Thai Nguyen College of
Mechanics and Metallurgy (CMM). With this study, she wanted not only to enhance the
teaching and learning efficiency of reading skill, but also to stimulate students' interest in
language learning as well.
2. Aims of the thesis
The study is aimed at investigating whether the supplementary reading materials improve
students' reading skill.
Besides, it is hoped that the study will provide some suggestions for:
-

Selecting, adapting supplementary reading materials.

-

Selecting appropriate methods for teachers to teach reading skill.


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3. Significance of the thesis
The study, hopefully, will be useful not only to the author and her colleagues in improving
the teaching quality, but students will also benefit from it. Besides, the findings of the
study will serve as a foundation for selecting and adapting supplementary reading materials
and choosing the appropriate teaching methods. Furthermore, it is hoped that the work will
make some contribution to the field of teaching methodology.
4. Scope of the thesis
The study focuses on teaching and learning of the reading skill.
The supplementary reading materials are selected and introduced to students by the teacher
to make them read out of class (extensive reading), but under the teacher's monitoring. All
the students/participants are of the second year of the Information technology Faculty at
CMM.
5. Organization of the thesis
The study has three main parts as follows:
Part 1: Introduction.
This part introduces the rationale, the aims, the significance, the scope and the organization
of the study.
Part 2: Development
This part consists of three chapters:
Chapter 1 provides literature review focusing on the issues related to supplementary

reading materials and reading skill.
Chapter 2 presents the methodology applied in this work. It also includes an overview of
the context of the study.
Chapter 3 discusses the findings of the study based on the tests and questionnaires results
Part 3: Conclusion
This part summaries all the major issues in the previous parts with conclusions drawn from
the findings. It also provides some implications for teaching methodology and suggestions
for further research.


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PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. Supplementary materials
1.1.1. Definitions and roles of supplementary materials
Supplementary materials may be defined differently. According to Tomlinson
supplementary materials are
…materials designed to be used in addition to the core materials of a course. They
are usually related to the development of skills of reading, writing, listening or
speaking rather than to the learning of language items.
Tomlinson (1998, p.13)
In other words, they are additional materials along with a course book to help develop
learner's four major skills. Therefore, it is important for teachers to know how to choose
the best supplementary materials for the class, and how to adapt materials appropriate for
certain teaching purposes.
Supplementary materials have various types. As Ur (1996, pp.190-191)) states, they
include computers, books, over head projectors, video equipment, audio equipment,
posters, pictures, games etc. Each type has certain strong points and weak points in
teaching and learning a language as well.

Supplementary materials play a very important role in teaching and learning a language.
However, in this thesis, the author focuses only on reading skill. It is the reason why she
discusses the roles of reading texts as supplementary reading materials. They are very
helpful for the learners because "students have a readily available and sufficiently large
supply of texts at their levels of language proficiency" (Aebersold & Field, 1997, p.47). As
such, the role of supplementary reading materials in language teaching and learning is
undeniably crucial.
1.1.2. Criteria for selecting supplementary materials
When selecting supplementary materials "it is important to match the materials with the
goals and objectives of the course, ... with one's learners' attitudes, beliefs and preferences"
(Nunan, 1991, p.209).


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More specifically, Nuttall (1996, pp.170-179), takes into consideration six following
criteria for selecting supplementary materials:
- Suitability of content: The materials should be appropriate with students' tastes and
interests. Enjoyable texts make reading more effective. Suitability of the reading texts is
also a motivation for students to read more.
- Exploitability can be understood as facilitation of learning. It also means that teachers
make use of the text to develop the students' competence as readers: integrating reading
strategies (skimming, scanning, word attack skills, text attack skills…)
- Readability refers to the combination of structural and lexical difficulty. The language of
the text can be easy for one student, but difficult for another. So, it is necessary to assess
the students' language proficiency.
- Variety makes the reading more interesting. Monotonousness brings boredom and
demotivates students.
- Authenticity: For reading to be effective, we need texts which exhibit the characteristics
of true discourse: having something to say, being coherent and clearly organized and

written by the foreign language community.
- Presentation: This criterion requires the materials to look attractive (illustrations, a large
clear type, a spacious layout, etc.) and authentic (e.g.; texts accompanied by diagrams,
photographs, etc).
Clarke and Silberstain (1987, pp.236-237) in their article entitled "Toward a Realization of
Psycholinguistic Principles in their ESL Reading Class", suggest two questions to be
answered when discussing criteria for reading selections:
- Is the reading selection appropriate to both the proficiency levels and students' interests?
- Can the selection be made to provide practice in the skills we need to reinforce?
From the points above, it can be seen that the scholars share the same ideas in that
suitability of content (appropriate to the students' interests) and readability (appropriate to
students' proficiency levels) are the two most important criteria in selecting reading
materials. And the ideas about suitability of content and readability are also the guidelines
for the researcher to select the supplementary reading materials for this study.
1.2. Reading comprehension skill
1.2.1. Definitions of reading and reading comprehension


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Different people define reading in different ways. One of the simplest definitions of
reading suggested by Williams (1984, p.2) is that "it is a process whereby one looks at and
understands what has been written". However, according to him, the reader is not passive,
but active in that he "is able to arrive at understanding without looking at every letter and
word, and generally reads in groups of words, not word by word, far less letter by letter".
Actually, reading is a mental process which is not easily described. In the most general
term proposed by Rumehart (1977, cited in Aebersold & Field, 1997, p.5) "reading
involves the reader, the text and the interaction between reader and text". In this
perspective, the interaction between reader and text can be understood as a process in
which the reader working with the printed words, uses his background knowledge and

experiences to exploit the meaning of the text. Sharing this view, Anderson (1999, p.1)
states: "reading is an active, fluent process which involves the reader and the reading
material in building meaning".
In brief, each person can have his own definition of reading. However, it is obvious that
reading involves the written words, the reader and the message transmitted in those words.
In other words, it is the process of meaning exploitation of the written words realized by
the reader. As language teachers, we should understand the nature and strategies of reading
to help our students read effectively.
If reading is understood generally as above, reading comprehension should be defined
more specifically. According to Richard & Thomas (1987, p.9) "reading comprehension is
best described as an understanding between the author and the reader". They further point
out that "reading comprehension is a mental process that in the final analysis, only the
reader fully understands. Comprehension is what simulates readers to remember their past
experience. That knowledge is, then, used in trying to get meaning out of print. Meaning
does not reside in the printed page but rather in the mind of the reader" (1987, p.143).
To share the same opinion, Carrel (1997, p.21) states, "reading comprehension is
reconstruction, interpretation and evaluation of what author of written content means by
using knowledge gained from life experience".
In sum, if reading simply is the activity which involves the reader, the text and the
interaction between reader and text, reading comprehension is more than that. It is not
only linguistic and cognitive understanding, but also the author's intended meaning and the
reader's perception and appreciation.


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1.2.2. Purposes and roles of reading in language learning
People read with different purposes. According to Rivers & Temperly (cited in Nunan,
1999, p.251), we read:
- To obtain information for some purpose or because we are curious about some topic.

- To obtain instructions on how to perform some task for our work or daily life.
- To act in a play, play a game, do a puzzle.
- To keep in touch with friends by correspondence or to understand business letters.
- To know when or where something will take place or what is available, what is
happening or has happened in newspapers or reports…
- For enjoyment or excitement.
In language learning, reading plays a very important role. The following quotation
indicates a view from one of the most influential scholars in this field:
Reading is good for you. The research supports a stronger conclusion, however:
Reading is the only way we become good readers, develop a good writing style, an
adequate vocabulary, advanced grammar, and the only way we become good spellers.
Krashen (1993, cited in Rosszell, 2006, p.395)
Another opinion suggested by Williams (1984, p.13) is that the teacher wants the students
to read in a foreign language so that:
- Students can have further practice of language that they have already learnt.
- Students can learn how to make sense of texts to extract the necessary information.
- Students can find enjoyment through reading.
In one word, reading helps students practise the language they learn. Reading provides
them with necessary information. And reading brings them enjoyment as well.
For each purpose of reading, we employ different approaches/models and different
strategies. The following section will provide some more information about the reading
approaches based on perspectives of some modern pedagogical methodologists.
1.2.3. Reading approaches
1.2.3.1. Bottom-up approach
The bottom-up reading approach emphasizes a single direction, part-to-whole processing
of a text. It is also known as data-driven or part-to-whole model. In bottom-up reading the
reader arrives at understanding by combining different text elements such as letters and


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words, phrases and sentences until a piece of data is created. Only then he comes to the
stage of comprehension which is transforming previous phonological or articulatory data
into meaning.
Bottom-up theorists argue that "the reader constructs the text from the smallest units:
letters to words to phrases to sentences etc. and that the process of constructing the text
from those small units becomes so automatic that readers are not aware of how it operates"
(Eskey 1988 & Stanovich 1990, cited in Aebersold & Field, 1997, p.18)
Nuttall (1996, p.17) shares the same opinion that in the bottom-up process the reader
constructs meaning from the letters, words, phrases, and sentences in a linear fashion.
Therefore, arriving at the meaning is the final step in the process. She also points out the
weaknesses of this model: we cannot be sure whether the message is really what the author
means, if our knowledge and experiences are insufficient, and if the author's viewpoint is
very different from the reader's. Agreed with her, Anderson (1999, p.2) claims that the
bottom-up model is known as "lower-level reading processes" because this process is
believed to be typical of weaker second language readers. In such cases, readers adhere to
bottom-up decoding process as they cannot immediately draw meaning from the text.
In conclusion, the bottom-up approach is characterized by a linear process of joining
lower-level text items and gradually adding them together until a meaningful piece of data
is created. This approach is often employed by low-level language students.
1.2.3.2. Top-down approach
The top-down approach suggests that processing of a text begins in the mind of the readers
with meaning-driven processes, or an assumption about the meaning of a text. From this
perspective, readers identify letters and words only to confirm their assumptions about the
meaning of the text. This model emphasizes what the reader brings to the text, and proceeds
from whole to part. It is also known as concept-driven model, or whole-to-part model.
According to Nunan, in the top-down approach:
…one begins with a set of hypotheses or predictions about the meaning of the text
one is about to read, and then selectively samples the text to determine whether or
not one's predictions are correct. Reading is a process of reconstructing meaning

rather than decoding form and the reader resorts to decoding if other means fail…
Nunan (1999, p.253)


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Another scholar, Nuttall (1996, p.16), explains this approach in a different way, but the
implications are the same: the reader makes predictions based on his own intelligence and
experience to understand the text. In this sense, understanding occurs when the information
is presented in a relevant context and related to what the reader already knows.
However, there are also some problems with this theory. Stanovich (1980, cited in Nunan,
1999, p.253) states "if reading were a process of developing and testing hypotheses, then
reading would actually take longer than the decoding approach". In fact, it may take more
time for the reader to make predictions and test hypotheses than to recognize the words and
decode. Furthermore, in many cases the reader has little knowledge about the topic, he
cannot generate predictions. Therefore, "reading should be an interactive process", in
which the reader "constantly shuttles between bottom-up and top-down processes" (p.254).
1.2.3.3. Interactive approach
The interactive approach was developed as an answer to problems in both top-down and
bottom-up models. According to Day & Bamford (1998, p.12) reading is an employment
of a range of processes which begins with “the automatic, lightning-like recognition of
words” and then involves reasoning, knowledge of the world, and knowledge of the topic.
Stanovich (1980, cited in Anderson, 1999, p.3) comments that the interactive model can
“compensate for deficiencies” of the bottom-up and top-down approaches.
In Alderson's view (2000, p.20) the interactive approach is simply understood as "the
interaction between textual clues and the reader's knowledge". In Nuttall's words (1996,
p.17), in this model the reader uses the top-down approach "to predict the probable
meaning", then moves to the bottom-up approach "to check whether that is really what the
writer says". More specifically, Nuttall (1996, p.78) states that in order to read more
efficiently, the reader should use the top-down approach by “activating all the prior

knowledge about the topic and the type of text”, and skimming to get a general idea of the
content and structure of the text. This serves the reader the general direction to attack the
text. If it does not help the reader understand the meaning of the text sufficiently, then the
bottom-up approach will work. It “involves getting to grips with the syntax and so on,
making use of top-down insights to weigh up competing interpretations”. Depending on
syntax, cohesive devices and discourse markers, the reader can successfully understand the
meaning of the text.


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In conclusion, the interactive approach attempts to combine the bottom-up and top-down
models simultaneously throughout the reading process. It takes into account the strong
points of the bottom-up and top-down approaches, making it one of the most promising
approaches to the theory of reading today.
1.2.4. Types of reading
Generally, reading is classified into two types according to manner: reading aloud and
silent reading.
According to reading purposes, reading is categorized into four types: skimming, scanning,
intensive reading and extensive reading.
One way in which reading types may be classified, as suggested by Brown (1989, cited in
MacLeod, 2003) can be as follows: oral and silent reading. In silent reading, there are two
sub-types: intensive and extensive reading.
Within the framework of this study, I would like to bring some literature review on the two
types: intensive reading and extensive reading.
1.2.4.1. Intensive reading
Intensive reading (IR) involves students' reading in class. In this process, content and
grammatical structures repeat themselves and students get opportunities to understand the
meanings of the text. The success of reading comprehension is based on the premise that
the more familiar the reader is with the text, the more comprehension is promoted.

Brown (1989, cited in MacLeod, 2003) explains that IR
…calls attention to grammatical forms, discourse markers, and other surface structure
details for the purpose of understanding literal meaning, implications, rhetorical
relationships, and the like.
MacLeod (2003) points out some characteristics of IR as follows: It is usually classroombased, in which students are intensely involved in looking inside the text. They focus
mainly on linguistic or semantic issues, and identify key vocabulary. In this type of
reading, texts are read carefully, again and again, with the aim to build more language
knowledge rather than simply practice the reading skill.
Materials for IR are usually very short texts - not more than 500 words in length, chosen for
level of difficulty and usually by the teacher to provide the types of reading and skills that
he wants to cover in the course.


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In IR, the teacher plays a key role. He chooses suitable text, tasks and activities to develop
skills. He gives direction before, during and after reading. It is the teacher who prepares
students to work on their own. The teacher encourages students through prompts. Hence,
students are rather passive in the reading.
To conclude, IR provides a base to study structure, vocabulary, but there is little actual
practice of reading because of the small amount of text. Moreover, in a class with multireading abilities, students may not be able to read at their own level because everyone in
the class reads the same material, which may or may not interest the students because it
was chosen by the teacher. In addition, students may associate reading with testing and not
pleasure, because exercises and assessment usually follow IR.
Actually, IR is essential for language learning, but it provides inadequate materials for
students to practise the language. Therefore, extensive reading in which supplementary
reading materials play a key role is necessary for effective learning, especially for
improving reading comprehension skill.
1.2.4.2. Extensive reading
Extensive reading (ER) is considered as an effective way to learn a language. Discussing

its role in language learning, Nuttall states that:
…getting students to read extensively is the easiest and most effective way of
improving their reading skills… It is much easier to teach people to read better if
they are learning in a favorable climate, where reading is valued not only as an
educational tool, but as a source of enjoyment.
Nuttall (1996, p.127)
As such, ER is considered one of the best ways to improve student’s reading skill in terms
of enjoyment and friendly reading environment.
More specifically, Long and Richards identify ER as
…occurring when students read large amounts of high interest material, usually out
of class, concentrating on meaning, reading for gist and skipping unknown words.
Long and Richards (1971, p.216)
Therefore, ER is very useful for students in improving their reading skill when they use
different strategies to attack new vocabulary in the texts.
Day & Bamford (1998) put forward some important characteristics of ER: students select
and read individually a variety of materials on a range of topics, as much as possible. They


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read materials within their linguistic competence in terms of vocabulary and grammar, for
pleasure, information and general understanding.
In this type, the teacher's role is very important. He gives recommendations on reading
materials, based on student's interests and proficiency. However, student take total
responsibility for developing reading ability and are benefited from extensive reading very
much. They may improve their attitude towards reading and become more motivated to
read and feel more autonomous over their own learning. They also develop a "reading
habit" to gain more confidence in reading. More importantly, students expand vocabulary,
increase reading comprehension, improve overall language competence, build background
knowledge, be more prepared for further academic courses.

Ideally, students extensively read without any pressure of testing afterward. But teachers
may need to justify the class time spent on reading, or may just want to know whether
students are making any progress in their reading. One option is to have book meetings
with students and discuss what they like or do not like about the book. Students can also
keep a book journal where they respond to what they read. If possible, students post their
responses for other students to read, or start a class book forum. Students can also do brief
book talks for the class to encourage other students to read their book. Students keep a
personal dictionary of new vocabulary that they learned from the book.
ER should be a fun and educational experience for students. Many students have never
read an entire book in any language, and the feeling they receive from completing their
first English book is motivation to continue reading! Students also appreciate the ability to
decide what they will read, and gain a sense of independence from getting to read at their
own pace. The goal of a good ERP is not just to improve a student's language ability, but
also to foster good feelings toward reading in the future.
In sum, ER creates a favorable, interesting environment, enjoyment for students to improve
their language proficiency by reading plentiful additional materials. In order to check to
what extent ER affects students' reading at CMM, the author decides to carry out an ERP
with her hope for improving their reading skill. The following section is about reading
strategies which are often used in ER.
1.2.5. Reading strategies
Reading strategies are sometimes understood as techniques or skills. Different people have
different reading strategies. Brown (1994, pp.306-311) suggests ten strategies employed in


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ER: (1) Identifying the purpose in reading, (2) Using graphemic rules and patterns to aid in
bottom-up decoding, (3) Using efficient silent reading techniques for relatively rapid
comprehension, (4) Skimming the text for main ideas, (5) Scanning the text for specific
information, (6) Using semantic mapping or clustering, (7) Guessing when you aren't

certain, (8) Analyzing vocabulary, (9) Distinguishing between literal and implied
meanings, (10) Capitalizing on discourse markers to process relationships.
Having something in common, Nuttall (1996, p.46) shows some strategies employed by
efficient readers in the following diagram:

EFFICIENT
READING

Knowing what you
want from reading

Choosing the
right material

Using the text
effectively

Flexibility

Making use of
all the resources

Adequate
understanding

Practice
scanning

Improving
reading speed

Scanning and
skimming

Practice
skimming

Figure 1. Efficient reading (Nuttall 1996, p.46)
As can be seen above, the first thing for the student to do is to define his purpose of
reading. This helps to decide what and how to read. Then, having found a possible
material, he needs to check whether the material is really suitable and which part/s of it to
read. When the reader knows what he wants and has located suitable material, the next task
is to use it effectively.
With regards to flexibility, Nuttall (1996, p.48) says that it is "keeping in mind how much
you need to read in order to satisfy your purpose". Flexibility also implies reading manner


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according to the text and purpose for it. This helps the reader to decide which parts to
ignore or skip, which to skim to get the ideas, and which to scan for details.
In order to read effectively, the reader should make use of all the resources and reference
apparatus: sub-titles, summaries, tables of contents, appendixes, figures, glossaries, etc.
They enable him to read selectively, omitting irrelevant parts.
Last but not least, speed is considered to be an important factor in efficient reading. Nuttall
(pp.54-56) also states that good readers do not read word by word, but skip and/or guess
unknown words instead of looking them up in the dictionary to speed up their reading.
As can be seen above, Brown (1994) and Nuttall (1996) present some certain points in
common about the reading strategies, especially in terms of purpose, material selection and
the way to work with the text such as skimming, scanning, and guessing skills depending

on structural and contextual clues, etc. The following sub-sections provide a brief overview
of some strategies: skimming, scanning, word-attack skills, and text-attack skills, which the
researcher believes to be the most suitable for her teaching context at CMM and the most
useful for the students at the elementary level when carrying out ERP.
 Skimming
According to Brown (1994, p.308), skimming is "quickly running one's eyes across a
whole text for its gist". In other words, skimming is getting a general idea of the passage
on a rather superficial level by catching a few words. Skimming permits readers "to predict
the purpose, main topic or message of the passage, and possibly some of the developing or
supporting ideas" (Nuttall, 1996, p.49). It occurs when readers look quickly at the table of
content of the book, or at the chapter headings, etc. Skimming is sometimes the
prerequisite of reading for full understanding of a text.
There are many sub-strategies that can be used when skimming. Some people read the first
and last paragraphs using headings, summarizes and other organizers as they move down
the text. For skimming readers might read the title, subtitles, subheading, and
illustrations...
 Scanning
Scanning is a technique readers often use when searching for specific words, phrases or
ideas. In most cases, readers know what they are looking for, so they are concentrating on
finding a particular answer.
In Nuttall's words, scanning means


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…glancing rapidly through a text either to search for a specific piece of information
or to get an initial impression of whether the text is suitable for a given purpose.
Nuttall (1996, p.49)
As Brown (1994, p.308) puts it, scanning is "quickly searching for some particular piece
or pieces of information in a text". Scanning involves looking for names or dates, finding a

definition of a key concept, or listing a certain number of supporting details. The purpose
of scanning is "to extract specific information without reading through the whole text"
(Brown, 1994, p.308)
 Word-attack skills:
Nuttall (1996, pp. 62-77) suggests that using a dictionary to work out the meaning of a
word is not the only method that works. Moreover, it is important for students to
understand that not all words are equally important. Therefore, Nuttall (p.63) classifies
words into three categories: active, receptive and throwaway vocabulary. The meaning of
many active and receptive words can be worked out from the context, without the use of a
dictionary. Some other throwaway unknown words can be ignored because they do not
affect the understanding of the text. She also brings out some techniques to guess the
meaning of new vocabulary depending on structural clues (grammatical function,
morphology, etc), inference from context… Nevertheless, in the cases the new word is a
key one, and can not be guessed, students should use a dictionary to get the meaning.
 Text-attack skills:
According to Nuttall, understanding texts is closely related to understanding syntax. In
reality, there have been many texts with familiar vocabulary, but the reader gets difficulties
in understanding the meaning. Actually, learning reading does not mean practising
grammar. However, when working with a text,
… students must be able to identify the constituents of its sentences, and to analyze
these if they are complex,…grammatical terminology is not essential but helps to
clarify one’s thinking.
Nuttall (1996, p.78)
The author also points out some effective text attack skills:
1. Understanding syntax,
2. Recognizing and interpreting cohesive devices,
3. Interpreting discourse markers,


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4. Recognizing functional value,
5. Recognizing text organization,
6. Recognizing the presuppositions underlying the text,
7. Recognizing implications and making inferences,
8. Prediction.
In order to understand a text successfully, the reader should be flexible in working with the
text. These skills are interrelated and no single skill can lead to proper understanding of a
text. The reading can be improved once the reader knows how to combine and recycle
these skills tactfully throughout the text.
In short, the strategies of skimming, scanning, word-attack skills and text-attack skills are
very useful for students, especially in extensive reading of their supplementary materials.
Therefore, in this study, the author has chosen those strategies, which are suitable for her
teaching context at CMM to help her students to work with the supplementary reading
materials for further improvement of their reading skill.
1.3. Summary
This chapter has briefly reviewed the literature of the issues related to supplementary
reading materials and reading comprehension in teaching of reading skill. It consists of two
sections. The first section presents definitions and roles of supplementary materials and
some criteria for selecting supplementary materials in teaching of reading skill. The second
section includes major issues related to reading comprehension skill: definitions, purposes
and roles of reading in language learning, reading approaches and types of reading, as well
as some efficient reading strategies. Therefore, this chapter serves as the theoretical
background for the study. From these theoretical bases, the study of ER will be carried out.
Hopefully, it will provide some helpful suggestions for improvement of the teaching and
learning of reading comprehension skill at CMM.


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CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1. The context of the study
The College of Mechanics and Metallurgy (CMM) is a technical college which trains
skilled workers and practical engineers of engineering and metallurgy for the whole
country. It is located in Thai Nguyen - a northern mountainous province. Accordingly, the
teaching and learning conditions are not very good. The college does not have special
rooms for students to learn the foreign language. The teaching facilities are only textbooks,
board, and chalk. There is not any modern equipment for teaching and practising English.
The reference books are very poor in the college library. In addition, the class size is large
of about 70 students. Consequently, the teaching and learning of English is limited.
English is a common and compulsory subject at CMM. The students learn totally 10
credits in which 8 credits are for General English and 2 for ESP. The teachers of English
Language Teaching Division are in charge of setting the syllabus, choosing teaching
materials for the course. In here New Headway Elementary written by John & Liz Soars is
chosen to be the main course book for all the students at CMM at the early stage (General
English). For ESP, students learn the in-house materials compiled by the English teachers
of the college.
When students enter the college, they are at different levels of English language
proficiency. Most of them studied English, some of them learnt French, Chinese or Russian
at high school. However, students are not divided into different groups depending on their
levels of language proficiency, because there has never been an official examination to
classify them. Accordingly, all of them take the same course as the beginners of English
language. In addition, the limited class time and large class size, lack of reference books…
are big problems for effective teaching and learning. In class, generally speaking, students
have a rather passive learning style: the teacher instructs, students take note and do
exercises. They hardly give their teacher questions, unless they are asked to do so. Most
students do not have communicative needs, or are not interested in reading books and
newspapers, either. They need only vocabulary and grammar knowledge to pass the
examination. In such a context, how to enhance their interest in English learning and
improve their language proficiency is very important and necessary.

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2.2. Research method
The study is conducted as a descriptive one that employed quantitative approach by means
of tests and survey questionnaire delivered to CMM second-year non-major English
students to assess their English reading proficiency before and after the Extensive Reading
Program and their attitudes towards supplementary reading materials.
2.2.1. Research questions
The following questions are intended to be answered in the research:
1. What are the students’ perceptions about reading skill and the reading sections in
the coursebook New Headway Elementary?
2. What are the reading strategies applied by the CMM students before ERP?
3. Do the supplementary reading materials improve students' reading skill?
4. What are the students’ attitudes towards the supplementary reading materials in
an Extensive Reading Program?
2.2.2. Instrumentation
In this study, the two tests (pre-test and post-test) are the main means to gather the data.
First, the pre-test is given to the students in order to identify their English reading
proficiency before carrying out the Extensive Reading program. After eight weeks of ERP,
the post-test is delivered to assess students’ improvement in reading skill.
Together with the two tests, one of the main means of data collection for the research is
survey questionnaire which is considered to be
…easy to construct, extremely versatile, and uniquely capable of gathering a
large amount of information quickly in a form that is readily processable…
(Zoltan Dörnyei, 2003, p.1).
Questionnaire enables the researcher not only to gain the necessary quantitative data, but
also to provide students with a chance to express their attitudes towards the problems.
2.2.2.1. Tests

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In the research, two separate tests (pre-test and post-test) are used to collect data on the
students’ English reading comprehension proficiency as well as their reading strategies
applied. Therefore, the tests should assess students on not only language knowledge but
also efficiency of their different reading strategies.
The pre-test, which is given to the students a week before the Extensive Reading Program,
consists of a reading text with a picture followed by six tasks as described below:
- Task 1 & 2 are matching tasks with nine incomplete sentences in the two column. In
order to do the task successfully, students should apply different reading strategies such as:
skimming for general idea, scanning for specific information, guessing new vocabulary,
recognizing the presuppositions underlying the text, recognizing implications and making
inferences.
- Task 3 requires students to answer four questions about the text. It is expected that
students should use their grammar knowledge in combination with their understanding of
the text to complete the task. The grammar focuses on the simple past tense. The reading
strategies used here are: inferring from context, interpreting information, recognizing
opinions and viewpoints.
- Task 4 is a multiple choice with four sentences. It is supposed that the students would
employ the reading strategies, such as skimming for general ideas, scanning for details,
guessing new vocabulary from context and making inferences.
- Task 5 is a true or false task with four sentences. In order to complete the task effectively,
students should use different strategies such as recognizing main ideas, recognizing
opinions and viewpoints, interpreting information and making inferences.
- Task 6 requires students to choose the main idea for the text. In this task, the following
reading strategies are very important: skimming for general idea, interpreting information,
making inferences and recognizing the main ideas.
The pre-test is completed by the students within 30 minutes in class.

The post-test is administered to the students a week after the ERP completion. At that time
the students have completed 7 credits of the General English. The post-test has the same
structure as the one of the pre-test and is completed in 30 minutes. The results of the pre-


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test are compared with the results of the post-test to assess the effectiveness of the ERP on
the students’ reading comprehension proficiency.
2.2.2.2. Questionnaire
Questionnaire is used for data collection in this study because, according to Zoltan Dörnyei
(2003, p.9):
…the main attraction of questionnaires is their unprecedented efficiency in terms of
(a) researcher time, (b) researcher effort, and (c) financial resources…
In this research, the questionnaire consists of three main parts as follows:
- The first part consists of six questions which require the students to express their
attitudes towards reading skill and reading texts in their textbook New Headway
Elementary. In this part, the students evaluate the importance of reading in English
learning and reading sections presented in their course book.
- The second part includes eight questions mainly about the participants’ reading strategies
used before the ERP is conducted. It brings more light to evaluate the effectiveness of
students’ reading strategies applied within Intensive reading.
- The third part contains ten questions to investigate how the students assess the ERP and
their suggestions for a good ERP. This is methodologically very useful and necessary in
designing and implementing an ERP for students.
The questionnaire is delivered to the students a week after the ERP completion.
2.2.3. Participants
In order to gain reliable results, before the ERP the researcher requires the students to
register voluntarily for the program. She thinks that once the students voluntarily sign their
names in the ERP, they would have responsibility in fulfillment of their work. The ERP

requires students to read large amounts of materials out of class, without any teacher’s
management and assessment. If the students are not responsible volunteers, they will not
read extensively to improve their reading skill, so the ERP may not be successful as
expected before.


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The study is conducted with the voluntary participation of 58 of 65 second-year students.
They are all in the same class CD-CNTT 46 of the Information Technology Faculty. The
numbers of males and females are relatively equivalent: 30 males and 28 females. All the
students are at the ages from 19 to 24, and come from different provinces in the North and
Central of Vietnam. When entering the college, the students are at different levels of
English language proficiency. Most of them studied English, some of them learnt French,
Chinese or Russian at high school. Nevertheless, students are not divided into different
groups depending on their levels of language proficiency, because there has never been a
placement test in the college to classify them.
As stated earlier, the students participate in the ERP in the second year. The assumption
here is that they have enough time to get used to the teaching and learning environment at
the college which is quite different from that of their high school. At this stage they are
supposed to be at elementary level of English proficiency.
2.2.4. Data collection procedures
The data of the study were collected from October 1, 2009 to December 15, 2009.
Firstly, the researcher/teacher administered the pre-test on reading to the students to do in
30 minutes. The pre-test results were then analyzed to classify students into different
groups of good, medium and bad readers (GR, MR and BR). This step helps to identify the
student’s English reading proficiency before the ERP was carried out.
Secondly, the teacher explained clearly the aims, objectives and procedures of the ERP in
both English and Vietnamese to ensure that every student would understand it well. After
that the students voluntarily registered to participate in the ERP. As stated earlier, this step

is to guarantee that every student has responsibility for his work.
Next, the teacher suggested the students some books which are available in the college
library. The students chose their books and borrowed from the library. In here the teacher’s
role is so crucial. Due to the fact that ER is quite new to students, the teacher needs to help
students understand the principles of the ER and why, what and how to read. In order to
get students familiar with this kind of reading, she should become a model reader for the
students herself. In this program, beside explaining the students some reading strategies,