A study on the techniques for improving reading skills to second-year English major students at Hai Phong = Nghiên cứu các thủ - thuật phát triển kỹ năng đọc hi

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

NGUYỄN THỊ THUỲ GIANG

A study on the techniques for improving
reading skills to second- year English major
students at Haiphong University

(Nghiên cứu các thủ thuật phát triển kỹ năng đọc hiểu cho sinh viên
năm thứ hai chuyên tiếng Anh - Trường Đại học Hải Phòng)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

FIELD:

ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE:

601410

Hanoi - 2010


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

NGUYỄN THỊ THUỲ GIANG

A study on the techniques for improving
reading skills to second- year English major
students at Haiphong University

(Nghiên cứu các thủ- thuật phát triển kỹ năng đọc hiểu cho sinh viên
năm thứ hai chuyên tiếng Anh - Trường Đại học Hải Phòng)

M.A. MINOR THESIS

FIELD:

ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

CODE:

601410

SUPERVISOR:

NGUYỄN THỊ THƠM THƠM, M.A

Hanoi - 2010


vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CANDIDATE’S
STATEMENT.............................................................................................i

Acknowledgements...................................................................................................
ii
Abstract.........................................................................................................................iii
List of
abbreviation.................................................................................................iv
List of tables................................................................................................................v
Table of
contents......................................................................................................vi

PART A:
INTRODUCTION………..…………………..…………………………............1
1. Rationale……………………………………………………………………………1
2. Aims of the study…………………………………………………………………...2
3. Scope of the study…………………………………………………………………..2
4. Method of the study…………………………………………………………….......2
5. Design of the study………………………………………………………………....3
PART B:
DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………………………..4
Chapter I: Literature
Review…………………….………………………….….4
1.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………….…4
1.2. Reading and other skills in English teaching and learning ……………………………4
1.3. Overview of reading …………………………………………………………….……4
1.3.1. Definition ……………………………………………………………………4
1.3.2. The importance of reading in foreign language learning…………………….5
1.3.3. Factors in teaching and learning reading…………………………………….6


vii

1.3.3.1. Reading texts……………………………………………………….6
1.3.3.2. Teacher’s roles……………………………………………………..6
1.3.3.3. Students’ roles……………………………………………………...6
1.3.4. Stages of a reading lesson……………………………………………………7
1.3.4.1. Pre-reading stage…………………………………………………...7
1.3.4.2. While-reading stage………………………………………………..7
1.3.4.3. Post-reading stage………………………………………………….7
1.4. Classification of reading…………………………………………………………….…8
1.4.1. According to manner………………………………………………………...8
1.4.2. According to purposes……………………………………………….………8
1.4.2.1. Intensive reading…………………………………………….……..8
1.4.2.2. Extensive reading……………………………………………….….9
1.4.2.3. Skimming…………………………………………………………..9
1.4.2.4. Scanning…………………………………………………………..10
1.5. Effective Reading Comprehension……………………………………………………10
1.5.1. Definition of Reading Comprehension………………………………..……10
1.5.2. Definition of Effective Reading Comprehension………...…………………11
1.5.3. Effective reader………………………………………..……………………11
1.5.4. Techniques for Reading Comprehension………………………………...…13
1.6. Preview the concerned theories…………………………………………………….…14
1.7. Summary……………………………………………………...………………………15
Chapter II: The
study……………………………...……..………………………..16
2.1. Introduction……………………………………………..………………………….…16
2.2. An overview on Haiphong University…………………..…………………………….16
2.3. Learners and Learning requirements……………………………………………….…16
2.4. Teachers and Teaching methods……………………..……………………………….17
2.5. Materials and Assessments……………………………..…………………………….18
2.6. Data collection, Findings and Discussion…………………………………………….19
2.6.1. Data collection………………………………...……………………………19

2.6.1.1. Participants…………………………..……………………….…19
2.6.1.2. Instruments……………………………………….……….…….20


viii

2.6.1.3. Data collecting procedures……………………...........................20
2.6.1.4. Data analysis……………………………………………………20
2.6.2. Findings and Discussion……………………………………………………21
2.6.2.1. From students’ perspectives………………………………………21
2.6.2.1.1. Students’ attitude towards the materials used for reading lessons……...21
2.6.2.1.2. Students’ attitude towards the way their teachers create reading interest
and motivate them………………………………………………….……22
2.6.2.1.3. Students’ attitude towards the techniques used by their teachers in the
reading lesson……………………………………………………………23
2.6.2.1.4. Students’ activities before reading the text……………………….…….24
2.6.2.1.5. Students’ activities while reading the text……………………….……..25
2.6.2.1.6. Students’ activities after reading the text……………………………….27
2.6.2.2. From teachers’ perspectives……………………………...……….28
2.6.2.2.1. Teachers’ attitude towards the materials used at class for reading
lesson.............................................................................................................28
2.6.2.2.2. Teachers’ techniques in a reading lesson……………………….………29
2.6.2.2.3. Teachers’ activities during three stages of a reading lesson……………29
2.7. Summary……………………………………………………………………...………30
Chapter III: Suggested Techniques to improve reading skills
to second –year English major students at Haiphong
University………………………………………………………..………..………….31
3.1. Techniques for Creating Motivation and Interest……………………….……………31
3.1.1. Using visual aids in teaching reading………………………………………31
3.1.2. Combining teaching reading with other skills……………………...………31

3.2. Techniques for improving Teachers’ activities in reading lesson………………...…..31
3.2.1. Regulate Teaching Time and Efforts………………………………..……...31
3.2.2. Help the students with three stages of a reading lesson……….……………32
3.3. Techniques for the development of Reading Materials……………………………….33
3.3.1. Make full Use of the Reading Texts and design reading Text-Based
Activities……………………………………………………….………….33
3.3.2. Selecting appropriate supplementary Reading Materials…………………...34
3.4. Summary………….…………………………………………………………………...35


ix

PART C:
conclusion...................................................................................................36
1.

Recapitulation………………………………………………………………………..36

2.

Limitation and Suggestions for Further Study.............................................................36

References.....................................................................................................................3
8Appendices


iv

LISTS OF abbreviations

HPU

Haiphong University

FLD

Foreign Language Department

No.

Number


v

LISTS OF TABLES

Table 1: Students’ attitude towards the materials used for reading lessons
Table 2: Students’ attitude towards the way their teachers create reading interest and
motivate them.
Table 3: Students’ attitude towards the techniques used by their teachers in the reading
lesson.
Table 4: Students’ activities before reading the text.
Table 5: Students’ activities while reading the text.
Table 6: Students’ activities after reading the text


1

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale:
It goes without saying that English is by far the most popular language of all.
Nowadays, English language plays an important role in the increasing development of
science, technology, politics, culture and international relations in Vietnam. As a result,
there is a great demand for teaching and learning English throughout the country for
different purposes.
Learners of English all keep in touch with the four skills in order to master the
English proficiency. In Vietnam, reading is perhaps the most important skill that
Vietnamese learners of English will be working with the most because one of the major
focuses of teaching English as a second language is providing the students with the
abilities to understand written materials. Moreover, becoming an effective and fluent
reader in another language has a number of important benefits for the learner. First,
reading in the target language helps students consolidate the learning that has taken
place. Second, it may help students to increase knowledge of the target language
through exposure to new vocabulary and grammatical structures. According to Carrell
(1984:1), “for many students, reading is by far the most important of the four macro
skills, particularly in English as a second or a foreign language”. Therefore, teaching
reading is gaining more attention by English teachers and learners. Unfortunately,
teaching and learning reading skills is still far from satisfactory for various reasons.
Learners often complain that they find it difficult to concentrate on reading process or
deal with uncountable new vocabulary, etc. In terms of teachers’ role, they find it hard
when their students seem to lack motivation and interests in reading lesson. As a result,
many reading lessons make English learners bored when taking part in the reading
process.
Haiphong University is a place where English teaching and learning are
considered one of the strengths, and reading subject is highly appreciated by all the
teaching staff. However, the teachers have confronted a number of difficulties such as
the habits of word-by-word reading; overemphasis on forms rather than meaning;
excessive focus on details rather than main ideas; poor vocabulary and limited
background knowledge.

As an English teacher at Haiphong University, I have received many questions
relating to reading learning from my students as well as my colleagues such as: “How


2
to study reading effectively?” or “What are techniques for reading skill?”, etc. From
this fact, I do think we, English teachers, must do something new to promote reading
skill especially among the students of the FLD at Haiphong University. It is time we
gave them more chances and more encouragements to read.
This fact has also encouraged the author to investigate the second year majored
students in learning reading and after that, suggest some techniques in order to improve
reading skill in here. It is a hope that the study will be helpful for the author and other
reading teachers in their teaching.
2. Aims of the study:
The aim of this study is to find out the difficulties encountered by the second
year English major students at Haiphong University, and the suggestions given upon
their difficulties to improve their reading skill.
The specific aims are:
-

to exploit the use of reading techniques employed by the second year English
major students and teachers

-

to recommend techniques to improve their reading skill.

3. Scope of the study:
The study limited itself to the investigation of common reading learning
techniques are employed by second year major students at Haiphong University. The

author tried her best to conduct a survey and an interview in order to analyze the
reading techniques from the students and teachers. The information obtained from this
study was to help to improve teaching and learning English in general and teaching and
learning English reading in particular at Haiphong University.
4. Method of the study:
In order to achieve the aims mentioned above, the study was designed to use
quantitative method first modeled by Gustav Fechner- a German psychologist as one
way of data collection. The author prefers to use this method because it is easy to carry
out and suitable to the context of this study. In addition, it helps gain the data accurately
and trustfully. After the data is analyzed and discussed, some conclusions will be
drawn, and some suggestions will be raised in the thesis.
Beside quantitative method, the author picks the interview from the teachers as
the second choice because of its convenience. Moreover, the benefit of interviewing is
that the interviewer can evaluate the attitudes of the interviewee. As a result, the
conclusion after the interview can be trusted.


3
5. Design of the study:
The thesis is divided into three parts.
Part I includes the Rationale, the aims, the scope, the method and the design of
the study.
Part II consists of three chapters. Chapter I presents some detailed information
about history of research on four skills in general and reading and reading
comprehension in particular. Besides, reading comprehension techniques are reviewed
to set up the theoretical framework for the investigation in the next chapter. After all,
the researcher previews the concerned theories related to the thesis. In Chapter II the
study is presented. It includes the overview on Haiphong University. The information
on the learners, teachers, teaching methods and materials and Assessments are
available. Especially, this chapter deals with the data collection – findings and

discussion about different aspects of reading. After the findings, the author suggests
some techniques for improving reading skills to second –year English major students at
Haiphong University in Chapter III.
In the last Part– Part III, some conclusions are withdrawn and limitation of the
study as well as suggestions for further research is also presented.


4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: Literature Review
1.1.

Introduction:

In this chapter, some information about history of research on reading and other
skills in teaching and learning English are given. Also, some basic concepts related to
reading and reading comprehension are presented. Besides, the classification of reading
and reading comprehension techniques are mentioned to set up the theoretical
framework for the investigation in the next chapter. In the last part of this chapter, the
researcher desires to preview the concerned theories related to the thesis’s topic.
1.2.

Reading and other skills in English teaching and learning

As we know, in order to master the English language, we have to get good
competence of all four skills in English: listening, speaking, reading and writing. There
have been debates on the topic “Which skill in English teaching and learning is the
most important one?” There are some who propose what they need is speaking a fluent
English. Also, some consider listening a tool for the realization of their goal. In

contrast, there are some who say writing is necessary because documenting reports,
letters, memos, etc…are what they daily deal with in their office.
However, learning to read effectively remains the top in the targets of most
learners here. It is because reading has great importance which other skills do not have
in foreign language learning. According to Carrell (1997: 1), he stated “for many
students, reading is by far the most important of the four macro skills, particularly in
English as a second or a foreign language”. That idea is true as reading can bring many
benefits for the learners.
This is one of the main reasons which raises the interest for me to do the
research on reading, not other three skills.
1.3.

Overview of reading
1.3.1. Definition of reading

Although research on reading skill is becoming increasingly popular, there is no
agreement regarding the definition of reading.
Reading, according to Catherine Wallace (1992), “reading is an awareness of
the way in which we use language.”
Foertsch (1998) views reading through three basic definitions. For many years,
these have driven literacy programs in the United States. According to the first


5
definition, learning to read means learning to pronounce words. According to the
second definition, learning to read means learning to identify words and get their
meaning. According to the third definition, learning to read means learning to bring
meaning to a text in order to get meaning from it.
Robert J. Tierney (2005) gives the definition of reading “…is a complex
cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of deriving meaning and/or

constructing meaning.
According to Thomas G. Devine (1986), “reading is defined as the ability to
examine words and absorb the information within or the cognitive process of
understanding a written linguistic message”
To sum up, the definitions of reading are numerous and flexible. Each scholar
focuses on particular aspect of reading. However, one common thing is that reading is
actually a very complex process that requires a great deal of active participation on the
part of the reader.
1.3.2. The importance of reading in foreign language learning
As well as know, the teaching and learning of reading are gaining much
attention because reading is one of learning a second or foreign language. Moreover
,”for many students, reading is by far the most important of the four macro kills
,particularly in English as a second or a foreign language ‘. Carrell (1997:1). That idea
is true as reading can bring many benefits for the learners.
Firstly, reading helps the learners enrich their vocabulary and knowledge of the
structures of the English language .According to Richard (1993:4) reading ‘ may help to
increase knowledge of the target language through exposure to new vocabulary and
grammatical structures’. Educational researchers have also found a strong correlation
between reading and vocabulary knowledge. While reading, the learners know most of
the words in the text already, ad they can also determine the meaning of many of the
unfamiliar words from the context. In the other words, the best way to acquire a large
vocabulary is to readers. Beside, through reading the learners will have chances to learn
how grammar structures are used in different situations.
Secondly, reading in the new language is also an important way to learn about
the target culture’ (Richard ,1993:4). Reading brings the learners a wide range of
interesting in formation, helps them understand the ways of life, behaviors ,thoughts
and other social, aspect of the English people , thus they can tackle the vocabulary, the


6

grammar, and the background knowledge or cross-cultural problems they often
encounter now.
In a nutshell, reading is very important to the second language learners because
it widen their knowledge of language and life. In the context of Vietnam, it sees to be
the most important skill to Vietnamese learner’s since their main purpose is
understanding the written texts.
1.3.3. Factors in teaching and learning reading
1.3.3.1. Reading texts
Texts play an important role in teaching and learning reading because new
lexical, phonetic and grammatical items are introduced. Also, texts are also means to
help students to enrich their background knowledge.
1.3.3.2. Teacher’s roles
Many linguistics states that the teacher is the most important factor in a reading
class. Moore (1992) points out three categories when he talks about the roles of a
reading teacher: instructional expert, organizer or manager and counselor. In addition,
linguistics leave out an essential element of the teacher’s role, that of a model reader.
Nuttall (1982:192) states that “showing that you are a reader means carrying books
around with you, referring to books as you teach, reading out brief passages that may
interest students, talking about what you are reading at the moment, and handling books
as if you loved them.” He also says that “teacher’s job as providing, first, suitable texts
and second, activities that will focus the students’ attention on the text.” That means
students must develop their own skills with the guidance of the teacher.
1.3.3.3. Students’ roles
Nuttall (2000:33) gives several main roles for the students in a reading lesson.
They are as follows:
-

Taking an active part in learning: Students have to be active and take charge of
what they do.

-

Monitoring comprehension: Students need to understand how texts work and
what they do when they read.

-

Learning text talk: Students have to learn how to carries on a dialogue with the
text.

-

Taking risks: Students have to take the risk of making mistakes because a
mistake is an opportunity to learn.


-

7
Learning not to cheat oneself: Students who do not want to learn to read can
easily cheat but they are cheating themselves. In fact, they are wasting their
opportunities.
1.3.4. Stages of a reading lesson
1.3.4.1. Pre-reading stage
In this early stage, teachers are expected to motivate students to read,

specifically by activating or building students’ background knowledge of the subject
and familiarizing them with some of the language needed in coping with the text.
According to Williams (1984: 37), the purposes of the pre-reading stage are:
-

To introduce and arouse interest in the topic

-

To motivate learners by giving a reason for reading

-

To provide some language preparation for the text

-

Normally, pre-reading phase often last from two to ten minutes depending on
each lesson. Several techniques, as suggested by To et al. (2006:158) are: using
pictures, predicting from the titles, guessing and brainstorming to see what
students have already known.
1.3.4.2. While-reading stage
Later on, students are led into the main reading activity of the lesson, which

principally aims at helping the students to understand the specific content and become
aware of the rhetorical structure of the text. Williams (1984:38) states that whilereading stage is the main part of a reading lesson with the following specific aims:
-

To help understanding of the writer’s purpose

-

To help understanding of the text structure

-

To clarify text content

The techniques applied in this stage widely vary, ranging from guessing new words
in contexts, asking questions to note-taking. Teachers, at the while- reading stage, need
to help their students comprehend the text thoroughly while students have to apply the
best of their reading skill like skimming, scanning, guessing, etc…to understand the
text as well as the writer’s purposes conveyed through the reading text. Apparently,
time allocation for this is nearly two thirds of the whole lesson.
1.3.4.3. Post-reading stage
Finally, in order to review the content, work on bottom up concerns and relate the
text to students’ knowledge, interests and opinions, teachers may conduct several
activities in this final stage. In Williams’ view (1984:39), “the post-reading is aimed at


8
consolidating or reflecting upon what has been read and relating the text to the learners’
own knowledge, interests or views”. Some possible techniques, as offered by To et
al.,(2006) include discussing the main points, retelling and rewriting the stories.
Normally, it takes about ten minutes to complete all activities at this stage.
1.4.

Classification of reading:

There are many ways of characterizing reading and reading types because we read
in different ways. And the classification of reading is one of controversial issues in
language teaching. In this thesis, I mainly focus on the manners and purposes of reading
so as to give the classification of reading skill.
1.4.1. According to manners

According to Doff (1988), reading is divided into two main types: reading aloud
and silent reading.
“Reading aloud involves looking at the text, understand it and also saying it”
(Doff, 1988:70). Though reading aloud is considered a way to convey necessary
information to the others, it is unpopular activity outside classroom. Nuttall (1996) sees
reading aloud as an important aid for beginners to improve their pronunciation. In fact,
reading aloud proves itself to be advantageous for the learners because it help them
make the connection between sounds and spelling of letters and words and assists the
teachers to check learners’ pronunciation.
In contrast, silent reading is “the method we normally use with our native
language, and on the whole the quickest and most efficient” (Lewis, 1985:110). With
silent reading we can best understand the reading materials in the shortest possible time
because we do not need to read all the words in the text we can read at our own speed
and if we do not understand what we are reading, we can read again or slow down for
intensive reading.
For the teachers, silent reading is helpful for controlling the class. In silent
reading, students are in fact concentrating on the text, obtaining the meaning and
extracting what they need.
Actually, linguistics have arrived at the conclusion that reading skills or
strategies are most related with silent reading, not reading aloud.
1.4.2. According to purposes
According to the purpose, Nuttall (2000:38) proposes four main types of
reading, namely skimming, scanning, intensive and extensive reading.
1.4.2.1.

Intensive reading


9
The objective of intensive reading is to understand not only what the text

means but also how the meaning is produced. Francoise Grellet (1981:41) defined
“Intensive reading means reading short texts to extract specific information. This is an
accuracy activity involving reading for details”. Nuttall stated that “Intensive reading
involves approaching the text under the guidance of a teacher or a task which forces the
students to pay great attention to the text”
To this kind of reading, readers are required a profound and details
understanding of the text. They have to know every idea, every hidden information in
the text. They also have to pay attention to the area of the words in the passage through
which some hints may be conveyed. In conclusion, intensive reading is reading in detail
for a complete understanding of every part of the text.
1.4.2.2.

Extensive reading

To read extensively means to read widely and in quantity. Harold Palmer
in Britain made a remarkable foundation in the work of theory and practice of extensive
reading. Palmer chose the term extensive reading to distinguish it from intensive
reading (1968:137). Intensive reading often refers to the careful reading (or translation)
of shorter, more difficult foreign language texts with the goal of complete and detailed
understanding. Intensive reading is also associated with the teaching of reading in terms
of its component skills.
Extensive reading, in contrast, is generally associated with reading large
amounts with the aim of getting an overall understanding of the material. Readers are
more concerned with the meaning of the text than the meaning of individual words or
sentences.
1.4.2.3.

Skimming

Nuttall said: “By skimming we mean glancing rapidly through a text to

determine whether a research paper is relevant to your own work or in order to keep
ourselves superficially informed about matters that are not of great importance to us”.
When you read quickly to gain a general impression to see whether the
text is of use to you, you are not necessarily searching for a specific item and key
words. Skimming provides an overview of the text. Skimming is useful to look at
chapter/ section headings, summaries and opening paragraphs. The purposes of
skimming are:


to check relevance of text


10


To set the scene for more concentrated effort that is to follow if the text
is useful.

To conclude, skimming is a very useful reading skill for students. It is
often applied at the first stage of teaching reading so that it can help students to have an
overview of what they are reading.
1.4.2.4.

Scanning

According to Williams (1990:100), “Scanning occurs when a reader goes
through a text very quickly in order to find a particular point of information”
Scanning is a type of reading that involves finding a particular piece of
information located in material that is otherwise of no interest to the reader. This is
widely used in reading comprehension. It can be practiced with variety of texts such as

advertisements, telephone books, dictionaries, indexes, etc…Scanning is important and
useful as a study technique because it can help students understand the gist of the texts
well.
In short, when teaching and learning reading comprehension teachers and
students should remember that there are several reading styles and an effective reader is
the one who can adapt his style flexibly according to his purpose. Generally, readers do
not choose to read a text either intensively or extensively because a text can be tackled
by a combination of strategies.
1.5. Effective Reading Comprehension
1.5.1. Definition of Reading Comprehension
Any teacher can tell you that comprehension is one of key important
components of essential reading instruction. Comprehension is an essential part of
successfully developing 21st century literacy. It is a vital tool for reading in our modern
age. So, we can say that it plays an important part in teaching and learning a foreign
language.
Frank Smith (1997) defined reading comprehension in “Reading without
Nonsense” as “Reading is asking questions of printed text. And reading with
comprehension becomes a matter of getting your questions answered”
According to Cathy Puett Miller, TLA, Inc (1974: 11), “Reading comprehension
is the process of constructing meaning from text. The goal of all reading instruction is
ultimately targeted at helping a reader comprehend text. Reading comprehension
involves at least two people: the reader and the writer. The process of comprehending


11
involves decoding the writer's words and then using background knowledge to construct
an approximate understanding of the writer's message”.
Keith Lenz, Ph.D., University of Kansas (1980: 5) points out “reading
comprehension is a complex cognitive process in which a reader intentionally and
interactively engages with the text. Reading comprehension is heavily dependent on

skilled word recognition and decoding, oral reading fluency, a well-developed
vocabulary and active engagement with the text.”
The conclusion can be drawn here is that the three important components
involved in the reading process are the reading text, the background knowledge of the
reader and the abilities to decode the writer’s message. As a result, a good reader must
grasp these components in order to get better reading comprehension.
1.5.2. Definition of Effective Reading Comprehension
According to Ur (1996: 148): Effective Reading Comprehension is a process
with the following elements:
-

A clear purpose

-

An enhanced motivation

-

Appropriate reading comprehension strategies based on the purposes and
motivation

-

Good prediction

-

Sufficient background vocabulary and information

-

Close attention to the significant bits

-

Rather high speed
Cook (1989:14), however, suggests effective reading comprehension would be

best viewed from the cognitive behaviors of good verse poor readers in different reading
stages: Before- reading, During- reading and After- reading.
1.5.3. Effective reader
Effective readers choose to read a wide variety of materials - biographies, novels
for enjoyment, novels to challenge and inspire us, directions to find out how to put
something together, or newspapers and magazines to find out about current affairs or
investments. Today’s workplace demands many different kinds of literacy. Effective
readers do not simply “practice” reading; they have a range of purposes and objectives.
Effective readers learn from their reading, and, as they do so, learn more about
reading. Think about reading a new author, for example, or reading about an unfamiliar
topic. As you read, you gradually learn more about how to read that piece of writing.


12
You become accustomed to the author’s style and catch subtle meanings. Or, you bring
more general and specific knowledge to your reading of the topic so that you can
understand the text. As an adult, you have a system for reading that constantly expands
and improves; in fact, we call this system a self- extending system, one that enables you
keep learning.
To sum up, an effective reader must have the following characteristics:
-

Concentrates on reading and is involved with the author’s logic, word usage and
ideas.

-

Reads with goals in mind

-

Visualizes what is being read

-

Associates new ideas with old ones through comprehension and retention

-

Knows most of the vocabulary

-

Can guess many word meanings from the sentences around the unfamiliar
words.

-

Used the dictionary to determine meanings of key and for technical words.

-

Used critical, logical reasoning to assess and apply new ideas .

-

Summarizes new knowledge in own words.

-

Uses review methods with texts.

-

Integrates new ideas, facts and theories into knowledge already acquired about
the subject.

-

Reads in phrases and thought units, not word- by -word.

-

Always previews material before reading.

-

Read often for pleasure and satisfy own curiosity, not just to complete course
assignments.

-

Learns and can apply main ideas and find details as they relate to main ideas.

-

Make use of both inductive and deductive reasoning

-

Locates thesis statement, topic sentences, and generalizations.

And an effective reader can:
-

Call up relevant background knowledge

-

Predict what will be learned and what will happen

-

Make mental pictures or “see it in their minds”

-

Self- monitor or self correct

-

use fix-up strategies such as rereading ,creating picture in the mind, and asking
for help when sense can’t be made out of what is read


-

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determine the most important ideas and events and see how they are related

-

Draw conclusions and inferences based on what has been read.

-

Decide “What do I think_” did I like it? ; Did I agree? ; Was if funny? ; Could it
really happen?

-

Compare and contrast what is read to what has already been known

-

Figure out known words

-

Summarize what has been read.
1.5.4. Techniques for Reading Comprehension

Grellet (1990) provides three groups of techniques:
1. Sensitizing

-

Inference

-

Understanding relations within the sentences

-

Linking sentences and ideas
2. Improving reading speed
Gerald Mosback (Practical Faster Reading – Cambridge University Press 1993)
wrote:
“It is a good idea to skim through the passage very quickly first to get the

general idea of each paragraph. Titles, paragraph headings and emphasized words
(underlined or italics) can be a great help in getting this skeleton outline of the passage.
It is surprisingly how many people do not read titles, introductions of paragraph
headings. Can you, without looking back, remember the title of this passage and the
heading of this paragraph?”
One of the most common ways of increasing reading speed is to give students
passages to read and to ask them to time themselves. A conversion table, taking the
length of the text and the reading time into account, will tell them what their reading
speed is and this will make it easier for them to try and read a title faster every time.
3. From skimming to scanning
-

Predicting

-

Previewing

-

Anticipation

-

Skimming

-

Scanning
Nuttall (1982) provides a list of reading skills which consist of macro-skills with

Word-attack skills and Text-attack skills. While the former compose of morphological


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information, structural clues, inference (or guessing the meanings of unfamiliar words)
from context, active, receptive and throw-away vocabulary, learning to ignore difficult
words, and using dictionary, the latter include two subgroups: significance and cohesion
with understanding sentence syntax, recognizing functional value, tracing and
interpreting rhetorical organization, recognizing the presuppositions underlying the text,
recognizing implications and making inferences, prediction, and integration and

application.
The techniques are actually various, and in each case and for different purposes
of reading, one proves to be more advantageous than the other. However, hereby are
some suggested approaches which the researcher personally expects to help readers get
better reading fruits
-

Establishing a purpose for reading

-

Activating and building background knowledge

-

Previewing the text to build expectations

-

Rereading activities for lower levels of language proficiency

-

Building and monitoring comprehension of the text

-

Adjusting reading strategies when necessary

-

Reviewing reading information in the text
1.6. Preview the concerned theories and studies:
As shown above, there are many famous scholars who pay attention to this issue

such as Robert J. Tierney, Catherine Wallace, Thomas G. Devine, etc. They have many
theories which have the same interests. For example, Thomas G. Devine is famous for
“Teaching Reading Comprehension” which composes of all aspects relating to teaching
and learning reading. Also, Catherine Wallace is the author who provides me all the
necessary theories referring to this issue. Especially, who love reading books and
reading teaching cannot forget the reputation of Grellet. F who has remarkable numbers
of books on reading such as “Developing reading skills” and “Developing Reading
Skills – A practical guide to reading comprehension exercises”.
In addition, we have many Vietnamese authors and researchers who concerned
about this subject. For example, in his thesis, M. A Nhu Van Luoc from Haiphong
Foreign Language Center (HPFLC) spent his interest on how to improve reading skills
at HPFLC. Besides, Pham The Tu entitled his M.A thesis “Improving reading skills to
the students of Marine Engine Department, Vietnam Maritime University”. Also, there
are many researchers who have the concerned studies. “A study on how to improve ESP


15
reading skills for the students of Information Technology” mentions the reading skill
for Information Technology students by Le Thi Thu Huong. Moreover, “A study on
how to improve the teaching of reading English in Economics to the Second Year
Students at Hanoi National Economics University” by Nguy Thuy Trang refers to
reading skill in Economics only, and “How to motivate the Third Year English Majors
in Learning Reading Skills at Haiphong University” by Do Thi My Dung indicates the
motivation in reading. Another thesis titled “Improving Reading Skills of Post Graduate
Students at College of Natural Sciences, VNU by Developing the Reading Materials” by

Nguyen Thi Hop deals with the development of reading materials. Also, “Reading
Difficulties in EFL as Perceived by Teachers and 1st Year Students of the English
Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University” by Pham Thi
Thanh concerns with the reading difficulties, and we experience the reading motivation
again in the thesis named “Using Supplementary Reading Materials for First Year
English Major Students at HPU in order to Motivate Students to read” by Ngo Thi Thu
Huong.
The topic of reading gains the interests not only from the students and teachers
at universities but ones from lower and upper schools, also. The author experienced the
studies such as “How to improve English reading skill for students at Yen Hoa upper
secondary school” by Nguyen Thi Hong Nga, “How to improve reading comprehension
of the 10th form students at Le Hong Phong high school by Dao Thu Huong. These two
theses relate to the development of reading skill.
This proves that this subject gains much interest from foreign as well as inhouse authors and researchers. Fortunately, teachers of FLD are also interested in this
topic, but there have not been anyone who does research on the reading techniques. This
is one reason that emerges the motivation for the author to carry out this research.
1.7. Summary:
In this chapter, the relationship between reading and other skills in teaching and
learning English is provided. Also, some information about the history of research on
this issue has been introduced; such concepts as reading skill, reading comprehension,
classification of reading have been presented. What’s more in this chapter is the
technique for reading comprehension. Last comes in this chapter is the look back at the
concerned theories relating to this subject.


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Chapter 2. The study
2.1. Introduction:
In order to explore the objectives of the study, let us have a look at the overview

on Haiphong University which includes the information about the learners and learning
requirements, teachers and teaching methods. Also, the materials and assessments are
enclosed in this part.
Beside the information about the university, the data collection, findings and
discussion will be mentioned in this part. Obviously, the data collection consists of the
participants, instruments and the procedures. The findings and discussion are about to
present the aspects of teachers and students at Haiphong University.
2.2. An overview on Haiphong University
Haiphong University (HPU) was reestablished in 2004, and it includes eleven
departments and many other staffs and offices. At present, our university has strived to
become a multi- training place where thousands of students are trained each year. In
this part, I would like to mention the information and operation of Foreign Language
Department (FLD) at Haiphong University where English is being taught and learnt.
FLD which is one of the most important departments of the university was
established and developed in accordance to the foundation of HPU. Actually, FLD has
brought remarkable contest prizes back for the university.
From the beginning, Russian was the sole language which was chosen to be
taught in here with the restricted numbers of students and teachers (only 6 teachers and
45 students). Gradually, English has integrated and become the most widely used in
everyday life. The needs of learning and teaching English have become bigger and
bigger, so the FLD had adjusted the objectives and ways of training. The department
leaders determined that it was necessary to consider English as the important language
needed to be taught. As a result, English has been the key subject applied for every
department.
Recently, Chinese has been seen as the practical and useful language for the
students to find a good job after graduating. Therefore, Chinese is the second choice for
students to apply when they take part in the entrance examination.


17

To conclude, there are three languages being taught in FLD at Haiphong
University, but the number of English majors has accounted for the biggest proportion
of department’s students for many years.
Currently, FLD has over 30 classes with nearly 1,200 students in which English
classes consist of 2/3 numbers of students. Students come here desiring to have good
proficiency with four skills. Among three subjects, English always has the largest
entrance marks. This means that English students’ proficiency is higher in comparison
with others. This information shows that it is potential for English teachers at FLD to
access to students with good levels and good competence, thereby can develop their
teaching methods as much as they can.
2.3. Learners and learning requirements
The learners of English at FLD are quite same in age and learning purposes.
According to the statistics of the department, the learners’ age ranges from 18 to 23
with the priority of female students. This means that they are quite young and English is
their own choices. In such cases, the motivation is strong and clear enough.
In this part I would like to only mention the students of second year English
majors who are the subjects of this research paper. One thing stated here is that this
generation of students is the first one who has chance to access the education reform, so
the proficiency of these students is rather good, and the students’ English competence
might be more perspective. But it is a fact that their English competence is not equal.
Another fact is that students come from different areas in Vietnam and most of whom
are from the countryside. Consequently, problems arising during the course are due to
individual difference in learning styles, attitudes, motivation, etc…
There are two classes of second- year English majors. The first class has the
population of thirty eight students. They are being trained to become teachers in the
future, so they mostly come from Haiphong. The ages vary, but the average is about
twenty years old. The students from the second one are about to take interpretation as
their future jobs, and the students are from different places other than Haiphong with
the number of fifty.
2.4. Teachers and teaching methods

Another indispensable factor discussed in this part is the staff of teachers at our
department. The number of teachers here is the largest in comparison with others in our
university because my department was established thirty years ago that is not