Reading skills for the first-year students at Vietnam Maritime University by implementing task-based language teaching

Reading skills for the first-year students at
Vietnam Maritime University by implementing
task-based language teaching


Nguyễn Phương Hạnh


Trường Đại học Ngoại ngữ
Luận văn Thạc sĩ ngành: English teaching methodology; Mã số: 60 14 10
Người hướng dẫn: M.A. Trần Hiền Lan
Năm bảo vệ: 2012


Abstract. Reading is one of the most important skills in learning English. However, the
teaching and learning reading skills in Vietnam in general and in Vietnam Maritime
University in particular is still limited for some reasons. The purpose of this study was
to examine the needs and assessments of the first-year students in Vietnam Maritime
University when learning English, and suggest effective ways to design tasks based on
available texts in the course-book by implementing task-based language learning and
teaching. The subjects involved in the study are over 100 students of Vietnam Maritime
University chosen at random from 2 classes. They were in their first year and were
studying General English with the course-book New Headway – Elementary – Third
Edition. The data was collected from two questionnaires, two tests and notes from class
observation. The results of the first questionnaire survey and the first test revealed a low
reading ability, a high level of dissatisfaction within the students towards the current
English course in terms of need fulfillments, language skill development and classroom
activities. The second survey and test, which was conducted after the experimental
reading lessons, however saw a positive change in the students’ reading ability,
motivations and attitudes on the reading lessons. They felt that they were learning for
pleasure and they liked the ways they learned English and reading skills from the tasks

designed on the given texts. Hopefully, the research can play a part in improving the
students’ reading skills.

Keywords. Phương pháp giảng dạy; Kỹ năng đọc; Tiếng Anh; Phương pháp giao nhiệm
vụ

Content
1. Rationale of the study
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 acquire the English
proficiency. In Vietnam, reading is perhaps the most important skills that Vietnamese learners of
English will be working with as one of the major focuses of teaching English as a second
language is providing the students with the abilities to understand written materials. With
strengthened reading skills, EFL readers will make greater progress and attain greater
development not only in English but also in all academic areas. Therefore, “reading is the most
heavily researched single area of the whole curriculum, and yet, paradoxically, it remains a field
in which a good deal of fundamental work has yet to be approached, and one in which a great
many teachers would claim to be almost wholly ignorant” and secondary teachers “who have
generally had no training at all related to reading but nevertheless feel conscious that the ability
to read fluently is the basis for most school learning, and one of the surest predictors of academic
attainment” (Harrison and Gardner, 1977).
Traditionally, attempts to improve the comprehension of texts for EFL students have focused on
familiarizing the students with vocabulary needed to comprehend the passage. However, within
the last 15 years, much of the research has been conducted in the field of reading comprehension
with focus on the use of tasks, especially tasks which involve interaction between learners in
developing the learners’ knowledge and reading skills. Several studies have revealed that the use
of appropriate tasks in reading lessons is an effective way to improve students’ reading

comprehension, motivating them and help them obtain better reading achievement.
Vietnam Maritime University is a place where English teaching and learning are considered one
of the major focuses. Unfortunately, teaching and learning reading skills is still far from
satisfactory for various reasons. The students, especially the first –year ones, seem to have
limited background knowledge, poor vocabulary and often find it difficult to concentrate on the
reading process or deal with uncountable new vocabulary, etc. After several years of learning
English, they are still word-by-word readers; they tend to read very slowly to understand the
meaning of every single word. When they encounter unfamiliar words or unfamiliar concepts,
they feel discouraged and resort to wild guessing to construct the text meaning. Some students do
not understand the main idea of a text even when they have translated every word into their
mother tongue. Very few students deliberately look at the title of a text to think about its topic
before reading. Fewer students use their background knowledge to facilitate their
comprehension. They are completely dependent on the decoded messages from the text, so once
their decoding mechanisms fail due to their deficient language proficiency, comprehension
breaks down.
One more problem is that the tasks provided in the course book are rather challenging and
repetitive, mostly are question- and - answers tasks. As a result, many reading lessons makes the
learners bored while taking part in the reading process and their reading skills still keep stable.
For all the above reasons, the researcher wishes to implement task – based language teaching, a
new and effective approach, in improving the students’ reading skills through the research work
entitled:
“Improving reading skills for the first – year students at Vietnam Maritime University by
implementing task – based language teaching”.
2. Aims of the study
The research is conducted to:
• examine the impact of task-based language teaching and learning on reading
comprehension of the first-year students at Vietnam Maritime University.
• suggest effective ways to design different tasks based on the available texts in the course
book to meet students’ demand, help them improve their reading skills and helping teachers
select, adapt or create their own design of effective communicative tasks.

3. Scope of the study
As the title of the study implies, this research focuses on reading skills and the participants of the
study are the first - year students at Vietnam Maritime University. The author tried to conduct
two surveys and two tests in order to analyze the expectation and achievement of the
experimental lessons. The information obtained from this study is to help to improve teaching
and learning English in general and teaching and learning English reading comprehension in
particular at Vietnam Maritime University.
4. Methods of the study
Action research, which “allows us to build records of our improvements” (Kemmis and Me
Taggart, 1982, p34), is chosen as the research method for the current study. The author specially
prefers action research to other more conventional or traditional types of research by the fact that
"it is very focused on individual or small group professional practice and it is not so concerned
with making general statement The main function of action research is to facilitate the
reflective cycle and in this way provide an effective method for improving professional action”
(Wallace, 1997, p. 16).
Firstly, the researcher used two survey questionnaires which have always been considered as a
representative of quantitative method to collect primary data. When designing the questionnaires,
the researcher used the questions of both types: open type and closed ended questions. Closed
form or restricted types of questions offer the respondent a choice of alternatives. The open form
(unrestricted) type of questions, calling for a free response, provides greater depth of response.
Secondly, the researcher tried to evaluate student’s progress through two tests, one before and
one after the intervention. The results from these two tests are reliable data to measure the
effectiveness of the experimental lessons. Besides, during the experimental lessons, the
researcher also observed and took note on the progress of the lessons, the students’ response on
the task, some changes should be made on the lessons, etc.
5. Overview of the study
This research is composed of three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion.
In the first part - Introduction, the author presents the rationale and the aims of the study
followed by the scope and the methods of study.
The second part - Development is the backbone of the thesis which starts by recalling a brief

account of reading comprehension, task-based language learning and teaching such as the task
definitions, task types, task-based framework and pointing out the key issues in designing
communicative tasks. Then the author provides the methodology of the study which consists of
the background of the study, the statement of the problem, the research questions, the
participants and the implementation of action research. These are followed by the instruments of
data collection, data collection and analysis procedure. This part is ended with the result and
discussions of the research.
In the end of the study, the author presents her major findings before drawing final conclusions.
She also suggests pedagogical implications and points out the limitations of the study and
suggestions for further research.


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