The influence of reading topics on students’ motivation to read at Vinh Bao high school, Hai Phong

The influence of reading topics on students’
motivation to read at Vinh Bao high school, Hai
Phong


Nguyễn Thị Thúy Minh


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


Abstract. Motivation is a key factor in second language acquisition, for which teachers of
EFL (English as a foreign language) have always tried to find out strategies and techniques.
In an attempt to investigate the role of reading topics to the students’ motivation in learning
reading skill and their preferences for the current reading topics, the study was conducted
with 82 grade 11 students and 10 teachers at Vinh Bao High School by means of survey
questionnaires and interview. The study focuses on 4 main issues: (1) students’ attitude
towards reading skill, (2) types of motivation possessed by the 11th - form students at Vinh
Bao High School, (3) the students’ attitudes towards the current reading topics, (4) the
inluence of reading topics on students’ motivation to read. The findings hereof are supposed
to be of interest of not only the EFL teachers but the EFL materials developers as well.

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

Content
1. Rationale for the study
Krashen & Terrel (1983:131) state that “Reading may contribute significantly to competence
in a second language. There is good reason, in fact, to hypothesize that reading makes a contribution

to overall competence, to all four skills”. Reading is one of the major skills of learning a second or
foreign language and it has a prominent position in the design of a foreign language teaching
program. Reading skill helps the students to increase their knowledge of English through exposure to
language expressions, and structures, and language contents as well. Therefore, teaching reading is
gaining more attention from both language teachers and language teaching materials developers.
However, in Vietnam, many English learners complain that reading always makes them feel
bored and stressful. They seem to lack motivation to read. In fact, motivation is an essential element
in learning in general and in learning reading in particular, but creating a motivated atmosphere for
students in a reading lesson is a challenging task.
For the above reasons, I would like to carry out “The influence of reading topics on
students’ motivation to read at Vinh Bao high school, Hai Phong” to investigate the role of
reading topics in learners’ motivation to learn reading skill and to study their interests in reading
topics. It is hoped that the study will be helpful for English teachers in general and those at Vinh Bao
high school in particular to stimulate their students in a reading lesson.
2. Aims of the study
The study is aimed at:
- Identifying students’ motivation in learning reading skill at Vinh Bao high school;
- Identifying students’ interests in the reading topics;
- Studying the influence of the reading topics on students’ motivation to learn reading skill.
3. Research questions
The study was carried out in order to find out answers to the following research questions:
1. What is students’ attitude towards learning reading skill?
2. What types of motivation do they have in learning reading?
3. How interesting do the students find the current reading topics?
4. What is the influence of the reading topics on students’ motivation to read?
4. Scope of the study
With the limitation of the time, I will focus on the 11
th
- form students’ attitudes at Vinh Bao high
school towards learning reading skill, the types of motivation possessed by students, the students’

attitudes on current reading topics and the influence of the reading topics on students’ motivation to
learn reading skill. Needless to say, it is necessary for the teachers to know what their students like
to read.
5. Significance of the study
The study highlights the influence of reading topics on the motivation in learning reading
skills.
The findings of the study are believed to be useful for English teachers to be aware of the
essential role of reading topics in the students’ motivation to learn reading. Hopefully, it can help
them to motivate students in learning reading skills.
6. Methods of the study
The theoretical background of the study mainly is developed basing on the references of and
analysis on relevant theories about motivation and reading. The study is carried out on the basis of
survey questionnaires.
Firstly, for the theoretical basis, a lot of reference materials on motivation and reading have
been gathered, analyzed and synthesized thoroughly with the clue consideration on the teachers’ and
students’ teaching and learning situations.
Secondly, interviews and questionnaires are carried out with teachers and students of English
to gather the most reliable data for the thesis.
7. Design of the study
The study is organized in three parts:
Part A: Introduction presents the rationale, the aims of the study, the research questions,
the scope of the study, the significance of the study, the methods of the study and the design of the
study.
Part B: Development consists of three chapters:
Chapter 1: Literature review provides theoretical background for the study. Its focus is on
introducing important relevant concepts, discussions of issues and ideas on theories for motivation,
nature of reading and motivation in learning reading as well as factors affecting motivation in
learning reading.
Chapter 2: Methodology presents the methods used in the study including research methods,
research setting , participants of the study, data collection instruments, data collection and data

analysis procedure.
Chapter 3: Data analysis and major findings shows the detailed results together with a
comprehensive analysis on the data collected from the survey questionnaires and the interview.
Part C: Conclusion presents the conclusions, implications, limitations and the suggestions
for further study.
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