Using whilereading activities to improve reading comprehension for the 10th form students at Nguyen Trai high school=Sử dụng các hoạt động trong khi đọc để nâng cao hiệu quả của việc đọc hiểu cho học sinh lớp 10 tại trường THPT Nguyễn Trãi

DECLARATION
I certify that this thesis is the result of my own study and that it has not been
submitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially.
Nghệ An, August, 2013
Student:

Nguyễn Minh Tâm

I


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Abstract
Tables of contents
Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale for the study............................................................................................8
2. Aims of the study …………………………………………………………...…..9
3. Research questions..................................................................................................9
4. Methods of the study...............................................................................................9
5. Significance of the study.........................................................................................9
6. Scope of the study……………………………………………………………...10
7. Previous studies………………………………………………………………...11
8. Design of the study………………………………………………………….... 12
Chapter 2: Theoretical background……………………………………………..13
2. 1 Definitions of reading and reading comprehension …...…………. ………. . 13
2.1.1 Definitions of reading……………...…………………………… ………...13
2.1.2 Definitions of reading comprehension……...………………………….. .. 15
2.2 Types of reading………………………………………………………………..15
2.2.1. According to manners of reading………………………………..………..15
2.2.1.1. Reading aloud………………………………..……………………… 16

2.2.1.2. Silent reading…………………………………………..…………….17
2.2.2. According to purposes of reading………………………………………..17
2.2.2.1. Skimming …………………………………………………………...18
2.2.2.2. Scanning……………………………………………………………..18
2.2.2.3. Intensive reading……………………………………………………19
2.2.2.4. Extensive reading……………………………………………………19
2.3. Factors in teaching and learning reading……………………………..………21
2.3.1 Teacher’s role ………………………………………………………...22

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2.3.2 Students’ role………………………………………………….. ……..22
2.3.3 The reading texts……………………………………………… ….…..23
2.3.4 The three stages of a reading lesson…………………………..……….23
2.3.4.1 The pre- reading stage……………………………..…………..…23
2.3.4.2 The while - reading stage………………………………….……..25
2.3.4.3 Post-reading stage ………………………………………… …....26
Summary…....................................................................................................…….27
Chapter 3: Methodology..........................................................................................28
3.1 Action research…………….…………………………………………...……...28
3.1.1. What is action research?.........................................................................28
3.1.2. Why should a teacher do action research?..............................................29
3.1.3. What are the steps in action research?....................................................29
3.2 The subjects of the study……………………………………………………… 29
3.2.1 The researcher- the teacher……………………………………………...29
3.2.2 The participants………………………………………………………….30
3.2.3 Data collection instruments……………………………………………...30
3.3 The reading program for grade 10th at Nguyễn Trãi high school……………....31
3.3.1 The objectives of the program…………………………..………………31

3.3.3 The schedule of the course……………………………………...……….31
3.3.4 Characteristics of reading passages …………………………………..…32
3.3.5 Characteristics of reading tasks ………………………………………....32
3.4 The current situation of teaching the textbook at Nguyễn Trãi High School ....33
3.4.1 Introduction to Nguyễn Trãi High School and students………………….34
3.4.2 Teachers and teaching methods ………………………………………….34
3.4.3 Teaching facilities ………………………………………..………………35
3.4.4. Syllabus of teaching English and time allocation for a reading period
….35
Chapter 4: ACTION RESEARCH PROCEDURE…………………………… 36

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4.1 Rationale for choosing action research………………………………………. 36
4.2 Restatement of research questions……………………………………………..36
4.3 Action research procedures …………………………………………...…… . .36
4.3.1 Planning stage…………………………………………………………..….36
4.3.1.1. Identifying the problem……………………………………..…….…...37
4.3.1.2. Observing a lesson that illustrated the problem…………………….....37
4.3.1.3. Conducting a survey to get information from students……..………....40
4.3.1.4. Consulting with colleagues…………………………………………....45
4.3.1.5 Generating hypotheses……………………………………………........48
4.3.1.6 Drawing a plan of action to solve the problem………………………...49
4.3.2 Acting stage………………………………………………………………..49
4.3.2.1 The first try – out lesson – at class 10 A……………………….……...49
4.3.2.2 The second try – out lesson – at class 10D…………………………….49
4.3.3 Observing stage…………………………………………………………….50
4.3.4. Reflection/ Evaluation stage…………………………………………........56
Summary…………………………………………………………………………...60

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION
5.1 Summary of the main findings ………………………………………………...64
5.2 Implications for more effective reading lessons……………………..…. .. …. 64
5.2.1 To the teachers…………………………………….………………………....64
5.2.2 To the classroom facilities……………………………………………...........65
5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further research………………………............65
5.4 Conclusion…………………………………………………………..………....66
References
Appendices

IV


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In the first place, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my
supervisor, Ngơ Hữu Hồng, PhD, who has provided me with insightful discussion,
helpful comments, valuable support in the preparation and completion of this thesis.
Without his constant guiding support and continuous encouragement, my thesis
would have never come out in the present form.
My sincere thanks also go to the teachers in the post- graduate department
for what they have taught me and the materials they have supplied me in the
fulfillment of this thesis.
I would also be very grateful to my classmates, who have given me
suggestion and encouragement and to the teachers and the 10 th form students at
Nguyễn Trãi high school, who actively took part in my experimental tests.
Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to members of my
family, who have constantly supported, inspired and encouraged me to carry out
successfully the thesis.

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ABSTRACT

In an attempt to help improve reading comprehension of students at
Nguyễn Trãi high school, an action research project was carried out to answer the
following questions:
1. What difficulties do the teachers and students face when dealing with a
reading lesson?
2. How can the use of while-reading activities in teaching reading lessons
enhance Nguyễn Trãi tenth-grade students’ reading comprehension skill?
Then action research project was carried out for five weeks. The subjects
were 80 students from two classes (10A and 10D) at Nguyễn Trãi high school. Data
were collected by means of questionnaire (one for teachers and one for students)
and class observation. The initial data revealed that students’ poor reading
comprehension may be attributed to the unsuitable methods and techniques used by
teachers of English at Nguyễn Trãi high school. On the basis of initial findings, it
was hypothesized that Training students while-reading activities would help
improve the students’ reading comprehension. The researcher implemented an
action plan, in which the students were trained some while- reading activities
explicitly. The evaluation of the project showed that all of the students had positive
attitudes toward using while-reading activities in teaching reading lessons and their
reading comprehension skill could be improved through these tools, a great majority
of the participants reported in the post-improvement questionnaire survey that they
have made progress in their reading comprehension skill. While-reading activities
were useful which helped the students complete the reading tasks more effectively.
Besides, they felt more confident in reading.

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 4.1: Evaluating the students’ English reading competence
Table 4.2: The expectations of the students towards teachers’ reading techniques
Table 4.3: The students are asked to join in the while-reading activities
Table 4.4: The reasons the students aren’t interested in taking part in the whilereading activities today
Table 4.5: The teachers – related – problems make the students feel not motivated
enough in today’s while – reading activity
Table 4.6: The difficulties the teachers face when teaching reading
Table 4.7: The reasons why the teachers do not usually use while-reading activities
in teaching reading lessons
Table 4.8: The students’ opinions about the lessons using while-reading activities
Table 4.9: The changes made by the teacher
Table 4.10: The students’ own changes after taking part in the while-reading
activities
Table 4.11: The students’ personal problems

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LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 4.1: The difficulties the students face when learning reading
Chart 4.2: The students overcome the difficulties
Chart 4.3: The students’ responses to those while-reading activities
Chart 4.4: The reading lessons using while-reading activities have made English
easier to learn

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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter provides the rationale for the study states the aims, research
questions and methods of the study, defines the scope and significance of the study,
the previous studies and design of the study.
1. Rationale for the study.
Reading is considered as one of the most important skills which language
learners should master, particularly as it helps to build a variety of language
expression and structures, widen general knowledge and leads to lifelong learning
and improvement in the first and second language skills. “Reading is an essential
skill for English as a second/foreign language (SL/EFL) student; and for many,
reading is the most important skill to master” Anderson [8, p.14] According to
Carrell [13.p.1-3] “For many students, reading is by far the most important of the
four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second or foreign
language”. What is more, when poor reading results are reported, one tends to
blame the students for having poor ability or for making insufficient effort.
Nevertheless, the students are not always at fault. There are other important factors
in the process of teaching and learning reading that are worth considering. It could
be unsuitable teaching materials. It could be the inappropriate attitude of the
teachers and learners towards the subject. It could be the teachers’ inappropriate
teaching methods and classroom techniques.
In the context of the upper secondary school, reading even more important
than other three skills of speaking, listening, and writing because students have to
take the examinations which are grammar- and reading- based. However, the
students’ reading proficiency is not satisfactory even after the new textbook has
been put to use.
Nguyễn Trãi High School, which was founded in 1980, is one of the high
schools chosen to pilot the set of English textbook 10. During the piloting period

the teachers have confronted a number of difficulties such as students’ general lack
of motivation and opportunities to practise communicating in the target language. It
is further exacerbated by students’ familiarity with passive learning, the uneven

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teachers’ capacities, the large size of the classes and the poorly equipped
classrooms. Regarding reading skills, students at Nguyễn Trãi High school share a
number of difficulties with their counterparts throughout the country.
They confront five major obstacles in reading, such as: the habits of wordby-word reading, overemphasis on forms rather than meaning, excessive focus on
details rather than main ideas, poor vocabulary and limited background knowledge.
In this situation, the teachers need to take a serious look at the teaching and learning
of English in general and the teaching and learning of the reading skill in particular
so as to suggest suitable techniques about the teaching and learning of the reading
comprehension at high schools to be more effective.
Being a teacher of English at Nguyễn Trãi High School, the researcher
wishes to give a hand in promoting reading skills for her 10th-form students. This
matter of fact has offered her a chance to conduct a study on “Using WhileReading Activities to Improve Reading Comprehension for the 10th-Form
Students at Nguyễn Trãi High School”. In the study, the author decided to carry
out the action research to find out what difficulties the teachers and students face
when dealing with a reading lesson and whether the while – reading activities are
important to teachers of English at Nguyễn Trãi High School. Based on the results
of this action research, some changes and improvements could be applied in the
author’s lessons, and some appropriate strategies needed to be designed with the
hope that students will work more effectively in the reading lessons.
2. Aims of the study.
This study has two objectives:
- Finding out the difficulties of upper secondary teachers and students when
dealing with the reading lessons.

- Exploring how the use of while-reading activities in teaching reading
lessons can enhance upper secondary students’ English reading skill.
3. Research questions.
To achieve these two objectives, two research questions were set for the study:
1. What difficulties do the teachers and students face when dealing with a
reading lesson?

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2. How can the use of while-reading activities in teaching reading lessons
enhance Nguyễn Trãi tenth-grade students’ reading comprehension skill?
4. Methods of the study.
The methodological approach was action research using mixed methods for
data collection. The tools for data gathering include two questionnaires, (one for
teachers and one for students) and class observation. (See chapter 3)
5. Significance of the study.
Reading has always a significant position in language teaching.
Nevertheless, how to teach and learn reading effectively often poses great problems
to both teachers and students. For the teachers of English at high school, reading is
considered a difficult skill to teach. Most language teachers, following a traditional,
test-oriented teaching approach, often concentrate on teaching English vocabulary,
grammar, and focus only on grammar exercises for the exams. However, nothing is
difficult if we, the teachers make decision to make it easier. Hopefully, with a range
of suggestions of how to make while – reading activities effectively in reading
lessons introduced in this research, it will be more motivating for the teachers to
teach and make progress in teaching reading. Therefore, their students will be
interested in reading lessons.
6. Scope of the study.
Due to the limitation of time and knowledge, this thesis only focused on

using while-reading activities in teaching reading lessons to tenth- grade students at
Nguyễn Trãi high school in the second term of the school- year of 2012-2013.
7. Previous Studies.
The number of reading comprehension activities research which investigates
the effects of reading comprehension activities on reading comprehension has been
ever more limited. Nevertheless, the following studies on using reading
comprehension activities to improve the reading comprehension skill.
- Bùi Thị Mỹ Linh (2007) investigated using While- Reading Techniques to
Improve Reading Comprehension for the 11th Form Students at Phan Dang Luu
High School. The participants of the study were one hundred 11th form secondary
students at Phan Dang Luu high school; most of them had been learning English for

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nearly six years and ten teachers of English, especially those who were teaching
English to the 11th form students at this school.
To fulfill this thesis, she used two survey questionnaires, one for students
and another for teachers and some reading class observations were carried out to
investigate the present situation of teaching and learning reading comprehension of
the 11th form students to find out advantages as well as problems facing both
teachers and students in reading lessons and she suggested useful techniques to
develop the reading comprehension skills in the while- reading stage for the 11 th
form in Phan Dang Luu high school. The results of this study revealed that using
While-reading Techniques to teach reading lessons helped the 11 th form students at
Phan Dang Luu high school to improve their reading skills as well as the teachers.
- Yeeding, S. (2007) examined the effects of Pre-reading activities on reading
comprehension ability. This study was conducted with 60 grade-9 students studying
at Muslim Witaya Phuket in 11 weeks totaling 22 periods. The purposes of the
study were to compare the learners’ comprehension ability before and after the

implementation of two types of pre-reading activities, guessing reading content
from pictures and asking pre-reading questions and to investigate the learners
attitudes towards the implementation of the two pre-reading activities. The results
of this study revealed that the activities subjects were highly motivated, enthusiastic
to read. After the experiment, the students scored significantly higher.
- Nguyễn Thị Minh Hồng (2008) conducted a study on some possible
effective pre-reading activities to improve reading skills for the 2nd -year English
Majors at the Military Science Academy. The study was carried out with the
participation of 30/45 full-time teachers aged from 25 to 45 (half of them had been
in Great Britain, Australia, America and India for further training) and 80/110
second-year students and they were learning text book More Reading Power. Of the
30 teachers, they all had Diploma Degree in English while twenty of them have
M.A. Degree in Education, Linguistics, or International Relations and another one
has Ph.D. Degree in Linguistics. Most of them had at least three years of teaching,
therefore, with no doubt, they were experienced and enthusiastic teachers, they were
always willing to help their students overcome the difficulties and make progress in
learning English.

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These teachers were now teaching English to the students of different
courses at the MSA: full time, short time courses (These courses last for about two
years and they are used for Army Officers who had Diploma Degree in other
foreign languages and now were serving in different branches of the Army
belonging to the Ministry of Defense). The 80 students under investigation were in
the second term of the second year at the English Department of the MSA (both
cadet and civilian students, male and female). These students’ages were between 20
and 22 years old. They were supposed to have quite an equal knowledge of English
before entering the MSA since most of them had learnt English for at least 7 years

(from grade 6 to grade 12 at school).
Moreover, they all passed a very challenging entrance exam. Some of
them came from Hanoi; the rest came from different provinces around the country.
These students were chosen from 110 second year students during the school year
of 2006-2007. They had completed their first three terms of the four-year course. Of
course it was very difficult to select a sample of individuals since the students had
already assigned to four different classes. The main purposes of the study were to
investigate pre-reading techniques employed by the teachers of English at the MSA,
and to give a suggestion of some possible pre- reading activities that could be
applied to teach the text book More Reading Power to the second-year students of
English at the MSA.
The results of this study showed that both teachers and students at the
MSA were highly appreciated the important role of Pre-reading activities. For the
teachers, the application of Pre-reading activities enabled them to activate students’
existing knowledge, to teach more words as well as to arouse students’ motivation
in reading to the texts. On the other hand, for the students, the Pre-reading activities
were obviously useful since they were more motivated, they could understand the
texts better while reading and the most important thing was that these activities
helped them improve their reading skills as well.
- Nhữ Văn Lược (2005) also conducted a study on the techniques for
improving reading skills to non-major students of English at Haiphong Foreign
Language Center, Haiphong University. This study was conducted with the
participation of 240 learners (aged 14-45) at 6 C level classes in 2005. These classes
did not start at the same time. This meant the students were not learning the same

XIII


lesson when the survey was carried out. However, they had ever finished unit 40 in
the book Streamline English – Destination, so they all knew what their teacher in

each practice skill often presents. Of the learners, 46 of them were from 14 to 18
years old; 20 were from 31 to 45, and the rest from 18 to 30.
The youngest group (from 14 to 18) was attending secondary and upper
secondary school education, and the oldest (from 30-45) were holding certain
positions in many offices and they had ever graduated from university or colleges.
All of them had one thing in common, that was they all officially or unofficially
experienced at least three years learning English. The purpose of this study was to
examine the areas of difficulties in reading encountered by non-major students at
HFLC so that techniques could be given to help them improve this skill. The result
of this study revealed that students were more active and became more aware of
what they needed to do every reading lesson and the teacher worked out appropriate
techniques to help handle the difficulties or clear away the obstacles faced by
students in their reading process so as to gradually better their reading skill.
To sum up, reviewing the previous studies inside and outside Vietnam,
the findings of some of the above studies indicate positive effects for using reading
activities in teaching reading lessons. Those findings provide encouraging evidence
that using reading activities in teaching reading lessons increases the learners’
awareness of effectiveness of using reading activities which can improve their
reading comprehension. The researcher, hence, desires to conduct such a study to
improve learning reading at her school.
8. Design of the study.
The thesis consists of five chapters, organized as follows:
Chapter 1 - Introduction - provides the rationale for the study, states the aims, the
scopes, the methods, the significance, the research questions of the study, the
previous studies and the design of the study .
Chapter 2 - Theoretical background – presents the knowledge relating to the issues
in terms of reading comprehension and teaching reading comprehension.
Chapter 3 Methodology – describes the action research and the reading
program for grade 10th at Nguyễn Trãi high school.

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Chapter 4 - Action Research Procedures describe the rationale for choosing action
research and the procedures of this action research with the following main steps:
defining the problem, observing class, conducting a survey using questionnaires,
collecting data and analyzing data, and giving out conclusions from findings.
Chapter 5 – Conclusion - is the last part which offered a summary and suggestions
for more effective reading activities and some limitations and suggestions for
further studies.

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CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

In this chapter, I attempt to deal with definitions of reading in general and
reading comprehension in particular, types of reading and teaching reading
comprehension.
2. 1 Definitions of reading and reading comprehension
2.1.1 Definitions of reading.
Reading is a completely individual activity which takes place in all different
ways from newspapers, magazines, written texts, telephone directory, labels on
medicine bottles, notices, etc. The ability to read is such a natural part of human
beings that they seldom try do define reading. However, there are still different
points of view on the definition of reading.
According to Goodman [19, p.135], reading is “a psycholinguistic process
by which the reader, a language users, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message
which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display”, and the act of

reconstruction is viewed as “a cyclical process of sampling, predicting, testing and
confirming.”
William [30, p.3] had the same view on reading, especially on the act of
reconstruction as Goodman. He argues that “written texts, then, often contain more
than we need to understand them. The efficient reader makes use of this to take
what he needs, and no more, to obtain meaning”
Harmer [21, p.153] considers reading as a mechanical process that “eyes
receive the message and the brain then has to work out the significance of the
message”. He not only focuses on two actions that dominated by the eyes and the
brain but also the speed of the process “a reading text moves at a speed of the
reader”, which means that the reader who decides how fast he wants to read the
text.
Moreover, Urquhart & Weir [29, p.22] define reading as follows: “ Reading is
the process of receiving and interpreting information encoded in language form via
the medium of print”. Reading plays such an important part in the success of second

XVI


language learning and it is necessary to understand what reading is, however, it’s
difficult to explain it briefly and correctly.
In a general term, reading is defined as “ Reading is an active, fluent
process which involves the reader and reading materials in building meaning,
meaning does not reside on the printed page, nor is it only in the reader” Anderson
[8, p.1] this definition of reading has been generally shared by other researches.
Deriving from those opinions, reading is considered a process in which a
reader looks at and understands what has been written out.
2.1.2 Definitions of reading comprehension
In teaching reading, it is necessary to understand the nature of reading
comprehension. What the teacher understands about it will have a great influence on

what he or she teaches in the class. He would know what to teacher and how to make
his reading lesson effectively. In fact, methodologists have been providing different
definitions of reading comprehension.
Swam [28, p.1] stated that when we say “ a student is good at
comprehension we mean that he can read accurately and efficiently, so as to get the
maximum information a text with the minimum of understanding”.
Also concerning the reading comprehension, Grellet [20, p.3] argued that:
“Reading comprehension or understanding a written text means extracting the
required information from it as efficiently as possible.” The author means that
reading comprehension is an activity which aims at decoding the meaning of word
combination in the text in the most efficient way.
According to the above authors, reading comprehension is not only simply
understanding what is written, but also is what stimulates students to remember
from their experiences. That knowledge is then used to get meaning out of printed
page, but in the mind of the readers which included not only facts or details but also
emotion, belief and critical evaluation.
From these opinions, it can be concluded that reading comprehension is a
process of understanding what is conveyed in the text. It does not mean that the
reader needs to understand every single word in the text but actively work on the
text and extract the required information efficiently.

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2.2 Types of reading.
One of the most important points to keep in mind when teaching and learning
reading comprehension is that there is not one type of reading but several according
to one’s purposes for reading. Students will never be good readers unless they can
adapt their reading skills to their aim when reading. In considering the reading
process, it is important to distinguish the reading activities according to manners

and purposes of reading.
2.2.1. According to manners of reading
Reading, according to manner, is divided into reading aloud and silent reading
2.2.1.1. Reading aloud
Aloud reading is an unnatural activity because most people do not read aloud
in real life, and it is difficult for the speaker to pay attention to the meaning of the
text when reading aloud, In fact, it must be recognized that reading aloud is
primarily an oral matter so that for those who teach and learn foreign languages, it
is closer to “pronunciation” than it is to “comprehension”. Lewis and Hill [24,
p.110] mention: “Asking a student to read aloud unseen also means that he may
concentrate so hard on pronouncing the words that he will be unable to concentrate
adequately on their meaning too. He may read correctly but afterwards will not be
able to tell what he has read”
This kind of activity seems to be more popular in the language classroom. It
focuses on the pronunciation of words in the text rather than understanding. In
reading a text, students come across many new words and phrases that they do not
know how to pronounce. The teacher, in this case may help his students pronounce
words by reading the text orally and loudly. So reading aloud is often applied for
beginners and limited in upper classes because of some reasons. Firstly, it takes up a
long time as students often read slowly when they focus on pronunciation. They
consequently have not enough time to deduce the meaning of the text or complete
comprehension exercises. Secondly, because students are concerned with
pronunciation, it is hardly for them to understand the meaning of the text.

XVIII


As for Doff [17, p.67], “Reading aloud involves looking at a text,
understanding it and also saying it. Its purpose is not just to understand a text but
to convey the implication to someone else.”

That is the reason why, only for the early stages of foreign language learning,
reading aloud should become an established part of a lesson to help the beginners
read words, phrases with correct stress and intonation in a sentence.
2.2.1.2. Silent reading
Silent reading is the nearest approach to the essence of reading. Because only
by reading silently, can the readers best comprehend the written materials in the
shortest possible time. Silent reading can be applied effectively to teaching and
learning a reading comprehension text because reading a text silently helps students
concentrate on understanding its meaning. Silent reading is widely used in both real
life and classroom, and “it is the method we normally use with our native language,
and on the whole the quickest and most efficient” Lewis and Hill [24, p.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.
In sequence, the depth and detail of understanding, of comprehension
increase as we go though the ways of doing silent reading. In all, silent reading is a
useful technique in a reading comprehension process applied to students to exploit
reading lessons and it is also a good way to help teachers control the class.
2.2.2. According to purposes of reading
According to purposes, reading is categorized into four types: skimming,
scanning, extensive reading, and intensive reading.
2.2.2.1. Skimming
Skimming is commonly used in reading comprehension. It is one of specific
reading techniques necessary for quick and efficient reading. Skimming is used to

XIX

quickly gather the most important information, or 'gist'. According to Grellet, F.
[20, p.19], “When skimming, we go through the reading material quickly in order
to get the gist of it, to know how it is organized, or to get an idea of the tone or the
intention of the writer.”
Nuttal [26, p.36] states that “by skimming, we mean glancing rapidly through
the text to determine whether a research paper is relevant to our own work or in
order to keep ourselves superficially informed about matters that are not of great
importance to us.”
Therefore, the key that actually encourages learners to skim is to give them a
series of texts and ask them to select appropriate titles from groups of ones.
Moreover, in order to teach skimming effectively, the teacher should have the
students read the beginning or end of a text or a paragraph because it may provide
students with a statement relating to the topic. Skimming gives students the
advantage of being able to predict the purpose of the passage, the main topic or
message, or possibly some of the developing or supporting ideas. This gives them a
“head start” as they embark on more focused reading. Skimming also helps student
organize their thoughts and specify what information they can get from a book so
that the subsequent reading will become more efficient.
In conclusion, skimming is understood as a necessary technique for reading
comprehension which enables readers to get the main points of the text without
being concerned with the details. Therefore, skimming should be applied at the first
stage of teaching reading to help student have an overview of what they are going to
read. And it is sure that they will understand the whole text later. Hence, skimming
should be applied in teaching reading to help students have an overview of what
they read.
2.2.2.2. Scanning
Scanning occurs when a reader looks quickly through the text searching for a
specific piece of information or to see if the text is suitable for a specific reading

purpose.
In the view of Brown [11, p.308] defines scanning as follows: “Scanning is the
process of quickly searching for particular piece or pieces of information in a text.

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The purpose of scanning is to extract specific information without reading the
whole text.”
Grellet [20, p.19] gives a more detailed definition of scanning: “When
scanning, we only try to locate information and often we do not even follow the
linearity of passage to do so, and scanning is far more limited since it only means
retrieving what information is relevant to our purpose.”
These authors have the same point that while scanning reader does not need
to read form cover to cover, they only look for the information they want by
running their eyes rapidly along the lines. It can be practiced with the great range of
texts such as dictionaries, map, advertisements, labels, etc. This kind of reading is
very useful in reading selectively.
In general, both skimming and scanning are effective techniques for quick
and efficient reading. It is advisable to make use of them to improve reading
comprehension skills for students in reading classes.
2.2.2.3. Intensive reading
Intensive reading is also widely used in a reading class. It is an effective way
to explore the text, to go deeply into the meaning and the organization of the text.
Intensive reading "involves approaching the text under the guidance of a
teacher or a task which forces the students to focus on the text" Nuttall [26, p.38].
Brown considers intensive reading as "a classroom-oriented activity in which
students focus on the linguistic or semantic details of a passage.” Brown [10,
p.297]. The objective of intensive reading is to achieve a full understanding of the
text, not only of what it means but also of how the meaning is produced. Through

intensive reading, the reader must arrive at a profound and detailed understanding
of logical arguments, the rhetorical arrangement, the pattern of the text, the attitude
and purposes of the writer and his linguistic means to achieve his purposes.
Intensive reading has the following characteristics:
1. The reading materials may not be relevant to learners' ability and interest
as they are chosen by teachers not learners.
2. In doing intensive reading, the actual amount of time spent on reading is
very little as a lot of procedures such as listening to the teacher's instructions,

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reading comprehension questions, writing answers to comprehensive questions,
discussing the content of the text, doing pos-reading activities.... have to be
followed.
3. Reading speed is usually slower than faster as learners have to stop at
some moments during their reading in the classroom to look up new words in
dictionary, ask the teacher for a definition or analyze the text by reading it word-by
word or sentence-by-sentence.
4. Reading in intensive reading approach is not individual as learners are
assumed to interact more with the teacher than with the text.
What is meant by all the characteristics of intensive reading approach
mentioned above is not that intensive reading is bad, only that it is limited in what it
tries to do.
In short, intensive reading is a basic classroom activity. It is really effective
if the teacher and his students know how to fully exploit this activity in class with
the help of reading exercises.
2.2.2.4. Extensive reading
Extensive reading is also called “reading for fluency”. The students read long
texts to have general understanding, to develop fluency in reading or to relax. This

is an activity involving global understanding just as Grellet [20, p.4] confirms:
“Extensive reading means reading longer text, usually or one’s own pleasure. This
is a fluency activity mainly involving general understanding.”
What is more, Nuttal [26, p.168], this kind of reading is also a very useful
skill for students to widen their knowledge as he wrote: “The best way to improve
one’s knowledge of foreign language is to go and live among its speakers. The next
best way is to read extensively in it.”
Lewis and Hill [24, p.109] state that “extensive reading means students have
a general understanding of the text without necessarily understanding every word”.
It is obvious that when reading extensively, readers do not need to have intense
concentration on the content of a long text and total comprehension because the
objective of extensive reading is to cover the greatest possible amount of text in the
shortest possible time.

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To summarize, extensive reading is one of good ways to improve one’s
knowledge of a foreign language because its aim is to cover the content of text in
the shortest possible period of time. In the language classroom, the teacher must
introduce some suitable reading materials to students, as it is useful for them to
form a good habit of reading.
2.3. Factors in teaching and learning reading
2.3.1 Teacher’s role
Together with students, the teacher is one of the two main necessary
elements which create the teaching process. In general, the role of the teacher is to
provide students with knowledge and the best methods for learning effectively. The
teacher is a means to an end, that is, an instrument to see that learning takes place.
Besides this general function, teacher also has specific roles in teaching reading
comprehension process. Although the success in a reading class is how far the

students learn without the teacher’s help, it does not mean that there is nothing for
teacher to do in a reading class. In fact, there is a great deal. Without help from the
teacher, it is difficult for the students to be efficient readers.
Nuttal [26, p.35] suggests that “there are two main things that a teacher
should always remember in helping students. The first is to provide the students
with suitable materials, and the second is to provide them with suitable teaching
activities”.
The teacher sometimes finds it difficult to select suitable reading material,
because the first thing they have to do is to select a text which is at the right level of
difficulty for the students. A text which is too difficult will make them bored.
Secondly, selecting texts that interest the students is another important point to
remember. If the text provided is interesting, and the students enjoy reading it, they
will be motivated to read more, and vice versa. Thirdly, there should be variety in
the range and the type of exercises. A text with many kinds of accompanying
exercises probably covers many different skills.
Besides, suitable activities the teacher provides can focus the students’
attention of specific skills necessary for efficient reading. Normally, there are three
main activities in a reading comprehension text which are called pre-reading stage,
while – reading stage, and post- reading stage. Thus, the role of the teacher is

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closely related to these stages. At pre-reading stage, the teacher has to make
students be aware of what they are going to read and do during the lesson. At whilereading stage, the teacher’s main function is to offer help to students if necessary.
And at post- reading stage, the teacher is considered as a guide or an adviser to help
the students express their own ideas through their understanding of the text.
To sum up, the two main duties of the teacher in helping the students to be
efficient readers are to provide suitable reading materials and suitable reading
activities. To fulfill his role, the teacher should know the reading skill that students

need for reading.
2.3.2 Students’ role
Like the teacher, the student is also one of two main factors of teaching and
learning process. This process can only be carried out when there are both of them.
The students are not only the subject but also the object of teaching and learning
process. In particular, in a reading lesson, the students play the role of the readers.
The role demands that the students should make sense of the text for themselves. It
is the fact that the student is the heart of the reading lesson and the element which
determines the success of a reading lesson. That is to say, the students must be very
active in the lesson from the beginning in reading texts to get the right meaning of
the texts.
Moreover, they also have to do other exercises and maybe they have to
encounter and solve the difficulties by themselves. Thanks to this, the students can
accumulate a large amount of knowledge from the reading texts and understand
them thoroughly. On the other hand, the understanding from the reading text is the
chance for the students to improve other language skills, because only when they
really master the knowledge by themselves, can they apply it flexibly.
In fact, very frequently, the students deal with some problems which are
beyond their ability, for example proverbs, idioms, polysemantics, or background
understanding and so on. In this case, to get the target reading, the students have
work under the direction of the teacher and take part in guided activities actively
and attentively. However, the teacher should only act as the guide and give the
students some suggestions to help them think and understand the reading texts on
their own. Therefore, the teacher can stimulate the students’ creativity as well as

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their imagination. If not, the students will be passive and the reading lesson will not
be successful.

In addition, the students can be the important element that helps teacher
fulfills his duties. The teacher can not teach without the students. On the other hand,
the students are the providers of feedback to the teacher through their expression
and understanding of the reading texts. Without the students’ feedback, the teacher
does not know how to make the reading lesson become most effective. Moreover,
because the student is the heart of a reading lesson, all the teacher’s activities are to
provide the students with as much knowledge as possible. If the teacher does not
know how much knowledge his students can receive from his reaching, he can not
have appropriate method for his students to study effectively.
Therefore, the student may negotiate with the teacher to find out the suitable
method of study as well as select appropriate reading materials and activities.
Furthermore, through the students’ reflections, the teacher may find out his
mistakes and draw up his own experience to teach better and perfect himself.
To sum up, in teaching and learning process in general, and in a reading
lesson in particular, the teacher and the students have the interdependent
relationship. The students need to be active to take part in the activities that the
teacher provides to understand the reading texts and do the exercises. On the other
hand, the teachers need to be aware of problems facing students to help them
overcome their difficulties and assess the students’ ability correctly to have
appropriate teaching method. Lacking one of the two elements – the teacher and the
students, the teaching and learning process can not be carried out. Therefore, the
relationship between the teacher and the students also makes them become coparticipants.
2.3.3 The reading texts
The roles of the reading texts must be paid attention to in teaching and
learning reading skills because an appropriate text is very important in building up
pupils’ reading competence. In William’s opinion, [30, p.23] reading material is any
piece of written language. It may come from the integrated course book which
includes reading texts, from the supplementary reading comprehension and reading
skills books containing texts and exercises, from the real life (authentic texts) or be

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