EFFECTIVE STRATERGIES ON IMPROVING READING COMPREHENSION

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EFFECTIVE STRATERGIES ON IMPROVING
READING COMPREHENSION
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k ế : EFFECTIVE STRATERGIES ON IMPROVING
READING COMPREHENSION
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TABLE OF CONTENT

PART A. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................ 5
1.

Rationale ................................................................................................. 5

2.

Aims: ....................................................................................................... 5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT ............................................................................ 6
1.

Roles of reading in language learning and teaching. ............................ 6

2.

The nature of reading comprehension. .................................................. 7

3.

Kinds of reading comprehension ........................................................... 8
3.1. According to manners of reading ....................................................... 9
3.2. According to purposes of reading ..................................................... 10

4.

Conclusion ............................................................................................. 13

5.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS .......................................................... 14
5.1. Pre-reading ........................................................................................ 14
5.2. During reading. .................................................................................. 18
5.3. Post-reading: ...................................................................................... 19

PART C: CONCLUSION .............................................................................. 22
REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 23

PART A. INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
In terms of opportunities, nationally, it can be seen that, foreign language
education policy and accompanying student attitudes and motivation have become
crucial issues in the national development of Vietnam over the past twenty years.
Social changes have resulted in the changes in foreign language learning and
teaching. This choice of English, in particular, has greatly influenced education,
especially secondary school. English has become a compulsory subject in the state
examination. In addition to the aim of passing their exams and getting some
further studies for their future life, students have a desire to be integrated into the
lt e t a

e

ma ’

v l zat

.

Learning English means learning four related skills: listening, speaking,
reading and writing. Among these, reading seems to be the leading activity in the
process of teaching and learning and it accounts for roughly 30% of total marks in
the national exams.
Reading comprehension is a skill that is learned over time. It requires the
reader to be able to read fluently, stay focused, and think critically about the book
or text in question. Unfortunately, many students struggle comprehending texts.
Some cannot discern the main ideas from the details while others have a hard time

understanding what the book is even talking about. Therefore, helping students
increase their reading comprehension is a key to their educational success or
failure.
As a matter of fact, the question of how to teach reading effectively has been of
great concern. Therefore, I would like to share with you all some of my strategies
to help improve reading comprehension.
2. Aims:
-Show out the importance of mastering reading comprehension
-Provide some suggestions for improvement of reading comprehension for high
school students.


PART B: DEVELOPMENT

1. Roles of reading in language learning and teaching.
d pe able

Reading plays a

le

pe ple’ l ve . It

a wa t a

e

knowledge and experience. Through reading, knowledge has greatly contributed
to the growth of mankind. Reading is the fastest and simplest way to raise
pe ple’ ed at

d

f

al level (

de ta d

t

&

ze

, 2001). Reading is like opening the

ma ’ pa t, w e e t a

e ve a a l k

la

f

our present. Reading also stimulates the development of brain cells, reinforces
language skills, and enhances organizational abilities. Where there is little reading,
there will be little language learning. (Bright and Gregor (1970, p.52-53). In fact,
the students who want to learn English as a foreign language has to explore the
knowledge of it by reading a lot or throwing himself into a created English
speaking environment. Only by reading can students acquire the speed and the

skills needed for their practical purposes. It is difficult in the modern world to do
anything other than a basic job without being able to read. Reading as a skill is the
key to an educated workforce, which in turn is the bedrock of economic
advancement, particularly in the present technological age.
Additionally, reading helps form other language skills such as listening,
speaking and writing. Reading is the best way for students to get used to new
vocabulary, concepts, grammar and structures in reading materials. The students
know how to use them in listening, speaking and writing in a right context and
have further practice of the language during the process of learning. Through
reading, students can understand the use of words and structures in their written
forms as well as the connecting devices that link them together. Reading
mp e e

l el

te elated w t

t e la

a e k ll . “

e e a e few

cases in real life when we do not talk or write about what we have read or when
we d

t elate w at we

ave ead t

met

we m

t

ave

ea d”

(Frangoise Grellet-1982, p8).
A special relationship exists between listening and reading, which are both


receptive phases of language, as opposed to productive phases of speaking and
w t

.I

ead

le

, t de t

da e a d a we t e

ave t l te t t e tea e ’ e pla at

et

opinions and exchan e t e

.

wt

e al

ave t l te t t e

t e ’ . S met me , t e

ave t

a d
f e d’

l te

t

necessary information extracted from the debates or discussions to support and
defend their own ideas; therefore, reading is not only aimed at improving the
t de t’ ead

k ll b t t e l te ng skill as well.

During a reading lesson, students may share what they have read with the partners
by discussing, exchanging and arguing. In this way speaking is helpful for

students to understand the text and at the same time to improve their speaking
skill.
“

e

a dw t

e t

betwee

a e ba

ead

all

a dw t
t

t ve p

reading- elated a t v t , w tte w k

pa t

la l

t

e ” (R e a d R
a effe t ve wa

.B t

ead

.1998, p22). F
e k

a

t de t’

reading comprehension. After reading the reading text, teachers have students
write a summary, reflection or take notes of what they have read. As a result, they
can use interesting main points in their writing paper later on.
In conclusion, during the reading lessons, an emphasis is placed on the reading
activities, but reading comprehension should not be separated from the other
skills. The four skills must be interrelated to master a foreign language

2. The nature of reading comprehension.
There exist different views and definitions of reading comprehension. Jermery
Harmer
(1983, p15) tate t at “Read

a e e

e d m ated b t e e e a d t e

brain. The eyes receive messages and the brain then has to work out the
f a e f t e e me a e ”.
According t Edd e W ll am (1984, p.3) “Read
at a d

ap

e

w e eb

de ta d w at a bee w tte ”. S me ave take t e p

el k
t

t at

reading involves merely the decoding of graphic symbols and the production of


meaning. Though there are several and varied definitions of reading, most of us
would come to conclusion that reading without understanding is meaningless.
Reading comprehension has the nature of communication, in which reading acts
as means of communication between the writer and the reader.
Reading comprehension is, in fact, a language processes, not the sum of
various decoding and comprehension sub skills. In short, reading is the process of
e

t

t

t ea t

’

dea a d

f mat

. I a ead

le

at

l,

the text is decoded by the students and the product of reading act is
communication, their understanding of ideas that have been put in print by the
writer.
As a means of communication, reading is a means of communicating with
friends and teacher at school. For example, summarizing a text, taking notes of
main points in the text or making comments on it in a sheet of paper then
comparing with the partners are some useful follow-up activities after reading.

3. Kinds of reading comprehension
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
a

d

t

e’ p p e f

ead

. St de t w ll eve be

d eade

unless they can adapt their reading skills to their aims when reading.
In considering the reading process, it is important to distinguish the reading
activities according to manners and purposes of reading.
According to manners, it can be classified into
-Silent reading
-Reading aloud
According to purposes, it can be divided into
-Intensive reading
-Extensive reading
-Scanning
-Skimming


3.1. According to manners of reading
3.1.1. Silent reading

S le t ead

“t e ab l t

we

mall

e

a e

w e

we ead b

k,

newspapers, road signs, etc. It involves looking at black marks on paper and
de ta d

t e me a e t e

ve ” (D ff 1988).

Silent reading is widely used in real life in which we do not read every word
aloud. The eyes run from left to right, top to bottom to receive the graphic forms
of printed materials and decode them in mind.
Silent reading is good for reading comprehension because:
-Firstly, students can all read at their own speed. If they do not understand,

they can go back and read it again.
-Secondly, students are, in fact, concentrating on the text and thinking about
the meaning.
Therefore, silent reading is a skill students need to develop.
3.1.2. Reading aloud
Read

al d

ee a a wa

f ead

understand a text but convey informat

t

w
me

ep p e

“

tj t

e el e” (D ff 1981). I

other words, it is obvious that reading aloud involves looking at the text,
understanding its and also saying it.

In the classroom, reading aloud can be used to train students in pronunciation,
so it can be done by the teacher at the earliest stage of teaching procedure.
“Be
t e

e

ave t d

ve

ww t

ave al ead lea t” (Natal 1989, p.2)

a

ated w t t e p ke w d
ead

al d

al

ed a a

means to make other students keep quiet.
However, reading aloud is not a very useful technique as Bright and Gregef (1970,
p. 177) state.
It interferes with the proper business of the reading lesson which is to

create imaginative response in the mind from the visual stimulus of black marks
on paper.
1.

Where it is used frequently it slows down reading speed whereas the


objective is if increase it.
3.2. According to purposes of reading
3.2.1. Extensive reading
It is an activity which frees students from the restriction of class work. Students
read at their own pace. They can choose what to read
Extensive reading is an effective way to help students improve their English.
N ttal (1982, p. 1 8) a

t at “

e be t wa t

mp ve

e’ k wled e f a

foreign language is to go and live among its speakers. The next best way is to read
e te

vel

t”.

I 1981, F a
l

e te t ,

e
all f

ellet p
e’

ted

t t at “E te

w plea

e. I t e

ve ead
te t f la

mea

ead

m lea

this is a fluency activity, mainly involving global understanding. For extensive
reading, students work on their own reading texts graded to the levels of

individual readers. They are given opportunities to progress at their own rate. The
purpose of the extensive reading is to train the student to read quickly and 'fluently
in the foreign language for his own enjoyment without the aid of the teacher.
Therefore, the material for extensive reading should be selected at a lower level of
difficulty than that for intensive reading. Structures in the text should be already
familiar to him, and new words should be introduced slowly in such a way that
their meaning can be deduced from the context or quickly ascertained. In order to
encourage students to read extensively the teacher should be able to recommend to
the students extensive reading material which corresponds to their individual
ta te a d

te e t ”

At high school, students often read intensively in the reading lessons, this reading
style is suitable for them to learn and practise the language, but it cannot help to
train them in fluent reading. On the contrary, extensive reading can provide
students with fluency in reading. Furthermore, extensive reading can supply them
with an adequate language environment as well as the enjoyment in reading and in
learning a language. Therefore, it is necessary for the educational authorities and
teachers to incorporate intensive reading and extensive reading into school


curriculum.
3.2.2. Intensive reading
A

d

t

Fa

ellet (1981, p 4) “I te

ve ead

means reading

shorter texts to extract specific information. This is more an accuracy activity
v lv

ead

f

deta l”

Intensive reading exercises may include:


looking at main ideas versus details



understanding what is implied versus stated



making inferences



looking at the order of information and how it effects the message



identifying words that connect one idea to another



identifying words that indicate change from one section to another

ed e (1985, p. 8) t e e t at “I te
ta

t e t ate e a d k ll t e

ve ead

le

eed t be me

provide students with
e f l eade ”

In intensive reading, students are trained in reading comprehension through the
analytical approach to grammar and lexis. They are encouraged to infer the
meaning of unknown words and structures from the context in the target language.
For many learners, their purpose in reading English language is not for

information, interest, or pleasure, but to learn English. So they assume that the
appropriate style for them should be slow, intensive reading in order to be sure of
not missing any words. Materials for intensive reading used by students in class
are short stories and extracts from novels or magazines. They are chosen
according to the level of difficulty of language and for the interest they hold for
young people still at school. This reading matter is studied in considerable detail
a d t

elated' t la

tea e ’ ta k

a e lea

de t e tea e ’

da e.

e ef e, t e

t p v de t e t de t with strategies and skills of reading to

arrive at a profound and detailed comprehension of the text and how the meaning
is expressed.
3.2.3. Skimming
Skimming is a way of reading that a reader is required to jump through the text,


ignoring parts of it for the very general purpose of seeing what it is about, and
whether there is anything of interest to him in it. The reader skims in order to

satisfy a very general curiosity about the text rather than finding the answer to
particular questions. Skimming is a quick reading to get know the general
meaning of a passage , the organization of the passage, the structure of the text
a d t e w te ’ p p e
Skimming is not an appropriate aim for learners at beginner level. It is suitable
for the students of the eleventh form or twelfth form especially for gifted students
of English. At this level skimming helps them to organize their thoughts and
specify what information they can get from the reading material; therefore, their
subsequent reading is more efficient.
Activities


Students must locate facts that are expressed in sentences, not single words.



To improve skimming, readers should read more and more rapidly, to form
appropriate questions and predictions and then read quickly



Pugh (1978) suggests that to assess skimming, after the students have read
and completed the assigned questions, further questions may be asked,
"beyond the scope of the purpose originally set" (p.70).

3.2.4. Scanning
Scanning is, in contrast, described as follows.
B
tem

a

“t e eade
e bel eve

ere is on the look-out for a particular item or

t e te t” ( ete W

a d, 1990, p.83). F

e ample, t e

name of the scorer in a football report.
A

d

t N ttal, 1989

a

mea

“ la

ap dl t

a te t e t e

to search for specific pieces of information (eg: a name, a date) or to get an initial
mp e

f w et e t

“S a

table f

w e a eade

a

e t

ve p p e”
a te t ve

kl

de t f d

a particular point of information (William, 1986).
Activities


Activities may include exercises that are devised by the teacher in which


students scan for a single word or specific text.



Activities may include exercises that are often carried on as a competition
so students will work quickly.



Students use titles and tables of contents to get an idea of what a passage is
about ,

activate prior knowledge about the topic of the passage by

answering some questions or performing a quiz , anticipate what they want
to learn about the top , use titles, pictures, and prior knowledge to
anticipate the contents of the text , use key words, that may have been given
to them by the teacher, that do not appear in the text, that allude to the main
idea
Like skimming, scanning is a useful reading skill that may be at first strange to a
learner who is used to reading everything in a foreign language with the same
degree of attention. It can be appropriately applied in teaching and learning
reading as it can be very useful as a study technique.
4. Conclusion
All kinds of reading are interrelated. Skimming and scanning are all helpful
reading skills that enable the readers to read rapidly in order to select some
specific information that are worth spending time on. Both skimming and
scanning are useful skills in silent reading. Reading aloud and silent reading can
be used effectively for teaching and learning intensive reading but extensive
reading is commonly carried out by readers who read for pleasure or further study
through silent reading.

5. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
According to Cohen (1986), reading strategies refer to those mental processes
that readers consciously choose to use in accomplishing reading tasks. As Block
(1986) defined, reading strategies are techniques and methods readers use to make
their reading successful. These methods include how to conceive tasks, what
textual cues they attend to, how readers makes senses of what they read, and what
they do when they do not understand. Often the term skill and strategy are used
interchangeably, but there is difference between both of them. Strategies can be
defined as conscious actions that learners take to achieve desired objectives, but
skill is a strategy that has become automatic.
When reading, readers employ some special skills. They are successful in
understanding what they read and do not depend on how they apply these skills to
their process of reading. This is the important question for teachers and students
in teaching and learning reading skills. Here are some useful skills and activities
for reading comprehension.

5.1. Pre-reading
A good reader often predicts what he is going to read. In other words, he
generally has some expectations before he actually begins reading the text. While
reading he can understand the text and match the content of the text to his
predictions which will change when he gets more information from the process of
reading. One of the important things for the teachers in the pre-reading phase is to
e

a e t de t t devel p p ed t ve k ll .

elp t a

e t de t’s

attention and interest in the topic. The way he introduces the text, the way he asks
questions and the way he gives a reason for reading will interest students and
motivate their purpose for reading. For example, teachers can ask students to
predict what will happen at the end of a story or have them explain how they
decided on their prediction, which encourages them to make inferences about
what they are reading by using the title, subtitles, pictures, maps, diagrams, and


divisions within the text to predict content and organization or sequence of
information.
In addition, teachers help to give students the background knowledge necessary
for comprehension of the text, or activate the existing knowledge that the students
possess. By answering questions, students get to know the purpose of reading,
focus their attention on what they are to learn as well as encourage them to
monitor their comprehension. The following are some activities I have applied
during pre-reading phase at my high school

1. Prediction
1.1 Possible passages
Steps:
+ Choose 8 – 15 key words from the text students will read.
+ Determine categories into which students should sort the words
+ Tell students that the Unknown Words category is only for terms the group has
no idea about – if they have a sense that a word should go in a certain category,
they should place it there.
+ Ask students to make a gist statement using words listed above
Aim:
+ engage students in contextual study of vocabulary before reading a passage
+ help students overview the reading text

Sample: (Unit 4- Book 10-Advanced)
Possible Passage
Word list: Helen Keller, Sullivan, deaf, blind, fingertip alphabet, manual alphabet,
Radcliffe College, Braille, remarkable woman

Characters

Problems

Outcomes

Unknown words

Helen Keller

deaf

fingertip alphabet

manual alphabet

Sullivan

blind

Braille


Radcliffe College
remarkable women

Possible statement: Helen Keller was a deaf and blind child. Thanks to
M .S ll va ’

elp,

e

ld ma te t e f

e t p alp abet a d B a lle. S e made

every effort to learn and graduate from Radcliffe College. Soon she became one of
remarkable women in the world.

1.2 Possible sentences
Steps:
+ Choose 8 – 15 key words from the text students will read (both unknown words
and familiar words)
+ Ask each student to choose at least two words from the list to make a
meaningful sentence that may be found in the upcoming reading
+ After reading, have students check to see if their "possible sentences" were
accurate or need revising
Aim:
+ activate students' prior knowledge about content area vocabulary and concepts
+ help students overview the reading text

Sample:(Unit 10- Book 10- Advanced)
Word list: Nam Cat Tien national park, established, central government,
ecotourism site, species, visitors, landscape, ecotourism, economy, promote

Possible sentences:
- Nam Cat Tien national park was established by the central government
- Nam Cat Tien national park is considered as an ecotourism site.
- Nam Cat Tien national park contains many different species of plants and
animals
- A lot of visitors come to Nam Cat Tien national park because of its beautiful
landscape


……

2. Word list
Steps:
- Write a key word or concept related to the reading material
- Ask students to work in groups and list their associations for the cue
- Encourage students to make inquiries about the associations for example: clarify
t e w d , p v de a e ample, def

t

,

m del

…

- Ask students to think and talk about the key word
Aim: a t vate t de t ’ p

k wled e a d p vides a framework for a student-

led discussion
Sample (Unit 14- Book 10- advanced)
World Cup: competition, football, soccer, championship, team, cup, fan,
hold, score, footballer, final, match, host country,

3. Pre- questions
Steps:
- Asks students to work in groups and discuss the list of questions teacher gives
Aim: b ld t e

t de t ’

te e t a d m t vat

a d a t vate

t de t ’

background knowledge and make connections
Sample: (Unit 14- Book 10- Advanced)
T asks students to work in groups and discuss the following questions to see how
much they know about soccer and the world cup
1. How often is the world cup held?
2. What does the abbreviation FIFA stand for?
3. When and where was the first World Cup tournament held?
4. Who is considered the all-time best soccer player?
5. When was the World Cup first held in Asia?
6. Is there a World Cup tournament for women?

7. Where and when will the next World Cup be held?

5.2. During reading.
5.2.1. Extracting specific information
In real life, we often read something as we want to extract some specific
pieces of information. We read the text as quickly as possible and only
concentrate on the particular items that interest us and disregard the other
information necessary. This skill when applied in reading is often called scanning.
It

e f

me ead

k ll t at

ve

ef l f

mp v

t de t ’ ead

speed because a common problem for foreign language students in Vietnam is that
they tend to read too slowly in all types. This is one of their disadvantages when
taking their exam in which reading passage occupies 30% of total marks of the
examination paper.

5.2.2. Getting the general picture
Readers often read something because they want to get the general picture
and have a general idea of the main points of what they have read without being
too concerned with the detail. It is the main point that they are interested in. The
skill of reading in order to get the general picture is skimming. It presupposes the
eade ’ ab l t t p k

t the main points and discard what is irrelevant. In

teaching reading skills, skimming is a useful sub skill that also helps to improve
t e t de t ’ ead

peed.

e w ll be able t

t

t e te t e t emel

quickly to see what a text is about or how it is organized.

5.2.3. Reading for detailed comprehension
Reading for detailed comprehension is very common in intensive reading in
which students are trained to read the text carefully through the analytical
approach to grammar and lexis for detailed comprehension. Students have to be
able to access texts for detailed information of many kinds. By generating
questions, students become aware of whether they can answer the questions and if

they understand what they are reading. Students learn to ask themselves questions
that require them to combine information from different segments of text. For
example, students can be taught to ask main idea questions that relate to important
information in a text. For upper secondary students, their grammar, the use of
words and sentence patterns, so the slow, intensive reading is the appropriate style
for them.

5.2.4. Reading for communicative tasks.
As I have mentioned above, reading comprehension has a nature of
communication. Reading activity is a means of communication between the writer
and the reader when the reader decodes what the writer encodes. Reading activity
a

t be ee a matte

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effe t ve wa t devel p t e lea e ’ la

f la

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communicative interaction about what they have read. There are some reading
techniques involved in reading for communicative tasks. Students can rearrange
the text that has become disordered. They can do this activity in pairs and then the
teacher can ask different pairs to read the story out in the correct order. In another
way, half of the class are told to prepare the questions while the rest is given the
te t a d t ld t

ead t

t at t e

w ll be able t

a we t e la mate ’

questions. The teacher should bear in mind that at the earliest stage of the learning
p

e ,t e e

da

l t de t ’ k wled e f E

l

l m ted.

d e

not mean they cannot communicate effectively with the language they have got. It
is clear that the lower their level is, the less sophisticated language users they are.
They can nevertheless be expected to use the language they know for the purposes
of communication.

5.3. Post-reading:
After the lesson, teachers can have students summarize the reading passage,
which can help both to clear up any confusion about the meaning of a text and to
secure it more firmly in students' memories. However, it can take a lot of practice


to become adept at writing concise, accurate summaries that focus on main points
and eliminate unnecessary information. Teachers may provide samples for their
students and model their own work, showing how they would identify key points,
paraphrase them, and condense them. Further, they can assign students to start
with relatively short, simple passages before going on to summarize longer and
more complicated texts.
Likewise, teachers ask the students to work in pairs or group, discussing the
text and related topics and then report back to the class or give their presentation.
Probably the most important comprehension strategy of all but one that is
surprisingly rare in the nation's secondary classrooms is to give students frequent
a d e te

ve pp t

te t d

w at t e 've ead. It’

e t e ea

straightforward to lead students in focused, informative, and engaging discussions
of texts. Teachers need to come up with provocative questions, keep the
conversation focused, guide it though lulls, and help students to learn and stick to
important classroom norms and rules (having to do with turn-taking, respecting
others' opinions, staying on point, and so on). However, when students do engage
in high-quality text-based discussions, they tend to come away with much clearer
and more nuanced understandings of course materials.
Moreover, teachers can lead to combine reading with a speaking
component. For example, students may interview each other or debate about their
reading or combine reading with a writing component, for instance, after reading
the text, students may be asked to write a report or a reflection. Teacher also
encourage students to read the texts on the same topic or let students choose the
authentic texts from suggestions by the teacher so that students do not choose
those that are too overwhelming. Student take notes main ideas and then write
a reflection on what they noticed about their own reading, which allows
students to bring more background knowledge to each new text read. Often
teachers will respond to the students and if so, the student should leave room in
the journal for this. Some of my proposed activities during post-reading phase as
follows.


1. Discussion/ debate
Discussion is purposeful talk through which students explore their thinking,
respond to ideas, process information, and articulate their thoughts in verbal
exchanges with classmates and teachers.
1.1 Problem solving (unit 4/ Book 11- Advanced)
Teacher asks students to discuss in groups, showing some main causes leading to

literacy problems and suggesting some solutions
1.2 Agreement or Disagreement with a statement (Unit 5/Book 11- Advanced)
Sample: Teacher has students work in groups, express his/ her points of views on
beauty contests
1.3 Alternatives ranking
Sample: (Unit 1/ Book 11- Advanced)
- Teacher prepares handouts including a list of important qualities of a good friend
- Students work individually and rank the importance of these qualities
- Students work in small groups and share their opinions
Important qualities of a good friend: Loyalty, Intelligence, Humor, Honesty,
Generosity, Sympathy, Tolerance, Sincerity
2. Summary
It is an easy way to have students reflect on what they read and synthesize their
thinking. A variety of forms for summary can be used based on the format of the
text
2.1 completing a plot diagram
2.2 taking notes on a time line (unit3/ Book 10- Advanced)
2.3 using mindmaps ( unit1/ Book 10- advanced)
2.4 filling gaps (unit 12/ Book 10- advanced)

3. Reflection
3.1 Monitor comprehension
Steps: Ask students to list three facts they learned from a reading, two questions
they had as they read and one thing they found interesting


Aims: let students show what they have learned or ask questions about a topic in a
simple way

3.2 Response journals

Steps: provide journal sheets or booklets with prompting questions that will help
structure student responses.
Aims:
+ record student feelings, responses, and reactions to reading texts
+ encourage students to think deeply about the materials they have read and to
relate this information to their prior knowledge and experiences
Sample:
ea e p v de

me p mpt t fa l tate t de t ’ ead

mp e e

a d

reflections.
- ele Kelle ’ eff t t

ve

me e mpa me t

-lessons from the ups and downs in her life

PART C: CONCLUSION
As reading, one of the receptive skills through which students can widen
their knowledge of the target language more than other skills, it is important for
the students to have good techniques in reading to become good readers.
Therefore, it is necessary for the teacher to have useful methods and motivating
a tvte

mp v

t de t ’ ead

mp e e

. In this paper, I have

reviewed the role of reading in language learning, the integration of reading with
other language skills and the classifications of reading and most importantly made
some suggestions for teaching and learning to improve reading skills. It is
common knowledge that we learn to read by reading a lot, yet reading a lot is not
the emphasis of most reading curriculum. There is now a considerable evident that
the best way to learn to read is to combine both approaches (extensive and
intensive reading) in the class. For example, where extensive reading is


encouraged, the teacher may have all the students read the same text so they can
discuss the topic together or learn a specific skill such as writing an outline. In a
class where intensive reading is mostly used, students may be asked to read texts
of their own choosing to report back on, in either an oral or written format. It is
expected that together with various reading activities listed above can contribute a
great deal to students in developing reading comprehension and make students
more active in the learning process in order to gain a better result.
I have tried my best in this study with an aim to share my experience with all
colleagues. However, mistakes and shortcomings are unavoidable. Thus, any
remarks will be warmly welcomed.

Ýkế

kế

ủa tổ

REFERENCES
1. Nuttal.1982. Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. Heinemann.
2. Doff.A. 1988. Teach English. Cambridge University Press.
3. Harmer.J. 2001. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman.
4. Richard R.Day.1993.New Ways in Teaching Reading. Honolulu, Hawaii
5. Munby, John (1968) "Teaching Intensive Reading Skills" in Mackay, Ronald,
Barkman, B &. Jordan, R.R. (Eds.) Reading in a Second Language, Rowley,
Mass: Newbury House Publishers Inc.
6. Bell, Timothy (2001) "Extensive Reading: Speed and Comprehension", The
Reading Matrix, Vol.1, No.1 April
2001 />7. Hafiz, F.M. & Tudoe, I. (1989) "Extensive reading and the development of

language skills", ELT Journal, Vol.43/1, p.5-13


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