A study on application of some reading techniques to doing IELTS reading comprehension tasks for the 1st – year english majors in the foreign language department, hai phong university

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to send my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs. NGUYEN THI
QUYNH CHI, who has given me valuable and enthusiastic help. Without her help, I could
not have completed my thesis.
Also, I would like to send my sincere thanks to the students of the 1 st- year English
Majors in the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University for their support and
co-operation for the thesis.
At last, I wish to express my gratitude to all my friends for their comments and
suggestions.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PART I. INTRODUCTION
1. RATIONALE
In the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University (HPU), there is a fact
that many 1st year English majors do not pay proper attention to basic reading techniques
to do IELTS reading tasks. Thus, it leads to the situation that many of them get the poor
exam results. From this fact, I decide on choosing “A study on application of some
reading techniques to doing IELTS reading comprehension tasks for the 1 st – year
English majors in the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University”.
2. AIMS OF THE STUDY
The purpose of the study is to investigate the difficulties faced by the 1 st – year
English majors at Foreign Language Department, HPU in doing IELTS reading
comprehension tasks so that techniques can be given to help them improve this skill. The
specific aims of the study are as following:

- To find out student’s difficulties in doing IELTS reading comprehension texts.
- To investigate the reasons for these difficulties.
- To suggest some useful reading techniques and tips that helps students do IELTS
reading comprehension tasks well.
3. METHODS OF THE STUDY
The research is carried out with a combination of methods: survey questionnaires,
reading sample works, data and material collection, observations and analysis.
4. SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Though the study focuses on techniques to improve reading comprehension skill
for the 1st – year English majors in the Foreign Language Department, HPU, due to the
limitation of time, the researcher just can conduct survey on students of two classes to
investigate reading problems experienced by these students then suggest some certain
techniques to help them better their reading comprehension skills.
5. DESIGN OF THE STUDY
The study is divided into three parts: the introduction, the development and the
conclusion.
The development is the main part which consists three chapters:
Chapter 1: “Literature review”
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Chapter 2: “Methodology”
Chapter 3: “Data analysis and class observation”
Chapter 4: “Major findings and some suggested techniques to improve reading
comprehension to the 1st – year English Majors in the Foreign Language Department, Hai
Phong University”.
PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
I.1. AN OVERVIEW ON THE NATURE OF READING
I.1.1. Definition of reading

According to Carell Devine and Eskey (1988:13), “Reading is a process in that it
starts with linguistic surface representation encoded by a writer and ends with meaning,
which reader constructs. There is, thus, an essential interaction between language and
thought in reading. The writer encodes thought in language and the reader decodes
language to thought”.
I.1.2. The importance of reading skill
According to Bright and Gregor (1970:52), “books provide most pupils with the situation
in which learning takes place. Where there is little reading, there will be little language
learning”. It is obvious that reading is a means by which further learning takes place.
I.1.3. Classifications of reading
I.1.3.1.

According to manner

Reading, according to manner, is divided into two kinds: reading aloud and silent
reading.
I.1.3.1.1. Reading aloud
I.1.3.1.2. Silent reading
I.1.3.2. According to purpose
According to purpose, reading is categorized into four main types: skimming,
scanning, extensive reading and intensive reading.
I.1.3.2.1. Skimming
I.1.3.2.2. Scanning
I.1.3.2.3. Extensive reading
I.1.3.2.4. Intensive reading
I.1.4. Reading process
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A reading lesson can be divided into three stages: Pre-reading stage, while-reading

stage and post-reading stage. Each of these stages carries its own features and purposes
and requires different techniques and strategies.
I.1.4.1. Pre-reading stage
I.1.4.2. While-reading stage
I.1.4.3. Post-reading stage
I.2. READING COMPREHENSION AND READING COMPREHENSION
TECHNIQUES
I.2.1. Definition of Reading comprehension
Richard and Thomas (1987:143) state that “Reading comprehension is a mental
process that in the final analysis, only the reader fully understands. Comprehension is
what simulates readers to remember their past experience. That knowledge is, then, used
in trying to get meaning out of print. Meaning does not reside in the printed page but
rather in the mind of the reader.”
I.2.2. Techniques for Reading Comprehension
Nuttal (1982) provides a list of reading skills which consist of macro-skills with
Word-attack skills and Text- attack skills.
I.3. FACTORS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING READING
I.3.1. The role of teachers
Discussing the roles of the teacher in teaching reading, Richard and Amato (1988)
emphasize: “The first role is to facilitate communicative process between all participants
in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and text. The
second role is to act interdependent within the learning teaching group”. ‘

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I.3.2. The role of students
During the reading lesson, the students play the role of an active and creative
listener as well as the reader. They need to listen to the teacher’s instructions and
explanations carefully to find out the way of recognizing information and way of deducing

new words or grammatical structures.
I.4.

SUMMARY

In short, this chapter focuses on the concepts useful for the accomplishment of the
study. First, some definitions of reading basing on some linguistics scholars have been
presented. Second, the importance of reading skill and the classification of reading into
reading aloud and silent reading in terms of reading manner and skimming, scanning,
extensive reading, and intensive reading in terms of reading purposes are stated. What’s
more in the first chapter are the three stages of a reading lesson. Then comes in the first
chapter is an insight into what is reading comprehension and the techniques for reading
comprehension. Last but not least, the role of the teachers as well as the students in the
three stages of a reading lesson has been reviewed.

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
2.1. THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY
The survey of the study is carried out in order to find out student’s difficulties in
doing IELTS reading comprehension texts, to investigate the reason for these difficulties
and to research opinions and attitudes of the students of using some useful reading
techniques and tips that help students do IELTS reading comprehension tasks well. It is
conducted with the assistance of the 1st year English majors, Foreign Language
Department, HPU. Survey questionnaires are given to 50 students studying at two English
majors classes at Foreign Language Department, HPU.
2.2. OBJECTS OF THE STUDY
The study is designed for the 1st – year English majors: They are from 18 to 20 years old,
both male and female students, at the first year of university. When doing this survey, they are
in the mid 2nd term at HPU. At this stage, they have learned about some techniques applied in
reading comprehension and practiced some types of IELTS reading texts.
2.3. INSTRUMENTATION

2.3.1. Survey questionnaires
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In this study, the researcher applied questionnaire as a main means of data
collection because of some advantages. Firstly, this method can give the researcher the
need data in quantitative form. Secondly, all informants have chance of expressing their
attitudes. As a result, researcher can have more uniform and accurate data.
The survey questionnaires were administered to get information concerning:
- Student’s difficulties in doing reading comprehension tasks
- Student’s attitudes towards reading comprehension techniques
- Student’s methods of doing reading comprehension tasks
- Student’s using supplementary materials
2.3.2. Sample texts
The researcher uses two sample texts which has the same level to investigate the
student’s reading efficiency before and after applying methods to doing reading
comprehension texts.
2.3.3. Class observation
Class observation is also a useful method. It gives the researcher a chance to
observe the learning of reading texts.
2.3.4. Materials collection
It consists of reference books on reading as well as webs on Internet. These
materials provide me with necessary and important theories and information. They help
me finish the study perfectly.

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND CLASS OBSERVATION
3.1.

DATA ANALYSIS OF STUDENT’S SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES

Question 1 finds out the student’s difficulties in doing reading comprehension tasks.
A. Limited vocabulary
B. The lack of grammatical structures
C. Inappropriate reading techniques
D. Others (Optional): ……………

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Question 2 refers to the role of reading techniques to student’s reading.
A.
B.
C.
D.

Very important
Important
Quite important
Not important at all

Question 3 investigates the first the first thing to do when working on IELTS
reading comprehension texts.
A. Read the question then read the text
B. Read the whole text from the beginning to the end immediately then read the question
C. Others (Optional): ……………

Question 4 discovers the way to deal with the questions.
A.
B.

Identify the type of question
Try to understand the question
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C.
D.

Think about the information you will need to find
Underline key words in the question and think about synonyms or

paraphrases for these key words
E.
Others (Optional): ……………

Question 5 investigates the frequency of predicting the content of the text.
A.
B.
C.
D.

Usually
Sometimes
Seldom
Never
D
16%

A
22%

C
18%

Question 6 aims at finding the way

B
44%
students read

the text.

A. Focus on every word for detailed understanding
B. Read quickly for general understanding first and then focus on other specific
information
C. Others (Optional): ……………

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Question 7 aims at finding student’s way to deal with new words and
unfamiliar structures.
A.
B.
C.
D.

Look them up in the dictionary
Figure out the meanings of the word from the text
Ignore them all

Others (Optional): ……………

Question 8 explores how often students read the sentences around the answer
to look for traps and check other information.
A.
B.
C.
D.

Usually
Sometimes
Seldom
Never

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Question 9 discovers how often students limit the time in doing reading
comprehension exercises.
A. Usually
B. Sometimes
C. Seldom
D. Never

Question 10 investigates the student’s using supplementary materials.
A. Newspapers and magazines
B. Reference books
C. Internet
D. Others (Optional): ……………

3.2.CLASS OBSERVATION
From the factual class observation, there still exist both strong and weak points in
the process of applying some techniques to doing reading comprehension texts, especially
in the while- reading stage.
In terms of strong points, most of the students prepared the supplementary materials
very carefully. All of their extra reading texts were from Internet which contains of

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various interesting topics and types of questions so that students can be more enthusiastic
in reading.
In contrast, there are numerous problems. The number of students in class was quite
large (from 37 to 40) and students did not pay adequate attention to the lessons. Many of
them made noise; and some others studied other subjects. Many students were passive and
waited the answers corrected by the teacher. Besides, they still used the method of
translating the text into Vietnamese in the while- reading stage. In addition, some students
did not limit the time for each question.
To summarize, the application some techniques to doing reading comprehension
texts still faces shortcomings. It is advisable to enrich the learning strategies for students to
develop their effective reading skills.
3.3.

READING SAMPLES

After answering the survey questionnaires, I gave the students a reading
comprehension sample – Multiple choice tasks. The obtained result is that no one had all
the right answers, and there was still some students had not completed the questions yet.
They read the text attentively from the beginning to the end to answer the question no.1
which asks to find the main idea of the passage. Although, the majority of them (80%) got

the right answer, they cost much time for just one question. Consequently, some questions
have not completed, and students got the poor result. In addition, they did not read the
options to get the idea what they may need to look for, and have the habit of highlighting
the key words at the same time. Hence, there were 28% of students having the correct
answers for question no.2 which needs to use scanning technique. Moreover, a large
number of them (78%) got the wrong answer for two questions related to the vocabulary
and synonyms as question no.4 and no.5 because they did not guess the meanings from the
text to answer this type of question.
After 10 minutes doing the first reading sample, I continued to give the students
another reading comprehension task which was as difficult as the previous one. This time,
I gave them some tips and techniques to do multiple choice questions. As a result, there
were many students having all the right answers for this time (60%). Firstly, students
applied skimming and scanning very well. They just read through the passage very quickly
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to find the main idea and focus on key words to locate the specific information. For this
reason, they saved much time for the other questions and the quality of the answer was
also ensured. Therefore, 90% of students answered correctly no.1 and 80% for question
no.2 and no.4. Secondly, they tried to guess the meaning of words in the text instead of
using dictionaries or choosing randomly, so the number of students having the exact
answers related to vocabulary as question no.3 and no.5 was higher than the previous time,
accounting to 70%.

Lastly, everyone had completed all the questions because they

managed the time successfully, and no one had all the wrong answers.
To summary, students should enhance their reading techniques and know how to
apply it accurately for each type of reading comprehension questions. If students do that
well, their readings will be better and their results will be improved remarkably.

CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS AND SOME SUGGESTED
TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION TO THE 1ST YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT,
HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY
4.1.MAJOR FINDINGS
My study is carried out to investigate some reading techniques applied by the first
year English majors at Foreign Language Department, HPU. From the data analysis, I
experienced findings in using these techniques to doing IELTS reading comprehension
texts.
Firstly, according to the statistics, all the students have the difficulties working on
reading comprehension texts. Their difficulties are various with the majority get trouble
with vocabulary, some lack of grammatical structures and not a small number of them
recognize that their using inappropriate techniques are the reason affecting their reading.
However, their attitudes to reading techniques are quite positive. All of them agree that it
is necessary to apply appropriate reading techniques in doing reading comprehension texts.
Secondly, before reading the texts, most of them acclaim it is vital to read the
questions to underline key words and reflect those words to synonyms or all possible ways
of paraphrasing them before skimming text as this step provides them with the gist of the
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text which hopefully gets them well-prepared for specific terminology related to the topic
presented in the reading task, accelerating their speed of fulfilling the exercise. Yet, there
are some students often read the text attentively from the beginning to the end first and
then read the questions. It is not a good way because doing IELTS reading comprehension
tasks doesn’t required you understand the passage at all, but you should aim to answer the
question correctly.
Last but not least, there are diversified sources where students can find the
supplementary materials to boost their reading skills raging from reference books,
newspaper and magazines to the Internet, etc. Each kind of source has its own advantages
and would be helpful if they know how to fully exploit the advantages.

4.2.

SOME

SUGGESTED

TECHNIQUES

TO IMPROVE READING

COMPREHENSION TO THE 1ST - YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS IN THE FOREIGN
LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT, HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY
Based on the nature of reading and learning reading in addition to what is
found from the survey, some useful techniques are suggested to help students read better,
especially do IELTS reading comprehension tasks well. Below is a list of IELTS question
types and some suggested skills used in each kind.
2.1.1. Paragraph headings
In this kind of reading, students should quickly read through the paragraph headings
first and then look at each paragraph. In itself, it is not entirely an exercise in skimming.
The students sometimes need to read some paragraphs carefully to choose an appropriate
heading as there are always more choices of paragraph headings on the list than
paragraphs and the answer do not come in order, so be careful when matching them.
However, the students should be encouraged to do it as quickly as possible to see how
quickly they understand the gist of the text.
2.2.1. Multiple choice questions
When doing this kind of exercise, students should read the questions stems as well
as the options first to get an idea of what they may need to look out for. As reading the
text, students should get into the habit of highlighting words that they think may be
important and it will help them find answers later. After skimming the passage, read the
questions again and those highlighted words will help students find out the answers more

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quickly. This type of question is also used to draw students to just on word of the text or
specific information, so it is necessary to use scanning skill to locate the precise
information of the passage. If students are running out of time or really do not know the
answer, they should have a guess. Students will not lose marks for wrong answers and
have a 25% chance of getting the correct answer just by guessing.
2.3.1. Summary completion
It is necessary to notice that the passage used for this type of exercise must be based on
the reading text and focus on the general message on the text, so that the students can make
full use of what they have read. Students do not need to try to understand the whole text but
they just focus more on the summary in the question. The tip is that students should read the
questions carefully, identify the type of word need for each gap (noun, verb, adjective, etc.)
and note how many words they can write, then they should skim the summary and try to
understand the overall meaning. Remember paying attention to the words collocating well
with the words in the sentence; and the answers usually come in order.
2.4.1. True/False/Not given
This type of question requires students identify the specific information in the
passage, so that the skill used is scanning. Students should paraphrase the statements
before trying to locate the answers and do not spend a long time for looking for the answer
to one question because it is probably NG if they cannot find it.
2.5.1. Sentence completion
Students should indentify the type of words needed for each gap (noun, verb,
adjective, etc.) first and then used scanning to locate the information in the passage in
order to choose the right word. They should remember checking the number of words can
be used for each answer and be aware of paraphrasing and synonyms.
2.6.1. Short answer questions
To do this task well, students should read the instruction carefully in order to check
how many words can be used for the answer first, then quickly read through all the

questions so students can get an idea of what information they will have to find in the text.
Besides, students should remember highlight the key words as reading the questions
because this activity will help them skim the text easily. After that, they scan the passage
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to locate the information to see which words will answer the question and make sure the
sentence will be grammatical.
2.7.1. Matching paragraph information
Students have to scan for specific words within the paragraphs. It is more likely that
they will be looking for synonyms (different words that mean the same or nearly the same)
and paraphrases rather than keywords from the question statements. When students have
found the words or phrases they think might give them the correct answer, they have to
read very carefully in order to fully understand the meaning to be able to decide if it is
really the correct answer.
PART 3: CONCLUSION
It is obvious that in the process of learning a foreign language in general and
English in particular, reading comprehension is a crucial skill of acquisition. That is why
the students have to think creatively and work efficiently in the learning process.
Moreover, applying the useful techniques to doing reading comprehension exercises will
help the students develop their reading skills as well as gives them other benefits to avoid
cultural and language bias, etc in daily communication. This is the reason why this topic is
chosen for my study. The research is done with four main chapters.
The first content of the graduation paper is theoretical knowledge about reading.
The definitions and types of reading, the importance of reading skill, stages of a reading
lesson, some techniques used in reading comprehension and factors in teaching and
learning reading as well have been presented.
The second content is methodology which investigates the situation analysis and the
instrumentation of the study.
The next part elaborates the situation of applying reading techniques to doing

reading comprehension tasks of English majors at Foreign Language Department, Hai
Phong University. The actual learning status was clarified through the survey
questionnaires, reading sample texts and some class observations at Foreign Language
Department, Hai Phong University. Time and efforts have been spent on accumulating
information about reading methods used in doing reading tasks. The statistics indicates
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that all of the students have positive attitudes toward reading, but the techniques applied
were not sufficient enough to develop their reading skills. It is advisable for them to apply
more accurate techniques in doing reading comprehension tasks.
The last part focuses on some suggestions for better reading. The thesis has
presented some useful techniques to develop certain reading skills for students mostly in
the while reading stage. Some techniques and tips presented in chapter four are all possible
to apply for doing reading comprehension, but the students must be flexible in using them
for each kind of reading.
My study is carried out with the hope that it may become a useful document for the
students concerning about the reading techniques.
Due to the shortage of time and knowledge, mistakes and short comings are
unavoidable. Thus, I will highly appreciate further remarks on my graduation paper from
teachers and friends to improve it both in the content and in the form. Moreover, it is
expected that the further studies will be the continuance for this one, which suggest
techniques to the remained stages, the pre- reading and the post- reading stage.

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APPENDICES
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES
1. Which of the following factors may affect your motivation when dealing with

IELTS reading comprehension tasks? (You can choose more than one option)
A. Limited vocabulary
B. The lack of grammatical structures
C. Inappropriate reading techniques
D. Other (optional): ……………
2. How do you find the role of reading techniques to your reading?
A. Very important
B. Important
C. Quite important
D. Not important at all
3. What do you do first when working on IELTS reading comprehension texts?
A. Read the question then read the text
B. Read the whole text immediately then read the question
C. Other (optional): ……………
4. What do you often do after reading the question?(You can choose more than
one option)
A. Identify the type of question
B. Try to understand the question
C. Think about the information you will need to find
D. Underline key words in the questions and think about synonyms or paraphrases for
these key words.
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E. Other (optional):....................
5. Before reading, how often do you predict the content of the text?
A. Usually
B. Sometimes
C. Seldom
D. Never

6. How do you often read the text in order to answer the question?
A. Focus on every word for detailed understanding
B. Read quickly for general understanding first and then focus on other specific
information
C. Other (optional):....................
7. When you get trouble with new words and unfamiliar structures, what do you
often do?
A. Look them up in the dictionary
B. Figure out the meanings of the word from the text
C. Ignore them all
D. Other (optional):.......
8. When you find the location for the answer, how often do you read the sentences
around the answer to check other information and look for traps?
A. Usually
B. Sometimes
C. Seldom
D. Never
9. How often do you limit the time for each answer in the reading exercise?
A. Usually
B. Sometimes
C. Seldom
D. Never
10.Which source do you often find the supplementary materials to improve your
reading skill?
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A. Newspapers and magazines
B. Reference books
C. Internet

D. Other (Optional): ……………

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SAMPLE TEXTS
1. READING COMPREHENSION SAMPLE 1
Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet
to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions from 1 to 5.
Long ago prehistoric man began to domesticate a number of wild plants and animals
for his own use. This not only provided more abundant food but also allowed more people
to live on a smaller plot of ground. We tend to forget that all of our present-day pets,
livestock, and food plants were taken from the wild and developed into the forms we know
today.
As centuries passed and human cultures evolved and blossomed, humans began to
organize their knowledge of nature into the broad field of natural history. One aspect of
early natural history concerned the use of plants for drugs and medicine. The early
herbalists sometimes overworked their imaginations in this respect. For example, it was
widely believed that a plant or part of a plant that resembles an internal 30 organ would
cure ailments of that organ. Thus, an extract made from a heart-shaped leaf might be
prescribed for a person suffering from heart problems.
Nevertheless, the overall contributions of these early observers provided the
rudiments of our present knowledge of drugs and their uses.
1. What does this passage mainly discuss?
A. Cures from plants.
B. The beginning of natural history.
C. Prehistoric man.
D. Early plants and animals.
2. Domestication of plants and animals probably occurred because of ______ .
A. need for more readily available food

B. lack of wild animals and plants
C. early mans power as a hunter
D. the desire of prehistoric man to be nomadic
3. The word “This” in the first paragraph refers to ________ .
A. providing food for man
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B. man’s domestication of plants and animals
C. mans ability to live on a small plot of land
D. the earliest condition of prehistoric man
4. The word “blossomed” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to ___.
A. produced flowers

B. changed

C. learned

D. flourished

5. An herbalist is which of the following?
A. A dreamer.

B. An early historian.

C. Someone who uses plants in medicine.

D. A farmer.

2. READING COMPREHENSION SAMPLE 2

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet
to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions from 1 to 5.
Swans are among the most beautiful of North American waterfowl and have always
enjoyed the admiration and even the protection of bird lovers. Of the six species in the
swan genus, only two are native to North America. The trumpeter swan, the largest of the
group, breeds in the northern United States and Alaska, and was nearly wipe outduring the
nineteenth century craze for elaborately feathered hats. The whistling swan, which winters
in large flocks on the Chesapeake Bay, has recently been renamed the tundra swan
because it breeds and summers on the northernmost tundra regions of the continent.
Recently, populations of mute swans – an exotic species introduced to North
America from Europe in the early 1900s – have begun increasing by an alarming 30 to 40
percent annually in some states. Most wildlife biologists today believe the majestic white
creatures, with their tendency to destroy a pond’s plant life and drive away native
waterfowl, might create havoc on the scale of the gypsy, moth, starling, or English
sparrow.
Both native species of swans are wild and require large areas of uninhabited
summer ground for nesting and feeding. Mutes, however, semi-domesticated and
accustomed to people, can nest in pairs of many as three or four on one small coastal pond,
which can burden delicate and environmentally essential brackish ponds.
1. The author’s main purpose in this passage is to _____________.
A. forewarn an environmental problem
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B. interest people in wildlife biology
C. describe swans of North America
D. prevent extinction of a swan species
2. According to the passage, the main issue concerning mute swans is that they are
A. not native to North America

B. semi-domesticated

C. increasing very rapidly

D. possessive of their habitat

3. The phrase “wipe out” in the passage is closest in meaning to _____________.
A. miscalculated

B. admired

C. cleaned up

D. killed

4. The author states that the native species of swans can live best ______________.
A. in unpopulated areas
B. in close contact with people
C. in the southern part of the United States
D. in a similar habitat to mute swans
5. The word “burden” in the passage is closest in meaning to ____________.
A. isolate

B. regulate

C. endanger

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D. beautify