A survey on the teaching of english reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at vietnam forestry universtiy

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF
LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF
POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

HỒ THỊ XUÂN HỒNG

A SURVEY ON THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH
READING SKILLS TO THE FIRST YEAR
STUDENTS IN MIXED ABILITY CLASSES AT
VIETNAM FORESTRY UNIVERSITY
(KHẢO SÁT VỀ THỰC TRẠNG DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CHO
SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRONG CÁC LỚP HỌC CÓ TRÌNH
ĐỘ KHÔNG ĐỒNG ĐỀU TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC LÂM NGHIỆP
VIỆT NAM)
M.A Minor programme thesis

Field: English teaching methodology
Code: 60 14 10

HANOI, 2010
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI


UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

HỒ THỊ XUÂN HỒNG

A SURVEY ON THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH READING
SKILLS TO THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN MIXED
ABILITY CLASSES AT VIETNAM FORESTRY

UNIVERSITY
(KHẢO SÁT VỀ THỰC TRẠNG DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CHO
SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRONG CÁC LỚP HỌC CÓ TRÌNH
ĐỘ KHÔNG ĐỒNG ĐỀU TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC LÂM NGHIỆP
VIỆT NAM)

M.A Minor programme thesis

Field: English teaching methodology
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor: Lâm Thị Phúc Hân, MA
HANOI, 2010


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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Retention and use of the thesis....................................................................................................... i
Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................. ii
Abstract.................................................................................................................................................. iii
Table of contents.................................................................................................................................. iv
List of abbreviations.......................................................................................................................... vii
List of tables and charts................................................................................................................... viii
PART A: INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 1
1 Rationale............................................................................................................................................. 1
2. Aims of the study............................................................................................................................. 2
3 Scope of the study............................................................................................................................ 2
4. Method of the study....................................................................................................................... 2
5. Significance of the study............................................................................................................... 2

6. Organization of the study............................................................................................................ 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT............................................................................................................ 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.................................................................................... 4
1.1. Theory of reading in second language teaching and learning..................................... 4
1.1.1. Definition of reading comprehension.................................................................................... 4
1.1.2. Models of reading process....................................................................................................... 5
1.1.2.1. Bottom-up model.................................................................................................................... 5
1.1.2.2. Top-down model..................................................................................................................... 5
1.1.2.3. Interactive model.................................................................................................................... 6
1.1.3. Features of an effective reading lesson................................................................................. 6
1.1.4. Reading problems and solutions............................................................................................ 7
1.1.5. Stages of a reading lesson........................................................................................................ 8
1.1.5.1. Pre-reading stage.................................................................................................................... 9
1.1.5.2. While-reading stage............................................................................................................... 9
1.1.5.3. Post-reading stage.................................................................................................................. 10
1.2. Theory of mixed-ability classes.............................................................................................. 10


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1.2.1. Definition of mixed ability classes........................................................................................ 10
1.2.2. Benefits of mixed ability classes............................................................................................ 10
1.2.3. Challenges of mixed ability classes....................................................................................... 11
1.2.4. Strategies for teaching mixed ability classes....................................................................... 12
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................... 14
2.1. The teaching context.................................................................................................................. 14
2.1.1. The learners................................................................................................................................. 14
2.1.2. The teachers................................................................................................................................ 15
2.1.3. The syllabus................................................................................................................................ 15
2.1.4. The teaching and learning conditions................................................................................... 15

2.2. A survey on the teaching of English reading skills to the first year students in
mixed ability classes at VFU............................................................................................................ 16
2.2.1. Participants.................................................................................................................................. 16
2.2.2 Data collection instruments...................................................................................................... 16
2.2.3. Data collection procedure........................................................................................................ 17
CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION.......................................................................... 18
3.1. Results and discussion............................................................................................................... 18
3.1.1. Students’ and teachers’ attitudes toward learning and teaching English reading skills
................................................................................................................................................................... 18

3.1.2. Difficulties in teaching reading texts..................................................................................... 20
3.1.3. Techniques in teaching reading texts..................................................................................... 22
3.1.4. Ways of classroom management............................................................................................ 26
3.2. Summary of main findings....................................................................................................... 28
3.2.1. Advantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed
ability classes at VFU........................................................................................................................... 28
3.2.2. Disadvantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed
ability classes at VFU........................................................................................................................... 29
CHAPTER 4: IMPLICATIONS.................................................................................................... 31
4.1. Improving students’ participation in classroom activities............................................ 31
4.1.1. Having a good understanding of individual students........................................................ 31
4.1.2. Clarifying learning goals to the students.............................................................................. 31


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4.1.3. Making use of pair/ group work............................................................................................. 32
4.1.4. Changing the roles while teaching......................................................................................... 33
4.1.5. Making use of modern technology in teaching................................................................... 34
4.2. Improving teaching techniques.............................................................................................. 34

4.2.1. Adjusting teaching time and efforts....................................................................................... 35
4.2.2. Varying strategies in three stages of reading lessons......................................................... 35
4.2.2.1. Before reading......................................................................................................................... 35
4.2.2.2. While reading.......................................................................................................................... 36
4.2.2.3. After reading............................................................................................................................ 38
PART C: CONCLUSION................................................................................................................. 40
1. Summary of the study................................................................................................................... 40
2. Limitations of the study................................................................................................................ 41
3. Suggestions for further study..................................................................................................... 41
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................... 42
APPENDIX............................................................................................................................................ i
Appendix 1: Survey questionnaires.............................................................................................. i
Appendix 1.A: Survey questionnaires for students....................................................................... i
Appendix 1.B: Survey questionnaires for teachers....................................................................... ix
Appendix 2: Sample reading texts.............................................................................................. xvii


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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
VFU: Vietnam Forestry University
ESP: English for specific purposes
MAC: Mixed ability classes
ESL: English as second language

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS


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Table 1: The frequency of difficulties in teaching reading texts
Table 2: The frequency of pre-reading activities
Table 3: The frequency of while-reading exercises
Table 4: The frequency of post-reading activities
Table 5: The frequency of grouping students with same or mixed ability
Chart 1: The importance of reading in comparison with other language skills
Chart 2: The importance of developing reading skills to the first year students in VFU
Chart 3: The main purpose of teaching reading skills to the first year students at VFU
Chart 4: Opinion about reading texts in the textbook
Chart 5: The frequency of other difficulties faced by the teachers when teaching reading in MAC

Chart 6: Ways of reading to find the main idea of the text
Chart 7: Ways of reading to find specific information of the text
Chart 8: Frequency of pair/group working
Chart 9: Students' opinion about benefits of working in pairs/groups
Chart 10: Teachers' reasons for making the students work in pairs/groups


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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1 Rationale
Like in any other countries, in the process of integrating into regional and international
economic and diplomatic development, English is now a compulsory subject in every
school in Vietnam. Both teachers and learners seem to pay greater attention to the teaching
and learning of this language. The ultimate aim is the ability to use it for communicative
purposes. To obtain this aim, however, is not an easy task because students should be able
to acquire four skills of listening, speaking, writing and reading in addition to English
grammar, pronunciation, etc. Among these areas, reading skills play an indispensable and
inseparable part in the process of teaching and learning English as it helps students enrich

their general knowledge, and support their learning of other language skills and elements.
Therefore, how to teach and learn reading is very important.
In Vietnam Forestry University (VFU), a non-language major university, the teaching and
learning of English in general and English reading skills, in particular have received a
greater deal of attention and achieved certain success because English and English reading
skills are very important for the students to read their major’s documents in English and
very useful for their job later. However, the effectiveness of teaching and learning reading
skills is still limited, especially to the first year students. This problem may be resulted
from some factors. Firstly some teachers have been accustomed to traditional teaching
methods. They often waste much of their time explaining new words and grammatical
structures for final exams instead of providing different reading strategies for different
reading tasks to develop the students’ reading skills. The text, therefore, plays as a source
of materials for language lessons instead of skill lessons. Secondly, achieving effectiveness
in teaching reading skills become more challenging when all English classes in this
university consist of a large number of students with different language learning ability.
The other reasons may come from the reading materials, syllabus and teaching and
learning conditions.
As a teacher of English in VFU for nearly four years, this situation encourages the author
to investigate the advantages as well as the disadvantages of this issue and give some
suggestions for better learning and teaching English reading skills to the first year students.


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2. Aims of the study
The major purposes of this study are:
(1) to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of teaching English reading skills to

the first year students in mixed ability classes at VFU.
(2) to give some suggestions to make use of the advantages and overcome the

disadvantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability
classes at VFU?
These objectives will be achieved by finding the answers to the three following questions:
(1) . What are the advantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in

mixed ability classes at VFU?
(2) What are the disadvantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students

in mixed ability classes at VFU?
(3) What should be done to make use of the advantages and overcome the disadvantages of

teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at VFU?
3 Scope of the study
The study investigates the current situation of the teaching of English reading skills to the
1st year students in MAC at Vietnam Forestry University.
4. Method of the study
To achieve the aims mentioned above, the quantitative approach which involves survey
questionnaires is employed to collect data for the study. The survey questionnaires are
administered to both teachers and students. The results obtained from the teachers will be
compared with those from the students for more reliable data.
5. Significance of the study
This study can, hopefully, be useful for the teachers and students in VFU as well the
researchers who have interest in this field. Once successfully completed, the study will
manage to provide a picture of teaching English reading skills to the first year VFU
students. Through the findings of the study, some suggestions will be given with a hope to
take the advantages of the strengths and overcome the weaknesses to help the first year
students in VFU improve their reading skills. Furthermore, this study can offer various and

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useful references for further studies. It can also be an idea that attracts other researchers to
go further.
6. Organization of the study
The study consists of three main parts:
Part A is the introduction which states the rationale, aims, scope, method, significance and
organization of the study
Part B is the development which consists of 4 chapters:
Chapter 1, which serves as a theoretical and methodological foundation of the
study reviews the literature relevant to the topic. Chapter 2 presents the
research methodology.
Chapter 3 refers to the results and discussion of the survey in addition to the
summary of the main findings.
Chapter 5 is the implications which include some suggestions for better teaching
and learning reading to the first year students in MAC in VFU.
Part C is the conclusion that summarizes what has been done through the study, presents
the limitations and gives some suggestions for further researches.


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PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter reviews theories and previous researches related to reading comprehension
skill as well as mixed ability classes (MAC). It serves as a basis for an investigation into
teaching reading in MAC which is presented in the next chapter.
1.1. Theory of reading in second language teaching and learning
1.1.1. Definition of reading comprehension
Reading comprehension plays an important role in teaching and learning a foreign

language. Having a deep understanding about nature of reading is very essential because
what teachers understand about it will have a great influence on what they teach in the
class. In fact, methodologists and researchers have been provided with different definitions
of reading comprehension.
According to Grellet (1981, p.3): “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.
Having a slightly different idea from Grellet, Eddie William (1984, p.2) defined reading as
a process whereby one looks at and understand what has been written. Carrell and Esday
(1988, p.12) also asserted that “reading is receptive language process in that it starts with
linguistic surface representation encoded by a writer and ends with meaning that the reader
constructs”. The two authors shared the same point. In their opinion, reading does not
mean that a foriegner need to understand everything in a text, he is not simply a passive
object, fed with letters, words or sentences, but is actively working on the text and get the
conveyed messages without looking at every letter and words.
Richard and Thomas (1987, p.9) added more detail in his definition:
Reading comprehension is best described as an understanding between the author and
the reader. The emphasis is on the reader’s understanding of the printed page based on
his individual unique background of experience. Reading is much more than just
pronouncing words correctly or simply what the author intends. It is the process
whereby the printed pages stimulate ideas, experiences and responses that are unique to
an individual.
This opinion indicates that reading comprehension refers to the students’ understanding of
the text using their own ideas, experiences and responses. In other words, the readers use


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their knowledge (their experiences) to get meaning out of printed pages which includes not

only facts or details but also emotion, beliefs and critical evaluation.
Though these opinions are not exactly the same, it can be concluded that reading
comprehension is a process of obtaining the required information in the lesson as efficently
as possible. In reading process, the reader plays an active role and both of his knowledge of
the language and that of the world are extremly important to his reading success.
1.1.2. Models of reading process
In the last 40 years, many researchers have developed models to describe what happen
when people read, among which bottom-up, top-down and interactive models are the three
most important ones.
1.1.2.1. Bottom-up model
In Christine Nuttall (19820)’s opinion, “In bottom-up processing, the reading builds up a
meaning from the back marks on the page: recognizing letters and words, working out
sentence structure” (p.17)
David Nunan (1991, p.64) shared the same opinion that “the bottom-up approach is
basically a matter of decoding a series of written symbols into their aural equivalent”.
It is certain that in bottom-up process, readers focus on individual words and phrases and
achieve understanding by combining the detailed elements together. This model helps
readers much understand the elements in the text such as vocabulary and grammar
structure. However, this kind of reading process reveals some shortcomings.
According to Christine Nuttall (1982, p.17), if only using bottom-up model, readers cannot
believe that the apparent message was really what the writer intended. Moreover, the reader
in this case is put in a passive state and the text is treated as a grammatical unit rather than
a textual one as a whole. In addition, it was difficult to account for the role of contextual
clues and that of the reader’s prior knowledge in understanding the text.
1.1.2.2. Top-down model
In contrast to the bottom-up model, the top-down one argues that readers bring a great deal
of knowledge, expectation, assumptions, and questions to the text and they continue to read
as long as the text confirm their expectation (Goodman, 1967, p.126). Cambourne (1979,
p.78-90) had a clearer definition that
Top-down reading is an active process of prediction, selection, and confirmation in

which the reader brings to bear not only knowledge of the language, but also internal
concepts of the processing of language information, encoded in graphic, symbols, past
experimental background, general conceptual background knowledge.
These points of view indicate that top-down process emphasizes the reconstruction of
meaning rather than the decoding form. The interaction of reader and the text is the centre


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to this process. Readers bring to this interaction their knowledge of the subject, expectation
about how language works, interest and attitudes towards the content of the text.
Just like bottom-up model, this model has some limitations. It is sometimes implausible
because of flexibility of information processing. It also underestimates the functions of
lower order information. Furthermore, readers who have little knowledge of the topic
cannot generate predictions. And it is also time consuming and fails to describe skilled
reading behavior. (Samuel & Kamil ,1988)
Theoretically, bottom-up and top-down approaches provide us with different pictures of
reading process and both of them show strength as well as weakness, so elements of them
are combined to a more insightful model under the name of interactive model.
1.1.2.3. Interactive model
Eskey (1988, p.94) defined interactive reading model as a reading model that “posits a
constant interaction between bottom-up and top-down processing in reading, each source
of information contributing to a comprehensive reconstruction of the meaning of the text.”
He also believed that to achieve both fluency and accuracy in reading, good readers must
work at perfecting both their bottom-up recognition skills and their top-down interpretation
strategies. In other words, good reading can only result from a constant interaction between
these two processes.
This idea is proven later by Penny Ur’s opinion. To her, “The construction of meaning that
occurs in reading is a combination of bottom-up process (decoding and understanding
words, phrases and sentences in the text) and top-down one (our expectation, previous

knowledge, construct of the text content and genre)” (1996, p.141).
The mentioned viewpoints convey the same thing that both bottom-up and top-down
process contribute to the understanding of the text in reading. In reading process,
sometimes it is the individual details that help readers understand the whole; sometimes it
is the overview that allows them to process the details.
Interactive model is really the best reading process because it can make use of the advantages
of bottom-up and top-down models and eliminate the shortcomings within them.

1.1.3. Features of an effective reading lesson
To have a successful reading lesson, it is advisable to know the characteristics of an
effective reading comprehension lesson. According to Penny Ur (1996, p.148), an effective
reading lesson should contain the following points:
a) The language of the text is comprehensible to the learners. It is not too difficult or too easy.
b) The content of the text is accessible to the learners; they know enough about it in order

to apply their own background knowledge.


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c) The reading process is fairly fast: mainly because the reader has automatized recognition of

common combinations, and does not waste time working out each word or groups of words.
d) The reader concentrates on the significance and skims the rest. He does not have to pay

the same amount of attention to all parts of the text.
e) The reader takes incomprehensible vocabulary in his or her stride: guess its meaning

from the surrounding text, or ignore it.
f) The reader can think ahead, hypothesize, and predict what will be next.

g) The reader can use his background information for understanding the text.
h) The reader is motivated to read by an interesting context or a challenging task.
i) The reader has a clear purpose in reading.
k) The reader uses different strategies for all texts.
All the features listed by Penny Ur above indicate the important roles of the teacher in a
successful reading lesson. Concerning to this issue, Moore (1992) said that “The teacher is
an environmental engineer who organizes the classroom space to fit their goal and to
maximize learning. The way the physical space of the classroom is organized can either
help or hinder learning”. (p.5)
Being concerned with the roles of the teacher in teaching reading, Marianne (2001, p57-62)
listed a lot of the teacher’s in teaching reading such as controller, organizer, assessor,
prompter, participant, resource, tutor and observer. In his opinion, all these roles aim at
facilitate the students’ process of reading.
In general, all the features of an efficient reading lesson are equally important. In teaching
reading comprehension, teachers should be aware of his/her teaching roles and take these
characteristics into consideration and apply them flexibly.
1.1.4. Reading problems and solutions
According to Christine Nuttall (1982), when dealing with texts, students often have
difficulties in establishing the plain sense of the text, dealing with vocabulary and syntax,
and have difficulties with the conceptual content of texts, particularly if the topic is
unfamiliar or if writers and readers are from different cultures.
More recently, Marianne (2001, p.203) has added more problems in reading. He found that
teaching and learning of receptive skills (reading and listening) presents a number of
particular problems which will need to be addressed. There are to do with language, topic,
the task students are asked to perform and the expectations they have.
Both of the two authors suggested solutions for these problems. The solutions below are
suggested by Marianne (2001). They are very brief but easy for teachers to follow.


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Language problems
- Pre-teach vocabulary: Students can be provided with meaning and usage of new or difficult

vocabulary that appear in the text. This will strongly support the reading process later.
- Extensive reading: students read at length, often for pleasure and in a leisure way. That is

the bet way for students to develop automaticity.
Topic problems
- Choose the right topic: it is wise to choose topics which are appropriate with all students

because if they are not interested in a topic or if the topic is unfamiliar with them, the
students may be reluctant to engage fully in the followed activities.
- Create interest: Unfamiliar topics can cause problems in reading but they can be

improved if teachers succeed in creating interest in reading lessons. They can get students
engaged by talking about the topic, showing a picture for prediction, having them to look at
the headlines before reading, etc.
- Activate schemata: The reading process becomes easier if students can relate the topic to

what they already know in their real life.
Comprehension task problems
- Differentiate testing and teaching: the best kind of tasks are those which raise students

expectation, help them tease out the meaning of the text whereas tests are used to explore
students and their weaknesses, therefore, teachers should base on these purposes to choose
suitable activities in reading lessons.
- Appropriate challenge: when asking students to read, it is better if texts and tasks are

either far too easy or far too difficult. Getting the level right depends on the right match

between text and tasks. Thus whether a text is difficult or easy, it may still be used only if
the task is appropriate.
Negative expectation
When students have low expectation of reading, it will be the teacher’s job to persuade
them to change these negative expectations into realistic optimism.
- Manufacturing success: by getting the level of challenge right (in terms of language, text

and tasks), students are sure to succeed. And by giving them a clear and achievable
purpose, teachers can help them achieve that purpose.
- Agreeing on a purpose: It is important for teachers and students to agree on both general

and specific purposes for reading. Are the students trying to discover detailed information
or just get a general understanding of the text? If the students know what they are reading
for, they can choose how to deal with the text. If they understand the purpose, they will
have better chance of knowing how well they have achieved it.


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1.1.5. Stages of a reading lesson
A reading lesson can be divided into three stages which are 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 (William, 1984, p.37).
1.1.5.1. Pre-reading stage
In a reading lesson, the pre-reading stage is an important one because it creates motivation
and positive attitude towards the reading text for students. It will focus their attention on
what they are going to read. According to Williams this stage happens to introduce and
arouse interest in the topic; motivate learners by giving a reason for reading and provide
some language preparation for the text (1984, p.37). Drucker suggested the following
procedure teacher can take before reading a text:

…relate the passage students are going to read something that is familiar to them.
Next, provide a brief discussion question that will engage the students and, after that,
provide and overview of the section they are bound to read. Name the selection,
introduce the characters, and describe the plot. Last, direct the students to read the
story or look for particular information. (2003, p.23)
General speaking, this stage is really necessary to set a good preparation for students,
provide them the sense of what they are going to do in their reading lesson.
1.1.5.2. While-reading stage
While-reading stage is the main part of a reading lesson. Without this stage, the students
will lose the chance to deal with the text to understand the writer’s purpose and clarify the
text’s content in detail.
Williams (1984, p.38) pointed out that the aims of the while reading is to help to understand
the writer’s purpose; to help to understand the text structure and to clarify the text.

There are various activities that teachers can choose for his students in this stage. Such as
skimming for the gist, scanning for specific information, recognizing the organization of a
text or understanding the relation between sentences and clauses, etc (Mathews, Spratt &
Dangerfield, 1999, p.67).
Studying the reading lesson, Sheils (1993:92) suggested a wide range of activities in the
while reading stage such as deducing meaning, questioning, recognizing, matching,
ordering, following instructions, comparing, note-taking, completing and decision-making/
problem-solving.


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It is, however, essential to be flexible in this task. The selection of any of them depends on
the nature of the reading text and the level of the students. Besides selecting suitable
activities, during the while-reading stage, the teacher should bear in mind his roles of an
organizer, observer, assessor or prompter, etc.

1.1.5.3. Post-reading stage
This is the final but not the less important stage of a reading lesson because it is time for
students to apply what they have got from the text into real life communication. In
William’s opinions (1984, p.39), the post-reading stage aims at consolidating or reflecting
upon what has been read and relating the text to the learners’ own knowledge interest or
views. After completing the tasks in the previous stage, students may be asked to discuss
the text’s main points, retell or rewrite the stories.
In summary, each of the reading stages carries its own aims and activities. It is very
effective if these three stages are combined flexibly and appropriately for an efficient
reading lesson.
1.2. Theory of mixed-ability classes
1.2.1. Definition of mixed ability classes (MAC)
Ireson and Hallam (2001) suggested that teacher need to recognize that a class is mixed
ability because students have different strengths and weaknesses and develop at different
rates. They have different preferences for learning and displaying their works.
Rrodromou (1995) indicates that mixed ability or heterogeneous classes are classes which
are made up individuals who differ in any number of ways. The simplest way of looking at
the class is in term of language ability and learning English ability.
Penny Ur (2005, p.304) also defines MAC by listing a number of differences within them.
They are differences in language learning ability, language knowledge, cultural
background, learning style, attitude towards language, mother tongue, intelligence, world
knowledge, learning experience, knowledge of other languages, age, gender, personality,
confidence, motivation, interests, and/or educational level
These viewpoints provide a clear picture of MAC. In this kind of learning environment,
there may be differences in levels of learners’ abilities in the receptive and productive
skills, fluency and accuracy work, grammatical knowledge, size of vocabulary and
command of pronunciation. Some students seem to be good at languages, able to pick
things up quickly and remember them, while others are slower, lacks of study skills and
generally experience more difficulties in learning.

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1.2.2. Benefits of mixed ability classes
Apparently, to some extend, learning in a MAC still displays some strengths.
Corley (2005) found that those with limited proficiency have an opportunity to interact with
more proficiency ones, and advanced learners benefit by using their skills to help lower level
ones negotiate learning. Students in MAC can learn to work together across differences and
develop learning communities in which members learn from one another strengths. Ur (2005)
showed a positive attitude toward MAC by listing a lot of its advantages as follows:
- Students’ knowledge, varied opinion, interests and ideas can be used in classroom interaction;
- Students increase their knowledge and awareness of the others;
- There is much more peer learning and collaboration among students since teachers are

less able to attend every individual student;
- Classes are more challenging and interesting for teachers and students.

These strengths of MAC should be taken into account to weaken a number of its
shortcomings which will be discussed in the following part.
1.2.3. Challenges of mixed ability classes
The variations in MAC may occur in different degrees in different classes. Thus, if teachers
want to ensure that all students perform to their maximum potential, they must identify
these problems and deal with them accordingly.
According to Penny Ur (2005), various differences in MAC pose a lot of teaching
problems. He considered some as the most significant ones in such MAC such as difficulty
in control discipline; difficulty to be certain that all students are learning effectively;
difficulty to find appropriate materials; difficulty to follow individual progress; and
difficulty to activate all learners’ participation.
Şalli-Çopur (2005) shared the same opinion with Penny Ur but he described the difficulties
much more clearly:

Effective learning
Because of the fact that every student has a different way of learning, and learns and
progresses at different speeds, while some students may find the learning task very easy to
deal with, others may find it difficult to understand. Besides, learning also depends on what
students have brought with them into class. Since each comes from a different family, a
different environment and/or a different nation, the multi-cultural population of the
classroom may be an obstacle for the teachers in reaching the students, which eventually
results in ineffective learning.


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Interest
This problem may arise due to the differences among students in terms of their attitude
towards the subject matter and/or the teacher; their knowledge of language and their
personality. For instance, some students may find lessons boring, as the topic has no
familiarity with them. Some of the students may not be interested in the lesson, unless they
get the chance to express their own ideas since the teacher talks too much during the lesson
or the other students take many turns.
Participation
In MAC, some students may find it difficult to speak the language because of many
reasons ranging from interest to confidence, from age to knowledge. Other students,
however, would like to express everything they think or feel by using a new language. As a
result, some students may take many turns, while others do not speak even a word just sit
quietly or do their own homework of other subjects.
Materials
Teachers, moreover, have to deal with the problem that students react differently to the
textbook due to their individual differences. In fact, some students may find the textbook
boring and very hard, whereas some find it interesting or very easy.
Discipline

Obviously, quicker students finish the tasks given before the others. As a result, they may
misbehave while waiting for the others to finish. The weaker students, on the other hand,
cannot finish the tasks as quickly as the strong ones and may loose their confidence and
show ill-disciplined behavior for a variety of reasons related to that. Consequently, mixed
abilities may result in classroom management problems.
In reality, these multi-level ESL classes display more disadvantages than advantages. In
conclusion, it is really challenging to ESL teachers when students of lower level may feel
threatened, left out and frustrated whereas ones of higher level feel bored and discouraged.
Teachers certainly have to do more work for class management and teaching material
preparation. Hence, lesson planning is often time-consuming and the classroom
management is exhausting. It is also difficult to use one source of teaching materials and
there is less time for each group of students.
1.2.4. Strategies for teaching mixed ability classes
Solutions to problems in MAC are suggested by many methodologists and researchers.
According to Şalli-Çopur (2005), pair/group work activities are useful in MAC. They are
not only for the teacher to observe students but also for the students to cooperate and to
learn from each other. When a strong student works with weaker students, the student can
be a source of language/knowledge in the group. The teacher, on the other hand, may form


13

groups of weaker and stronger students separated from each other, and she can give
different tasks to these groups. So the stronger and quicker students work with more
complicated tasks, whereas the weaker students deal with a simpler task or work with the
teacher as a group member.
Harmer (2008) suggested following key elements in successful large group teaching:
understand students, be organized, establish routines, use a different pace for different
activities, maximize individual work, use students, use pair and group work and take
account of vision and acoustics.

Penny Ur (2005) also recommended a variety of procedures teachers could adopt to
overcome the problems which emerge in MAC.
- To deal with discipline problems, teachers can vary tasks and materials to make the lesson

more interesting since discipline problems can associated with boredom and lack of challenges;
- For all students effective learning, teachers can individualize activities, thus students learn at

their own pace, and occasionally they choose their own tasks; teachers can encourage
compulsory plus optional instructions in which students have to do a minimal part of the task,
and the rest they do if they want to; teachers can also open ended cues, in which students do not
have predetermined right answer, there are many acceptable responses;
- To find suitable materials, teachers have to adapt and/or supplement course books to add

variation, to include elements of choice and individualization and to get more participation,
which are important characteristics in heterogeneous classes;
- To follow all students’ progress, teachers would work with individualization or

monitoring pairs and groups by listening to them and giving feedback later on;
- To activate participation, teachers should engage students in tasks by increasing

collaborative and individual work using open ended cues.
Recently, Ashok Raj Khati (2010), in his study of strategies in teaching English in large
multi-level classroom, has emphasized some ways of classroom management. According to
him, it is important to establish rules from the beginning, and be fair and consistent all the
time. In addition, teachers should learn students’ names to build respectful relationship
with them by association (looking at students and see if something strikes you), visual
(seeing students and noticing their faces or body posture) and aural (listening to the
students' voice)
In summary, the chapter so far has presented the relevant literature, which had helped to
form the theoretical and conceptual framework for the study. It has discussed about the

different aspects related to reading skill as well as mixed ability classes. What is more, the
problems of teaching reading skills, the challenges in mixed ability class as well as useful
accordingly solutions have been reviewed.


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CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
To have a picture of teaching reading to the first year students in MAC in VFU, in this
chapter, the researcher firstly introduces briefly the teaching context or the objective
learning and teaching conditions in VFU. Then, a survey on the teaching of reading skills is
presented focusing on the participants, the data collection instruments and data collection
procedure.
2.1. The teaching context
The researcher has been an English teacher in VFU, a non-English major university for 4
years. This university is situated in Xuan Mai town which is about 30 kilometers far away
from Hanoi center. This following part deals with some features of the author’s teaching
context which reveals some benefits and challenges in developing students’ English skills
in her university.
2.1.1. The learners
VFU is a non-language major university and because of its distinct forestry majors
(Sivilculture, Forest Management and Protection or Wood Processing…), many students of
this university come from remote areas. Recently, thanks to the university’s policy of job
extension, some other majors have been opened such as Accounting, Business
Management, Informatics Technology or Construction, VFU attracts quite a lot of students
from cities and other nearby provinces. Obviously, conditions of studying English in remote
areas are very poor, so apart from the difference in the students’ interest, their English
proficiency is also at different level. Students from remote areas are often worse at English
than those from the cities. In addition, although many students may come from the same
area, city or province, before entering university, some of them had learned English for 6

years, some had learned for 3 years, some had learned Russian or French and some even
have never learned a foreign language. Thus, some of them are good at English, some of
them are not. Moreover, in this university, since English is only one of the general courses,
the students often have much more concentration on their majors rather than practice
English although it is very important for their future jobs.
2.1.2. The teachers


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There are totally 9 teachers (including the researcher) of English in this university. They all
graduated from Vietnam National University, College of Foreign Languages.
Of the 9 teachers, 3 of them, who used to be teachers of Russian or French have been
teaching English for 15 to 17 years and the rest, who graduated from English Department
of College of Foreign Languages have experienced from 3 to 7 years of teaching English.
Generally, all teachers here are severe, enthusiastic in working. In each semester, with a
total of about 25 general English classes and 10 ESP classes, each teacher is responsible
for 4 or 5 classes. This is equivalent to around 25 periods each week excluding the burden
of marking examinations and time for a lot of different school work. More than this, in
each class, the teachers often have to cope with over 50 students whose English
proficiency is different. Apparently, they have to deal with a heavy workload in order to
fulfill their task.
2.1.3. The syllabus
VFU has applied the same English syllabus and the same material to students of all
faculties. In their first two years, the students are to study 150 periods of general English
which is divided into three phases and New Headway Elementary and Pre-Intermediate
(written by Liz & John Soars, Oxford University Press, 2000) are the main textbooks
during the course.
All the first year students have to complete the two first phases of the course. In the first
semester (the first phase), 14 units of New Headway Elementary are taught in 12 weeks

which is equivalent to 60 periods. In the second semester (the second phase), the students
have to learn the first 7 units of New Headway Pre-Intermediate. The last 7 units of this
textbook are covered in the second year (the third phase). The second and third phase only
last in 45 periods. Totally, the first year students have only 105 periods to complete 21
units in New Headway Elementary and New Headway Pre-intermediate.
In the middle or at the end of each phase, all the students are only assigned the same paper
tests which focus on grammar and reading. There is no assessment test on speaking and
listening and writing.
2.1.4. The teaching and learning conditions
Although VFU is a non-English major university, the condition of teaching and learning
English is quite good. English classrooms are equipped with cassettes, computers and
projectors which are useful to enhance the effectiveness of English lessons. However, the


16

computers and projectors have not been frequently used because of some reasons. Some of
the teachers are unable to use them well. In addition, these devices have not been fixed in
the classrooms, so before each lesson, if the teachers want to use them, they have to make a
registration and call another one to bring them to the class. This situation seems to be not
vey convenient, thus the teachers are sometimes hesitant to use them. Furthermore, in the
library, except for the English text books, there are no extra references for students.
2.2. A survey on the teaching of English reading skills to the first year students in
MAC at VFU
Basing on the teaching condition, a survey was conducted to find out the strengths and the
drawbacks that the teacher in VFU encounter when teaching English reading skills here.
2.2.1. Participants
The survey was carried out with the help of 300 first year students and 9 English teachers
of VFU.
- The students are the first year students who were chosen randomly from different English

classes. Because VFU is applying the training credit system, the students of any faculty can
register to learn in one English class, so they are not from one faculty but from 6 faculties
of this university. In addition, as described in the last part (c.f. 3.1.1), they are not English
major students, they come from different provinces, and their ability to learn English is
different, too.
- The teachers are all the teachers in the foreign language department of this university. They

has experienced from 3 to 17 years of teaching English. Some of them used to be Russian or
French teachers, and the rest were fully trained to be teachers of English (c.f. 3.1.2).

2.2.2. Data collection instruments
Survey questionnaire was chosen as the instrument to collect data for the study because of
some reasons. Firstly, this kind of instrument does not take so much time to administer as
the others. Secondly, since the same questionnaire is given to all participants at the same
time, the data are more standard and accurate. Lastly, questionnaires can be easily
quantified due to the use of multiple choice questions. (Selinger and Shohany, 1989)
Although this study aims at investigating the teaching of reading skills of the VFU teachers,
survey questionnaire was administered to both the teachers and students and they were all
asked to answer questions related to the same category that can be found in class. The
results from the teachers will be compared with those from the students for more reliable


17

data. These questions are designed to get information concerning:
- Students’ and teachers’ attitudes toward learning and teaching English reading skills.

(Question 1, 2, 3, 4- Appendix 1.A; and question 1, 2, 3, 4 - Appendix 1.B)
- Teachers’ difficulties in teaching reading. (Question 5- Appendix 1.A; and question 5, 6 –

- Techniques in teaching reading (Question 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 – Appendix 1.A; and question 7, 8,

9, 10, 11 – Appendix 1.B)
- Ways of classroom management (Question 11, 12, 13 – Appendix 1.A; and question 12,

13, 14 – Appendix 1.B)
2.2.3. Data collection procedure
There were four phases in the procedure of collecting data:
Firstly, all the questions for the teachers and students were designed concerning some of
the important issues in English reading classes (c.f. 3.2.2)
Secondly, the author piloted the questionnaires by having some teachers and students
answer them to examine whether they help to elicit the kind of intended data. Basing on the
feedbacks from these students and teachers, the author revised the questions that were
inappropriate or ambiguous to the respondents and therefore improved the quality of the
data obtained.
After that, the questionnaires were delivered to both students and teachers who were
selected as the participants of the study at the end of the first year at, after the students had
finished the two first phases of compulsory basic English course. This is the time when the
teachers understand much about their students’ proficiency, difficulties or learning styles,
etc. And this is the time when the students are also familiar with their teacher’s teaching
methods. Therefore they can answer the questionnaires more exactly.
Finally, the collected data was analyzed quantitatively. The results were presented in the
form of charts and tables for clear analysis and comparison.
In summary, this chapter presents some information about the survey on the teaching of
English reading skills to the first year students in MAC in VFU. It mentioned the teaching
context, the participants, the data collection instruments and the data collection procedure.
The survey’s results and discussion will be presented in the next chapter.

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

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This chapter will first present the results of the survey in addition to some discussion or
comments, then summaries of main findings will be given.
3.1. Results and discussion
3.1.1. Students’ and teachers’ attitudes toward learning and teaching English reading skills

Questions 1, 2, 3 (Appendix 1.A & 1.B) are delivered to investigate students’ and teachers’
attitudes to the importance of reading in English and teaching reading skills to the first year
students in VFU.
Chart 1: The importance of reading in
comparison with other language skills

Chart 2: The importance of developing
reading skills to the 1st year students
in VFU

A. more important than any language skills

A. very important

B. as important as other language skills

B. important

C. not as important as other language skills

C. not very important

D. not important at all

D. not important at all

As shown in chart 1, about one-third of both teachers and students agreed that reading was
the most important skill. A majority of the teachers (66,7%) thought that reading
comprehension was as important as speaking, listening and writing, whereas only 46 % of
the students shared the same viewpoint. One remarkable things shown in the chart is that
quite a large number of students (22%) considered that reading was less important than
other language skills. This may be a disadvantage because these students might not pay
enough attention to learning this important skill.
The results from chart 2 seem to be similar to those from chart 1. Whereas all of the
teachers stated that teaching reading skills to the first year students was very important and