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PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study.
Nowadays, English is the most popular language in the world. As an effective
means of international communication, it is used as the official language in many fields of
life such as economics, politics, science, technology, sports and many others. This leads to
an increasing demand of learning English. There are more and more people who learn
English and consider it as an inevitable factor in their work and life.
In Vietnam, English has been brought into the school curriculum as a compulsory
subject, and the teaching and learning of that international language has been recently paid
great attention to. When teaching English, the teacher teaches his students not only the
English language but also its usage. And under the right guidance, right help of the teacher,
the students have to try their best to master 4 language skills: reading, writing, listening
and speaking in order to communicate in English successfully. Among these four skills,
reading plays an important role in enriching the students’ general knowledge and in
helping them with their further study later.
Owing to the importance of reading itself, the growing interest in learning English
in Vietnam creates a wide learning environment. It can be seen that the teaching of reading
of reading comprehension has been paid in increasing attention to its different aspects. As
time goes by, many experts and methodologists have come to understand that reading
comprehension is important not only at schools but also afterwards. That is reading helps
students as readers develop their language ability in general and comprehension skills in
particular at schools as well as gives them other benefits to avoid cultural and language
bias, etc. in daily communication. Recognizing the importance of reading, I decide on
choosing “Using While- Reading Techniques to Improve Reading Comprehension for
the 11
th
Form Students at Phan Dang Luu High School ”
2. Aims of the study
The specific aims of the study are as follows:
- Clarifying the nature of reading comprehension in accordance with some

The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part is the Introduction which
includes rationale aims, scope, methods, significance and design of the study. The second-
Development is the main part which consists of three chapters. Chapter I is about review of
literature relating to reading comprehension. Chapter II investigates the present situation of
learning and teaching reading to the 11
th
form students at Phan Dang Luu high school.
Chapter III gives some suggested techniques used in the while- reading stage to develop
the reading skill for the 11
th
form students. Part III is the Conclusion of the study.
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PART 2: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, I attempt to deal with definitions of reading in general and reading
comprehension in particular, types of reading and teaching reading comprehension.
1.1. Theoretical background of reading comprehension
1.1.1 Definitions of reading.
The term “Reading” is widely used in practice. However, reading is differently
defined due to the areas of defining in term of activities or goals at any one level on grade.
That is why, no definition of reading can possibly include all points of views and features.
Moreover, each one’s definition only reflects what reading means to that person.
However, a careful considered definition of reading is very necessary for the
reading teacher. Because reading is the most critical aspect of any teaching programme and
for the teachers to decide what they will teach in the classroom. Herein, I would like to
mention some definitions of reading extracted from different sources on the theme.
Elias and Ingram (1977:55) states:
“Reading was defined as the abstraction of meaning from a visual configuration,
and was shown to involve desirably not a painstaking grapheme- by- grapheme decoding
but the postulation of alternatives of meaning which one reduced by the parsimonious

shows that
“Here are two broad aspects or levels. First there is basically visual task, that of
deciphering the marks on the page, the brain receiving signals, from the eyes. Secondly,
there is cognitive task, that of interpreting the visual information, so the one is not simply
“barking at print””
Deriving from those opinions, reading is considered a process in which a reader
looks at and understand what has been written out.
1.1.2 Definitions of reading comprehension
In teaching reading, it is necessary to understand the nature of reading
comprehension. What the teacher understands about it will have a great influence on what he
or she teaches in the class. He would know what to teacher and how to make his reading
lesson effectively. In fact, methodologists have been providing different definitions of
reading comprehension.
According to Grellet (1981: 3): “Reading comprehension or understanding a
written text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible.”
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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.
Also concerning the reading comprehension, Richard and Good (1978:9) provide a
clearer point of view:
“Reading comprehension is best described as an understanding between the author
and the reader. The emphasis is on the reader understanding of the printed page based on
the individual reader’s unique background of experience. Reading is much 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”
According to the above authors, reading comprehension is not only simply
understanding what is written, but also is what stimulates students to remember from their
experiences. That knowledge is then used to get meaning out of printed page, but in the
mind of the readers which included not only facts or details but also emotion, belief and

We read different texts in different ways. According to the way of reading, we have
aloud reading and silent reading. Depending on the purpose of reading, we can classify
reading into skimming, scanning, intensive reading and extensive reading.
1.1.4.1 According to the ways of reading.
1.1.4.1.1 Aloud reading
Aloud reading is an unnatural activity because most people do not read aloud in
real life, and it is difficult for the speaker to pay attention to the meaning of the text when
reading aloud. According to Doff (1988:67), “aloud reading involves looking at a text,
understanding it and also saying it. Its purpose is not just to understand a text but to convey
the implication to someone else.”
This kind of activity seems to be more popular in the language classroom. It
focuses on the pronunciation of words in the text rather than understanding. In reading a
text, students come across many new words and phrases that they do not know how to
pronounce. The teacher, in this case may help his students pronounce words by reading the
text orally and loudly.
Aloud reading is often applied for beginners and limited in upper classes because of
some reasons. Firstly, it takes up a long time as students often read slowly when they focus
on pronunciation. They consequently have not enough time to deduce the meaning of the
text or complete comprehension exercises. Secondly, because students are concerned with
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pronunciation, it is hardly for them to understand the meaning of the text as Lewis and Hill
(1995:110) mention: “Asking a student to read aloud also means that he may concentrate
inadequately on their meaning. He may read correctly but afterward will not be able to tell
what he has read”
That is the reason why, only for the early stages of foreign language learning, aloud
reading should become an established part of a lesson to help the beginners read words,
phrases with correct stress and intonation in a sentence.
1.1.4.1.2 Silent reading
Silent reading is the nearest approach to the essence of reading. Because only by
reading silently, can the readers best comprehend the written materials in the shortest

In brief, skimming is a very useful study technique to help the learner organize his
thoughts and specify what information he can get from a book, so that his reading is more
efficient. Hence, skimming should be applied in teaching reading to help students have an
overview of what they read.
1.1.4.2.2 Scanning
Similar to skimming, scanning is a necessary technique in reading efficiently.
Douglas (2001:308) defines scanning as follows: “Scanning was quickly searching for
some particular piece or pieces of information in a text”
Sharing the same opinion with Douglas Brown, Williams (2001:100) emphasizes:
“Scanning occurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly in order to find a particular
point of information.” It reveals the key to scanning is to decide exactly what kind of
information we are looking for and where to find it.
In addition, Grellet (1981:19) gives a more detailed definition of scanning: “When
scanning, we only try to locate information and often we do not even follow the linearity of
passage to do so, and scanning is far more limited since it only means retrieving what
information is relevant to our purpose.”
These authors have the same point that while scanning reader does not need to read
form cover to cover, they only look for the information they want by running their eyes
rapidly along the lines. It can be practised with the great range of texts such as dictionaries,
map, advertisements, labels, etc. This kind of reading is very useful in reading selectively.
In general, both skimming and scanning are effective techniques for quick and
efficient reading. It is advisable to make use of them to improve reading comprehension
skills for students in reading classes.
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1.1.4.2.3 Intensive reading
Intensive reading is also widely used in a reading class. Its is an effective way to
explore the text, to go deeply into the meaning and the organization of the text.
According to Grellet (1981:4) “Intensive reading means reading short text to extract
specific information. This is an accuracy activity involving reading for details.”
In addition, Nuttal (1989:23) writes: “Intensive reading involves approaching the

of a foreign language because its aim is to cover the content of text in the shortest possible
period of time. In the language classroom, the teacher must introduce some suitable
reading materials to students, as it is useful for them to form a good habit of reading.
1.2 Teaching reading comprehension
1.2.1 Relationship between reading and other skills.
In the process of teaching and learning English, it is very crucial for learners to realize
the integration of language. That is the possibilities of other aspects of foreign programme.
Therefore, reading skill is closely related to writing, listening and speaking skills. Understanding
relations will help learners succeed.
According to Rivers and Temperly (1978), reading skill is not a single skill but an
integrated- language skill. Firstly, reading is related to writing. That is when students are
asked to summarize or continue the reading material such as resume, end of a story, short
descriptions of the characters, etc. secondly, reading is concerned with listening
comprehension. Students may listen to a story, a play… than read it or read first and “listen
to a worthwhile reading or dramatic presentation of what they have read. The aural element
adds vividness and life to the reading unit” (Rivers and Temperly, 1978:259). They further
note that
“Practice in direct reading of a text which is readily accessible to the students at their
present level of knowledge, while they are simultaneously listening to a taped model reading
it in meaningful and expressive segments, can help students develop useful habits of
anticipation and syntactic identification in both of these skills.”
Thirdly, that is integration of reading and speaking. Reading materials serve as a
fundamental source for oral presentations as they can base on these ideas they have read to
discuss or debate for their own purposes. This is the best way for them to share what they
have been reading with others.
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To summarize, those combinations between reading and, writing, listening,
speaking comprehension should be put into serious consideration when teaching and
learning English as a foreign language.
1.2.2 The roles of the teacher and the students in a reading lesson

way the physical space of the classroom is organized can either help or hinder learning ”
In this case, it is plausible to create an environment of a communicative classroom
where meaningful and useful reading activities are carried out, so that the students can best
acquire reading skills and practice other language skills.
In general, the teacher must be aware of what they need to do in a reading lesson.
Playing their roles well will certainly help the teacher lead successful reading lessons. It
will help students understand the text efficiently, and at the same time improve
considerably their reading skills.
1.2.2.2 The roles of the students
In communicative language teaching, the learners are regarded as the centre of the
lesson. It is true in every reading lesson. During the reading process, the students play the role
of an active and creative listener as well as readers.
In a reading lesson. Students must take an active role as listener. 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.
The students must also be active and flexible readers, it is wise if they work on
their own during the reading process, make full use of the class time to read and do the
exercises to achieve a full understanding of the text. Its is necessary for them to find a
suitable reading strategy and use their background knowledge to fulfill their tasks because
the significance of the text as well as the information is not always directly stated in
printed pages.
In summary, students are the key factor to decide the success of a reading lesson.
Teacher and students ate interrelated to each other during the process of teaching and
learning reading skills.
1.2.2.3 The roles of reading materials
The roles of the reading texts must be paid attention to in teaching and learning
reading skills because an appropriate text is very important in building up pupils’ reading
competence (Boughton, Brumfit, Flavell, Hill and Pincas, 1990:102)
In William’s opinion, reading material is any piece of written language. It may
come from the integrated course book which includes reading texts, from the

Williams (1984:37) writes:
“What the pre- reading phrase tries to do is:
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1. To introduce and arouse interest in the topic.
2. To motivate learners by giving a reason for reading.
3. To provide some language preparation for the text”
In general in the pre- reading stage, it is necessary to set a good preparation for
students, provide them the sense of what they are going to do in their reading lesson.
1.2.3.2 The while- reading stage
1.2.3.2.1 Aims
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 (1984:38) points out the aims of the while-
reading stage:
1. To help to understand of the writer’s purpose.
2. To help to understand of the text structure.
3. To clarify the text.
He also gives the teacher some questions to ask himself on order to deal with the
above- mentioned aims:
1. What is the function of this text?
2. How is the text organized or developed? (e.g.: a narrative, an
explanation with various examples, an argument and counter argument)
3. What content or information is extracted from the text?
4. What may the reader anger or deduce from the text?
5. What language may be learned from the text?
6. What reading styles may be practiced?
It is clear that, question (1) deals with the aims of understanding, the writer’s
purpose, question (2) helps to recognize the text structure and the rest help to clarify the
text content.
The answers to these questions will be a guide for the teacher in this stage.

Skills Activities
Understanding the relation
between sentences and
clauses
1. Jumbled sentences or paragraphs.
2. T circles the references devices in a text and SS work
out what they refer to
3. T gives students a passage in which the logical
connectors are blanked out. Students have to read the
passage and work out what the connector must be.
4. Prediction exercises: Students only read the first line
and then predict the next.
Recognizing the effect of
style
1. Multiple choice or True/ False questions
2. Discussion on the style of the text.
3. Parallel passage in different style.
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Recognizing the
organization of a text
1. Jumbled paragraphs
2. Discussing the function of particular paragraphs.
Making inferences
True/ false or discussion questions on possible
interpretation of the text
Extensive reading
Students red on a self- access basis from a class reading
bank.
Skimming for the gist
1. The text is used simply as spring board for discussion

effective if these three stages are combined flexibly and appropriately for an efficient
reading lesson. In the while- reading stage, it is necessary to help the students improve and
develop sub- reading skills such as skimming, scanning, or reading for details. If the
students can acquire these skills, it is easier for them to understand efficiently the
significance of the text. To acquire these skills, students may be instructed to take part in
various activities according to each skill. There are numerous activities in this stage. The
teacher should be flexible in choosing them for their reading lessons. In the process of
reading, asking students to work in pairs or groups is also advisable. This may enable
students to feel more pleasant in reading, encourage the to work harder to improve and
develop effective reading skills.
3.4 Summary
In this chapter, all the concerning theoretical background of reading comprehension
has been presented. First, some definitions of reading and reading comprehension basing
on some linguistics scholars have been presented. Second, teaching reading comprehension
consisting of relationship between reading and other skills, the role of the teacher as well
as the students in the three stages of a reading lesson have been reviewed.
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CHAPTER 2:
THE PRESENT SITUATION OF
LEARNING TEACHING READING TO THE 11
TH
FORM STUDENTS
AT PHAN DANG LUU HIGH SCHOOL
2.1 Introduction
Nowadays, together with improvements of other skills of English learning,
reading comprehension has been put into consideration at secondary schools in Vietnam.
As time goes by, a lot of achievements in teaching reading comprehension can be clearly
seen. It is true that quality of teaching and learning reading comprehension in most
secondary schools has been improved remarkably in terms of the teachers’ methods and
the learners’ attitudes. However, there are still some problems facing the reading teachers a

Question 1, 2, 3 in the survey questionnaire 1 and questions 1, 2 in the survey
questionnaire 2 are conducted to investigate teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards
reading in English, the importance of reading in English and the importance of developing
this skill. The results are as follows:
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Chart 1: Students’ attitudes towards reading in English.
A. Yes B. No
Chart 1
Chart 2: Students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards importance of reading
comprehension.
A. Very important
B. Important as other language skills
C. Less important than other language skill
D. Not important at all
Chart 2
Chart 3: Students’ and teachers’ attitudes towards importance of developing
reading comprehension skills
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A. Very important B. Important
C. Not very important D. No important at all
Chart 3
Chart 4: Students’ and teachers’ opinions about reading texts in English 11
textbook
A. Interesting C. Suitable to student’ level
B. Boring D. Not suitable to students’ level
Chart 4
Basing on the collected data from Chart 1, 2 and 3, it is obvious that a majority of
students and teachers had positive attitudes towards learning and teaching reading
comprehension. Most of students were interested in reading in English (chart 1). They gave
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provided for reading purposes. The statistics indicates that students who read in English with
the combination of the mentioned purposes are the largest, accounting for 65%. Next is the
number of students who consider widening vocabulary and grammatical structures as their
reading purposes (27%); 15% of them read for developing language skills; 9% read for
information and reading for pleasure is the least percentage (only 3%).
As can be seen, the purposes of reading in English are various. Many students
think that reading can help them much in reinforcing language skills and elements and
improving background knowledge.
2.2.1.2 Students’ difficulties in reading.
Chart 6: Students’ difficulties in reading
A. Lack of vocabulary
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B. Lack of grammatical
C. Lack of background knowledge
D. Lack of reading skills
Chart 6
The next question (Chart 6) find out students’ difficulties in reading texts.
According to the data, many students had more than one and different difficulties. Both
teachers and students shared nearly the same opinion about students’ difficulties in
reading. There is only a great imbalance in the last mentioned difficulty. While 30% of
students thought it was difficult for them to complete comprehension exercises (lack of
reading skills), only 12% of teachers recognized this. This fact may have great effect to the
efficiency of reading lessons. When teachers do not recognize their students’
shortcomings, they cannot help them to overcome these problems. In this case, the teacher
may not concentrate on developing their students reading skills but providing them with
new vocabulary and grammatical structures.
Students’ difficulties in reading are also various. How do the students overcome
these difficulties?
2.2.1.3 Students’ and teachers’ methods of learning and teaching reading texts.
Chart 7: Students’ ways of overcoming difficulties