ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
During the time of finishing this study, I owe deep indebtedness to many people
for their generous supports and invaluable contributions.
First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor Nguyen
Thi Ngoc Quynh, Ph.D. for her enthusiastic support, helpful guidance and constant
encouragement which are the guiding stars in leading me through great hindrances
and inspiring me to conduct the study successfully.
I am indebted to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Le Hung Tien & Dr. Pham Thi Thanh Thuy for
their valuable and interesting course in Research Methodology and Le Van Canh,
Ph.D. for his precious lecture in Reading skills in TESOL Methodology course
which has helped me build up data of literature review.
My deep thanks are also extended to all staff, lecturers and members at Faculty of
Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam
National University, Hanoi for their work and services.
Words of thanks are sent to my friends of group 20, especially my K20B classmates
for their advice and useful documents.
My study would probably not have been completed without the active participation
of my colleagues and their students at EQuest Academy in data collection process
using survey questionnaire and semi-structured interview.
Finally, my special appreciations go to my parents and my younger brother, Pham
Duc Tuan, who have always given me their head over heels in love, intensive care
and positive encouragement.
i
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to find out (1) what problems EQuest Academy (EQ)
teachers and EQ students had in the teaching and learning to prepare for TOEIC
reading comprehension skills (part 7). Furthermore, (2) the teachers and students’
perspectives s on the strategies which they had employed were expected to be
discovered.
In order to obtain the intended goal, 90 students of TOEIC class and 15 teachers in
charge of TOEIC course undertook the data collection method of questionnaires and

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4
1.1. Reading 4
1.1.1. Definition of reading 4
1.1.2. Reading process 5
1.1.3. The teaching and the learning of reading 6
1.2. TOEIC 6
12.1. TOEIC definition, origin, benefit and topic 6
1.2.2. TOEIC reading 8
1.2.2.1. TOEIC reading background 8
1.2.2.2. Some factors affecting the teaching and learning of TOEIC reading
comprehension skills 11
1.2.2.3. TOEIC reading comprehension strategies 11
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 13
2.1. Setting 13
2.2. Research design 13
2.2.1. Participants 13
2.2.2. Data collection 14
iii
2.2.2.1. Instruments 16
2.2.2.2. Procedure 16
2.2.2.3. Data analysis 17
CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 19
3.1. Research question 1 19
3.1.1. Perceptions about difficult reading text 19
3.1.2. Areas of difficulties 20
3.1.3. Reading skills 23
3.1.4. The students’ performance in class 25
3.1.5. Difficulties with the teachers’ lecture 27
3.2. Research question 2 28

Table 3: Teachers’ difficulties with the students’ performance in class 25
Table 4: Students’ difficulties with the lecturers’ lecture 27
Table 5: Teachers and students’ types of reading texts often exploited 28
Table 6: Teachers’ advice to deal with reading text 36
Table 7: Learners’ strategies to deal with reading text 38
Figure 1: Teachers and students’ perception about difficult reading 19
Figure 2: Teachers and students’ areas of difficulties 20
Figure 3: Teachers and students’ difficulties with reading skills 23
Figure 4: Teachers and students’ strategies before TOEIC reading
comprehension lessons 30
Figure 5: Teachers and students’ exploitation of reading approach 32
Figure 6: Teachers’ and students’ reponses related to priorty of
reading passages 34
Figure 7: Teachers’ and students’ reasons for reading single passages first 34
ABBREVIATIONS
& and
vi
EQ EQuest Academy
p page
T Teacher
TOEIC Test of English for International Communication
vii
PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. The statement of the problem and the rationale for the study
Recently, in Vietnam, learning foreign languages especially English has been
taken more notice as a result of intense and extensive world economic integration
which occurs in a “flat, hot and crowed” world as the present (Friedman, 2008).
Noticeably, in such a competitive global economy, those who achieve an excellent
level of using English are highly well-qualified for good jobs. The TOEIC test,
regarded as the worldwide standard for measuring English proficiency in the

have employed are expected to be detected. In specific, a detailed investigation is
carried out to specify the strategies EQ students have used during the process of
reading comprehension and the strategies EQ teachers have employed in the
process of teaching. In brief, this study aims to address two following research
questions:
1. What are the difficulties encountered by teachers and students at EQuest
Academy in the teaching and learning to prepare for the TOEIC reading
comprehension test?
2. What are the strategies proposed by teachers and students at EQuest
Academy towards the teaching and learning to prepare for the TOEIC
reading comprehension test?
3. Scope of study
Despite the fact that the topic is about “[a]n exploratory study on the teaching and
learning of TOEIC Reading Comprehension skills at EQuest Academy”, the
researcher only concentrates on a few aspects of the teaching and learning of
TOEIC Reading Comprehension skills namely the difficulties in learning, the
difficulties in teaching, the strategies in learning and the strategies in teaching.
The samples of the study were, due to the time limitation and the small scale of
research, restricted to 90 EQ students in 373 Hoang Quoc Viet, in 55 Nguyen
2
Khang and on 2
nd
floor of HESCO Building, Km 10 Nguyen Trai. At the same
time, 15 EQ teachers were involved in the research.
4. Method of study
To address the two research questions presented above, a combined data
collection process using survey questionnaire and semi-structured interview had
been used.
Survey questionnaire consisting of two sets of questionnaire (a set for students and
the other is for teachers) was employed to collect information from 90 EQ

user, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded by a
writer as a graphic display.”
In a nutshell, the researcher is in favor of Goodman (1971) that reading can be
described as the process including the reader, the text and the meaning which is
transferred from the writer to the reader via the text.
Regarding reading comprehension, Roe, Stoodt & Burns (1987) regard it as
“reconstruction, interpretation, and evaluation of what author of written content
means by using knowledge gained from life experience” (p.9). RAND Reading
Study Group (2002) is in agreement with Roe, Stoodt & Burns but in the other
4
words that reading comprehension is “the process of simultaneously extracting
and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written
language” (p.11). It is constituted by the three components: the reader, the text and
the activity of purpose for reading. The purpose for reading will be an important
factor in reading comprehension. For instance, a person who is wondering whether
she/he has enough money to go on vacation in Ha Long Bay needs to comprehend
the price information provided on the travel package, but does not need to realize
the name of every site in Ha Long Bay and service involved.
Lee & VanPatten (1995) add that only when novel information is integrated into
information already stored in memory will comprehension occur (p.191). They go
on to allege that readers are capable of allowing the incoming data to “become a
part of their knowledge store” (p.191).
1.1.2. Reading process
Two main reading processes include “the top-down approach” and “the bottom-up
approach” (deDebat, 2006, p.8). While the top-down process focuses on a reader’s
“background knowledge” (or knowledge and the previous experiences) to
understand a written text, the later emphasizes “decod[ing] a text word by word,
linking the words into phrases and then sentences” (Gray & Rogers, 1956, cited in
deDebat, 2006, p.9)
As deDebat (2006, p.10) states, the top-down process is closely related to “schema

flexibly which are based on the task’s purpose and solving-problem (p.4).
1.2. TOEIC
1.2.1. TOEIC definition, origin, benefit and topic
Firstly, in the research report of Educational Testing System, Test of English for
International Communication (TOEIC) is “multiple-choice” proficiency test which
is built to measure communicative English for “nonnative-English speakers”
(Wilson, 2000, p.1).
6
Furthermore, as Boldt & Ross (1998, preface) announce, in world-wide business
settings, TOEIC is regarded as “the world’s leading test of English language
proficiency” with the number of 1.5 million test-takers in 1997 (Boldt & Ross,
1998, preface). Obviously, TOEIC places a crucial role in the setting of global
economy as an international assessment tool of communicative English in the
workplace.
Secondly, regarding the origin of TOEIC, Test of English for International
Communication was built by ETS (Educational Testing Service) from the originally
proposed request by Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Suzuaki
& Daza, 2004, p.16). In the TOEIC Report on Test-takers worldwide, Japan and
Korea were two countries which TOEIC test results were the most popularly
exploited (63% and 29% respectively) (cited in Suzuki & Daza, 2004, p.16).
Thirdly, in term of TOEIC benefits, the test is considered a golden key to
unlock the door into “job recruitment” as well as “admission to graduate
schools” (Kamijo, n.d, p. 174). According to Boldt & Ross (1998, p.3),
English language proficiency is a primary priority of many international
incorporations when they make up their mind about “hiring, overseas
staffing, placement and career advancement” (p.3)
In a review of the reading section of the TOEIC, Suzuki & Daza (2004)
argues that TOEIC can be employed by many corporations for different
purposes such as “(a) technical training in English; (b) overseas
assignments; and (c) language training” (p.16). Furthermore, TOEIC can be

hotels, reservations, delays and cancellations
(Examinee handbook-listening & reading, 2012, p.3)
Table 1: TOEIC topics
1.2.2. TOEIC reading
1.2.2.1. TOEIC reading background
It has been popularly known that TOEIC Listening and Reading is a 120-minute
paper-and-pencil test which includes two sections: listening section and reading
section. There are 100 multiple-choice questions in reading section which takes
75 minutes. Reading score scale ranges from 5 to 495 and the total score scale
(both reading and listening) ranges from 10 to 990 (Examinee handbook-
listening & reading, 2012, p.2).
8
Reading section covers three parts (part 5, part 6 and part 7 in total TOEIC test)
and instructions provided for each part. Regarding part 5, 40 questions are
presented to test TOEIC learners’ grammar and vocabulary extensively. Below
each sentence with a blank which needs to be filled out with a word or phrase are
four options marked (A), (B), (C) and (D). A typical example is taken from
[e]xaminee handbook-listening & reading (2012, p.12) as follow:
101. A late fee will be applied to your account _______
payment is not received by March 31.
(A) and (B) whether (C) but (D) if”.
For this sample question, the answer (D) is the best choice, so the examinees
should mark the letter (D) on their answer sheets with the pencils supplied by IIG
Vietnam. As recommended by Lougheed (2007), so as to do such forty-question
task effectively, the examinees should be trained with “word families, similar
words, prepositions, conjunctions, adverbs of frequency, causative verbs,
conditional sentences, verb tense and two-word verbs” (p.108)
Part 6 is basically similar to part 5 in the form of question. Accordingly, the test-
takers are also required to complete each sentence with a word or phrase which is
represented by (A), (B), (C) and (D). There are two dissimilar things between part

Sections
Number of
questions
Number of
Passages
Questions Question
numbers
Single passages 28 7-10 2-4 per passage 153-180
Double passages 20 4 pairs 5 per pair of passages 181-200
(Lougheed, 1996b, p.150)
Table 2: TOEIC reading comprehension structure
1.2.2.2. Some factors affecting the teaching and learning of TOEIC
reading comprehension skills
10
As stated in TOEIC research report #3 by the Chauncey Group International Ltd,
class size is classified into 3 groups: small (under 10 learners), medium (10-20
learners) and large (more than 20 learners) (p.5).
Some factors impacting the success of acquiring language may involve “learning
materials, the background of the instructors, objects of the training course, the
number of students in the class” besides students’ factors such as “motivation, age
and time spent in an English-speaking country” (Boldt & Ross, 1998, p. 3)
The interesting finding by Chujo & Oghigian (2009) shows that “in order to gain
95 percent coverage on TOEIC, a reader would need a minimum vocabulary size
of 4,000 words or 3, 000 word families” (p.121)
1.2.2.3. TOEIC reading comprehension strategies
Lougheed (2007b) suggests that reading skills such as “skimming, scanning, using
the context and reading fast” (p.227, see more in the 6
th
appendix) should be
practiced sharply to enhance reading comprehension. He goes on to add that a

EQuest Academy where the researcher has been teaching TOEIC for 2 years is
one educational organization which highly majors in educating students or
workforce to take English standardized tests such as TOEFL iBT (Test Of English
as a Foreign Language), IELTS (International English Language Testing System)
and TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication). Among these
training courses, TOEIC course (see appendix 4) attracts a lot of students from big
universities in Hanoi namely Hanoi University of Commerce, Institute of Finance,
Hanoi University of Industry or Foreign Trade University to take part in this
course. To meet requirements for a TOEIC course, students should be at pre-
intermediate level of English in order to catch up with advanced curriculum. Some
students whose English is not good enough to attend in TOEIC course will have to
join the lower proficiency course called Foundational Academic Course (FAE). In
FAE course, students will be provided with input knowledge such as more
vocabulary, grammar and sentence structures to improve their four skills including
speaking, listening, reading and writing to prepare for next higher course TOEIC
course.
2.2. Research design
2.2.1. Participants
In accordance with ETS statistics, TOEIC test-takers in 2010 were comparatively
young. 40% were between 21 and 25 years old while 23% were at younger age,
below 20 years old (ETS, 2011, p.8). The students registering for in-2013-TOEIC
course in EQuest Academy seemed to be younger than those from ETS statistics
from different regions worldwide. The in-the-research-Equest students’ ages
ranged from 19 to 27 with different kinds of occupations. About 85% were
between 21-25 years old. They were third year or fourth year students who wanted
to have better skills for TOEIC in preparation for the-inside-house TOEIC at their
school. About one-third of participants aged 21-25 had graduated from their
schools for about 1 year but still out of employment.
13
The number of participants in the study was 90 who had been chosen randomly

classified into two parts, each part corresponding to one research question. The
first four questions were related to difficulties encountered by Equest TOEIC
teachers in teaching. The difficulties were categorized under the headings namely
(1) perceptions towards difficult reading texts”, (2) areas of difficulties in
teaching, (3) reading skills with much trouble in teaching and (4) the students’
performances causing the teachers’ teaching less efficient. The second part from
the 5
th
question till the 11
th
question was concerned about the strategies proposed
by Equest teachers. Noticeably, the 7
th
question about reading approach which the
teachers trained students in TOEIC reading comprehension was noted with three
key terms followed by Vietnamese brief explanation to avoid possible
misunderstanding which might lead to inaccuracy of the results later on.
Concerning the 8
th
question, the teachers in the research were asked about their
experience and advice in choosing whether single passages or double passages
should be read first to obtain highly practical effectiveness. The two follow-up
questions were designed to uncover the convincing reasons from the teachers’
recommendations as stated in the 8
th
question.
The students’ questionnaire was similar to the teachers’ questionnaire. It also
covered closed ended questions and open-ended questions. In fact, the number of
questions for the students was the same as the quantity of questions for the
teachers but from different perspective because the researcher would like to

difficulties in teaching TOEIC reading comprehension (in the teachers’
questionnaire) and in learning TOEIC reading comprehension (in the students’
questionnaire) and the other is the strategies.
Step 2:
16
115 questionnaire papers were printed and delivered to 90 students and
15teachers of TOEIC randomly chosen in different branches of EQuest Hanoi
after the researcher had contacted the teachers of five classes and asked for the
reasonable time. Additionally, the researcher was always willing to assist the
participants by making any points in the questions that might be implicit become
more comprehensive. Afterwards, all the papers of questionnaire were collected
carefully to ensure the quantity of data.
Step 3:
After questionnaire papers have completed, semi-structured interviews were
carried out with 15 students and 8 teachers who have previously taken part in
questionnaire data collection process. For the teachers, three teachers with the
two-year-experience year, 3 teachers with about the six-month-year of training
TOEIC and the last four teachers are less than six month. In the results and
discussion, eight TOEIC teachers in the interview were coded into T1, T2, T3, T4,
T5, T6, T7 and T8 respectively.
2.2.2.3. Data analysis
Descriptive statistics method was employed to analyze the data. Moreover, the
information collected from the interview was made use to compare and contrast
with the data achieved from the questionnaire which had been calculated and
transferred into the numerical forms.
To be specific, the data collected from survey questionnaire had been organized
into two categories: the difficulties (the first research question), the strategies in
the teaching and learning to prepare for TOEIC reading test (the 2
nd
research