VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
 MAI THỊ HIỀN A STUDY ON TEACHING READING SKILLS
TO THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS
AT HANOI UNIVERSITY FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT
USING THE TEXTBOOK “NEW CUTTING EDGE –ELEMENTARY”

(NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT KHÔNG
CHUYÊN ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC TÀI NGUYÊN VÀ MÔI TRƯỜNG HÀ NỘI SỬ DỤNG
GIÁO TRÌNH NEW CUTTING EDGE - ELEMENTARY) M.A. MINOR THESIS Field: English Language Teaching Methodology
Code: 60140111
Hanoi, 2014


Hanoi, 2014

i
DECLARATIONS

I, Mai Thi Hien, hereby certify that this minor thesis entitled “A study on
teaching reading skills to the first year non-English major students at Hanoi
University for Natural Resources and Environment using the textbook “New
Cutting Edge –Elementary” is the result of my own research in the fulfillment of
the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post Graduate
Studies - University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National
University, Hanoi. Mai Thi Hien ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to show my deep gratitude to all the lecturers
at University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National
University, Hanoi for the invaluable lectures, which laid the foundation for my
thesis.

importance of reading skills: they expressed their positive attitudes to learning and
teaching reading skills as well as developing reading skills. All of the students also
have clear purpose in reading. Many of them read for different purposes such as
pleasure, gaining information and background knowledge, improving language
skills supplementing grammar, enriching vocabulary and improving pronunciation.
In contrast, the negative findings are related to the number of students in a
classroom; the demotivating reading texts in the course “New Cutting Edge –
Elementary”, technical aids, the lack of background knowledge; and the
inappropriate, ineffective and out of date methods being used in teaching reading
skills of the teachers at HUNRE. On the basis of the data collection and analysis,
the author has provided some suggestions on training students to become efficient
readers, improving teachers‟ teaching skills and developing reading materials. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT III
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VII
LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES VIII
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims of the study 2
3. Research questions 2
4. Methods of the study 3
5. Scope of the study 3
6. Design of the study 3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1.1. Definitions of reading skills 5
1.2. Reading skills 7

2.2.5.1. Survey questionnaire for students 32
2.2.4.2. Survey questionnaire for teachers 39
CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 45
3.1. Findings 45
3.2. Suggestions 47
3.2.1. Suggestions for teachers 47
3.2.1.1. Making students aware of the nature of reading process 47
3.2.1.2. Promoting students to be fully aware of their reading purpose 47
3.2.1.3. Encouraging students to have extensive and reading habit. 48
3.2.1.4. Recommendation for the course book adaptation 49
3.2.2. Suggestions for the university 53
3.2.2.1. Improving teachers‟ professional knowledge 53
3.2.2.2. Improving teaching methodology 53
3.2.2.3. Developing reading materials 54
PART C: CONCLUSION 56

vi
1. Conclusion : 56
2. Limitations and recommendations for further studies: 56
REFERENCES 58
APPENDIX I: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS I
APPENDIX II: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS IV

vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1. CEFR : Common European Framework of Reference
2. ESL : English as a Second Language

1. Rationale
Understanding the importance of English, Vietnam Government has approved
the Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project (NFL2020) (Vietnamese
government‟s Decision 1400) to build national foreign language capacity. The
overall objectives of Project is to comprehensively renew foreign language
teaching and learning in the national education system, to implement new foreign
language teaching and learning programs at different education levels and training
levels in order to remarkably improve human resources' foreign language
proficiency, especially in a number of prioritized domains, by 2015; by 2020, most
young Vietnamese graduates of professional secondary schools, colleges and
universities will have a good command of foreign language which enables them to
independently and confidently communicate, study and work in a multilingual and
multicultural environment of integration; to turn foreign languages into a strength of
Vietnamese to serve national industrialization and modernization. English is now
taught as a compulsory subject to all students at university in our country.
All students at Hanoi University for Natural Resources and Environment
(HUNRE) have tried their best to gain good knowledge of English. To master
English, they need to grasp all four skills that are closely related to one another:
listening, speaking, reading and writing. Among these skills, reading is important
because it not only helps student develop other language skills, but also provides
them knowledge on the target language. As we read, we go back to the time, pass
across the oceans and barriers of language, religions and cultures. Through reading,
we can escape into the mind of a philosopher, observe with a scientist, stay with a
scholar, analyze with a critic and live through a novel or a play. As graduates,
reading skills can help them get information to the fullest, and that providing them
with useful techniques will motivate them in reading more and more about the other
subjects they have to deal with in the next studying years at universities.
2

After two years of using the “New Cutting Edge - Elementary” to teach

English teachers at HUNRE.
-Informal interviews with teachers of English.
5. Scope of the study
The study focuses on teaching reading skills to the first year non-English
major students at HUNRE using the textbook “New Cutting Edge - Elementary”.
Any attempts to study the teaching of other language skills to students of other
years using other textbooks at other Universities would be beyond the scope of this
thesis.
6. Design of the study
The thesis is divided into three parts:
Part A introduces the reason for the choice of the study, aims of the study, the
research questions as well as the scope and methodology of the study.
4

Part B comprises three chapters.
Chapter 1 presents an overview of the theoretical background of the research.
It is concerned with various linguistic concepts relevant to the research topic
including definitions of reading skills, principles for teaching reading skills to
beginning levels, reading texts and reading sub-skills.
Chapter 2 is a close look at current teaching and learning reading skills at
HUNRE as well as shows the context, description of instruments, data collection
and analyzes the results.
Chapter 3 draws the findings and proposes some suggestions to improve
reading skills to the first year non-English major students at HUNRE.
Part C summarizes what is addressed in the study, presents recommendation
for improvements and some suggestions for further research.
5

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

something with what we have read. For example, we will place a phone call to the
correct telephone number because we have found the number in the telephone
book. Or we will talk to a family member or a friend about something that we have
read. We will write a report based on information we have collected through
reading. We will simply read to receive pleasure. We should remember that there
is a reason why we are reading.
In brief, we find that there is a close relationship between reading and
understanding as Devine and Eskey (1988:13) state “reading is a process in that it
starts with linguistic surface representation encoded by a writer and ends with
meaning, which reader constructs. There is, thus, an essential interaction between
language and thought in reading. The writer encodes thought in language and the
reader decodes language to thought”. In this definition, we can see clearly the
interrelationship between the writer, the reader and the text illustrated by a
triangular interaction between the reader, the writer and the text that we call
rhetorical triangle as follows:

7

Figure 2: The rhetorical triangle (Devine & Eskey)
The triangle has lines with arrows going in various directions. The point of
this diagram is that the reader has (more or less) five things to consider when
looking at a text: the communicator(s), audience(s), the message(s), immediate
context, and larger context (sometimes called "background"). The arrows go in
all sorts of different directions because all those things influence one another. This
triangle reflects the nature of reading we must understand thoroughly to help our
students read effectively.
1.2. Reading skills
Strong cognitive skills can make reading easy. There are two reasons. First, it
is difficult to focus on the material being taught if learners are using all their energy
to read the textbook or manual that is telling you about what you should learn.

to each reading situation.
1. 3. Reading texts
1.3.1. Different kinds of reading texts:
A text can come in any form and be any kind of writing. Letters,
advertisements, user-guides, e-mails, postcards, notes and magazine articles are all
different types of text. When reading something, it helps to know what type of text
it is. It also helps to know why it has been written. For example:
-Persuasive texts: A persuasive text tries to encourage you to do something.
It may use capital letters, exclamation marks, questions and repeated words to catch
your attention. It usually uses adjectives to make something sound attractive. Maybe
it gives only one side of an argument. It takes the form of an advert; but it may also
be a letter from a friend trying to persuade you to go to a class.
-Informative texts: An informative text should give facts, information or
news in a clear, step-by-step way.
-Instructive texts: An instructive text tells you how to do something. It will
often use commands and pictures. It will be direct, without extra words, like
adjectives.
-Descriptive texts: A descriptive text tells you what something is like. The
writer is trying to help you imagine or „see‟ a person, place or thing. Describing
words, such as adjectives and adverbs are used, as well as descriptions of the five
senses: look, sound, smell, touch, taste.
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-Letters: Texts such as letters often look the same but can have different
purposes. For example, a personal letter from a friend can be set out in whatever
way the writer wishes and will often describe a person, place or thing. A circular
letter is sent to many people and, like an advertisement will often try to persuade the
reader to buy something.
1. 3.2. Informational text features:
Texts categorized as "informational text" usually have key points organized

our instructional goals and is not a roadblock in the development of good readers.
To select text that matches a student‟s reading level you need to consider several
interacting factors. The general guidelines/suggestions to consider include the
following three factors:
- Make sure that the reading material selected matches the theme and outcomes of the
unit.
- Choose reading materials that are appropriate and relevant for the audience.
- The vocabulary in the text should be familiar to the learners. So, they don‟t need
to decode new vocabulary, and can concentrate on reading and reading
comprehension.
- The grammar should also be familiar to the learners. (If your learners are working
on present continuous, then the entire text should be in present continuous).
1.4.2. Focusing on vocabulary development skill
Beginning level readers need a clear focus on vocabulary-development skills.
Readers at this level consider their lack of vocabulary. There are very simple steps
that teachers can take in order to assure that vocabulary development happens in an
organized fashion. There are high-frequency words that beginning level readers
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should be familiar with. A useful copy of the 1,000 and 2,000 most frequently
words used in English can be found at the personal website of ESL professor
John Bauman, On this site, the actual words with
their frequency numbers are provided.
1.4.3. Providing both intensive and extensive reading instruction
The third principle for teaching reading to beginning level readers directs
teachers‟ attention to teaching both intensive and extensive reading. Textbooks
written for classroom instruction will focus on intensive reading instruction. The
challenge is designing a reading program that links both intensive reading
instructions with extensive reading. Very few language programs are designing in
such a way as to provide the explicit link between the two.

assumed, that very little information is processed into long-term memory or even
for immediate understanding because the objective is simply matching.
Scanning is used often with technical, scientific or professional materials to
locate specific information. It is a valuable skill for second language learners to
develop because often they do not require a detailed read of a text. There are many
everyday uses for scanning, relevant to a purpose, such as reading a schedule.
The teacher selects passages that do include specific information. He may use
authentic materials that are commonly scanned in real life, such as the telephone
directory, menus, bus schedules. He may ask students before they scan a text to note
how the information is organized in the text. He needs to remind students that as
they read carefully to find the required information, they should pay particular
attention to titles and keywords.
The student forms questions before reading. What specific information are
they looking for? Then he looks for contextual clues. He tries to anticipate what the
answer might look like and what sorts of clues would be useful. He is aware of the