VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THUỲ GIANG
A study on the techniques for improving
reading skills to second- year English major
students at Haiphong University
(Nghiên cứu các thủ thuật phát triển kỹ năng đọc hiểu cho sinh viên
năm thứ hai chuyên tiếng Anh - Trường Đại học Hải Phòng)

M.A. MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410
M.A. MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 601410
SUPERVISOR: NGUYỄN THỊ THƠM THƠM, M.A Hanoi - 2010

vi TABLE OF CONTENTS
CANDIDATE’S
STATEMENT i
Acknowledgements
ii
Abstract iii
List of

1.3.4.2. While-reading stage……………………………………………… 7
1.3.4.3. Post-reading stage………………………………………………….7
1.4. Classification of reading…………………………………………………………….…8
1.4.1. According to manner……………………………………………………… 8
1.4.2. According to purposes……………………………………………….………8
1.4.2.1. Intensive reading…………………………………………….…… 8
1.4.2.2. Extensive reading……………………………………………….….9
1.4.2.3. Skimming………………………………………………………… 9
1.4.2.4. Scanning………………………………………………………… 10
1.5. Effective Reading Comprehension……………………………………………………10
1.5.1. Definition of Reading Comprehension……………………………… ……10
1.5.2. Definition of Effective Reading Comprehension……… …………………11
1.5.3. Effective reader……………………………………… ……………………11
1.5.4. Techniques for Reading Comprehension……………………………… …13
1.6. Preview the concerned theories…………………………………………………….…14
1.7. Summary…………………………………………………… ………………………15
Chapter II: The
study…………………………… …… ……………………… 16
2.1. Introduction…………………………………………… ………………………….…16
2.2. An overview on Haiphong University………………… …………………………….16
2.3. Learners and Learning requirements……………………………………………….…16
2.4. Teachers and Teaching methods…………………… ……………………………….17
2.5. Materials and Assessments…………………………… …………………………….18
2.6. Data collection, Findings and Discussion…………………………………………….19
2.6.1. Data collection……………………………… ……………………………19
2.6.1.1. Participants………………………… ……………………….…19
2.6.1.2. Instruments……………………………………….……….…….20

viii


3.3.2. Selecting appropriate supplementary Reading Materials………………… 34
3.4. Summary………….………………………………………………………………… 35

ix

PART C:
conclusion 36
1. Recapitulation……………………………………………………………………… 36
2. Limitation and Suggestions for Further Study 36
References 3
8Appendices iv
LISTS OF abbreviations

LISTS OF TABLES Table 1: Students’ attitude towards the materials used for reading lessons
Table 2: Students’ attitude towards the way their teachers create reading interest and
motivate them.
Table 3: Students’ attitude towards the techniques used by their teachers in the reading
lesson.
Table 4: Students’ activities before reading the text.
Table 5: Students’ activities while reading the text.
Table 6: Students’ activities after reading the text

1

PART A: INTRODUCTION

As an English teacher at Haiphong University, I have received many questions
relating to reading learning from my students as well as my colleagues such as: “How 2

to study reading effectively?” or “What are techniques for reading skill?”, etc. From
this fact, I do think we, English teachers, must do something new to promote reading
skill especially among the students of the FLD at Haiphong University. It is time we
gave them more chances and more encouragements to read.
This fact has also encouraged the author to investigate the second year majored
students in learning reading and after that, suggest some techniques in order to improve
reading skill in here. It is a hope that the study will be helpful for the author and other
reading teachers in their teaching.
2. Aims of the study:
The aim of this study is to find out the difficulties encountered by the second
year English major students at Haiphong University, and the suggestions given upon
their difficulties to improve their reading skill.
The specific aims are:
- to exploit the use of reading techniques employed by the second year English
major students and teachers
- to recommend techniques to improve their reading skill.
3. Scope of the study:
The study limited itself to the investigation of common reading learning
techniques are employed by second year major students at Haiphong University. The
author tried her best to conduct a survey and an interview in order to analyze the
reading techniques from the students and teachers. The information obtained from this
study was to help to improve teaching and learning English in general and teaching and
learning English reading in particular at Haiphong University.
4. Method of the study:

study as well as suggestions for further research is also presented.

4

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: Literature Review
1.1. Introduction:
In this chapter, some information about history of research on reading and other
skills in teaching and learning English are given. Also, some basic concepts related to
reading and reading comprehension are presented. Besides, the classification of reading
and reading comprehension techniques are mentioned to set up the theoretical
framework for the investigation in the next chapter. In the last part of this chapter, the

second definition, learning to read means learning to identify words and get their
meaning. According to the third definition, learning to read means learning to bring
meaning to a text in order to get meaning from it.
Robert J. Tierney (2005) gives the definition of reading “…is a complex
cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of deriving meaning and/or
constructing meaning.
According to Thomas G. Devine (1986), “reading is defined as the ability to
examine words and absorb the information within or the cognitive process of
understanding a written linguistic message”
To sum up, the definitions of reading are numerous and flexible. Each scholar
focuses on particular aspect of reading. However, one common thing is that reading is
actually a very complex process that requires a great deal of active participation on the
part of the reader.
1.3.2. The importance of reading in foreign language learning
As well as know, the teaching and learning of reading are gaining much
attention because reading is one of learning a second or foreign language. Moreover
,”for many students, reading is by far the most important of the four macro kills
,particularly in English as a second or a foreign language ‘. Carrell (1997:1). That idea
is true as reading can bring many benefits for the learners.
Firstly, reading helps the learners enrich their vocabulary and knowledge of the
structures of the English language .According to Richard (1993:4) reading ‘ may help to
increase knowledge of the target language through exposure to new vocabulary and
grammatical structures’. Educational researchers have also found a strong correlation
between reading and vocabulary knowledge. While reading, the learners know most of
the words in the text already, ad they can also determine the meaning of many of the
unfamiliar words from the context. In the other words, the best way to acquire a large
vocabulary is to readers. Beside, through reading the learners will have chances to learn
how grammar structures are used in different situations.
Secondly, reading in the new language is also an important way to learn about
the target culture’ (Richard ,1993:4). Reading brings the learners a wide range of

They are as follows:
- Taking an active part in learning: Students have to be active and take charge of
what they do.
- Monitoring comprehension: Students need to understand how texts work and
what they do when they read.
- Learning text talk: Students have to learn how to carries on a dialogue with the
text.
- Taking risks: Students have to take the risk of making mistakes because a
mistake is an opportunity to learn. 7

- Learning not to cheat oneself: Students who do not want to learn to read can
easily cheat but they are cheating themselves. In fact, they are wasting their
opportunities.
1.3.4. Stages of a reading lesson
1.3.4.1. Pre-reading stage
In this early stage, teachers are expected to motivate students to read,
specifically by activating or building students’ background knowledge of the subject
and familiarizing them with some of the language needed in coping with the text.
According to Williams (1984: 37), the purposes of the pre-reading stage are:
- To introduce and arouse interest in the topic
- To motivate learners by giving a reason for reading
- To provide some language preparation for the text
- Normally, pre-reading phase often last from two to ten minutes depending on
each lesson. Several techniques, as suggested by To et al. (2006:158) are: using
pictures, predicting from the titles, guessing and brainstorming to see what
students have already known.
1.3.4.2. While-reading stage

1.4.1. According to manners
According to Doff (1988), reading is divided into two main types: reading aloud
and silent reading.
“Reading aloud involves looking at the text, understand it and also saying it”
(Doff, 1988:70). Though reading aloud is considered a way to convey necessary
information to the others, it is unpopular activity outside classroom. Nuttall (1996) sees
reading aloud as an important aid for beginners to improve their pronunciation. In fact,
reading aloud proves itself to be advantageous for the learners because it help them
make the connection between sounds and spelling of letters and words and assists the
teachers to check learners’ pronunciation.
In contrast, silent reading is “the method we normally use with our native
language, and on the whole the quickest and most efficient” (Lewis, 1985:110). With
silent reading we can best understand the reading materials in the shortest possible time
because we do not need to read all the words in the text we can read at our own speed
and if we do not understand what we are reading, we can read again or slow down for
intensive reading.
For the teachers, silent reading is helpful for controlling the class. In silent
reading, students are in fact concentrating on the text, obtaining the meaning and
extracting what they need.
Actually, linguistics have arrived at the conclusion that reading skills or
strategies are most related with silent reading, not reading aloud.
1.4.2. According to purposes
According to the purpose, Nuttall (2000:38) proposes four main types of
reading, namely skimming, scanning, intensive and extensive reading.
1.4.2.1. Intensive reading 9

The objective of intensive reading is to understand not only what the text

skimming are:
 to check relevance of text 10

 To set the scene for more concentrated effort that is to follow if the text
is useful.
To conclude, skimming is a very useful reading skill for students. It is
often applied at the first stage of teaching reading so that it can help students to have an
overview of what they are reading.
1.4.2.4. Scanning
According to Williams (1990:100), “Scanning occurs when a reader goes
through a text very quickly in order to find a particular point of information”
Scanning is a type of reading that involves finding a particular piece of
information located in material that is otherwise of no interest to the reader. This is
widely used in reading comprehension. It can be practiced with variety of texts such as
advertisements, telephone books, dictionaries, indexes, etc…Scanning is important and
useful as a study technique because it can help students understand the gist of the texts
well.
In short, when teaching and learning reading comprehension teachers and
students should remember that there are several reading styles and an effective reader is
the one who can adapt his style flexibly according to his purpose. Generally, readers do
not choose to read a text either intensively or extensively because a text can be tackled
by a combination of strategies.
1.5. Effective Reading Comprehension
1.5.1. Definition of Reading Comprehension
Any teacher can tell you that comprehension is one of key important
components of essential reading instruction. Comprehension is an essential part of
successfully developing 21st century literacy. It is a vital tool for reading in our modern

motivation
- Good prediction
- Sufficient background vocabulary and information
- Close attention to the significant bits
- Rather high speed
Cook (1989:14), however, suggests effective reading comprehension would be
best viewed from the cognitive behaviors of good verse poor readers in different reading
stages: Before- reading, During- reading and After- reading.
1.5.3. Effective reader
Effective readers choose to read a wide variety of materials - biographies, novels
for enjoyment, novels to challenge and inspire us, directions to find out how to put
something together, or newspapers and magazines to find out about current affairs or
investments. Today’s workplace demands many different kinds of literacy. Effective
readers do not simply “practice” reading; they have a range of purposes and objectives.
Effective readers learn from their reading, and, as they do so, learn more about
reading. Think about reading a new author, for example, or reading about an unfamiliar
topic. As you read, you gradually learn more about how to read that piece of writing. 12

You become accustomed to the author’s style and catch subtle meanings. Or, you bring
more general and specific knowledge to your reading of the topic so that you can
understand the text. As an adult, you have a system for reading that constantly expands
and improves; in fact, we call this system a self- extending system, one that enables you
keep learning.
To sum up, an effective reader must have the following characteristics:
- Concentrates on reading and is involved with the author’s logic, word usage and
ideas.
- Reads with goals in mind

- Draw conclusions and inferences based on what has been read.
- Decide “What do I think_” did I like it? ; Did I agree? ; Was if funny? ; Could it
really happen?
- Compare and contrast what is read to what has already been known
- Figure out known words
- Summarize what has been read.
1.5.4. Techniques for Reading Comprehension
Grellet (1990) provides three groups of techniques:
1. Sensitizing
- Inference
- Understanding relations within the sentences
- Linking sentences and ideas
2. Improving reading speed
Gerald Mosback (Practical Faster Reading – Cambridge University Press 1993)
wrote:
“It is a good idea to skim through the passage very quickly first to get the
general idea of each paragraph. Titles, paragraph headings and emphasized words
(underlined or italics) can be a great help in getting this skeleton outline of the passage.
It is surprisingly how many people do not read titles, introductions of paragraph
headings. Can you, without looking back, remember the title of this passage and the
heading of this paragraph?”
One of the most common ways of increasing reading speed is to give students
passages to read and to ask them to time themselves. A conversion table, taking the
length of the text and the reading time into account, will tell them what their reading
speed is and this will make it easier for them to try and read a title faster every time.
3. From skimming to scanning
- Predicting
- Previewing
- Anticipation
- Skimming

and learning reading. Also, Catherine Wallace is the author who provides me all the
necessary theories referring to this issue. Especially, who love reading books and
reading teaching cannot forget the reputation of Grellet. F who has remarkable numbers
of books on reading such as “Developing reading skills” and “Developing Reading
Skills – A practical guide to reading comprehension exercises”.
In addition, we have many Vietnamese authors and researchers who concerned
about this subject. For example, in his thesis, M. A Nhu Van Luoc from Haiphong
Foreign Language Center (HPFLC) spent his interest on how to improve reading skills
at HPFLC. Besides, Pham The Tu entitled his M.A thesis “Improving reading skills to
the students of Marine Engine Department, Vietnam Maritime University”. Also, there
are many researchers who have the concerned studies. “A study on how to improve ESP 15

reading skills for the students of Information Technology” mentions the reading skill
for Information Technology students by Le Thi Thu Huong. Moreover, “A study on
how to improve the teaching of reading English in Economics to the Second Year
Students at Hanoi National Economics University” by Nguy Thuy Trang refers to
reading skill in Economics only, and “How to motivate the Third Year English Majors
in Learning Reading Skills at Haiphong University” by Do Thi My Dung indicates the
motivation in reading. Another thesis titled “Improving Reading Skills of Post Graduate
Students at College of Natural Sciences, VNU by Developing the Reading Materials” by
Nguyen Thi Hop deals with the development of reading materials. Also, “Reading
Difficulties in EFL as Perceived by Teachers and 1
st
Year Students of the English
Department, College of Foreign Languages, Vietnam National University” by Pham Thi
Thanh concerns with the reading difficulties, and we experience the reading motivation
again in the thesis named “Using Supplementary Reading Materials for First Year

2.1. Introduction:
In order to explore the objectives of the study, let us have a look at the overview
on Haiphong University which includes the information about the learners and learning
requirements, teachers and teaching methods. Also, the materials and assessments are
enclosed in this part.
Beside the information about the university, the data collection, findings and
discussion will be mentioned in this part. Obviously, the data collection consists of the
participants, instruments and the procedures. The findings and discussion are about to
present the aspects of teachers and students at Haiphong University.
2.2. An overview on Haiphong University
Haiphong University (HPU) was reestablished in 2004, and it includes eleven
departments and many other staffs and offices. At present, our university has strived to
become a multi- training place where thousands of students are trained each year. In
this part, I would like to mention the information and operation of Foreign Language
Department (FLD) at Haiphong University where English is being taught and learnt.
FLD which is one of the most important departments of the university was
established and developed in accordance to the foundation of HPU. Actually, FLD has
brought remarkable contest prizes back for the university.
From the beginning, Russian was the sole language which was chosen to be
taught in here with the restricted numbers of students and teachers (only 6 teachers and
45 students). Gradually, English has integrated and become the most widely used in
everyday life. The needs of learning and teaching English have become bigger and
bigger, so the FLD had adjusted the objectives and ways of training. The department
leaders determined that it was necessary to consider English as the important language
needed to be taught. As a result, English has been the key subject applied for every
department.
Recently, Chinese has been seen as the practical and useful language for the
students to find a good job after graduating. Therefore, Chinese is the second choice for
students to apply when they take part in the entrance examination.


their future jobs, and the students are from different places other than Haiphong with
the number of fifty.
2.4. Teachers and teaching methods
Another indispensable factor discussed in this part is the staff of teachers at our
department. The number of teachers here is the largest in comparison with others in our
university because my department was established thirty years ago that is not