HANOI, 2009
FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60 14 10



HANOI, 2009
FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60 14 10
SUPERVISOR: PHAN TH VN QUYấN, M.A. VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Hanoi University of languages and international studies
Department of posT - graduate studies



1.7. Design of the study…………………………………………………………… 4
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1. Overview of reading………………………………………………………… 5
2.1.1. Definitions of reading…………………………………………………… 5
2.1.2. Reading comprehension……………………………………………… 6
2.1.3. Reading skills………………………………………………………… 7
2.1.3.1. Definition of reading skills…………………………………………. 7
2.1.3.2. Types of reading skills…………………………………………… . 7
2.2. Overview of materials in language teaching………………………………… 8
2.2.1. Definition of materials and types of materials in language teaching… 8
2.2.2. Supplementary materials for language teaching……………………… 9
2.2.3. Materials evaluation and the criteria for reading texts evaluation……… 10
2.2.4. Criteria for selecting appropriate supplementary materials…………… 11
Summary 12

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CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.1. Background to the thesis and statement of the problem………………………. 13
3.2. The description of the materials……………………………………………… 14
3.2.1. The course book…………………………………………………………… 14
3.2.1.1.Book title……………………………………………………………… 14
3.2.1.2.Book objectives………………………………………………………. 14
3.2.1.3.The structure of the course book …………………………………… 14
3.2.2. The supplementary material used for the course book …………………… 15
3.3. The subjects……………………………………………………………………. 16
3.4. Instruments for data collection………………………………………………… 17
3.5. Data collection procedures…………………………………………………… 18
3.6. Data analysis…………………………………………………………………… 18
Summary 33
CHAPTER FOUR: MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSION AND

ABBREVIATIONS NEU: National Economics University
EFL: English as a foreign language
FL: Foreign language
M.A: Master of Arts
SM: Supplementary material
SRM: Supplementary reading material
P: Powerbase - Elementary
CD: Compact disc
Ts: Teachers
Ss: Students

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LIST OF CHARTS

Chart 1a: The perception of the Ts about the reading texts in Powerbase 19
Chart 1b: The perception of the Ss about the reading texts in Powerbase 19
Chart 2a: The perception of the Ts about the reading texts in the SM 24
Chart 2b: The perception of the Ss about the reading texts in the SM 24
Chart 3a: The Ts’ attitudes towards the necessary use of SM for 30
Chart 3b: The Ss’ attitudes towards the necessary use of SM for 30
grammatical structures. Additionally, students are bored with doing only one type of reading 2
exercise. Many student hope to have more readings, but they do not know where to get
appropriate extra reading materials. Consequently, they do not get as high marks at reading
tests as they expected and they lose their interest in reading. Teachers, from time to time,
complain that they have to compile other reading materials to meet the students’ needs and to
make the reading lessons more interesting.
All these reasons have inspired and encouraged me to carry out the study on “Using
supplementary reading materials for „Powerbase – Elementary‟ to improve reading skill for
first year non-English major students at National Economics University” with the hope to
make some contributions to improving the teaching and learning of reading for first year non-
English major students at NEU.
1.2. Scope of the study
Due to the limited time and the size of a minor thesis, the researcher has no ambitions
to cover all aspects of reading, such as reading in integration with other skills: speaking,
listening, and writing , but only focuses on the use of supplementary reading materials to
develop reading skills for first year non-English major students at NEU.
1.3. Significance of the study
This study helps first year non-major students at NEU to improve their English
proficiency by learning reading and also suggests some ways to improve the teaching of
English in general and the teaching of the reading skill in particular at NEU as well as other
universities that share the same mandate.
1.4. Aims of the study
The study is aimed at exploring the use of supplementary reading materials to improve
reading skills for first year non-English major students at NEU, giving recommendations on
how to efficiently use the supplementary reading materials designed by Group K50A teachers,
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1.7. Design of the study
This study is divided into five chapters:
Chapter I: Introduction presents an overview of the study including rationale, scope,
significance, aims, research questions, research methodology and the design of the study.
Chapter II: Literature Review provides the literature review with fundamental aspects
of materials evaluation, materials development, reading skills and supplementary materials.
This chapter is considered as the basic foundations for the study.
Chapter III: Methodology deals with the methodological framework for the study. It
covers the setting, the subjects, the instruments and procedures for the data collection and
most importantly the data analysis is fully given in this chapter.
Chapter IV: Major findings, discussion and recommendations shows the major
findings, discussions of these findings, and offers recommendations on how to use
supplementary materials to improve students’ reading skills.
Chapter V: Conclusion presents the concluding summary of the study, limitations of
the study as well as suggestions for further research.

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All in all, each linguist has their own definition of reading, but no definition can reveal
all the features and ideas of what reading is. However, all the definitions focus on the nature of
reading, that is, the interaction between readers and authors, in which the readers not only read
the author’s words but also understand their thoughts. In addition, most linguists share the
same idea that reading means comprehending written language and it involves a variety of
skills. The following parts will deal with reading comprehension and reading skills.
2.1.2. Reading comprehension
One of the purposes that motivate people to learn a foreign language is to be able to
read to get information in that language. Together with writing, speaking and listening,
reading is an essential skill that plays a very important role in the process of mastering a
foreign language. Karlin and Karlin (1988: 2) state “Reading without reading comprehension
is meaningless”. Therefore, understanding what reading comprehension is very necessary and
of great importance to both teachers and learners.
According to Grellet (1981: 3), “Reading comprehension or understanding a written
text means extracting the required information from it as efficiently as possible”. In his sense,
reading comprehension simply means reading and understanding. In other words, it should be
noted that reading comprehension is not merely decoding-translating written symbols into
corresponding sounds, but reading comprehension is a process of negotiating and
understanding between the reader and the writer. The reader, as he reads, receives information
from the author via words, sentences, paragraphs, etc then tries to understand meaning of the
texts as well as the inner feelings of the writer. Sharing the same point of view, Carrel (1997:
21) indicates that “Reading comprehension is reconstruction, interpretation and evaluation of
what author of written content means by using knowledge gained from life experience”.
Nuttall (1998: 4) emphasizes the interaction of texts and readers in the reading process.
In his point of view, “text is full of meanings like a jug of water, the reader‟s mind soaks it up
like sponge”. To make the matter simple and easy-going, Nuttall relates reading to
communication process and concludes that “reading means getting out of the text as nearly as


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the mental operations involved when readers approach a text effectively to make sense of what
they read. Good readers often apply more strategies to read successfully.
2.1.3.2. Types of reading skills
There is a variety of types of reading skills used by both native and non-native
speakers. Nuttall (1996: 48-120) in Teaching Reading Skills in a foreign Language gives
several reading skills of which some basic ones are listed as the following:
- Making prediction
- Skimming
- Scanning
- Recognizing implications and making references
- Recognizing text organization
- Guessing the meaning of words based on structural and contextual clues
- Understanding syntax
- Recognizing and interpreting cohesive devices.
Whereas William (1984: 79) points out seven important skills of reading listed hereunder:
1. Deducting the meaning of unfamiliar lexical items
2. Recognizing indicators in discourse
3. Extracting salient points to summarize
4. Using basic reference skill
5. Skimming to get general information
6. Scanning to locate specifically required information
7. Transferring information to diagrammatical display
In short, readers should choose the best skills for themselves basing on their purposes
of reading. They may vary their speed and their whole manner of reading due to their reading
purposes. One of the principal characteristics of good readers is flexibility and they are
advised to practise the skills regularly to cope with more sophisticated texts and tasks and deal
with them effectively. Wallace (1993) considers reading strategies as ways of reading which
are employed flexibly and selectively and which vary depending on the text-type, and the



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overhead projectors, posters, pictures, or games, etc. Each type, obviously, has certain
contributions to language teaching and its own good points as well as drawbacks based on the
use of teachers and learners in learning a certain foreign language.
2.2.3. Materials evaluation and the criteria for reading texts evaluation
Every language teacher needs to have the ability to evaluate their teaching materials,
both the course books and the supplementary materials - if they are available. Materials
evaluation is defined differently by different linguists such as Worthen and Sanders (1973:
19), Popham (1975: 8). and Brown (1995: 218). However, the definition by Brown seems to
be a comprehensive one and suitable for the purposes of the study:
“Evaluation is the systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to
promote the improvement of a curriculum, and assess its effectiveness and efficiency, as well
as the participants‟ attitudes within the context of the particular institutions involved”.
(Brown, 1995: 218)
Materials are evaluated based on different criteria. Cunningsworth (1984: 5-6) sets out
the four principles of materials evaluation, which are widely applied by teachers and learners
in their own teaching and learning contexts. They are:
_ Relate the teaching materials to your aims and objectives.
_ Be aware of what language is for and select teaching materials, which help equip
your students to use language effectively for their own purposes.
_ Keep your students’ learning needs in their mind.
_ Consider the relationship between language, the learning process and the learner.
The main concern of this study is reading materials. Therefore, the author would like to
introduce the criteria for reading texts evaluation made by Williams, D. (ELT Journal.
Volume 37/3 July 1983) as follows:
_ Offer exercises for understanding of plain sense and implied meaning.
_ Relate reading passages to the readers’ background.
_ Select passages within the vocabulary range of the pupils.
_ Select passages reflecting a variety of styles of contemporary English.

level. 12
In short, EFL teachers are encouraged to use supplementary materials in their teaching
language to help students learn that language better. In order to find out the right and the most
appropriate supplementary materials, they not only get acquainted with the principles of
materials evaluation, but also bear in their mind the three main criteria that influence the
choice of texts: the suitability of the content, the exploitability and the readability of the texts.
Summary
In this chapter, the relevant literature which helps to form the theoretical background
and conceptual framework for the study has been presented.
Firstly, theories of reading, reading comprehension as well as reading skills have been
viewed.
The next issue is the overview of materials in language teaching which include
definition of materials and types of materials in language teaching, general understanding of
supplementary materials for language teaching, materials evaluation and the criteria for
reading texts evaluation as well as criteria for selecting appropriate supplementary materials.
It can be drawn that the limitations lying in each of these models are unavoidable, but
all of them make important contributions to the background knowledge about reading and
materials in language teaching.
In the next chapter, the researcher would like to bring about the main part of the study
which includes the methodology employed in the study, the instruments and procedures of
data collection. Data from the two sets of survey questionnaire will also be thoroughly
analysed. 14
The following part comes with the description of the course book and the
supplementary material being used for first year non-English major students at NEU.
3.2. The description of the materials
3.2.1. The course book
3.2.1.1. Book title: Powerbase - Elementary by David Evans, Longman 2002
3.2.1.2. Book objectives: According to Evans (in the introduction page for Powerbase -
Elementary in www.longman.com/powerbase), this short course book has been
specially written for adults who need English for work, travel and everyday
situations. It provides excellent preparation for other Business English Courses.
With Powerbase, learners can:
- Start speaking immediately with clear, structured speaking in everyday lessons
- Revise basic grammar and learn to speak confidently about the past, present and future.
- Learn the survival phrases and key words needed in their working life.
- Practise essential listening and pronunciation skills.
3.2.1.3.The structure of the course book:
The ten units of the course book are all divided into four double-page spreads, each of
which makes up a free-standing lesson which can be further divided if time is short. At the end
of every two units, a Review spread tests and consolidates the learners’ knowledge and
understanding about the grammar, vocabulary as well as real world situations learnt in the two
units.
Each unit consists of four main sections:
Introduction: A double-page spread introducing language related to the theme of the
unit. A typical spread introduces the language and then provides activities for development
and practice.
Grammar: The main grammar points at elementary level are introduced and practised
in a context that continues the theme of each unit. A grammar reference section at the back of
the Course book provides learners with additional support.

reading comprehension. 16
- Reading materials are selected from different Toeic sources. They are of typical types
which are commonly found in the Toeic. All materials are processed to fit the need of
beginning level students at NEU.
In short, the supplementary material of the course book Powerbase is used with the
hope that it can, to some extend, lend itself to the success of the students in the course,
especially in the mid-term test and the end-of-term test. However, all the exercises in the
supplementary material are multiple choice ones and reading exercises are extracted from
some Toeic tests for beginners. To some extend, these reading exercises are useful as they
help students to familiarize with the format of the mid-term tests and with the various types of
texts such as letters, e-mails, notices, faxes, advertisements, memos, posters, articles, etc. In
the course book Powerbase, although reading accounts for a small proportion, reading tasks
are more diversified than in the supplementary book with multiple choice, answering
questions, true/false, matching, etc. In the supplementary material, however, there is only one
type of reading exercise: Multiple choice. In addition, the topics of the reading texts are not
related to the ones in the course book. Consequently, with only one type of reading exercises,
long and difficult texts and unrelated reading topics, the supplementary material makes many
students get bored with reading lessons. They complain about the difficulty of the reading
texts as well as fewer chances to practise various reading skills. Some students even admit that
though their results of the two mid-term reading tests are good, they find it hard to read
English comprehensively in their study and real life situations.
With the hope to improve students’ reading skills, this study was an attempt to find a
way of developing a more effective and appropriate supplementary reading material.
3.3. The subjects
The study was carried out with the participation of 20 (out of 28) group A teachers and
124 (out of 136) first year non-English major students.
Among the teachers, 3 have been abroad for further study, 6 have M.A degree in

about the items raised in the survey questionnaires.