Ministry of Education and Training
VINH UNIVERSITY
----------

ĐÀO THỊ THANH HƯỜNG

USING QUESTIONING TECHNIQUE TO IMPROVE READING
COMPREHENSION FOR THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT
HONG LAM ECONOMICS AND TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE
(SỬ DỤNG KỸ THUẬT HỎI ĐỂ PHÁT TRIỂN KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU
CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KINH TẾ
KỸ THUẬT HỒNG LAM)

Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching
Code: 601410
Master thesis in Education
Supervisor: NGUYỄN THỊ KIM ANH, MA.

NGHE AN, 2013


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DECLARATION
I certify that this thesis is the result of my own study and that it has
not been submitted to any other university or institution wholly or partially.
Nghe an, April 2013
Student

Dao Thi Thanh Huong

the examinations which are grammar- and reading- based. However, they
have encountered a lot of difficulties in reading comprehension. In order to
help the students improve their reading, the teachers have tried to apply many
techniques in teaching. One of the effective techniques they have used is
questioning, the elicitation technique of teaching that is student-oriented and
advocated today.
To begin with some elemental definitions, this paper discussed some
basic knowledge of reading comprehension, of questions. The author carried
out two survey questionnaires for teachers and students and then analyzed the
data obtained to discuss about teachers and students’ attitude towards reading
comprehension, towards the textbook used, their difficulties in teaching and
learning reading comprehension. The situation of using questioning technique
in developing students’ reading comprehension at Hong Lam Economics and
Technology College were also discussed.
This study has also given some suggested strategies to more effectively
applied questioning technique and helps students to obtain desirable results in
learning reading comprehension.

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LIST OF TABLES
page
Table 4.1

Description of teachers’ experience in teaching English

40

Table 4.2

44
45
46

The frequency of questions communicatively made by
students in class
Techniques used by teachers to make questioning
technique more effective

47
47

Table 4.11

Students’ experience in studying English

48

Table 4. 12

Students’ attitude towards reading comprehension

49

Table 4.13

Students’ opinions about the textbook

50


The stage(s) of the reading lesson students answer to
questions

53
53

Table 4.19

Types of questions students find interesting to answer

54

Table 4.20

Students’ difficulties in answering teacher’s questions

55

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.1.
1.2.
1.3.
1.4.
1.5.
1.6.
2.1.

2.2.3.
The roles of the reading materials
2.2.4.
The three stages of a reading lesson
2.3.
Questioning techniques
2.3.1.
Types of questions
2.3.2.
Bloom’s taxonomy of questions
2.3.3.
Questioning
2.3.3.1. Aims of questioning
2.3.3.2. Criteria for effective questioning
2.3.3.3. Ways of exploiting questioning technique in English
2.4.
3.1.
3.1.1.
3.1.2.
3.2.

teaching
Summary
CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY
Participants
Teachers of English
The first year students
Setting of the Study

1

34
36
36
36
37
37


3.3.
3.4.
4.1.
4.1.1.
4.1.2.
4.2.
4.2.1.

Data collection instrument
Summary
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Results
The questionnaire for teachers
The questionnaire for students
Findings and Discussion
Teachers and students’ attitude towards reading

4.2.2.

comprehension
Teachers and students’ opinions about the textbook


Suggested questioning strategies
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION
Conclusion and Pedagogical Implications
Limitations and Suggestions for further study
REFERENCES
APPENDICES :
Questionnaire for teachers

59
67
67
68
70

Questionnaire for students

2


CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1.

Rationale of the study
The process of regional and global integration in Vietnam has resulted in

an increasing demand for English language teaching across the country. Now,
learning English is not only an interest but also a practical thing for many
people. Learning English means learning four related skills: listening, reading
comprehension skills, speaking and writing. In teaching and learning English

Although questioning technique can be effectively adapted in many
English lessons, this paper places a stronger focus on questioning technique
that teachers employ in reading lessons to improve reading comprehension for
the first year students at Hong Lam Economics and Technology College.
1.3. Aims and Objectives
Within the scope of the study, we focus on measuring the effectiveness
of applying questioning technique on improving the 1st-year students’ reading
comprehension. The study findings will be used as the base in giving some
pedagogical implications for teachers.
To complete the overall aim of the study, the following objectives must be
obtained:


Clarifying the nature of reading comprehension in accordance with
some important points in teaching this skill.



Investigating the real situation of teaching and learning reading
comprehension of the first year students to find out advantages as
well as problems facing both teachers and students in reading
lessons.

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

Giving suggested ways of using questioning technique to improve
reading comprehension for the first year students at Hong Lam

collection procedures and data analysis.
 Chapter 4 is the main part of the study that reports and discusses the main
findings according to the research questions.
 Chapter 5 is the conclusion that summarizes the main findings, presents
the implications and limitations of the study and finally gives some
suggestions for further research.

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CHAPTER 2
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
This chapter reviews theories related to definitions of reading in
general and reading comprehension in particular, types of reading and
teaching reading comprehension. It also summarizes some studies on types of
English questions and questioning technique that have been conducted so far.
2.1.

Theoretical background of reading comprehension

2.1.1. Definitions of reading
The term “Reading” is widely used in practice. However, reading is
differently defined due to the areas of defining in terms of activities or goals.
That is the reason 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 teachers when they teach reading because reading is the most critical
aspect of any teaching programme and teachers have to decide what they will
teach in the classroom. Herein, I would like to mention some definitions of


connections,

analyzing,

criticizing,

read, making appropriate
appreciating,

selecting

and

rejecting.
• Retention: This step requires the basic storage of information of the
readers.
• Recall: This process shows the ability of the readers to get back the
storage when it is needed.
• Communication: This process includes written and spoken language in
which information is used immediately or eventually. It also contains
very crucial and often neglected human function: Thinking- “thinking
is your ongoing extra integration.

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Although those reading definitions are of different attitudes to reading,
they seem to have some features in common. It is because they all concentrate
on the nature of reading. To make this point clear, Abbot, Wingard,

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 includes not
only facts or details but also emotion, belief and critical evaluation.
From these opinions, it can be concluded that reading comprehension is
a process of understanding what is conveyed in the text. It does not mean that
the reader needs to understand every single word in the text but actively work
on the text and extract the required information efficiently.
2.1.3. The importance of reading
Deriving from some of definitions of reading above, we find that
reading is a very important factor in language acquisition. It is important
because it is considered an essential skill both at school and afterwards.
Reading takes its place alongside the development of oral ability in the school
program. Reading also gives us as readers a lot of opportunities to contact
with different contexts in our daily life. Byrnes [9, pg. 46] provides three
reasons for the importance of reading as follows:
Firstly, it offers language learners another area of success. We should
accept that not all students will be good speakers and at least give them credit
if they become good readers.
Secondly, it gives the students a skill which they can use on their own.
(i.e. it is a key to self- access work)
Thirdly, it is likely to be one of the skills that most students will need in
the long term. Certainly, it is one that they will always be able to put to use.
That is, they can read even if they do not get any opportunities to speak.

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Generally, no one can deny that reading brings readers an ocean of

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
pronunciation, they hardly understand the meaning of the text as Lewis and
Hill [19, pg.110] mention: “Asking a student to read aloud also means that he
may concentrate inadequately on their meaning. He may read correctly but
afterwards 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.
b. 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 possible time.
According to Broughton, Brumfit and other linguistics [6, pg. 92], the
nature of silent reading skills is far from uniform. It is changeable according
to the use to which it is being put. Some of them are mentioned as follows:
• To survey material which is to be studied, to look through
indexes, chapter heading and outlines

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• To skim- particularly when one item of information is being
sought in a mass of other printed information

b. Scanning
Similar to skimming, scanning is a necessary technique in reading
efficiently. Brown [7, pg. 308] defines scanning as follows: “Scanning is
quickly searching for some particular piece or pieces of information in a text”
Sharing the same opinion with Brown, Williams [29, pg. 100]
emphasizes: “Scanning occurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly
in order to find a particular point of information.” It reveals that the key to
scanning is to decide exactly what kind of information we are looking for and
where to find it.
In addition, Grellet [15, pg. 293] 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 from 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, maps, 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.
c. Intensive reading

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Intensive reading is also widely used in a reading class. It is an
effective way to explore the text, to go deeply into the meaning and the
organization of the text.

usually for one’s own pleasure. This is a fluency activity mainly involving
general understanding.”
In Brown’s opinion, besides practising fluency, extensive reading helps
students enrich their language elements because it is one of the keys to
achieve reading ability, linguistic competence, vocabulary, spelling and
writing [7, pg. 301]
And to Nuttall [22, pg. 168], this kind of reading is also a very useful
skill for students to widen their knowledge as he wrote: “The best way to
improve one’s knowledge of foreign language is to go and live among its
speakers. The next best way is to read extensively in it.”
To summarize, extensive reading is one of good ways to improve one’s
knowledge 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.
2.2. Teaching reading comprehension
2.2.1. 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 reading comprehension skills. Understanding relations will
help learners succeed.
According to Rivers and Temperly [26, pg. 258], reading skill is not a
single skill but an integrated- language skill. Firstly, reading is related to

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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,


activities and text. The second role is to act interdependently within the
learning teaching group”.
In Richard and Amato’s point of view, the teacher is an organizer of
resources. He also plays the role as a guide within the classroom procedures
and student’s activities during the lesson.
Being concerned with the roles of the teacher in teaching reading,
Harmer [16, pg. 213] gives an opinion that the teacher needs to create interest
in the topic and task. He also needs to work as an organizer, observer,
feedback organizer and prompter.
• An observer: While students are reading, the teacher can observe
their progress since it will give him valuable information about how well his
students are doing individually or collectively, and will tell him whether to
give them extra time, or move to organize feedback more quickly than he has
anticipated.
• A feedback organizer: When the students have completed the given
tasks, the teacher can lead a feedback session to check if they have completed
the task successfully or not. He may start by having his students compare
their answers in pairs or in groups and then ask for their answers. When
asking students to give answers, it is effective to ask them where in the text
they found the information. This will help him recognize his students’
problems if their answers are inappropriate.
• A prompter: When students are reading the text, it is also necessary
to draw their attention to the language features in that text. He may direct his
students to certain features of the text construction clarify ambiguities and
make them aware of issues of the text structure which they have not come
across previously.

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