PART A: INTRODUCTION
I. Rationale
In many second or foreign language teaching situations, reading receives a special
focus. There are a number of reasons for this. First, many foreign language students often
have reading as one of their most important goals. They want to be able to read for
information and pleasure, for their career, and for study purposes. In fact, in most EFL
situations, the ability to read in a foreign language is all that students ever want to acquire.
Second, written texts serve various pedagogical purposes. Extensive exposure to
linguistically comprehensible written texts can enhance the process of language acquisition.
Good reading texts also provide good models for writing and provide opportunities to
introduce new topics, to stimulate discussion and to study language. Reading, then, is a skill
which is highly valued by students and teachers alike.
In process of teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam in
general, and at the Military Science Academy (MSA) in particular, reading has always been
offered a great deal of attention both from the teachers and the students.
Like many others universities in Vietnam, English at the MSA is learnt and taught in
non-native environment, therefore, reading is not only considered as a means to gain
knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place. In other words, learners
“read to learn” (Burns, 1988:11).
According to Carrel (1981:1), “for many students, reading is by far the most
important of the four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second or
foreign language”. This is especially true to the students at the MSA, where learners are
mostly future interpreters, translators, or teachers of English in others Military Colleges
whose desires are to be able to handle subjects related to written materials in English and to
work with their English-speaking colleagues and partners. It is essential for them to acquire
the ability to read English effectively and efficiently. However, despite the teachers’ and
students’ effort, students still often claim to have a lot of difficulties in reading English
textbooks or English materials, and therefore, they sometimes read them inefficiently.
For the second-year students of English, although they have been learning English for
at least several years, it is still often difficult for them to understand a text or a passage in
English, since they still lack vocabulary, grammar, reading skills and poor background

III. Scope of the study
To improve reading skill for students of English at the MSA, the teachers can make
use of various techniques and number of things should be done. However, in this study, the
author only intends to overview a brief of current situation of teaching and learning reading
of the 2
nd
-year students of English at the MSA, and to suggest some possible activities that
can be applied in the Pre-reading stage in order to motivate students in reading lesson as well
as help them to become good and effective readers.
IV. Methods of the study
The study was carried out on the basis of qualitative research method including
questionnaires and class observation.
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Questionnaires are designed as a mean to make the researcher’s evaluation more
objective. The questionnaires are given to the second-year students and the teachers of
English at the MSA with the hope to find out their attitudes towards pre-reading techniques
and their comments and suggestions for these activities. Data were collected through the
survey questionnaires and class observation.
Analyzing statistics from the survey questionnaire on reading activities conducted with the
cooperation of the both teachers and students at the MSA. All comments, remarks,
recommendation assumptions, and conclusion provided in the study based on the data analysis.
Besides, more information needed for the study is gathered through other methods
such as class observations, informal interviews, and discussions with the teachers and
students at the MSA.
V. Significance of the study
The study highlights the importance of motivation to the reading skills in general and
to the pre-reading stage in particular. Moreover, the findings of the study are thought to be
useful for teachers of English to be aware of the essential role of the pre-reading activities to
the students’ motivation in reading lessons.
VI. Design of the study

learners, as it enables students to gain exposure to the target language and receive valuable
linguistic input to build up language proficiency (Erten & Razı, 2003). We can not be sure
when reading activity begins, but we have to admit that reading is essential activity that
provides a great contribution in obtaining knowledge. It is obvious that in real life we usually
spend much time reading all sorts of things like books, magazines, newspapers, novels,
stories. However, sometimes we read but we do not understand what they mean, or can not
understand the text we read. In this case, it can not be called reading. So what is reading?
There have been numerous definitions of reading each of them is the reflection of its
author’s view of the reading process. Anderson (1999: 1) explains this very neatly as
follows: “Reading is an active, fluent process which involves the reader and the reading
material in building meaning. Meaning does not reside on the printed page or occurs in
reading, which combines the words on the printed page with the reader’s background
knowledge and experiences.”
According to Harmer (1989: 153), reading is a mechanical process that “eyes receive
the message and the brain then has to work out the significance of the message”. In his
definition, Harmer focuses on both two actions dominated by the eyes and the brain as well
as on the speed of the process “a reading text moves at a speed of the reader”, which means
that the readers themselves decides how fast he wants to read the text.
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Sharing the same opinion, Smith (1985:102) defines “reading understands the
author’s thought”. He also added that “understanding print or even receiving communication
can hardly be said to explain reading”. The problem still remains how the reader understands
the print or the message. “It means that we-the reader-read the author’s mind not the author’s
words”. Roe, Stood and Burns (1987:2) describes reading in a more extensive way. In their
opinion, “reading is understanding written language”, “reading is a complex mental
process”, “reading is thinking”, or “reading comprehension is reconstruction, interpretation
and evaluation of what author of written content means by using knowledge gained from life
experience.”
Another definition of reading was offered by Allen and Valletta (1977: 249). In their
opinion, “reading is a developmental process”. We learn reading not only to know how to

described as an understanding between the author and the reader”. This point of view
concentrates on the reader’s understanding of the message based on the individual’s
background knowledge. They stated that “reading is much more than just pronouncing words
correctly or simply knowing what the author intends: it is the process whereby the printed
pages stimulate ideas, experiences and responses that are unique to an individual.”
In his book, Swan (1975: 1) pointed out that “A student is good at comprehension we
mean that he can read accurately and efficiently, so as to get the maximum information of a
text with the minimum of understanding”. For Roe, Stood and Burns (1987: 9): Reading
comprehension is reconstruction, interpretation, and evaluation of what author of written
content means by using knowledge gained from life experience.
Study the nature of reading comprehension, Grilled (1981: 3) indicated that “Reading
comprehension or understanding written text means extracting the required information from
it as effectively as possible”. This means that the student can show his understanding by re-
expressing the content of the text in many ways such as summarizing the text, answering
questions etc.
From these theories above, it can be understood that reading for comprehension is the
primary purpose for reading; raising students' awareness of main ideas in a text and
exploring the organization of a text are essential for good comprehension. It is the process in
which the readers - as they read, can recognize the graphic form and understand the relation
between the writing and the meaning. It means that after reading, students can master
grammar structures, words, pronunciation etc and can understand the content of the text and
use it in their real life as effective as possible. Furthermore, “reading without comprehension
is the meaningless” (Karolin and Karin, 1988: 2). Reading means comprehending written
language so when understanding break down, reading actually does not occur.
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1.2.2. Classification of reading
1.2.2.1. According to manner
According to Doff (1988), reading is divided into two main types: reading aloud and
silent reading.
* Reading aloud involves “looking at the text, understanding it and also saying it”

do not need to read all the words of a text, they can read at their own speed and in case they
do not understand a sentence they can go back to read again. When reading silently, students
not only obtain its main ideas in the shortest length of time but also deeply understand its
details and can answer the questions as well.
To summarize, silent reading is one effective skill for reading process in general and
reading comprehension in particular, since the teacher can check his or her students’
understanding easily and can adjust the reading materials and exercises to suit the students’
ability. Therefore, it should be applied in teaching and learning a foreign language.
1.2.2.2. According to purposes
People do not usually read unless they have a reason or a purpose for reading. They
always have a need of some kind that can be satisfied through reading. In the case of an
effective reader, his reason for reading will also determine his style of reading and the
relevant reading skills to be used because the purpose could be very general when he reads
for pleasure or escape. On the other hand, it could be specific like looking up a telephone
directory for someone’ phone number he can not use the same way of reading.
According to Nutgall (2000: 38), there are two main types of reading, namely,
intensive and extensive readings, these are not just two contrasting ways of reading but an
infinitive variety of interrelated strategies; both of them are complementary and necessary.
* Intensive reading (IR)
The aim of intensive reading is to arrive at a profound and detailed understanding of
the text not only of what it means but also of how the meaning is produced. IR means
reading short texts to extract specific information. Its main concern is for detailed
comprehension. In IR, students normally work with short texts with close guidance from the
teacher. The aim of IR is to help students obtain detailed meaning from the context, to
develop reading skills- such as identifying main ideas and recognizing text connectors- and
to enhance vocabulary and grammar knowledge. Nutgall’s opinion about this kind of reading
is: “Intensive reading involves approaching the text under the close guidance of the teacher
or under the guidance of task which forces the students to pay great attention to the text”
Nuttal (1982: 23). “Intensive reading”, from Francoise’s point of view, “means reading short
texts to extract specific information. This is an accuracy activity that involves reading for

reading for the main ideas or for general information then for general comprehension and
finally, after much practice, for details comprehension”. ER is generally associated with
reading large amounts with the aim of getting an overall understanding of the material.
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Readers are more concerned with the meaning of the text than the meaning of individual
words or sentences. In fact, most of ER is usually done silently and outside the classroom, it
gives the students opportunities to use their knowledge of the target language for their own
purposes. Besides, it provides the valuable reinforcement of language items and structure
already presented in the classroom, gives the students chance to update and enrich their
language knowledge by reading the topics they like and read for enjoyment without
consideration for pressure of time, intense concentration, and total comprehension. ER
therefore, is regarded as an effective way for the students to improve their language reading;
it helps students enhance language learning in such areas as spelling, vocabulary, grammar,
and text structure. Besides, it gives students more positive attitude toward reading offers
them greater enjoyment of reading, helps them to read with pleasure. It is also considered as
an advisable sort of work for the students to increase and improve their general knowledge of
the world as well.
Basing on the purposes of reading, people may be skimming or scanning as they are
reading extensively.
* Skimming
According to Grellet (1981: 19) skimming appears when “we go through the reading
material quickly in order to get its main points or the intention of the writer, but not to find
the answer to specific questions”. And Nuttall (1982: 36) also stated that “By skimming, we
mean glancing rapidly through a text to determine whether a research paper is relevant to our
own work or in order to keep ourselves superficially informed about matters that are not of
great importance to us”. In addition to the definitions of skimming, Wood (1990: 92) said
that “When the reader looks at the content page of the book, or the chapter headings, sub
headlines, etc. This is sometimes called previewing. Another example is when reader glances
quickly through a newspaper to see the main items of the day are. This will often mean just
glancing at the headlines”. That means when we quickly to get general impression to see

1.3. Teaching and learning reading skills
1.3.1. The importance of reading in foreign language learning
In the process of teaching and learning a second or foreign language, the teaching and
learning of reading are always received much attention, since it is regarded as one of the
most important major skills as what Carrell (1971: 1) stated: “for many students, reading is
by far the most important of the four macro skills, particularly in English as a second or
foreign language”. This is also true for the MSA, because at our academy, reading is an
active skills namely speaking, listening and writing. To master reading skill is always
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challenging task that requires students a number of factors: a good competence of English
grammar, rich vocabulary, and reading techniques. First of all, reading helps students learn
to think in English, enlarge their English vocabulary, improve their writing. Richard
(1993:4) claimed that “reading may help to increase knowledge of the target language
through exposure to new vocabulary and grammatical structures”. There is a close
relationship between reading and vocabulary knowledge, because while reading, the readers
know most of the words in the text already, and they can also determine the meaning of
many of the unfamiliar words from the contexts. Therefore, the best way to acquire a large
vocabulary is to read. It is understandable that anyone who has a large vocabulary is usually
a good reader.
Besides, Richard (1993: 4) also stated that “reading in the new language is also an
important way to learn about the target culture”, which means that reading provides the
students with a wide range of interesting information, helps them understand the ways of
life, behaviors, thoughts and other aspect of the native people and it is also a good way to
find out about new ideas, facts and experiences. Therefore, they can master vocabulary,
grammar and the background knowledge or cross-cultural problems that they encounter. In
other words, reading is very important to the foreign language learners because it widen their
knowledge of language and life. In the context of MSA, it seems to be the most important
skill to the students of English since their main purpose is to understand the written texts.
1.3.2. Factors in teaching and learning reading
1.3.2.1. Teacher’s role

words, structures, and use what they have got from the text through reading tasks and
communication activities that follow. Therefore, in teaching reading, the teacher should pay
much attention to the following aspects such as language content, vocabulary and
grammatical structures, types of reading activities, though it is not simple thing to do as what
Buck, G (2001) states: “Providing suitable texts is not a simple matter. It takes time, effort
and some expertise”.
1.4. Theoretical background of motivation
1.4.1. Definition and types of motivation
It is common knowledge that motivation is vast and complicated subject
encompassing many theories. Motivation is thought to be important and inevitable in most
fields, without which one is difficult to succeed. Most definitions of motivation reflect that
motivation is an internal state or condition that serves to activate or energize behavior and
give it direction. Kleinginna (1981: 6) defines motivation as “a desire or want that energizes
and directs goal-oriented behavior”. Sharing the same point, Brown (2000: 160) indicates
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that “motivation is some kinds of internal drive which pushes someone to do things in order
to achieve something”. Motivation is also suggested by Woolfork (2001: 136) as “an
internal state that arouses, directs and maintains behavior”.
Kinds of motivation and their features have been discussed by scholars and
psychologists, who refer to motivation which comes from inside as well as from outside.
According to the researchers, there are many different kinds of motivation such as
Integrative, Instrumental Intrinsic, Extrinsic, Global Situational, and Tasks. Among them,
intrinsic and extrinsic motivations have an important part in classroom motivation and they
are partially accessible to teacher influence.
* Intrinsic Motivation (IM)
According to Wlodkowsk (1991) intrinsic motivation refers to “motivation to engage
in an activity for its own sake”. Sharing the same point, Reeve (1996) defines that intrinsic
motivation “is the natural tendency to seek out and conquer challenges as we pursue personal
interests and exercise capabilities”. Raffini (1996) also states that “what motivates us to do
something when we do not have to do anything”. The factors that support intrinsic

how high their general proficiency level becomes, and how long they persevere and maintain
L2 skills after language study is over…. Therefore, motivation is crucial for L2 learning, and
it is essential to understand what our students’ motivations are”. In their research on
motivation, Brown, Mallow, Crooks, and Schmidt seem to be in favor of intrinsic
orientation. However, both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation are necessary for language
learners, especially for most Vietnamese learners, who are often influenced by social and
institutional factors like finding better job opportunities as well as pressure of exams. That is
why it is essential to make the learners aware that both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations are
beneficial in second language learning.
1.4.3. The importance of motivation in learning reading
Study on the importance of motivation in learning reading, Redneck and Lester,
(2000: 5) state that: “motivation is one of the most important ingredients in skilled reading”.
You can realize that you are more engaged when you are reading something that interests
you. There are many factors that can help you become interested in what you are reading,
such as: your thoughts, feelings, interests, and your background knowledge. Reading
motivation refers to the desire to read, even when not required to do so. Reading motivation
involves seeking out opportunities to read for curiosity, knowledge, and involvement.
Researchers, who study on reading, recognize that in order to create lifelong readers,
endowing the learners with proficient reading are not enough. They also need to have
internalized motivation. Besides, reading material is another important factor that greatly
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influences the students’ motivation in a reading lesson. First of all, if the reading material is
interesting and relevant to the students, it will motivate them to read more. Reading material
should have suitable contents, this means, the texts are considered suitable will tell the
students thing they do not know and introduce them to new and relevant ideas. Secondly,
reading material’s language items such as vocabulary and grammatical structures may have
an impact on the students’ motivation. Through the texts, the students can understand the
way the others feel or think and make them read for themselves. In addition, teacher also
poses an important factor in motivating the students in a reading lesson. The teachers play
the key role in creating a good classroom environment, since it has a powerful effect on the

reading and reading comprehension have been given. Second, some kinds of reading
suggested by different theorists have been presented and taken into consideration. What is
more, concepts and ideas about motivation in general and in second language learning in
particular have been mentioned. In addition, the importance of motivation and the factors
affecting the students’ motivation in learning reading skill as well as definitions and the
importance of Pre-reading activities have also been reviewed. The next chapter will display
the methodology and findings of the research in the light of the theories mentioned above. 17
Chapter 2
THE STUDY
2.1. Introduction
In this chapter, the author attempts to outline two parts of the study. The first part
focuses on the current situation of teaching and learning reading skill at the MSA, in which
the description of the subjects as well as settings for the study and instruments are discussed.
The second part is an analysis on the data collected from the survey questionnaires and the
class observation.
2.2. Situation analysis
2.2.1. Aims of the study
Being a teacher of English at the English Department, MSA for over ten years, I have
decided to carry out a survey on pre-reading activities conducted by the teachers and students
at the MSA in order to find out whether the assumption above is true or not. Finally, I will
come up with a suggestion of some possible pre-reading activities with the hope to motivate
students in reading lessons as well as to improve their reading skills in general.
2.2.2. The setting of the study
This study was conducted at the MSA, where the author is teaching. The Academy
has been in operation for more than fifty years. It is the unique Military College of the
Ministry of Defense that train teachers, translators, interpreters and others who need foreign
languages in their jobs. English is only one of many other languages taught such as French,