(LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ) A survey on the teaching of English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at Vietnam Forestry Universtiy

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES HỒ THỊ XUÂN HỒNG A SURVEY ON THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH READING SKILLS TO THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN MIXED ABILITY CLASSES AT VIETNAM FORESTRY UNIVERSITY (KHẢO SÁT VỀ THỰC TRẠNG DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRONG CÁC LỚP HỌC CĨ TRÌNH ĐỘ KHƠNG ĐỒNG ĐỀU TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC LÂM NGHIỆP VIỆT NAM) M.A Minor programme thesis Field: English teaching methodology Code: 60 14 10 HANOI, 2010 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES HỒ THỊ XUÂN HỒNG A SURVEY ON THE TEACHING OF ENGLISH READING SKILLS TO THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS IN MIXED ABILITY CLASSES AT VIETNAM FORESTRY UNIVERSITY (KHẢO SÁT VỀ THỰC TRẠNG DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT TRONG CÁC LỚP HỌC CĨ TRÌNH ĐỘ KHÔNG ĐỒNG ĐỀU TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC LÂM NGHIỆP VIỆT NAM) M.A Minor programme thesis Field: English teaching methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Lâm Thị Phúc Hân, MA HANOI, 2010 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Retention and use of the thesis i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations vii List of tables and charts viii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims of the study Scope of the study Method of the study Significance of the study Organization of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Theory of reading in second language teaching and learning 1.1.1 Definition of reading comprehension 1.1.2 Models of reading process 1.1.2.1 Bottom-up model 1.1.2.2 Top-down model 1.1.2.3 Interactive model 1.1.3 Features of an effective reading lesson 1.1.4 Reading problems and solutions 1.1.5 Stages of a reading lesson 1.1.5.1 Pre-reading stage 1.1.5.2 While-reading stage 1.1.5.3 Post-reading stage 10 1.2 Theory of mixed-ability classes 10 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com v 1.2.1 Definition of mixed ability classes 10 1.2.2 Benefits of mixed ability classes 10 1.2.3 Challenges of mixed ability classes 11 1.2.4 Strategies for teaching mixed ability classes 12 CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 14 2.1 The teaching context 14 2.1.1 The learners 14 2.1.2 The teachers 15 2.1.3 The syllabus 15 2.1.4 The teaching and learning conditions 15 2.2 A survey on the teaching of English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at VFU 16 2.2.1 Participants 16 2.2.2 Data collection instruments 16 2.2.3 Data collection procedure 17 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 18 3.1 Results and discussion 18 3.1.1 Students’ and teachers’ attitudes toward learning and teaching English reading skills 18 3.1.2 Difficulties in teaching reading texts 20 3.1.3 Techniques in teaching reading texts 22 3.1.4 Ways of classroom management 26 3.2 Summary of main findings 28 3.2.1 Advantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at VFU 28 3.2.2 Disadvantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at VFU 29 CHAPTER 4: IMPLICATIONS 31 4.1 Improving students’ participation in classroom activities 31 4.1.1 Having a good understanding of individual students 31 4.1.2 Clarifying learning goals to the students 31 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com vi 4.1.3 Making use of pair/ group work 32 4.1.4 Changing the roles while teaching 33 4.1.5 Making use of modern technology in teaching 34 4.2 Improving teaching techniques 34 4.2.1 Adjusting teaching time and efforts 35 4.2.2 Varying strategies in three stages of reading lessons 35 4.2.2.1 Before reading 35 4.2.2.2 While reading 36 4.2.2.3 After reading 38 PART C: CONCLUSION 40 Summary of the study 40 Limitations of the study 41 Suggestions for further study 41 REFERENCES 42 APPENDIX i Appendix 1: Survey questionnaires i Appendix 1.A: Survey questionnaires for students i Appendix 1.B: Survey questionnaires for teachers ix Appendix 2: Sample reading texts xvii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com vii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VFU: Vietnam Forestry University ESP: English for specific purposes MAC: Mixed ability classes ESL: English as second language LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com viii Table 1: The frequency of difficulties in teaching reading texts Table 2: The frequency of pre-reading activities Table 3: The frequency of while-reading exercises Table 4: The frequency of post-reading activities Table 5: The frequency of grouping students with same or mixed ability Chart 1: The importance of reading in comparison with other language skills Chart 2: The importance of developing reading skills to the first year students in VFU Chart 3: The main purpose of teaching reading skills to the first year students at VFU Chart 4: Opinion about reading texts in the textbook Chart 5: The frequency of other difficulties faced by the teachers when teaching reading in MAC Chart 6: Ways of reading to find the main idea of the text Chart 7: Ways of reading to find specific information of the text Chart 8: Frequency of pair/group working Chart 9: Students' opinion about benefits of working in pairs/groups Chart 10: Teachers' reasons for making the students work in pairs/groups TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale Like in any other countries, in the process of integrating into regional and international economic and diplomatic development, English is now a compulsory subject in every school in Vietnam Both teachers and learners seem to pay greater attention to the teaching and learning of this language The ultimate aim is the ability to use it for communicative purposes To obtain this aim, however, is not an easy task because students should be able to acquire four skills of listening, speaking, writing and reading in addition to English grammar, pronunciation, etc Among these areas, reading skills play an indispensable and inseparable part in the process of teaching and learning English as it helps students enrich their general knowledge, and support their learning of other language skills and elements Therefore, how to teach and learn reading is very important In Vietnam Forestry University (VFU), a non-language major university, the teaching and learning of English in general and English reading skills, in particular have received a greater deal of attention and achieved certain success because English and English reading skills are very important for the students to read their major’s documents in English and very useful for their job later However, the effectiveness of teaching and learning reading skills is still limited, especially to the first year students This problem may be resulted from some factors Firstly some teachers have been accustomed to traditional teaching methods They often waste much of their time explaining new words and grammatical structures for final exams instead of providing different reading strategies for different reading tasks to develop the students’ reading skills The text, therefore, plays as a source of materials for language lessons instead of skill lessons Secondly, achieving effectiveness in teaching reading skills become more challenging when all English classes in this university consist of a large number of students with different language learning ability The other reasons may come from the reading materials, syllabus and teaching and learning conditions As a teacher of English in VFU for nearly four years, this situation encourages the author to investigate the advantages as well as the disadvantages of this issue and give some suggestions for better learning and teaching English reading skills to the first year students TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 2 Aims of the study The major purposes of this study are: (1) to investigate the advantages and disadvantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at VFU (2) to give some suggestions to make use of the advantages and overcome the disadvantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at VFU? These objectives will be achieved by finding the answers to the three following questions: (1) What are the advantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at VFU? (2) What are the disadvantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at VFU? (3) What should be done to make use of the advantages and overcome the disadvantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at VFU? Scope of the study The study investigates the current situation of the teaching of English reading skills to the 1st year students in MAC at Vietnam Forestry University Method of the study To achieve the aims mentioned above, the quantitative approach which involves survey questionnaires is employed to collect data for the study The survey questionnaires are administered to both teachers and students The results obtained from the teachers will be compared with those from the students for more reliable data Significance of the study This study can, hopefully, be useful for the teachers and students in VFU as well the researchers who have interest in this field Once successfully completed, the study will manage to provide a picture of teaching English reading skills to the first year VFU students Through the findings of the study, some suggestions will be given with a hope to take the advantages of the strengths and overcome the weaknesses to help the first year students in VFU improve their reading skills Furthermore, this study can offer various and TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com useful references for further studies It can also be an idea that attracts other researchers to go further Organization of the study The study consists of three main parts: Part A is the introduction which states the rationale, aims, scope, method, significance and organization of the study Part B is the development which consists of chapters: Chapter 1, which serves as a theoretical and methodological foundation of the study reviews the literature relevant to the topic Chapter presents the research methodology Chapter refers to the results and discussion of the survey in addition to the summary of the main findings Chapter is the implications which include some suggestions for better teaching and learning reading to the first year students in MAC in VFU Part C is the conclusion that summarizes what has been done through the study, presents the limitations and gives some suggestions for further researches TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 38 For the understanding of new vocabulary in the text, instead of giving Vietnamese meaning directly, some other strategies may be used The teacher can guide students to focus on the contextual clues, word formation and derivation with some types of exercise such as: recognizing synonyms and antonyms, cloze exercise, or completing tables… For example, to help students to understand the meaning of some word expressing jobs in the text “The man with thirteen jobs” (Unit 3, New Headway Elementary, p.24-25) ) (Appendix 2), the teachers may ask his students to a matching exercise: postman a server petrol fireman b deliver the letters petrol attendant c arrange funerals undertaker d put out the fire 5……… e ……………… Or to the text “Living in the USA” (Unit 2, New Headway Pre-intermediate, p.18-19)(Appendix 2), the students may be guided to find word in the text that has the same meaning with the provided phrases: + be slow to speak because of uncertain feelings (hesitate) + people who study Mathematics ( mathematician) + a place where sell footballs (a soccer store)… 4.2.2.3 After reading To check the students’ comprehension and retention of the information of the text that they have already tackled, and in some ways help them to use what they have read in a meaningful way, the last reading stage should be employed There are many type of postreading activities, so depending on the feature of the text, the teacher can choose suitable ones for their students - Summarizing the text - Discussing the main point of the text - Discussing something of the same topic of the text - Writing on topics relevant to the reading text - Practice new vocabulary in the text by doing extra exercises - Discussing coming-up topics - Reading texts of contrasting topics (Adapted from: William, 1984, Drucker, 2003) TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 39 For example, after the students read the text “Super Kids” (Unit 6, New Headway Elementary, p.48-49)-)-(Appendix 2) and complete the comprehension exercises (answer that questions about Alexandra and Lukas), the teacher can check their understanding by asking them to discuss the same and differences between the two characters Or with the text “The best shopping street in the world” (Unit 4, New Headway Preintermediate, p.34-35)-)-(Appendix 2), after reading, the teacher may guide the student to use the ideas and expression in the text to discuss some other related questions, for instance “What is the main shopping street in your town/ city/ country? What can you buy there that special? ” General speaking, following and implementing the aforementioned stages would help the students to depend on themselves and on other resources rather than on the teacher as the primarily source of information The students will develop the skills by themselves, which later become their own skills through interaction with the reading texts There have been a number of activities in the reading stages presented in this part However, teaching is a creative and artistic process, so the teacher must be flexible when using different activities in their lessons The chosen activities should depend on teaching and learning conditions, the reading text and the students’ level Furthermore, managing to design various activities for a reading lesson is only a half of the lesson’s success, the other half lies on the way of organizing and controlling the classroom activities, thus the teacher should also bear in mind their roles in teaching This chapter has presented some strategies which are thought to be appropriate to promote the advantages and solve the remaining problems in teaching reading skills to the first year students in MAC in VFU It is hoped that these strategies are useful to facilitate the students to read better The implementation of these suggestions will come to success easier if there is support from the university In other words, the teachers should be given chance to take part in teaching training course frequently to improve their profession and to update changes in foreign language teaching The teaching and learning conditions in the university should be more upgraded for more sufficient learning and teaching results For example, English classrooms should be better equipped, and more English reading references should be added in the library for extra reading materials at home TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 40 PART C: CONCLUSION In this chapter, recapitulation of the study is provided with a brief description as well as the limitation of the study and some recommendations for further researches Summary of the study The study was conducted with the ultimate aim of giving possible solutions to improve the situation of teaching reading skills to the first year students in MAC in VFU All the suggestions were based on both theoretical and practical basis The theoretical basis or the literature review of the study mentioned a number of issues relating to English reading comprehension, teaching English reading comprehension and teaching English in MAC The practical basis was the data collected from the survey on the teaching of reading skills to the first year students in MAC in VFU By using survey questionnaires for both students and teachers, the author managed to find out the advantages as well as the disadvantages that the teachers in VFU encountered in reading lessons These strong points and drawbacks are related to some of the important issues in teaching English, in general and teaching reading skills, in particular In other words, they are concerned with such categories as the attitude, the difficulties, the teaching techniques and the ways of managing classroom activities in MAC It is quite unpleased that the disadvantages outnumbered the advantages; hence suggestions for the improvement are very necessary for more effectiveness in teaching English reading skills Basing on the results from the survey, some solutions were suggested to improve the bad points and to enhance the goods points of the situation The first solution was presented for the sake of improving the students’ participation in the lessons which included having a good understanding of individual students, clarifying learning goals to the students, making use of pair/ group work, changing the roles while teaching and making use of modern technology in teaching The second solution was suggested with the purpose of improving the teacher’s teaching reading techniques which consisted of ways to adjust teaching time and efforts in reading lessons as well as useful activities in the three reading stages, before, while and post reading The author hope that the flexibility in use of the suggested solutions will help to enhance the effectiveness of teaching reading for the first year students in MAC in VFU TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 41 Limitations of the study Personally, the author believes that in some ways, the study has certain significance in teaching reading skills to the first year students in MAC in VFU However, being a new researcher, the author also admits that limitations of the study are unavoidable Firstly, because of the limited time, only survey questionnaire was chosen as the instrument to collect the data and the number of participants was not very large, so the results may not be totally exact Secondly, all the suggested solutions for improving the situation of teaching reading for the first year students in MAC in VFU have not been experimented, thus their effectiveness has not been proven and they may be considered subjective or uncompleted Thirdly, this study was carried out only within the scope of the first year students in VFU, not all the students of this university or students of other non-English major universities in Vietnam so the mentioned solutions may not be suitable to the teaching of reading skills to other students because of their differences in English proficiency and the teachers’ competence in teaching English as well as other objectives learning and teaching conditions Finally, within the scope of the study, the author only had chance to carry out the survey on the teaching of reading skills, whereas the teaching of other language skills (listening, speaking, writing) also need to be investigated for the improvement of English language teaching Suggestions for further study Because of some limitations, the author has some recommendations for further researches Firstly, she hopes that in the coming time, there will be researches with more data collection instruments such as interviews, class observations, etc on a larger number of participants for more reliable data Secondly, there will be experimental researches for the suggested solutions to prove the effectiveness and significance of the study’s results and abolish the subjunctive assessments from the researcher of this study Finally, further researches can also focus on other language skills including speaking, listening and writing to provide a whole picture of teaching English to students in VFU for better teaching and learning improvement In conclusion, in this study the author managed to make a survey on the teaching of reading skills to the first year students in MAC in VFU and suggest some practical implications to take advantage of the strengths and overcome the existing weaknesses The author does hope that other lecturers of English in VFU will take this study as a reference for their own TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 42 REFERENCES Ashok R (2010) Teaching English in Large Multi-level Classrooms Retrieved July, 2010 from http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/forum-topic/teaching-english-large-multilevel-multi-lingual-classroom Byrne, D (1987) Techniques for Classroom Interaction New York: Longman Carrell, P., Devine ,J & Esday, D (Ed) (1988) Interactive Approaches to Second Language Teaching Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Corley, M.A (2005) Differentiate Instruction: Adjusting to the needs of all learners Focus and Basis Retrieved May, 2010, from www.ncsall.net/index.php?id=736 Drucker, M J (2003) What Reading Teachers Should Know about ESL Learners? The Reading Teacher 57(1) 22-29 Retrieved on July 8, 2010 from www.questia.com Eskey, D, E (1988) Holding in the bottom: An Interactive Approach to the Language Problems of Second Language Readers, in Interactive Approach to Second Language Reading, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Fisher, D L Fisher (2003) Using PowerPoint for ESL Teaching The Internet TESL Journal, 9(4) Goodman, K S.(1967) Reading: a Psycholinguistic Guessing Game Journal of reading specialists, 6(4).126-135 Grellet, F (1981) Developing Reading Skills Cambridge University Press 10 Harmer J (2008) How to Teach English Longman: Pearson Longman 11 Hong, N, T (2007) Improving students’ participation in English Classroom activities in Mixed Ability Classes at Dai Tu High School in Thai Nguyen Province, An action research MA thesis Ministry of Education and training Hanoi university 12 Ireson, J & Hallam, S (2001) Ability Grouping in Education London: Paul Chapman Publishing 13 Maria X & Pavlos P (2008) Strategies of Accommodating Mixed Ability Classes in EFL Settings: Teachers’ Armour in an Ongoing Battle Retrieved February 2008, from http://www.hltmag.co.uk/jan08/mart04.doc TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com 43 14 Marianne, C (2001) Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (3rd Ed) University of California, Los Angeles 15 Matthews, A., Spratt, M., Dangerfeild, L (1991) At the Chalkface Eward Arnold 16 Moore, K 1992 Classroom Teaching Skills Mc, Graw Hill, Inc 17 Nunan D 1991 Language Teaching Methodology: A Textbook For Teachers G.B: Prentice Hall 18 Nuttall, C (1982) Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language Macmillan Heinemann 19 Prodromou, L (1995) Mixed Ability Classes Hertfordshire: Phoenix ELT 20 Şalli-Çopur, D (2005) Coping with the Problems of Mixed Ability Classes TESL Journal, 11(8), 1-5 21 Samuel, S & Kamil, M (1988) Models of Reading Process, in Interactive Approaches to Second Language Reading Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 22 Sheils, J 1993 Communicative in the Modern Language Classroom Couneit of Europe Press 23 Thomas & Richard (1987) Being an Effective Teacher Harper and Row Publisher 24 Penny, U 1996 A Course in a Language Teaching Great Britain at the University Press 25 Penny, U (2005) A Course in Language Teaching: Practice and Theory Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 26 William, E (1984) Reading in the Language Classroom Macmillan 27 Yongong, G (2008) Implementing Communicative Activities in English Reading Class English Language Teaching 1(1) 14-18 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com i APPENDIX 1: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES 1.A Survey questionnaire for students This survey questionnaire is designed to help me complete my graduation paper on “Implications of a survey on the teaching of English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes in Vietnam Forestry University” Your assistance in completing the questionnaire is highly appreciated You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data First of all, please fill in some information about you: Your age: ……………………… Male/ Female: ………………………… How long have you been learning English? ………… ……….years For all the questions below, please answer by ticking one or more of the boxes or writing in the given spaces In your opinion, reading comprehension is……………?  A more important than any other language skills (Listening, speaking, writing)  B as important as three other language skills  C not as important as three other language skills  D not important at all In your opinion, in the first year at university, developing your reading comprehension skills is…………  A very important  B important  C not very important  D not important at all In the first year at university, what is your most important purpose of learning reading skills?  A To reinforce vocabulary and grammatical structures  B To develop reading skills and improve other language skills  C To improve background knowledge  D To the school exam well TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ii  E To prepare for learning ESP in the next term In your opinion, the reading texts in the textbook are…………  A interesting and suitable to your level  B boring and not suitable to your level  C interesting but not suitable to your level  D boring but suitable to your level How often you have the following difficulties when reading an English text? Difficulties Often Sometimes Never A There are many new words in the text B Grammatical structures in the text are difficult C The topics in the texts are strange D The reading comprehension exercises are difficult In your reading lessons, how often you take part in the following activities before you read a text? Pre-reading activities Often Sometimes Never A Learn new vocabulary B Set up a clear goal to read C Answer some pre-reading questions D Using the title, subtitles to predict content E Look at pictures to guess the topic F Play games (to know about the topic) G Brain storm words, structures or ideas related to the topic At class, how you read to find out the main ideas of the text?  A Read slowly from the beginning to the end, trying to understand the meaning of every word  B Read quickly through the text, pay attention to the title, subtitles or topic sentences, ignoring the new words Other strategies:……………………………………………………………………… TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com iii At class, how you read to find out specific information of the text?  A Read slowly from the beginning to the end, trying to understand the meaning of every word  B Read quickly through the text, ignoring the new words to look for the specific information Other strategies:………………………………………………………………… … … In your reading lesson, how often you use the following types of while-reading exercises? While-reading exercises Often Sometimes Never Questions and answers 2.T/F exercises Multiple-choice exercises Finding the topic sentences Finding synonyms and antonyms Blank-filling exercises Reordering exercises Completing exercises Matching exercises 10 Finding equivalents 10 After you finish the comprehension exercises, how often you take part in the following activities? Post-reading activities Often Sometimes Never A Summarizing the text B Discussing the main point of the text C Writing on topics relevant to the reading text D Practising new vocabulary in the text by doing extra exercises 11 How often does your teacher ask you to work in pairs or in groups? A Often B sometimes C Never TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com iv 12 When you work in pairs or in groups, how does your teacher group you? How often does s/he use that method? Method of pairing/grouping Often Sometimes Never A Same ability B Mixed ability 13 What benefits can you get when you work with your partners? A I have a chance to participate in the classroom activities B Better friends can help me to complete the classroom tasks C I have a chance to chat to the others about everything D I feel pleasant when learning reading E All of these above Thank you very much for your cooperation! TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com v 2.B Survey questionnaire for teachers This survey questionnaire is intended for the research on ““Implications of a survey on the teaching of reading English skills for the first year students in mixed ability classes in Vietnam Forestry University” Your assistance in completing the questionnaire is highly appreciated You can be confident that you will not be identified in any discussion of the data First of all, please fill in some information about you: Your age: ……………………… Male/ Female: ………………………… How long have you been teaching English? ………… ……….years For all the questions, please answer by ticking one or more of the boxes or writing in the given spaces In your opinion, reading comprehension is……………? A more important than any other language skills (Listening, speaking, writing)  B as important as three other language skills  C not as important as three other language skills  D not important at all In your opinion, developing the reading skills for the first year students is …… A.very important B important C not very important D not important at all In your opinion, what is the most important purpose of teaching reading skills for the first year students?  A To reinforce their vocabulary and grammatical structures  B To develop reading skills and improve their other language skills  C To improve their background knowledge TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com vi  D To help them to the school exam well  E To help them prepare for learning ESP in the next term In your opinion, the reading texts in the textbook are…………  A interesting and suitable to the students’ level  B boring and not suitable to the students’ level  C interesting but not suitable to the students’ level  D boring but suitable to the students’ level How often your students have the following difficulties when learning to read an English text? Difficulties Often Sometimes Never A There are many new words in the text B Grammatical structures in the text are difficult C The topics in the texts are strange D The reading comprehension exercises are difficult How often you have the following difficulties when teaching reading in such mixed ability classes? Difficulties Often Sometimes Never A Only some advanced students can complete the required tasks B Weak students often sit silently or other things instead of taking part in classroom activities C Materials is quite difficult to some weaker students D Teachers have to spend more time helping weaker students so other students seem to be bored How often you ask your students to take part in the following activities before reading? Pre-reading activities Often Sometimes Never A Answer some pre-reading questions B Using the title, subtitles to predict content C Learn new vocabulary D Set up a clear goal to read TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com vii E Play games (to introduce about the topic) F Brain storm words, structures or ideas related to the topic G Look at pictures to guess the topic How you often ask your students to read to find out the main ideas of the text?  A Read slowly from the beginning to the end, trying to understand the meaning of every word  B Read quickly through the text, pay attention to the title, subtitles or topic sentences, ignoring the new words Other strategies:………………………………………………………………….… ……………………………………………………………………………………… How you often ask your students to read to find out specific information of the text?  A Read slowly from the beginning to the end, trying to understand the meaning of every word  B Read quickly through the text, ignoring the new words to look for the information they want Other strategies:………………………………………………………………… … … ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 10 In your reading lesson, how often you deliver the following types of while-reading exercises? While-reading exercises Often Sometimes Never Questions and answers 2.T/F exercises Multiple-choice exercises Finding the topic sentences Finding synonyms and antonyms Blank-filling exercises Reordering exercises Completing exercises Matching exercises 10 Finding equivalents TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com viii 11 After your students finish the comprehension exercises, how often you ask them to the following tasks? Post-reading activities Often Sometimes Never A Summarizing the text B Discussing the main point of the text C Writing on topics relevant to the reading text D Practicing new vocabulary in the text by doing extra exercises 12 How often you ask your students work in pairs/groups? A Often B sometimes C never 13 How you group your students in pairs/ groups? How often you use the method? Method of pairing/grouping Often Sometimes Never A Same ability B Mixed ability 14 Why you ask your students to work in pairs/ groups?  A To provide them chance to participate in the classroom activities  B To enable them to help each other in completing reading exercises  C To offer them an opportunity to work with each other D To create a pleasant learning atmosphere  E All of these above Thank you very much for your cooperation! TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ix APPENDIX 2: SAMPLE READING TEXTS “A tale of two millionaires” (Unit 6, New Headway Pre-intermediate) “Three musical cities” (Unit 10, New Headway Elementary) “How to live to be 100” (Unit 14- New Headway Elementary) “People, the great communicator” (Unit 1, New Headway pre-intermediate) “Two famous first” (Unit 7, New Headway Elementary) “The man with thirteen jobs” (Unit 3, New Headway Elementary) “Living in the USA” (Unit 2, New Headway Pre-intermediate) “Super Kids” (Unit 6, New Headway Elementary) “The best shopping street in the world” (Unit 4, New Headway Pre-intermediate) TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com ... questions: (1) What are the advantages of teaching English reading skills to the first year students in mixed ability classes at VFU? (2) What are the disadvantages of teaching English reading skills. .. students in MAC at VFU Attitudes: The above data analysis indicates that almost all of the teachers and a majority of the students have positive attitudes to teaching and developing reading skills. .. reading comprehension, teaching English reading comprehension and teaching English in MAC The practical basis was the data collected from the survey on the teaching of reading skills to the first