1 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST GRADUATE DEPARTMENT DUONG THI LAN HUONG A STUDY ON THE TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING READING SKILL FOR NON MAJOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH A[.]
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST- GRADUATE DEPARTMENT DUONG THI LAN HUONG A STUDY ON THE TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING READING SKILL FOR NON-MAJOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT PRE-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL AT THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER AT THE MINNISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC THỦ THUẬT NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC CHO CÁC HỌC VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRÌNH ĐỘ B TẠI TRUNG TÂM NGOẠI NGỮ BỘ NÔNG NGHIỆP VÀ PTNT MINOR MA THESIS Field: English methodology Code: 601410 HÀ NỘI-2013 z VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY , HANOI COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES POST- GRADUATE DEPARTMENT DUONG THI LAN HUONG A STUDY ON THE TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING READING SKILL FOR NON-MAJOR STUDENTS OF ENGLISH AT PRE-INTERMEDIATE LEVEL AT THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER AT THE MINNISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT NGHIÊN CỨU CÁC THỦ THUẬT NÂNG CAO KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC CHO CÁC HỌC VIÊN KHÔNG CHUYÊN TIẾNG ANH TRÌNH ĐỘ B TẠI TRUNG TÂM NGOẠI NGỮ BỘ NÔNG NGHIỆP VÀ PTNT MINOR MA THESIS Field: English methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Nguyen Quynh Trang-PhD candidate HÀ NỘI-2013 z STATEMENT I certify that this thesis is the result of my own study and it hasn’t been submitted to any other institutions or universities Hanoi, September, 2013 Student Duong Thi Lan Huong z ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor, Ms Nguyen Quynh Trang - PhD candidate, for her valuable guidance, encouragement and constant support to the fulfillment of my thesis I also would like to thank my colleagues in the English Faculty of the College of Management for Agriculture and Rural Development and non-major students of English at pre-intermediate level at the Foreign Language Center at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for their cooperation during the rearch Last but not least, I am indebted to my parents, whose constant love and care greatly contributes to the completion of my study z ABSTRACT English is becoming more and more popular in Vietnam and it has an important role in the developing of economy, politics, culture, science, technology In the teaching and learning English, reading has always received great attention Civil servants at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development take reading into consideration because of their job requirement However, they still face a lot of difficulties in reading It is urgent to carry out “A study on the techniques for improving reading skill for non-major students of English at pre-intermediate level at the Foreign Language Center at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development” Reading problems the teachers and learners experienced are presented and some suggestions are given However, the findings of the study is somehow limited due to time limitation and further studies can apply some other methods to cross check z TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Statement of the problem and rationale of the study 1.2 Aims of the study 1.3 Significance of the study 1.4 Methods of the study 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Design of the study CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Definitions of reading 2.2.Definition of reading comprehension 2.3 Classification of reading 2.3.1 Classification according to manner 2.3.2 Classification according to purpose 2.4 Effective reading comprehension 10 2.5 Reading comprehension techniques 10 2.6 Reading purpose of second language learners 12 2.7 Factors in teaching and learning reading 12 2.7.1 Teachers’ role 12 2.7.2 Students’ role 13 2.7.3 The reading texts 13 2.7.4 Reading motivation 13 2.8 Stages of a reading lesson 14 2.8.1 Pre-reading stage 14 z 2.8.2 While-reading stage 14 2.8.3 Post-reading stage .15 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Participants 16 3.2 Material 16 3.3 Data collection instrument 18 3.4 Data analysis 19 3.4.1 Data analysis of the students’ survey questionnaires 19 3.4.1.1 Students’ aims of learning English 19 3.4.1.2 Students’ attitude to the reading texts in the book More Reading Power 19 3.4.1.3 Students’ attention to the language aspects taught at MARD 20 3.4.1.4 Students’ attitude to the importance of reading comprehension 20 3.4.1.5 Students’ attitude to the benefit of reading 21 3.4.1.6 Students’ attitude to the activities in stages of reading 21 3.4.1.6.1 Students’ attitude to pre-reading activities 21 3.4.1.6.1.1 The frequency of using Pre-reading activities by the teachers responded by the students 21 3.4.1.6.1.2 Students’ enjoyment of pre-reading activities 22 3.4.1.6.2 Students’ attitude to while - reading activities 23 3.4.1.6.2.1 Students’ activities to look for specific information 23 3.4.1.6.2.2 Students’ activities to look for the main idea of the text 23 3.4.1.6.2.3 Students’ activities when meeting new words 23 3.4.1.6.3 Students’ attitude to post - reading activities 24 3.4.1.7 Students’ difficulties when learning reading 24 3.4.1.8 Students’ expectation towards teachers’ teaching of reading techniques to overcome difficulties when learning reading 25 3.4.1.9 Students’ effort for improving their reading comprehension 26 3.4.2 Data analysis of the teachers’ survey questionnaires 26 3.4.2.1 Teachers’ aims of teaching reading 26 z 3.4.2.2.Teachers’ attitude to the reading texts in the book More Reading Power 27 3.4.2.3.Teachers’ attention to the language aspects taught at MARD 27 3.4.2.4 Teachers’ attitude to the importance of reading comprehension 28 3.4.2.5 Teachers’ attitude to the benefit of reading 28 3.4.2.6 Teachers’ difficulties when teaching reading 29 3.4.2.7 Teachers’ activities to help students to overcome difficulties 29 CHAPTER 4: SUGGESTIONS AND CONCLUSIONs 4.1 Suggested techniques 31 4.1.1 Techniques for reading motivation and interest 31 4.1.1.1 The students are free to choose books of their own interest 31 4.1.1.2 The reading should be easy for them 31 4.1.1.3 Gradually escalating the level of difficulty of the texts 31 4.1.1.4 Role – playing 31 4.1.1.5 Diversifying pre-reading techniques 31 4.1.1.5.1 Using visual aids 32 4.1.1.5.2 Brainstorming 32 4.1.1.5.3 Pre - questioning 32 4.1.2 Techniques for dealing with vocabulary 32 4.1.2.1 Techniques to deal with unknown words 32 4.1.2.2 Techniques to enrich vocabulary 33 4.1.2.2.1 Using word games 33 4.1.2.2.2 Using word lists 33 4.1.2.2.3 Encouraging students to have extensive reading habit 33 4.1.2.2.4 Students need to read a lot 33 4.1.2.2.5 The reading material is at an appropriate level 34 4.1.2.2.6 There is a variety of reading materials on a wide range of topics 34 4.1.2.2.7 Students are allowed to choose books that interest them 34 4.1.2.2.8 Reading is individual and silient 34 z 4.1.2.2.9 Teachers advise students to find a regular time and place in the day for reading so that it can become part of their daily routine 34 4.1.2.2.10 Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower 34 4.2 Conclusions 34 4.3 Limitations and recommendations for further study 35 REFERENCES APPENDIX z LIST OF TABLES FOR STUDENTS Table 1: Students’ aims of learning English Table 2: Students’ attitude to the reading texts in the book More Reading Power Table 3: Students’ attention to the language aspects taught at MARD Table 4: Students’ attitude to the importance of reading comprehension Table 5: Students’ attitude to the benefit of reading Table 6: The frequency of using Pre-reading activities by the teachers responded by the students Table 7: Students’ enjoyment of pre-reading activities Table 8: Students’ activities to look for specific information Table 9: Students’ activities to look for the main idea of the text Table 10: Students’ activities when meeting new words Table 11: Students’ post – reading activities Table 12: Difficulties students face in reading Table 13: Students’ expectation towards teachers’ teaching of reading techniques to overcome difficulties when learning reading Table 14: Students’ activities to improve their reading comprehension FOR TEACHERS Table 1: Teachers’ aims of teaching English Table 2: Teachers’ attitude to the reading text in the book More Reading Power Table 3: Teachers’attention to the language aspects taught at MARD Table : Teachers’attitude to the importance of reading comprehension Table 5: Teachers’ attitude to the benefit of reading Table 6: Difficulties teachers encounter when teaching reading Table 7: Teachers’ activities to help students to overcome difficulties 10 z ... thank my colleagues in the English Faculty of the College of Management for Agriculture and Rural Development and non- major students of English at pre- intermediate level at the Foreign Language. .. many, reading is the most important skill to master” This is true for non- major students of English at pre- intermediate level at the Foreign Language center at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural. .. the teaching and learning English, reading has always received great attention Civil servants at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development take reading into consideration because of their