VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HUYỀN A SURVEY ON CURRENT READING STRATEGIES OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PU[.]
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HUYỀN A SURVEY ON CURRENT READING STRATEGIES OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) STUDENTS AT A VOCATIONAL COLLEGE Khảo sát chiến lược đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành học viên trường Cao đẳng nghề M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major : English teaching methodology Code : 8140231.01 HANOI – 2018 z VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ HUYỀN A SURVEY ON CURRENT READING STRATEGIES OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) STUDENTS AT A VOCATIONAL COLLEGE Khảo sát chiến lược đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành học viên trường Cao đẳng nghề M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Major : English teaching methodology Code : 8140231.01 Supervisor : Trần Thanh Nhàn, PhD HANOI –2018 z DECLARATION I declare that this thesis is a presentation of my original research work While any of the content presented is the result of input or data from a related collaborative research program, the literature and acknowledgement of collaborative research and discussions The work was done under the guidance of Doctor Tran Thanh Nhan, as appointed by Faculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi Researcher In my capacity as supervisor of the candidate‟s thesis, I certify that the above statements are true to the best of my knowledge Hanoi, April……, 2018 Supervisor i z ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A completed study would not be done without any assistance Therefore, I would gratefully express my acknowledgement to the following individuals who have provided me with their support and motivation during the time of conducting this research as a requirement of completing my Degree of Master I would first like to thank my thesis supervisor, Doctor Tran Thanh Nhan Her kindly support and continuous advice went through the process of the completion of my thesis Her encouragement and comments had significantly enriched and improved my work Without her motivation and instructions, the thesis would have been impossible to be done effectively During the actual implementation of the project, my research has received immense contribution from all relevant students So far, I would like to thank to the groups who took charge in the process of data collection and data entry for this research I would also express my thankfulness to the Rector of Viglacera Vocational College who actively supported me and my colleagues who gave me very valuable comments on this thesis Finally, I would dedicate my very profound gratitude to my parents for their providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis This accomplishment would not have been possible without them Researcher ii z TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES ABSTRACT CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.2 Problem statement and research contribution 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Research objectives 1.5 Research scope 1.6 Research methodology 1.7 Thesis structure CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2.1 Definitions 10 2.1.1 Definition of reading 10 2.2.2 Definition of reading comprehension 10 2.2 Reading process 11 2.3 Reading strategies 12 2.4 English for specific purposes 14 2.5 Existing literature of reading strategies 15 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 19 3.1 Research design 19 3.1.1 Philosophy 19 3.1.2 Approach 19 3.1.3 Method 20 3.2 Data collection methods 20 3.2.1 Sample selection 20 3.2.2 Data collection process 20 3.2 Data analysis method 21 CHAPTER 4: ANALYSES AND FINDINGS 22 z 4.1 Descriptive statistics of the respondents 22 4.2 Results and Analyses 24 4.2.1 Reading strategy use of vocational students 24 4.2.2 Differences in reading strategies use by gender 26 4.2.3 Differences in reading strategies use by reading proficiency level 32 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATION 38 5.1 Conclusion 38 5.2 Recommendation 39 5.3 Limitations of the research 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDICES 45 z LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1: Descriptive statistics of the respondents 22 Table 4.2: Frequency of using reading strategies 24 Table 4.3: Reading strategies of female and male students 26 Table 4.4: Reading strategies of female and male students ranked by frequency 30 Table 4.5: Reading strategies of students with different reading proficiency levels 32 Table 4.6: Reading strategies of students with different reading proficiency levels ranked by frequency 36 z A survey on current reading strategies of English for Specific Purpose (ESP) students at a Vocational College ABSTRACT This study is a survey on English for Specific Purposes reading comprehension perceived by 120 students at a Vocational College It dedicates to the existing literature by discovering reading strategies of vocational students, identifying strategies needed to enhance students‟ reading comprehension as well as appropriate approach for students to improve their reading skills and achieve good knowledge The aim of the study is to point out which strategies the students majoring in building materials at the vocational college need to improve to attain the maximum out of the text they read and differences between “good” and “poor” readers, male and female ones A twenty-item questionnaire with five-point Likert scales was used to collect data Descriptive statistics used to analyze the data were frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation Based on the statistical data, the overall results point out the differences between female and male students, “good” and “poor” readers in terms of their reading strategies Hence, the study suggests several recommendations for the students as well as the English teachers at the Vocational College z CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION This chapter first and foremost provides background information about the research topic and stylized facts about students reading both academically and occupationally Subsequently, it identifies practical and theoretical problems as well as defines research questions and research objectives The research scope and methodologies to address the research questions are then clarified Lastly, the chapter wraps up with a demonstration of the thesis structure 1.1 Background Vocational education has been growing in popularity not only in numerous countries around the globe but also in Vietnam It is considered as an alternative door for students to pursue their dreams rather than higher education Vocational education is a practical approach that prepares people to work in specific occupations, such as engineering, trading, or crafting Vocational colleges are designed to provide vocational education, which can be distinguished other colleges in the sense that they provide students with job-specific training instead of high concentration on academic training Consequently, students are well equipped with particular skills required for their specifically selected jobs Among all vocational colleges in Vietnam, Viglacera Vocational College (VVC) is considered as the most well-known vocational institution in the industry of construction materials production It is an education unity of Viglacera Corporation Established in 1998, Viglacera Vocational College has been the first and only college in Vietnam providing intensive vocational training in the industry of construction materials production VVC and Proskill UK have signed a cooperation agreement in vocational training with z the aim to propel VVC to become a leading Vietnamese vocational college in the field of construction materials It can be seen clearly that VVC has been putting efforts in building vocational training programs in compliance with international standards VVC focuses on training the workers of forty subsidiaries in the Viglacera Corporation These students have to simultaneously meet the requirements of studying at the college and working at the sites They have to work on shifts (three shifts per day) to maintain the working lines and to ensure the effective production Therefore, they face ample difficulties in learning as well as doing exercises In class, most of them complain that they are too exhausted to absorb new knowledge, and they want to have interesting easy lessons, which pose a real challenge for the teachers to facilitate their learning At VVC, English is considered an international language as it has become increasingly popular as a teaching language in Vietnam‟s education Especially, together with the rapid pace of globalization, it has grown to be an official medium of instruction for many universities More specifically, English is a key to “gain access to the required knowledge that is available, either exclusively or most readily, in English” (Mumby, 1981) In other words, it serves other different specific purposes, which results in significant changes in almost all walks of life and the continuing increase of international communication in these various fields That trend leads to the coming into being of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) Being aware of the importance of ESP, teachers at Viglacera Vocational College (VVC) pay more attention to teaching ESP than GE for their students This ESP course aims at providing students with background knowledge and a system of terms related to building materials However, vocabulary and grammar cause various problems for the z ... use of reading strategies between native speakers and non-native English speakers when they read academic materials The findings illustrate that both native and nonnative students are aware of almost... dreams rather than higher education Vocational education is a practical approach that prepares people to work in specific occupations, such as engineering, trading, or crafting Vocational colleges... 36 z A survey on current reading strategies of English for Specific Purpose (ESP) students at a Vocational College ABSTRACT This study is a survey on English for Specific Purposes reading comprehension