Exploring l2 reading habits of second year english majored undergraduates at an giang university

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES UNDERGRADUATE THESIS EXPLORING L2 READING HABITS OF SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORED UNDERGRADUATES AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY NGUYEN HOANG PHUC AN GIANG, 6-2022 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY HO CHI MINH CITY AN GIANG UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES UNDERGRADUATE THESIS EXPLORING L2 READING HABITS OF SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORED UNDERGRADUATES AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY NGUYEN HOANG PHUC I.D No.: DAV187047 ADVISOR: DR NGUYEN THI THUY DAO AN GIANG, 6-2022 Thesis Title: EXPLORING L2 READING HABITS OF SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORED UNDERGRADUATES AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY By: NGUYEN HOANG PHUC Field of Study: ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHER EDUCATION Advisor: DR NGUYEN THI THUY DAO Accepted by the Faculty of Foreign Languages, An Giang University on June 2022 ………………………………………… (Dr Tran Thi Thanh Hue) Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages Examination Committee …………………………………………… Advisor (DR NGUYEN THI THUY DAO) …………………………………… Faculty Examiner (DR TRAN THI THANH HUE) …………………………………… Faculty Examiner (MA HUYNH CHI XUAN HUYEN) i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish my undergraduate thesis, which is probably my most major academic work throughout my four-year period at An Giang University, can contribute to the learning contexts in Vietnam as well as other academic contexts worldwide This research represents all of the motivation, encouragement and supports from my family, my advisor, my tutors and my friends First and foremost, I would like to express my sincerest and deepest gratitude to my advisor, Dr Nguyen Thi Thuy Dao, who gave me an opportunity to receive her constant support, detailed recommendations, and insightful feedback based on her encyclopedic knowledge to carry out this research It is an honor to work with her in my study My thesis would not have been completed without her invaluable help and gracious guidance Second, I extremely appreciate all the help from my tutors in the Faculty of Foreign Languages I would like to express my enormous gratefulness to Dr Nguyen Duc Hanh, MA Nguyen Thi Anh Guong, MA Huynh Chi Xuan Huyen, and MA Le Do Thai who give me considerable encouragement, immeasurable demonstration in collecting and analyzing the data of my study In addition, I would love to show my greatest appreciation to all of the participants involved in my study, particularly the 109 students from Classes DH21AV, DH21TA1, and DH21TA2, who provided me with sufficient and informative data for the research analysis Last but not least, I would like to thank all of my friends at university who are always there when I need help and encourage me from the first day I wrote the research proposal to the last stage of my study I also send my sincere thanks to my family members who put trust in me and accompany me in my journey at university ii DECLARATION I hereby declare that the thesis entitled EXPLORING L2 READING HABITS OF SECOND-YEAR ENGLISH-MAJORED UNDERGRADUATES AT AN GIANG UNIVERSITY represents my own work and that has not been previously submitted to any other university or institute in application for admission to degrees or other qualifications June 2022 Nguyen Hoang Phuc iii ABSTRACT This study was carried out to investigate the current L2 reading habits among English-majored sophomores at An Giang University and explore the relationship between students’ L2 reading habits and their English language skill development The data was collected by using a mixed methods research design in which the researcher employed questionnaires to acquire statistical data about the L2 reading patterns of 109 second-year English-majored undergraduates and semi-structured interviews with 11 university students to obtain their perspectives Based on the findings of the study, it is concluded that EFL sophomores have poor reading habits; nonetheless, their attitudes towards reading English materials were quite favourably positive The majority of students preferred to develop their L2 reading habits on their own in the evening at home, and they were particularly interested in literature-related materials, especially English lyrics Besides, EFL sophomores were mostly intrinsically motivated to read English materials by a desire to improve their English language skills However, most students encountered several time-related problems associated with their university studies when they developed their L2 reading habits In terms of students’ perspectives, they reported that they largely developed their L2 reading habits for academic purposes Reading habits were thought to assist students improve their English language skills, such as reading skills, writing skills, and speaking skills, since they could expand their lexical resources, acquire new knowledge about diverse topics, and enhance their skimming ability in reading due to regular L2 reading activities Moreover, most students believed that their L2 reading habits helped them improve their reading and writing results The study also provided some implications for enhancing the current state of students’ L2 reading habits and suggested some recommendations for future research Key Words: L2 reading habits, EFL university students, language skill development iv CONTENTS Page APPROVAL i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii DECLARATION iii ABSTRACT iv TABLE OF CONTENTS v LIST OF TABLES vii LIST OF FIGURES viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the research 1.2 Research objectives 1.3 Research questions 1.4 Definitions of terms 1.5 Significance of the research 1.6 Structure of the thesis CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of reading 2.2 Reading in a second language (L2 reading) 2.3 Reading habits 2.4 Reading habits at university settings 13 2.5 Related studies on L2 reading habits 15 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 18 3.1 Research design 18 3.2 Context of the study 19 3.3 Description of the participants 19 3.4 Research instrument 22 3.5 Data collection procedures 24 3.6 Data analysis 26 3.7 Validity and reliability of the study 27 3.8 Summary of the research process 27 v CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 29 4.1 Results 29 4.1.1 Findings of research question 29 4.1.2 Findings of research question 40 4.1.3 Concluding marks 43 4.2 Discussions 43 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS 49 5.1 Summary of the results 49 5.2 Implications of the study 50 5.3 Limitations of the research 51 5.4 Recommendations for further studies 51 5.5 Conclusion 52 REFERENCES 53 APPENDICES 61 Appendix 1: Questionnaire 62 Appendix 2: Interview questions (English version) 68 Appendix 3: Interview questions (Vietnamese version) 69 Appendix 4: A sample of one interview audio transcript 70 Appendix 5: Results of the interviews 72 vi LIST OF TABLES Table Description of the questionnaire participants 20 Table Description of the interview participants 21 Table Structure of the questionnaire 23 Table Guiding questions used in the interview of the research 24 Table Descriptive information of the administration of the interviews 25 Table Cronbach’s Alpha of the questionnaire in the pilot study 27 Table Cronbach’s Alpha of the questionnaire in the main study 29 Table EFL sophomores’ L2 reading frequency 31 Table EFL sophomores’ L2 reading preferences 32 Table 10 EFL sophomores’ L2 reading motivations 36 Table 11 Descriptive statistics of extrinsic reading motivations and intrinsic reading motivations 37 Table 12 EFL sophomores’ difficulties in reading English materials vii 39 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Research process 28 Figure EFL sophomores’ past encouragement to read English materials by their teachers 30 Figure EFL sophomores’ L2 reaidng comprehension levels 31 Figure EFL sophomores’ perceptions towards reading English materials 38 viii Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J S (2000) Expectancy–value theory of achievement motivation Contemporary educational psychology, 25(1), 68-81 http://doi.org/10.1006/ceps.1999.1015 Wigfield, A., Wilde, K., Baker, L., Fernandez-Fein, S., & Scher, D (1996) The nature of children’s motivations for reading, and their relations to reading frequency and reading performance (Reading Research Rep No 63) Athens, GA: National Reading Research Center, University of Georgia and University of Maryland ERIC - Education Resources Information Center https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED398550.pdf 60 APPENDICES APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE L2 Reading Habits of Second-year English-majored Undergraduates at An Giang University Hello! I’m Nguyen Hoang Phuc from DH19AV I’m conducting research about L2 reading habits of second-year English-majored undergraduates at An Giang University As part of my research, I would love to receive information about your L2 reading habits I highly appreciate your responses as they will make progress and improvements to my research There are only 14 questions in this questionnaire and your information and responses are completely confidential and safe PART I DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION In this part of the questionnaire, you are asked to give some general information about yourself and your L2 reading activity Name: Age: □ below 18 □ 18 □ 19 □ above 19 Gender: □ Male Major: □ English Language □ English Language Teacher Education □ Female Email: For Questions & 3, please choose only one answer for each question Question In the past, were you ever encouraged to read English materials by your teachers? □ no, never □ hardly ever □ sometimes □ yes, very much Question In reading English materials, how would you rate your comprehension level? □ low (wide use of dictionary) □ average □ good □ very good (little use dictionary) Question What is your current Cumulative GPA out of (Grade Point Average of all semesters) □ Excellent (3.60 – 4.00) 62 □ Good (3.20 – 3.59) □ Average (2.50 – 3.19) □ Marginal (2.00 – 2.49) □ Fail (0.00 – 2.00) PART II READING FREQUENCY In this part of the questionnaire, you are asked to answer some questions about how frequently you read English materials For Questions & 5, please choose only one answer for each question Question How many hours a day you spend on reading English materials? □ up to □1–2 □2–3 □3–4 □ more than Question In the last 12 months, how many books in English have you finished reading? □0 □1–2 □3–4 □ more than PART III READING PREFERENCES In this part of the questionnaire, you are asked to answer some questions about your reading interests For Questions 6, 7, 8, & 10, please put a tick in the column indicating how often you perform the mentioned action Very Never Seldom Sometimes Often often Questions (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) Question Which time of the day you prefer to read English materials? In the morning In the afternoon In the evening (6 – p.m.) Late night (after p.m.) Question Where you usually read English materials? 63 Questions Never Seldom Sometimes Often (1) (2) (3) (4) In the classroom In the library At home In vehicles or transportation public In public places such as coffee shops, parks, restaurants, … Question Who you prefer to read English materials with? with my teachers with my friends with my family’s members or relatives alone Question What types of books in English you prefer to read? literature (detective stories; romance; classics; poetry; .) games and sports science and technology politics religion business Question 10 What you read in English? coursebooks dictionaries materials to prepare for English proficiency tests (IELTS, TOEIC, TOEFL, VSTEP, ) newspapers magazines 64 Very often (5) Questions Never Seldom Sometimes Often (1) (2) (3) (4) Very often (5) novels / comics / story books Internet materials song lyrics movie subtitles research articles journals or PART IV READING MOTIVATIONS In this part of the questionnaire, you are asked about your motivations to read English materials For Question 11, please put a tick (✓) into the option that indicates how much you agree with the purposes of reading English materials Question 11 Why you read English materials? No I read English materials because I want to my school work and assignments My teachers ask or encourage me to read in English My parents ask or encourage me to read in English It is useful for my future career I want to expand my lexical resources I want to improve my English language skills Strongly Disagree 65 Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree I want to enhance my knowledge and literacy I want to learn more about other cultures I want to relax my mind 10 It is my favourite leisure activity PART V READING ATTITUDES In this part of the questionnaire, you are asked some questions about your opinions towards reading English materials For Questions 12 & 13, please choose only one answer for each question Question 12 How much you enjoy reading English materials? □ not at all □ not much □ a bit □ a lot Question 13 Do you think reading English materials is important? □ yes, very important □ fairly important □ not sure □ no For Question 14, please put a tick (✓) into the option that indicates how much you agree with the difficulties in reading English materials Question 14 What difficulties make you hesitate to read more books in English? No I hesitate to read more books in English because Strongly Disagree Disagree 66 Neutral Agree Strongly Agree It is too difficult because of my limited level of comprehen sion There is a lack of time due to my university studies There is a lack of time due to my work or chores I don’t know which books to read I don’t have access to English materials This is the end of the questionnaire Thank you for your participation in my research! 67 APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (ENGLISH VERSION) What you think about your L2 reading habit? Explain What are the positive impacts of reading L2 materials in general? Which of your language skills can be improved thanks to your regular reading habit? Why you think that skill/those skills has/have been improved? To what extent does your L2 reading habit affect your academic performance of that skill/those skills? Explain 68 APPENDIX INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (VIETNAMESE VERSION) Bạn suy nghĩ thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh bạn? Xin giải thích cụ thể Nhìn chung, đâu tác động tích cực mà thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh mang lại cho bạn? Những kỹ ngôn ngữ mà bạn trau dồi, cải thiện nhờ vào việc đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh thường xuyên? Lý mà bạn cho (các) kỹ ngôn ngữ cải thiện nhờ vào thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh bạn? Thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh bạn có mức độ ảnh hưởng lên thành tích học tập thuộc kỹ ngôn ngữ mà bạn đề cập? Xin giải thích cụ thể 69 APPENDIX A sample of one interview audio transcript Time: 1:25 PM, 27th April 2022 Interviewee Place: Library of AGU Major: English Language CGPA: Excellent (R: Researcher – I4: Interviewee 4) R: Em bắt đầu làm quen với việc đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh vào khoảng thời gian nào? I4: Vào khoảng năm R: Vậy em suy nghĩ thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh em tại? I4: Em nghĩ thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh em mức độ tạm R: Vậy em thường đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh cho mục đích gì? I4: Em đọc để biết tin tức báo, biết thêm kiền thức R: Nhìn chung, đâu tác động tích cực mà thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh mang lại cho em? I4: Về đời sống, em có kết bạn thơng qua việc đọc sách tiếng Anh Em biết thêm nhiều nhân vật câu chuyện, giúp em dễ dàng nói chuyện với người xung quanh Khi gặp người có sở thích với dễ dàng trở thành bạn thân Ngồi ra, em biết tin tức, nắm thị trường có thêm nhiều ý tưởng cho môn học liên quan đến chủ đề Ví dụ, em học chủ đề Y học, em đọc tin tức sách, giúp em có thêm nội dung cho em R: Vậy thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh cịn giúp em mặt nữa? I4: Việc đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh giúp em cảm thấy thoải mái Em tự trau dồi thân cảm thấy tự tin R: Những kỹ ngôn ngữ mà em trau dồi, cải thiện nhờ vào việc đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh thường xuyên? I4: Có kỹ nghe, nói, đọc viết em thấy kỹ chịu ảnh hưởng nhiều R: Lý mà em cho kỹ ngơn ngữ cải thiện nhờ vào thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh em? Em giải thích cụ thể I4: Cụ thể hơn, em thấy chịu ảnh hưởng nhiều kỹ đọc viết Về kỹ đọc, đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh nhiều, em nắm ý nhanh luyện kỹ đọc nhanh cho em Khi làm đọc, em nắm ý nhanh Ngồi ra, cịn có ảnh hưởng lên kỹ viết Em hiểu viết câu ngữ pháp, cách xếp ý R: Ngoài kỹ đọc viết, việc đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh thường xuyên có giúp em phát triển kỹ ngôn ngữ không? 70 I4: Cịn có kỹ nghe nói R: Vậy kỹ nói, việc đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh tác động lên kỹ nói em? I4: Cũng giống viết Em nói với câu văn ngữ pháp có thêm nhiều ý để nói Em làm nói dài R: Vậy tác động thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh lên phát triển kỹ nghe em nào? I4: Khi đọc thường xuyên, đọc đọc lại câu văn, cấu trúc tài liệu em nghe lại câu nghe, em nhận biết dễ dàng R: Thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh em có mức độ ảnh hưởng lên thành tích học tập thuộc kỹ ngôn ngữ mà em đề cập? Em cho biết tác động thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh lên môn Đọc trước? I4: Điểm số môn Đọc em cải thiện Khi vào năm nhất, em chưa đọc nhiều tài liệu tiếng Anh, nên đọc đoạn văn bản, em cảm thấy bị chống có q nhiều thơng tin khó khăn việc nắm ngụ ý tác giả Nhưng em đọc nhiều sách tiếng Anh, em hiểu ngụ ý tác giả dễ R: Vậy cịn mơn Viết Việc đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh ảnh hưởng đến thành tích học tập em môn Viết nào? I4: Em nghĩ kỹ viết em chịu nhiều ảnh hưởng từ thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh kỹ đọc Ở năm nhất, em viết bị sai ngữ pháp nhiều, câu cú lộn xộn không theo trật tự từ chung cụ thể Tuy nhiên, em hiểu cách xếp câu từ, ý cho trật tự viết học thuộc R: Vậy tác động thói quen đọc tài liệu tiếng Anh lên thành tích học tập mơn Nói mơn Nghe nào? I4: Đối với mơn Nghe, em hiểu ý nghe tốt hơn, không cần phải hỏi giáo viên giống năm Cịn mơn Nói, em có thêm nhiều ý để nói, khơng cần giáo viên phải hỏi thêm câu hỏi phụ “Tại sao?” 71 APPENDIX RESULTS OF THE INTERVIEWS Guiding questions Similar perceptions Different perceptions - 7/11 students started to develop their L2 reading habits in the first year at university (Interviewees 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 10) - 1/11 student started to develop their L2 reading habits in the second year at university - 11/11 students have (Interviewee 9) average level of L2 reading - 1/11 student started to What you think habit (Interviewees 1, 2, 3, develop their L2 about your L2 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) reading habits at high reading habit? - 9/11 students read English school (Interviewee 2) Explain materials primarily for - 2/11 students started academic purposes to develop their L2 (Interviewees 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, reading habits at 8, 9, 11) secondary school (Interviewees 5, 11) - 5/11 students read English materials primarily to acquire new knowledge (Interviewees 4, 5, 7, 10, 11) - 9/11 students can improve their English language skills thanks to reading English materials (Interviewees 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) - 2/11 students can make friends and enhance personal relationships thanks to L2 reading habits - 6/11 students can expand (Interviewees 4, 9) their knowledge thanks to - 2/11 students thought reading English materials that reading L2 What are the (Interviewees 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, materials is useful for positive impacts of 10) their future jobs reading L2 materials (Interviewees 1, 5) - 6/11 students feel relaxed in general? while reading English materials (Interviewees 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11) - 5/11 students can have better academic achievements due to reading English materials (Interviewees 3, 4, 7, 8, 10) 72 - 11/11 students can improve their reading skills thanks to their L2 reading habits (Interviewees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) Which of your language skills can be improved thanks to your regular reading habit? - 4/11 students can improve their listening skills thanks to their L2 reading habits (Interviewees 4, 5, 6, - 10/11 students can 10) improve their writing skills thanks to their L2 reading habits (Interviewees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10) - 8/11 students can improve their speaking skills thanks to their L2 reading habits (Interviewees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11) - 11/11 students can expand their lexical resources (Interviewees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11) - 1/11 students can speak English with intonation and pitch (Interviewee 1) - 6/11 students can learn various topics and information (Interviewees 1, 2, 4, 7, 10, 11) - 3/11 students can work out word definitions from the contexts (Interviewees - 5/11 students can enhance 8, 9, 10) skimming ability in reading - 3/11 students can (Interviewees 3, 4, 5, 7, 11) enhance scanning ability in reading Why you think (Interviewees 3, 6, 10) that skill/those skills has/have been - 3/11 students can improved? make better essay organization (Interviewees 2, 4, 9) - 4/11 students can improve their pronunciation (Interviewees 1, 4, 5, 11) - 4/11 students can improve their grammar (Interviewees 3, 4, 7, 11) 73 - 4/11 students can increase reading speed (Interviewees 4, 5, 6, 7) 10/11 students experienced an increase in Reading scores To what extent their your L2 reading habit (Interviewees 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, affect your academic 8, 9, 10, 11) performance of that - 7/11 students experienced skill/those skills? an increase in their Writing Explain scores (Interviewees 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10) 74 4/11 students experienced an increase in their Speaking scores (Interviewees 2, 3, 5, 6)