As a result, the purpose of this study is to investigate difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills of first-year students of Faculty of English 2021-2022 at Thuongmai Univers
OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY
Rationale
English language learning is one of the important factors that affect international communication activities (Grabe and Stoller, 2002) There is undeniable that English is becoming one of the most essential languages used for worldwide communication. Thanks to English, people all over the world can effortlessly communicate and collaborate. There are many resources and books written in English nowadays that include a wealth of helpful information Many videos and channels use English to deliver valuable messages The acquisition of the international language not only allows humans to approach other cultures and broaden their horizons, but it also allows them to achieve the heights of success As a result, students should learn and master English.
Learners communicate using English in a variety of ways, including listening, reading, speaking, and writing However, reading is an essential skill that is closely tied to other skills.
In order to get better results in the learning process, students must read extensively and comprehend the reading content According to Grabe and Stoller (2002), reading can be taught as a way to draw information from text and to form an interpretation of that information This means that when students are engaged in reading, their knowledge will be expanded through a variety of topics in reading process.
However, the reality is that many students do not realize the importance of reading skill; they focus on other skills such as speaking and writing skill while ignoring reading They have trouble understanding because the reading text makes them unable to grasp the ideas. This is the problem faced by students, in general, and TMU students, in particular According to observations, the majority of TMU students continue to struggle with comprehending the reading materials text, particularly academic sources, due to linguistic difficulties, difficulties in using reading strategies, and psychological causes.
That is why understanding the difficulties in reading comprehension is critical Although there is a wealth of information on how students can perceive difficulties with learning reading in order to promote their English learning, it is general rather than specific to first- year students, particularly students at Thuongmai University Therefore, this study was conducted to fill in the gap, the purpose of the study “Difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills of first-year students of Faculty of English, Thuongmai University” is aimed to clarify the difficulties in learning English reading comprehension skills encountered by first-year students of Faculty of English at Thuongmai University and then suggest some solutions to overcome the difficulties Thus, it will be valuable in the future to assist learners in improving their reading comprehension and addressing their reading comprehension issues.
Previous studies
There are many studies that were conducted to investigate the reading comprehension difficulties encountered by English learners as follows:
Dr Abeer Al-Ghazo and Dr Mahmoud Al-Sobh (2018) conducted a study entitled
“Reading Comprehension Problems Encountered By EFL Students at Ajloun National University” This research aimed at investigating the reading comprehension problems encountered by students of Ajloun National University The study also aims to provide more insight into the factors affecting the students' reading comprehension The study sample consisted of 20 third-year EFL students (10 males & 10 females) from the Department of English Language and Literature at Ajloun National University The study results indicate that students have high estimation of certain problems they encounter in reading comprehension as a result of the complexity of the texts, anxiety, and word recognition (decoding) The findings of the study also revealed that there are statistically significant differences between male and female students in their reading comprehension challenges When male and female learners were compared, female learners also showed a higher performance of comprehension and indicated a higher level of EFL proficiency.
Hamza Al-Jarrah and Nur Salina Binti Ismail (2018) conducted a study entitled
“Reading Comprehension Difficulties Among EFL Learners in Higher Learning Institutions” This research aimed at investigating reading comprehension difficulties faced by Arab EFL learners in the selected institutions could affect their English language proficiency and academic performance This study employs quantitative method, in which test techniques are used to collect data from 100 EFL learners of Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) The quantitative phase of this study reveals that the major difficulty faced by Arab EFL learners is lack of ability to recognize the types of text or text structures they read, followed by lack of attention, word difficulty, and grammatical knowledge The study also included that there is a need for shared efforts of English language teachers, instruction policy makers, public and private bodies responsible for educational policy learning and implementation, and the EFL learner.
Dr Sawitri Suwanaroa (2021) conducted a study entitled “Factors and Problems Affecting Reading Comprehension of Undergraduate Students” This study aims to investigate factors affecting reading comprehension problems of 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-year students of English for International Communication (EIC) at Rajamagala University of Technology Lanna Tak The study sample consisted of 77 EIC students The results showed that these students reflected different perceptions related to their reading problems and the factors that had an impact on them The second-year students and the fourth-year students perceived students' attitude as the most influential factor However, the 3rd year students thought classroom teaching had the greatest impact on their reading problems.
Nga H T Nguyen and Tu K Kim (2021) conducted a study entitled “Difficulties
In Reading Comprehension Of English Majored Sophomores At Tay Do University, Cantho, Vietnam” This research aims to investigate some common problems causing difficulties in reading comprehension of sophomores majoring in English at Tay DoUniversity This research was conducted on 90 sophomores majoring in English of school years 2015-2019 at Tay Do University Questionnaires and interviews were instruments of this research In conclusion, the research results indicate that sophomores face many difficulties in reading while attending high school Specifically, they include three main types of mistakes: linguistic causes, lack of strategies and psychological causes.
A group of authors including Ngoc Bao Nguyen, Huan Buu Nguyen, Xuan Hong Thi Pham, Ngoc Nhu Nguyen and Ngoc Yen Nhi Truong conducted a study entitled
“Investigating Difficulties of Self-Study in Reading Skills of English Language Students of the High-Quality Training Program at Can Tho University” in 2021 to examine students' perceptions of the difficulties in self-study in reading classes through questionnaire and interviews The study was carried out at a university in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Participants were 75 third-year students in the high-quality program of English majors The findings from this study indicate that student-related factors such as time, learning environment, and subject-specific vocabulary could hinder them from reading.
“A study on the cause of difficulties in English reading skills experienced by first-year
English-majored at HUF” conducted by Pham Thu Huong (2021) The author of this study aims to identify the main causes of difficulty in reading for first- year English language students at HUFI Then the author proposed some solutions to overcome those difficulties,which help students improve reading skills This study applied quantitative methods as the method of the study Analytical information is collected through questionnaires The survey participants included 30 first-year students majoring in English at HUFI In conclusion, the author revealed that students who have difficulty reading are rooted in both internal and external factors.
Aims of the study
This research aims to investigate difficulties the first-year students encounter when learning reading skills The author then suggested solutions to help them improve reading comprehension skills All these aims can be achieved by answering the two following questions:
1 What are the difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills encountered by first-year students of Faculty of English at Thuongmai University?
2 What are the ways to improve reading comprehension skills?
Research subjects
The research subjects in this study are the difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills of first-year students of Faculty of English at Thuongmai University The author carried out the study to find out the obstacles that are commonly encountered in English reading skills by first-year English major students As the major issues are identified, it is critical to identify possible solutions to enhance learning reading comprehension skills.
Scope of the study
Due to time constraints, the study limits itself to finding out the difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills of 100 first-year students of Faculty of English at ThuongmaiUniversity It is also limited to the period of implementation of the study, which took place during the second semester of 2021-2022.
Research methodology
This study applied quantitative methods as the method of the study C.R.Kothri
(2011) wrote: "Qualitative research is concerned with the qualitative phenomenon, i.e., phenomena related to or involving quality or kind" Hence qualitative methods could provide the author with the thoughts and feelings of the studied subjects.
Analytical information is collected through a questionnaire The questionnaire was sent to the first-year students of English Faculty at TMU in the hope of finding the difficulties they were facing during their learning to read.
All related data which used to analyse for this study were collected from 100 first- yearEnglish major students at Thuongmai University by survey questionnaire All participants were between the ages of 18 and 23 years old and had time to study English over 7 years They are all people who have a basic English background and are using English as a second language After completing the survey, we will better understand the difficulties they encounter in the process of learning to read English.
In this research, the writer uses the survey tool to collect data in quantitative form The questionnaire is considered the easiest information gathering tool to summarize, analyze, and identify the reading skills difficulties of the survey participants.
Step 1: Designing questionnaire based on the theories presented in Chapter 2 The content of the questionnaire consists of 13 sentences and written in English, mainly focusing on the student’s difficulties and the causes of the difficulties.
Step 2: Handing out the questionnaire to 100 English majors in two reading skill classes Survey period is in the middle of the second semester of 2021-2022.
Step 3: Collecting the survey results Step 4: Processing collected data
After completing the questionnaire, the quantitative data will be analyzed using the StatisticalPackage for Social Sciences (SPSS) Based on the results obtained from the survey questionnaire, conducting data analysis focused on the theory of chapter 2 The results were then illustrated in tables and graphs to compare the different ratios of difficulties that students might face Finally, the study provides an objective review of the analytical results.
Organization of the study
This research consists of five main parts, including:
Chapter 1: Overview of the study
This chapter is the introduction of the study, which states the rationale, as well as the limit within which the study is conducted, the aim, and the organization of the research.
This chapter is about literature review, includes the definitions and the importance of reading comprehension as well as reading strategies The next part indicates the difficulties in learning reading skills of first-year students of Faculty of English at Thuongmai University.
This chapter shows the research findings of the study, including the analysis It presents results of the survey questionnaire about practicing English reading skills of first-year English major students at Thuongmai University.
Chapter 4 is “Recommendations and suggestions”
The last part of the study is “Conclusion” summarizing the study, summary some shortcomings revealed in the process of the completing.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Overview of reading comprehension skills
Reading is the process of looking at a series of written symbols and getting meaning from them “Reading is essentially a process of deciphering a series of characters and symbols from the documents into their equivalent meaning in order to understand the meaning of the whole document” said Nunan (1991).
Reading is an activity to understand the content of the text that we read that reader get messages and information and increase knowledge According to Rohit and Valand
(2011) “reading is a complex process Readers create sense for documents from words in the documents through their knowledge and experience During the reading process, they constantly make predictions about what will happen next It is this interaction with the documents that allows the reader to understand what they are reading.”
According to the explanations above, reading is an activity to get information that is in accordance with the text being read.
2.1.2 The definition of reading comprehension
Over the past years, various attempts have been made to define reading comprehension. Here are some typical definitions of renowned researchers.
“Reading comprehension is the ability to read text, process it and understand its meaning It relies on two, interconnected abilities: word reading (being able to decode the symbols on the page) and language comprehension (being able to understand the meaning of the words and sentences” said Jane Oakhill, Kate Cain and Carsten Elbro
According to Van den Broek and Espin (2012) “Reading comprehension is a complex interaction among automatic and strategic cognitive processes that enables the reader to create a mental representation of the text”.
Alowalid, Mujiyanto and Bharati (2018) states that reading comprehension is a capability to comprehend the information of the text and interpret the meaning of the text correctly.
In sum, reading comprehension is an activity performed to get information in a text so that the content of text can be understood properly.
According to Nuttal (1982), reading strategies are classified into four types Those are skimming, scanning, extensive and intensive reading. a Skimming
Grellet (1999) stated that skimming means glancing rapidly over a text to get the gist of it Skimming helps students obtain meaning without reading every word in a text. When students want to find only important ideas and not all the details, they often skim a text “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” (Nuttall, 1982).
Skimming is a process of reading to gain a general understanding or get an impression of the content This is when we identify the main ideas or messages Skimming has always been one of the most selected ways when it comes to fast reading Before putting any effort into studying a document, practicing skimming can be useful in previewing We can use skimming before entering a new chapter of book or a long article To be simply said, most people refer to the use of skimming when they need to save time This skill would help when we’re trying to find out if something is a waste of time or similar to something else we’ve already known. Skimming is an ideal strategy when there are only a few days before an examination In short, we can save time by skimming. b, Scanning
“Scanning means glancing rapidly through a text to search for a specific piece of information” (Grellet, 1981) When scanning, on the other hand, we look only for a specific fact or piece of information without reading everything We can totally ignore unnecessary ones to locate the specific information needed to answer the question. Scanning is perfect when it comes to looking for something more particular rather than an overview idea in your mind.
Scanning before reading can help students understand the main points of the article It can be especially useful for students taking standardized exams, who can scan the entire paper and standardized test questions before reading it in depth This may make it easier to critically read the pieces and to develop questions It can also assist students in determining whether there are any unfamiliar terms or terms that they need to.
Distinguish between skimming and scanning
As the two reading skills involve a very quick eye movement over the text, it is difficult for students to distinguish between the two, but the difference lies in the purpose itself. Skimming means reading something at a comparatively faster rate without going into an in- depth reading in order to get an idea of what the material is all about On the contrary, scanning implies a reading technique in which one takes a quick look at the document to find the specific information contained therein.
Use skimming when previewing (reading before you read), reviewing (reading after you read), determining the main idea from a long selection you do not wish to read, or when trying to find source material for a research paper On the other hand, we can use scanning in research to find particular facts, to study fact-heavy topics, and to answer questions requiring factual support In reality, in order to use a correct approach, you must first understand your purposes of reading You must become the most adaptable reader possible Because of the varying nature of the situations, you must be adaptable. a Intensive reading
Intensive refers to in-depth or concentrated Intensive reading means that type of reading in which the material has to be read carefully and thoroughly to get specific details This is an activity that requires great mental effort and focus As a result, if you want to read a text thoroughly, you should choose texts that are interesting and short, read for short periods of time, and read when you have the greatest mental energy.
Intensive reading focuses on following a shorter document, doing exercises with it and learning it in detail According to Macleod (2011), “intensive reading exercises may include looking at main ideas versus details, understanding of what the text implies, making inferences, looking at the order of information and how it affects the message, identifying words that connect one idea to another and identifying words that indicate change from one section to another.” Following this approach, it helps language learners truly understand linguistic grammar and syntax “The intensive reading is a detailed analysis of each point about vocabulary and grammar in order to deepen the sense of document” said Long and Richards (1987). b Extensive reading
Extensive reading refers to that type of reading in which students read and refer to large quantities of material chosen by themselves According to Long and Richards
(1987), extensive reading as occurring when the students read large amounts of high interest material, concentrating of meaning.
Bamford and Day (2004) stated that extended reading helps readers improve their reading speed markedly by reading a large number of reading materials at a simple level (under their language level) According to Brown (2001), “extensive reading is carried out to achieve a general understanding of a text If the content you want to read extensively is at the appropriate level, you'll discover that most unknown terms may be understood by looking at their context, making overt use of translations or dictionaries unnecessary.”
Extensive reading is intended to be an enjoyable and pleasurable activity that requires a low expenditure of mental effort The more extensive reading people do, the more language they are exposed to This not only helps learners enrich their vocabulary, improve their reading speed but also helps to strengthen their grammar, develop their writing skills, and form reading habits for learners.
Basically, an ideal reading program includes both approaches, where intensive reading can be used to acquaint new language and extensive reading can help spread awareness of that language Bamford and Day (2004) suggested that a combination of both reading in-depth analysis and extended reading methods should be combined Because, for students who need to be able to analyze language and reading skills, deep reading is essential, while extensive reading can help form reading habits.
2.1.4 The importance of reading comprehension
Reading, despite being one of the four major skills of language learning, is one of the skills that is most often neglected by language learners For the language learner who wishes to reach the upper levels of target language capability, lack of reading comprehension is a significant barrier to the extension of one's vocabulary to achieve the higher levels of target language capability, as a restricted vocabulary gives less capacity to comprehend.
“Reading for understanding plays an integral part in education and becomes increasingly essential as learners progress from “learn to read” to “read to learn”
Difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills
Nga H T Nguyen and Tu K Kim ( 2021) stated that difficulties in linguistic causes include lack of background knowledge, vocabulary and grammar a The lack of background knowledge
A reader’s background knowledge is necessary in building a coherent representation of a text When a students builds on prior knowledge, they are better able to absorb and remember the material Prior content knowledge supports relevant comprehension and learning (Barnes, Dennis, & Haefele-Kalvaitis, 1996) Robert Marzano (2004) identified “What students already know about the content is one of the strongest indicators of how well they will learn new information related to the content”.
According to Schneider, Korkel and Weinert (1989), readers with more prior knowledge consistently outperform readers with less, indicating that increased background knowledge in an area may help less skilled readers compensate for a general comprehension deficit.
It doesn’t matter if they’re fluent readers; if they don't have any prior knowledge on the topic, they won't be able to understand what they're reading, or it will take them longer to do so Zhang and Shanshan (2011) stated that “learners require background knowledge to develop global understanding and fill relative gaps within the write up In this situation, if the learners’ background knowledge is inadequate and deficient, their readings will contradict the information within the writing.” Background knowledge also helps students draw inferences, which develops critical thinking skills and makes reading more enjoyable When they can comprehend the information and relate it to their own experiences or prior knowledge, they’re more likely to build a lifelong reading habit Lerner (2000) also said “Learners with good background in reading tend to read more and improve their proficiency compared to those with poor background in reading.”
As a result, there is no denying that background knowledge is a vital component of learning since it assists students in absorbing new concepts and experiences However, first- year students have encountered numerous unusual academic themes from high school, such as marketing, business, and many others which cause them to struggle with reading They lack the necessary information and skills to be competent about such topics, which might make them feel embarrassed To summarize, due to a lack of background knowledge, students struggle to connect what they already know to the content they are reading. b The lack of vocabulary
The significance of vocabulary in language acquisition is undeniable Depth of vocabulary knowledge affects reading comprehension more than any other factor
(Moghadam, Zainal and Ghaderpour, 2012) Vocabulary development refers to understanding words and their meanings It is undeniable that individuals with a wider vocabulary can interpret the meaning of reading passages faster and more thoroughly than individuals who must guess at the meanings of unfamiliar words based on context clue,” announced Yolanda Fontanez-Coleman (2007).
Vocabulary development is critical in all areas of content and is directly related to comprehension skills Furthermore, vocabulary is important in reading proficiency.
When decoding and vocabulary were both sufficiently developed, only 1% of students presented with comprehension difficulties ( Quinn and Wagner, 2014).
Vocabulary is key to reading comprehension During reading comprehension, several cognitive processes are involved Good vocabulary skills are necessary to enable learners read competently (Taylor et al., 2009) But unfortunately, learners mostly avoid reading as they struggle to read In fact, the relationship between vocabulary and the purpose of reading comprehension seems to be quite profound.
“Knowledge of vocabulary and reading comprehension has a close relationship In particular, this is a two-way correlation relationship Knowledge of vocabulary can affect reading comprehension and reading comprehension can change vocabulary ability as well” said Hsueh-Chao and Nation (2000) Cain and Oakhill
(2011) discovered that reading influences vocabulary improvement, since vocabulary skills of learners who do not read regularly are negatively influenced.
First-year English majors struggle with lack of vocabulary, making it difficult to understand textbooks When they see so many words in a reading text, they cannot understand it; they do not know much about the reading topics, and they generally read word by word, so they cannot understand exactly what the writer was trying to express in the text During the reading process, students frequently encounter difficulties in the form of vocabulary exercises such as previewing vocabulary, gaining meaning, and recognizing parts of speech Vocabulary is not simply a factor that impacts reading comprehension; it is generally accepted that readers must rely on their range of vocabulary to analyze reading passages and gain information. c The lack of grammatical structure
Grammar is an essential component of any language Students cannot determine the time of action, for example, whether it occurred in the past or in the present, without the use of grammar Grammar, it might be claimed, is abstract in the thought and becomes concrete in practice Bernhardt (2000) noted that EFL learners’ reading ability relatively depends on their grammatical knowledge Similarly, Haarman (1988) found that there were strong associations between grammatical knowledge and reading comprehension “The level of grammar knowledge among EFL learners influences their comprehension of text Learners with inadequate knowledge of grammar tend to have difficulties in reading comprehension Therefore, EFL learners require grammar knowledge to comprehend meaning of expressions in passages” (Koda, 2005).
According to Rose J (2006), “Grammatical structures become one of the most serious problems in English reading for academic purposes” In reality, some writers tend to use long and complex sentences, which can interfere with the reader's understanding of the text It is confirmed by a research by Barfield (1999) that shows almost 12% of students had difficulty in understanding long sentences in graded story and 20% in academic text As a result, students who are unable to read complex sentences fail to comprehend the main idea presented in the text.
Because of the highly long and complicated phrases contained in academic texts, first- year English majors have struggled to locate the main idea of the material and have been unable to comprehend the full text Furthermore, English prepositions and word order are two of the most common difficulties that students confront when reading English academic publications.
The student's capacity to comprehend the text is dependent on their ability to apply strategies to understand what the writer is saying, as well as their purpose for reading, which might be to relax, complete exercises, or study something new.
As mentioned above, there are four main reading strategies, including skimming, scanning, extensive and intensive reading Depending on the purpose of reading, we could select the appropriate approaches For example, if we want to preview or review materials or discover the key concept from a large selection, we can use skimming; we can use scanning to find specific information to do exercises If we have leisure time and want to improve our reading skills or relax, we can use intensive and extensive reading.
Understanding the purpose of reading demonstrates the significance of reading techniques However, not all students can effectively apply strategies “There are characteristics of the students who lack in use of reading strategies First, the students read word by word within the text, relying too heavily on their visual information, which greatly impedes their reading speed and hampers their reading comprehension. Second, the students spent a lot attention on detail with the result they often miss the main idea of the text Third, they just focused too much attention on form of the expense meaning” (Dasrul Hidayati, 2018) Furthermore, “the students who do not possess effective reading strategies may be difficulty to deal with reading comprehension test”
2.2.3 Psychological causes a Difficulty in concentration
Concentration is an important factor for good and effective reading Bad concentration will lead the students to fail to comprehend the text It can be worse when the students do reading tests Shaw (1959) states that comprehension of a text results from reading with concentration However, most students are unable to concentrate while reading This has a significant impact on their reading comprehension skills.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
Data analysis
Chart 3.1 The years of studying English
Question one gets information about the years of studying English 87 of the 100 students have studied English for more than ten years, while the remainder believe they have studied for seven to ten years As a result, all participants had at least seven years of English prior to attending university That means they must have a basic understanding of English,even if their levels are likely to differ, even though they are presently enrolled at ThuongmaiUniversity However, the more years students studied English prior to attending university, the more knowledge and learning strategies they acquired.
Chart 3.2 The most difficult English skill
In question two, students gave their opinions on the most difficult English skill. According to the percentage, speaking is rated as the most challenging skill for first- year students, with 39% of respondents agreeing Reading comes in second place with 32%. Writing and listening come in third and fourth place, with 20% and 9%, respectively Taking up the second position in the term, it is assumed that students are worried when learning reading skills.
Chart 3.3 The importance of the reading comprehension skills
In response to question three, 35 students out of 100 indicated that reading was very important, accounting for 35% of the total Most students agreed that reading was important,accounting for 55% of the total The remainder assumed it was normal Overall, the statistics indicate that the majority of participants recognize the importance of reading in English.Recognizing the value of reading encourages individuals to seek out ways to improve their
Chart 3.4 The daily reading time
In question four, the pie chart shows that not many students pay close attention to reading English on a daily basis Most students who took the survey spend less than 30 minutes each day reading English, accounting for 60% There were 24% of the total who revealed they read English materials for thirty minutes to an hour every day The number of students who spend one hour to two hours a day learning to read English is only 10% Those who spend two hours a day account for 6% of the total Spending a limited amount of time on learning has a significant impact on student reading comprehension skills.
Chart 3.5 Level of reading skill
Question five reveals that the reading levels of the students taking the survey are quite different According to the pie chart above, participants with "advanced" reading skills account for 4% of the total The proportion of individuals who had "basic"
Lack of Lack of Difficulty in grammaticalstratedgies concentration structure
Lack of motivation reading skills was the greatest (44%) 33% of respondents stated that their reading level was pre-intermediate and 19% of the total chose “intermediate” The aforementioned statistics clearly show that limited English reading ability is one of their difficulties in learning English.
According to survey results, when asked if they have any difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills, only 8% of respondents replied “no”, while 92% of the total said “yes”. This implies that many students are still struggling to acquire and develop their English abilities in general, and especially their reading skills Let's take a look at the table below to see difficulties first-year students face when learning reading skill.
Chart 3.6 Difficulties in reading comprehension
Chart 3.6 shows the difficulties students encounter in reading comprehension With 89 votes, “lack of vocabulary” is considered the most popular 80 participants revealed they “lack background knowledge.” 37 students voted one of their issues is a “lack of grammatical structure.” The results imply that many students are frightened of linguistic causes “Lack of strategies” got 49 votes And “psychological factors,” which include difficulty in concentration and a lack of motivation, account for 69% and 38% of all total votes,respectively.
3.1.2 The difficulties in reading comprehension
As previously stated, 80 participants chose “lack of background knowledge” as one of their difficulties; this problem is also placed second in reading comprehension difficulties. This demonstrates that background knowledge is an important element in reading.
Table 3.1: Difficulties in background knowledge
Statement Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 Background knowledge plays an important role in learning reading 0% 0% 3% 81% 16%
2 I get difficulties when reading strange topics 0% 0% 7% 76% 17%
3 I feel embarrassed because I do not have enough background knowledge to understand some topics.
4 I have encountered numerous unusual academic themes from high school, such as marketing, business, etc.
With the first statement, the percentage of students who agree that background knowledge plays an important role in reading accounts for 81% of the total Those who strongly agree are followed by a rate of 16% The remaining 3% opted to be neutral No one disagrees or strongly disagrees That shows that the number of students evaluating the importance of background knowledge is quite high.
Following that, the highest percentage, 76% of students agree that they get difficulty when dealing with strange topics, there are 16% strongly agree with this idea In addition, 78% agree that they feel embarrassed because they do not have enough background knowledge to understand some topics, 15% of students strongly agree with this statement When asked if they had encountered numerous unusual academic themes from high school, 61% agreed and 35% strongly agreed with this idea.
Through these ideas, it is possible to see that the majority of students have positive opinions toward the value of background knowledge in reading In addition, it can be seen that during their reading process, they have faced significant difficulties due to lack of background knowledge.
Statement Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 Depth of vocabulary knowledge affects reading comprehension more than any other factor.
2 I often don’t know new words or expressions in the content I read 0% 3% 15% 66% 16%
3 I often read word by word so I cannot understand exactly what the writer wants to say in the text.
4 I feel confused because one word can have different meanings 0% 8% 7% 52% 33%
5 I often have difficulty in the form of exercises relating to vocabulary 0% 6% 16% 53% 25%
According to chart 3.6: Difficulties in reading comprehension, it shows that the percentage of students choosing the vocabulary that makes them difficult is the highest, with
89 votes This demonstrates that vocabulary is an important element in reading Looking at table 3.2: Difficulties in vocabulary, 60% of students agree that “depth of vocabulary knowledge affects reading comprehension more than any other factor,” and 18% strongly agree with this idea This proves that students in general recognize the significance of vocabulary in reading comprehension.
Regarding the next statement, 66% of students agree that "I often don’t know new
15% are neutral with this idea It means that most students have problems understanding the vocabulary of a text With regard to the supposition "I often have difficulty in the form of exercises relating to vocabulary," more than half the class (58%) agrees with the statement, and 9% strongly agrees with it Statement 4 receives agreement from 52% of participants, and 33% strongly agree with this statement A term with several meanings also makes it difficult for learners to read the text They must rely on the context as well as the subject of reading to infer the meaning of the word and determine the actual meaning of the text With the last statement: "I often have difficulty in the form of exercises relating to vocabulary," 53% of students agree, and 25 out of 90 participants strongly agree. Those findings indicate that vocabulary remains at the top of the list of the most difficult reading challenges.
As a result, students are having difficulty remembering vocabulary as well as verifying the meaning of the words This makes it difficult for them to comprehend the content of the reading The preceding demonstrates that vocabulary is the most difficult for first-year English Faculty students at TMU.
Statement Strongly disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 Grammar is an essential component of any language 0% 0% 5% 70% 25%
2 I don't understand grammatical structure in sentences 0% 62% 21% 17% 0%
3 I often get difficulties in the complex sentence to find main idea 0% 65% 20% 15% 0%
4 I get difficulties in prepositions and word order when I do reading exercises.
Discussions
As stated in chapter one, the difficulties in reading comprehension of first-year students of Faculty of English at Thuongmai University are the main point of the whole research. There are many causes of reading difficulties, and it is not easy to single out one factor as the major cause Reading difficulties are caused by a combination of linguistic factors, a lack of strategies, and psychological factors The findings of this study corroborate with the literature, which shows that reading difficulties are not caused by a single factor.
Furthermore, the results of this study emphasized the significance of reading skills as well as the obstacles that first-year students encounter In terms of students' opinions of reading skills, 55% of participants thought that reading is important and 35% thought it is very important This demonstrates that students understand the importance of reading.
When students were asked to evaluate their reading skills, 44% selected "basic," 33% selected "pre-intermediate," 19% selected "intermediate," and 4% selected "advanced." Basically, many students feel confident in their reading ability However, the rest are still struggling to improve their abilities Through the data from the questionnaire, the results give a specific description of each mistake and their key causes.
First and foremost, students experience difficulties for linguistic causes According to the results of the questionnaire, 80 students have problems with background knowledge They feel embarrassed because they lack the necessary background knowledge to understand some topics and are confronted with numerous unusual academic themes from high school.
Furthermore, the number of students who select the vocabulary is the highest, with 89 votes Many students have difficulty understanding new terms and their diverse meanings. Many students are wrong in vocabulary exercises The number of students selecting grammar is 37 First-year students have struggled to locate the main idea in complex sentences, and many have difficulties with prepositions and word order when doing exercises.
Next, students also have trouble with reading strategies Reading strategies play an extremely important role for students, but they do not know how to apply them to their reading process Skimming is an important strategy for doing reading comprehension exercises With 60 votes in the questionnaire, most students still don't understand its definition and how to skim Scanning is another difficulty for students, receiving the most votes (78 votes) The results of the questionnaire revealed that students applied this strategy incorrectly, such as scanning before reading or misunderstanding the definition of scans, which consumes time and is ineffective Intensive and extensive reading are other main strategies that received
48 and 40 votes, respectively, as difficulties for students Most of them struggle with selecting resources and scheduling time for reading; also, overt use of dictionaries makes them passive in determining new terms based on context.
Last but not least, first-year students also have psychological challenges, the primary causes of which are motivation and concentration When it comes to student motivation, 88% of students agree (including 23% who strongly agree) that they lose motivation when they do not trust themselves and when they are not permitted to choose their own reading materials (82% of students agree).
In conclusion, the research findings indicate that first-year students have numerous reading problems, but the results suggest that the ratio is not too serious Furthermore, they have identified the issues that urge them to seek appropriate solutions to improve their reading ability It is encouraging that the author discovered them through the questionnaire This result provides a greater understanding of the difficulties that students have experienced, as well as answers to research questions and suggestions in the next chapter.
RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUGGESSIONS
Recommendations
Understanding the importance of reading comprehension and the difficulties encountered in the learning process by first-year students of Faculty of English at TMU, the writer would like to offer some advice on how to overcome these problems From that, students can reduce their obstacles and get better results in the learning process.
The majority of students can read at the basic and pre-intermediate levels However, they also believe that reading is an important skill that will be useful to them in the future. That means they have a tendency to identify and fix their difficulties; it is only a question of time. a Improving reading strategies
First and foremost, students should learn more about reading comprehension, such as reading strategies and test-taking methods for reading tests, which may be effective when dealing with reading comprehension tests Below are some advice for efficiently using reading strategies.
Skimming: When learning to skim, get ready to move your eyes quickly through the pages Now here are some steps learners should take if they do skimming:
First, look at the table of contents, if there is one It’s a fast way to figure out what’s going on. The main headings are of the most essential, so do not forget to read them Remember that tables and charts have headings, too After reading the first sentences, scroll your eyes down to the last ones of each paragraph These sentences can be the topic sentences that hold the main idea In addition, attentively read the keywords They can be nouns, dates, events, names, numbers, These very single words or phrases that give details are worth considering. Along with the skimming process, underline or highlight important words and phrases This is also a preparation for scanning.
Scanning: students can practice scanning by following instructions below:
To keep concentrated, it is beneficial to scan with a finger The calmness of mind together with the strong physical image of the finger-pointing along the lines will provide readers with confidence Simultaneously, when scanning, it is essential to repeat silently in your mind the keywords Stop scanning when you come across a term and carefully read the surrounding content If there’s anything serving purposes, note them down to review later and see if this information needs noticing It is possible that we will locate the necessary sentences and then lose them without notice.
Intensive reading: Students should read intensively only for brief periods of time and when they have the greatest mental energy in order to increase learning capacity and avoid the risk of mental exhaustion Because it takes a lot of attention and effort to move from zero (or partial) knowledge of a book to complete understanding, intensive reading sessions should be limited to no more than 30–35 minutes.
Extensive reading: As in intensive reading, texts for extensive reading must be interesting, moderate length, and level-appropriate Moreover, because readers will be reading longer texts, extensive reading must be done in longer blocks of time than intense reading It is advisable to do so for sessions lasting at least an hour When extensively reading, it is best to stay relaxed Reading in a relaxed, low-stress environment will help students associate reading with pleasure, and therefore increase their willingness to read more often and for longer periods. b Linguistics factors
Build on existing knowledge: Reading builds knowledge, but wide reading has typically been interpreted as reading about a lot of different topics, demonstrating breadth rather than depth in reading Therefore, in order to broaden their knowledge, students must read more First, by attempting to find appealing texts in order to create a reading habit, learners will have a tendency to read more and stimulate interest, as well as a desire to explore other new topics.
Improving vocabulary: Knowing what the words mean when reading can improve students' ability to comprehend the meaning of the text Students should make a point of using newly learned words in verbal and written communication and reading as much as possible to improve their ability to guess what a word means in a certain context When encountering a new word, it is necessary to make a list of unfamiliar words, look them up in a dictionary, and use flashcards to quiz themselves on those words frequently Students can easily expand their vocabulary this way.
Reviewing grammar: Despite the fact that the number of students who had grammatical issues was not large, reviewing grammar is critical.If they are not exposed to grammatical structures frequently, students may forget what they mean. That has an impact on students' reading comprehension. c Psychological factors
Boosting motivation: It is necessary to define the purpose of reading Students should ask themselves why they want to spend their time reading, whether it is to learn new things, have fun, or relax When students discover reasons to read and believe in themselves, they are more willing to keep reading and finish the book faster Furthermore, learners need to remember to read only what they are attracted to Find good books to read that will spark their interest and stimulate their curiosity. Readers may keep track of what they are reading, write down ideas and impressions, and save favorite passages.
Enhancing concentration: Sources of anxiety and distraction are never far away, so learning to clear their mind makes readers happier and better readers A really simple way to do that is through meditation Exercising before reading is another effective way to relieve stress as well as increase concentration and memory Students could also improve their nutrition for better concentration The simplest change is to have less sugar and more protein in diet And there's just one more thing to do to prepare for focused reading: remove as many distractions from the room as possible Readers are advised to sit in a comfortable, quiet space and put their phone aside Controlling the sound is also important.
In short, for many students, recognizing their difficulties or using strategies can lead to differences in learning As a result, students should practice and apply solutions on a regular basis in order to consistently enhance their reading skills and achieve good results.
Teachers should teach learners how to use reading comprehension strategies effectively. Teachers can also ask students to re-read passages so that they will be able to read with increased speed and fluency, which allows them to acquire more knowledge from what they read It is important to encourage students to read as much as possible because, in this way, they will find great help in their process of language learning.
Furthermore, while first-year students need to learn on their own in university, it will be far more beneficial if teachers provide them with more instruction and explanation on how to increase their reading competency A good example is when students are worked in pairs or groups and asked to explain questions in a textbook, or when teachers ask students to give explanations for chosen statements in order to detect grammatical faults as well as evaluate their reading comprehension ability These basic activities can have significant effects,particularly for people who have limited access to literature.
Suggestions for further studies
The study is based on previous research and information gathered from first-year students in Faculty of English at TMU Any research has shortcomings, and my research is no exception Due to time constraints, the research was only able to survey
100 students during the second semester of 2021–2022 Furthermore, because the author was unable to conduct a test to see how students perform a reading comprehension test, this study can only use the data source from the questionnaire, and thus the study cannot fully reflect the difficulties of first-year English majors when doing reading comprehension Therefore, the author would like to provide the following proposals for further studies relating to the thesis on the difficulties students have with reading comprehension:
1 Future studies should increase the number of research participants.
2 Future and possible research should express students' perspectives regarding the teaching and learning of English courses relating to reading skills at the university.
3 Further research needs to be conducted to explore more strategies and difficult factors in reading comprehension that students encounter.
The writer hopes that future studies will not only overcome and complement what is missing in this research but also identify obstacles and solutions in a more objective way to assist students in improving their reading comprehension skills Furthermore, the writer believes that these studies will enable students to compare and apply the offered ways to improve their English skills.
Reading comprehension plays an important role in learning English Aware of this, the author made the effort to conduct a survey on the reading difficulties of first-year students in order to assist them in identifying and overcoming their issues After collecting and analyzing the data in the questionnaire, the writer concluded that reading difficulties have a significant impact on the readability of first-year students of the English Faculty at Thuongmai University. Specifically, they include three main types of problems: linguistic causes, lack of strategies, and psychological causes.
The first issue is linguistic causes Students admit to having some difficulties with background knowledge, vocabulary, and grammar Among them, vocabulary is regarded as the most challenging issue, causing significant difficulties in reading comprehension; students frequently feel confused when they encounter many new words or do not understand the meaning of the phrases in the text Next, a large number admitted that they were concerned that they did not have enough knowledge to comprehend the text about strange topics The last problem is a lack of grammatical structure While not many students struggle with grammar when reading, some frequently struggle with complicated sentences, prepositions, and word order when doing reading exercises.
Next, lacking strategies is also a serious problem for first-year students They have difficulty applying strategies appropriately, such as skimming, scanning, intensive and extensive reading Most students admitted that distinguishing between skimming and scanning was challenging Thus, they are not applied properly, causing lost time and inefficiency Most students agree that skimming and scanning are the two most difficult skills for them to master. Furthermore, students believed that they would have difficulty selecting resources and scheduling time for intensive and extensive reading.
Finally, students have concerns about their psychological causes, such as concentration and motivation, both of which have a significant impact on their reading ability If they find interesting materials and have enough confidence in themselves, they will be motivated to improve their reading skills quickly Their reading process is also easily influenced by environmental factors and emotional states.
All in all, though a small number of first-year students did not provide comments alongside those who acknowledged their difficulties in reading It is hoped that more students will realize their difficulties in order to overcome them in a timely manner and apply the best ways to achieve good results in the future.
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THE QUESTIONNAIRE FOR FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS
ON DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS
The questionnaire was designed to investigate your dificulties in learning reading comprehension skills and afecting those difficulties This questionnaire is only for research purposes I guarantee the data results do not serve any other purpose.
Choose the answer that you think is the most reasonable:
1 How long have you learned English?
2 Do you think what the most difficult English skill is?
3 How important do you think about the reading comprehension skills?
4 How much time do you spend daily reading English?
6 Do you get any difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills?
( If you choose option A in Question 6, please answer this question)
7 What are your difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills?
Difficulties You can select more than one answer for this question
8 Please use (x) for the following ideas about difficulties in background knowledge. Choose the answer according to your opinion:
Statement Strongly Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly disagree agree
1 Background knowledge plays an important role in learning reading ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
2 I get difficulties when reading strange topics ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
3 I feel embarrassed because I do not have enough background knowledge to understand some topics.
5 I have encountered numerous unusual academic themes from high school, such as marketing, business, etc.
9 Please use (x) for the following ideas about difficulties in vocabulary Choose the answer according to your opinion:
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 Depth of vocabulary knowledge affects reading comprehension more than any other factor.
2 I often don’t know new words or expressions in the content I read ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
3 I usually read word by word so I cannot understand exactly what the writer wants to say in the text.
4 I feel confused because one word can have different meanings ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
5 I often have difficulty in the form ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ of exercises relating to vocabulary.
10 Please use (x) for the following ideas about difficulties in grammatical structure Choose the answer according to your opinion:
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 Grammar is an essential component of any language ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
2 I don't understand grammatical structure in sentences ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
3 I often get difficulties in the complex sentence to find main idea ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
4 I get difficulties in prepositions and word order when I do reading exercises.
11 Please use (x) for the following ideas about using reading strategies Choose the answer according to your opinion:
Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly agree
1 I know reading strategies and apply them into reading comprehension.
2 Skimming helps me read faster ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
3 I usually use skimming to easily ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ preview or review materials or discover the key concept from a large selection.
4 Scanning makes me to find details and their information in a hurry.
5 I do not know how to apply scanning for exercises, so learning more details about scanning will be difficult.
6 I can not distinguish between scanning and skimming ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
7 Intensive reading requires intense mental effort and high concentration.
8 I don't have enough time and don't know where to find fascinating articles to read intensively.
9 I have difficulty collecting and reading a large amount of material ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐
10 When encountering unfamiliar words, I prefer to use dictionaries rather than rely on context to determine their meaning.
11 Reading word by word influences reading speed and hampers reading comprehension.
12 I pay a lot of attention to detail, so I often miss the main idea of the text.