Difficulties in learning reading comprehensionskills of first year students of faculty ofenglish, thuongmai university

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

DIFFICULTIES IN LEARNING READING COMPREHENSIONSKILLS OF FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS OF FACULTY OF

ENGLISH, THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY

Hanoi, 2022

Reading comprehension is an important skill that relates to the success of students' academic tasks It assists them with decoding a text, evaluating, explaining, and presenting their own opinions regarding written materials It is considered that students who are unable to read and comprehend encounter several difficulties in their education and at work 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 University This study included 100 first-year students from Faculty of English at Thuongmai University The approach employed was a qualitative method, with a questionnaire used as the data collection instrument The study's findings identify the problems that students encounter, including difficulties in linguistic causes such as background knowledge, vocabulary, grammar, and using reading strategies, as well as difficulties in psychological causes such as motivation and concentration when learning reading comprehension skills As a result, the author proposed solutions to assist learners in overcoming issues and improving their English in the future.

Keyword: reading difficulties, reading comprehension, reading skills.

In the process of completing this graduation paper, I have received valuable support which has encouraged me to overcome all obstacles and finish this challenging but meaningful time.

First and foremost, I want to express my gratitude to Ms Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hà, M.A, my supervisor, for her pleasant support, valuable comments, patience, and warm encouragement during my study My graduation paper would not have been done without her whole-hearted help Additionally, I am very grateful to all the teachers at the English Faculty of Thuongmai University for their invaluable information during four years which have built in me valid knowledge and necessary skills for the fulfillment of this paper.

This research would not have been possible without the cooperation of the first-year English majors at Thuongmai University who contributed in completing the surveys I am grateful to each of them for giving important information for the analysis of this study.

Sincerely thanks also to my friends at Faculty of English who always give me the encouragement and inspiration which helps me overcome difficulties to fulfill my graduation paper Millions of thanks go to my beloved family, whose support and spiritual encouragement contributed a significant part to the completion of the research.

Many thanks for all your assistance and best regard.

Hanoi, April 14, 2022StudentLê Thị Mai Hương

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES vii

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY 1

1.6.4 Data collection procedure 6

1.7 Organization of the study 6

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 8

2.1.Overview of reading comprehension skills 8

2.1.1The definition of reading 8

2.1.2The definition of reading comprehension 8

2.1.3Reading comprehension strategies 9

2.1.4The importance of reading comprehension 12

2.2.Difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills 13

3.1.1.Background of studying English 19

3.1.2.The difficulties in reading comprehension 23

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Chart 3.1 The years of studying English 19

Chart 3.2 The most difficult English skill 20

Chart 3.3 The importance of the reading comprehension skills 20

Chart 3.4 The daily reading time 21

Chart 3.5 Level of reading skill 21

Chart 3.6: Difficulties in reading comprehension 22

Chart 3.7: The difficult strategies 27

Table 3.1: Difficulties in background knowledge 23

Table 3.2: Difficulties in vocabulary 24

Table 3.3: Difficulties in grammar 25

Table 3.4: The use of reading strategies 27

Table 3.5: Difficulties in psychological problems 30

CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

This chapter mentions the rationale, the previous studies, the aim, the research subjects and the organization of the study.

1.1 Rationale

English language learning is one of the important factors that affect internationalcommunication 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.

1.2 Previous studies

There are many studies that were conducted to investigate the reading comprehension difficulties encountered by English learners as follows:

1.2.1 Studies abroad

Dr Abeer Al-Ghazo and Dr Mahmoud Al-Sobh (2018) conducted a study entitled

“Reading Comprehension Problems Encountered By EFL Students at Ajloun NationalUniversity” 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 LearningInstitutions” 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.

1.2.2 Studies in Vietnam

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 Do University 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 ofthe 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-yearEnglish-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.

1.3Aims 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?

1.4 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.

1.5Scope 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 Thuongmai University It is also limited to the period of implementation of the study, which took place during the second semester of 2021-2022.

1.6Research methodology1.6.1 Method of the study

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.

1.6.2 Participants

All related data which used to analyse for this study were collected from 100 first- year English 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.

1.6.3 Instrument

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.

1.6.4 Data collection procedure

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 surveyresults Step 4: Processing collecteddata

After completing the questionnaire, the quantitative data will be analyzed using the Statistical Package 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.

1.7Organization 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.

Chapter 3: Research findings

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.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter reviews the literature related to the concepts: the definition of reading comprehension and its importance Moreover, the author mentioned the reading strategies and some difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills.

2.1 Overview of reading comprehension skills2.1.1 The definition of reading

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 tounderstand 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 withthe 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 itsmeaning It relies on two, interconnected abilities: word reading (being able to decodethe symbols on the page) and language comprehension (being able to understand themeaning of the words and sentences” said Jane Oakhill, Kate Cain and Carsten Elbro

(2014).

According to Van den Broek and Espin (2012) “Reading comprehension is a

complex interaction among automatic and strategic cognitive processes that enablesthe 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 thetext 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.

2.1.3 Reading comprehension strategies

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 superficiallyinformed 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 ofinformation” (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 textimplies, making inferences, looking at the order of information and how it affects themessage, identifying words that connect one idea to another and identifying words thatindicate 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 todeepen 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 readextensively is at the appropriate level, you'll discover that most unknown terms may beunderstood by looking at their context, making overt use of translations or dictionariesunnecessary.”

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 becomesincreasingly essential as learners progress from “learn to read” to “read to learn”

(Jacobs, 2008) The importance of reading as a language skill can never be underestimated It is one of the most important ways to receive knowledge, particularly for educational purposes Because most of the knowledge is presented by the text, it does not matter which subject they learn, they always need to read first For English learners, it not only offers the reader with crucial and necessary linguistic input, but it also serves as the foundation for continued progress in mastering other English skills.

Besides, reading comprehension is beneficial not just academically, but also professionally and in one's personal life According to Anderson, Heibert, Scott, and

Wilkinson, (1985), “Reading is a basic lifelong skill used both at school and

throughout life It is a cornerstone for a students’ success at universities and, indeed,

throughout life Without the ability to read well, the opportunities for personalfulfillment and job success will inevitably be lost” Reading is, in fact, a crucial skill

for obtaining a decent job Many well-paying occupations include reading comprehension as part of the job description A person's potential is limited without great reading comprehension skills.

2.2 Difficulties in learning reading comprehension skills2.2.1 Linguistic causes

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 increasedbackground knowledge in an area may help less skilled readers compensate for ageneral 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 Inthis situation, if the learners’ background knowledge is inadequate and deficient, theirreadings 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 inreading.”

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 widervocabulary can interpret the meaning of reading passages faster and more thoroughlythan individuals who must guess at the meanings of unfamiliar words based oncontext 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 studentspresented 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 toenable 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 vocabularycan affect reading comprehension and reading comprehension can changevocabulary 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 tohave difficulties in reading comprehension Therefore, EFL learners require grammarknowledge 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.

2.2.2 Lack of strategies

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 studentsread 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 themain idea of the text Third, they just focused too much attention on form of the expensemeaning” (Dasrul Hidayati, 2018) Furthermore, “the students who do not possesseffective reading strategies may be difficulty to deal with reading comprehension test”

(Fajar, 2009).

2.2.3 Psychological causesa 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.

A typical cause of lack of concentration is environment conditions Students in an unsafe place find it difficult to concentrate on their studies However, when they are in

a safe environment, their reading comprehension efficiency tends to improve Readers

may have a lot of problems to understand a text in an unorganized environment thanthose who read in a calm and controlled place Readers will lose their concentration inunderstanding a text when there are noises like televisions or radios (Dennis, 2008).

Another source of lack of concentration is stress or emotional problems such as anxiety, depression, etc., which can affect anyone, and most of the time it is manageable Everyday worries and concerns can make it hard to concentrate As a result, these can also have a negative impact on reading comprehension.

To summarize, difficulty in concentration is a significant problem that affects one's reading comprehension To increase reading comprehension skills, students can find a peaceful atmosphere and strive to be calm when reading; this will boost attention.

b The lack of motivation

Reading motivation is one of the main factors for foreign language students that helps

them read more effectively According to Seymour and Walsh (2006), “motivation affects

learners’ reading comprehension activities.” Dennis (2008) also indicates that interest and

motivation are very important in developing the learners' reading comprehension While it has a significant role in language learning, many do not know its great importance in reading comprehension.

Learner motivation is considered to be the core of language learning success When individuals are motivated to do something, they will do it perfectly and cheerfully If students have the motivation to read English, they will be able to quickly overcome reading problems However, if they are confused and do not trust in their abilities, they will not strive to achieve the goals and may lose motivation Qin

Xiaoquing (2002) identified that “motivation is a significant factor which determines

the success or failure in second language since motivation can directly affect thefrequency of using learning strategies and persistence in learning.”

Reading motivation is critical to the learners' ability to read and understand texts intentionally, which is especially important for EFL students Hairul, Ahmadi, and

Pourhossein (2012) stated that “students would be likely to read more when they are

allowed to choose their reading materials because they would discover that reading isan enjoyable activity.”

In this regard, it is possible to conclude that motivation is important in reading, while subsequent attributes are acquired contexts that play a supporting role at various levels Students need to be motivated in order to study English successfully.

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH FINDINGS

This section presents the findings of the research, which were acquired using a qualitative method and analyzed using a statistical program The research findings are based on the results of questionnaire and show statistical evidence highlighting the difficulties in reading comprehension of first-year students of English Faculty at TMU The discussion will then conclude this chapter.

3.1 Data analysis

3.1.1 Background of studying English

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 Thuongmai University 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"

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 comprehensionA Linguistic causes

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

disagreeDisagree NeutralAgree

Strongly agree

1 Background knowledge plays an

2 I get difficulties when reading

3 I feel embarrassed because I do

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