VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Hanoi University of languages and international studies Department of posT - graduate studies  NGUYEN THI NGOC HUAN using supplementary reading materials for the course book ‘powerbase - elementary’ to improve reading skills for first year non- english MAJOR students at national economics university (Sử DụNG TàI LIệu Đọc Bổ TRợ cho giáo trình POWERBASE ELEMENTARY Để NÂNG CAO Kỹ NĂNG Đọc cho sinh viên không chuyên tiếng anh năm thứ nhấT tr-ờng đại học kinh tế quốc dâN) M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 HANOI, 2009 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY Hanoi University of languages and international studies Department of posT - graduate studies  NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC HUẤN using supplementary reading materials for the course book ‘powerbase - elementary’ to improve reading skills for first year non- english major students at national economics university (Sử DụNG TàI LIệU Đọc Bổ TRợ cho giáo trình POWERBASE - ELEMENTARY Để NÂNG CAO Kỹ NĂNG Đọc cho sinh viên không chuyên tiếng anh năm thứ tr-ờng đại học kinh tế quốc dâN) M.A MINOR THESIS FIELD: ENGLISH METHODOLOGY CODE: 60 14 10 SUPERVISOR: PHAN THỊ VÂN QUYÊN, M.A HANOI, 2009 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration ………………………………………………………………………… i Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………… ii Abstract…………………………………………………………………………… iii List of Abbreviation………………………………………………………………… iv List of Tables……………………………………………………………………… v List of Charts……………………………………………………………………… vi Table of contents…………………………………………………………………… vii CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale……………………………………………………………………… 1.2 Scope of the study…………………………………………………………… 1.3 Significance of the study……………………………………………………… 1.4 Aims of the study…………………………………………………………… 1.5 Research questions…………………………………………………………… 1.6 Methodology………………………………………………………………… 1.7 Design of the study…………………………………………………………… CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Overview of reading………………………………………………………… 2.1.1 Definitions of reading…………………………………………………… 2.1.2 Reading comprehension……………………………………………… 2.1.3 Reading skills………………………………………………………… 2.1.3.1 Definition of reading skills………………………………………… 2.1.3.2 Types of reading skills…………………………………………… 2.2 Overview of materials in language teaching………………………………… 2.2.1 Definition of materials and types of materials in language teaching… 2.2.2 Supplementary materials for language teaching……………………… 2.2.3 Materials evaluation and the criteria for reading texts evaluation……… 10 2.2.4 Criteria for selecting appropriate supplementary materials…………… 11 Summary 12 viii CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 3.1 Background to the thesis and statement of the problem……………………… 13 3.2 The description of the materials……………………………………………… 14 3.2.1 The course book…………………………………………………………… 14 3.2.1.1.Book title……………………………………………………………… 14 3.2.1.2.Book objectives……………………………………………………… 14 3.2.1.3.The structure of the course book …………………………………… 14 3.2.2 The supplementary material used for the course book …………………… 15 3.3 The subjects…………………………………………………………………… 16 3.4 Instruments for data collection………………………………………………… 17 3.5 Data collection procedures…………………………………………………… 18 3.6 Data analysis…………………………………………………………………… 18 Summary 33 CHAPTER FOUR: MAJOR FINDINGS, DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 4.1: Major findings and discussion ………………………………………………… 34 4.1.1: The evaluation of the current reading materials used at NEU…………… 34 4.1.1.1: The evaluation of the reading sections in Powerbase……………… 34 4.1.1.2: The evaluations of the current supplementary material …………… 35 4.1.2 The teachers’ and students’ expectation ………………………………… 36 4.2 Recommendations……………………………………………………………… 37 4.2.1 Suggestions on how to use the course book Powerbase - Elementary…… 37 4.2.1.1 Increasing more time for Reading……………………………………… 38 4.2.1.2 Designing more reading activities and exercises/tasks………………… 38 4.2.2 Suggestions for selecting supplementary reading materials ……………… 39 4.2.2.1 Suggestions for selecting supplementary reading materials …………… 39 4.2.2.2 Suggested adaptation of the current SRM for Powerbase……………… 40 Summary 41 ix CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION 5.1 Conclusion of the study………………………………………………………… 42 5.2 Limitations of the study………………………………………………………… 43 5.3 Suggestions for further study…………………………………………………… 43 REFERENCES I APPENDICES III Appendix 1: Questionnaires for teachers………………………………………… III Appendix 2: Questionnaires for students………………………………………… VI Appendix 3: Samples of supplementary readings for the themes in Powerbase… XII Appendix 4: Samples of supplementary readings for further readings…………… XXI Appendix 5: The table of the Macro-skills proportion of the Powerbase………… XXXIV iv ABBREVIATIONS NEU: National Economics University EFL: English as a foreign language FL: Foreign language M.A: Master of Arts SM: Supplementary material SRM: Supplementary reading material P: Powerbase - Elementary CD: Compact disc Ts: Teachers Ss: Students v LIST OF TABLES Table 1: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the topics of the reading texts in Powerbase 20 Table 2: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the exercises types of reading texts in Powerbase 21 Table 3: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the time allocation for reading in Powerbase 22 Table 4: The Ts Ss’ opinions on the length of the reading texts in Powerbase 22 Table 5: The Ts and Ss' opinions on the level of difficulty of the reading texts in Powerbase 23 Table 6: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the topics of the reading texts in the SM for P 25 Table 7: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the types of reading exercises in the SM 26 Table 8: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the time allocation for reading in the SM 27 Table 9: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the length of the reading texts in the SM 28 Table 10: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on the level of difficulty of the reading texts in the SM 29 Table 11: The Ts and Ss’ opinions on a better SRM for Powerbase 31 Table12: The Macro-skills proportion of the course book Powerbase - Elementary XXXIV vi LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1a: The perception of the Ts about the reading texts in Powerbase 19 Chart 1b: The perception of the Ss about the reading texts in Powerbase 19 Chart 2a: The perception of the Ts about the reading texts in the SM 24 Chart 2b: The perception of the Ss about the reading texts in the SM 24 Chart 3a: The Ts’ attitudes towards the necessary use of SM for 30 Chart 3b: The Ss’ attitudes towards the necessary use of SM for 30 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale Among the four macro-skills, reading is “by far the most important…, particularly in English as a second or foreign language” (Carrel, 1981: 1) For many students, reading not only brings them a lot of interesting information but also provides a variety of linguistic expressions as well as grammatical structures, which are very useful for them to develop other skills Thanks to reading, students can “gain access to the required knowledge that is available, either exclusively or most readily, in English” (Munby, 1978: 3) At National Economics University, reading is also regarded as one of the most important skills that needs to be focused on from the first stage of learning English Reading has constantly been tested in the mid-term tests together with either listening or speaking for many school years For the first year non-English major students of the school year 20082009, the course book Powerbase – Elementary by David Evans is still in use as it is believed to be suitable for students of elementary level Its most updated contents is said to provide excellent preparation for other English business courses Powerbase is not a four-skill-focused material It is a communicative course book that has been specially written for adults who need English for work, travel and everyday situations with the two main skills: Listening and Speaking In order to help students learn English better and to fulfill the objectives of the course, before each school year begins, the Faculty of Economics Foreign Languages assign teachers of each group design the supplementary materials used along with the course books The supplementary materials not only provide students with more exercises, but they also remedy the shortcomings of the course books The supplementary materials are designed annually, in which the good points are maintained in but the shortcomings are replaced by the better ones The existing supplementary material for Powerbase mainly provides exercises on grammar, vocabulary and reading However, through the supplementary book, many students find it hard to understand the strange, long reading texts with too many new words and new grammatical structures Additionally, students are bored with doing only one type of reading exercise Many student hope to have more readings, but they not know where to get appropriate extra reading materials Consequently, they not get as high marks at reading tests as they expected and they lose their interest in reading Teachers, from time to time, complain that they have to compile other reading materials to meet the students’ needs and to make the reading lessons more interesting All these reasons have inspired and encouraged me to carry out the study on “Using supplementary reading materials for „Powerbase – Elementary‟ to improve reading skill for first year non-English major students at National Economics University” with the hope to make some contributions to improving the teaching and learning of reading for first year nonEnglish major students at NEU 1.2 Scope of the study Due to the limited time and the size of a minor thesis, the researcher has no ambitions to cover all aspects of reading, such as reading in integration with other skills: speaking, listening, and writing , but only focuses on the use of supplementary reading materials to develop reading skills for first year non-English major students at NEU 1.3 Significance of the study This study helps first year non-major students at NEU to improve their English proficiency by learning reading and also suggests some ways to improve the teaching of English in general and the teaching of the reading skill in particular at NEU as well as other universities that share the same mandate 1.4 Aims of the study The study is aimed at exploring the use of supplementary reading materials to improve reading skills for first year non-English major students at NEU, giving recommendations on how to efficiently use the supplementary reading materials designed by Group K50A teachers, ... economics university (Sử DụNG TàI LIệU Đọc Bổ TRợ cho giáo trình POWERBASE - ELEMENTARY Để NÂNG CAO Kỹ NĂNG Đọc cho sinh viên không chuyên tiếng anh năm thứ tr-ờng đại học kinh tế quốc dâN) M.A... SRM for Powerbase 31 Table12: The Macro-skills proportion of the course book Powerbase - Elementary XXXIV vi LIST OF CHARTS Chart 1a: The perception of the Ts about the reading texts in Powerbase. .. the mid-term tests together with either listening or speaking for many school years For the first year non-English major students of the school year 20082009, the course book Powerbase – Elementary