ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to send my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Mrs NGUYEN THI QUYNH CHI, who has given me valuable and enthusiastic help Without her help, I could not have completed my thesis Also, I would like to send my sincere thanks to the students of the st- year English Majors in the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University for their support and co-operation for the thesis At last, I wish to express my gratitude to all my friends for their comments and suggestions TABLE OF CONTENTS PART I INTRODUCTION RATIONALE In the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University (HPU), there is a fact that many 1st year English majors not pay proper attention to basic reading techniques to IELTS reading tasks Thus, it leads to the situation that many of them get the poor exam results From this fact, I decide on choosing “A study on application of some reading techniques to doing IELTS reading comprehension tasks for the st – year English majors in the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University” AIMS OF THE STUDY The purpose of the study is to investigate the difficulties faced by the st – year English majors at Foreign Language Department, HPU in doing IELTS reading comprehension tasks so that techniques can be given to help them improve this skill The specific aims of the study are as following: - To find out student’s difficulties in doing IELTS reading comprehension texts - To investigate the reasons for these difficulties - To suggest some useful reading techniques and tips that helps students IELTS reading comprehension tasks well METHODS OF THE STUDY The research is carried out with a combination of methods: survey questionnaires, reading sample works, data and material collection, observations and analysis SCOPE OF THE STUDY Though the study focuses on techniques to improve reading comprehension skill for the 1st – year English majors in the Foreign Language Department, HPU, due to the limitation of time, the researcher just can conduct survey on students of two classes to investigate reading problems experienced by these students then suggest some certain techniques to help them better their reading comprehension skills DESIGN OF THE STUDY The study is divided into three parts: the introduction, the development and the conclusion The development is the main part which consists three chapters: Chapter 1: “Literature review” Chapter 2: “Methodology” Chapter 3: “Data analysis and class observation” Chapter 4: “Major findings and some suggested techniques to improve reading comprehension to the 1st – year English Majors in the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University” PART 2: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW I.1 AN OVERVIEW ON THE NATURE OF READING I.1.1 Definition of reading According to Carell Devine and Eskey (1988:13), “Reading is a process in that it starts with linguistic surface representation encoded by a writer and ends with meaning, which reader constructs There is, thus, an essential interaction between language and thought in reading The writer encodes thought in language and the reader decodes language to thought” I.1.2 The importance of reading skill According to Bright and Gregor (1970:52), “books provide most pupils with the situation in which learning takes place Where there is little reading, there will be little language learning” It is obvious that reading is a means by which further learning takes place I.1.3 Classifications of reading I.1.3.1 According to manner Reading, according to manner, is divided into two kinds: reading aloud and silent reading I.1.3.1.1 Reading aloud I.1.3.1.2 Silent reading I.1.3.2 According to purpose According to purpose, reading is categorized into four main types: skimming, scanning, extensive reading and intensive reading I.1.3.2.1 Skimming I.1.3.2.2 Scanning I.1.3.2.3 Extensive reading I.1.3.2.4 Intensive reading I.1.4 Reading process A reading lesson can be divided into three stages: Pre-reading stage, while-reading stage and post-reading stage Each of these stages carries its own features and purposes and requires different techniques and strategies I.1.4.1 Pre-reading stage I.1.4.2 While-reading stage I.1.4.3 Post-reading stage I.2 READING COMPREHENSION AND READING COMPREHENSION TECHNIQUES I.2.1 Definition of Reading comprehension Richard and Thomas (1987:143) state that “Reading comprehension is a mental process that in the final analysis, only the reader fully understands Comprehension is what simulates readers to remember their past experience That knowledge is, then, used in trying to get meaning out of print Meaning does not reside in the printed page but rather in the mind of the reader.” I.2.2 Techniques for Reading Comprehension Nuttal (1982) provides a list of reading skills which consist of macro-skills with Word-attack skills and Text- attack skills I.3 FACTORS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING READING I.3.1 The role of teachers Discussing the roles of the teacher in teaching reading, Richard and Amato (1988) emphasize: “The first role is to facilitate communicative process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and text The second role is to act interdependent within the learning teaching group” ‘ I.3.2 The role of students During the reading lesson, the students play the role of an active and creative listener as well as the reader They need to listen to the teacher’s instructions and explanations carefully to find out the way of recognizing information and way of deducing new words or grammatical structures I.4 SUMMARY In short, this chapter focuses on the concepts useful for the accomplishment of the study First, some definitions of reading basing on some linguistics scholars have been presented Second, the importance of reading skill and the classification of reading into reading aloud and silent reading in terms of reading manner and skimming, scanning, extensive reading, and intensive reading in terms of reading purposes are stated What’s more in the first chapter are the three stages of a reading lesson Then comes in the first chapter is an insight into what is reading comprehension and the techniques for reading comprehension Last but not least, the role of the teachers as well as the students in the three stages of a reading lesson has been reviewed CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY The survey of the study is carried out in order to find out student’s difficulties in doing IELTS reading comprehension texts, to investigate the reason for these difficulties and to research opinions and attitudes of the students of using some useful reading techniques and tips that help students IELTS reading comprehension tasks well It is conducted with the assistance of the 1st year English majors, Foreign Language Department, HPU Survey questionnaires are given to 50 students studying at two English majors classes at Foreign Language Department, HPU 2.2 OBJECTS OF THE STUDY The study is designed for the 1st – year English majors: They are from 18 to 20 years old, both male and female students, at the first year of university When doing this survey, they are in the mid 2nd term at HPU At this stage, they have learned about some techniques applied in reading comprehension and practiced some types of IELTS reading texts 2.3 INSTRUMENTATION 2.3.1 Survey questionnaires In this study, the researcher applied questionnaire as a main means of data collection because of some advantages Firstly, this method can give the researcher the need data in quantitative form Secondly, all informants have chance of expressing their attitudes As a result, researcher can have more uniform and accurate data The survey questionnaires were administered to get information concerning: - Student’s difficulties in doing reading comprehension tasks - Student’s attitudes towards reading comprehension techniques - Student’s methods of doing reading comprehension tasks - Student’s using supplementary materials 2.3.2 Sample texts The researcher uses two sample texts which has the same level to investigate the student’s reading efficiency before and after applying methods to doing reading comprehension texts 2.3.3 Class observation Class observation is also a useful method It gives the researcher a chance to observe the learning of reading texts 2.3.4 Materials collection It consists of reference books on reading as well as webs on Internet These materials provide me with necessary and important theories and information They help me finish the study perfectly CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND CLASS OBSERVATION 3.1 DATA ANALYSIS OF STUDENT’S SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES Question finds out the student’s difficulties in doing reading comprehension tasks A Limited vocabulary B The lack of grammatical structures C Inappropriate reading techniques D Others (Optional): …………… Question refers to the role of reading techniques to student’s reading A B C D Very important Important Quite important Not important at all Question investigates the first the first thing to when working on IELTS reading comprehension texts A Read the question then read the text B Read the whole text from the beginning to the end immediately then read the question C Others (Optional): …………… Question discovers the way to deal with the questions A B Identify the type of question Try to understand the question C D Think about the information you will need to find Underline key words in the question and think about synonyms or paraphrases for these key words E Others (Optional): …………… Question investigates the frequency of predicting the content of the text A B C D Usually Sometimes Seldom Never D 16% A 22% C 18% Question aims at finding the way B 44% students read the text A Focus on every word for detailed understanding B Read quickly for general understanding first and then focus on other specific information C Others (Optional): …………… Question aims at finding student’s way to deal with new words and unfamiliar structures A B C D Look them up in the dictionary Figure out the meanings of the word from the text Ignore them all Others (Optional): …………… Question explores how often students read the sentences around the answer to look for traps and check other information A B C D Usually Sometimes Seldom Never Question discovers how often students limit the time in doing reading comprehension exercises A Usually B Sometimes C Seldom D Never Question 10 investigates the student’s using supplementary materials A Newspapers and magazines B Reference books C Internet D Others (Optional): …………… 3.2.CLASS OBSERVATION From the factual class observation, there still exist both strong and weak points in the process of applying some techniques to doing reading comprehension texts, especially in the while- reading stage In terms of strong points, most of the students prepared the supplementary materials very carefully All of their extra reading texts were from Internet which contains of various interesting topics and types of questions so that students can be more enthusiastic in reading In contrast, there are numerous problems The number of students in class was quite large (from 37 to 40) and students did not pay adequate attention to the lessons Many of them made noise; and some others studied other subjects Many students were passive and waited the answers corrected by the teacher Besides, they still used the method of translating the text into Vietnamese in the while- reading stage In addition, some students did not limit the time for each question To summarize, the application some techniques to doing reading comprehension texts still faces shortcomings It is advisable to enrich the learning strategies for students to develop their effective reading skills 3.3 READING SAMPLES After answering the survey questionnaires, I gave the students a reading comprehension sample – Multiple choice tasks The obtained result is that no one had all the right answers, and there was still some students had not completed the questions yet They read the text attentively from the beginning to the end to answer the question no.1 which asks to find the main idea of the passage Although, the majority of them (80%) got the right answer, they cost much time for just one question Consequently, some questions have not completed, and students got the poor result In addition, they did not read the options to get the idea what they may need to look for, and have the habit of highlighting the key words at the same time Hence, there were 28% of students having the correct answers for question no.2 which needs to use scanning technique Moreover, a large number of them (78%) got the wrong answer for two questions related to the vocabulary and synonyms as question no.4 and no.5 because they did not guess the meanings from the text to answer this type of question After 10 minutes doing the first reading sample, I continued to give the students another reading comprehension task which was as difficult as the previous one This time, I gave them some tips and techniques to multiple choice questions As a result, there were many students having all the right answers for this time (60%) Firstly, students applied skimming and scanning very well They just read through the passage very quickly 10 to find the main idea and focus on key words to locate the specific information For this reason, they saved much time for the other questions and the quality of the answer was also ensured Therefore, 90% of students answered correctly no.1 and 80% for question no.2 and no.4 Secondly, they tried to guess the meaning of words in the text instead of using dictionaries or choosing randomly, so the number of students having the exact answers related to vocabulary as question no.3 and no.5 was higher than the previous time, accounting to 70% Lastly, everyone had completed all the questions because they managed the time successfully, and no one had all the wrong answers To summary, students should enhance their reading techniques and know how to apply it accurately for each type of reading comprehension questions If students that well, their readings will be better and their results will be improved remarkably CHAPTER 4: MAJOR FINDINGS AND SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION TO THE 1ST YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT, HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY 4.1.MAJOR FINDINGS My study is carried out to investigate some reading techniques applied by the first year English majors at Foreign Language Department, HPU From the data analysis, I experienced findings in using these techniques to doing IELTS reading comprehension texts Firstly, according to the statistics, all the students have the difficulties working on reading comprehension texts Their difficulties are various with the majority get trouble with vocabulary, some lack of grammatical structures and not a small number of them recognize that their using inappropriate techniques are the reason affecting their reading However, their attitudes to reading techniques are quite positive All of them agree that it is necessary to apply appropriate reading techniques in doing reading comprehension texts Secondly, before reading the texts, most of them acclaim it is vital to read the questions to underline key words and reflect those words to synonyms or all possible ways of paraphrasing them before skimming text as this step provides them with the gist of the 11 text which hopefully gets them well-prepared for specific terminology related to the topic presented in the reading task, accelerating their speed of fulfilling the exercise Yet, there are some students often read the text attentively from the beginning to the end first and then read the questions It is not a good way because doing IELTS reading comprehension tasks doesn’t required you understand the passage at all, but you should aim to answer the question correctly Last but not least, there are diversified sources where students can find the supplementary materials to boost their reading skills raging from reference books, newspaper and magazines to the Internet, etc Each kind of source has its own advantages and would be helpful if they know how to fully exploit the advantages 4.2 SOME SUGGESTED TECHNIQUES TO IMPROVE READING COMPREHENSION TO THE 1ST - YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS IN THE FOREIGN LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT, HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY Based on the nature of reading and learning reading in addition to what is found from the survey, some useful techniques are suggested to help students read better, especially IELTS reading comprehension tasks well Below is a list of IELTS question types and some suggested skills used in each kind 2.1.1 Paragraph headings In this kind of reading, students should quickly read through the paragraph headings first and then look at each paragraph In itself, it is not entirely an exercise in skimming The students sometimes need to read some paragraphs carefully to choose an appropriate heading as there are always more choices of paragraph headings on the list than paragraphs and the answer not come in order, so be careful when matching them However, the students should be encouraged to it as quickly as possible to see how quickly they understand the gist of the text 2.2.1 Multiple choice questions When doing this kind of exercise, students should read the questions stems as well as the options first to get an idea of what they may need to look out for As reading the text, students should get into the habit of highlighting words that they think may be important and it will help them find answers later After skimming the passage, read the questions again and those highlighted words will help students find out the answers more 12 quickly This type of question is also used to draw students to just on word of the text or specific information, so it is necessary to use scanning skill to locate the precise information of the passage If students are running out of time or really not know the answer, they should have a guess Students will not lose marks for wrong answers and have a 25% chance of getting the correct answer just by guessing 2.3.1 Summary completion It is necessary to notice that the passage used for this type of exercise must be based on the reading text and focus on the general message on the text, so that the students can make full use of what they have read Students not need to try to understand the whole text but they just focus more on the summary in the question The tip is that students should read the questions carefully, identify the type of word need for each gap (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) and note how many words they can write, then they should skim the summary and try to understand the overall meaning Remember paying attention to the words collocating well with the words in the sentence; and the answers usually come in order 2.4.1 True/False/Not given This type of question requires students identify the specific information in the passage, so that the skill used is scanning Students should paraphrase the statements before trying to locate the answers and not spend a long time for looking for the answer to one question because it is probably NG if they cannot find it 2.5.1 Sentence completion Students should indentify the type of words needed for each gap (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) first and then used scanning to locate the information in the passage in order to choose the right word They should remember checking the number of words can be used for each answer and be aware of paraphrasing and synonyms 2.6.1 Short answer questions To this task well, students should read the instruction carefully in order to check how many words can be used for the answer first, then quickly read through all the questions so students can get an idea of what information they will have to find in the text Besides, students should remember highlight the key words as reading the questions because this activity will help them skim the text easily After that, they scan the passage 13 to locate the information to see which words will answer the question and make sure the sentence will be grammatical 2.7.1 Matching paragraph information Students have to scan for specific words within the paragraphs It is more likely that they will be looking for synonyms (different words that mean the same or nearly the same) and paraphrases rather than keywords from the question statements When students have found the words or phrases they think might give them the correct answer, they have to read very carefully in order to fully understand the meaning to be able to decide if it is really the correct answer PART 3: CONCLUSION It is obvious that in the process of learning a foreign language in general and English in particular, reading comprehension is a crucial skill of acquisition That is why the students have to think creatively and work efficiently in the learning process Moreover, applying the useful techniques to doing reading comprehension exercises will help the students develop their reading skills as well as gives them other benefits to avoid cultural and language bias, etc in daily communication This is the reason why this topic is chosen for my study The research is done with four main chapters The first content of the graduation paper is theoretical knowledge about reading The definitions and types of reading, the importance of reading skill, stages of a reading lesson, some techniques used in reading comprehension and factors in teaching and learning reading as well have been presented The second content is methodology which investigates the situation analysis and the instrumentation of the study The next part elaborates the situation of applying reading techniques to doing reading comprehension tasks of English majors at Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University The actual learning status was clarified through the survey questionnaires, reading sample texts and some class observations at Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University Time and efforts have been spent on accumulating information about reading methods used in doing reading tasks The statistics indicates 14 that all of the students have positive attitudes toward reading, but the techniques applied were not sufficient enough to develop their reading skills It is advisable for them to apply more accurate techniques in doing reading comprehension tasks The last part focuses on some suggestions for better reading The thesis has presented some useful techniques to develop certain reading skills for students mostly in the while reading stage Some techniques and tips presented in chapter four are all possible to apply for doing reading comprehension, but the students must be flexible in using them for each kind of reading My study is carried out with the hope that it may become a useful document for the students concerning about the reading techniques Due to the shortage of time and knowledge, mistakes and short comings are unavoidable Thus, I will highly appreciate further remarks on my graduation paper from teachers and friends to improve it both in the content and in the form Moreover, it is expected that the further studies will be the continuance for this one, which suggest techniques to the remained stages, the pre- reading and the post- reading stage 15 APPENDICES SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRES Which of the following factors may affect your motivation when dealing with IELTS reading comprehension tasks? (You can choose more than one option) A Limited vocabulary B The lack of grammatical structures C Inappropriate reading techniques D Other (optional): …………… How you find the role of reading techniques to your reading? A Very important B Important C Quite important D Not important at all What you first when working on IELTS reading comprehension texts? A Read the question then read the text B Read the whole text immediately then read the question C Other (optional): …………… What you often after reading the question?(You can choose more than one option) A Identify the type of question B Try to understand the question C Think about the information you will need to find D Underline key words in the questions and think about synonyms or paraphrases for these key words 16 E Other (optional): Before reading, how often you predict the content of the text? A Usually B Sometimes C Seldom D Never How you often read the text in order to answer the question? A Focus on every word for detailed understanding B Read quickly for general understanding first and then focus on other specific information C Other (optional): When you get trouble with new words and unfamiliar structures, what you often do? A Look them up in the dictionary B Figure out the meanings of the word from the text C Ignore them all D Other (optional): When you find the location for the answer, how often you read the sentences around the answer to check other information and look for traps? A Usually B Sometimes C Seldom D Never How often you limit the time for each answer in the reading exercise? A Usually B Sometimes C Seldom D Never 10.Which source you often find the supplementary materials to improve your reading skill? 17 A Newspapers and magazines B Reference books C Internet D Other (Optional): …………… 18 SAMPLE TEXTS READING COMPREHENSION SAMPLE Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions from to Long ago prehistoric man began to domesticate a number of wild plants and animals for his own use This not only provided more abundant food but also allowed more people to live on a smaller plot of ground We tend to forget that all of our present-day pets, livestock, and food plants were taken from the wild and developed into the forms we know today As centuries passed and human cultures evolved and blossomed, humans began to organize their knowledge of nature into the broad field of natural history One aspect of early natural history concerned the use of plants for drugs and medicine The early herbalists sometimes overworked their imaginations in this respect For example, it was widely believed that a plant or part of a plant that resembles an internal 30 organ would cure ailments of that organ Thus, an extract made from a heart-shaped leaf might be prescribed for a person suffering from heart problems Nevertheless, the overall contributions of these early observers provided the rudiments of our present knowledge of drugs and their uses What does this passage mainly discuss? A Cures from plants B The beginning of natural history C Prehistoric man D Early plants and animals Domestication of plants and animals probably occurred because of A need for more readily available food B lack of wild animals and plants C early mans power as a hunter D the desire of prehistoric man to be nomadic The word “This” in the first paragraph refers to A providing food for man 19 B man’s domestication of plants and animals C mans ability to live on a small plot of land D the earliest condition of prehistoric man The word “blossomed” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to _ A produced flowers B changed C learned D flourished An herbalist is which of the following? A A dreamer B An early historian C Someone who uses plants in medicine D A farmer READING COMPREHENSION SAMPLE Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the following questions from to Swans are among the most beautiful of North American waterfowl and have always enjoyed the admiration and even the protection of bird lovers Of the six species in the swan genus, only two are native to North America The trumpeter swan, the largest of the group, breeds in the northern United States and Alaska, and was nearly wipe outduring the nineteenth century craze for elaborately feathered hats The whistling swan, which winters in large flocks on the Chesapeake Bay, has recently been renamed the tundra swan because it breeds and summers on the northernmost tundra regions of the continent Recently, populations of mute swans – an exotic species introduced to North America from Europe in the early 1900s – have begun increasing by an alarming 30 to 40 percent annually in some states Most wildlife biologists today believe the majestic white creatures, with their tendency to destroy a pond’s plant life and drive away native waterfowl, might create havoc on the scale of the gypsy, moth, starling, or English sparrow Both native species of swans are wild and require large areas of uninhabited summer ground for nesting and feeding Mutes, however, semi-domesticated and accustomed to people, can nest in pairs of many as three or four on one small coastal pond, which can burden delicate and environmentally essential brackish ponds The author’s main purpose in this passage is to _ A forewarn an environmental problem 20 B interest people in wildlife biology C describe swans of North America D prevent extinction of a swan species According to the passage, the main issue concerning mute swans is that they are A not native to North America B semi-domesticated C increasing very rapidly D possessive of their habitat The phrase “wipe out” in the passage is closest in meaning to _ A miscalculated B admired C cleaned up D killed The author states that the native species of swans can live best A in unpopulated areas B in close contact with people C in the southern part of the United States D in a similar habitat to mute swans The word “burden” in the passage is closest in meaning to A isolate B regulate C endanger 21 D beautify