VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES
------------***----------

NGUYỄN CHÍ DŨNG

ADVANCES IN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS EMPLOYABLE

FOR THE TEACHING OF READING COMPREHENSION
TECHNIQUES TO FIRST YEAR STUDENTS
AT VIETTRONICS TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE

(Những thành tựu mới trong Anh ngữ học có thể ứng dụng vào việc giảng dạy
kĩ năng Đọc hiểu cho sinh viên năm thứ nhất
Trường Cao đẳng Công nghệ Viettronics)

M.A. Minor Thesis

Filed : English Teaching Methodology

Code : 60 14 10

HANOI - 2010
 iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

Declaration..............................................................................................................................i
Acknowledgement..................................................................................................................ii
Table of contents...................................................................................................................iii
List of abbreviations, tables, figures and charts................................................................vi
PART A: INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................1
1. Rationale............................................................................................................................1
2. Aims and objectives of the study.....................................................................................2
2.1. Aims of the study............................................................................................................2
2.2. Objectives of the study....................................................................................................2
3. Methods of the study........................................................................................................3
4. Scope of the study.............................................................................................................3
5. Design of the study...........................................................................................................3
PART B: DEVELOPMENT................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW..............................................................................4
1. Review of literature..........................................................................................................4
1.1. Introduction...................................................................................................................4
1.2. An Overview on the Nature of Reading......................................................................4
1.2.1. Definition of reading....................................................................................................4
1.2.2. Definition of reading comprehension...........................................................................5
1.2.3. Reading process............................................................................................................6
1.3. Types of reading............................................................................................................6
1.3.1. Manner of reading........................................................................................................7
1.3.2. Purposes of reading......................................................................................................8
1.4. Some advances in English linguistics employable for the teaching of reading
comprehension techniques..................................................................................................8
1.4.1. Extensive reading.........................................................................................................9
1.4.1.1. Extensive reading definitions....................................................................................9
1.4.1.2. Extensive reading vs Intensive reading...................................................................11
 iv

1.4.1.3. Using extensive reading in the language class .......................................................12

1.5. Previous research studies...........................................................................................14
1.6. Summary......................................................................................................................15
CHAPTER 2: AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CURRENT SITUATION OF
TEACHING AND LEARNING READING AT VIETTRONICS TECHNOLOGY
COLLEGE (VTC)..............................................................................................................17
2.1. Introduction.................................................................................................................17
2.2. An Overview on Viettronics Technology College....................................................17
2.3. Teachers and Teaching Methods...............................................................................18
2.4. Materials and Assessments.........................................................................................18
2.5. Data Collection, Findings and Discussion.................................................................19
2.5.1. Data Collection.........................................................................................................19
2.5.1.1. The Subject..............................................................................................................19
2.5.1.2. Data collection instruments.....................................................................................19
2.5.2. Data analysis and discussion...................................................................................20
2.5.2.1. Students’ attitudes towards the role of reading English to their learning and their
future career.........................................................................................................................20
2.5.2.2. Students’ attitude towards the reading text in Lifeline- Elementary book..............21
2.5.2.3. Students’ activities in reading.................................................................................22
2.5.2.3.1. Students’ activities in pre-reading........................................................................22
2.5.2.3.2. Students’ activities in while-reading....................................................................23
2.5.2.3.3. Students’ activities in post-reading......................................................................24
2.5.2.3.4. Teachers’ activities towards their students in the reading lesson.........................25
2.6. Summary......................................................................................................................27
CHAPTER 3: THE EMPLOYMENT OF EXTENSIVE READING AS A POSSIBLE
WAY OF TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION TECHNIQUES TO THE
FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT VTC................................................................................28
3.1. Introduction.................................................................................................................28
3.2. The employment of extensive reading as a possible way of teaching reading
comprehension techniques to the first year students at VTC........................................28
3.2.1. The reading material is easy.......................................................................................28
 v

3.2.2. A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics must be available...............29

3.2.3. Choosing what they want to read...............................................................................30

3.2.4. Students read as much as possible.............................................................................30

3.2.5. The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure information and general
understanding.......................................................................................................................31
3.2.6. Reading is its own reward..........................................................................................31
3.2.7. Reading is individual and silent.................................................................................32
3.2.8. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower.....................................................32
3.2.9. Teachers orient and guide their students....................................................................32
3.2.10. The teacher is a role model of a reader....................................................................33
3.3. Summary......................................................................................................................34
PART III: CONCLUSION................................................................................................35
1. Recapitulation...................................................................................................................35
2. Limitations and suggestions for further research.............................................................37
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................38
APPENDIX............................................................................................................................I
SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE.............................................................................................I
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS, TABLES, FIGURES AND CHARTS

ABBREVIATIONS

VTC: Viettronics Technology College

ER: Extensive reading

FIGURES

Figure 1: The traditional types of reading

Figure 2: The general picture of advances in reading

TABLES

Table 1: Ten principles of extensive reading

CHARTS

Chart 1: Students’ attitudes towards the role of reading English to their learning and their

future career

Chart 2: Students’ attitude towards the reading text in Lifeline- Elemetary book.

Chart 3: Students’ activities in pre-reading

Chart 4: Students’ activities in while-reading

Chart 5: Students’ activities in post-reading

Chart 6: Teachers’ activities towards their students in the reading lesson.

 -1-

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale

In the modern time, when the world entered a new millennium, the tendency towards
globalization is an indispensable development. Therefore, the desire for having a mutual
understanding among the world economies, among the world citizens is becoming more
and more urgent.

Thanks to the globalization and the entry to the WTO, Viet Nam is striving to the growth
rate of world economy. Using English as a useful means of communication is really in
need. Furthermore, to have good chances to find out stable jobs as well as to get high
social positions, one of the key factors to the success is good at English. For the reasons,
teaching and learning English is getting highly development in the world.

Learners of English must concern in four practical skills in English as reading, speaking,
writing and listening. Obviously and surely, most of learners want to be the masters of all.
Some of them pay attention to speaking and listening, they consider speaking and listening
as a tool for the communication and realization of their goal. Also, writing is important and
necessary for others because of their office documents, reports and business letters...etc.
requirement. However, most of them confirm reading is one of the most complex skills. It
is difficult for them to focus on reading, especially for reading texts with lengthy and
unknown words. They also complain that the reading classes are boring and they feel bored
because they are able to understand a little about the subject they are reading. Therefore
teachers need to have some new advances to improve reading skill for learners. Learners
must be taught how to read and teachers should give best methods and new advances in
reading to motivate and develop learners’ reading skill.

Viettrronics Technology College, a seven – year – old College is located in Hai Phong city
has four faculties, Basic department, Electrical and Electronics department, Information
Technology department and Economic Administration department. We, English group
belong to Basic department so we teach for non- English major students who are offered
reading course in Lifelines book (Elementary by Tom Hutchinson) for the first term and
second term. For the first year students have to face up with quite a lot of problems in
 -2-

learning reading because most of them have just graduated from high school. They seem to
lack of basic background knowledge of reading. Moreover, they are not acquainted with
lengthy and unknown words reading texts in limitation time. They only have two periods
to read and carry out a reading text in each lesson that cause them many difficulties in
reading and understanding the text. That is also the reason why the first year students often
have to look up new words and write down everything the teachers explain. As a certain
result, they are tired of reading and their reading skills still keep stable.

For all above reasons, the researcher wishes to try some new advances to improve reading
skill for students, especially the first year students. And the writer’s thesis is:

“Advances in English Linguistics Employable for the Teaching of Reading Comprehension

Techniques to First Year Students at Viettronics Technology College”.

2. Aims and objectives of the study

2.1. Aims of the study

The purpose of this study is to investigate and survey the difficulties in reading
encountered by non – English students at Viettronics Technology College from that
Advances in English Linguistics Employable for the Teaching of Reading Comprehension
Techniques can be given to motivate and help them to improve reading skill.
The specific aims are:
+ To investigate into current situation of teaching and learning reading at VTC
+ To find out the difficulties encountered by non – English students at VTC
+ To give the employment of extensive reading as a possible way of teaching reading
comprehension techniques to the first year students at VTC

2.2. Objectives of the study

+ Data collection for the analysis from the first year students of classes in Economic
administration department at VTC:
+ Find out the dominant difficulties
+ Evaluate what advances in English linguistics employable for the teaching of reading
Comprehension Techniques are best suitable.
 -3-

3. Methods of the study

To get the aims of this study, the quantitative and qualitative research methods are used to
observe and obtain information on students’ attitude in reading lesson. Besides that Writer
intends to use categorized and systematized research methods to find out students’
difficulties in reading and choose the best suitable advances using for teaching of reading
comprehension techniques to first year students at Viettronics Technology College.

4. Scope of the study

The main focus of the study is the employment of extensive reading as a possible way of
teaching reading comprehension techniques to help non- English major students to solve
reading texts, especially, lengthy and unknown words texts. Due to the limitation of time,
the author will pay more attention to survey on the first year students of Economic
Administration department at VTC to investigate reading difficulties that students are often
coped with then give some principles of extensive reading employable for the teaching of
reading comprehension techniques to motivate them better in their reading skill.

5. Design of the study

This minor thesis is divided into three parts
Part A “Introduction” firstly, introduce how important English language is in
modern society. The students’ demands for studying English including four skills: reading,
speaking, listening and writing as well as students’ attitude to these. Secondly, talk a little
about the difficulties in studying reading comprehension at VTC. Thirdly, presents the
background aims, objectives, research methods, scope and design of the study.
Part B: Consists of three chapters:
Chapter 1: Reviews literature and the literature of previous works and some linguistic
concepts concerning to research topic such as definitions of reading, definitions of reading
comprehension, types of reading, reading comprehension, definition of extensive reading,
extensive reading versus intensive reading...etc.
Chapter 2: Analyzes the general learning situation at VTC, teachers and their teaching
methods, materials and assessment, especially, data collection, finding and discussion also
will be focused in this chapter.
 -4-

Chapter 3: Gives the employment of extensive reading as a possible way of teaching

reading comprehension techniques to the first year students at VTC.
Part C: “Conclusion” summarizes what is obtained in this study and shows the limitations
and gives some suggestions for further study.

PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Review of literature

1.1. Introduction

In this chapter, there are four sub-sections. The first section deals with the theoretical
background of reading skill including the definition of reading, reading comprehension,
reading process, types of reading and the purpose of reading. Especially, in the second
section some advances in English linguistics employable for teaching of reading
comprehension techniques will be given and because of limited time, the researcher only
pay attention to one of these advances, extensive reading such as extensive reading
definition, extensive reading versus intensive reading, using extensive reading in the
language class and. The third section focuses on the previous research of extensive reading
on students’ reading. The fourth section summarizes this chapter.

1.2. An Overview on the Nature of Reading

1.2.1. Definition of reading

There are numerous of reading definitions as:

According to Goodman (1971: 135), reading is “a psycholinguistic process by which the

reader, a language users, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been
encoded by a writer as a graphic display”, and the act of reconstruction is viewed as “a
cyclical process of sampling, predicting, testing and confirming”.
 -5-

Rumelhart (1977) defines “reading involves the reader, the text and the interaction between
the reader and the text”.

William also shares the same idea on reading when he points out “written, then, often
contain more than we need to understand them. The efficient reader makes use of this to
take what he needs, and no more, to obtain meaning”.

Harmer (1989:153) states that “eyes receive the message and the brain has to work out the
significance of the message”. He views reading from a different perspective and he
consider reading as a mechanical process.

Obviously, Experts give different reading definitions but they all share the same idea that
reading includes reader, text, reading process and reading message.

1.2.2. Definition of reading comprehension

Reading comprehension plays a very important part in teaching and learning reading a
foreign language. It is the ability to understand information in a text and interpret it
appropriately. So that:

Swam (1975:1) states “a student is good at comprehension we mean that he can read
accurately and efficiently to get the maximum information of a text with the minimum of
understanding”.

Grellet (1981:3) proposes “reading comprehension or understanding a written text means

extracting the required information from it as effectively as possible”.

Lenz (2000:3) also says “reading comprehension is the process of constructing meaning
from the text”. It means that reading comprehension consists of at least two people, the
reader and the write. Thus, the process of comprehending involves decoding the writer’s
words and using background knowledge to construct an approximate understanding of the
writer’s passage.

On the whole, reading comprehension is the process that helps readers obtain information
in a text and understand it appropriately.
 -6-

1.2.3. Reading process

Kamil (1986) claims that there have been three general orientations of reading models:
bottom-up models (text – based), top- down models (reader – based), and interactive
models (balanced – models)

In bottom-up the reader begins with the written text and constructs meaning from letters,
words, phrases and sentences and then processes the text in a linear fashion as Kamil.

(1986: 73) says “the reader begins the reading process by analyzing the text in small units
and these units are built into progressively larger units until meaning can be extracted”.

In top-down processing, reader moves from the top, the higher level of mental stages to the
text itself. This model emphasizes the reconstruction of meaning rather than decoding of
form as well as the interaction between the reader and the text rather than the graphic
forms. As Researcher, Goodman (1976) states that “reading processes are initiated by
making guesses about the meaning of the text”.

The interactive approach suggested by Samuel and Kamil (1988) combine bottom-up and
top-down models interactively and constantly. In this model, the reader plays an active role
in employing different strategies which requires both the knowledge of the world and the
linguistic knowledge to interpret the meaning of the text.

The appearance and popularity of interactive model shows that this model can maximize
the strengths and minimize the weaknesses of the separate use of either bottom-up or top-
down model. The interplay between bottom-up and top-down processing creates successful
reading.

1.3. Types of reading

Traditionally, the types of reading are divided into two parts: according to manner of
reading and purposes of reading.

The figure 1 will show the traditional types of reading

 -7-

Reading aloud Silent reading

Manner

READING

Purposes

Intensive Extensive Skimming Scanning

General Brief
information information

Reading for Reading for

pleasure language
Reading for
information

Figure 1: The traditional types of reading

1.3.1. Manner of reading

According to Doff (1988), reading is divided into two main types: reading aloud and silent
reading in which “reading aloud involves looking at the text, understanding it and also
saying it”. This type is considered as a good way to convey necessary information to the
other but it is not common activity outside classroom. However, there is also other
researcher consider reading a loud as a way for students to make the connection between
 -8-

sounds and spelling of words and to assist teachers to check students’ pronunciation. Natal
(1996) says “reading aloud is an aid for beginners to improve their pronunciation”

According to Lewis (1985:110) says “silent reading is the method we normally use with
our native language, and on the whole the quickest and most efficient. Clearly, this type of
reading is more often use in real life and in classroom.

1.3.2. Purposes of reading

According to Greenwood (1985), Williams (1986) and Grellet (1990), reading is divided
into four types: skimming, scanning, extensive reading and intensive reading.

Nuttal (1982:36) also says “by skimming, we mean glancing rapidly through the text to
determine whether a researcher 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”. That
means when we use skimming, we read the text rapidly to find the main points.

Grellet (1981:19) states that “when scanning, we only try to locate specific information and
often we do not even follow the linearity of the passage to do so”. This type of reading use
to read the text rapidly to find a specific piece of information.

Unlike skimming and scanning, extensive and intensive reading are viewed differently.
While extensive reading is associated with long texts and is used to read for pleasure with
emphasis on overall meaning. Intensive reading pays attention to short texts with detailed
information.

1.4. Some advances in English linguistics employable for the teaching of reading
comprehension techniques.

According to Jack C. Richards (2003), reading is divided into three types:

Extensive, Intensive and Oral reading. The figure 2 shows the general picture of these
types.
 -9-

EXTENSIVE ORAL
READING READING

READING

INTENSIVE READING

Pre-reading Prediction Main Comprehension Scanning Skimming Cohesion

ideas

Figure 2: The general picture of advances in reading

1.4.1. Extensive reading

1.4.1.1. Extensive reading definitions

According to Hill (2006) “reading quantity with the purpose of learning the language and
of acquiring fluency for extensive reading”. He makes the difference between library
extensive reading based on the quantity of books that students read and class reading
related to the quality of the reading experience and with the ability that students can
interact with texts and over the content of the book with the teacher or by themselves.
 - 10 -

Richard Day and Bamford (2004) consider extensive reading as ten principles:

Principles Descriptions
The text should be easy for students
1
Should not give many unknown words to students.
Teachers should present students with many kinds of reading
2
materials (books, stories, topics, genres..)
Students should be given the possibility of selecting what they
3
want to read
4 Readers should read as much as they can

The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure,

5
information and general understanding.

6 Reading is its own reward

7 Extensive reading should be silent and at the students’ pace.

8 Reading speed is usually faster than slower
9 Teachers orient and guide their students
Teachers should be good models of students by reading the
10 same materials that students are reading and exchanging
opinions about them with students.

Table 1: Ten principles of extensive reading

“Although out-of-class reading is a school assignment, it can resemble real-world reading

if students choose what they want to read and respond to it in their own way, without being
tested on it. They are likely to be interested in and inspired by the opinions and reading
experiences of their peers but should be held individually accountable for what they read”.
Jack C. Richards (2003:3).
 - 11 -

1.4.1.2. Extensive reading versus Intensive reading

There are two kinds of reading, intensive reading and extensive reading. Both are
important though their importance finds expression in different ways.

Extensive reading will be selected at a lower level of difficult than that for intensive
reading. Where frequency word counts are available for the language being learned,
extensive reading will conform to a lower frequency word count than intensive reading.
Material will be selected whose choice of structure is less complex and whose vocabulary
range is less extensive. The aim of extensive reading is to train the students to read directly
and fluency in the target language for enjoyment without the aid of the teachers. Where
graded texts are available, structures in texts for extensive reading will be familiar, and
new items of vocabulary will be introduced slowly in such a way that their meaning can be
deduced from context. The students will be motivated to make intelligent guesses at the
meaning of unknown words. Material consists of short stories, plays or articles from
newspapers and magazines. A few adaptations of vocabulary and structure will be made.
The style of writing should entail a certain a number of repetition without monotony. And
it is intended to develop good reading habits, to build up knowledge of vocabulary and
structure and to enable students to get independence in basic skill development.

In contrast, the purpose of intensive reading is to practice and learn the grammar and
vocabulary of the target language through reading. Students are involved in looking inside
the texts at the vocabulary and grammar, and is paying attention to a “detail reading” of the
texts.

According to Holden (2003), there are ten features of an intensive reading approach.

Firstly, the material is often collected by teachers. Secondly, Most of students have the
same document at the same time in their class. Thirdly, the text is not very long enough for
students to practice. Next, there is a heavy emphasis on using the texts to study new words
structures and grammar. Then, there are many difficult words that appear in the reading
texts. Sixthly, Vocabulary is explained by translation. Seventhly, there is a pre-reading
task. Eighthly, comprehension is tested. Ninthly, there are post-reading grammar and
vocabulary exercises. Finally, students rarely meet new words again in later lessons.
 - 12 -

Certainly, there is very little practice of the skill of reading. The students will be unable to
read fast because of many unknown words. The students often give up reading to use
dictionary, ask their teacher for explanation, or analyze the texts word-by-word. Beside
that the texts may or may not create interest for students because it is selected by teachers.

Obviously, intensive reading gives students the opportunity to learn new word, practice
grammar and have tightly relationship with the topic of the texts. However, only with
intensive reading is not enough to be a good reader, students’ reading skills will be
widened and developed better by using extensive reading.

1.4.1.3. Using extensive reading in the language class.

Firstly, extensive reading can provide comprehension input.

Krashen (1982) states that “extensive reading will lead to language acquisition, provide
that certain preconditions are met”. These include adequate exposure to the language,
interesting material, and a relaxed learning environment.

Elley and Manghubai (1983:55) says that exposure to the second language is normally
“planned, restricted, gradual, and largely artificial”.

Secondly, it can enhance learners’ general language competence.

Grabe (1991) and Paran (1996) have emphasized the importance of extensive reading in
providing learners with practice in automaticity of word recognition and decoding the
symbols on the printed page (often called bottom-up processing).

Thirdly, it increases the students’ exposure to the language.

The quality of exposure to language that learners receive is seen as important to their
potential to acquire new forms from the input. Elley views provision of large quantities of
reading material to children as fundamental to reducing the ‘exposure gap’ between L1
learners and L2 learners. He reviews a number of studies with children between six and
twelve years of age, in which subjects showed rapid growth in language development
compared with learners in regular language programs. There was a “spread of effect from
reading competence to other language skills - writing, speaking and control over syntax,”
(Elley, 1991:404).
 - 13 -

The forth is that it can increase knowledge of vocabulary.

Nagy & Herman (l987) claimed that children between grades three and twelve (US grade
levels) learn up to 3000 words a year. It is thought that only a small percentage of such
learning is due to direct vocabulary instruction, the remainder being due to acquisition of
words from reading. This suggests that traditional approaches to the teaching of
vocabulary, in which the number of new words taught in each class was carefully
controlled (words often being presented in related sets), is much less effective in promoting
vocabulary growth than simply getting students to spend time on silent reading of
interesting books.

Then, it can lead to improvement in writing.

Stotsky (1983) and Krashen (l984) reviewed a number of L1 studies that appear to show
the positive effect of reading on subjects' writing skills, indicating that students who are
prolific readers in their pre-college years become better writers when they enter college. L2
studies by Hafiz & Tudor (l989) in the UK and Pakistan, and Robb & Susser (1989) in
Japan, revealed more significant improvement in subjects' written work than in other
language skills. These results again support the case for an input-based, acquisition-
oriented reading program based on extensive reading as an effective means of fostering
improvements in students writing.

The sixth benefit of ER is that it can motivate learners to read.

Reading material selected for extensive reading programs should address students' needs,
tastes and interests, so as to energize and motivate them to read the books. In Yemen, this
was achieved through the use of familiar material and popular titles reflecting the local
culture (e.g. Aladdin and His Lamp). Bell & Campbell (1996, 1997) explore the issue in a
South East Asian context, presenting various ways to motivate learners to read and
explaining the role of extensive reading and regular use of libraries in advancing the
reading habit.

And it can consolidate previously learned language.

Extensive reading of high-interest material for both children and adults offers the potential
for reinforcing and recombining language learned in the classroom. Graded readers have a
controlled grammatical and lexical load, and provide regular and sufficient repetition of
 - 14 -

new 1anguage forms (Wodinsky & Nation, 1988). Therefore, students automatically
receive the necessary reinforcement and recycling of language required to ensure that new
input is retained and made available for spoken and written production.

The eighth is that it helps to build confidence with extended texts.

Much classroom reading work has traditionally focused on the exploitation of shorts texts,
either for presenting lexical and grammatical points or for providing students with limited
practice in various reading skills and strategies. However, a large number of students in the
EFL world require reading for academic purposes, and therefore need training in study
skills and strategies for reading longer texts and books. Kembo (1993) points to the value
of extensive reading in developing students’ confidence and ability in facing these longer
texts.

The ninth, it encourages the exploitation of textual redundancy.

Insights from cognitive psychology have informed the understanding of the way the brain
functions in reading. It is now generally understood that slow, word-by-word reading,
which is common in classrooms, impedes comprehension by transferring an excess of
visual signals to the brain. This leads to overload because only a fraction of these signals
need to be processed for the reader to successfully interpret the message. Kalb (l986) refers
to redundancy as an important means of processing, and to extensive reading as the means
of recognizing and dealing with redundant elements in texts.

And the last using of extensive reading facilitates the development of prediction skills. One
of the currently accepted perspectives on the reading process is that it involves the
exploitation of background knowledge. Such knowledge is seen as providing a platform for
readers to predict the content of a text on the basis of a pre-existing schema. When students
read, these schemas are activated and help the reader to decode and interpret the message
beyond the printed words. These processes presuppose that readers predict, sample,
hypothesize and reorganize their understanding of the message as it unfolds while reading
(Nunan, 1991).

1.5. Previous research studies

Susser and Robb (1990) survey the literature on extensive reading and establish a working
definition of extensive reading as a language teaching/learning procedure. In this journal,
 - 15 -

they definite of “extensive reading” as a language teaching/learning procedure is that it is

reading of large quantities of material or long texts; for global or general understanding;
with the intention of obtaining pleasure from the text. Further, they give some reasons from
other researchers that because reading is individualized, with students choosing the books
they want to read, the books are not discussed in class.

Besides, Tignanelli’s (2007) subjects are group of 5th form students at a bilingual
institution in the province of Buenos Aires. She proved that Extensive reading (ER) is not
only important and compulsory in Ll but also can be extended to L2 and FL programs
since the teaching of another language apart from the mother tongue is included as
compulsory in the curriculum. In her conclusion, she said that, educators will necessarily
have to work on ER more in these days when a world in constant change will need, in the
near future, students who can enlarge their knowledge of the world through their native as
well as another language.

Macalister (2008) claimed that the integration of the reading reflected teacher and learner
differences, and supported that the way in which extensive reading is included in a
program should be determined by the specific language learning environment.

Renandya, Rajan, and Jacobs (1999) conducted a study on the impact of extensive reading
(ER) on the language proficiency of a group of Vietnamese government officials studying
English. They came to a conclusion that ER can indeed be beneficially implemented with
second language learners beyond the age of university undergraduates.

All the studies prove that ER is good for students, like Krashen (l993:23) states after
reviewing hundreds of research studies in both first and second language learning contexts:
Reading is good for you. The research supports a stronger conclusion, however. Reading is
the only way, the only way we become good readers, develop a good writing style, an
adequate vocabulary, advanced grammar, and the only way we become good spellers

1.6. Summary

There are a lot of definitions concerning reading in general and extensive reading in
particular but it can be summarized with some main points. Firstly, reading is often
referred to as the most important of the four language skills for students. Traditionally, the
types of reading are divided into scanning, skimming, extensive reading and intensive
reading. Secondly, Bam ford and Day (2004) explain extensive reading as a set of ten
principles. Thirdly, extensive reading can be conducted in different ways.
 - 16 -

Bell (1998) provides several role of extensive reading in language learning such as ER can
provide comprehensible input, enhance students’ general language competence, increase
the students’ exposure to the language, and increase knowledge of vocabulary. It can lead
to improvement in writing, motivate students to read, consolidate previously learned
language, help to build confidence with extended texts, encourage the exploitation of
textual redundancy, facilitates the development of prediction skills. And the researcher also
knows that with regard to the practical use at VTC, it can bring more effectiveness to the
students.

The researcher wants to show that it is possible to introduce and implement ER at VTC to
help students to feel more confident with their English abilities. And extensive reading will
promote a positive attitude toward reading and at least, their motivation for choosing an
English book for themselves.
In conclusion, this chapter focuses on the different useful aspects related to reading skills
as concepts of reading, the process of reading, types of reading support for this study. And
the most useful way, extensive reading is also given in this chapter with the hope to
improve students reading skills.
 - 17 -

CHAPTER 2:
AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE CURRENT SITUATION OF
TEACHING AND LEARNING READING
AT VIETTRONICS TECHNOLOGY COLLEGE (VTC).

2.1. Introduction

This chapter starts with an overview on VTC with background, facility and briefly trend of
development. Then some information about students and learning requirements are given.
In addition, teaching methods, materials and assessments, and data collection are also
analyzed in this chapter.

2.2. An Overview on Viettronics Technology College.

Viettronics Techonogy College was established in 2003 and now it is located at 118 Cat Bi
street, Hai An district, Hai Phong city. Because of a newly founded college, there are a lot
of difficulties with nearly 130 students into four classes and over ten teachers and staffs for
the first year.

Currently, VTC has over 73 classes with nearly 5,000 students and over 130 teachers and
staffs at which four departments as Basic department, Electrical and Electronics
department, Information technology department and Economic administration department.
We, English group belong to Basic department so we teach for non- English major
students.

This figure shows the quick development of our college as well as the potential for
teachers to access to students’ variable requirements.

The English teaching at VTC is divided into two parts. At the first part, students have to
study general English for two terms. In the first term (15 weeks), They have to learn four
skills but they much focus on listening and speaking skills and they have to much pay
attention to reading and writing at the second term (15 weeks) and this term also equips
background knowledge as well as reading skill for students before starting learning ESP
for the second part (in the third and the fourth term) so that reading skill seem to be very
important for students, especially for the first year students. In addition, teachers’ role and
the way of teachers’ teaching reading have great influences on students.
 - 18 -

2.3. Teachers and Teaching Methods

At VTC, there are totally 08 English teachers with the age of 26 to 34. Most of them
graduated from university. Two of them are studying for English master of Post Graduate
Department at College of Foreign Languages, Viet Nam National University. They are all
young and maybe lack of experiences in teaching but they all have good qualification and
strong enthusiasm in teaching to upgrade their teaching quality.

For the first part (in the first and second term), the teachers are distributed into the same
levels with different classes. Each teacher has to be responsible for some classes with 75
periods for one for each term so that teachers often have 5 periods a week divided two days
of that week. Therefore, they have enough time to do well with four different skills.
Perhaps, the matter here is lacked experience in teaching. They often attach themselves to
the traditional teaching method, in which grammar and vocabulary always become the
focus of their attention every lesson. Teachers often ask students to read and scan the text
then find out new words and structures then they often write down new words and
structures on the board and explain for the meaning. They rarely require students to predict
or guess the meaning from the text. In addition students are asked to translate the text from
English into Vietnamese or complete the exercises provided in each lesson. They hardly
use extensive activities and tasks in their teaching reading. Therefore, there should be more
appropriate advances in teaching reading to improve students’ ability of reading.

2.4. Materials and Assessments.

At VTC, Students who are offered reading course in Lifelines book (Elementary by Tom
Hutchinson) for the first term and second term. It consists of 14 units, which are covered in
150 periods for two terms (45 minutes for each period). There are four skills in this book.
In each unit, the first section is grammar and grammar in use, next is vocabulary related to
the reading text so that it makes the reading text more exciting than others. In addition, this
book also provides reading passages of various topics such as: “people and jobs” (in unit
2), “family” (unit 3), “food and drinks” (unit 5)...etc... Mainly they are designed for the
aims of teaching reading so reading activities are set in each reading text (pre–reading
activities, while-reading activities, post-reading activities), and at the end of the reading
texts are exercises for ideas or information from the text. Therefore teachers will be
 - 19 -

depended on too much the text in this book. They become lazy for finding extra materials
or extensive activities to improve students’ habit of reading as well as their reading ability
development. And the last part of this material is listening, speaking and pronunciation.

2.5. Data Collection, Findings and Discussion

2.5.1. Data Collection

2.5.1.1. The Subject

The subjects of the study are 210 students of elementary level (including of 4 classes
KTK7A, KTK7B, QTK7E, QTK7F) of Economic Administration department at VTC.
Both male and female students’ ages are from 19 to 22 and they come from different areas
of Viet Nam as Thai Binh, Quang Ninh, Bac Giang, Ha Noi, even there are some students
who come from mountainous or remoted religions as Cao Bang, Lang Son...Now they are
studying for the second term at VTC.

2.5.1.2. Data collection instruments

In this study, the researcher used survey questionnaire as a main means of data collection
to get information concerning. The questionnaire was designed with 20 questions divided
into 4 parts. The first part pointed out students’ attitude towards the role of reading English
to their learning and their future career (question 1). The second part dealt with students’
attitude towards the reading text in Lifeline- Elementary book (questions 2-5). The third
part gave students’ activities in reading (pre-reading, while-reading, post-reading),
(questions 6-13). And the last part emphasized students’ attitude towards the activities of
their teacher in the reading lesson (questions 14-20). From the information, the researcher
can give some advances in English linguistics employable for the teaching of reading
comprehension techniques to first year students at Viettronics Technology College.
 - 20 -

2.5.2. Data analysis and discussion

2.5.2.1. Question 1: Pie chart 1: Students’ attitudes towards the role of reading English to
their learning and their future career

1%
2%
not important
40%
not very important
important
57% very important

As we see from this pie chart, 57% of the first year students confirm that reading English
reading play a very important role to their learning English and their future career, 40%
find reading English important, 2% say that it isn’t very important to study reading and
only 1% underrate the importance of reading English and his career in the future.
Obviously, these figures tell us how important of reading English for students, especially
for the first year students at VTC
 - 21 -

2.5.2.2. Questions (2-5): chart 2: Students’ attitude towards the reading text in Lifeline-
Elementary book.

%
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5
a 1.5 32.3 32 2
b 20 65.7 7.1 61
c 62 2 15.7 8
d 16.5 0 45.2 29

The students’ attitude towards the reading text in Lifeline- Elementary book is analyzed as
the result of figures shown as chart 2. Over half of students find the reading texts
interesting (62%). Only very a small number of students state that the reading texts in this
book are very interesting and occupied only 1.5%. Meanwhile, the percentage of students’
thought of reading texts boring and not very interesting is nearly equal, 20% say that it is
not very interesting and 16.5% is boring. When being asked for the difficulty of the
reading texts ( Are there many unknown words in the reading texts?), 65.7% answer some,
32.3% find there are many and only 2% state no new words. Moreover, students are very
anxious (32%), nervous (15.7%) and tired (45.2) of reading the texts with many new words
and only have a little students feel exciting when they are faced up with the texts included
many unknown words.

As for the length of the reading texts, a large number of students suppose it is moderate
(61%). But not a small number (29%) consider the reading texts short. A very small
 - 22 -

number of students choose the option that the reading texts are very long and the rest 8%
of students decide they are long.

The figures indicate that it is acceptable to use this document because of its structure and
interesting reading texts are suitable for first year students. However, it is not a very
perfect book because there are not small numbers of students who feel the reading texts
boring, short and it consists of many new words. Therefore, beside the main book is being
used, teachers should give extra documents as well as other activities to develop students’
reading skill. And it is extensive reading.

2.5.2.3. (Questions 6-13): Students’ activities in reading

2.5.2.3.1. (Questions 6-8): chart 3: Students’ activities in pre-reading

%
80 75.8
73
70

60
54.3

50 a
b
40 c
31.4 d
30 e

20
13.3
10 10 8.5 9
10 4.3 5.7
3.3
1.4
0
Question 6 Question 7 Question 8

Figures shown in chart 3 tell us about the students’ activities before reading. Most of
students pay attention too much to the questions of the texts with the highest percentage
(54.3%) and only a small amount of students predict the content of the reading texts
(4.3%). 31.4% say they look at the headings and title for each section and think about the
meaning of each and seriously, there are 10% students who do nothing before their
reading. The result is worse when they are asked “Before reading, how often do you
predict the main content of the text?”. 75.8% answer they are rarely, 10% sometimes, 8.5%
 - 23 -

never and a small number (5.7%) say they are often. Obviously, students are lacked of
background knowledge of reading. They do not realize that predicting the content before
reading help them read better and faster and certainly, they are bad at reading. In addition
to students’ activities in pre-reading, the survey question “How can you guess the main
ideas of the text?” is given to students and get the result as, a large number of students read
the texts carefully to guess the main ideas (73%), depend on the first and the last sentence
of the text (9%), 13.3% base on the picture and headline to find main ideas, and a very
small number of students use the method of scanning and skimming. The percentage of
surveying seems to be equal, 3.3% scanning and 1.4% skimming.

2.5.2.3.2. (Questions 9-10): chart 4: Students’ activities in while-reading

%
70
62
60

50 48

a
40
b
30.9
c
30 25
22 d

20

10 5
4.7
2.4
0
Question 9 Question 10

This chart indicates that a large number of students (62%) read the text and translate
sentence by sentence. 30.9% move their eyes sentence by sentence to find out new words
and structures. 4.7% only read the text attentively from the beginning to the end for detail
and a small number of students read the first and the last sentence of each paragraph in the
reading text.
 - 24 -

Being asked “What do you often do when you are faced up with unknown words in your
while- reading?”. Most of students (48%) say they use the dictionary for meanings or
explanations. For guessing the meaning of the word basing on the meaning of sentences
(25%) and asking their teacher help for meaning of new words and structures (22%) are
nearly equal. Only 5% do not know what to do and ignore them all when unknown words
and structures appear in the reading texts.

From result of surveying, we can draw out the conclusion that students depend on too
much on the dictionary and their teachers’ help in their reading texts. This is also the
reason why we need to change the teaching method as well as apply advances in reading to
improve students’ reading skill.

2.5.2.3.3. (Questions 11-13): chart 5. Students’ activities in post-reading

%
80
71.4 71
70

60
54

50 a
41
b
40
c
30 d
20
20
14
11
10 7.2
3.3 4.7 4
1.4
0
Question 11 Question 12 Question 13

From the figures of chart 5, we can see clearly that almost students ask their teacher to
explain whenever they read and do not understand the text (54%). 41% discuss and ask
their partners to find out difficulties then try to understand the texts. However, there are
students who do not know what to do (4.7%) and they are tired of reading, then stop
reading at once (3.3%). Besides, students do not have the habit of summarizing the text
 - 25 -

after reading although this skill is deeply necessary for them to get better understand and
doing exercises after reading with the highest percentage 71.4%. Only a very small number
of students (1.4%) often use this skill, 20% say sometimes and 7.2% never.

The above chart also showed students’ preferences for different types of reading exercises.
The reading exercise type that most students like is “true/ false” (71%) because maybe, this
is a kind of exercise that students do not have to think a lot and the questions are quite
short, clear and easy to answer. Comprehension and multiple choices are popular reading
exercises for students with 11% choosing comprehension questions and 14% multiple
choices, the rest 4% like word formation exercise.

On the whole, from these discussions, we can realize that students dislike reading anything
that requires their critical thinking. Especially, teachers may have glimpsed the idea of
follow-up activities in their mind but they do not know what activities should be used to
activate their students to work further. They often apply available teaching method in their
background knowledge to teach reading skill. They rarely access to modern techniques to
help their students widen reading knowledge so that to develop students’ reading skill, one
of new ways, ER is useful for teachers to apply to their lessons at VTC.

2.5.2.3.4. (Question 14-20): chart 6: Teachers’ activities towards their students in the
reading lesson.
%
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Q 14 Q15 Q16 Q 17 Q 18 Q 19 Q 20
a 10 68 79 55 5 5 11.4
b 21.4 1 2 40 22 90 31
c 41.5 31 14 5 49 5 50
d 27.1 0 5 0 24 0 7.6
 - 26 -

First of all, basing on the analyzed figures in above chart 6, we can recognize that most of
the teachers create the students’ attention by scanning the text and writing new words and
structures on the board (41.5% students say that). 10% is equal to 5 students who state their
teachers ask them to look at the headings and title for each section and think about the
meaning of each before reading. And a number of students (21.4%) suppose they are asked
to look at the pictures and think about the meaning before they go ahead, also 27.1%
express their teachers give a brief introduction to the text before starting reading. These
results imply that most of teachers apply the traditional way of teaching English reading by
presenting new words and structures on the board. Some of them try to give other ways to
motivate students’ reading but it is not enough to help their students improve reading
skills.

The result of surveying in question 15 tells the teachers’ activities often do when their
students have difficulties in understanding the text. A large number of students (68%)
claim when they can not understand the content of the texts, their teachers give them new
words and structures explanation. Even, the teachers also translate the texts into
Vietnamese for students occupied 31%. Also astonishingly, only a very small number of
students are asked to predict the content of the texts by their teachers (1%).

In question 16, to help students cover all meaning of the texts, their teachers summarize the
texts by themselves (79%) instead of requiring their students do that. 14% students are
given exercises following the content of the texts and only 5% are ordered to retell the
main content of the texts.

Clearly, the teachers have attempted to help their students understand what should be done
to get a good reading comprehension but what they do indicates that teacher-centered
approach is still widely used at VTC. Moreover, the teachers translate the texts into
Vietnamese to carry out the students’ difficulties in reading is still popular (31% in
question 15), in question 17, 55% often, 40% sometimes and only 5% seldom.

Question 18 was design to find out how many percentage of extensive reading which the
teachers apply to their students. And these figures above chart 6 show that teachers are not
well aware of the importance of extensive reading or more exactly, they do not recognize
that apart from the course book ( Lifelines- Elementary), they need to have other materials
 - 27 -

to motivate their students as well as improve their reading skill. Of 210 students
questioned, 22% answered they sometimes have extensive reading, 49% rarely, 24% never
and only a small number of students (5%) say they are often.

Obviously, the application of extensive reading in teaching English reading at VTC hasn’t
accessed and become popular. This is a shortcoming because teachers must be those who
encourage their students’ passion in reading by extensive materials as a kind of game can
have mighty power to get students involved or short stories, novels are the best documents
that make students much interested in English reading.

With the aims of finding the students’ attention to reading lessons as well as to the
teachers’ teaching methods in their reading texts, question 19 and 20 are given to students.
Most of students answer that they sometimes (90%) keep their teachers’ ways of teaching
reading and only remember just little (50%). The percentage of students say they often and
seldom are equivalent, 5% often, 5% seldom. The most sadness is that there are 7.6%
students do not remember anything that their teacher taught them after the reading lessons.

2.6. Summary

In this chapter, from the overview on the current teaching and learning situation at VTC,
findings and discussion from the survey questionnaire, we can draw out the conclusion that

Most of the first year students at VTC agree with the use of the book Lifelines-Elementary
though a number of disadvantages still exist because this is one kind of course book not the
one specially designed for reading, the presentation of the reading texts is in form of
narrative and description. Therefore, extensive reading materials should be provided in
order to widen students’ vocabulary as well as to satisfy the reading demand of better
students who find such reading texts boring or not long enough.

In addition, most of teachers are too young who always try their best to meet the needs of
their students’ learning but still reveal shortcomings in their ways of teaching because of
the lack of experience. Especially, the traditional method of teaching reading is quite
popular one at VTC.

Therefore, the teachers need to diversify the activities as well as to apply the advances in
reading to activate the students and make full of communicative approach in teaching
reading to help students improve their reading skills day by day.
 - 28 -

CHAPTER 3:
THE EMPLOYMENT OF EXTENSIVE READING AS A POSSIBLE
WAY OF TEACHING READING COMPREHENSION TECHNIQUES
TO THE FIRST YEAR STUDENTS AT VTC

3.1. Introduction

From information analyzing and discussing in chapter two, the researcher recognized that
the role of English reading is very important to students’ learning and their career. So
besides the traditional ways of teaching reading that teachers has applied as well as the
available reading texts and activities in Lifelines, We need to have other ways to help
students improve their reading skill. For this reason, the researcher intends to apply
extensive reading in teaching reading comprehension for the first year students at VTC. So

In this chapter, the researcher puts forward ten principles for an extensive reading approach
to teaching reading. They deal with the nature of extensive reading and the conditions and
methodology necessary for its success. Also, the author encourages teachers to use the ten
principles of extensive reading of Bam ford and Richard Day (2004) as a tool for the
teaching of reading comprehension techniques. .

3.2. Employment of extensive reading as a possible way of teaching reading

comprehension techniques to the first year students at VTC.

3.2.1. The easy reading material

* Authentic materials

Authentic texts can be a useful tool in language classes, even at lower levels, when text and
task type allow students to be successful (e.g., scanning a TV guide for show times,
reading a newspaper article for gist). Moreover, students must develop skills and strategies
for dealing with authentic texts when interest or careers dictate. However, this type of work
falls in the realm of intensive, task-based reading not extensive reading. The time required
to decipher texts that are incomprehensible without considerable dictionary work and
multiple rereading precludes the stated goal of massive amounts of input and limits its
helpfulness in developing reading fluency (Bam ford, 1993).
 - 29 -

* Simplified materials

In some ways, moreover, criticism of simplified materials for extensive reading misses the
point. The goal, of course, is that students would be able to read anything that interest or
need suggests, but towards that goal, graded reading materials can serve as a bridge
providing comprehensible input, skills practice, and increased confidence leading to
eventual fluent handling of authentic texts. In any extensive reading programs, students
must be encouraged to raise the level of their reading material as their developing abilities
allow.

* Interesting, Enjoyable Materials

Materials selected for extensive reading must also be interesting and enjoyable. One reason
is motivational; the more students are interested in and enjoy the reading they do, the less it
seems like work and the more reading they are likely to do. Narrative texts (e.g., novels,
short stories, biographies) are inherently motivating in this way, engendering a desire to
"see how it comes out" and compose the bulk of most extensive reading libraries. Program
administrators must take care, however, to include a wide variety of genres to suit the
varied interests of students.

So teachers should ask students to read materials that contain few unfamiliar items of
vocabulary and grammar. For the second or the third year students who should be given
reading materials that are written by native speakers of that language. However, for the
first year students who are at lower levels of proficiency. The reading material in an
extensive reading library must be subdivided into difficult levels, so that students of
various ability levels can find material that they can understand easily.

3.2.2. A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics must be available.

The success of extensive reading depends largely on enticing students to read. To awaken
or encourage a desire to read, the texts made available should ideally be as varied as the
learners who read them and the purposes for which they want to read. Books, magazines,
newspapers, fiction, non-fiction, texts that inform, texts that entertain, general, specialized,
light, serious. For an inside track on finding what your students are interested in reading,
follow Williams' advice: "Ask them what they like reading in their own language, peer
over their shoulders in the library, ask the school librarian..." (1986: 42).
 - 30 -

This variety also ensures that students can find things they want to read, whatever their
interests. Teachers will have many opportunities to select different kinds of reading
material to encourage students’ flexible approach to reading. Students are led to read for
different reasons (e.g. entertainment, information) and they are also able to practice
reading in different ways by themselves.

3.2.3. Choosing what they want to read

Self-selection of reading material is the key to extensive reading, students can select texts
as they do in their own language, that is, they can choose texts they expect to understand,
to enjoy or to learn from. Correlative to this principle, students are also free, indeed
encouraged, to stop reading anything they find to be too difficult, or that turns out not to be
of interest.

Teachers should let the student feel free on choosing what they read, how much they read,
when they read by the way of giving them a topic and control their reading in class each
week. This is not only helps provide enough material for the whole class but also awakes
students’ responsibility for learning reading skill. Moreover, there are also a lot of ideas
and prompts for teachers to get and use for their reading on internet. Basing on reference
documents from internet, teachers can find a lot of ER activities or how to apply ER for
second language learners which support teachers in designing ER class in accordance with
objectives they want to get from students or whether these activities are suitable with
students’ level or not.

3.2.4. Students read as much as possible

There is no upper limit to the amount of reading that can be done, but a book a week is
probably the minimum amount of reading necessary to achieve the benefits of extensive
reading and to establish a reading habit. This is a realistic target for students of all
proficiency levels, but for the first year students with low-intermediate levels, teachers
should choose the ER document which is relating topic they study in class and ask them to
read, for example, in the first week of second term, the teacher give students the reading
document relating to “survivors” and guide them to search the reading documents from
many different sources as on internet system, at libraries or from books also relating to
“survivors” at home and in the second week, they will study about this topic in their
 - 31 -

reading lesson and they discuss the thing they have read and prepared before. By this ways,
students’ vocabulary will be widened quickly as well as they will improve their grammar
and translation by themselves.

3.2.5. The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information and general
understanding.

Teachers should realize that the considerable improvement of reading class atmosphere
related to pleasure, information and general understanding is very important in which most
students feel comfortable, achievable and exited about reading in class. They are interested
in activities instead of being bored with reading traditional classes. They try their best to
complete reading tasks and try to reach the requirements of the lessons, share ideas or
discuss the lesson that is given by teachers, for example, teachers give the topic “family” to
students and divide class into small groups to discuss about this topic then ask them to
book questions together. It makes students show their motivating surprise at the idea of
understanding the content and also show their knowledge about the topic they read.
Especially, by discussing, the class will be filled with ideas and discussions. All students
will feel confident and exited in reading. It helps them have good motivation in learning
reading skill.

3.2.6. Reading is its own reward.

The students' experience of reading the text is at the center of the extensive reading
experience, just as it is in reading in everyday life. For this reason, extensive reading is not
usually followed by comprehension questions. It is an experience complete in itself.

At the same time, teachers may ask students to complete follow-up activities based on their
reading for a wide variety of extensive reading activities for teaching foreign language.
The reasons for this are various: to find out what the student understood and experienced
from the reading; to monitor students' attitudes toward reading; to keep track of what and
how much students read; to make reading a shared experience; to link reading to other
aspects of the curriculum. For such reasons, students may be asked to do such things as
write about their favorite characters, write about the best or worst book they have read, or
do a dramatic reading of an exciting part of a novel. Such activities, while respecting the
integrity of students' reading experiences, extend them in interesting and useful ways.
 - 32 -

3.2.7. Reading is individual and silent.

Silent, individual extensive reading contrasts with the way classroom texts are used as
vehicles for teaching language or reading strategies or (in traditional approaches) translated
or read aloud. It allows students to discover that reading is a personal interaction with the
text, and an experience that they have responsibility for. Thus, together with freedom to
choose reading material, individual silent reading can be instrumental in students
discovering how foreign language reading fits into their lives.

Students read at their own pace. Teachers should design silent reading period when
students read their self-selected books in the classroom. Time for each lesson is limited so
students can not complete all their extensive reading in the class. Therefore, most of
teachers should give extensive reading as homework. And remember that, being a teacher,
you should create as many silent reading periods as you can.

3.2.8. Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower.

In extensive reading, the speed is also quite important because to achieve overall language
proficiency, a student must take reading speed into account. Reading passages also should
be given at levels of difficulty to confirm that reading speed is usually faster than slower.

In the service of promoting reading fluency, teachers should discourage students from
using dictionaries when they come across words they don't understand. Extensive reading
is a chance to keep reading, and thus to practice such strategies as guessing at or ignoring
unknown words or passages, going for the general meaning, and being comfortable with a
certain level of ambiguity.

3.2.9. Teachers orient and guide their students.

Extensive reading is very different from usual classroom practice. Students accustom to
wading through difficult foreign language texts might drown when suddenly plunge into a
sea of simple and stimulating material. Serious-minded students, for example, in thrall of
the macho maxim of foreign language reading instruction, No reading pain, no reading
gain, might not understand how reading easy and interesting material can help them
become better readers.
 - 33 -

Students thus need careful introduction to extensive reading. Teachers can explain that
reading extensively leads not only to gains in reading proficiency but also to overall gains
in language learning. The methodology of extensive reading can be introduced, beginning
with choice: students’ choosing what to read is an essential part of the approach. Teachers
can reassure students that a general, less than 100%, understanding of what they read is
appropriate for most reading purposes. It can be emphasized that there will be no test after
reading. Instead, teachers are interested in the student's own personal experience of what
was read, for example, was it enjoyable or interesting, and why?

The final component of orientation is practical. Students should be introduced to the library
of reading materials and how it is divided into difficulty levels. It should be remembered
that students unaccustomed to browsing foreign language reading material may need
assistance in selecting appropriate texts of interest to them. Orientation is the first step.
Guidance throughout the extensive reading experience is also needed, in light of the
independence and choice extensive reading allows students. Teachers can keep track of
what and how much each student reads, and their students' reactions to what was read.
Based on this information, teachers can encourage students to read as widely as possible
and, as their language ability, reading ability and confidence increase, to read at
progressively higher levels of difficulty. Guidance implies a sharing of the reading
experience, which leads us to the final principle of extensive reading.

3.2.10. The teacher is a role model of a reader.

Teachers themselves should keep improving their reading skills by reading day by day.
Because reading is the best way for teachers to find out and update information as well as
absorb new things in life. Teachers will have creative ideas and imagination by the way of
reading. The teachers will bring all new things they read into their reading class to inspire
their students to read.

Furthermore, teachers of extensive reading should have to commit to reading what their
students do. By reading what students read, teachers will become a part of the community
that forms within the class. When students and teachers share reading, the foreign language
reading classroom can be a place where teachers discuss books with students, answer their
questions and make tailor-made recommendations to individual students. It can be a place
 - 34 -

where students and teachers experience together the value and pleasure to be found in the
written word.

3.3. Summary

The researcher do hope that will give teachers food for thought and reflection as they
consider their beliefs about how best to help their students become proficient foreign-
language readers with ten principles of teaching extensive reading employable for the
teaching reading comprehension techniques for the first year students at VTC.

The researcher also realizes that, teachers are always the path-guiders for students to read
and improve their reading skill. Through extensive reading, teachers help their students to
know how they can understand the texts, remember new words and especially, change
students’ thought of boring reading lessons.
 - 35 -

PART C: CONCLUSION
1. Recapitulation

With the aims of improving the teaching and learning reading comprehension of the first
year students, the research is designed with three main chapters.

In the chapter 1, the researcher briefly presents an overview on the nature of reading, states
the traditional types of reading and introduces the advance types employable for the
teaching comprehension techniques for the first year students at VTC. It is extensive
reading. Then, the definition of extensive reading, extensive reading versus intensive
reading and using extensive reading in the language class are given. Finally, it is the
previous work of extensive reading.

In the chapter 2, firstly, the writer also gives quick information of Viettronics Technology
College which is included teachers and teaching methods, materials and assessments. Next,
is the analysis of current situation of teaching and learning reading at Viettronics
Technology College with the data collection of twenty surveyed questions to find out the
information about teachers and their teaching methods applied in reading lessons, viewing
the students’ activities in pre-reading, while-reading and post-reading. Also, showing how
much students are interested in their reading materials and how much students assess to the
utility of the material. Especially, through that analysis, the author wants to find out how
many percentages of extensive reading that teachers use to teach reading for the first year
students. From these, the writer gives other ways of teaching reading comprehension to
teachers.

Also, from the major findings and discussions, it can be realized that there are many
difficulties in students’ reading skill and the main way of teachers’ teaching reading is
traditional intensive reading with predicting, skimming or scanning...Ten principles of
extensive reading are quite new advances for the teachers’ teaching methods of reading at
VTC.

Chapter 3 focuses on extensive reading employable for the teaching reading

comprehension techniques for the first year students at VTC. It is quite a new way of
teaching and learning reading for both teachers and students so extensive reading is applied
 - 36 -

to teachers and students with ten principles according to Bam ford and Richard Day
(2004).

* The reading material is easy

* A variety of reading material on a wide range of topics must be available

* Choosing what they want to read

* Students read as much as possible

* The purpose of reading is usually related to pleasure, information and general

understanding.

* Reading is its own reward.

* Reading is individual and silent.

* Reading speed is usually faster rather than slower

* Teachers orient and guide their students

* The teacher is a role model of a reader

Perhaps, these principles are still new for teachers and students at VTC, however, they are
obviously efficient escorts of the teachers who are looking forward to improving their
students’ reading skills. A variety of ER activities are of great help in improve students’
reading skill. Through ER activities, students will be able to learn how to enhance their
observation abilities, develop vocabulary. ER will motivate students to feel comfortable to
read without being bored. Students will have a chance to develop their reading skill, read
for information, pleasure and expand interests. As the result, they’ll find reading not
difficult as they have thought. And their reading skills will be improved day by day.

By extensive reading, teachers also have opportunities of accessing to new items that they
read in different kinds of reading materials. They can widen their knowledge of reading as
well as using the items they read to their reading lessons and make their reading lessons
more interesting and efficient.

Therefore, the researcher of this study hopes that in the coming time, other teachers can
have deeply studies on students’ ESP field to find out the existed difficulty in students’
 - 37 -

reading as well as the application of ten principles of extensive reading will be able to use
to teach the reading comprehension techniques for the first year students at VTC.

2. Limitations and suggestions for further research

Because of the limitation of time and ability of author, this study has some limitations. The
study only focus on the first year students with their reading skill of basic English learning
while all students should be assisted to have better reading ability for their ESP in the
second and third year.

In addition, the number of questionnaire items should also be increased and focused on
both teachers and students to get more information of difficulty in reading comprehension
and from that he can give better solutions of improving students’ reading skill. Also, the
study should mention to the way to develop the students’ reading speed and word retention
more detailed to have more significant result.

On the whole, to help students to be good readers, apart from traditional teaching reading
methods, each teacher should apply ten principles of extensive reading into their teaching
reading comprehension. And once again, the author hopes that the study will make a
contribution to the better situation of teaching and learning reading skill at Viettronics
Technology College.
 - 38 -

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gymnasium level, pp.420-430.
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 I

APPENDIX

SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE

This survey questionnaire is intended for our thesis “Advances in English Linguistics
Employable for the Teaching of Reading Comprehension Techniques to First Year
Students at Viettronics Technology College”.

Please circle your answer to respond to each statement or question frankly and accurately
as you can. Your answer will be of invaluable help in the development of better ways of
teaching reading English at our college.

Thanks a lot!

1. How do you find the role of reading English to your learning English and to your future
career?
a. very important
b. important
c. not very important
d. not important
2. What do you think of the reading text in the book “lifelines -Elementary”
a. very interesting
b. not very interesting
c. interesting
d. boring
3. Are there many unknown words in the reading text in “lifelines – Elementary”?
a. many
b. some
c. no unknown words
d. other
 II

4. How do you feel when you have a reading text with many new words that you don’t
know?
a. anxious
b. enjoyable
c. nervous
d. tired
5. What do you think of the length of the reading text in “lifelines – Elementary”?
a. very long
b. medium
c. long
d. short
6. What do you often do for pre-reading?
a. look at the headings and title for each section and think about the meaning of each
b. pay attention to the questions of the texts
c. scan the texts and predict the content of the reading texts
d. do nothing
7. Before reading, how often do you predict the main content of the text?
a. often
b. sometimes
c. rarely
d. never
8. How can you guess the main ideas of the text?
a. basing on the first and the last sentence of the text
b. reading the text carefully
c. basing on the picture and headline to find main ideas
d. scanning
e. skimming
9. What do you often do for your detail reading?
a. read the text attentively from the beginning to the end
b. read sentence by sentence and underline new words and structures
c. read the first and the last sentence of each paragraph in the reading text
d. read and translate sentence by sentence
 III

10. What do you often do when you are faced up with unknown words in your while-
reading?
a. look them up in the dictionary
b. guess the meaning of the word basing on the meaning of sentences
c. ask your teacher for meaning
d. ignore them all
11. After reading the text for details, you are unable to understand the text, what do you do?
a. stop reading immediately
b. ask your partners
c. ask your teacher
d. do not know what to do
12. After reading the text for details, how often do you summarize the text?
a. often
b. sometimes
c. rarely
d. never
13. What kind of exercise you like most to do after reading the text?
a. comprehension questions
b. multiple choice questions
c. true/ false
d. word formation
14. What does your teacher often do to create your attention to the reading text for pre-
reading?
a. ask you to look at the headings and title for each section and think about the meaning of
each?
b. ask you to look at the pictures and think about the meaning of the text
c. scan the text and cross out all the words and structures you don’t know on the board
d. give a brief introduction to the text
15. What does your teacher often do when you have difficulties in understanding the text?
a. explain new words and structures
b. ask you to predict the content of the text
c. translate the text into Vietnamese
 IV

d. do nothing
16. What does your teacher do to help you cover all meaning of the text after reading?
a. summarize the text
b. give exercises following the content of the text
c. ask you to book some questions for your partner’s answer
d. ask you to retell the main content of the text
17. To help you to understand the content of the text, how often does your teacher translate
the text into Vietnamese?
a. usually
b. sometimes
c. seldom
d. never
18. Apart from the reading text in lifelines, does your teacher often give you other
document to read?
a. often
b. sometimes
c. rarely
d. never
19. Do you often keep the way of teacher’s teaching reading in your mind after reading?
a. often
b. sometimes
c. seldom
d. never
20. How much do you memorize the way your teacher gives you?
a. much
b. rather
c. just little
d. not at all