000045102 TEACHING ENGLISH READING COMPREHENSION: A SURVEY WITH STUDENTS IN INDUSTRIAL AND CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT, AND TEACHERS AT NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF CIVIL ENGINEERING GIẢNG DẠY ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH: KHẢO SÁT VỚI SINH VIÊN KHOA KỸ THUẬT CÔNG NGHIỆP VÀ XÂY DỰNG, VÀ GIẢNG VIÊN TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC QUỐC GIA KỸ THUẬT XÂY DỰNG
B a c k g r o u n d t o t h e s t u d y
Reading is one o f the most significant language skills, particularly to people who have to read m aterials written in English for their specialized subjects At the National University o f Civil Engineering (NUCE), reading is considered the most important skill in learning English which is a compulsory subject for students o f every department After graduating from the university, students should have the ability to read and understand specialist materials in English about construction to become good engineers
In their five - year course at NUCE, students learn GE in two semesters in the first year in 150 class hours (45 minutes each) Their GE course covers 14 units in the textbook Lifelines Pre-Intermediate by Hutchinson (1997) in which all the four language skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing, are taught.
According to the teaching schedule, the first semester covers the initial seven units of the textbook, while the second semester completes the remaining units Each unit comprises ten class hours, with five hours at the end of the semester reserved for practice and revision Students spend at least six class hours on reading in every unit, and reading activities are embedded across the Grammar, Reading, Practice, and Extension sections, making reading the primary focus among the four language skills This thesis concentrates on the reading skill, since improving students’ ability to read English materials in their fields is really necessary.
This thesis arises from the teacher-researcher’s classroom experience teaching reading, using Lifelines Pre-Intermediate for various GE classes at the National University of Civil Engineering (NUCE) since Lifelines was first introduced there in 2003 Through teaching duties and careful observation of her own classes, she has found that students’ reading learning is primarily shaped by teachers’ instructional methods and by the design of the textbook Motivated by these findings, the researcher plans to conduct a survey to examine these two factors in GE reading instruction for first-year students at NUCE.
A i m s o f t h e s t u d y a n d r e s e a r c h q u e s t i o n s
1 To investigate the reality o f teaching reading to first - year students at the National University o f Civil Engineering.
2 To find out students' attitudes towards thè textbook and teachers' teaching techniques in reading lessons.
To achieve the two aims above, the study attempts to answer the following research questions:
1 W hat teaching techniques are most frequently utilized by teachers in reading lessons?
2 W hat do students and teachers think about the reading texts and tasks in the textbook?
The findings of this study are expected to benefit both students and teachers in NUCE's Foreign Language Division by improving the teaching and learning of reading comprehension These insights aim to guide instructional practices and enhance reading outcomes within the program.
s c o p e o f t h e r e s e a r c h
This study investigates two factors that influence English reading comprehension instruction at the National University of Civil Engineering: teachers’ methodology and the textbook The respondents include English teachers from the Foreign Language Division and first- and second-year students from the Industrial and Civil Engineering Department, providing insights into how instructional approaches and course materials affect reading comprehension outcomes.
1.4 The significance of the study
This study provides insights into the current state of English reading instruction for first-year students at the National University of Civil Engineering More importantly, its findings can serve as additional evidence supporting existing hypotheses about the sources of problems in English reading teaching at Vietnamese universities By outlining instructional realities and potential barriers, the study helps educators and researchers identify areas for improvement in curriculum design, teaching methods, and assessment to enhance English reading proficiency among Vietnamese university students.
These findings provide pedagogical insights for improving reading instruction among Vietnamese university students in general, with a particular focus on NUCE first-year English majors They can guide teachers to help learners achieve better reading comprehension and overcome reading difficulties The results also offer practical implications for reading-material developers, informing the design and selection of texts and resources that support effective reading development.
The study is divided into five parts:
- Chapter one presents the background, the significance, the aims and scope o f the study.
- Chapter two gives an overview o f reading skill theory, teaching reading comprehension, learning reading comprehension.
- Chapter three justifies the use o f research methodology, including description o f participants, data collection instruments and procedure applied in the study.
- Chapter four is the data analysis and discussion, results o f the questionnaires and findings from the questionnaire results.
- Chapter five is the recommendations and conclusion, some suggestions for the teaching and learning o f English reading skills at NUCE.
This chapter is organized into four parts: Part I defines reading skill theory and introduces the reading process; Part II discusses methods for teaching reading, outlines the three stages of a reading lesson, and explains teachers' roles; Part III explores students' roles and the relationship between students and the text; Part IV presents pair work and group work as collaborative approaches and ends with a review of previous studies.
2.1 OVERVIEW OF THE READING SKILL THEORY
Attempts to define reading have been numerous This is partly because o f the complexity o f the reading act.
Reading is a psycholinguistic activity in which the reader, as a language user, reconstructs the message encoded by the writer in the written text This reconstructive act unfolds through a cyclical process: the reader samples cues from the text, makes predictions about forthcoming content, tests those predictions against what is encountered, and confirms or revises understanding accordingly.
William (1984:3) shares Goodman’s view of reading as an act of reconstruction, arguing that written texts often contain more information than is needed to understand them, and that a deficient reader uses this surplus to extract only what is necessary to derive meaning; this perspective is also supported by Nutgall and Grilled, with Nutgall asserting that reading is getting a message from a text (1982:4) and Grilled (1981:3) defining reading comprehension as extracting the required information from a written text as efficiently as possible.
Reading, as defined by Tinker and McCullough (1975:9), is the process of identifying and recognizing printed or written symbols that act as stimuli for recalling meanings formed from past experience, and for constructing new meanings through the reader’s manipulation of relevant concepts already in possession The resulting meanings are organized into thought processes according to the purposes guiding the reader.
Thus far, we have examined definitions of reading drawn from diverse theories and models proposed by researchers and authors across the field Now we turn a closer look at the reading comprehension process to identify the main factors that underpin effective comprehension and influence how well readers understand text.
2.1.2 W hat is reading com prehension?
Reading comprehension skills separate passive, unskilled readers from active readers who engage with the text Active readers don't just read; they interact with the material by questioning, predicting, clarifying, and connecting ideas as they go To help a beginner understand this concept, you can reveal the inner dialogue that active readers have with the text, showing how thinking aloud about meaning, evidence, and connections builds understanding This approach makes reading a strategic, cognitive process, strengthening comprehension, retention, and critical thinking.
Reading comprehension, as Grellet (1981) describes, is an understanding that emerges from the dialogue between author and reader, with the reader’s background knowledge shaping how the message is interpreted He also notes that comprehension involves extracting the necessary information from a written text as efficiently as possible.
Reading comprehension is a complex skill that results from an active interaction between the reader and the text Because the ultimate aim of reading is to understand the text, recognizing and understanding the processes that drive comprehension is essential In short, reading comprehension is the level of understanding of written content.
When reading, readers bring not only their knowledge of language but also their world knowledge and their understanding of the text itself, and this combination shapes reading comprehension The interaction of linguistic knowledge, general knowledge, and knowledge of the text determines how well a reader interprets and makes meaning from the material Without comprehension, reading has no meaningful outcome.
Reading in a foreign language differs from reading in a native tongue, raising the question of whether foreign-language reading problems stem from gaps in vocabulary and grammar or from other interfering factors Many scholars argue that success in foreign-language reading hinges on one's first-language reading ability rather than the level of English, with Jolly (1978) claiming that foreign-language reading relies on transferring old skills instead of learning new ones, a view echoed by Coady (1979) Goodman (1973) contends that the reading process is largely the same across languages, suggesting potential transfer of reading ability from L1 to L2 Clarke (1979) similarly suggests that if the basic reading process is similar, strong native-language readers should be strong second-language readers Conversely, Yorio (1971) attributes foreign-language reading difficulties mainly to imperfect knowledge of the language and to negative language interference, including native-language interference in the reading process.
In short, two hypotheses have already been suggested
1 Poor reading in a foreign language is due to poor reading ability in the first language
Poor first lan gu age readers w ill read poorly in the loreign language and good first language readers will read well in the foreign language.
2 Poor reading in a foreign language is due to inadequate knowledge o f the target language (J Alderson 1984-4)
To deal with foreign language reading problem J Anderson suggests different implications for the teaching o f reading.
- If poor first language reading is the cause, we must improve first language reading
- If poor foreign language knowledge is the cause, we need to improve foreign language competence.
- If processing is different for different languages, then we need to teach reading o f the foreign language, regardless o f the first language ability.
When reading ability can transfer between a learner’s native language and a non-native language, it is possible to teach reading in either the first language or the foreign language to students who are weak in their native-language reading Students who are poor in reading the foreign language but not in their first language are not logically impossible cases; rather, they typically reflect a need to become familiar with the foreign language code, including its phonology, orthography, and decoding conventions.
Reading instruction involves several criteria, but this section concentrates on three research-related ones: teachers' roles, teaching methods, and the stages of teaching a reading lesson.
Teachers play an important role in the students' learning process According to Harmer