A study on application of some reading techniques to doing IELTS reading comprehension tasks for the 1st – year english majors in the foreign language department, hai phong university

- To suggest some useful reading techniques and tips that help students do IELTS reading comprehension tasks well.. The development is the main part which consists three chapters: - Chap

PART 1: INTRODUCTION

1 RATIONALE

Nowadays, English is the most popular language in the world Demandfor learning English gets stronger when Vietnam fosters its internationalrelation As an effective means of international communication, it is used asthe official language in many fields of life such as economics, politics,science, technology, sports and many others People learn and English withdifferent purposes, but there is a fact that they are trying to learn English withthe hope that they can use it effectively

In Vietnam, English has been brought into school curriculum as acompulsory subject and the learning of that international language recentlyhas been paid great attention to The students, naturally and obviously, have

to try their best to master 4 language skills: reading, writing, listening andspeaking Among these four skills, reading is an important one during theEnglish learning process and plays a role in enriching the student’s generalknowledge and in helping them with their further study later Readingcomprehension is important not only at school, but also afterwards That isreading helps students as readers develop their language ability in general andcomprehension skills in particular at school as well as gives them otherbenefits to avoid cultural and language bias, etc in daily communication

In the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University (HPU),there is a fact that many 1st year English majors do not pay proper attention tobasic reading techniques to do IELTS reading tasks Thus, it leads to thesituation that many of them get the poor exam results From this fact, I decide

on choosing “A study on application of some reading techniques to doing

IELTS reading comprehension tasks for the 1 st – year English majors in the Foreign Language Department, Hai Phong University”.

2 AIMS OF THE STUDY

The purpose of the study is to investigate the difficulties faced by the 1st– year English majors at Foreign Language Department, HPU in doing IELTSreading comprehension tasks so that techniques can be given to help themimprove this skill The specific aims of the study are as following:

- To find out student’s difficulties in doing IELTS readingcomprehension texts

- To investigate the reasons for these difficulties

- To suggest some useful reading techniques and tips that help students

do IELTS reading comprehension tasks well

3 METHODS OF THE STUDY

The research is carried out with a combination of methods: surveyquestionnaires, reading sample works, data and material collection,observations and analysis

- Delivering survey questionnaires and observing reading lessons:

This method ensures the study to be practical and reliable Questions insurvey questionnaires related to content of application of some readingtechniques and two reading samples will be given to the 1st - year Englishmajors in the Foreign Language Department, HPU in form of a survey Somereading class observations were carried out to find out the difficulties in doingIELTS reading comprehension tasks

- Consulting related materials: For the sake of getting knowledge and

useful ideas, I read many books and other materials in addition to earlierresearch about reading and reading comprehension techniques

4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

Though the study focuses on techniques to improve readingcomprehension skill for the 1st – year English majors in the Foreign LanguageDepartment, HPU, due to the limitation of time, the researcher just canconduct survey on students of two classes to investigate reading problems

experienced by these students then suggest some certain techniques to helpthem better their reading comprehension skill

5 DESIGN OF THE STUDY

The study is divided into three parts: the introduction, the developmentand the conclusion

The introduction provides the basic information such as: rationale, aims

of the study, methods of the study, scope of the study and design of the study

The development is the main part which consists three chapters:

- Chapter 1: “Literature review” presents the definitions and types ofreading, the importance of reading skill, stages of a reading lesson, definitionsand techniques for reading comprehension, factors in teaching and learningreading as well

- Chapter 2: “Methodology” investigates the situation analysis andinstrumentation of the study

- Chapter 3: “Data analysis and class observation” focuses on datacollection, findings and discussion

- Chapter 4: “Major findings and some suggested techniques toimprove reading comprehension to the 1st – year English Majors in theForeign Language Department, Hai Phong University” offers major findings,recommendations and some technique suggestions for doing readingcomprehension tasks

The conclusion is a review of the study, future directions for furtherresearch and limitation of the study

PART 2: DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

I.1 AN OVERVIEW ON THE NATURE OF READING

I.1.1 Definition of reading

The term “Reading” is widely used in practice However, reading isdifferently defined due to the areas of defining in term of activities or goals atany one level on grade That is why no definition of reading can possiblyinclude all points of views and features Moreover, each definition only canreflect some aspect of reading Herein, I would like to mention somedefinitions of reading extracted from different sources on the theme

According to Carell Devine and Eskey (1988:13), “Reading is a

process in that it starts with linguistic surface representation encoded by a writer and ends with meaning, which reader constructs There is, thus, an essential interaction between language and thought in reading The writer encodes thought in language and the reader decodes language to thought” In

this definition, we can see clearly the interrelationship between the writer, thereader and the text

Besides, Elias and Ingram (1977:55) states: “Reading was defined as

the abstraction of meaning from a visual configuration, and was shown to involve desirably not a painstaking grapheme- by- grapheme decoding but the postulation of alternatives of meaning which one reduced by the parsimonious interaction of the component process with the visual configuration.”

William (1986:3) shares the same view on reading when he argues that

“Written texts, 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) views reading from a different perspective He

considers reading as a mechanical process that “Eyes receive the message

and the brain has to work out the significance of the message.”

Moreover, according to Ramelan(1990:i), “Reading is a very important

part in our life Through reading we can explore the world, countries that have never been visited before and the minds and ideas of great people in the past, all of which will enrich our experience and knowledge and broaden our horizon.”

Though definitions of reading are numerous, none can certainly captureall the ideas and features of what reading is However, what they all share isthat they try to find out the nature of reading, and reading act, in which thereaders, reading process, and reading message are emphasized

I.1.2 The importance of reading skill

Learning a foreign language is a process which requires learners tointegrate many language skills It is generally accepted nowadays that reading

is a key skill for most students learning a foreign language and that it should,therefore, take place alongside the development of oral ability in the schoolprogram From time to time, reading itself has proved its importance in dailylife as well as in learning a foreign language And from our experience in reallife, we find reading quite important Its importance is also confirmed bylinguistics

Byrne (1988:46) provides three reasons for the importance of reading:

- It offers language learners another area of success We should accept

that not all students will be good speakers and at least give them credit if they become good readers

- It gives the students a skill which they can use on their own (i.e it is a

key to self- access work)

- It is likely to be one of the skills that most students will need in the

long term Certainly, it is one that they will always be able to put to use That

is, they can read even if they do not get any opportunities to speak

According to Bright and Gregor (1970:52), “books provide most pupils

with the situation in which learning takes place Where there is little reading, there will be little language learning” It is obvious that reading is a means by

which further learning takes place

Generally, reading brings readers an ocean of knowledge of differentareas Being well informed by reading, learners can have stable backgroundknowledge, wide vocabulary and much information so that they will feel self-confident to share opinions and communicate with others Then they havenecessary benefits to avoid difficulties in mutual understanding incommunication such as: culture shock, language shock due to differentcultures, habits, and languages Moreover, reading is an important way ofexpanding the students’ receptive knowledge of a language In short, readingplays a vital role in learning a foreign language

I.1.3 Classifications of reading

I.1.3.1 According to manner

Reading, according to manner, is divided into two kinds: reading aloud

and silent reading.

I.1.3.1.1 Reading aloud

Doff (1988:67) states that, “aloud reading involves looking at a text,

understanding it and also saying it Its purpose is not just to understand a text but to convey the implication to someone else.” In fact, aloud reading is

unnatural activity because most people do not read aloud in real life, and it isdifficult for the speaker to pay attention to the meaning of the text whenreading aloud It focuses on the pronunciation of words in the text rather thanunderstanding

In reading a text, students come across many new words and phrasesthat they do not know how to pronounce The teacher, in this case may helphis students pronounce words by reading the text orally and loudly However,

in the classroom, only the reading student is active at a time, others are eithernot listening at all or listening to a bad model In addition, some students’speed of reading is very slow so it takes a lot of time in class Students areconcerned with pronunciation so it is hardly for them to understand the

meaning of the text as Lewis and Hill (1995:110) mention: “Asking a student

to read aloud also means that he may concentrate inadequately on their meaning He may read correctly but afterward will not be able to tell what he has read” Therefore, it must be admitted that the usefulness of reading aloud

is limited

In short, reading aloud should be applied for those who are beginners toestablish the connection between sound and spelling of letters and words, andassists the teachers to check learner’s pronunciation But for the 1st Englishmajor students, the purpose of reading is more than connecting thepronunciation They focus on understanding the text and doingcomprehension exercises which cannot be completed by reading aloud It isvery difficult to read aloud and understand the text at the same time ofreading So reading aloud might be a good way to practice pronunciation andintonation

I.1.3.1.2 Silent reading.

Unlike reading aloud, silent reading is more often used in both real life

and classroom, and “It is the method we normally use with our native

language, and on the whole the quickest and most efficient” (Lewis,

1985:110)

Silent reading can be applied effectively to teaching and learning acomprehension text because reading a text silently helps students concentrate

on its meaning Only by reading silently, the readers can best comprehend thewritten materials in the shortest possible time.

According to Doff (1988:67), silent reading or reading for meaning “is

the activity we normally engage in where we read books, newspapers, road signs, etc It involves looking at sentences and understanding the message they convey, in other words, ‘making sense’ of a written text ” Reading is a

personal skill, so silent reading is an effective skill for reading comprehensionbecause learners do not need to read all the words in the text and they canread at their own speed If they do not understand the word or the sentence,they can go back and read it again Therefore, they can cover the greatestpossible amount of the text in a shortest possible time Moreover, students canunderstand its details thoroughly to answer the questions, and finally theteacher can check his/her learners’ understanding easily and add readingmaterials and exercises suitable to their ability

In sequence, silent reading is a useful technique in a readingcomprehension process applied to students to exploit reading lessons and it isalso a good way to help teachers control the class

I.1.3.2 According to purpose

According to purpose, reading is categorized into four main types:

skimming, scanning, extensive reading and intensive reading.

I.1.3.2.1 Skimming

Skimming is commonly used in reading comprehension because it isone of specific reading techniques necessary for quick and efficient readingand sometimes skimming may be the prerequisite of reading for fullunderstanding There have been many definitions of reading as follows:

According to Wood (1984:92), “Skimming occurs when the reader

looks quickly at the content page of a book, or at the chapter headings, subheading, etc This is sometimes called previewing”.

Grellet (1981:19) states that “when skimming, we go through the

reading material quickly in order to get the gist of it, to know how it is organized, or to get an idea of the tone or intention of the writer.”

Besides, Nuttal (1982:36) says “By skimming, we mean glancing

rapidly through the text to determine whether a research 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.”

In this term, Douglas Brown has the same opinion but it is clearer than

those of above authors He wrote:“Skimming consists of quickly running eyes

across the whole text for its gist Skimming gives readers the advantage of being able to predict the purpose of the passage, the main topic, or massage,

or possibly some of the developing or supporting ideas.”

In brief, skimming is understood as a necessary technique for readingcomprehension which enables readers to get the main points of the textwithout being concerned with the details It is a very useful study technique tohelp the learner organize their thoughts and specify what information they canget from a book Skimming gives students the advantage of being able topredict the purpose of the passage, the main topic or message, or possiblysome of the developing or supporting ideas so that their reading are moreefficient Hence, skimming should be applied in teaching reading to helpstudents have an overview of what they read

I.1.3.2.2 Scanning

Similar to skimming, scanning is a necessary technique in readingefficiently However, scanning is far more limited than skimming since itonly means retrieving what information is relevant to our purpose Scanningoccurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly in order to find aparticular point of information

Douglas (2001:308) defines scanning as follows: “Scanning was quickly

searching for some particular piece or pieces of information in a text.”

In addition, Francois (1981:19) understands 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 We simply let our eyes wander over the text until we find what we are looking for, whether it is a name, a date, or a less specific piece of information”.

With the same opinion, Mabel gives a more detailed definition of

scanning: “Scanning is the speed technique that helps you locate a bit of

specific information very rapidly It could involve finding a name, date, place

or statistic Or it might involve identifying a general setting in a short story Scanning is the technique you use when you read maps, charts, tables, or graphs It is the main skill that the researchers use when they examine various sources to locate information about a specific topic”.

These authors have the same point that while scanning reader does notneed to read from cover to cover, they only look for the information they want

by running their eyes rapidly along the lines Scanning requires two skills ofthe reader One of them is that they recognize the specific type of word thatidentifies the item The other is the use of a different eye movement pattern,vertical vision Nearly all the background reading required for the presenting

of a topic to the class by a group calls for proficiency in this type of reading.There is a great range of text suitable for scanning – indexes, dictionaries,maps, advertisements, labels, reference material, etc., so this kind of reading

is very useful in reading selectively

In general, both skimming and scanning are effective techniques forquick and efficient reading, and they should not be selected separatelybecause a text can be best tackled by a combination of strategies

I.1.3.2.3 Extensive reading

Extensive reading is a fluency activity, mainly involving generalunderstanding It provides valuable reinforcement of the language alreadypresented and practiced in the class as well as giving students useful practice

in inferring meaning from the context of the text The students read long texts

to have general understanding, to develop fluency in reading or to relax

Carrell and Carson (1997:297) defined: “Extensive reading generally

involves rapid reading of large quantities of material or longer readings”.

What is more, “Extensive reading means students have a general

understanding of the text without necessarily understanding every word”,

(Lewis and Hill, 1985:1099)

And to Nuttal (1982:168), this kind of reading is also a very useful skill

for students to widen their knowledge as he wrote: “The best way to improve

one’s knowledge of foreign language is to go and live among its speakers The next best way is to read extensively in it.”

The practice of extensive reading needs little justification It is clearlythe earliest way of bringing the foreign learner into sustained contact with asubstantial body of English

Broughton (1980:111) suggests that “There appear to be basically

three ways the extensive reading may be encouraged, first by having class sets of title, second by operating a class library system, and the third by using the school library”.

To summarize, this type of reading is suitable for student’s self learningwith a view to training them to read directly and fluently in the foreignlanguage for their own enjoyment without the aid of the teacher Moreover, it

is very necessary for students at University because it actively promotesreading out the class and gives them opportunity to use their own knowledge

of the language for their own purposes

I.1.3.2.4 Intensive reading

While extensive reading is associated with reading outside theclassroom and fluency and pleasure in reading are expected as reading fruits,intensive reading, which is also called study reading involves the closeguidance of the teacher and require great attention to the text

In the view of Lewis (1985:109), “Intensive reading means students

understand everything they read and be able to answer detailed vocabulary and comprehension questions”.

Sharing this opinion, Nuttal (1989:23) writes: “Intensive reading

involves approaching the texts under the close guidance of the teacher…, or under the guidance of a task which forces the students to pay great attention

to the text The aim of intensive reading is to arrive at a profound and detail understanding of the text: not only of what is means but also of how the meaning is produced.”

The concern of such reading is for detailed comprehension of very

short texts, according to Broughton (1980:93), “The objective of intensive

reading is to achieve full understanding of the logical argument, the rhetorical arrangement or pattern of the text, of its symbolic, emotional and social overtones, of the attitudes and purposes of the author, and of linguistic means that he employs to achieve his ends.”

Intensive reading recalls student’s attention to grammatical forms,discourse markers and other surface structure details for the purpose ofunderstanding literal meaning implications, rhetorical relationships and thelike In other words, it’s clear that the aim of intensive reading is to arrive at aprofound and detailed understanding of the reading text means as well as ofhow the meaning is produced

In short, intensive reading is a basic classroom activity It is reallyeffective if the teacher and his students know how to fully exploit this activity

in class with the help of reading exercises

I.1.4 Reading process

A reading lesson can be divided into three stages: Pre-reading stage,while-reading stage and post-reading stage Each of these stages carries itsown features and purposes and requires different techniques and strategies

I.1.4.1 Pre-reading stage

Pre-reading stage is carried out before the students begin reading thetext It plays a decisive role in the whole process of teaching readingcomprehension, so most experienced readers employ pre- reading and otherstrategies to make reading easier

According to Williams (1984:37), the purposes of the pre-reading stage are:

- To introduce and arouse interest in the topic

- To motivate learners by giving a lesson for reading

- To provide some language preparation for the text

Pre- reading aims at introducing the text to the students and helps themmake careful preparation before reading the text It is advisable for the teacher

to create a reading motivation and a positive attitude towards reading forstudents so that they can achieve a high level of success and becomeconfident that they can read effectively

Normally, this stage lasts from two to ten minutes depending on eachlesson As for Doff (1988), there are many activities a teacher can carry out tohelp students before they start reading as following:

- Introducing the text briefly

- Presenting new vocabulary

- Revising grammatical structures

- Giving guiding questions

Gebhard (1987:21) explains that “Providing background information

on a reading lesson is another way teachers can facilitate successful reading comprehension Providing information about a reading selection before students read provides them with the opportunity to gain new language, as well as recall their already existing knowledge, which they can take with them into their reading experience, and this knowledge facilitates successful comprehension”.

In general, the teacher needs to take the objectives of the lesson, thesituation of teaching and learning the students’ needs into account whenchoosing activities for the stage.

I.1.4.2 While-reading stage

While- reading stage is carried out when all students actually set theireyes on the text and this stage is the main part of a reading comprehensionlesson The aims of this stage focus on making the students anticipate in theprocess of understanding the whole text, and interpreting exactly what theauthor wrote Without this stage, the students will lose the chance to deal withthe text to understand the writer’s purpose and clarify the text’s content indetail Williams (1984:38) points out the aims of the while- reading stage asfollows:

- To help understanding if the writer’s purpose

- To help understanding of text structure

- To clarify text content

He also gives the teacher some questions to ask himself in order to dealwith the above- mentioned aims:

- What is the function of this text?

- How is the text organized or developed? (e.g.: a narrative, anexplanation with various examples, an argument and counter argument)

- What content or information is extracted from the text?

- What may the reader anger or deduce from the text?

- What language may be learned from the text?

- What reading styles may be practiced?

The answers to these questions will be a guide for the teacher in thisstage Depending on their answers, the teacher will choose suitable activitiesfor students which focus them on exploiting the meaning of the text, anddevelop their reading skills

At this stage, the students try to break up the organization of the text;understand the text structures; classify the text content and recognize thewriter’s purpose and attitude In addition, this stage helps the students developtheir decision – making and problem solving skills Apparently, timeallocation for this is nearly two thirds of the whole lesson and because thisstage plays a very important role in a reading lesson, it must be designedcarefully

I.1.4.3 Post-reading stage

Post- reading is the implementation of various activities carried outafter the students have read the text It is the time for students’ production inthis last stage What they produce will reflect how well they comprehend thetext In Williams’s opinions (1984: 39), the post- reading stage aims at:

- To consolidate or reflect upon what has been read

- To relate the text to the learners’ own knowledge interest or views

According to Durkin (1981:486), “One reason for post- reading

discussion in class is to offer pupils the chance to see in what way their reading did or did not succeed and why”.

The post-reading stage aims at consolidating or reflecting upon whatstudents have read To achieve this, the teacher should help the students focus

on the important points as writer’s opinion, the main ideas of the text, thespecific paragraph or phrase in the reading text In this stage, it takes aboutten or fifteen minutes to complete all the activities

In summary, the three stages carried their own aims and activities.Obviously, it is very effective if these three stages are combined flexibly andappropriately for an efficient reading lesson

I.2. READING COMPREHENSION AND READING COMPREHENSION TECHNIQUES

I.2.1 Definition of Reading comprehension

Reading comprehension plays a key role in learning reading a foreignlanguage It is necessary for both teachers and students to have a deepunderstanding about the definition of reading comprehension If reading issimple mechanical movements of the eyes, reading comprehension includesmechanical and mental activities There are many definitions of readingcomprehension as follows:

Richard and Thomas (1987:143) state that “Reading comprehension is

a mental process that in the final analysis, only the reader fully understands Comprehension is what simulates readers to remember their past experience That knowledge is, then, used in trying to get meaning out of print Meaning does not reside in the printed page but rather in the mind of the reader.”

In addition, Swam (1975:1) proposes “A student is good at

comprehension we mean that he can read accurately and efficiently so as to get the maximum information of a text with the minimum of understanding.”

Grellet (1981:3) considers “Reading comprehension or understanding

a written text means extracting the required information from it as effectively

as possible.”

Also concerning the reading comprehension, Richard and Good (1978:9)

provide a clearer point of view: “Reading comprehension is best described as

an understanding between the author and the reader The emphasis is on the reader understanding of the printed page based on the individual reader’s unique background of experience Reading is much than just pronouncing words correctly or simply what the author intends It is the process whereby the printed pages stimulate ideas, experiences and responses that are unique

to an individual.”

The goal of all reading instruction is ultimately targeted at helping areader comprehend text Reading comprehension involves at least two people:the reader and the writer The process of comprehending involves decodingthe writer's words and then using background knowledge to construct anapproximate understanding of the writer's message

From these opinions, it can be concluded that reading comprehension is

a process of understanding what is conveyed in the text It does not mean thatthe reader needs to understand every single word in the text but actively work

on the text and extract the required information efficiently

I.2.2 Techniques for Reading Comprehension

Reading techniques are the cognitive processes that a reader uses inmaking sense of a text For fluent readers, most of the reading techniques areemployed unconsciously and automatically When confronted with achallenging text, fluent readers apply these skills consciously and strategically

in order to comprehend so it is very important for students to know how toapply these techniques

According to Grellet (1990), there are three groups of techniques:

1 Sensitizing

- Inference

- Understanding relations within the sentences

- Linking sentences and ideas

2 Improving reading speed

3 From skimming to scanning

Nuttal (1982) provides a list of reading skills which consist of

macro-skills with Word-attack macro-skills and Text- attack macro-skills While the former

compose of morphological information, structural clues, inference (or

guessing the meanings of unfamiliar words) from context, active, receptive and throw-away vocabulary, learning to ignore difficult words, and using

dictionary, the latter include two subgroups: significance and cohesion with

understanding sentence syntax, recognizing and interpreting cohesive

devices, interpreting discourse markers, and discourse with recognizing

functional value, tracing and interpreting rhetorical organization, recognizing the presuppositions underlying the text, recognizing implications and making inferences, prediction, and integration and application.

The techniques for reading comprehension are actually various, and ineach case and for different purposes of reading, one proves to be moreadvantageous than the other The students should be aware of whichtechnique is most suited, depending on the reading task However, hereby aresome suggested approaches which the researcher personally expects to helpreaders get better reading fruits

- Establishing a purpose for reading

- Activating and building background knowledge

- Previewing the text to build expectations

- Rereading activities for lower levels of language proficiency

- Building and monitoring comprehension of the text

- Adjusting reading strategies when necessary

- Reviewing reading information in the text

I.3 FACTORS IN TEACHING AND LEARNING READING I.3.1 The role of teachers

It is obvious that in the reading lesson, the students must do the readingtext actively and individually However, it does not mean that the teacher hasnothing to do Together with students, the teacher is one of the two main

necessary elements which create the teaching process and the teacher alsoplays an important role in teaching and learning reading Harmer (2001:213)gives an opinion that the teacher needs to create interest in the topic and task.

He also needs to work as an organizer, observer, feedback organizer andprompter

Discussing the roles of the teacher in teaching reading, Richard and

Amato (1988) emphasize: “The first role is to facilitate communicative

process between all participants in the classroom, and between these participants and the various activities and text The second role is to act interdependent within the learning teaching group”

In addition, Firochiaro (1989:23) points out that “In a reading class, a

teacher should help the students comprehend printed materials and provide them with the knowledge and the ability to enable them to read other materials out of class”.

Moreover, Nuttal (1982) suggests that “there are two main things that

a teacher should always remember in helping students The first is to provide the students with suitable materials, and the second is to provide them with suitable teaching activities”.

In general, the role of the teacher is to provide students with knowledgeand the best methods for learning effectively They must be aware of whatthey need to do in a reading lesson Playing their roles well will certainly helpthe teacher lead successful reading lessons It will help students understandthe text efficiently, and at the same time improve considerably their readingskills

I.3.2 The role of students

The students are centre factors in learning reading The teacher cannotteach without students and vice versa During the reading lesson, the studentsplay the role of an active and creative listener as well as the reader They need

to listen to the teacher’s instructions and explanations carefully to find out the

way of recognizing information and way of deducing new words orgrammatical structures

In fact, students can deal with some problems when doing readingcomprehension tasks such as proverbs, idioms, or background understanding

In this case, to get the target reading, the students have to work under thedirection of the teacher and take part in guided activities actively andattentively It is necessary for them to find a suitable reading strategy and usetheir background knowledge to fulfill their tasks because the significance ofthe text as well as the information is not always directly stated in printedpages

In addition, the students can be the important element that helps theteacher fulfills his duties The students are the providers of feedback to theteacher through their expression and understanding of the reading texts.Thanks to the students’ reflections, the teacher may find out his mistakes anddraw up his own experience to teach better and perfect himself

To sum up, teacher and students have the interdependent relationship inteaching and learning reading process This process can only be carried outwhen there are both of them

I.4 SUMMARY

In short, this chapter focuses on the concepts useful for theaccomplishment of the study First, some definitions of reading basing on somelinguistics scholars have been presented Second, the importance of reading skill

and the classification of reading into reading aloud and silent reading in terms

of reading manner and skimming, scanning, extensive reading, and intensive

reading in terms of reading purposes are stated What’s more in the first chapter

are the three stages of a reading lesson Then comes in the first chapter is aninsight into what is reading comprehension and the techniques for readingcomprehension Last but not least, the role of the teachers as well as the students

in the three stages of a reading lesson has been reviewed

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY

2.1 THE CONTEXT OF THE STUDY

The survey of the study is carried out in order to find out student’sdifficulties in doing IELTS reading comprehension texts, to investigate thereason for these difficulties and to research opinions and attitudes of thestudents of using some useful reading techniques and tips that help students

do IELTS reading comprehension tasks well It is conducted with theassistance of the 1st year English majors, Foreign Language Department,HPU Survey questionnaires are given to 50 students studying at two Englishmajors classes at Foreign Language Department, HPU

2.2 OBJECTS OF THE STUDY

The study is designed for the 1st – year English majors: They are from

18 to 20 years old, both male and female students, at the first year ofuniversity When doing this survey, they are in the mid 2nd term at HPU Atthis stage, they have learned about some techniques applied in readingcomprehension and practiced some types of IELTS reading texts

2.3 INSTRUMENTATION

2.3.1 Survey questionnaires

In this study, the researcher applied questionnaire as a main means ofdata collection because of some advantages Firstly, this method can give theresearcher the need data in quantitative form Secondly, all informants havechance of expressing their attitudes As a result, researcher can have moreuniform and accurate data

The survey questionnaires were administered to get informationconcerning:

- Student’s difficulties in doing reading comprehension tasks

- Student’s attitudes towards reading comprehension techniques

- Student’s methods of doing reading comprehension tasks