A study on test-taking techniques for TOEIC reading comprehension test by students at vietnam maritime university. M.A. Thesis Linguistics

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* NGUYỄN THỊ THI A STUDY ON TEST-TAKING TECHN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

NGUYỄN THỊ THI

A STUDY ON TEST-TAKING TECHNIQUES FOR TOEIC READING

COMPREHENSION TEST BY STUDENTS AT VIETNAM

MARITIME UNIVERSITY

(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CÁC THỦ PHÁP TRONG LÀM BÀI ĐỌC TOEIC ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC HÀNG HẢI VIỆT NAM)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI - 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

*********************

NGUYỄN THỊ THI

A STUDY ON TEST-TAKING TECHNIQUES FOR TOEIC READING

COMPREHENSION TEST BY STUDENTS AT VIETNAM

MARITIME UNIVERSITY

(NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ VIỆC SỬ DỤNG CÁC THỦ PHÁP TRONG LÀM BÀI ĐỌC TOEIC ĐỐI VỚI SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC HÀNG HẢI VIỆT NAM)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Quỳnh, Ph.D

HANOI - 2014

DECLARATION

I truly certify that this thesis is the result of my personal study in fulfillment

of the requirement for the Degree Master of Arts and this thesis has not been published or submitted for a degree to any other university or institution wholly or partially

Hanoi, June 2014

Nguyễn Thị Thi

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This research has, in many senses, been accomplished with the help and encouragement of many people Therefore, I would like to express my deepest and humblest gratitude also warmest appreciation to the following people

First and foremost, I would like to send my deepest gratitude to my ever supportive supervisor, Ms Nguyễn Thị Ngọc Quỳnh, Ph.D for her valuable guidance, constructive advice, and unconditional support during the time I tried to complete this thesis

I would also express my huge thanks to all of my lecturers at Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies as their invaluable lectures and guidance laid the foundation for the fulfillment of this thesis

Post-I would also like to show my gratefulness to my colleagues who spent a great deal of time discussing some of the issues related to my research, offering their insights and perspectives as well as my students at Vietnam Maritime University in data collection process using survey questionnaire and semi-structured interview

Last but definitely not least, I would like to dedicate this thesis to my family for their unconditional support and words of encouragement

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted at Vietnam Maritime University with a view to exploring test-taking strategies relative to learners’ performance in TOEIC Reading Comprehension as well as identifying differences in reading strategies among high proficiency and low proficiency students at Vietnam Maritime University

The subjects involved in the study are over 100 students of Vietnam Maritime University (VMU) chosen randomly from 4 TOEIC classes Two classes are at Elementary Level (TOEIC Level 1), the other classes are at Intermediate Level (TOEIC Level 2) The data was collected from survey questionnaires, interviews and administration of two TOEIC tests for students The results indicated that students at VMU put more emphasis on using reading strategies when they attended the TOEIC course In addition, this study also revealed some differences in reading strategy use among students of different proficiency levels However, when looking

at the data, the researcher found some shared strategies between the two groups From the findings, the study suggested several pedagogical implications for teachers, students and test-designers at VMU, acknowledged limitations of the study and offered suggestions for further research

ABBREVIATIONS

CFL Center of Foreign Languages

IELTS International English Language Testing System

TOEFL Test of English as a Foreign Language

TOEIC Test of English for International Communication

VMU Vietnam Maritime University

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES Figure1: A Heuristic for Thinking about Reading Comprehension 8

Figure 5: Comparison about the Priority of Reading Passage 27

Table 3: Reading strategies in taking TOEIC Reading Comprehension 26

Table 4: Types of Topic Texts often exploited by Low Proficiency and

High Proficiency Students

29

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration i

Acknowledgements ii

Abstract iii

Lists of figures and tables iv

Table of contents v

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale for the study 1

2 Research aims and research question 2

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Significance of the study 2

5 Method of the study 3

6 Organization of the study 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Reading 5

1.1.1 Definition of reading 5

1.1.2 Purposes of reading 6

1.1.3 Reading process 6

1.2 Reading comprehension 7

1.3 Reading TOEIC Test 8

1.3.1 Test 8

1.3.2 TOEIC Test 9

1.4 TOEIC reading comprehension strategies 10

1.5 Study of cognitive process 13

1.6 Summary 15

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 2.1 Settings 16

2.2 Participants 16

2.3 Research method 17

2.3.1 Data collection instruments 17

2.3.2 Data collection procedures 18

2.3.3 Data analysis 19

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Research question 1 21

3.1.1 Types of Reading Passages and Topic texts often exploited 21

3.1.2 Reading Approach 24

3.1.3 Strategies to Deal with Reading Text 25

3.1.4 Reading strategies in taking TOEIC reading comprehension 26

3.2 Research question 2 27

3.2.1 A comparison about the Priority of Reading Passage 27

3.2.2 Types of Topic Texts often exploited by Low Proficiency and High Proficiency Students 28

3.2.3 A comparison about Reading Approach 29

3.2.4 A Comparison about reading strategies 30

PART III: CONCLUSION 1 Summaries of the major findings 31

2 Pedagogical Implications 32

3 Limitations 34

4 Recommendations for further study 34

REFERENCES 36 APPENDIX 1 I APPENDIX 2 .VII APPENDIX 3 VIII APPENDIX 4 XVI APPENDIX 5 XVII

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for the study

In the age of economic growth and global integration, English obviously plays a very important role However, the criteria for evaluating one’s English competence are more and more difficult In today’s context, the A, B, C certificates used for people wishing to find a job are out-of- date, and the so-called IELTS, TOEFL or TOEIC have been the best choices TOEIC, together with other requirements for job seekers, is preferred by most companies in order to assess their employees’ qualifications Therefore, a lot of people are trying hard to achieve the success in a TOEIC Test

In addition, being a lecturer of English at VMU, through my teaching experience, I have found out that my students are always afraid of reading as compared to other skills Students find reading difficult and stressful, and unfortunately, they have to sit for a TOEIC- based test which includes Reading and Listening comprehension for the final examination Therefore, many of the students get an awful results because of low scores in English subject in which reading is always a target of blaming

Previously, although much literature has been devoted to TOEIC related topics; little was revealed about the cognitive processes underlying the performance of Vietnamese candidates in the TOEIC Reading Test, except for the exploratory study

by Phạm Đức Long (2013) on “teaching and learning of TOEIC reading comprehension skill”

For all of the reasons stated, this paper is among the first attempts putting the

emphasis onto “test-taking techniques for TOEIC Reading Comprehension to students at Vietnam Maritime University” so as being help to solve out their

problems

2 Research aims and research questions

The original aim of this study is to gain an insight into how test-takers employ different reading strategies in TOEIC Reading comprehension As the first attempt

to explore the ongoing thinking processes during performing reading tasks, once finished the paper could serve as a useful source for TOEIC candidates who are planning to sit for the test as well as TOEIC trainers who want to have a closer look

at how their trainees would actually perform in the real test for better TOEIC preparation instruction To achieve this aim, the following research questions will

Investigating the “test-taking techniques for TOEIC Reading Comprehension test to students at Vietnam Maritime University”, this study is expected to make certain contributions to the related populations including students taking TOEIC test, teachers teaching TOEIC, and researchers of the same subjects

results Moreover, by noticing the students’ difficulties in reading, teachers can have their in-time consideration and correction in teaching reading effectively

In addition to the benefits given to the two above subjects, the study may serve as the foundation based on which further related research would be carried out Particularly, future research could be made better after the limitations of the study are considered

5 Method of the study

In the current study, the researcher decided to employ immediate retrospective verbal report approach to explore the test-taking strategies of 100 students as well as the cognitive processes underlying their performance in reading TOEIC comprehension Retrospection is a data-collecting method in which participants are asked to report their mental processes after solving a matter

Firstly, apart from the surveyed 100 students, 15 students were chosen to participate

in the semi-interviews as soon as they finished taking TOEIC Test With the aim of making the responses more confident in the interview, all the questions are simple and understandable for students to answer

Secondly, questionnaires are delivered to the students after they take the TOEIC test They were offered to tick or circle the answer that best reflects their viewpoints

6 Organization of the study

The rest of the study includes two parts as follow:

Part 2 consists of:

Chapter 1, Literature Review, presents related theoretical background of the study

in which concepts of reading and test-taking strategies for TOEIC Reading Comprehension test would be discussed

Chapter 2, Methodology, covers four major parts, namely, participants, instruments, data collection, data collection procedures, and data analysis

Chapter 3, Results and Discussions, presents, analyzes and discusses the findings in order to answer the research questions of the study

Part 3, Conclusion, provides summaries of the main findings, suggestions for better results, limitations of the study, and lastly, recommendations for further related researches

PART II: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature Review

In this chapter, relevant knowledge collected from various sources will be presented

so that it can suitably serve as a foundation for the research The paper is divided into two parts including theories on reading difficulties and TOEIC reading

by Harmer (1989) as eyes receive the message and the brain has to work out the significance of the message (p.153)

So far, many scholars have been working out the definition of reading According to Smith (1985), reading is to understand the author’s thought Rumelhart (1997) proposed a different view on reading which is, in his opinion, actually an interaction between reader and text This view was shared by a number of researchers (Silberstein, 1994; Goodman, 1971; Alderson, 2003; Griffiths et al., 2011; Falke,

1982) Goodman (1971) in his book titled Reading: A Psycholinguistic Guessing Game put forward the definition that reading is a psycholinguistics process by

which the reader, a language user, reconstructs as well as he can, a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display, a cyclical process of sampling,

predicting, testing and confirming (p.135) As Falke (1982) defined, in English the

“graphic display” can be either printed or written

Among the many definitions of reading that have arisen in recent decades, a comprehensive view should account for the active process of using one’s won prior language knowledge and experience and the cues found in the text to understand what the writer has encoded (Saengpakdeejit, 2009), since reading is not simply a cognitive skill, nor does it have a straightforward outcome as the same text can be understood in different ways by different readers For the recent study, however, reading also refers to the active thinking process that TOEIC test-takers take so as

to understand and complete different reading tasks of the test

1.1.2 Purposes of reading

The purposes of reading refer to readers’ aims and objectives Therefore, different readers may have different purposes in their mind with the reading text in their hand According to Ruiqi (2007), basically there are two main reading purposes including reading for getting information and reading for pure fun or enjoyment

Grabe and Stoller (2002), however, divided reading purposes into seven subtypes which are more specific: reading for search for simple information, reading to skim quickly, reading to learn from the text, reading to integrate information, reading to write, reading to critique the text and reading for general comprehension

1.1.3 Reading process

Reading process is claimed by Gascoigne (2005) to be a selective process which is characterized as an active process of comprehending So far, there have been three widely accepted reading models developed to depict the act of reading or the way and procedure that readers use to construct meaning from the reading texts The three reading models are bottom-up, top-down and interactive (Barnett, 1989)

In bottom-up model, reading is compelled by the text, proceeds from part to whole, constructs meaning from letters, words, phrases, sentences Readers process the text

in linear direction (Nunan, 1991) Therefore, in this model, readers are believed to play a rather passive role The basis of bottom-up reading model lies in the linguistic knowledge of the reader (Samuel & Kamil, 1988)

In top-down model, the understanding of the text is constructed from whole to part The readers predict what come next, test their prediction and adjust or confirm In this model, readers actively use their background knowledge Goodman (1967) described reading using top-down model like a “psycholinguistic guessing game” in which the “reader reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display” (p.135)

Interactive model is a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches This model was discussed as the process of combining textual information with the information the reader brings to a text (Widdownson, 1979); therefore, the meaning

of the text is, in fact, “synthesized based on information provided simultaneously from several knowledge sources” (Stanovich, 1980, p.35)

1.2 Reading comprehension

Sedita (2001) claimed that reading comprehension is the ability to determine meaning from text It is a complicated, interactive process where readers construct meaning based on information they get from the text combine with their own knowledge Gough and Tunmer (1986) supported that reading comprehension is actually a process of decoding According to the RAND Reading Study Group, reading comprehension is the process of simultaneously extracting and constructing meaning through interaction and involvement with written language which entails 3 elements: the reader who doing the comprehending (bring his own capacities, abilities, knowledge and experiences), the text to be comprehended and the activity (the purposes, the processes, the consequences) The dynamic interaction between these elements of reading comprehension can be depicted in the following figure

Figure1: A Heuristic for Thinking about Reading Comprehension (RAND

Reading Study Group, 2002)

1.3 Reading TOEIC Test

1.3.1 Test

Towards the meaning of a test, many different authors have different definitions According to definition cited in Longman dictionary, a test is: “any procedure for measuring ability, knowledge or performance” Alphonse (2008), on the other hand says that testing is one of the best ways to enable the teacher to monitor students’ performance and progress However, the researcher finds that the definition made

by Rubayee (2008) is the most effective in which “tests are important in determining the students’ learning achievements in the classroom; at the same time they also help teachers to monitor his/her teaching methods in the classroom” (cited

Types of test Purposes

Proficiency

tests

To see how good students are at language, or use of the language The contents of a proficiency tests are not chosen according to what has been taught, but according to what is needed for a particular purpose

Achievement

tests

To see how well students have learnt the language taught in class Achievement tests are often at the end of term or end of the year and test the main points of what has been taught in that time

Placement

tests

To identify a student’s level of language and find the best class for them These are essential in large institutions that frequently receive new students

Diagnostic

tests

To identify problems that students have with language They help teachers diagnose the language problems students have and to plan what to teach in future

1.3.2 TOEIC Test

In 2005, the Ministry of Education and Education testing Institute- based in US regarded the use of TOEIC to asset students’ English language proficiency Thus, universities in Vietnam can apply the TOEIC program to teach and evaluate students’ learning outcomes instead of the old program and tests for A, B, C certificates

Firstly, the TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication) is a standardized, multiple-choice proficiency test which is built to measure communicative English for “non-native speakers” (Wilson, 2000, p.1) In order to score well on the new TOEIC test, you must have two goals: improve your proficiency in English and improve your test- taking skills The test has two sections: Listening Comprehension (100 multiple choice questions) and Reading Comprehension (100 multiple choice questions) Total time allowed for the test (including administrative tasks) is approximately 2.5 hours The Listening

Comprehension section takes 45 minutes; the Reading section takes 75 minutes The content of the TOEIC is not specialized; the vocabulary and content are familiar to those individuals who use English in daily activities

In TOEIC reading section, there are 100 multiple-choice questions which take 75 minutes Reading score scale ranges from 5 to 495 (Examinee handbook – Listening

& Reading, 2012, p.2) TOEIC reading test is divided into three parts including

incomplete sentences, text completion, and the last one is reading comprehension

Part 5- Incomplete Sentences has 40 sentences in which test-takers are asked to

select the best answer to complete the sentence, then mark the letter (A), (B), (C), or (D) on their answer sheet Regarding part 5, 40 questions are presented to test learners’ grammar and vocabulary extensively

Part 6- Text Completion consists of 12 questions in which there will be 4 texts and

3 questions for each text In this part, test-takers are asked to select the best answer

to complete the text (type of questions and the way to do are as same as part 5)

Part 7- Reading Comprehension includes 48 questions in which there will be 28

questions in single passages Test takers will only read advertisement, form, letter, e-mail, fax, memo, table, index, chart, instruction, or notice separately There are at least 2 questions and 20 questions in double passages The test-takers, in this part, must choose the best answer among four for each question

1.4 TOEIC reading comprehension strategies

As in all reading comprehension exercises, a variety of skills are required to deduce the right answer These include skimming, scanning, paraphrasing, and understanding vocabulary in context Readers must be able to identify synonyms and implied information A clue is that the order of the questions follows the order

to the information in the reading passage

Lougheed (2007b) suggests that reading skills such as “skimming, scanning, using the context and reading fast” (p.228, see more in the 5th Appendix) should be practiced sharply to enhance reading comprehension He goes on to add that a

competitive tip is to “read the questions before read the passage” (Introductory Course, p.151) It might be inferred that when readers have a particular question in their mind, they can read fast and purposefully Furthermore, TOEIC examinees “do not read the answer before they read the passage” (Lougheed, 2007a, p.151) It may

be understood that when test-takers master each reading question, they should find the answer in the passage instead of looking for answer options (A), (B), (C), (D) after each question It can be seen that Lougheed (2007c) reveals that TOEIC examinees should find not only direct answer but also “synonyms, paraphrases, and implied answers” (p.170) It is not enough without mentioning four main question types: “main idea questions, detail questions, inference questions and vocabulary questions” (Lougheed, 2007a, p.151) which readers are highly recommended to prepare for the new TOEIC test

According to www.masterthetoeic.com, one of the most important skills readers will need to develop for the TOEIC is Skimming - this will help readers with many Questions in Part 6: Text Completion and Part 7: Reading Comprehension, especially with Inference Questions Skimming means to quickly look through a Text, focusing only on certain words These words give you an understanding of the general information or ideas in the Text The key to Skimming is to NOT READ every word

Instead, focus on the following kinds of Key Words:

 Subject or Object of each sentence

 Action Verbs (i.e., verb that describe a clear action, such as “delete”)

 Helping Verbs (i.e., verbs such as “need to”, “can”, or “will”)

 Strong Adjectives

 Skimming will help readers: more quickly understand the General Ideas

of Texts, without having to read every word

 Skimming will also help readers: know the Location of different kinds of information

Another TOEIC skill you need to develop is the ability to quickly Scan Questions, Answer Choices and Paragraphs for Words and Ideas The key to Scanning is to NOT READ Instead, Look

When readers scan, they look for specific words - Key Words -from an Answer Choice or Question These Key Words give the most important information or the information that makes that answer choice unique (different from the other Answer Choices)

After they have chosen Key Words from an Answer Choice, go to the Text Take their pencil and run it across the sentences of the Text, moving from one word to the next in each sentence Their eyes should follow just behind the pencil as it moves over the words

As they move the pencil, be looking for the Key Words, or synonyms of the Key Words, from the Answer Choices When you find a Key Word from an Answer Choice, look for Key Words from the Question–are they nearby? If “Yes”, then that is probably the correct answer

Another strategy is time management (time limit strategy) Good time management

is essential when taking tests such as TOEFL, TEFL, etc It is especially true of the TOEIC test The time limit strategy is the easiest way to improve TOEIC score The strategy involves planning how much time test-takers should spend on each question and limiting yourself accordingly

For example, if test-takers had a 10 minute test with a total of 10 questions and each question was worth 1 point, they should spend about 1 minute on each question If they spent 9 minutes doing the first question, they would have less than 1 minute for the other 9 questions!

By not wasting time on the hard questions, test-takers should have time at the end of the test to come back and do the rest It is possible that you may even find hints for hard questions further on in the test This strategy is best applied to the TOEIC Reading section

Forster et al (1997, p.129) continue to reveal that reading the questions with carefulness is the first step followed by predicting possible correct answers The

second step comes to information-identifying skills In “Strategies 1: Building TOEIC/TOEFL test-taking skills”, it is pointed out that the questions asked may not

impose as the orderly information in the text In addition to that, from my teaching experience, I agree with such researchers in term of wrong answers in TOEIC reading comprehension which may be resulted in by choosing “too general, too vague or too specific” answers (p.129)

As Forster et al (1997, p.9) recommend, answers B and C are the two most popular answer to questions in TOEIC, so it is worthy to advise students to mark B or C when they have no idea for the answer to a specific question Moreover, these researchers suggest that when students encounter a new word which they have not seen before, it is better to depend on surrounding words in the sentences for guessing the new word in the context

1.5 Study of cognitive processes

To study the content of cognitive process which cannot be observed, a number of research techniques can be employed The following table summarizes the procedure of the five common methods with the use of verbal protocol

Retrospection The subject solves a problem and is questioned afterwards

about the thought processes during the solving of a problem

Introspection

The subject is instructed to report not after completing the problem-solving task but at intermediate points chosen by the subject

Questions and

prompting

The subject is questioned during the problem-solving process

or may be prompted at given intervals to tell what he is thinking or doing

(Someren, Barnard & Sanberg, 1994)

In the current study, the researcher decided to employ immediate retrospective verbal report approach to explore the test-taking strategies of 100 students as well as the cognitive processes underlying their performance in reading TOEIC Retrospection is a data-collecting method in which participants are asked to report their mental processes after solving a problem Among all of the five methods used for studying cognitive processes, retrospection is claimed to produce the list disturbance to the participants’ cognitive process since the subjects are not interrupted during the problem-solving process (Someren, Barnard & Sandberg, 1994) The use of retrospective verbal protocol, however, has its own disadvantage since it may affect the cognitive process itself as a consequence of being aware that

“one is going to be asked questions afterwards” (Someren, Barnard & Sandberg,

1994, p.25) and produce “incomplete verbalization” (Xiangdong & Chunyan, 2012, p.405)

Nevertheless, this method has been utilized in a number of second language studies

to investigate students’ test-taking strategies (Wu, 1998; Weir, Hawkey, Green, & Devi, 2006; Xiangdong & Chunyan, 2012) To lessen the negative points of the method, in the current study, the researcher choose to conduct retrospective interview immediately after the reading process along with the use of action protocol which, in this case, would be the reading answer sheets, the immediate products of the reading task, to help the subjects better recall their cognitive processes while reading

1.6 Summary

To sum up, this chapter provides different current theories of both reading and sources of reading difficulty in order to give a clear overview on the matter of the study The following chapter will deal with the methodology with which the study was conducted

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY

After reviewing a theoretical basis for the study in the previous part, in this chapter, the researcher will discuss the methodology used to implement the research The chapter will cover four major parts, namely, participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedures, and data analysis procedures

2.1 Settings

This study was conducted at the Center of Foreign Languages, VMU At VMU, students have to take sit for a TOEIC-test which includes Reading and Listening comprehension for the final examination Therefore, in each English class, normally ranging from 25 to 30 students per class, there is a mixture of different students- that means students came from different departments and levels of English Often, students coming from Maritime Economics Department are better in English than the other Departments, and Navigation students are normally worse To make the situation better, CFL held the placement test to classify students into different levels Low proficiency students took part in TOEIC Level 1 that TOEIC score ranged from 200 to 300, high proficiency ones did in TOEIC Level 2 that TOEIC score ranged from 350 t0 450 At the end of 50 classes, they are asked to sit for a full TOEIC- based test

They must get scores of 450 as one of the conditions to graduate To meet the requirements for a TOEIC 450 course, students should be at intermediate level of English in order to catch up with advanced curriculum However, the English abilities of students are different, using strategies is the most effective way to get the score The subject is mainly taught in formal settings according to the nationwide course distribution

2.2 Participants

The number of participants in the study was 100 who had been chosen from 4 TOEIC preparation classes at the CFL Most of them were second year students in the academic year 2013-2014 at VMU They came from different departments at

different levels Most of them were ranging their age from 19 to 20 Of the 100 students, 50 were at elementary level whose current TOEIC band scores ranged from 200 to 300, attend TOEIC Level 1, the other 50 were at intermediate level whose TOEIC band scores ranged from 350 to 450, attend TOEIC Level 2 The band score 450 was then considered as the level border line

2.3 The research method

2.3.1 Data collection instruments

2.3.1.1 Immediate retrospective account of strategy use

Immediate retrospective interviews will be conducted and audio recorded with the use of semi-structured guiding questions so that it encourage the participants express their thoughts while performing reading tasks The questions will be changeable in advance but still flexible enough to encourage the participants to talk

of their thinking processes and they will be mostly “what” questions rather than

“why” to enable the participants recall more information relevant to their test-taking processes (Xiangdong & Chunyan, 2012) and to collect a direct report rather than just interpretation (Someren, Barnard & Sandberg, 1994)

2.3.1.2 Questionnaire

A questionnaire for students who had finished TOEIC courses (see Appendix 1) with items relating to the subjects’ strategies , current level of English as well as their English learning experience will be used to provide the researcher with a comprehensive knowledge of the subjects’ experience in learning English and their understanding of different reading strategies In order to help the participants to understand the questionnaire completely, Vietnamese was used

2.3.1.3 Reading test

The reading tests include one full TOEIC Reading Test administered by the center which the researcher learn about the subjects’ current English reading proficiency marked in accordance with the TOEIC marking scale and two other partial tests

These two tests are carefully chosen from TOEIC Preparation materials so that they include three parts: Incomplete Sentences, Text Completion, Reading comprehension

Also, the test paper with the marks that the subjects make during the reading process would serve as useful data for further analysis Every notes or marks on the paper will be kept to help the researcher trace back the subjects’ cognitive process

as they perform the reading tasks

2.3.2 Data collection procedure

The procedures of data collection went through three main phases in chronological order: delivering questionnaires, holding semi-structured interviews and carrying out the observations

2.3.2.1 Delivering questionnaires

120 questionnaires for students were randomly distributed to four classes having students from different levels in foreign language center at VMU The reason to deliver such number of questionnaires was to eliminate the invalid ones and get back 100 most comprehensible ones, and to avoid losing the questionnaires made by the students

On the day of giving questionnaires, the researcher asked for the help of the teachers teaching those periods to deliver the papers to the students after introducing the purposes and explaining some necessary information in case of having any problems The reason to let the teachers send out the questionnaires was that under the “authority” of the teachers, students would complete the papers seriously

2.3.2.2 Holding the semi-structured interviews

One-by-one interviews for the students were done in their dormitory rooms The first part of the interviews was to introduce and establish the close rapport between the interviewer and the interviewees Then, the researcher started the interviews and

asked the permission to the use of tape-recording along with the confirmation of confidentiality of the interviews Under a friendly and open atmosphere, the respondents were encouraged to express their views and share their opinions towards the questions raised by the researcher During the interviews, in addition to asking for the respondents’ point of views, the researcher also let them chances to clarify and explain what strategies they used A part from the use of tape-recording, the researcher took notes on some important information through the interviews for the sake of later transcription

The data collection procedure will include three phases Firstly, the participants who are asked to join the research will be informed of the purpose as well as instructed

on the procedure of the study At this phase, they will also take some reading tasks and perform pilot immediate retrospection afterwards At the second phase, they will do the reading and their immediate retrospection protocol will be collected Finally, the transcription phase of data will be conducted

2.3.3 Data analysis

As the data collected from immediate retrospection is transcribed, it will be categorized and analyzed to reveal the answers to the focused research questions concerning

1) Which test-taking techniques became more effective for TOEIC Reading Comprehension test to the students at Vietnam Maritime University?

2) What are differences between the reading strategies employed by high proficiency and low proficiency students at Vietnam Maritime University?

For the first category, the descriptive statistics of frequency method was employed

to illustrate the most strategically-planned strategies and the most exploited practical experience among the students

popularly-For the second category, the researcher also exploited the descriptive statistics between the reading strategies by high proficiency and low proficiency students

2.3.4 Summary

The second chapter gave a clear view on the methodology of the research including participants, data collection instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis procedure Based on the aims of the study, using triangulation of questionnaires, observations and semi-structured interviews was considered as the best choice to collect the thorough and in-depth information from the respondents and can make the data gained afterward reliable and comprehensive All of those findings are as follow in the next chapter

CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The data, after being collected from the questionnaires, the observations, and the semi-structured interviews, would be analyzed and interpreted to answer the two research questions

3.1.1 Types of Reading Passages and Topic texts often exploited

a Priority in Reading Passages

The above figure is showing whether single passages or double passages should be completed first And as can be seen it shows that Single Passages are much more paid attention In 100%, 87% chose to work on single passages first The most convincing reason for students’ strategies of doing single passages before double passages displayed in the 3rd figure It was sad to say that the percentage got by the

87%

13%

Figure 2: Priority in Reading Passages

Single passages Double passages

Double Passages is only 13% because students do not give much more focus if there are lots of passages to read Thirteen of 100 students who chose double passage to exploit first have the same opinion that “Double passages take more time to do than single passages However, we can answer effectively when we have strong interest and careful attention” The other part of students liked to do single passages which are both shorter and easier One student added to the interview “In order to get high score and greater fulfillment of test, test-takers must follow the order of completion and time allowed as they had experienced”

Reasons for Reading Single Passages First

As seen from the figure 3, it further indicates that in a percentage of 100% students top reason in reading single passages is that Single Passages are short and easy so that is why it got a big part of this section with a percentage of 64%, second reason

is Single Passages are familiar so that is why it got a percentage of 15%, third reason is Single Passages have fewer questions so in this part it got a percentage of 13% And the very last reason is that Students can use reading strategies better so that is why it only got a percentage of 8%

64%

13%

8%

15%

Figure 3: Reasons for Reading Single Passages First

SP are short and easy

SP have fewer questions

Sts can use reading strategies better

SP are familiar

In this case students’ comprehension ability can only fall under single passages and that is why students give much more attention and focus in single passages than to double passages

b Types of Topic Texts often exploited

Table 1: Types of Topic Texts often exploited

Based on the data from survey questionnaire collected in Table 1, it shows the

“Types of Topic Text often Exploited” it further indicates that Letter is the highest percentage in this table with a percentage of 43%, Advertisement which is the second to the highest percentage in this table and Type of the Topic texts with a percentage of 41% So that means there are lots of types of topic texts to use in reading comprehension in TOEIC but the students much often exploited through the use of type of topic texts which is the Letter and Advertisement In regard to the questionnaire’s result, the first interviewed student said: “Letter and Advertisement look easier and clearer to do than the other types Besides, some kinds of letter such

as thanks-giving letter, refusal or asking for information letter were carefully taught

in TOEIC class As the result, we got familiar with letter Whenever I did these types of reading, I felt confident and accurately sure” One of the Types of Topic Texts which is Notice got a percentage of 28%, Report got a percentage of 15%, 12% as the percentage for Form, next is Manual with a percentage of 10% As you

seen in this table Memorandum is the lowest percentage in this table with a percentage of 4%, and the last but definitely not the least in Type of Topic Texts is the News and Article with a percentage of 14%

According to students, Memorandum and Manual are difficult for them to do because given information in these types are extremely complex and misunderstanding That is the reason why these types got lowest percentage

3.1.2 Reading Approach

The figure above is the “Reading Approach” it shows and indicates the different approaches used in reading a particular text The biggest part of this section got a highest percentage of 43% and that is the Bottom-up Approach This approach is much used by the students is that because it was from part to whole meaning students wants to read a certain text part by part before they go to whole story of the text, next to that is Interactive Approach with a percentage of 39% and the second

to the highest percentage in this section This approach means that students give sort

of focus using this approach maybe because there is some cases that the story that they read is much needed to use both Top-down and Bottom-up approach Lastly, the lowest part of this section is the Top-down approach with a percentage of only 18% is that because some students cannot easily understand a certain text or story if