A study on teaching reading skills to the first year non english major students at hanoi university for natural resources and environment using the textbook new cutting edge –elementary

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES --- ---MAI THỊ HIỀN A STUDY ON TEACHING READING SKILLS TO THE

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

GRADUATE STUDIES -

 -MAI THỊ HIỀN

A STUDY ON TEACHING READING SKILLS

TO THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS

AT HANOI UNIVERSITY FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT USING THE TEXTBOOK “NEW CUTTING EDGE –ELEMENTARY”

(NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT KHÔNG CHUYÊN ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC TÀI NGUYÊN VÀ MÔI TRƯỜNG HÀ NỘI

SỬ DỤNG GIÁO TRÌNH NEW CUTTING EDGE - ELEMENTARY)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

GRADUATE STUDIES -

 -MAI THỊ HIỀN

A STUDY ON TEACHING READING SKILLS

TO THE FIRST YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS

AT HANOI UNIVERSITY FOR NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT USING THE TEXTBOOK “NEW CUTTING EDGE –ELEMENTARY”

(NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ NHẤT KHÔNG CHUYÊN ANH TẠI TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC TÀI NGUYÊN VÀ MÔI TRƯỜNG HÀ NỘI

SỬ DỤNG GIÁO TRÌNH NEW CUTTING EDGE - ELEMENTARY)

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr.Tran Thi Thu Hien

I, Mai Thi Hien, hereby certify that this minor thesis entitled “A study on teaching reading skills to the first year non-English major students at Hanoi University for Natural Resources and Environment using the textbook “New Cutting Edge –Elementary” is the result of my own research in the fulfillment of the

requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post Graduate Studies University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam National University,Hanoi

-Mai Thi Hien

First and foremost, I would like to show my deep gratitude to all the lecturers

at University of Languages and International Studies – Vietnam NationalUniversity, Hanoi for the invaluable lectures, which laid the foundation for mythesis

I would like to register my deep gratitude to Ms Tran Thi Thu Hien for herever-enthusiasm, responsibility and devotion Thanks to her critical feedbacks,invaluable suggestions and constant encouragement the study has been timelycompleted

My special thanks also go to my colleagues who are also teachers of HanoiUniversity for Natural Resources and Environment I wish to express mythankfulness to all the first year students at the University for their cooperation andsupport for my data collection, providing me with insights into reading skillslearning, reading texts and their teachers‟ performance

Last but not least, I would like to delicate to my family and friends for theirconstant assistance and encouragement during the time I carry out the research.Without them I believe the study could not be completed

This study is an attempt to investigate factors affecting teaching reading skills

to the first year non-English major students at Hanoi University for Natural

Resources and Environment (HUNRE) using the textbook “New Cutting Edge –

Elementary” The main purposes of the study are (i) to understand more fully the

nature of reading and reaffirm the importance teaching reading skills to the firstyear non-English major students at HUNRE then (ii) to investigate the real situation

of the practical teaching reading skills at the University and find out the positivefactors and problems that affect the quality of teaching reading skills to the firstyear non-English major students of the University, and (iii) to provide somesuggested techniques to help the teachers and students of the university teach

reading skills in the “New Cutting Edge – Elementary” course book more

effectively

The study shows that teaching English reading skills at HUNRE appears topossess a combination of both positive and negative statistics Positive discovery isthe fact that most of the teachers and students at HUNRE are aware of theimportance of reading skills: they expressed their positive attitudes to learning andteaching reading skills as well as developing reading skills All of the students alsohave clear purpose in reading Many of them read for different purposes such aspleasure, gaining information and background knowledge, improving languageskills supplementing grammar, enriching vocabulary and improving pronunciation

In contrast, the negative findings are related to the number of students in a

classroom; the demotivating reading texts in the course “New Cutting Edge –

Elementary”, technical aids, the lack of background knowledge; and the

inappropriate, ineffective and out of date methods being used in teaching readingskills of the teachers at HUNRE On the basis of the data collection and analysis, theauthor has provided some suggestions on training students to become efficientreaders, improving teachers‟ teaching skills and developing reading materials

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABSTRACT III LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS VII LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES VIII

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of the study 2

3 Research questions 2

4 Methods of the study 3

5 Scope of the study 3

6 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Definitions of reading skills 5

1.2 Reading skills 7

1 3 Reading texts 9

1.3.1 Different kinds of reading texts: 9

1 3.2 Informational text features: 10

1.4 Principles for teaching reading skills to elementary learners 13

1.4.1 Selecting appropriate reading materials 13

1.4.2 Focusing on vocabulary development skill 13

1.4.3 Providing both intensive and extensive reading instruction 14

1.4.4 Explicit teaching reading sub-skills 14

1.5 Reading sub-skills 15

1.5.1 Scanning and skimming skills 15

1.5.1.1 Scanning skills 15

1.5.1.2 Skimming skills 16

1.5.2 Intensive and extensive reading skills 17

1.5.2.1 Intensive reading skills 17

1.5.2.2 Extensive reading skills 20

1.5.3 Critical reading skills 22

1.5.3.1 Previewing 23

1.5.3.2 Annotating 23

CHAPTER 2: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS 25

2.1 Overview on teaching reading skills at HUNRE 25

2.1.1 Overview of HUNRE 25

2.1.2 Reading skills in New cutting Edge-Elementary 27

2.1.3 Reading proficiency scales of students at A2 level 30

2.2 The data collection and analysis 30

2.2.2 Participants 30

2.2.3 Data collection instruments 31

2.2.4 Data collection procedure 32

2.2.5 Data analysis 32

2.2.5.1 Survey questionnaire for students 32

2.2.4.2 Survey questionnaire for teachers 39

CHAPTER 3: FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS 45

3.1 Findings 45

3.2 Suggestions 47

3.2.1 Suggestions for teachers 47

3.2.1.1 Making students aware of the nature of reading process 47

3.2.1.2 Promoting students to be fully aware of their reading purpose 47

3.2.1.3 Encouraging students to have extensive and reading habit. 48

3.2.1.4 Recommendation for the course book adaptation 49

3.2.2 Suggestions for the university 53

3.2.2.1 Improving teachers‟ professional knowledge 53

3.2.2.2 Improving teaching methodology 53

3.2.2.3 Developing reading materials 54

PART C: CONCLUSION 56

1 Conclusion : 56

2 Limitations and recommendations for further studies: 56 REFERENCES 58

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

3 HUNRE : Hanoi University for Natural Resources and Environment

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Definition of reading (Anderson) 5

Figure 2: The rhetorical triangle (Devine & Eskey) 7

Figure 3: Reading activities performed by skilled readers (Royer &Wise) 8

Figure 4: Informational Text Features (Calvert, R) 12

Figure 5: Reading text description in “New Cutting Edge – Elementary” 30

LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Students‟ evaluation on the reading texts in the course book 32

Table 2: Students‟ attitude toward reading English, purposes of their reading and their difficulties in reading 34

Table 3: Students‟ responses to the teacher‟s teaching reading skills 36

Table 4 The teachers‟ evaluation towards reading texts in New Cutting Edge-Elementary 39

Table 5: Evaluation of students‟ ability and the importance, purposes of teaching reading skills 40

Table 6: Teaching how to recognize reading texts to students 41

Table 7: Teaching reading skills to students 42

Table 8: The teachers‟ using supplementary materials 43

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Understanding the importance of English, Vietnam Government has approvedthe Vietnam‟s National Foreign Language 2020 Project (NFL2020) (Vietnamesegovernment‟s Decision 1400) to build national foreign language capacity Theoverall objectives of Project is to comprehensively renew foreign language teachingand learning in the national education system, to implement new foreign languageteaching and learning programs at different education levels and training levels inorder to remarkably improve human resources' foreign language proficiency,especially in a number of prioritized domains, by 2015; by 2020, most youngVietnamese graduates of professional secondary schools, colleges and universitieswill have a good command of foreign language which enables them toindependently and confidently communicate, study and work in a multilingual andmulticultural environment of integration; to turn foreign languages into a strength ofVietnamese to serve national industrialization and modernization English is nowtaught as a compulsory subject to all students at university in our country

All students at Hanoi University for Natural Resources and Environment(HUNRE) have tried their best to gain good knowledge of English To masterEnglish, they need to grasp all four skills that are closely related to one another:listening, speaking, reading and writing Among these skills, reading is importantbecause it not only helps student develop other language skills, but also providesthem knowledge on the target language As we read, we go back to the time, passacross the oceans and barriers of language, religions and cultures Through reading,

we can escape into the mind of a philosopher, observe with a scientist, stay with ascholar, analyze with a critic and live through a novel or a play As graduates,reading skills can help them get information to the fullest, and that providing themwith useful techniques will motivate them in reading more and more about the othersubjects they have to deal with in the next studying years at universities

After two years of using the “New Cutting Edge - Elementary” to teach

reading skills to the first year non-English major students at HUNRE, the authorrealizes that both the teachers and the students still have difficulties in findingeffective ways of teaching and learning reading skills That is the reason why the

author chooses the title “A study on teaching reading skills to the first year

non-English major students at HUNRE using the textbook New Cutting Edge – Elementary” for her thesis.

2 Aims of the study

For the above mentioned reasons the thesis aims at:

-understanding the nature of reading and reaffirming the importance ofteaching reading skills to the first year non-English major students at HUNRE.-investigating the real situation of the practical teaching reading skills at theUniversity and finding out the positive factors and problems that affect the quality

of teaching reading skills to the first year non-English major students of theUniversity

-suggesting possible techniques to help the teachers and students of the

university teach and learn reading skills in the “New Cutting Edge – Elementary”

course book more effectively

3 Research questions

To reach the aims mentioned above, the two research questions below will

be addressed:

year students at HUNRE?

using New Cutting Edge – Elementary at HUNRE?

4 Methods of the study

In order to get the most exact information for the study, both qualitative andquantitative methods are employed with the following instruments:

-Survey questionnaires for first year and non-English-major students and forEnglish teachers at HUNRE

-Informal interviews with teachers of English

5 Scope of the study

The study focuses on teaching reading skills to the first year non-English

major students at HUNRE using the textbook “New Cutting Edge - Elementary”.

Any attempts to study the teaching of other language skills to students of other yearsusing other textbooks at other Universities would be beyond the scope of this thesis

6 Design of the study

The thesis is divided into three parts:

Part A introduces the reason for the choice of the study, aims of the study, theresearch questions as well as the scope and methodology of the study

Part B comprises three chapters.

Chapter 1 presents an overview of the theoretical background of the research

It is concerned with various linguistic concepts relevant to the research topicincluding definitions of reading skills, principles for teaching reading skills tobeginning levels, reading texts and reading sub-skills

Chapter 2 is a close look at current teaching and learning reading skills atHUNRE as well as shows the context, description of instruments, data collectionand analyzes the results

Chapter 3 draws the findings and proposes some suggestions to improvereading skills to the first year non-English major students at HUNRE

Part C summarizes what is addressed in the study, presents recommendationfor improvements and some suggestions for further research

PART B: DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the theoretical backgrounds for the study are provided Thechapter focuses on introducing important relevant concepts, discussions of issuesand ideas on theories for definitions on reading comprehension as well as readingskills The author will also give four principles for teaching reading skills toelementary level learners To make the point clear, the reading texts and readingsub-skills are also mentioned

1.1 Definitions of reading skills

Anderson (1996) says that “Reading can be defined simply as making meaning from print Four key elements combine in the process of making meaning from print: the reader, the text, reading strategies, and fluency Reading is a process of readers combining information from a text and their own background knowledge to build meaning” Meaning does not rest in the reader nor does it rest in

the text The reader's background knowledge integrates with the text to create themeaning The goal of reading is comprehension Fluent reading is defined as theability to read at an appropriate rate with adequate comprehension Strategicreading is defined as the ability of the reader to use a wide variety of readingstrategies to accomplish a purpose for reading Good strategic readers know what to

do when they encounter difficulties The text, the reader, strategies, and fluencytogether define the act of reading as follows

Figure 1: Definition of reading (Anderson)

Notice that the intersection of all four circles represents reading This is thepoint where meaningful reading happens Grabe (1991:378) points out the

complexity of even defining reading by stating that "a description of reading has to account for the notions that fluent reading is rapid, purposeful, interactive, comprehending, flexible, and gradually developing" Meaning is at the core of what

reading is If no meaning is communicated then something other than reading ishappening There is an expectation that when we read, we will do something withwhat we have read For example, we will place a phone call to the correct telephonenumber because we have found the number in the telephone book Or we will talk

to a family member or a friend about something that we have read We will write areport based on information we have collected through reading We will simplyread to receive pleasure We should remember that there is a reason why we arereading

In brief, we find that there is a close relationship between reading and

understanding as Devine and Eskey (1988:13) state “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, the reader and the text illustrated by atriangular interaction between the reader, the writer and the text that we callrhetorical triangle as follows:



Figure 2: The rhetorical triangle (Devine & Eskey)

The triangle has lines with arrows going in various directions The point ofthis diagram is that the reader has (more or less) five things to consider when

looking at a text: the communicator(s), audience(s), the message(s), immediate

context, and larger context (sometimes called "background") The arrows go in

all sorts of different directions because all those things influence one another Thistriangle reflects the nature of reading we must understand thoroughly to help ourstudents read effectively

1.2 Reading skills

Strong cognitive skills can make reading easy There are two reasons First, it

is difficult to focus on the material being taught if learners are using all their energy

to read the textbook or manual that is telling you about what you should learn.Second, learners who have a hard time reading tend to get frustrated and give up It

is also generally known to everyone that reading is a skill that comes fromexperience and needs to be constantly improved through different types of readingmaterial However, that efficient reading involves many skills that need to befostered in a classroom Here we have a diagram about what a skilled reader canobtain:

Figure 3: Reading activities performed by skilled readers (Royer &Wise)

Strategic reading activities refer to the fact that readers need to change howthey read depending on what they are reading Good readers read novels differentlythan chemistry textbooks When a good reader reads a chemistry textbook theyslow down and place a lot of emphasis on monitoring whether they understandwhat they are reading In contrast, a poor reader will often read a romance noveland a chemistry textbook in the same way, without realizing the importance ofchanging what readers do depending on the demands of the reading activity

Language teachers are often frustrated by the fact that students do notautomatically transfer the skills they use when reading in their native language toreading in a language they are learning Instead, they seem to think reading meansstarting at the beginning and going word by word, stopping to look up everyunknown vocabulary item, until they reach the end When they do this, students arerelying exclusively on their linguistic knowledge, a bottom-up strategy One of the

most important functions of the language instructor is to help students move pastthis idea and use top-down strategies as they do in their native language.

Effective language teachers show students how they can adjust their readingbehavior to deal with a variety of situations, text genres, and reading purposes.They help students develop a set of reading skills and match appropriate strategies

to each reading situation

1 3 Reading texts

1.3.1 Different kinds of reading texts:

A text can come in any form and be any kind of writing Letters,advertisements, user-guides, e-mails, postcards, notes and magazine articles are alldifferent types of text When reading something, it helps to know what type of text

it is It also helps to know why it has been written For example:

-Persuasive texts: A persuasive text tries to encourage you to do something

It may use capital letters, exclamation marks, questions and repeated words to catchyour attention It usually uses adjectives to make something sound attractive Maybe

it gives only one side of an argument It takes the form of an advert; but it may also

be a letter from a friend trying to persuade you to go to a class

-Informative texts: An informative text should give facts, information ornews in a clear, step-by-step way

-Instructive texts: An instructive text tells you how to do something It willoften use commands and pictures It will be direct, without extra words, likeadjectives

-Descriptive texts: A descriptive text tells you what something is like Thewriter is trying to help you imagine or „see‟ a person, place or thing Describingwords, such as adjectives and adverbs are used, as well as descriptions of the fivesenses: look, sound, smell, touch, taste

-Letters: Texts such as letters often look the same but can have differentpurposes For example, a personal letter from a friend can be set out in whateverway the writer wishes and will often describe a person, place or thing A circularletter is sent to many people and, like an advertisement will often try to persuade thereader to buy something.

1 3.2 Informational text features:

Texts categorized as "informational text" usually have key points organized

in a way that make it easier for readers to find information Authors of informationaltext employ a variety of structures to assist the reader in finding information quicklyand efficiently These might include a table of contents, an index, bold or italicizedtext, glossaries for specialized vocabulary, embedded definitions for specializedvocabulary, realistic illustrations of photos, captions and other labels, and graphsand charts Unlike narratives that tell a story across time in a linear fashion,informational text is often (though not always) non-linear It is popular with skillfuland non-skillful readers as it is usually topical and readers can locate a text onnearly any topic of interest Some examples of types of informational text includecause and effect books, “all about…” books, question and answer books, and mostreference texts; we will examine the texts with an eye on the following categories:

Figure 4: Informational Text Features (Calvert, R)

1.4 Principles for teaching reading skills to elementary learners

According to Nunan (2008), there are four principles when teachers prepare toteach reading to beginning proficiency level learners The teachers should considereach of these principles and how they can guide language teachers in the teaching ofreading The four principles are:

1.4.1 Selecting appropriate reading materials

Languages teachers should highlight the importance of choosing material that

is of our students‟ interest Drawing upon their interests will encourage reading.The selection of appropriate reading material is very important for the teacher Wewant to make sure that the material that we are using helps us achieve ourinstructional goals and is not a roadblock in the development of good readers Toselect text that matches a student‟s reading level you need to consider severalinteracting factors The general guidelines/suggestions to consider include thefollowing three factors:

the unit

to decode new vocabulary, and can concentrate on reading and reading

comprehension

on present continuous, then the entire text should be in present continuous)

1.4.2 Focusing on vocabulary development skill

Beginning level readers need a clear focus on vocabulary-development skills.Readers at this level consider their lack of vocabulary There are very simple stepsthat teachers can take in order to assure that vocabulary development happens in anorganized fashion There are high-frequency words that beginning level readers

should be familiar with A useful copy of the 1,000 and 2,000 most frequentlywords used in English can be found at the personal website of ESL professor JohnBauman, http://3bauman.com/gs1.html On this site, the actual words with theirfrequency numbers are provided.

1.4.3 Providing both intensive and extensive reading instruction

The third principle for teaching reading to beginning level readers directsteachers‟ attention to teaching both intensive and extensive reading Textbookswritten for classroom instruction will focus on intensive reading instruction Thechallenge is designing a reading program that links both intensive readinginstructions with extensive reading Very few language programs are designing insuch a way as to provide the explicit link between the two

1.4.4 Explicit teaching reading sub-skills

The final principle is strategy instruction It is extremely important forreaders, especially those at the beginning level of language proficiency Nunan(1996, 1997) provides that a good rationale for integrating explicit instruction of

language learning strategies into the classroom curriculum “Language classrooms should have a dual focus, not only teaching language content but also on developing learning processes as well" (Nunan1996:41) The primary purpose of

instruction is to raise learners' awareness of strategies" and then allow each to selectappropriate strategies to accomplish their learning goals

According to Nunan (2008), appropriate reading strategies to consider inteaching beginning level readers include:

1.5 Reading sub-skills

There are different views on reading sub- skills, but according to Munby(1968), Nunan (2008), Long, Michael (1987) & Richards, Bamford (1997), thesesub- skills in reading comprehension are divided as follows:

1.5.1 Scanning and skimming skills

1.5.1.1 Scanning skills

According to Nuttall (1982) scanning is a quick reading, focusing on locatingspecific information It involves quick eye movements, not necessarily linear infashion, in which the eyes wander until the reader finds the piece of informationneeded It is used when a specific piece of information is required, such as a name,date, symbol, formula, or phrase, is required The reader knows what the item lookslike and so, knows when he has located what he was searching for It is thenassumed, that very little information is processed into long-term memory or even forimmediate understanding because the objective is simply matching

Scanning is used often with technical, scientific or professional materials tolocate specific information It is a valuable skill for second language learners todevelop because often they do not require a detailed read of a text There are manyeveryday uses for scanning, relevant to a purpose, such as reading a schedule

The teacher selects passages that do include specific information He may useauthentic materials that are commonly scanned in real life, such as the telephonedirectory, menus, bus schedules He may ask students before they scan a text to notehow the information is organized in the text He needs to remind students that asthey read carefully to find the required information, they should pay particularattention to titles and keywords

The student forms questions before reading What specific information arethey looking for? Then he looks for contextual clues He tries to anticipate what theanswer might look like and what sorts of clues would be useful He is aware of the

graphic form that the answer may take, such as a numeral, a written number, acapitalized word or a short phrase that includes key words.

Activities may include exercises that are devised by the teacher in whichstudents scan for a single word or specific text Exercises are often carried on as acompetition so students will work quickly They may make predictions and guesses,use titles and tables of contents to get an idea of what a passage is about, activateprior knowledge about the topic of the passage by answering some questions orperforming a quiz, anticipate what they want to learn about the top, use titles,pictures, and prior knowledge to anticipate the contents of the text, use key words,that may have been given to them by the teacher, that do not appear in the text, thatallude to the main idea

1.5.1.2 Skimming skills

Rivers (1968:59) states that skimming is a quick reading to get to know thegeneral meaning of a passage, to know how the passage is organized, that is, thestructure of the text, to get an idea of the intention of the writer Skimming is a morecomplex task than scanning because it requires the reader to organize and remembersome of the information given by the author, not just to locate it Skimming is a tool inwhich the author's sequence can be observed, unlike scanning in which somepredetermined information is sought after

Skimming is used when reading some general question in mind, in makingdecisions on how to approach a text such as when determining if a careful reading isdeserving, to build student confidence and an understanding that it is possible togain meaning without reading every word in a text It is used as part of the SQ3Rmethod of reading, often for speed reading This method involves the student insurveying, questioning, reading, reviewing and reciting Skimming is used for theinitial survey and for review The student may want to develop this skill if they areplanning to continue with academic studies It is often used in reviewing for a test

Before the students start reading, the teacher should guide students to askthemselves the following questions: What kind of audience was the text written for?Was it, for example, the general public, technical readers, or academic students?What type of text is it? Is it, for example, a formal letter, an advertisement, or a set

of instructions? What was the author's purpose? Was it, for example, to persuade, toinform or to instruct? The teacher should make clear the purpose of the exercise,how deeply the text is to be read to students before assigning a skimming exercise:Students should read the title if any, the introduction or the first paragraph, thefirst sentence of each of the following paragraphs, any headings or sub-headings.They also need to look at any pictures or phrases that are in boldface or italics andread the summary or last paragraph Students must locate facts that are expressed insentences, not single words Although speed is essential and the teacher often sets atime limit to the activity, skimming should not be done competitively Studentsshould be encouraged individually to better themselves To improve skimming,readers should read more and more rapidly, to form appropriate questions andpredictions and then read quickly Pugh (1978:70) suggests that to assess skimming,after the students have read and completed the assigned questions, further questions

may be asked, "beyond the scope of the purpose originally set” If students can

answer these questions correctly, it indicates they have read the text too closely

1.5.2 Intensive and extensive reading skills

1.5.2.1 Intensive reading skills

Brown (1989:172) explains that intensive reading "calls attention to grammatical forms, discourse markers, and other surface structure details for the purpose of understanding literal meaning, implications, rhetorical relationships, and the like." He draws an analogy to intensive reading as a "zoom lens" strategy.

Long and Richards (1987: 115) say it is a "detailed in-class" analysis, led bythe teacher, of vocabulary and grammar points, in a short passage Intensive reading

may involve students reading selections by the same author or several texts aboutthe same topic When this occurs, content and grammatical structures repeatthemselves and students get many opportunities to understand the meanings of the

text The success of "Intensive reading" on improving reading comprehension is

based on the premise that the more familiar the reader is with the text, either due tothe subject matter or having read other works by the same author, the morecomprehension is promoted

The intensive reading is usually classroom based The reader is intenselyinvolved in looking inside the text The students focus on linguistic or semanticdetails of a reading and focus on surface structure details such as grammar anddiscourse markers They identify key vocabulary and may draw pictures to aid them(such as in problem solving) The texts are read carefully and thoroughly, again andagain in order to build more language knowledge rather than simply practice theskill of reading This kind of reading is seen more commonly than extensive reading

in classrooms

The activities of intensive reading exercises may include: looking at mainideas versus details, understanding what is implied versus stated, making inferences,looking at the order of information and how it effects the message, identifyingwords that connect one idea to another, identifying words that indicate change fromone section to another Munby (1979:117) suggests four categories of questions thatmay be used in intensive reading These include:

and figurative language

own background information

The kind of reading should be used when the objective of reading is toachieve full understanding of logical argument, rhetorical pattern of text, emotional,symbolic or social attitudes and purposes of the author, linguistic means to an endand for study of content material that are difficult.

In term of materials with demands for both simplicity and authenticity, theteacher must choose Texts on the same topic because reading more than one text onthe same topic allows students to bring more background knowledge to each newtext read Authentic materials such as newspapers, magazines are related to thesecond language culture or web resources These should be chosen from suggestions

by the teacher so that students do not choose those that are too overwhelming

We can combine this kind of reading with a speaking or writing component.For example, they may interview each other about their reading, after reading thenewspaper, students may be asked to write a newspaper report Class time may beincluded for book exchange, if there is an in-class library Students may set theirown goals for their next session Students may progress from reading gradedreading material to authentic text It should be expected that students will "slowdown" in their reading then, it becomes more challenging Students may complete areading log (recording number of pages read and at what level) or a reading journal(reflections on the text read), a reflection on what they noticed about their ownreading, a book report or summary, a retelling of part of the text or a book project

The teacher gives recommendations on reading materials, based on student'sinterests He guides students in choosing appropriate levels of material, beginningwith easy books by choosing a variety of materials of their interest This mayespecially be necessary for students that choose the same type over and over Theteacher guides students in setting specific goals for amounts read Then he canprovide modeling if class time is given for reading, the teacher reads at the sametime If students are not aware of the exact meaning of each word, the

teacher should not jump in and explain The teacher leads pre-reading activities tobuild interest in the text, such as in the characters, places, themes, and actions Theteacher must be careful to provide just enough to stimulate curiosity but not somuch that the need to read is removed.

The student assumes total responsibility for developing reading ability Hereads without the use of a dictionary In order to show greater progress, he usuallychooses his own material and moves along at his own pace but must push himself

With this kind of reading, the students may develop a "reading habit", gain

more confidence in reading, improve their attitude towards reading and becomemore motivated to read, feel more autonomous over his own learning and more

likely to take more initiative, become more "independent readers", being able to

read for different purposes and being able to change reading strategies for differentkinds of texts He also become more aware of what's available to him to read and

how to access materials, expand sight vocabulary, acquire "incidental" grammatical

competence, build background knowledge, increase reading comprehension,improve overall language competence and be more prepared for further academiccourses because they have read large quantities

1.5.2.2 Extensive reading skills

According to Brown (1989:87) the extensive reading is carried out "to achieve a general understanding of a text." Long and Richards (1971:216) identify extensive reading as "occurring when students read large amounts of high interest material, usually out of class, concentrating on meaning, "reading for gist" and skipping unknown words." The aims of extensive reading are to build reader

confidence and enjoyment Extensive reading is always done for the comprehension

of main ideas, not for specific details If the conditions of first language acquisitionare approximated by extensive second language reading, the second languagelearner can achieve native like competence in a classroom Rumelhart (1980:110)

proposes an "interactive model" of the reading process in which reading is a

complex task of simultaneously combining "bottom-up" processes (in which the reader analyzes text in small pieces and builds meaning from these) and "top-down" processes (in which the reader makes "guesses" about the content of a passage).

Extensive reading may appear as a complement to an intensive readingprogram or an extra-curricular activity where students read out of class or the mainfocus of a reading course where students work with a class set of books, individualreading of material, of their own choice, with follow-up activities such as readinglogs, reading journals, book reports or projects The extensive reading has beencarried on in many countries, at varying levels of education from Elementary School

to College, and in different languages

Day and Bamford (1980:173) put forward ten characteristics of successfulextensive reading including (i) students read as much as possible; (ii) A variety ofmaterials on a range of topics is available; (iii) Students select what they want toread; (iv) The purposes of reading are usually related to pleasure, information andgeneral understanding; (v) Reading is its own reward; (vi) Reading materials arewell within the linguistic competence of the students in terms of vocabulary andgrammar; (vii) Reading is individual and silent; (viii) Reading speed is usuallyfaster than slower; (ix) Teachers orient students to the goals of the program; (x) Andthe teacher is a role model of a reader for the students

The role of the teacher is to choose suitable text, tasks and activities todevelop skills, to give direction before, during and after reading, to prepare students

to work on their own and to encourage them through prompts, without givinganswers

We have many advantages of this reading like: It provides a base to studystructure, vocabulary and idioms, a base for students to develop a greater control oflanguage and for a check on the degree of comprehension for individual students.However it has some disadvantages: There is little actual practice of readingbecause of the small amount of text In a class with multi-reading abilities, students

may not be able to read at their own level because everyone in the class is readingthe same material The text may or may not interest the reader because it waschosen by the teacher There is little chance to learn language patterns due to thesmall amount of text Because exercises and assessment usually follow intensivereading, students may come to associate reading with testing and not pleasure.

1.5.3 Critical reading skills

Critical reading is an analytic activity The student rereads a text to identifypatterns of elements - information, values, assumptions, and language usage-throughout the discussion These elements are tied together in an interpretation, anassertion of an underlying meaning of the text as a whole

The initial step of critical reading involves recognizing a text as apresentation in its own right This step is concerned with identifying such elementsas: the existence of a beginning, middle, and end; The use of illustrations toexplicate remarks; The use of evidence to support remarks; The use of stylishlanguage to portray topics; Organization, or a method of sequencing remarks – such

as whether chronological, different aspects of the topic, steps in a logical sequence

The next step involves describing the nature of these aspects of the text, ofclassifying the nature of the material within the text including the nature of theexamples (what the examples are); the nature of the evidence (what kinds ofauthorities are invoked, what types of evidence are provided); The nature of thechoice or terms (what types of terms are applied to what topics)

The final step involves inferring the underlying assumptions and perspectives

of the discussion, taking into account of all of the elements of the text being as theyare throughout the text as a whole This step is concerned less with sequentialdevelopment and more with recognizing patterns of elements interwoven throughoutthe presentation as a whole: What is achieved by describing topics a certain way andwhat is assumed by selecting certain types of evidence

Throughout, critical reading relies on abstracting and on classifying thenature of things, such as the nature of the structure of the text, the nature of thelanguage employed, the nature of the examples invoked, the nature of theillustrations brought to bear, and the nature of the thinking that would explain allaspects of the text being as they are.

In the end, readers must take control of the text, not just repeat its assertions.Explain that college educators usually expect students to study texts to read forunderstanding and retention Key points of teaching critical reading skill are:

1.5.3.1 Previewing

Encourage students to preview their reading assignments so they have a clearsense of the nature of what they will be reading Previewing helps students be betterprepared to follow references, anticipate arguments, and understand the topic underdiscussion They gain a sense of the whole, which will help them better understandthe parts and how they relate to one another Before actually reading an assignment,students should use both skimming and scanning strategies to look over: Chapters,sections, subheadings, illustrations, introduction, and conclusion

1.5.3.2 Annotating

Tell students that highlighting books is not a particularly useful strategy andthat they should instead annotate what they read Highlighting does not reallyrequire much thought, and students often forget why they highlighted a passagewhen they go back over the text in preparation for an assignment Annotationrequires active engagement with the text Here are some techniques that studentscan use to annotate text: Underline important terms, circle definitions and meanings,write key words and definitions in the margin, signal where important informationcan be found with key words or symbols in the margin, write short summaries in themargin at the end of sub-units, write the questions in the margin next to the sectionwhere the answer is found, and indicate steps in a process by using number in themargin

1.5.3.3 Being actively engaged

Especially with first-year students, explain that you are asking them to read

in a way that is quite different from how they probably read in high school Forexample: They should not merely accept as true everything they read or they shouldseek to understand the author‟s purpose in writing or they should engage in adialogue with the author by annotating, asking questions, noting the shape of theauthor‟s argument, and so on or they should read for a thorough understanding ofthe text

1.5.3.4 Summarizing/Reflecting

When they have completed the reading assignment, students shouldsummarize what they read in their own words This can be in outline or sentenceform If they realize that they are not completely clear on any points, they should goback and reread until they can make the points in their own words They also canreflect on their reading Students should think or write about the implications ofwhat they have read, and in particular they should think about how what they readconnects with their own prior knowledge, other concepts they have learned in thecourse, concepts they learned in other courses or the “real” word involves becomingthe author of one's own understanding

In conclusion, this chapter has given a comprehensive view on teachingreading skills It is related to the nature of reading, the learners, the texts and thereading sub-skills In the next chapter, the real situation of teaching reading skills atHUNRE will be presented in the next chapter

CHAPTER 2: DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS

This chapter will give a brief overview on the real situation of the studyconcerning about the University, the English learners in general, the demand ofcurriculum (A2 English level in Reading) and the reading texts in the course book.The end part of chapter works with the data collection and analysis and discuss ofthe findings

2.1 Overview on teaching reading skills at HUNRE

2.1.1 Overview of HUNRE

The establishment of the Hanoi University for Natural Resources and Environmentwas announced in Hanoi on January 23, 2011 The University was to provide sufficienthuman resources of high quality for the sector‟s development HUNRE gives priority

to training managers and fundamental surveying specialists It focuses on such fields asremote sensing, meteorology, maritime and island management, geology and minerals,and cartography In addition, the school offers courses in natural resources andenvironment economics, environmental management, and natural resourcesmanagement English has been considered as an extremely important subject in theUniversity program because it serves an integral means for internationalcommunication that is to communicate with foreign partners The University hasalways created the best possible conditions for English teaching and learning In 2013,the Faculty of Environmental studies agreed to divide into small groups of 30 at thesame English level through an English entrance examination This is the first timestudents at HUNRE learn English in that way, which is suitable for learning a foreignlanguage providing the students with opportunities to practise English However, therehave been many problems that should be solved There are twelve faculties at HUNREand their students have to learn in large classes of over 60, even 100 The facilities atthe University are still poor, for example, the library cannot provide enough books,especially English books

as references Furthermore, the students do not have a lot of opportunities topractice English with native speakers to improve their language skills.

There are seventeen teachers of English at HUNRE Most of them are young andhave graduated from University just for some years They are energetic and arewilling to devote their time and energy to teaching Half of them have acquired M.Adegree or are following a post graduate course at University of Foreign Languagesand International Studies or Hanoi University However, these teachers do not havemuch experience They usually employ the traditional methods of teaching that isGrammar-Translation method, especially in reading lessons This method focuses

on accuracy, the detailed analysis of grammar rules, not on the acquisition oflanguage skill It is characterized by the use of the mother tongue as a medium ofinstruction and communication in the classroom The teachers speak most of thetime, explain new words and translate the text into Vietnamese Students often listenand take note passively They raise questions only when they encounter new words

or structures in the text Therefore, this method leads to the lack of motivation and afew chances for students to practice speaking English, in other words, improve theircommunicative competence

Learners are first year students at HUNRE, aged from 18~20,who have learntEnglish for several years before entering the university However, it is difficult for

most of them to approach the difficult and long texts in course book “New cutting edge-Elementary” Many students come from different areas in Vietnam.

Consequently, problems arising during the course are due to individual difference inability, learning styles, attitudes, motivation, etc Their attitude towards learning isalso a matter to be considered They are a bit lazy and hardly ever try their best.They are not students of English major, so they do not devote themselves to learningEnglish and they do not know the best way to learn a foreign language Moreover,majority of the students do not have appropriate learning strategies or have thehabits to learn independently or creatively, the fact is that they never prepare thelesson at home or review the lesson regularly

2.1.2 Reading skills in New cutting Edge-Elementary

“New Cutting Edge–Elementary” has a multilayered, topic-based syllabus

which includes thorough and comprehensive work on grammar, vocabulary,pronunciation and skills of reading, speaking and writing It takes Elementarystudents from A1 to A2 level of the CEFR It consists of 15 modules with 15different topics relating to our life such as greetings, family, hobbies, jobs, favoritethings, etc The course book is one of the most popular books used in Vietnambecause it not only has a multilayered, topic-based syllabus which includesthorough and comprehensive work on grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation andskills of reading, speaking and writing but also adopts communicative approach andprovides opportunities for students to interact with each other through engaging inauthentic activities

In terms of content, the course book is set to achieve the following points.Firstly, the book equip students with a variety of communicative situations, so thatstudents can involve in different topics to practice using their English in dailyactivities such as greetings, buying a ticket, talking about family, shopping, etc Inaddition, in each module, the book always provides the students with topic –basedvocabulary which serves as the key factor to help them communicate successfully.Besides, there are various kinds of grammar exercise so that students can practicelanguage forms and structures effectively and four skills seem not to be equally paidattention to

There is a wide range of reading material in the book, including factual/scientifictexts, stories, quizzes, forms, notes and emails These texts are integrated indifferent ways: -Extended texts specifically to develop reading skills

activities

Reading texts in the book are presented with simple language andcomprehension questions such as picking up familiar names, words and basicphrases and rereading as required are suitable for elementary level All parts ofreading in the book are as follows:

Text

description

Topics Types of text

Types of reading skill to develop (depend on the activities)

Modules

knowledge quiz Hanna‟s Personal data - a Scanning to find information from documents

Module 3 Life in Britain A factual text Skimming and scanning together to complete the text

with a word or a phrase

star in

Skimming to answer questions London and a

British star in Hollywood Teresa‟s An email Scanning to get some specific information email

Transport A note Scanning and skimming together to guess correct

Module 6 Food: Facts A factual text Scanning, intensive then extensive

and myths

Skimming, extensive Module 7 An ordinary A story Scanning to find two sentences about his life and four

Module 9 The world‟s A factual text Scanning to check the meaning of the words