A survey on dentists ability in reading english dental materials at five leading dental departments in ho chi minh city viet nam m a thesis

on reading and understanding dental materials in English at five leading dental departments in Ho Chi Minh City in an effort to find out the difficulties and obstacles faced by dentists

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY-HOCHIMINH CITY

UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

A SURVEY ON DENTISTS’ ABILITY IN READING ENGLISH DENTAL MATERIALS AT FIVE LEADING DENTAL DEPARTMENTS IN HO CHI MINH CITY- VIET

NAM

A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the

Degree of Master of Arts ( TESOL )

Submitted by TRUONG HOANG TUAN

Supervised by NGUYEN TIEN HUNG, Ph.D

HO CHI MINH City , October 2010

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitle:

A SURVEY ON DENTISTS’ ABILITY IN READING ENGLISH MATERIALS AT FIVE LEADING DENTAL DEPARTMENTS IN HO CHI MINH CITY- VIET NAM

in terms of the statement of requirements for theses in master’s programs

issued by the higher degree committee

HO CHI MINH City, October 2010

TRƯƠNG HOÀNG TUẤN

RETENTION and USE of the THESIS

In term of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my thesis

deposited in the library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with normal conditions established by the library for the care, loan or reproduction of theses

HO CHI MINH City, October 2010

TRƯƠNG HOÀNG TUẤN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Mr.Nguyễn Tiến Hùng, who whole- heartedly supported me during the writing of this thesis although he has been so busy His guidance and valuable advice did help me through this challenging task Moreover, his devotion, understanding and friendliness have made a strong impression on

me

I am greatly indebted to all the lecturers of the TESOL graduate program at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities for their helpful instruction during the course from the year 2007 to 2010

In addition, my great thanks go to all the dentists who were very responsive to the questionnaire Without their cooperation, I would have never been able to complete the survey

My last thanks go to my wife and my sons for their love and care

on reading and understanding dental materials in English at five leading dental departments in Ho Chi Minh City in an effort to find out the difficulties and obstacles faced by dentists in order to suggest some recommendations to improve their English reading skills

The questionnaire was directly administered to 80 dentists in order to collect data by using quantitative approach

The results indicated that the current English program and learning conditions were not appropriate for dentist students The dentists were completely aware of the important role of English language for practitioners

in globalisation but they evaluated that their reading comprehension in English was very poor They did not feel confident of their English proficiency

This situation may lead to some urgent recommendations in changing the present English program and the learning environment at university of health sciences as well as in determining their motivations and the best strategies for dentists to self – study in order to help them improve their English proficiency, especially reading skills

TABLE OF CONTENTS

page Certificate of the originality i

Retention and use of the thesis ii

Acknowledgements iii

Abstract iv

Table of contents v

Introduction 1

CHAPTER I : BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 2

I.1- Problem statement 2

I.2- Research objectives 3

I.3- Research hypothesis 3

I.4- Importance and benefits of the study 3

I.5- Limitations 4

I.6- Overview of thesis chapters 4

CHAPTER II : LITERATURE REVIEW 6

II.1-Use of English language in Vietnam 6

II.2 Reading 7

II.2.1- What is Reading? 7

II.2.2 -Models of the Reading Process 9

II.2.2.1-Bottom-up model ( local strategy) 9

II.2.2.2-Top-down Model ( global strategy) 10

II.2.2.3-Interactive Model 10

II.3- Reading Comprehension 12

II.3.1-What is Reading Comprehension? 12

II.3.2-Schema Theory and Reading Comprehension 14

II.3.2.2-Types of Schema 15

II.3.2.3-Schemata and Reading Comprehension 16

II.4 Effective Readers and Ineffective Readers 16

II.4.1-The Difference Between Effective Readers and Ineffective Readers 16

II.4.2- List of Common Reading Strategies 18

II.4.3-Strategy Identification 19

II.5 English For Specific Purpose ( ESP) 20

II.5.1- What is ESP ? 20

II.5.2-Characteristics of ESP Courses 23

II.5.3-The Importance of Teaching Reading Strategies to ESP Learners 24

II.5.4- Successful ESP Learners 25

II.6-The Important Role of English Language in Dental Field in Vietnam 26

II.7- Summary 27

CHAPTER III :METHODOLOGY 28

III.1-Research question 28

III.2- Research design 28

III.2.1- Research method 28

III.2.2- Research subject 29

III.2.3 – Instruments 30

III.2.4 – Data collection 31

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS and DISCUSSION of RESULTS 34

IV.1-Analysis of dentists’ responses 34

IV.2 –Summary 55

CHAPTER FIVE : RECOMMENDATIONS and CONCLUSION 57

V.1- Recommendations 57

V.1.1-Class size 58

V.1.3- Studying 58

V.1.3.1-Control of the environment 60

V.1.3.2- Building your vocabulary 65

V.1.3.3- Learning grammar 66

V.1.3.4- Skimming and scanning scientific materials 69

V.1.3.5- Reading speed 71

V.2- Conclusion 75

Bibliography 78

Appendix 1: Phiếu khảo sát 86

Appendix 2 : Questionnaire 91

Appendix 3 96

Appendix 4 101

Appendix 5 106

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), English after the Second World War is an accepted international language of science, technology and commerce It creates a new generation of learners, including dentists as scientists, who know why they have to learn English In Vietnam, English has regained its role as the main foreign language taught and used (Alter & Moreau, 1995; Mydans, 1995; Shapiro, 1995) For dentists, English is a helpful tool to obtain the knowledge of the dental field from advanced countries in the world (Waxler-Morrison 2005) Therefore they

take extra effort to master it and be able to use it efficiently As a dentist, the

importance of getting scientific and technological information cannot be overstated This is because the dentistry field is innovative and there are new developments everyday In order for one to remain relevant to the field, it is needed for dentists to acquire the ability to use and read materials written in English comprehensibly What have been mentioned above can be clearly demonstrated by the fact that in Ho Chi Minh city recently held seminars and conferences about new technicalities in diagnosis and treatments in dentistry were in English, and in the dental field there are countless items of materials with different usages written in English Moreover, the influx of many big dental production companies into Vietnam, dentists who would like having up- to- date information in this field have to be able to read and understand English effectively

This study investigates how dentists read and understand the English dental materials in an effort to identify the difficulties and obstacles in reading comprehension faced by dentists Hopefully, the results of this study will allow the author to give some recommendations which may be helpful

to dentists to solve their own problems in order to improve their English reading skills

CHAPTER I: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

I.1- Problem statement

Over the last several years, the use of the English language in the field of dentistry has been on a steady rise Dentists are under immense pressure to improve their proficiency in English since recent conferences and seminars have been conducted in English, most of dentistry medical books and journals are now written in English Also, knowledge of English language will improve the communication and sharing of ideas between dentists in Vietnam and others from the developed nations and others The need to assimilate ways that can culminate to a greater proficiency in English among dentists in Vietnam will raise their levels of productivity and profitability and will enable them to serve the general public better Most people feel that the services offered in the health care sector will be improved further if all the key players share ideas since this is a field that new methods of treatment are being invented all the time If there is a barrier

in communication then some of these instrumental services will be lost on some Some dentists would rather remain with their old methods of performing their duties and not engage in reading dentistry materials that offer new innovative ways of dealing with dental issues This is because human nature is mostly resistant to change especially when the future outcome is not very certain or suspicious and /or when the old seems to work

just fine Therefore, these dentists are not the respondents in the survey

Devising ways and offering dentists incentives that enable them to improve their English language skills will definitely improve their understanding, enhance their participation in the dentistry forums and boost their performance as well-educated dentists Notably, if the recommendations that will be given by the researcher are implemented it could culminate to a transformation of the dentistry field for the better

Otherwise, for now dentists in Vietnam are faced with a challenge of understanding materials written in English and also a problem sharing ideas with their peers from other nations (Bolton & Kachru, 2006)

I.2- Research objectives

To address the above problem, this study seeks to achieve the following objectives:

- To evaluate the present general reality in reading comprehension of dentists

- To recommend some possible ways for an ideal effective reader

I.3- Research hypothesis

Proficiency in English will help to improve professional performance of Vietnamese dentists

I.4- Importance of the study

All human beings are concerned about their health and thus will look for the best services from health practitioners It is therefore the prerogative of the healthcare givers to ensure that they remain relevant and accommodate the new and better changes happening in their various fields of specialization The area of dentistry for instance has undergone many changes in the last century and yet this is hardly the end The responsibility

of every dentist is therefore to ensure they have done everything possible to remain relevant and give the best services available

Dentists thoroughly understand the importance of being proficient

in the English language in reading materials about their areas of specialization and thus gaining new skills which incorporate in their trades These materials from various regions in the world, especially from the developed nations, are very beneficial in informing the Vietnamese dentists

on the various happenings around the globe This enables these dentists to have a better understanding on how to best serve their patients and improve their practices Change is essential in all areas of ones’ life even in ones’ career and as Baumeister and Vohs (2004) and John (2005), stated that change can only succeed if all those involved are motivated and are willing

to do what it takes to improve and learn new things about their professions

I.5- Limitations

The study aims to identify ability in reading and comprehending dental materials written in English faced by dentists at five leading dental departments in Ho Chi Minh city The study’s responsive community is quite limited because the questionnaire was only conducted for 80 dentists Its results can hardly be generalized to many other circumstances, how similar they may be Dentists are generally very busy people Therefore, trying to fit

in their schedules is an anticipated challenge for this research The limit of the allotted time also has an effect on expanse and depth of the study All in all the researcher strove to do the research depending on the available resources and the time allocated

I.6- Overview of thesis chapters

The thesis is organized in five main chapters:

Chapter I provides the background to the study It gives necessary

and helpful information in order to identify the current problems arisen in the course of reading and comprehending dental English materials of Vietnamese dentists

Chapter II has reviewed the relevant literatures necessary for the

theoretical basis of the survey, highlighting the concepts of reading, reading comprehension and English for Specific Purpose, and the important role of English language in dental field in Vietnam

Chapter III presents the methodology employed in the survey The

study was carried out by delivering survey questionnaires to 80 dentists from five leading dental departments in Ho Chi Minh city using quantitative approach to investigate their English proficient competence in reading dental materials

Chapter IV includes findings and discussions of the questionnaires It

describes the reality of existing problems in reading dental materials written

in English faced by Vietnamese dentists

Chapter V suggests some recommendations in changing the present English program and the learning environment at university of health sciences and self-studying reading comprehension of busy dentists in particular and learning English in general are made

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW

II.1-Use of English language in Vietnam

According to Bolton & Kachru (2006) most Vietnamese are very

poor in the English language and most cannot communicate effectively using the language neither can they read materials written in English and boast of understanding them fully This problem has been perpetuated by the Vietnamese educational system where an individual will go all the way to the university level and the only knowledge they have of English is the basics for instance, the greetings Therefore, it is hardly the fault of the dentists that they have a problem in understanding materials written in English but the situation can be salvaged if only a mechanism of furthering their knowledge of the language is developed and that which the dentists can incorporate in their busy schedules

Due to limited knowledge in the English language most medical students fail to travel and study abroad as they do not pass the English tests (Phan 2008) Communication barriers have locked out many dentists in Vietnam from great opportunities for instance participating fully in interactive seminars and sharing ideas with their peers Surveys have been commissioned to investigate the current use of the English language and the findings were alarming At the university, levels teaching of the English language relied heavily on textbook knowledge and not on practical application (Phan 2008) In the first two year at university of health sciences, dentist students are taught manly in reviewing basic grammar points and some short dental texts ( see appendix 3,4,5 ) Also, there are poor testing methods to ascertain the extent of the language acquisition thereby most students who have graduated from university are without actually mastering the English language

Concepts of related literature would be presented in next pages The study aims to identify ability in reading and comprehending dental materials written in English, therefore it is needed to find out what relate to the term

“reading” first

II.2 Reading

II.2.1- What is Reading?

“Reading is a receptive skill ” Reading is one of the four language skills: Reading , Writing , Listening and Speaking “ Very simply we can say that reading involves making sense of text” (Spatt, Pulverness, Williams, 2007) From this point of view, reading in its simplest sense, starts by learning and recognizing the alphabet (or other corresponding symbols in languages other than English) Then you combine the sounds of those letters and form words These words, as a whole, have meaning and form thoughts

or ideas It then builds up into a whole concept depending on the comprehension of the reader It is not as simple as it sounds though In Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics, reading is defined as perceiving a written text in order to understand its contents, which can be done silently, or as saying a written text aloud, which can be done with or without an understanding of contents (Richards, Platt ,& Platt, 1992) The former involves looking at sentences and understanding message they convey, the later may either understand a text or convey the information to

someone else .Although being an attractive definition and a useful

corrective to more restricted approaches , “Reading is the process of getting linguistic information via print ( Widdowson , 1979 ) ” is so general and all- embracing that it seems in danger of being trivial or banal It does not specify kinds and purposes of reading whereas there are many different kinds of information and many purposes for reading Similarly, Thorndike (1917) argued that reading was similar to mathematical problem solving

This definition led to vague ends because it considered reading activity other human activities Nunan (1999) viewed reading was a process of decoding written symbols into their aural equivalents in a linear fashion However, Smith (1978) argued that reading was a process of reconstructing meaning rather than decoding form, and the reader only resorts to decoding

if other means fail Goodman (1967) says that reading is a psycholinguistic guessing game The reader first makes predictions and then uses selected data from the text to confirm his guesses And a good reader is supposed to

be a good guesser From the above although the ways to approach reading are different , the main goal of reading is to realize what the writer intends to say in the text and to paraphrase these ideas to oneself or to others Is reading an active or a passive activity? Grellet (1991) states that “reading is

an active skill” Reading is actually a very active endeavor because to be adept at this skill, one must acknowledge that there is always interplay of thought and language whenever one engages in it It requires a great deal of exertive participation on the part of the reader not just in identifying and perceiving all the elements but in recognizing the cues presented to be able

to anticipate what the thought of the text is all about Readers will have to relate these thoughts to what is already there in their minds possibly from prior experience or stored knowledge According to Alderson and Urquhart (1992) “ Reading is necessarily interactive ” since texts must be written by writers ,texts must have readers and readers must have something to read They are undeniable and incontrovertible elements of reading Reading is

a continuous interaction between the mind of the writer put into the text, and the mind of the reader being able to put meaning to the text According to Harris in Rethinking Writing (2000), the message is not something given in advance or given at all, but something created by interaction between writers and readers as participants in a particular communicative situation In a

word, reading may be a receptive skill but is surely not a passive one

II.2.2 - Models of the Reading Process

The importance of reading has initiated much research in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) And the reading process has been one of the key aspects of reading research With the influence of psycholinguistics, the research of the reading process has been developed rapidly The well-known theories include: the bottom-up model, the top-down model, and the interactive model

II.2.2.1-Bottom-up model (local strategy):

Bottom-up model includes focusing on identifying the meaning and grammatical category of individual words, sentence structure, and details of

the text (Salataci & Akyel, 2002).This model recommends that the learners

or the readers start in this single-direction, part-to-whole processing of the

text (Fries, 1962) It starts from the reader first processing the smallest

linguistic units (i.e., on the grapho-phonic, phonemic, syllabic, morphemic,

word, and sentence levels), gradually compiling the smaller units to decipher

and comprehend the higher units (e.g., sentence syntax), (Dechant, 1991) To

explain this in a simpler way, first the learner links features (the sound, how it’s written, etc.) to recognize letters Then he combines the letters to recognize spelling patterns Then, he will link spelling patterns to recognize words, and then proceed to sentence, paragraph and text-level processing It considers that reading comprehension primarily depends on the decoding of words and sentences In the bottom-up processing, to have extracted the full meaning of a written text, the reader must have processed each of its individual sentences This, in turn, depends upon having correctly analyzed the clauses and phrases of those sentences, which depends upon having recognized the component words of those units, which depends upon having recognized their component letters (Adams, 1982).On the local level, a

successful readers figure out unfamiliar vocabulary based on the linguistic context, by looking for cognates, and by using their knowledge of other similar words in English They also brake down the structure of sentences and try to identify phrases or chunks that are familiar and comprehensible

II.2.2.2-Top-down Model (global strategy):

Top-down model involves identifying main ideas, seeing how the new information fits with the overall text, using background knowledge, making predictions, or skimming ( Salataci & Akyel, 2002).This is the whole-to-part type According to Gove (1983), readers can understand a sentence or a paragraph even though they do not recognize each word through grammatical cues that can help identify unrecognized words For Gove (1983), aiming to get the meaning is the primary goal of reading rather than mastery of letters, letter/sound relationships, and words, and that the main focus of teaching and learning should be the reading of sentences,

paragraphs, and whole selections Thus, the top-down model considers that

the reading process is also serial, but contrary to the bottom-up model It begins from the highest unit such as semantic or syntactic aspects to the lowest unit such as words or letters What the reader has known has great effects on the reading comprehension On the global level, a successful reader invoke prior knowledge about a topic, make predictions, ask questions, confirm or disconfirm one’s beliefs, or use text structure to

organize ideas

II.2.2.3-Interactive Model

This model relates the bottom-up model to the top-down model, and tries to avoid the criticisms leveled against each It undertakes to consider the strong points of each model making it one of the most promising

approaches to the theory of reading today (McCormick & Thomas,1988) As presented by Goodman (1983), an interactive model is one which uses print

as input and has meaning as output The interactive model (Rumelhart, 1977; Stanovich, 1980) points out both what is on the written page and the meaning that the reader brings to it using both the top-down and bottom-up models The over-reliance on either the top-down and bottom-up processing

to the neglect of the other model has been found to result to reading problems for learners (Carrell 1988, p 239 It suggests that successful readers in fact use a combination of both the top-down and bottom-up Different texts may require different combination of the elements of two above -mentioned processes for the same reader Similarly , different readers may process the same text differently , depending on their prior knowledge and their knowledge of the target language.(Celce –Murcia & Marianne, 1991) Rumelhart assumes that the reading process is a two-directional interaction and both the reader’s linguistic and background knowledge have great effects on the reading process Over-reliance on either top-down or bottom-up processing to the neglect of the other may hamper readers Successful reading requires a mix of top-down and bottom-up processes (Carroll, 2000).Both the bottom-up and the top-down theories have their limits and they are not adequate in explaining many phenomena of the reading process In fact, an authentic reading process, strictly speaking, is neither bottom-up processing nor top-down processing It usually involves both kinds of processing

From the above discussions, it is seen that reading is not a passive process but an active one which language learners should master The reader reconstructs and creates meaning for the text In reading activities, different reading processes are activated for different reading purposes People need to develop their reading ability so as to read efficiently and benefit from the

wealth of information in the present world For English learners, especially dentist learners, it is essential to read well in English Reading is probably the most important skill in learning a foreign language as reading in another language allows for one more channel of communication and for an important source of input

II.3- Reading Comprehension

II.3.1-What is Reading Comprehension?

“Reading for comprehension is reading in order to master the total message

of the writer, both main point and supporting details It is that stage of understanding at which the reader is able to paraphrase the author’s ideas but has not yet made a critical evaluation of those ideas This type of reading is primary concern of most reading classes.”( Michael II.Long ,1987)

According to the above citation, the necessity in reading comprehension is that a reader is able to extract the required information from the text The first task of the reader is to realize the writer’s intention in the text and then paraphrase the ideas to himself or to others It is unnecessary for him to comment or give the ideas about the text at this stage

In the next stage, the reader then is skilled to connect the new information provided in the text to his prior background knowledge He may critically evaluate the ideas conveyed in the text (Anderson & Pearson, 1984)

“If we say that a student is good at comprehension, we mean that he can accurately and efficiently, so as to get the maximum information from the text with the minimum of misunderstanding We may also mean that he is able to show his understanding by re-expressing the content of the text ” (Swan, 1990)

In order to comprehend a reading passage best, a reader has to apply different reading strategies as effectively as possible When he is able to paraphrase or re- express the content of the passage, he is said to understand

it If the required information is not extracted the reader can not get a clear idea of the overall meaning of the text That means he is considered shortage

of reading skills to become an independent reader In addition, the language

in the text (words or expressions…) may influence a great deal to understand

the text and defective reading habit may lead to failure in comprehension

Reading comprehension - techniques for improving students' success in extracting useful knowledge from text (Mayer, p.34) In order to extract it, readers need to realize the writer’s intention in the text and interpret the

idea(s) to understand As defined by “Partnership for Reading” (2005),

reading comprehension is understanding a text that is read, or the process of

"constructing meaning" from a text Comprehension is a "construction process" because it involves all of the elements of the reading process

working together Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize

words quickly and effortlessly If word recognition is difficult, readers use too much of their processing capacity to read individual words, which

interferes with their ability to comprehend what is read Reading

comprehension is simply the degree of comprehension of a writing which calls for mental frameworks for holding ideas, motivation, concentration and good study methods How then can we deepen our level of understanding of what we read? One way is by reading more It is supposed that all of us have experienced having a teacher telling us how important reading is Read the news, read anything you can get your hands on or whatever sparks your interest, so as to broaden your reading background Look at how paragraphs are constructed You will most often find the gist in the first sentence, but watch out for topic changes within the whole text Foresee what the author has in mind Your understanding will be strengthened if your assumptions

are correct Talk about the ideas with other people to deepen your interest and motivation to comprehend Observe the pictures, the headings, the first and last paragraphs in a chapter These serve as reinforcing cues leading to more understanding Jot down notes, summarize, mark or highlight important words to help you remember important points Do not miss out the opportunity to look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary After all these, if the meaning as a whole still doesn’t register, it is most beneficial to reread the work

II.3.2-Schema Theory and Reading Comprehension

II.3.2.1-Schema Theory

What is a schema? Schema is basically the available background or stored knowledge that we have Schemata are the reader's "concepts, beliefs, expectations, processes - virtually everything from past experiences that are used in making sense of what we read In reading, schemata are used to make sense of text; the printed word evokes the reader's experiences, as well

as past and potential relationships" (as quoted by reading specialist John McNeil, 1992, p.20).Then, in the late 1970s, the schema theory was put forward, which is a development of the interactive model and stresses more

on the reader’s schematic knowledge, that is, the reader’s already acquired knowledge The reading process is considered to be the interaction between the reader’s schematic knowledge and the text, and the reader’s active role in

the reading process is more stressed Developed by Anderson, a respected

educational psychologist, the schema theory is widely approved and recognized as the major element in reading comprehension The author relies

on the fact that a reader’s background, prior knowledge, or mental structures that represent his understanding of the world has an inevitable strong influence on incoming learning Nist and Mealey (1991) made mention of

correct “slots” where new information is put into, depending on which slot is most closely related to this fresh incoming idea This confirms that reading is indeed an interactive activity where the reader derives the meaning by processing the text into these “slots” When new information is introduced, it not only must be compatible with one of the slots in the memory, but it must actually be placed into the proper slot before comprehension can be presented Therefore, if there are no slots related to it at all, comprehension will be more difficult than otherwise Schemata, with the exception of deep-seated schemata, change to more complex ones as new information is acquired Someone with deep-seated schemata or who strongly holds on to deeply-held belief would rather live with disparity rather than merge the

new idea to give rise to an improved schema

II.3.2.2-Types of Schema

The two types of schemata much discoursed in reading research are

formal schemata and content schemata According to Carrell (1987), formal schemata is where a reader can anticipate how pieces of textual data will relate to each other and in what order details will arise For example, in a Sherlock-Holmes-type of narration, a reader could presuppose the following occurrences: A crime takes place, possible suspects are pinpointed, clues are found, and the criminal is caught Content schemata is the other kind of schemata This comprises of our background or prior knowledge about the cultural conformance or content of a passage For example, some readers might know that Dr Jose Rizal is the national hero of the Philippines who was executed because of his so-called subversive published texts that inspired the Philippine Revolution in the 19th century Such content schemata, because of culture orientation, aid the reader to comprehend and recall more than the readers with less familiarity with the text content (Carrell, Devine & Eskey, 1988)

Other types of schema are as follows:

- Self-schemata are what we see ourselves as or what we perceive

we could ideally become

- Person schemata are about different kinds of people, like students

or doctors

- Role schemata are about proper behaviors in given situations,

like, “What would a priest do in this situation?”

- Event schemata are about what happens in specific situations,

for example, proper etiquette in a fine dining restaurant

II.3.2.3- Schemata and Reading Comprehension

Using the applicable schema to enhance reading instruction lets students access reading with experiences that they are already accustomed to; it helps in the obtainment, storage, and procuring of meaningful information In the reading process, awakening of prior knowledge is necessary as a pre-reading activity By activating the proper schemata prior

to the reading experience, students reconstruct what they already know or have experienced This leads to the perception of the written text Success or failure of understanding the topic can be related to the suitable activation of schema prior to the reading process The inability to comprehend what is being read occurs most likely when the student has no prior knowledge or

experience with the subject matter ( Rumelhart, 1980)

II.4 Effective Readers and Ineffective Readers

II.4.1-The Difference between Effective Readers and Ineffective Readers

An awareness of the various effective and ineffective reading

strategies can aid the instructor to apply effective reading practices in

learners, rally the wider use of these strategies, and be observant of learners operating on less effective strategies If one can select the correct system or strategy for the purpose and text, then he is an effective reader It appears in

most studies that effective readers are those who:

- adjust to materials at hand and quickly fit their “ attack ” skills to

the type of texts

- abandon non-successful strategies and select new ones

- make constant adjustments to the text by recruiting background

knowledge

- combine top –down and bottom –up techniques in the most

efficient and most expedient way

- are not only effective strategy users but also effective decoders

- continuously match old and new information and experience, both

at the global and local level

- detect the characteristic features in letters, words and meaning

- are acquainted with the explicit and implied correlation between

sentences and paragraph

- are able decipher the meaning of unfamiliar words from context

- attempt to recognize meaning rather than letters or words

- disregard remote alternatives through inference and prediction

- have a clearly defined aim or direction

- can pinpoint topic sentences

- apply their schema

- tell the difference between main points from subordinate ones, and

verifiable truth from opinion

On the other hand, some manifestations of ineffective reading are:

- unsuitable translation

- word-by-word reading which consumes too much time and demands a

high level of engagement

- erroneous linguistic examination

- paying attention to unfamiliar words which are not appropriate to the

objective of reading

- 'mouthing', or moving your lips while you read or even vocalization

- Poor evaluation of which aspects are important and which aren’t

- insufficient practice time allotted for reading

II.4.2- List of Common Reading Strategies

Some reading strategies that can aid learners to read faster and

effectually include :

- Previewing: reviewing titles, section headings, and photo captions to

be able to grasp the structure and content of a reading material

- Skimming: selectively processing a text in order to gain the main

idea(s)

- Scanning: locating specific information quickly, and therefore

identify text structure

- Predicting: making assumptions based on the content and

vocabulary to predict the discourse structure; using information about the

writer to anticipate the writing style, vocabulary, and content

- Inferring from context: using background knowledge of the idea and

the topic in the text as signs to knowing the meanings of unfamiliar words ,

and not having to check the dictionary for every new word

- Clustering: showing a graphic organizer that aids students acquire

basic perception of the subject matter and the related concepts Clustering is also called mapping and webbing

- Paraphrasing: convey the information and ideas in the text in your

own words to check your comprehension of the text

From the above points, the effective reader uses most of the reading strategies to his advantage while the ineffective reader is either ignorant of the reading strategies or deliberately fails to utilize these strategies Even language teachers are often disheartened that students do not automatically shift the strategies they use when reading in their native language to reading

in a language they are trying to become well-versed at It may be drawn that readers could be disciplined and trained to use reading strategies, which is now a rising need among readers and that the use of applicable strategies

may improve reading comprehension

or applying imagery, have a particular objective: assisting students accumulate and retrieve new information Cognitive strategies, like condensing or reasoning deductively, capacitate learners to interpret and render new language by many different techniques Compensation strategies, such as guessing or using synonyms, enable learners to use the language regardless of their often colossal gaps in knowledge (Oxford, 1990) Indirect

strategies are sectioned into meta-cognitive, affective, and social cognitive strategies let learners master their own understanding, meaning, they correlate the learning process by using utilities such as arranging, centering, evaluating and planning Affective strategies assist in monitoring attitudes, feelings, and motivations Social strategies help students learn by way of communicating with others All these strategies further language learning without, often times, directly drawing in the target language , and are beneficial in almost all language learning conditions and are relevant to all language skills (Oxford, 1990)

Meta-Because dental material belongs to medical field, and English for dentist is part of English For Specific Purpose( ESP), it is necessary to go through what relate to ESP

II.5 English for Specific Purpose

II.5.1-What is ESP?

As we can see from the tree of ELT that ESP is one branch of EFL /ESL and differs to General English ( GE ) although ESP and GE come from ELT ,which are concerned with communication and learning Hutchinson and Waters (1987) do note that there is not a clear-cut distinction between EAP and EOP: "people can work and study simultaneously; it is also likely that in many cases the language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used later when the student takes up, or returns to,

a job" (p 16) Perhaps this explains Carter's rationale for categorizing EAP and EOP under the same type of ESP It appears that Carter is implying that the end purpose of both EAP and EOP are one in the same: employment However, despite the end purpose being identical, the means taken to achieve the end is very different indeed Given that EAP and EOP are

English for Academic English for Occupational EAP EOP EAP EOP

Purposes (EAP) Purposes (EOP)

English for Science English for Business English for Social

and Technology (EST) and Economics (EBE ) Science (ESS)

Secondary (high school)

Primary

English for Specific General English (GE)

Purpose (ESP)

English as a Foreign Language (EFL)

(ESL can be divided in

the same way as EFL)

different in terms of focus on Cummins' (1979) notions of cognitive academic proficiency versus basic interpersonal skills

“ ESP must be seen as an approach , not a product ”, ( p19) In language teaching, ESP is based on the learners’ s reason for learning Since the use

of the language varies from context to context, English instructors have been pressured to adapt to meeting the needs of the learners in their specific environment They have advocated ESP teaching as an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reasons for learning ( Hutchinson & Waters, 1987 ).The reasons are that many ESP students throughout the world are scientists and engineers, and because a vast number of scientific books and papers are printed in English and that science, especially at the discourse level, is more regular across languages (Johns, 1991) EPS is a course aimed at learning English for the purposes and requirements and the functions for which English is needed ESP students are usually adults who already have some familiarity with English and are further becoming versed in the language in order to communicate in and better understand more the advancements in their varied professions and to carry out specific job-related responsibilities ESP makes use of the fundamental methodology and undertakings of the field specialization it serves It is focused not only on the language (grammar, lexis, register), but also the proficiencies, discourses and genres appropriate to those activities (Dudley-Evans & Johns 2001) An overview

of the ESP illustrates the important role of ESP in the education of English

as a foreign/second language)

II.5.2 - Characteristics of ESP Courses

The characteristics of ESP courses identified by Carter (1983) are

discussed here He states that there are three features common to ESP courses: a) authentic material, b) purpose-related orientation, and c) self-direction

If we revisit Dudley-Evans' (1997) claim that ESP should be offered at

an intermediate or advanced level, use of authentic learning materials is entirely feasible Closer examination of ESP materials will follow; suffice it

to say at this juncture that use of authentic content materials, modified or unmodified in form, are indeed a feature of ESP, particularly in self-directed study and research tasks For Language Preparation for Employment in the Health Sciences, a large component of the student evaluation was based on

an independent study assignment in which the learners were required to investigate and present an area of interest The students were encouraged to conduct research using a variety of different resources, including the Internet Purpose-related orientation refers to the simulation of communicative tasks required of the target setting Carter (1983) cites student simulation of a conference, involving the preparation of papers, reading, note-taking, and writing At Algonquin College, English for business courses have involved students in the design and presentation of a unique business venture, including market research, pamphlets and logo creation The students have presented all final products to invited ESL classes during a poster presentation session For the health science program, students attended a seminar on improving their listening skills They practised listening skills, such as listening with empathy, and then employed their newly acquired skills during a fieldtrip to a local community centre where they were partnered up with English-speaking residents

Finally, self-direction is characteristic of ESP courses in that the " point of including self-direction is that ESP is concerned with turning learners into users" (Carter, 1983, p 134) In order for self-direction to occur, the learners must have a certain degree of freedom to decide when, what, and how they will study Carter (1983) also adds that there must be a systematic attempt by teachers to teach the learners how to learn by teaching them about learning strategies Is it necessary, though, to teach high-ability learners such as those enrolled in the health science program about learning strategies? It is said that it is not Rather, what is essential for these learners

is learning how to access information in a new culture

II.5.3-The Importance of Teaching Reading Strategies to ESP Learners

To enhance the learners’ motivation towards English learning, an ESP approach, which combines language practice with a learner’s subject knowledge, is assumed one of possible alternatives as suggested by Jordan (2002).Taking another look at reading strategies, Carrell (1996) has recognized the range of metacognitive elements (declarative, procedural and conditional) employed in many of the studies Metacognitive recognition appears to be a key in skilled reading: it is not simply a matter of utilizing advantageous strategies but of doing so purposively (Devine, 1993) This calls for knowledge of approaches for processing tests, the competence to monitor comprehension and the ability to make the necessary modifications

to strategies Effective readers are able to monitor and remodel strategies conforming to their intention for reading and the type of text they are reading

(Block, 1986)

II.5.4- Successful ESP Learners

What conditions may help lead to greater success for ESP learners? Courses designed according to learners’ needs are more motivating and thus educationally more effective (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987) Namely, a successful ESP course or project should start with the learners’ needs Just

as Bloor (1986) stated, as long as learners’ needs are satisfied, the goals of ESP courses are more likely to be achieved Compared to general language teaching which tends to focus on core structures and linguistic elements to form the base of language competence, an ESP program addresses the learners’ short-term need for current operations; that is, the need to function effectively in the English language The reason is because teachers want the skills learned to be transferable to students’ other science matters Hutchinson and Waters (1988) emphasized that ESP teaching should target developing learners’ underlying competence, which is factual as well as linguistic knowledge This competence is fundamental to the whole teaching-learning process that enables learners to extract new knowledge For example, ESP for mechanical engineering students should target both language skills for engineering studies and knowledge-based concepts from engineering fields, such as that of applied mechanics, mechanical design and manufacturing, thermal fluid, and control systems There should be well-educated ESP teachers They should be trained and prepared in the areas related to linguistic competence literacy and cultural knowledge The ESP teachers need having special characteristics , good qualities in professional field in order to cultivate in the learners so that they can succeed in English learning

To be successful ESP learners, students are required to have the fundamental study skills and implement reading strategies with an active learning attitude in advance Language learners must be accountable for their

own training and learning and every class discussion must be a two-way process Students learning ESP should not hesitate to approach the lecturers and professors who will be more than glad to answer questions, even if the question is asked in the student’s mother tongue The answer would most surely be in English, of course Some students tend to be apprehensive, passive and choose to just listen rather than take an active part in the discussions To be a successful ESP student, one must come out of their

shell, do away with shyness and start speaking

II.6–The Important Role of English Language in Dental Field in

Vietnam

According to Ray and Yanagihara (2005) and Spring (2006) the knowledge of the English language is very essential especially in the global economy The movement of information and labor is facilitated by the use of

a language that is accepted and understood by all Therefore, dentists in Vietnam would benefit a great deal in their profession if they learnt English and were able to understand it fully This is because they will be able to read materials written in English and understand them They will further be able

to travel and participate in international dentistry forums and learn a great deal from others in the same profession Spring (2006) says that the English language has linked nations making the world a global village as people are able to understand each other and can thus carry out various transactions extending across borders

Learning the English language through ESP has become increasingly

valuable because there has been intensification in vocational training and learning throughout the world The increasing use of English as the language

of international communication has emerged with the onset of globalization

More and more people are using English in a growing number of occupational contexts, and as stated in Chapter 1, materials mostly written in English coming from various regions in the world, especially from the developed nations, will be very beneficial in informing the Vietnamese dentists on the various happenings around the globe This will enable these

dentists to best serve their patients and improve their practices

Waxler-Morrison (2005) and Bartecchi (2007) both agree that there are many challenges associated with the limited knowledge of the English language especially in the medical field This is because healthcare is universal, thus most medical practices implemented in a certain country will

be applicable elsewhere So it is important for a dentist to keep abreast with all the medical inventions as they will also improve the healthcare services for patients in their country Being able to read and understand medical journals, or attend seminars and learn new skills is the essence of every dentist Therefore, it has been very difficult for Vietnamese dentists to comprehend fully materials written in English and this has limited the provision of essential services Most are unable to follow seminar proceedings conducted in English due to their limited knowledge of the English Language As Baum and Henkel (2004) write, such forums benefit doctors very much as they are able to interact with their peers and share ideas and also market their practices

II.7- Summary

Chapter II has reviewed the relevant literatures necessary for the theoretical basis of the survey, highlighting the concepts of reading, reading comprehension and English for Specific Purpose, and the challenge of limited knowledge of the English language among Vietnamese dentists The review of these relevant literatures will be of great use for the understanding

of the study design and the analysis of data collected in the next chapters

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY

The aim of this research is to identify ability in reading and comprehending dental materials written in English faced by dentists An understanding of the methodology employed in a research especially for this one is critical in developing acceptable findings for the end of the study It is essential that the methodology used is developed in a manner that factorizes the need for accuracy and acceptability of the results This chapter provides a clear oversight of the methodology that was assimilated to determine how effective it was in generating the correct results for analysis, discussion and recommendations This chapter describes the methodology used in the current research project The first section of the chapter presents the research questions The second one introduces the research design with a description

of research method, the subjects, instruments and data collection

III.1-Research questions

According to Bridger (2003), research methodology forms a major step towards developing the necessary recommendations based on key objectives In this case therefore, the study attempted to find out the answers

of the following question, which was also the major guiding platform to maintain the objectivities and purpose in the study:

How can dentists read and comprehend dental materials written in English?

III.2- Research design

III.2.1- Research method

Bryman (2008) views quantitative approach as normally being directed towards the comprehension of a specific problem in society or a certain organization The quantitative data enables a researcher to generalize

the findings from a sample of responses to a population (Crewell, 1994) This is only a survey, for this respect, the methodology employed in the study was the quantitative approach Information was collected by administering the questionnaire to respondents and returning it to the researcher directly, and the findings were presented in percentages

III.2.2- Research subjects

According to Colin (2002), a research conducted in the real world gives a researcher the advantage of getting data which adds to higher validity and acceptability of the final results Colin (2002) adds that data from the real world is usually compatible with most of other data assimilated using other methods Hopefully, the research was targeting practicing dentists who were working in hospitals and also having their own private practices

The ability of any research to generate the most acceptable results is based on its ability to use a highly diverse sample that incorporates various dimensions of the research problem (Kvale, 2007) The study employed simple random sampling in selecting the dentists to represent others in the sampling frame Bryman (2008) indicates that use of random sampling method reduces the levels of bias that can be assimilated during the study In this respect, a sample of 80 respondents was sought All of them from the five leading dental departments in Ho Chi Minh city were busy dentists working full time in hospitals and at their private practices in the evening

By drawing the samples from different hospitals, different techniques employed by these dentists towards the quest to be totally proficient in English were assessed The researcher further sought to promote acceptability of the results by including dentists who were relatively new in the dentistry field and those who had more experience in the practice The reason for selecting dentists from these five departments is because the standard in rural regions is generally lower than that in urban ones,

especially in fields that require technological and professional knowledge The same goes to dental departments in lower-level hospitals (eg district hospitals or provincial ones…) although there are sometimes outstanding individuals but they are of a negligible number, since apart from the limited English skills, they are not strongly motivated to improve their English capacities as well as provided opportunities to come into contact with foreign specialists or documents

concurrency on favorability of ESP(question 8 ); the real situation on the dentists’ reading ability (question 9 ); the importance of proficiency in

reading and comprehending dental materials (question 10 ); the benefits of proficient communication affecting on their career (question 11); the dentists’ attitude on the present English training program at departments of foreign language in universities of health sciences? (question12); required international linguistic certificate for their dentistry license (question 13); the dentists’ opinion on necessity of interpreting English materials into Vietnamese (question14)

As a matter of fact, 250 copies of the questionnaire were issued However, only 80 responses were collected The difference in expected and

actual numbers reflected an alarming reality For some reasons, 170 dentists did not answer the questionnaire Perhaps some of them probably were too busy with their practices and the rest of the 170 did not take the survey seriously and / or were not concerned about this problem at all Thus, 80 respondents may represent the dentists from these five departments to extent because they really cared about the problem and wished to do something about it

III.2.4 – Data collection

In his review of research methods employed by researchers, Parahoo (2006) acknowledges that the ability of any researcher to generate the correct recommendations is based on the ability to collect relevant and precise data

in the field These sentiments are shared by Cooper and Robertson (2002) who write that the ability to employ the correct methods of collecting data is the key to success in any research Since the study took place in one professional field, the designed questionnaire was directly administered to the dentists Though sending the questionnaires might facilitate the respondents seeking possible assistance from the other members of their profession, a notion might deter personal opinion, it was considered a plus in this study for enhancing further representation of others in the group By using these questionnaire surveys, Cohen, Manion and Morrison (2000) indicate that unlike other methods, the surveys are able to generate vast information from the respondents

According to Depoy and Stephen (2007), it is critical that researchers address all the ethical issues relating to their studies Failure to address major issues involved in a study acts as a key undoing factor in generating high levels of acceptance and reliability To begin with, this study sought to provide maximum levels of confidentiality to the dentists who were involved in the main sampling frame Under this consideration,

the surveys did not constitute the names of the dentists or even the hospitals they were working for or the names of their private practice location details Returning questionnaire was directly posting to the researcher and thereby avoiding their responses going into the wrong hands By confirming this consideration, the dentists were able to give correct information without fear

of victimization In addition, the report was also void of personal hospital views that could lead to further victimization or a sense of sabotage (Fisher and Lovell, 2006 and James & Wendi 2007)

To ensure that the dentists did not get away from their jobs where one was paid on the basis of the number of hours an individual worked, filling the questionnaire on their own time especially after work was accepted If the surveys took place during the working hours, not only would the respondents loose, but the hospital as well Reducing these losses therefore was essential taking onto consideration that this study was based

on the need to raise productivity and profitability of both the employees and the organization

Notably, results nature and presentation are critical in facilitating the reader to effectively understand them (Chava & David, 2007) Surely, the results of what have been got from the questionnaire were presented in percentages representing the different views of the dentists in relation to the topic of research The importance and interest to those in the dentistry were the final general outcome The drawn final consideration for the study was established from the result finding and communicated to the dentists through the hospitals or their private practices

In summary, this survey was conducted with 80 dentists from five leading dental departments in Ho Chi Minh city and based on the guiding research question The survey used quantitative data collection and the instrument designed using questionnaire were in an effort to investigate