2.4. READING DIFFICULTIES AND FACTORS INFLUENCING
2.4.2. Factors influencing reading difficulties
Reading difficulties and factors influencing reading difficulties have been widely investigated in the domain of foreign language learning, the current study only focused on linguistic and non-linguistic factors.
2.4.2.1. Linguistic factors
2.4.2.1.1. Lack of vocabulary knowledge
Vocabulary knowledge and the capacity of vocabulary are essential elements for students‟ effective reading comprehension (Roehrig and Guo, 2011; Nezami, 2012). Hudson (2007, p. 227) also states that “vocabulary is a considerable factor in reading ability. Consequently, it appears that a large vocabulary can facilitate reading comprehension.” Reading comprehension and vocabulary are inextricably linked because knowing the meaning of words has a direct effect on knowing the meaning of the text. Students with limited vocabulary have difficulties in recognizing key words in reading texts, which might negatively affect their reading comprehension. When students are engaged in reading a text where they encounter a large number of unfamiliar words, they might think that the language of the text is difficult and that may stop them from understanding the text as a whole. Nassaji (2014) highlights the importance of word recognition skills in order to recognize and access the meaning of the print. In other words, the ability to infer the meaning of unknown words from text is an important reading skill (Alderson, 2000). Consistently, Koda (2005) cautions against the premature implementation of higher-level processes such as focusing on ideas across sentences with learners who still struggle with word meaning extraction because this can have a negative impact on L2 learners and may lead to confusion and frustration. Furthermore, researchers (Verhoeven, 2003;
Schoonen, Hulstijn, & Bossers, 1998; Qian, 2002) indicated that students with limited vocabulary knowledge tend to get trouble with words with multiple meanings. They cannot justify which meaning is the best choice for their interpretation of reading meaning.
There is a strong relationship between vocabulary size and reading
comprehension (Kieffer & Lesaux, 2012). Students who cannot recognize too many words in a text probably face more difficulties in reading comprehension than other students. Texts that contain many unfamiliar words can be challenging even for the advanced level students especially if word meanings are central to comprehension (Kuzborska, 2012; Snowling & Hulme, 2005).
Therefore, applying the skill of locating the key words in a text can cover students‟ vocabulary weaknesses when they read (Lehr & Osborn, 2001;
Roehrig & Guo, 2011). In addition, contextualization of vocabulary is a key element for understanding a text. Foley and Thompson (2003, p. 208) state that
“[l]earners must be able to contextualize a text.” Ur (2005) also encourages learners to try to guess the meaning of the incomprehensible vocabulary from the surrounding context and to focus on the significant bits of the text.
Both intensive reading and extensive reading at the students' level can lead to vocabulary enrichment and word development (Rashidi and Piran, 2011). According to Rivers (2000), teachers can aid their students in extracting meaning of texts in an interactive way when they follow these techniques:
1) to discuss possible meaning of new vocabulary, and use synonyms and antonyms in the target language;
2) to encourage students to work at meaning through morphological analysis and think of related stems and examining prefixes and suffixes;
3) to paraphrase phrases in which the unfamiliar words occur;
4) to make use of the context about structural as well as semantic elements and encourage students to draw inferences from them;
5) to demonstrate parallelism with native-language structures where applicable.
Although the above-mentioned techniques can be practical and effective, some of them might be difficult to apply because of the radical differences between English and Vietnamese languages. Moreover, these techniques need to be applied by well-qualified teachers who have the linguistic ability (in syntax, semantics, phonology and morphology) and the understanding of students‟
reading difficulties and causes of reading difficulties.
Cain (2010) argues that knowledge of the meanings of words in a text is an indicator of reading comprehension, but Chun (2001) claims that L2 learners with low proficiency in their second language rely more on vocabulary knowledge than learners with high proficiency. Thus, it can be debated whether comprehending a text is guaranteed once a reader understands the meanings of all the key words without any prior knowledge about the topic and without understanding how words are put together in sentences.
2.4.2.1.2. Lack of grammar knowledge
Grammar knowledge represents the ability to recognize and use the grammatical structures of a language (Chik et al., 2012). Grammar knowledge can predict reading comprehension (Guo et al., 2011). Consistently, Nergis (2013) emphasizes the significance of the grammar knowledge of L2 learners in their reading comprehension. Guo et al. (2011) identify two levels of grammar knowledge: low-level and high-level syntactic abilities. Low-level grammar knowledge includes the awareness of the sentence as a basic unit of language, knowledge about grammatical acceptability and how well sentences are formed, and judgements about the relations between syntactic structure and semantic properties of sentences. On the other hand, high-level syntactic abilities are related to the ability to identify and formulate the rules of syntax and the ability to control and reflect on one‟s performance and knowledge of
syntactic rules and structures. This knowledge might affect the ease or difficulty of texts that L2 readers encounter (Hudson, 2007).
Trying to emphasize the importance of grammar in L2 reading, Grabe (2009) lists some roles that grammar can play in facilitating reading comprehension. Some of these roles are disambiguating ideas, tracking referents, timing the events, and providing information about content through the way words and sentences are ordered. Such grammatical roles provide important information needed for text comprehension and interpretation.
Therefore, if L2 learners lack grammar knowledge, they encountered significant difficulties in understanding reading texts.
Snowling and Hulme (2005) highlight the effectiveness of adopting a high coherence standard in developing comprehension to higher levels and supporting interest in reading. Establishing text coherence is fundamental for successful reading comprehension, and the use of connectives is an important system to convey structural organization that expresses underlying relational information of text (Koda, 2005). In other words, mastering the use of connectives represents the learner‟s ability in understanding and, hence, making use of logical meanings between clauses exemplified by a range of connectives. Thus, connectives are important syntactic devices that may enhance learners‟ comprehension.
Furthermore, many students have problems with reading comprehension and understanding text organization because they fail to understand the English syntax. In addition, there is a big difference between English and Vietnamese sentence formulas and word order. While in English adjectives precede nouns in Vietnamese they follow nouns. Research in the Vietnamese EFL context shows the contribution of linguistic deficiency of many students to their poor comprehension when reading English texts. For
instance, through a study carried out by Tran Quoc Thao and Duong My Tham (2017) on Vietnamese students, he reported that students face difficulty in understanding the grammatical structure of some texts and in distinguishing main ideas from secondary ideas in texts, which contributes to their poor reading comprehension. In line with this, based on a study conducted in an Algerian university to investigate some students‟ reading comprehension problems, Ho Van Chung (2016) attributes the students‟
comprehension difficulties to their linguistic problems mainly in grammar and vocabulary. The problem of inadequate reading comprehension seems to be similar in different parts of the Vietnamese EFL context.
Concerning the text structure as an element of grammar, to recognize text organization means to be able to identify the internal structure of sentences and textual pattern, which may enable the reader to predict the likely values of sentences; and this in turn will help them to interpret difficult texts. According to Lo et al. (2013, p. 413), text structure “refers to the way the writers organise information in text”. Zarrati et al. (2014) identify two kinds of information in texts: content information and structural information.
While readers use content information to construct a meaningful mental representation of a text, they use structural information to organise the content and thus facilitate the process of making meaning of a text. Thus, knowledge of text structure is important for comprehension (Hudson, 2007; Cain, 2010).
The identification of how the text is organised and how the ideas hang together makes it easier to interpret difficult sentences (Nuttall, 2005). A reading text will probably be like a puzzle to the readers who are unable to recognise how it is organised and how the ideas in a text are structured.
Mobalegh and Saljooghian (2012) suggest that cohesion is one of the aspects that show how well-organised a passage is. They identify five kinds of
cohesive ties: reference, substitution, ellipsis, conjunction, and lexical cohesion. Reference means interpreting something in a text by referring to something else; substitution is replacing an item by another; ellipsis is omitting an item which is not key in a text; conjunctions are devices that express certain meanings; and lexical cohesion is related to selecting vocabulary. The consistency of thinking and knowledge of text structure and organisation are helpful in facilitating reading comprehension. Conclusively, the lack of the grammar knowledge is one of the major causes explaining EFL students‟ difficulties in dealing with reading comprehension tasks.
2.4.2.2. Non-linguistic factors
2.4.2.2.1. Lack of background knowledge
There are always some gaps of information in any piece of texts, and it is claimed that the reader will fill up these gaps with shared knowledge by both the writer and the reader. Background knowledge is the knowledge that a person acquires from the different experiences she/he has. While reading, readers activate their relevant existing background knowledge and insert new information into them. The reader calls to mind any relevant experiences and associated knowledge that s/he already has, and it helps him/her interpret the text more clearly (Alderson, 2010). Thus, the previous knowledge of a reader on a topic largely affects their understanding and interpreting of a text. In other words, insufficient background knowledge leads to EFL students‟
failure to read and interpret reading texts. Nuttall (2005) has suggested that students‟ background knowledge and shared assumptions should be promoted to improve reading skills. Thus, transferring prior knowledge into the reading environment and using strategies throughout the reading process enhance the reading environment and reading comprehension (Akyol et al., 2014).
Because background knowledge involves individual experience, Zhao and
Zhu (2012) argue that it attracts students to reading through raising their interest, increasing their reading speed and helping them make proper judgements. This means that when readers lack the appropriate prior knowledge, they will face difficulties in understanding what they read.
Koda (2005) states that readers‟ comprehension of a text occurs when they extract and integrate various information from the text and combine it with their previous knowledge. Similarly, Alderson (2010, p. 103) believes that “what readers know will affect what they understand when reading". This argument is supported by McEntire (2013) who says that when reading, readers‟ prior knowledge and experience affect their reading comprehension of the text being read. It is noteworthy that prior knowledge and experience are very effective in learners‟ reading comprehension. When EFL learners lack background knowledge, they will find it difficult to comprehend a text (Lipka & Siegel, 2012). The question here is: what should teachers do if their students‟ background knowledge is so insufficient that they are unreliable to help them interpret a text efficiently? Teaching reading comprehension in these circumstances is challenging.
2.4.2.2.2. Lack of content knowledge
According to Zhao and Zhu (2012), there are three types of schema of foreign language learners, including linguistic schema, formal schema and content schema. Linguistic schema includes prior knowledge about phonetics, grammar and vocabulary. It should be mentioned that a reader‟s linguistic schema does not guarantee understanding the message of a writer in a text but it facilitates understanding it. Formal schema is the knowledge of different text genres and their language and structural organization. Content schema refers to the background knowledge and cultural knowledge about the topic of a reading text. Among the three types, content schema is considered as the
most important one as lacking this kind of knowledge most negatively affects the reader‟ interpretation of texts.
Since content knowledge contains both content-based and language- based knowledge, EFL learners are required to be good at a specific field of knowledge and language. The reality, nonetheless, has shown that EFL learners often suffer from various problems ranging from acquiring the content to mastering language. It is further pointed out that EFL learners who struggle to comprehend the content have limited knowledge of language must (Ho Van Chung, 2016; Pulido, 2004), and those who cannot tackle content in depth cannot recall information learned or locate information explicitly stated in a text (Abdulghani, 1993).
Recent studies (Ali, 2012; Mehdi & Mansoor, 2013; Rosyidah; 2013) have recognized different obstacles of reading comprehension. Rosyidah (2013) conducted a study determining the students‟ difficulties in reading comprehension and their efforts to solve those difficulties. The results of the study showed that difficulties faced by the students in reading were from language and metalinguistic, phonological processing, word recognition problems, text-processing problems, lecturers, teaching methods or uninteresting instructions, and insufficient content knowledge in particular. In the context of Vietnam, different studies in foreign language learning (Ha Thi Thanh, 2011;
Nguyen Ngoc An, Pham Cam Tu & Nguyen Thi Van Anh, 2016) have been found. Most recently, Nguyen et al. (2016) conducted a study to analyze the difficulties of reading comprehension encountered by law students and found that in-depth content knowledge is the major obstacle for their understanding.
2.4.2.2.3. Lack of reading strategies
Lack of effective reading strategy is identified as one of the significant factors affecting reading comprehension efficiency among EFL learners in
higher institutions (Koda, 2007). This area has attracted a lot of research into L1 and L2 acquisition and reading. Proper strategies need to be followed to achieve the desired goal rather than focusing on assessment as a tool to enhance comprehension skills (AlJamal, Hawamlehm, & AlJamal, 2013).
Lack of reading exercises among students and training among teachers might be responsible for the poor outcome in terms of reading skills among students, which could result in poor academic performance (Abdelrahman & Bsharah, 2014; Alroud, 2015).
Research has shown that teachers spend very little time teaching comprehension strategies. Instead, they focus on asking literal questions, assigning workbook pages, and giving directions (Block & Israel, 2015).
According to Put Reading First 15 developed by the Centre for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement (CIERA), multiple research studies have indicated improved reading comprehension by implementing various reading strategies (Adler, 2011). Comprehension strategies which include modelling, the think-aloud process, inferring, summarizing, making connections, questioning, and predicting should be implemented as early as kindergarten (Block & Israel, 2015). A variety of reading strategies are required to comprehend reading materials. Without effective reading strategies, students mostly face reading comprehension difficulties.
2.4.2.2.4. Psychological factors
Grigg and Mann (2008) asserted that a reader and a text are the factors influencing EFL students‟ reading comprehension. Among the reader factors, psychological factors are playing a crucial part in the process of reading. In educational system, psychological factors which have been widely acknowledged by the researchers could be viewed as an important element in assessing students‟ academic failure (Lee & Shute, 2010; Zins et al., 2004).
Understanding of a text may vary between readers, because not only do they come from different motivation, but also their psychological perspective and purpose of reading are varied. As pointed out by Guthrie and Wigfield (1997), attitude toward reading is defined as a person‟s feeling on the basis of reading, which will cause the learner to either approach or avoid a process of reading. Harris and Sipay (1990) agreed that students‟ attitude to reading played a significant role in both their reading attainment and their choice of being voluntary to read. Farnan (1996) stated that a factor that influences reading achievement of the readers is their attitude toward reading.
Furthermore, for several decades, studies on anxiety and the strategic use of language learning have increased significantly. The reason being that anxiety is strongly and inversely related to language performance that students with higher proficiency experience less anxiety, than those suffering from low proficiency. Thus, anxiety is the result of various linguistic, cognitive, and affective factors including the pedagogical style, strategy, and attitudinal factors such as a reluctance to communicate, and also other aspects such as competition, and motivation (Liu, 2007; Saito et al., 1999; Yan &
Horwitz, 2008). Um, Tubsree, and Surasin (2013) examined students‟
perception toward English reading anxiety with respect to the gender and reading comprehension performance. The study also identified students‟
reading anxiety sources. Findings indicated that students were aware of their low level of anxiety and moderate effect of reading anxiety on their comprehension. The analysis of the obtained data revealed sources of reading anxiety that were classified into six categories, namely, texts linguistic features, environment, readers characteristic, texts physical appearance, time limitation, and instructors.
2.4.2.2.5. Institutional factors
Previous studies showed the influence of institutional factors, including curriculum, teaching pedagogy, and materials on students‟ reading comprehension. Many researchers such as Ahmadi and Gilakjani (2012), Stricklin (2011) and Ahmadi and Ismail (2012) believe that the teaching strategy is an important factor to improve reading comprehension. According to Ahmadi and Gilakjani (2012), the aim of teaching is to teach students particular strategies that they can apply to new texts. They highlight the effectiveness of teaching in enhancing the reading ability of both proficient and less proficient students. Furthermore, Stricklin (2011) lists a number of advantages for using teaching strategies in reading classes such as being appropriate for use with all text genres and any grade levels, being effective in increasing students‟ levels of reading comprehension, being a tool for raising students‟ confidence in their reading skills and making reading a source of enjoyment. Furthermore, Kửk (2010) and Sani and Zain (2011) also attempted to declare the effect of curricula designed on students‟ achievement in comprehension process and attitude toward English learning. Their findings also revealed that if schools‟ curricula are not appropriate, student‟s reading comprehension may be negatively influenced. Furthermore, while reading is shaped by textbooks in primary and high schools, at university level, it is usually the teachers‟ duty to select the materials for reading classes. For teaching reading comprehension skills, many lecturers often use general books for teaching English language such as „Headway‟, „New English File‟
and „English Straight Forward‟. Most of the content and material of these sources are culturally-oriented, which might make it difficult for students to understand the text efficiently (Pathan, 2012). The researcher revealed that teachers‟ selection of materials can also affect students' involvement in the class (Richards & Renandya, 2004).
2.4.2.2.6. Physical factors
According to Davoudi and Yousefi (2015), the environmental circumstances influence the learners‟ reading comprehension. They may have many difficulties in understanding reading materials in a disorganized environment. However, those in a peaceful and controlled environment may have more effective reading ability. Students in an insecure domicile find it difficult to concentrate on their reading. But if they find themselves in safe environments, efficiency in their reading comprehension tends to improve. It is proven that learners lose focus in reading comprehension in a noisy place such as areas with high volume of televisions or radios (Dennis, 2008).
Sounds and noise will be a negative factor for children about all skills not only reading comprehension skills. Noise/noise affects the brain, so the child's presentation results will be low( Evans & Lepore, 1993; Klatte et al., 2013).
Actually, the impact of noise on cognitive performance varies depending on the type of noise (acute, chronic noise) and task (reading, attention, memory) (Evans & Lepore, 1993; Klatte et al., 2013). When collapsing across the different types of noise, acute noise is more likely to impact attention and memory skills, whereas chronic noise is the most detrimental for language skills. Additionally, high and low room temperature will affect the results achieved by students when studying, reading and doing assignments. Indeed, in 2017, a Harvard graduate student analyzed data from 1999 to 2014, student‟s performance on a test they must pass to graduate and the temperature outside on test day. The test was typically administered in June when temperatures could be quite warm. The results showed that students were 12 percent more likely to fail their test if it was 90°F outside than if it was 72°F so classroom temperature affects children's ability to think and understand when reading. Furthermore, the influence of time on the decisions that students make about their academic reading, it is found that individuals