BANKING ACADEMY OF VIETNAM FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES GRADUATION THESIS A SURVEY ON PROBLEMS IN READING 2 OF ATC STUDENTS AT BANKING ACADEMY Student : Trieu Thi Huong Giang Class : K19-ATCD Academic year : 2016-2020 Student Code : 19A7510060 Supervisor : Ms. Tran Thi Thu Thuy (M.A) Hanoi, June 2020 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I declare that this graduation thesis named “A Survey on Problems in Reading 2 of ATC Students at Banking Academy” is the intellectual product of my own work. No part of this thesis has been submitted elsewhere as far as the author’s knowledge. All sources of information I used have been specified as completed references.
Hanoi, June 6th, 2020 (Author of thesis) Trieu Thi Huong Giang i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS After several months of hard work, my graduation thesis had been completed. Now it is high time to thank everyone warmly who provided their kind assistance to me. First of all, I would like to thank the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Banking Academy for giving me the opportunity and the trust for doing this thesis. I also would like to thank all teachers at Banking Academy for giving their valuable lectures during the time I have studied there.
Without them, my graduation thesis would not be finished. Secondly, I wish to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor MA. Tran Thi Thu Thuy. I am extremely grateful and indebted to her for her precious guidance and encouragement extend to me.
In addition, the same appreciation is given to all ATC students who gave me a lot of help during my research. Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to my family and my friends for their motivation and endless support throughout my academic studies. ii Table of Contents CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY.ii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. v LIST OF TABLES .vii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION .2 Background of the Study .3 Objectives of the Study.5 Significance of the Study .6 Scope and Limitations .7 Definition of Terms.
5 CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .1 Definitions of Reading .2 Reading Skill Problems in Learning a Foreign Language .1 Definition of Reading Skills in Learning a Foreign Language .2 Reading Skill Problems in Learning a Foreign Language .3 Teaching Reading Skills in Learning a Foreign Language. Difficulties in teaching reading skills. Strategies for teaching reading skills .3 Reading Strategies and the Importance of Reading Strategies .1 Definitions of “Reading Strategies” .2 The Importance of Reading Strategies .3 Strategies in Learning a Foreign Language. 17 CHAPTER III: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .5 Data Gathering Procedure.
23 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION .1 Difficulties in Learning “Reading 2”. Difficulties related to vocabulary. Difficulties related to scanning and skimming techniques. Difficulties related to summarizing skills .2 Suggested Reading Strategies for ATC Students.
34 CHAPTER V: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION .1 Summary of Findings. 44 iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation Meaning EFL English as a Foreign Language ESL English as a Second Language ESP English for Specific Purposes SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SORS Survey of Reading Strategies USM Universiti Sains Malaysia v LIST OF TABLES Tables Page Table 3.1 Level of agreement and the scale value 24 Table 4.1 Difficulties related to vocabulary 26 Table 4.2 Difficulties related to scanning and skimming techniques 28 Table 4.3 Difficulties related to summarizing skills 30 vi ABSTRACT Students usually get difficulties in learning English subject at school, especially for reading section. This study aims at exploring difficulties faced by English-majored students (ATC students) when they study “Reading 2” module at Banking Academy of Vietnam. The target population included all language students who had finished that module.
Data were collected by distributing a sample questionnaire of fourteen items on academic reading problems to eighty five ATC students. While quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS, qualitative data were analyzed through content analysis. The results showed that most of academic reading difficulties encountered by ATC students were the problems of finding new words, terminologies, background knowledge, scanning skill, constraint of time, summarizing the texts in an appropriate length and paraphrasing skill. And the least common difficulties were understanding the organizational structure of reading texts and receiving the teachers’ help with scanning and skimming skills.
To overcome these problems, the writer suggested a number of practical strategies that could help ATC students, English teachers and the university principals to improve reading ability and the students’ quality. Key words: reading problems, reading difficulties, Reading 2, ATC students, English- majored students, strategies. vii CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Introduction In the context of global integration, it is essential for people around the world to become fluent in foreign languages, especially in English which has been considered as an international language. In four basic skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), reading is always one of the most important sections in learning a second or foreign language and the success of language learners is largely influenced by his/her reading practice.
In the case of English as a Second Language (ESL) or English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in Vietnam, English is taught and learned in a non- native environment. Therefore, there always exists a linguistic barrier of a second language and possible differences in cultural and educational background. As a result, most of learners claim that English is one of the most difficult subjects at school and reading skills in English is much more demanding than reading in the mother language. It is also stressful for non-native English speakers who are studying at university levels because most English-majored students at universities have to utilize English in all academic activities.
In addition, the learning materials which students study and consult are all written in English. Moreover, if Vietnamese students have a desire for absorbing the knowledge of different cultures and countries, they have to reach a certain level in English. It is also important for students to have a thorough grasp of reading skills. However, many Vietnamese students cannot come up to the required standard in reading competence and also, there is a lack of specific studies that cope with academic reading difficulties encountered by Vietnamese students.
Consequently, this research is carried out to discover general academic reading problems that English-majored students at Banking Academy faced when they study “Reading 2” module. And basing on the data analysis and findings, the writer would give some suggestions to help ATC students tackle their difficulties in reading section. As well as that, the study also gives some useful advice to improve the teacher’s teaching process and the university’s resources.2 Background of the Study Reading is one of the most fundamental skills for English learners. Therefore, serious problems relating to reading skills often prevent readers from reaching their desired career goals and hold back their opportunities to read for entertainment and enjoyment.
Reading difficulties of all ATC students have a substantial impact on their ability to master other subjects at university. And reading struggles could be a major contributing factor behind the low level performance of ATC students in other English-related subjects. That is because reading skills are always crucial in order to explain examination questions and understand clearly what the questions require for an answer. There is a fact that most students in Vietnam have received a long-term English education from the primary school to university.
It does not mean that they are skilled readers when dealing with English materials. Although a host of studies on reading English skills have been carried out all around the world, there is little research involving Vietnamese learners. Therefore, this study makes a determined attempt to figure out problems related to “Reading 2” course faced by English- majored students at Banking Academy of Vietnam. There are some compulsory conditions for ATC students to study “Reading 2” subject.
They have to reach the intermediate level in vocabulary, grammar, speaking and reading English skills and it means that they had finished “Grammar” and “Reading 1” module. The target of “Reading 2” course is to help students practice and strengthen their basic knowledge, at the same time, expand and develop language skills so that students could achieve higher competences in order to continue studying at the advanced level at the end of this module. Hence, after ATC students complete eight weeks (16 lessons) of the course equivalent to thirty five hours interacting directly with English teachers in class, they have to master the following reading competences: boosting their vocabulary in different fields of life and knowing more about technical terms; ability to predict and understand the meaning of new words/phrases through various contexts; ability to scan and skim the reading texts to identify key words and general ideas; ability to comprehend and summarize of full texts. However, according to English teachers who have taught “Reading 2” course for a long time, there have still existed a lot of ATC students who failed in this course.
2 Students could not reach the immediate reading level and fulfill assigned objectives of the course. As a result, this study would be conducted to find out the problems that ATC students have encountered in “Reading 2” course for a quite long time. And then, the research could recommend a number of practical solutions which ATC students can apply to foster their language skills.3 Objectives of the Study The first and foremost purpose of this research is to identify the reasons behind the poor academic performance of ATC students in “Reading 2” course at Banking Academy. After that, the study would focus on categorizing reading problems which language students had faced into specific groups of difficulties (vocabulary, skimming and scanning technique, and summarizing skill) according to the process of learning reading English.
The other aim of this study is to suggest some effective strategies to motivate students to improve their academic language performance at university and give useful solutions to deal with difficulties in reading skills. The findings of this research not only help to increase students’ awareness about learning English at Banking Academy, but also enable language teachers and university staff to understand more clearly about the difficulties which their students had experienced. Furthermore, this research also contributes to future studies concentrating on academic reading skills of students in Vietnam, which have not been given adequate attention in research and publications.4 Research Questions To achieve the proposed objectives, the following questions are addressed: 1. What are the difficulties relating to vocabulary when reading the texts? 2.
What are the difficulties relating to scanning and skimming techniques when reading the texts? 3. What are the difficulties relating to summarizing skill when reading the texts? 1.5 Significance of the Study English-major students who have a desire to pursue higher study levels at universities, always have to use English in all activities at school, such as discussing in groups, 3 doing presentations, writing essays, or reading English materials to carry out research, etc. When linguists address four basic language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) which are essential to reach the language proficiency, reading is considered as the most important skill to ESL or EFL learners. Reading is an indispensable instrument to broaden people’s horizon because most of books in different areas (such as economics, science, politics, culture, tourism, etc) and other potential sources of knowledge are published in English nowadays.
However, there is a lack of specific studies dealing with academic reading problems encountered by English-major students in Vietnam, especially for ATC students at Banking Academy. As a result, the need to conduct a research on language students’ academic reading difficulties has been widely noticeable since the study could bring a host of benefits for both English teachers and students. Data and information gained from the research could be used to inform language teachers about their students’ difficulties and they could understand more deeply about the challenges which their students had encountered in “Reading 2” course.