PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE OF BINH DUONG PROVINCE THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY NGO HUONG HOA AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PROBLEMS OF READING SKILLS AMONG ENGLISH MAJORS: A CASE STUDY AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY MAJOR: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CODE: 8 22 02 01 MASTER THESIS BINH DUONG, 2022 PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE OF BINH DUONG PROVINCE THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY NGO HUONG HOA AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE PROBLEMS OF READING SKILLS AMONG ENGLISH MAJORS: A CASE STUDY AT THU DAU MOT UNIVERSITY MAJOR: THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CODE: 8 22 02 01 MASTER THESIS SUPERVISOR: TRAN THANH DU, Ph. BINH DUONG, 2022 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP Apart from the references, this thesis does not contain any material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a thesis by which I have qualified for or been awarded another degree or diploma. This thesis has not also been submitted for the award of any degree or diploma in any other tertiary institution. Thus, I hereby certify my authority of the thesis submitted entitled “An Investigation into The Problems of Reading Skills Among English Majors: A Case Study at Thu Dau Mot University” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts.
Binh Duong, December 2022 Ngo Huong Hoa i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To fulfill this thesis, I owe great debt to my supervisor, my lecturers, and my family. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor, Dr. Tran Thanh Du, whose wisdom and interesting lectures has inspired me to conduct this thesis. His encouragement, guidance, patience, and support of material from the very initial stage to the final stage in accomplishing this thesis have been invaluable.
I am greatly indebted to all my lecturers at Thu Dau Mot University for their endless enthusiasm and undeniable helpful lectures. I would be very grateful to the staff of the Post-graduate Institution for their support during the time of studying. Last but not least, my warmest thanks are due to my family for their motivation and encouragement. To all of them, I dedicate this study.
Binh Duong, December 2022 Ngo Huong Hoa ii ABSTRACT The current research was carried out to investigate the problems of reading skills that English majors at Thu Dau Mot University have had/encountered, to examine whether students’ demographics (gender, living areas, academic levels and favorite skills) affect their reading comprehension, and to make suggestions for learning and teaching reading comprehension. Through mixed methods consisting of quantitative and qualitative methods, the data for the analysis were collected through questionnaires and interviews. In particular, the quantitative data were from 129 valid questionnaires returned by English majors and 19 ones by English teachers at TDMU. The qualitative data were from the interviews with ten students and five teachers.
The results show that English majors at TDMU currently have some problems with reading skills. In particular, they currently encounter many problems with reading skills in terms of their attitude, decoding and fluency, linguistic knowledge (vocabulary and text structures), reading comprehension strategies, and reading motivation. However, the survey found out that English majors at TDMU do not currently have problems with reading skills about their perception of the factors affecting reading comprehension, their grammar knowledge, and reading environment. Moreover, the analysis also shows some statistically significant differences in reading comprehension among groups of participants divided according to their living areas, academic levels, and favorite skills.
Based on these results of the analysis, the researcher makes some suggestions for learning and teaching reading comprehension, acknowledges several limitations, and makes suggestions for further research. Key words: reading; reading comprehension; problem of reading skills. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Statement of Authorship. iii Table of Contents.
iv List of Tables. viii List of Figures .x List of Abbreviations. Objectives of the Study. Scope of the Study.
Significance of the Study. In Terms of Theory. In Terms of Practice. Overview of the Thesis.
Definition of Reading and Reading Comprehension. The Importance of Reading Comprehension. Types of Reading. Modes of Reading.
Comparison of Oral Reading and Silent Reading. Approaches to Reading. Reading Comprehension Strategies. Recognizing Text Organization.
Meta-cognitive Strategies .