VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* HOÀNG THỊ HƢƠNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN READING STRATEGIES AND READING ACHIEVEMENTS (Điều tra về mối quan hệ giữa chiến lƣợc đọc hiểu và kết quả đọc hiểu) M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Hanoi – 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* HOÀNG THỊ HƢƠNG AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN READING STRATEGIES AND READING ACHIEVEMENTS (Điều tra về mối quan hệ giữa chiến lƣợc đọc hiểu và kết quả đọc hiểu) M.A MINOR THESIS (Type I) Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 8140231. Hoàng Văn Vân Hanoi - 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I, Hoàng Thi Hương, hereby certify that the thesis ―An investigation into the Relationship between Reading Strategies and Reading Achievements" is the result of my own research and efforts. I also declare that the material in this paper has not been submitted for any other purpose before. Hanoi, 2019 Signature Hoàng Thị Hƣơng i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my most sincere gratitude and appreciation to my supervisor Prof.
Hoàng Văn Vân for his great support, guidance and helpful comments. Without his precious guidance, this thesis could not have been completed. Besides, I would like to thank all the lecturers and staff of faculty of Post- graduate studies for their lessons and help. I also acknowledge the cooperation of lecturers and third-year students at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2.
They have been always willing to cooperate in every data collection procedure. Last but not least, I must express my very profound gratitude to my family and friends for providing me with support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of fulfilling this thesis. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The study was an attempt to find out the frequency of reading strategy use among students at Hanoi Pedagogical University II. It also tried to figure out whether there is possible relationship between reading strategies use and reading achievements.
Seventy-two students participated in the study and reading strategy questionnaires were used to collect the required data. The data were analyzed through SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) to determine the frequency of strategies employed by the learners and Pearson coefficient correlation was used to discover the association between reading strategy use and reading comprehension achievement. Independent sample t-test was also employed to find out how the use of strategies varied according to readers‘ proficiency. The results revealed that learners can be categorized as medium strategy users and the use of reading strategies had a strong positive correlation with reading comprehension achievements.
Also, there are significant differences exist between high-proficiency and low-proficiency in the use of reading strategies. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS .iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS. vii LIST OF FIGURE.
viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Rationale for the study. Aims of the Study. Method of the study.
Significance of the study. Scope of the study. Design of the thesis. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW.
The concept of reading and reading comprehension. The concept of reading. Models of reading comprehension. 9 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Definition of reading strategies. Classification of reading strategies. Previous related studies. Settings of the study.
Data collection instruments. Data collection process. Data analysis procedures. 22 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.
Research question 1: What is the frequency of reading strategies used by students when they read English academic materials?. The most frequently used strategies. The least frequently used strategies. Research question 2: To what extent is there the relationship between reading strategies and reading achievements?.
Correlation between reading strategies use and reading comprehension achievements. Correlation between sub-strategies and the reading achievements. Research question 3: Are there any differences between higher-proficiency students and lower-proficiency students in terms of reading strategy use in their academic study?. 30 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Differences between high-proficiency and low-proficiency readers in reading strategies use. Differences between high-proficiency and low-proficiency readers in reading sub-strategies use. Differences in the use of Global reading strategies. Differences in the use of Problem solving reading strategies.
Differences in the use of Support reading strategies. Recapitulation of major findings. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further studies. VII vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HPU2: Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 GLOB: Global reading strategies PROB: Problem solving reading strategies SUP: Support reading strategies SILL: A strategy Inventory for Language Learning SORS: Survey of Reading Strategies SPSS: Statistical Package for Social Science EFL: English as a foreign language VSTEP: Vietnamese Standardised Test of English Proficiency vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Background of participants .17 Table 2: The questionnaire (adopted from Kouider Mokhtari and Ravi Sheorey, 2002) .20 Table 3: Score converter of VSTEP .21 Table 4: Range of students‘ achievements.
21 Table 5: The frequency of reading strategies use (Oxford, 1990). 23 Table 6: Interpreting the correlation coefficient (Cohen, Manion, & Marrison, 2007). 24 Table 7: Students‘ mean frequencies of using all strategies and each category of strategies. 25 Table 8: The most frequently and least frequently used strategies.
26 Table 9: The least frequently and least frequently used strategies. 27 Table 10: Correlation between reading strategies use and reading comprehension achievements .28 Table 11: Correlation between sub-strategies and reading comprehension achievements .29 Table 12: Frequency distribution of reading strategies used by high-proficiency readers low-proficiency readers .31 Table 13: Differences in the use of Global reading strategies .34 Table 14: Differences in the use of Problem solving reading strategies. 35 Table 15: Differences in the use of Support reading strategies. 36 LIST OF FIGURE Figure: Frequency distribution of sub-strategies.
32 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study Reading is considered as one of the four basic skills in language learning and teaching. It is very important not only as a language skill but also as language input for other skills to develop. Foreign language reading comprehension is an interactive and complex process.
―A text does not carry meaning by itself. The reader brings information, knowledge, emotion, experience, and culture - to the printed word. Since reading comprehension has played an important role in language learning and teaching, the ways to enhance reading comprehension are of great interest of reading research. Nevertheless, many learners feel that they cannot comprehend what they read, especially academic materials.
One major reason for this problem is that learners have not mastered and applied effective reading strategies. Many research studies on foreign language reading have empathized the importance of reading strategies on developing language learners‘ reading comprehension skills (Zare & Nooreen, 2011; Brantmeier, 2002; Song, 1998; Carrell, 1989). They argue that strategy use is different in more and less proficient readers, who use the strategies in different ways. Moreover, it has been acknowledged that reading strategies can be taught to learners and that reading strategy instruction can benefit all students (Carrell, 1989; Carol, 2002).
Although many researches have been conducted on learning and reading strategies and, few of them have explored the relationship between reading comprehension achievement and use of reading strategies, especially by students at Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 (HPU2). In Faculty of Foreign Languages at HPU2, reading is considered an essential language skill as well as a compulsory lesson. Students are expected to read at a reasonable level of proficiency and comprehension to well at the level expected of them. However, many students find reading, especially reading academic texts challenging.
They feel that their reading 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com proficiency is not satisfying after many years of English study at school. Therefore, this study attempts to focus on investigating the use of reading strategies by third- year students and which reading strategies are beneficial to English learners‘ reading comprehension proficiency. The study also examines whether reading proficiency of students at HPU2 is actually affected by reading strategies use. The researcher hopes that the results of the study can help the students develop effective reading strategies as well as improve their reading proficiency.
It is also expected to help instructors develop appropriate methodologies in teaching English reading. Aims of the Study The study aims to - investigate the frequency of different kinds of reading strategies used by third-year students at HPU2 - study the correlation between the adoption of reading strategies and the students‘ reading achievements. - find out whether the differences between higher-proficiency students and lower-proficiency students in terms of reading strategy use or not. Research Questions Question 1: What is the frequency of reading strategies used by students at HPU2 when they read English academic materials? Question 2: To what extent is there the relationship between reading strategies and reading achievements? Question 3: Are there any differences between higher-proficiency students and lower-proficiency students in terms of reading strategy use in their academic study? 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Method of the study The researcher used quantitative method to carry out the study. The quantitative data was collected through questionnaires (a survey of reading strategies use) and the reading scores of students at HPU2. Significance of the study Reading is an indispensable language skill for students who have to read various academic materials for their study at universities. A lot of researches on reading skill which were conducted before played an important role in improving reading comprehension of learners.
The dissertation is among researches on students‘ reading comprehension skills whose results could help students recognize and understand the reading strategies they are using. Besides, the study is hoped to help teachers have a closer look at the relationship between reading strategies and reading proficiency. Also, teachers could help students to improve students‘ English reading in academic contexts. Scope of the study This research placed the main focus on the frequency of reading strategies used by third-year students.
In addition, it is noteworthy that the samples of the study were restricted to third-year students of English major at the Faculty of Foreign Languages at HPU2. Design of the thesis The research consists of five chapters which are Chapter 1: Introduction presents basic information such as the reason for choosing the topic, the aims, the questions, the method, the scope, as well as the organization of the study. Chapter 1: Literature review offers an overview of fundamental theories on reading, reading strategies and other researches of the same area. 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter 3: Methodology will present participants, data collection, data collection procedure as well as data analysis procedures.
Chapter 4: Findings and discussion provides the results of the study and discusses the findings. Chapter 5: Conclusion summarizes the main contents of the study, points out some limitations and makes recommendations for further study. 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW This chapter provides some theories related to reading comprehension and reading strategies. Some views and previous researches on the relationship between reading strategies and reading comprehension are also examined.
The concept of reading and reading comprehension 2. The concept of reading Reading is an essential skill that plays an important role in acquiring the second language as well as in life. Reading is understood and defined in various ways by many linguists and researchers.