Find out the areas of students reading difficulties at VTTTU when learning English for EEE


PART 1: INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Actually, reading is given the most important account of four skills. In comparison with writing, speaking and listening, reading will be used most often in the students’ future work. In teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam, reading has always received a great deal of attention. That is because reading is not only the important means to get knowledge but also means of further study. By means of English, the learners can take it professionally in their future work as well as reading their specialized materials. It is completely true for students of EEE. At VTTTU, after finishing three semesters of GE, students of EEE departments begin to take 60 ESP periods of EEE. Being an ESP teachers of EEE, the researchers has always been aware of the importance of the important of developing reading skills for EEE students. If students read well, they are able to handle subjects related written materials in English and to work with modern technological equipment. But in fact, despite the effort of the teachers and students, the researcher finds her students reading skills disappointed, which do not meet the requirements of the college. With some years English teaching experience, the researcher recognized that there are many factors that affect the teaching and learning process such as inappropriate teaching methods and classroom techniques, inappropriate attitude of the teachers and learners about the subjects, unsuitable teaching materials… For all the above reasons, the researcher would like to find out the areas of students reading difficulties at VTTTU when learning English for EEE and the cause of these difficulties. It is also hoped that the study will make some suggestions for teachers and learners to improve the teaching and learning English for EEE at VTTTU. 2. Aims of the study The study aims to examine the difficulties in reading English for Electrical and Electronics Engineering of the second year students at VTTTU.

To be more specific, the objectives of the study are: - To investigate the present situation of teaching and learning English for EEE reading in order to find out the teachers and learners’ areas of difficulties when learning English for EEE. - To suggest the ways to overcome the difficulties and help learners to improving their ESP reading skills. It is hoped that the findings from this study will be of some benefits to the students at VTTTU. 3. Methods of the study With the aims of finding out the area of difficulties in reading English for EEE at VTTTU, this study adopts a case study approach. To achieve the aim of the study, the survey questionnaire is used as the main method to collect the needed data from the learners as well as the researcher’s observation and informal discussion with the students and the college. 4. Scope of the study The study mainly focuses on some problems in ESP reading experience by the second year students of Electrical and Electronics Engineering at VTTTU, then suggest some techniques to help them improve their reading. 5. Organization of the study This study consists of 3 parts: Introduction, development and conclusion The first part concludes the rationale for choosing the topic of the study, the significance of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study and the design of the study. The second parts inncludes four chapters. Chapter one reviews the theoretical backgrounds to the nature of reading and ESP reading. Chapter two discusses the current situation of teaching and learning English for EEE at VTTTU. Chapter three presents the research methodology, which focuses on the participants, the data collection method and the data collecting procedure; the data analysis and. Chapter four suggests some recommendations to reduce difficulties in reading English for EEE. The last part- Conclusion- summarizes the main issues of the study, points out the limitations and makes some suggestions for further research.

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER ONE: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. The nature of reading 1.1. Definition of reading So far, there are numerous definitions of reading by numerous perspectives- linguists, psychologists, educators and second language researchers. Each author defines in different way as seen from his own point of view. Goodman (1971; 135) considers reading “a psycholinguistic process by which the reader, a language user, reconstructs, as best as he can, a message which has been encoded by a writer as a graphic display”. Frank Smith (1985; 102) defined “reading is understanding the author’s thought”. Sharing the same opinion, Harmer (1989; 153) considered reading as a mechanical process that “eyes receive the message and the brain then has to work out the significance of the message”. Therefore, reading can be viewed as a cylindrical process of recognizing, understanding, comparing, and evaluating the information they encounter. From all the opinions above it is clear that no definition can possibly capture all the ideas and features of reading. However, they all try to find out the nature of reading, that is “understanding”, in which they emphasize on reading process, reading message and readers. 1.2. Reading comprehension Reading comprehension takes an important role in teaching and learning reading. It is the ability to get information from the text as efficiently as possible. There are three elements involving in the reading process, the text being read, the background knowledge of the readers and the contextual aspects relevant for interpreting the text. According to Gallet (1981; 3), “reading comprehension or understanding a written text means extracting the required information from it as effectively as possible”. Richard and Thomas (11987;9) also points out : “Reading comprehension is the best describe as understanding between the author and the reader” And according to Swam (1975; 1), “a student is good at comprehension ” if “ he can read accurately and efficiently, so as to get the maximum information of a text with the

minimum understanding”. After reading, readers can master the grammatical structures, words pronunciation, understand the context of the texts and use it in real life as effective as possible. Though these ideas are not exactly the same, they all seem that “reading without comprehension is meaningless” (Karlin and Kartin, 1982:2) 1.3. Classification of reading according to the purpose of reading According to the purpose of reading Wood (1985), Williams (1986) and Grellet (1990) categorize reading into intensive, extensive, skimming and scanning. 1.3.1. Intensive reading Intensive reading means the careful reading of shorter, more difficult foreign language text with the goal of complete and detailed understanding. Francoise (1981: 41) defined: “Intensive reading means reading short texts to extract specific information. This is an accuracy activity involving reading for details”. And according to Nuttal (1982; 36) “Intensive reading involves approaching the text under the guidance of a teacher or a task which forces the student to focus on the text”. That means intensive reading is related to progress in language learning. The aim of intensive reading is “to arrive at a profound and detailed understanding of the text: not only of what it means, but also of how the mean is produced” (Nuttal, 1989: 23). 1.3.2. Extensive reading Extensive reading means to read widely and in quantity. According to Grellet (1981;2) , extensive reading means “reading longer texts usually for one’s own pleasure. This is a fluency activity, mainly involving general understanding”. Hammer (1986,479) also has the same view. He states: “extensive reading would normally start with reading for the main idea or for general comprehension and finally, after much practice, for detailed comprehension”. In fact, most of extensive reading is done silently and out of the classroom and it gives the students opportunities to use their target language knowledge for their own purposes. 1.3.3. Skimming Skimming is a very useful reading skill for students to locate specific item of information that they need. Grellet (1981: 19) stated “when skimming, we go through the reading material quickly in order to get its main points out the intension of the writer, but not to find the answer to specific questions”. Because of its nature, the key to skimming is to

know where to find the main idea of different paragraphs and to be able to synthesize them by way of generalization. 1.3.4. Scanning Scanning is another useful skill to locate a specific item of information that we need. Williams (1986:100) said: “scanning occurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly in order to find a particular point of information”. In contrast with skimming, scanning is far more limited since it only means retrieving needed information. This kind of reading is widely used in reading comprehension. In sum, there are different ways of reading. In order to understand a text effectively, the readers should not use these ways isolatedly. They must know how to use suitable ways to achieve their reading purpose. 2. Reading in ESP teaching and learning 2.1. Definition of ESP There are different definitions of ESP by different linguistics. According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987; 16), “ESP- an approach not a product- does not involve a particular kind of language, teaching materials or methodology”. In their opinion, ESP is not a matter of teaching specialized varieties“, not different in kind from other form of language teaching”. They states ESP “is an approach to language in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learners’ reason for learning”. So an ESP course should differ from a GE course in selection of skills, themes, topics, situation and function. And, all ESP courses should be based on the learners’ needs and meet the learners’ needs” However, Strevens’ (1988) definition of ESP makes a distinction between 4 absolute characteristics and two variable characteristics: - The absolute characteristics of ESP are: + designed to meet specified needs of the learners + related in context (that is in its themes and topics) to particular disciplines, occupations and activities.

+ centered on language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis, discourse, semantics, and so on, and analysis of the discourse + in contrast with GE. - The variable characteristics are that ESP: + may be restricted to skill to be learned (for example reading only) + may not be taught according to any pre- ordained methodology. Robinson’s definition is based on two key defining criteria and a number of characteristics that are found to be true of ESP. The key criteria are that ESP is “normally goal-directed” and that ESP courses develop from a need analysis, which “aims to specify as closely as possible what exactly it is that students have to do through the medium of English” (Robinson, 1991:3). 2.2. Reading skills in ESP In case of reading skills in ESP, Kenedy and Bolitho (1991: 74) designate some necessary reading skills: skimming, scanning, reference skills, relating graphs to text, relating diagram to text, predicting and sequencing the structure of a text, and reading notice and instruction. 2.3. ESP reading materials Materials are very important in teaching and learning process, especially in teaching ESP. ESP is designed to meet specific purpose of the learners. Therefore, selecting reading materials is very important. Selecting materials involves making choices and decision. To make good choices, we need to have good criteria on which to base the decision. These criteria such as factors about the learners, the role of materials, the topics, the language, the presentation have been put forwards for the analysis of materials and each of them have validity. A good ESP material must contain interesting texts and enjoyable activities which make students think, opportunities for them to use their existing knowledge, skill and content that they and their teacher can cope with; truly reflect what you think and feel about learning process; provide clear and coherent unit structure to guide the students through various

activities to maximize the chances of learning; create a balance outlook which both reflects the complexity of the task, yet make it appear manageable; introduce teachers to new techniques and provide models of correct and appropriate language use (Hutchinson and Waters 1987:107). 3. Summary In short, this chapter provides a theoretical framework for the study. It provides an overview on the nature of reading in which definitions of reading and reading comprehension as well as classification of reading according to the purpose of reading are mentioned. What is more, this chapter also discusses the definition of ESP, reading skills in ESP and ESP reading materials.

CHAPTER TWO: THE CURRENT SITUATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH FOR EEE AT VTTTU 2.1. Institution VTTTU has been operated for over 40 years. Initially, it was only a Vocational School. Gradually, it was upgraded and became a Technical Teachers’ Training College in 1996, a Technical Teachers’ Training University in 2006. Now its duty is to train students to become upper- secondary school teachers in four major fields: Mechanical Engineering, Mechanical Dynamic Engineering, Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Information Technology. The students are provided with a lot of general educational subjects and different specializations like other institutions, of which English has been regarded as a vital component in the program. But in fact, the conditions for teaching and learning are not ideal due to the large class- size (more than 60 students in total), no language environment, out-of-date reference documents, lack of facilities for language learning and teaching such as videos, tape recorders, multimedia labs, and so on. 2. 2. Teachers There are 10 teachers of English at the VTTTU, aged from 26 to 35. Four of them are M.A., the other four are taking M.A. course. They have responsibility to teach both GE and ESP. They are energetic and willing to devote their time and energy to teaching. However, they are inexperienced in teaching ESP because none of them has been trained in teaching ESP and they have no specialist knowledge on the subject matter. They are unexpectedly required to teach a subject which is new and unfamiliar with them. Most of them have little chance to access to the latest alterations of language teaching methods. So, they have to face many difficulties, of which the lack of the professional knowledge and the choice of appropriate teaching methodologies seem to be the major concerns. The majority of them still adopted a teacher-centered, non-oral approach which emphasizes translation activities, learner conformity in task completion, and success in an examination format. Students are passive and only ask the teachers when they encounter difficult words that they cannot find in the

dictionary. And the success rests on how flexible and adaptable the individual teacher is to respond to the requirement of the new teaching situation. 2.3. Students The learners of English at VTTTU are of approximately 18 – 25 in age so they belonged to the same psychological age group. They come from different parts of the country. Most of them are from the rural or remote areas, where there are no good opportunities for studying English. They are varied in terms of English proficiency. The others come from cities, who, theoretically, have all finished three years or seven years of learning English at high schools before entering the college, but in fact, their levels are rather mixed. Moreover, their length of English learning was different: 32% started learning at grade 6, 51% started learning at grade 10, 10% learn French or Russian and 7% have never learned any foreign languages. To some extent, there are some students whose English is very excellent, but generally the target students’ English proficiency is still of low level. Moreover, the students come to the class with different English background and different attitude, motivation, learning style towards learning the language. Some have learnt English at school, some have learnt Russian or French and others have never learnt a foreign language. Thus, the first thing the teachers have to do is to improve the students’ level of GE before they can deal with subject matters in this language. Another problem is that most of students do not have the habit of learning independently and tend to depend on the textbooks and the teachers for knowledge. These provide the ESP teachers with a basic understanding of the subject of ESP. Besides, the class size is very big (more than 60 students) so it is very difficult for the teachers and students to fulfill their task of teaching and learning. 2.4. The teaching and learning English at VTTTU Due to the particular tasks of our technical college, English at VTTTU is allowed to be non- major and of course not the compulsory subject for entrance exam. Like many other

subjects, English is taught in a formal setting (classroom) without language environment and the students have to do two English courses: 120-period GE and 60-period ESP. As far as materials are concerned, some textbooks for GE such as “Kernel-One”; “Kernel-Plus”; “Streamline (Departure)”, “Headway (Elementary)” and now “New Headway” (Elementary) have been in used recently. ESP at VTTTU includes “English for Technical Engineering”, “English for Electrical and Electronics Engineering” and “English for Computer Science”. The ESP textbooks were designed with the stated purposes of providing the students with an amount of vocabulary relating to the investigation topics and training reading skill which would be helpful for their future job. They focus on language skills: reading, writing, and translation. The ESP textbooks put greater emphasis on content teaching – the knowledge of the specific areas rather than the language skills. However, for most of the students learning these ESP textbooks, reading is the most challenging task. In term of methodology, ESP teachers usually employ the traditional method of teaching. Classes are conducted in the form of lecture. Teachers often play the key role in the lesson, being the main speaker. Students are passive and only ask the teachers questions when they encounter difficult words that they cannot find in the dictionary. Actually, we find it very difficult to obtain effective teaching. The reasons for the difficulties are: (i) English is not a compulsory subject for the entrance exam; (ii) students at VTTTU are varied in terms of English proficiency, some of them have learned some English at schools while others (those from the rural and remote areas) have not; and (iii) ESP is generally not taken into much consideration by the college authority because no ESP training course for teachers has ever been provided. 2.5. Summary This chapter has provided an overview of Vinh Technical Teachers’ Training University, given some information about the institution, the students, the teachers. The researcher has also pointed out some problems that the teachers and students at VTTTU face in the teaching and learning of ESP reading.

CHAPTER THREE: THE STUDY 3. 1. The participants The participant