MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

VINH UNIVERSITY

---  ---

HA THI THANH

A STUDY ON SECOND -YEAR STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN READING

ESP MATERIALS AT AUTOMOBILE TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT IN
VIETNAM-KOREA TECHNICAL COLLEGE

(T×m hiÓu nh÷ng khã kh¨n cña sinh viªn n¨m thø hai trong viÖc ®äc hiÓu tµi
liÖu tiÕng Anh chuyªn ngµnh ë khoa C«ng nghÖ ¤t«, tr-êng Cao ®¼ng Kü
thuËt
ViÖt Nam- Hµn Quèc)

Field: Theory and Methodology of English Language Teaching

Code: 60.14.10

Master thesis in Education

Vinh, 2011

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 STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP

I hereby certify that the thesis entitled

A STUDY ON SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS‟ DIFFICULTIES IN READING

ESP MATERIALS AT AUTOMOBILE TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT

IN VIETNAM - KOREA TECHNICAL COLLEGE

is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Education at Vinh
University. I confirm that this thesis has not been submitted for any other degrees.

Student‟s signature

Hà Thị Thanh

2
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor Dr. Le

Van Canh for his invaluable support, patient guidance, and encouragement he gave
me throughout my research. I am truly grateful to him for his advice and
suggestions right from the beginning when this study was only in its formative
stage.

I also wish to send my sincere thanks to the students of the classes I visited
in order to gather information for my survey questionnaire. Without their help, this
study could not have been successful.

I am indebted to my friends, my classmates, as well as my colleagues for

their invaluable comments and criticism and also for their continued interest and
encouragement.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to family members whose

support and encouragement greatly contributed to the completion of my study.

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 ABSTRACT
Reading is one of the four important skills in learning English, especially
English for specific purposes (ESP). For non-English major students at Vietnam-
Korea Technical College, reading has been given the first priority and has been paid
more attention as the students have to read English materials related to their own
specialist subject. However, they have encountered a lot of difficulties in reading
ESP materials and, therefore, failed to become efficient readers. What, then, are the
difficulties that the students at Vietnam-Korea Technical College encounter when
reading ESP materials? And what hinders their reading comprehension?
Many studies have already been conducted in the area of reading problems.
This study aims to examine the difficulties in ESP reading for the second-year
students at Vietnam-Korea Technical College and the causes of their unsuccessful
reading comprehension.
The results of this study has shown that the second-year students often have
difficulties in many areas of the language such as difficulties with ESP vocabulary,
discourse, reading skills and subject background knowledge when dealing with ESP
texts and their unsuccessful reading comprehension comes from different sources:
inadequate ESP vocabulary, limited background knowledge about the subject,
unsuitable materials, the teachers‟ teaching methods as well as the negative attitude
of some students. This study has also suggested some solutions to help to reduce
their difficulties in reading ESP and obtain desirable achievements in ESP reading.

4
 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EFL: English as Foreign Language

EGP: English for General Purposes
ELT: English Language Teaching
ESP: English for Specific Purposes
FL: foreign language
GE: General English
L1: first language
L2: second language
TALO: text and as a linguistic object
TAVI: text as a vehicle of information
VKTC: Vietnam-Korea Technical College

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 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES

Table 3.1. Students‟ attitudes towards ESP reading 44

Table 3.2. The difficulties in terms of ESP vocabulary 46
Table 3.3. The difficulties in terms of grammar 47
Table 3.4. The difficulties in terms of text discourse 49
Table 3.5. The difficulties related to lack of background knowledge 51
Table 3.6. The difficulties due to lack of reading skills 52
Table 3.7. Rank order of difficulties in ESP reading 54
Table 3.8. Students‟ views of sources of difficulties 55
Table 3.9. The students‟ needs for ESP materials 59
Table 3.10. The students‟ needs for teachers‟ methodology 61
Figure 2.1: The vicious circle of the weak readers 15
Figure 3.1. Students‟ attitudes towards ESP reading 44
Figure 3.2. Causes of difficulties from materials 56
Figure 3.3. Causes of difficulties from teachers 58
Figure 3.4. Causes of difficulties from students 59
Figure 4.1: Automobile parts 65
Figure 4.2: Automobile systems 66
Figure 4.3: Automobile inside parts 66
Figure 4.4: Parts of an automobile fuel system 67
Figure 4.5: Diagram of the fuel flow 68

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 APPENDIX A
Questionnaire for students
This questionnaire is designed for my research into difficulties in ESP
reading of the second year students in Vietnam – Korea Technical College. Your
assistance in completing the survey is appreciated. All the information provided by
you is solely for the study purpose, and you can be confident that you will not be
identified in any discussion of the data.
Thank you very much for your cooperation!
*Where do you come from? □ Rural □ Urban
*Did you learn English before entering Vietnam-Korea Technical College?
□ Yes □ No
- If Yes, when did you start learning English? ……………………………
- If No, did you learn any other foreign languages? ……………………….
* What is your average mark of General English in the first year? ………………..
Section A: Do you agree with these?
Question 1: I need to read technical texts well for my future job.
□ Strongly agree □ Agree
□ Disagree □ Strongly disagree
Question 2: I find it difficult to understand technical texts because my technical
words are limited.
□ Strongly agree □ Agree
□ Disagree □ Strongly disagree
Question 3: I like reading texts about my specialized topics.
□ Strongly agree □ Agree
□ Disagree □ Strongly disagree
Section B: Here are some of difficulties you may encounter when reading ESP.
Please tick the appropriate box according to the level of difficulties you have.

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 Very difficult (VD) Difficult (D) Easy (E) Very easy (VE)
Question 4: Difficulties with ESP vocabulary

VD D E VE

4a. I find it difficult to pronounce technical words □ □ □ □

4b. I find it difficult to understand the meaning of technical □ □ □ □

terms in reading texts

4c. I find it difficult to memorize technical terms ( such as: □ □ □ □

ignition, lubrication, spark plugs.......)

4d. I have troubles in using idomatic expressions and □ □ □ □

phrasal verbs (such as: convert into, by means of...)

4e. When a word has many meanings, I don‟t know which □ □ □ □

meaning is used in the reading text.

4f. Others (Please indicate here)

………………………………….……………….................

Question 5: Difficulties with Grammar

5a. I don‟t remember all grammatical structures that I have □ □ □ □

learnt and this makes it difficult to understand the content
of the reading text

5b. If the sentence is a new grammatical structure in the □ □ □ □

text I do not understand its meaning

5c. Long sentences are difficult to me to understand their □ □ □ □

meanings

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5d. Others (Please indicate here)
………………………………….……………….................

Question 6: Difficulties with the Text Discourse

VD D E VE

6a. I don‟t understand how a reading text is organized and □ □ □ □

this makes it difficult to understand the content of the text.

6b. I don‟t understand how a paragraph is organized and □ □ □ □

this makes it difficult to understand its content.

6c. I cannot find which is the most important sentence in □ □ □ □

each paragraph of the reading text.

6d. I have problems understanding how meanings of □ □ □ □

different sentences are linked together.

6e. Understanding graphs and diagrams is difficult to me. □ □ □ □

6f. Others (Please indicate here)

………………………………….……………….................

Question 7: Difficulties related to Lack of Background Knowledge

VD D E VE

7a. I find it difficult to understand the content of unfamiliar □ □ □ □

professional topics

7b. I find I don‟t have enough professional knowledge □ □ □ □

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related to the topics.

7c. I find it difficult to understand authentic materials. □ □ □ □

7d. Others (Please indicate here)

………………………………….……………….................

Question 8: Difficulties due to Lack of Reading Skills

VD D E VE

8a. I find it difficult to find out the main idea of a reading □ □ □ □

text

8b. I find it difficult to find out the specific ideas of a □ □ □ □

reading text.

8c. I don‟t know how to guess meanings of new words in a □ □ □ □

reading text

8d. I find it difficult to recognize what the writer wants to □ □ □ □

imply in a reading text

8e. I find it difficult to summarize the mains ideas of a □ □ □ □

reading text

8f. I don‟t know how to answer comprehension questions □ □ □ □

of a reading text.

8g. Others (Please indicate here)

…………………………………...........................................

Section C

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Question 9: Please indicate what possible sources of your problems in ESP reading

YES NO

9a. The texts are very too long and full of technical terms □ □

9b. The texts are full of new and complex grammar structures □ □

9c. Some texts are taken from authentic materials, which □ □

makes us difficult to understand

9d. The teacher doesn‟t teach us sufficient reading strategies □ □

9e. The teacher doesn‟t give us sufficient practice of grammar □ □

and vocabulary

9f. The teacher is too strict and demanding □ □

9g. I lack confidence and motivation □ □

9h. I lack vocabulary especially ESP vocabulary □ □

9i. I lack knowledge about the topics I am studying □ □

9j. Others ( Please indicate here)

…………………………….............
Question 10: To make your ESP reading easier, what do you think must be adjusted
in the ESP materials ( choose as many as possible)

10a. Reading texts should be more related to my future job □

10b. Reading texts should be shorter and more motivating □

10c. Reading texts should have a limited number of new words □

10d. Technical terms should be explained more carefully □

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10e. Grammatical exercises should be more various in form □

10f. Others ( Please indicate here)

…………………………………………………………

Question 11: To help you read ESP better, what in your opinion do you expect from
the teachers? (Choose as many as possible)

11a. I expect the teacher to give and carefully explain technical words □

11b. I expect the teacher to explain carefully grammatical structures in the □

reading texts

11c. I expect the teacher to provide us more background knowledge □

related to the topics we are working on

11d. I want the teacher to guide us to choose suitable reading strategies for □
each reading text

11e. I want the teacher to let us work in pairs and in groups □

11f. I want the teacher to give us more communicative activities to help □

remember vocabulary more easily

11g. I want the teacher to check us more often about translation □

11h. Others ( Please indicate here)

…………………………………………………………

Thank you for taking time to complete this questionnaire

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 APPENDIX B
PHIÕU §IÒU TRA NGHI£N CøU
Bảng câu hỏi dưới đây nhằm phục vụ nghiên cứu tìm hiểu những khó khăn
trong việc đọc hiểu tiếng Anh chuyên ngành của học viên năm thứ hai Trường Cao
đẳng Kỹ thuật Việt Nam - Hàn Quốc và những nguyên nhân gây ra những khó khăn
đó. Các câu trả lời mà các bạn cung cấp rất quan trọng đối với công trình nghiên
cứu này. Dữ liệu điều tra sẽ chỉ được sử dụng cho việc nghiên cứu, không vì mục
đích nào khác. (Chỉ có người nghiên cứu mới được biết câu trả lời của các bạn vì
vậy mong các bạn trả lời theo đúng suy nghĩ của mình.)
Cảm ơn sự hợp tác của các bạn
Xin bạn vui lòng cho biết:
* Bạn từ đâu đến? □ Nông thôn □ Thành thị
*Trước khi vào trường Cao đẳng Kỹ thuật Việt Nam - Hàn Quốc bạn có được học
tiếng Anh không? □ Có □ Không
- Nếu có thì bắt đầu học khi nào ? ……………………………
- Nếu không thì bạn được học ngoại ngữ nào? ……………………….
* Điểm trung bình môn tiếng Anh đại cương của bạn trong năm học đầu là bao
nhiêu? ………
Phần A: Bạn có đồng ý với những ý kiến sau không ?
Câu hỏi 1: Tôi cần phải đọc tốt các tài liệu tiếng Anh chuyên ngành vì công việc
tương lai của tôi
□ Hoàn toàn đồng ý □ Đồng ý
□ Không đồng ý □ Hoàn toàn không đồng ý
Câu hỏi 2: Tôi thấy đọc hiểu các tài liệu kỹ thuật thật khó vì vốn từ vựng chuyên
ngành của tôi hạn chế
□ Hoàn toàn đồng ý □ Đồng ý
□ Không đồng ý □ Hoàn toàn không đồng ý
Câu hỏi 3: Tôi thích đọc các tài liệu tiếng Anh về chuyên ngành chuyên ngành của
tôi
□ Hoàn toàn đồng ý □ Đồng ý

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 □ Không đồng ý □ Hoàn toàn không đồng ý
Phần B: Dưới đây làm một số khó khăn các bạn có thể thường gặp trong quá trình
đọc hiểu tiếng Anh chuyên ngành. Bạn hãy cho biết những khó khăn mà bạn gặp
theo các mức độ:
Rất khó (RK) Khó (K) Dễ (D) Rất dễ (RD)
Câu hỏi 4: Khó khăn về từ vựng chuyên ngành

RK K D RD

4a. Tôi thấy khó phát âm các từ kỹ thuật □ □ □ □

4b. Tôi thấy khó hiểu nghĩa của các từ kỹ thuật trong □ □ □ □
các bài đọc hiểu

4c. Tôi thấy khó nhớ các từ kỹ thuật (như ignition, □ □ □ □

lubrication, spark plugs.......)

4d. Tôi gặp khó khăn khi sử dụng các thành ngữ và □ □ □ □
các cụm động từ (như convert into, by means of...)

4e. Khi một từ có nhiều nghĩa, tôi không biết nghĩa

nào được sử dụng trong bài đọc hiểu đó.

4f. Các ý kiến khác:

………………………………................

Câu hỏi 5: Khó khăn về ngữ pháp

RK K D RD

5a. Tôi không nhớ hết tất cả các cấu trúc ngữ pháp đã □ □ □ □
học và điều này gây khó khăn cho tôi trong việc hiểu
nội dung của bài đọc hiểu.

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5b. Tôi không hiểu nghĩa của câu nếu nó là một cấu □ □ □ □
trúc ngữ pháp mới trong bài đọc hiểu đó

5c. Tôi thấy khó hiểu nghĩa những câu văn dài □ □ □ □

5d. Các ý kiến khác:

………………………………................

Câu hỏi 6: Khó khăn về cách hành văn của văn bản

RK K D RD

6a. Tôi không hiểu cấu trúc của một bài đọc và điều □ □ □ □
này gây khó khăn cho tôi khi hiểu nội dung của bài

6b. Tôi không hiểu cấu trúc của một đoạn văn và điều □ □ □ □
này gây khó khăn cho tôi khi hiểu nội dung của nó.

6c.Tôi không thể phát hiện ra câu văn quan trọng nhất □ □ □ □
trong mỗi đoạn văn của một bài đọc hiểu.

6d.Tôi gặp khó khăn khi hiểu sự liên kết về nghĩa của □ □ □ □
các câu văn

6e. Hiểu các biểu đồ, sơ đồ thật khó đối với tôi □ □ □ □

6f. Các ý kiến khác:

………………………………................

Câu hỏi 7: Khó khăn liên quan đến kiến thức chuyên ngành

RK K D RD

7a. Tôi thấy khó hiểu nội dung của các vấn đề chuyên □ □ □ □

15
ngành không phổ biến

7b. Tôi thấy bản thân mình không đủ kiến thức chuyên □ □ □ □
ngành liên quan đến những vấn đề mà tôi đang học

7c. Tôi thấy khó khi đọc các tài liệu nguyên bản □ □ □ □

7d. Các ý kiến khác

………………………………….……………….................

Câu hỏi 8: Khó khăn vì thiếu kỹ năng đọc hiểu

RK K D RD

8a.Tôi thấy khó để tìm ra ý chính của một bài đọc □ □ □ □

hiểu

8b. Tôi thấy khó để tìm ra những ý chi tiết của một □ □ □ □
bài đọc hiểu

8c. Tôi không biết cách đoán nghĩa của các từ mới □ □ □ □
trong một bài đọc hiểu

8d. Tôi thấy khó khăn để nhận ra điều tác giả ngụ ý □ □ □ □
trong một bài đọc hiểu

8e.Tôi thất tóm tắt các ý chính của một bài đọc hiểu □ □ □ □
thật khó

8f. Tôi không biết cách trả lời các câu hỏi của một bài □ □ □ □
đọc hiểu

8g. Các ý kiến khác:

………………………………...............

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 Phần C
Câu hỏi 9: Bạn hãy cho biết những nguyên nhân có thể gây khó khăn trong việc đọc
hiểu tiếng Anh chuyên ngành

ĐÚNG SAI

9a. Các bài đọc rất dài và nhiều thuật ngữ kỹ thuật □ □

9b. Các bài đọc nhiều các cấu trúc ngữ pháp mới và phức tạp □ □

9c. Một số bài đọc lấy từ tài liệu nguyên bản và điều này gây khó □ □
khăn cho chúng tôi khi hiểu nội dung của bài

9d. Giáo viên không dạy chúng tôi đầy đủ các kỹ năng đọc □ □

9e. Giáo viên không tổ chức các hoạt động cho chúng tôi luyện tập □ □
ngữ pháp và từ vựng

9f. Giáo viên quá khắt khe và yêu cầu cao □ □

9g. Tôi không có đủ tự tin và động cơ học tiếng Anh chuyên □ □

ngành

9h. Tôi thiếu vốn từ vựng đặc biệt là từ vựng chuyên ngành □ □

9i. Tôi thiếu kiến thức chuyên ngành của các vấn đề tôi đang học □ □

9j. Các ý kiến khác: ………………………………...............

Câu hỏi 10. Để giúp các bạn đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành dễ dàng hơn, theo bạn
giáo trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành nên điều chỉnh và bổ sung như thế nào? (Bạn có
thể đánh dấu vào các ô sau tuỳ ý)

10a. Các bài đọc hiểu nên gắn sát với nghề nghiệp tương lai của tôi □

17
10b. Các bài đọc hiểu nên ngắn hơn và tạo hứng thú hơn □

10c. Các bài đọc hiểu nên có lượng từ mới vừa phải □

10d. Các thuật ngữ kỹ thuật nên được giải thích kỹ càng hơn □

10e. Các bài tập ngữ pháp nên phong phú, đa dạng hơn □

10f. Các ý kiến khác: □

…………………………………………………………..

Câu hỏi 11. Để giúp các bạn đọc tiếng Anh chuyên ngành tốt hơn bạn mong điều gì
ở giáo viện trong việc dạy đọc hiểu. (Bạn có thể đánh dấu vào các ô sau tuỳ ý)

11a. Tôi muốn giáo viên giải thích kỹ hơn các thuật ngữ kỹ thuật □

11b. Tôi muốn giáo viên giải thích kỹ hơn các cấc trúc ngữ pháp trong các □
bài đọc hiểu

11c. Tôi muốn giáo viên cung cấp các kiến thức nền liên quan đến những □
chủ đề chúng tôi đang học

11d. Tôi muốn giáo viên hướng dẫn chúng tôi cách lựa chọn các kỹ năng □
đọc phù hợp với từng bài đọc

11e. Tôi muốn giáo viên cho phép chúng tôi học theo cặp hoặc theo nhóm □

11f. Tôi muốn giáo viên tổ chức thêm các hoạt động giao tiếp trong giờ học □
để giúp chúng tôi nhớ từ vựng dễ dàng hơn

11g. Tôi muốn giáo viên kiểm tra chúng tôi nhiều hơn về dịch thuật □

11h. Các ý kiến khác ………………………………………………………

Cám ơn về sự hợp tác của các bạn!

18
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Abstract
List of abbreviations
List of tables and figures
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION 4
1.1. Rationale 4
1.2. Aims of the study 6
1.3. Research questions 6
1.4. Scope of the study 6
1.5. Method of the study 6
1.6. Design of the study 7
CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW 8
2.1. Reading and reading comprehension 8
2.1.1. Definition of reading 8
2.1.2. Reading comprehension 9
2.1.3. Factors involved in reading comprehension 11
2.2. Reading difficulties for foreign language learners 12
2.2.1. Language problem 12
2.2.2. Reading skill problem 14
2.2.3. Cultural background knowledge problem 15
2.3. Causes of difficulties in L2 reading 16
2.3.1. Low motivation 17
2.3.2. Insufficient reading skills 18
2.3.3. Language proficiency problem 22
2.3.4. Lack of background knowledge 24
2.3.5. Reading materials 24
2.3.6. Teaching methods 25
2.4. ESP and ESP reading 26
2.4.1. Definition of ESP 26
2.4.2. Differences between ESP and EGP 28

19
 2.4.3. ESP reading skills 30
2.4.4. ESP reading materials 31
2.5. Factors causing difficulties for ESP readers 32
2.5.1. Technical vocabulary 32
2.5.2. Students‟ competence 34
2.5.3. Authenticity of ESP materials 34
2.5.4. Lack of specialist background knowledge 37
2.6. Summary 37
CHAPTER III: THE STUDY 38
3.1. Research questions 38
3.2. The context of the study 38
3.2.1. The institution 38
3.2.2.The students 39
3.2.3. The teachers 39
3.2.4. The teaching and learning English at VKTC 40
3.3. The participants 41
3.4. Data collection instrument 41
3.5. Data collection procedure 43
3.6. Data analysis 43
3.7. Findings and discussion 43
3.7.1. Students‟ attitudes towards ESP reading 43
3.7.2. Students‟ perception of ESP reading difficulties 45
3.7.2.1. Difficulties with ESP vocabulary 46
3.7.2.2. Difficulties with Grammar 47
3.7.2.3. Difficulties with the Text Discourse 48
3.7.2.4. Difficulties related to Lack of Background Knowledge 50
3.7.2.5. Difficulties due to Lack of Reading Skills 52
3.7.2.6. Rank order of ESP reading difficulties 54
3.7.3. Causes of difficulties 55
3.7.3.1. The reading materials 56
3.7.3.2. The teachers 57

20
 3.7.3.3. The students 58
3.7.4. The students‟ expectation in terms of materials 59
3.7.5. The students‟ expectation in terms of methodology 60
3.8. Summary 62
CHAPTER IV: PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS 64
4.1. Increasing students‟ reading interest and motivation 64
4.1.1. Making ESP interesting 64
4.1.1.1.Using visual aids in teaching reading 65
4.1.1.2. Diverstifying reading activities 67
4.1.2. Raising students‟ awareness of the usefulness of English 68
4.2. Training students to become efficient readers 69
4.2.1. Making students aware of the nature of the reading process 69
4.2.2. Making students aware of the purposes of reading 69
4.2.3. Teaching students different reading strategies 69
4.2.4. Encouraging students to develop extensive reading habits 72
4.3. Improving teachers‟ classroom techniques and subject background knowledge 72
4.3.1. Employing three stages in ESP reading lessons 72
4.3.2. Giving homework and checking previous lessons frequently 74
4.3.3. Improving teachers‟ professional knowledge 74
4.4. Developing ESP reading materials 75
4.4.1. Adusting and improving reading exercises 75
4.4.2. Reducing highly specialized texts 75
4.5. Summary 75
CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION 77
5.1. Summary of the findings 77
5.2. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study 78
REFERENCES 79
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A (Questionnaire completed by the students)
APPNDIX B ( Translated version of the questionnaire)

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 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
English learning has experienced its popularity in Vietnam over the last few
decades. Especially, the demand for learning English even gets stronger when
Vietnam fosters its international relations. Every day an increasing number of
people learn and use English for different purposes.
From the early 1960‟s, English for Specific Purpose (ESP) has grown to
become one of the most prominent areas of EFL teaching today. Hutchinson and
Waters (1987) defines ESP as an approach to language teaching in which all
decisions as to content and method are based on the learner‟s reason for learning. In
ESP, it is a need analysis that determines which language skills are most needed by
the students and the syllabus is designed accordingly. During the last few decades,
ESP has been developing vigorously for the reasons that there has been an increase
in vocational training and learning throughout the world and the spread of
globalisation has resulted in the increasing use of English as the language of
international communication, more and more people are using English in a growing
number of occupational contexts. In teaching and learning English as a foreign
language in Vietnam, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has recently received a
great deal of attention.
According to El-Bashbishy (1993), who studied the importance of reading
skills for the students studying English for Specific Purposes, reading is the most
important skill needed for those students. Indeed, reading is by far the most
important skill as they hardly have opportunity to use communicative English
outside the classroom. However, they need to get access to a great number of
specialized documents written in English so as to broaden their knowledge about
their specialism as well as to obtain up-to-date information in their fields of study.
ESP reading is also very necessary in their future work for the reason that during
their future job, the students will encounter a lot of documents about their

22
specialism written in English which they have to read to get needed information so
as to deal with different tasks in their work.
According to Carrell (1981:1) “For many students, reading is by far the most
important of the four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second
or foreign language”. This is true for the students of Automobile Technology
Department at Vietnam Korea Technical College (VKTC), where English not only
serves an useful means to help the students in their study and entertainment but also
plays an important role in their future career. The students at my college are future
technicians who will work in joint-stock automobile manufacturing factories or will
be hired to work overseas. English, therefore, is of importance in their future work
because the students need English to read materials about their specialism, to
understand technical terms, manuals, catalogues, leaflets, etc … and to work with
their foreign colleagues. However, despite the efforts of the teachers and students,
the teachers often find their students‟ reading skill disappointing, which do not meet
the requirements of the college.
Being an ESP teacher of Automobile English, the researcher has always
been aware of the importance of developing reading skills for automobile
students. If students read well, they are able to handle subjects related written
materials in English and to work with modern technological equipments. But in
fact, despite the efforts of the teachers and students, the researcher found her
students‟ reading skills disappointing which do not meet the requirements of
the college. With some years of experience in teaching ESP, the researcher
recognized that there are many factors that affect the teaching and learning
process such as inappropriate teaching methods and classroom techniques,
inappropriate attitudes of the teachers and the students towards the subject,
inappropriate teaching materials…
In an attempt to improve the students‟ reading proficiency, this study is
aimed at finding out the difficulties the students at Vietnam Korea Technical
College are encountering with and the causes of those difficulties as the first step to

23
the pedagogical solutions. The researcher believes that these solutions would be
based on the understanding of what the students find most challenging to them
while reading English texts and why they find it challenging.
1.2. Aims of the study
The study aims to examine the difficulties in reading English for
Automobile Technology of the second year students at VKTC.
To be more specific, the objectives of the study are:
- To explore the students‟ perceived difficulties in reading English for
Automobile Technology at VKTC.
- To find out the causes of those difficulties.
- To investigate the students‟ expectation in terms of ESP materials and
methodology.
- To suggest some solutions to reduce those difficulties, thereby helping
students improve their reading skills.
1.3. Research questions
In order to meet the aims of the study, the following research questions are
generated:
1. What are the students‟ difficulties in reading ESP materials at VKTC?
2. What are the causes of those difficulties ?
3. What are the possible pedagogical implications that can help to reduce
those difficulties ?
1.4. Scope of the study
The study is a survey which focuses on the indentification of the difficulties
that students of Automobile Department encountered with according to their
opinions as well as some suggested solutions to help them deal with those problems.
1.5. Method of the study
With the aim of finding out the areas of difficulties in ESP reading of the
second-year students at VKTC and the causes of their unsuccessful reading

24
comprehension, this study adopts a survey approach. To achieve the aims of the
study, a questionnaire and informal discussions are used to collect the needed data.
1.6. Design of the study
The study consists of six parts:
Chapter I: „Introduction‟ presents the background to the study, rationale,
aims of the study, research questions, scope of the study, method and the design of
the study are also presented in this part.
Chapter II: „Literature review‟ provides the literature review of the
research, including: reading and reading comprehension; the factors involve in
reading proficiency; reading problems for L2 readers; sources of difficulties for L2
readers; ESP and the differences between ESP and EGP and factors that cause
difficulties for ESP reading.
Chapter III: „The study‟ focuses on the methodology of the research,
including the methods, the participants and the instrument and data collection
procedure. This chapter also presents preliminary results, data analysis and research
findings.
Chapter IV: „Pedagogical implications‟ offers some suggestions to improve
the teaching and learning of ESP reading.
Chapter V: „Conclusion‟ summarizes the issues addressed and presents
recommendations for further improvements and some suggestions for further
researches.

25
 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
In this chapter, the relevant literature will be reviewed in order to create a
theoretical background for the study. First, an overview of reading comprehension
including definition, factors involved in reading comprehension, reading difficulties
for foreign language learners and the causes of those difficulties will be presented..
Then a brief description of ESP will be discussed including the definition of ESP,
differences between English for General Purposes (EGP) reading and English for
Specific Purposes (ESP), ESP reading skills as well as ESP materials. Finally,
factors causing difficulties for ESP readers will be reviewed.
2.1. Reading and reading comprehension
2.1.1. Definition of reading
It is stated that reading is a kind of culture that people regardless of age, sex,
or class should learn and have. Although no one can deny the high frequency of
reading in daily life, many people do not fully understand thoroughly what reading
or reading comprehension. There have been so many definitions of reading that they
cause much confusion. However, no single definition or explanation can live up to
everyone‟s satisfaction.
According to Goodman (1971:135), reading is “a psycholinguistics 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”. For Goodman, this act of
reconstruction is considered as a cyclical process of sampling, predicting, testing,
and confirming. To make the matter simple and easy, from the motor-psychological
perspective, Harmer (1989:153) considers reading as a mechanical process that
“eyes receive messages and the brain then has to identify the meanings of those
messages”. So the speed of reading depends much on the mechanical process of
looking and perceiving and it is the reader who decides how fast he wants to read
the text.
From a cognitive perspective, Smith defines that “reading is to understand
author‟s thought” (Smith, 1985:102). But the problem posed hereof is that how the

26
reader understands the written texts because the meanings of a word depend on the
context in which it appears. The closer the reader shares the context with the author,
the more he/she can understand what the author wants to say through the message.
This mostly depends on the reader‟s reading proficiency.
Taking an interactive perspective, Nuttall (1982:4) relates reading to
communication process and concludes that “reading means getting out of the text as
nearly as possible the message the writer puts into it”. He also emphasizes the
interaction between texts and readers in the reading process. In his opinion, “text is
full of meaning like a jug of water, the reader‟s mind soaks it up like sponge”.
It is clear that reading is defined from a variety of perspectives:
psychological, motor-psychological, cognitive, and interactive. Therefore, no
definition can possibly capture all the ideas and features of what reading is. Each
scholar‟s definition reflects what reading means as seen from his point of view.
However, what they all share is that they try to find out the nature of reading, and
reading act, in which the readers, reading process and reading messages are
emphasized.
2.1.2. Reading comprehension
Reading comprehension takes a very important part in teaching and learning
reading a language and a foreign language as well. It can be seen as the ability to
retain information of a written text to the fullest of the readers. Grellet defines that
“reading comprehension or understanding a written text means extracting the
required information from it as effectively as possible” (Grellet, 1981:34). From this
point of view, Grellet focuses on readers‟ ability of understanding the meaning of a
written text based on the individual‟s background knowledge. Having the same
point of view with Grellet, Swan states that “A student is good at comprehension we
mean that he can read accurately and efficiently, so as to get the maximum
information of a text with the minimum of understanding” (Swan, 1975: 1). This
means that the student can show his understanding by re-expressing the content of
the text in many ways such as summarizing the text, answering questions, etc.

27
 For a little more different definition of reading comprehension, Richards and
Rodgers put their emphasis on the share of opinion between the author and the
reader. So according to them, “reading comprehension is best described as an
understanding between the author and the reader” (Richards and Rodgers, 1986:7).
This implies that during the reading process, readers on the way to discover what
the author means and to build meaning for themselves at the same time in their own
language, their thoughts, and their own view of the world based on their background
knowledge. It is very difficult, even impossible to understand the author‟s meaning
to the maximum if there is no interaction between the author and the reader about
language and thoughts. Consequently, the reader is as active in searching for
meaning as is the writer in creating written language.
Though these ideas are not exactly the same, they all come up to the common
point that reading comprehension is the process in which the readers, as they read,
can recognize the graphic forms of the reading text and understand what is implied
behind these forms.
Reading plays a very important role in second language learning. According
to Krashen (1983), reading can provide “comprehensible input”, which is critical to
the second language acquisition. The input from reading is more important where
students have limited or no exposure to the second language environment. Thus by
reading the students are exposed to the input, which, ideally, is comprehensible to
them, i.e., the text is a little bit more difficult than their current proficiency in the
target language. He states that:
“Reading may contribute significantly to competence in a second language.
There is good reason, in fact, to hypothesize that reading makes a contribution to
overall competence, to all four skills” (Krashen & Terrel, 1983:131)
To sum up, reading comprehension plays a very important role in teaching
and learning a foreign language in general and teaching reading in particular.
However, the reasons for reading differ from one person to another. As a result, the
ways we read are also different. In other words, the purposes of reading determine

28
the ways or the styles of reading. Now it is necessary to identify the factors
involved in the reading comprehension to have a closer look at reading
comprehension.
2.1.3. Factors involved in reading comprehension
There are various factors affecting reading skills that both teachers and
students have to take into consideration when doing reading process. According to
Aebersold and Field (1997:23), those factors are as follows:
- Cognitive development and cognitive style orientation at the time of
beginning L2/FL study.
- Language proficiency in the L1.
- Metacognitive knowledge of L1 structure, grammar, and syntax.
- Language proficiency in a L2/FL.
- Degree of difference between the L1 and a L2/FL (writing systems,
rhetorical structures, appropriate strategies)
- Cultural orientation which includes:
+ attitudes toward text and purpose for reading.
+ types of reading skills and strategies used in the L1.
+ types of reading skills and strategies used or appropriate in the L2/FL.
+ beliefs about the reading process (use of inference, memorization,
nature of comprehension)
+ knowledge of text types in the L1 (formal schemata)
+ background knowledge (content schemata)
Among the factors mentioned above, language proficiency in L2 and
background knowledge are likely to be two factors affecting most the success of
reading process because when reading readers always bring their background
knowledge into reading texts to comprehend them, and if their language
competence is good enough, it is much easier for them to understand and acquire
the L2 they are learning. Therefore, to help students able to read texts or documents

29
in the classroom to the fullest, it is advisable for teachers to identify what level of
language proficiency their students are at, and how much they understand the
required reading texts so that they could give their students suitable texts to read.
Besides, teachers should be aware of the rest factors affecting reading skills to help
their students to the maximum. Specifically, teachers should motivate their students
by providing them with as many reading skills as possible and know to focus them
on suitable ones when practising, and try to decrease the difference between their
native language and the target one.
2.2. Reading difficulties for foreign language learners
No one can deny the great importance of reading in a foreign language to
academic studies, personal development and professional success. As a result,
readers can acquire the target language to the fullest if they have strong reading
skills. In fact, without strong reading skills, learners may find class discussions to
be uncomfortable, or somewhat intimidating. If learners feel that they are not
getting enough from the reading, they may fall behind, or miss out on a great book,
and they are not benefiting from the experience and lose out an opportunity to learn.
However, reading in a language which is not the learners‟ mother tongue is much
more difficult. Problems in reading for foreign learners come from many variables
such as reading skills, language competence or readers‟ cultural background
knowledge.
2.2.1. Language problem
Yorio (1971) gives out a contrary view to reading problems. He argues that
reading problems of foreign language learners are largely due to the knowledge of
the target language and the mother tongue interference in the reading process. In his
opinion, reading involves four factors: knowledge of the language, ability to guess
so as to make the correct choice, ability to remember the previous cues, and ability
to make necessary association between the different cues that have been selected.
Therefore, learners with limited knowledge of the target language may face with
considerable difficulties when reading in the target language.

30
 Besides, readers have to face various difficulties. The first and the foremost
problem is that they may have to work with unfamiliar and difficult topics. These
are called “ text problems”. The content of the text might be rather strange to the
students and the grammatical structures might be new. Therefore, they can not
understand it. The readers will find the text very challenging and might not have
any motivation left to keep on reading. L2 readers may have difficulty adjusting
their reading strategies to match the author‟s intent or purpose. They may not be
familiar with a particular story “grammar” or the organizational patterns of
informational text. They may not be familiar with specific genre and the literary
devises used in text.
The second but not less important kind of problem is the “vocabulary
problems”. As everyone knows, grammatical knowledge accounts for a great deal of
competence in reading. However, knowledge of vocabulary is a great deal more
important as a factor to reading comprehension than awareness of grammatical
structures (O‟Donnel, 1961: 313-316).
L2 readers may lack knowledge of English grammar and syntax and
therefore, may read word by word. They may encounter too much unfamiliar
vocabulary to grasp the overall concept conveyed in the sentence. They are also
challenged when reading idiomatic expressions and unfamiliar grammatical
constructions.
In addition, L2 readers may have difficulty with more complex and
compound sentences. They may lose the meaning of references within the text, such
as with frequent use of pronouns. Pronoun usage may be different or less frequent in
the native language. Connectives may be overlooked or misunderstood so they lose
the relationships between concepts and ideas.
Another difficulty that readers face is vocabulary and grammatical structures.
This is especially true when they deal with idioms, proverbs, synonyms, antonyms,
etc., which can be considered to have an impact on the readers‟ motivation.
According to Aebersold and Field (1997), it is necessary for a reader to know

31
vocabulary and structures in order to get meaning from a text. This is especially true
to second or foreign language readers because it is not all readers to possess enough
vocabulary and structures to read what they want. But most are on the way to enrich
themselves with more new words and structures to infer the meaning of the
sentences when dealing with reading texts. Therefore, when the readers have limited
knowledge of vocabulary and grammatical structures, they will be unwilling to
explore the text.
These problems are the difficulties that foreign language learners, GE
students, ESP students share in common. Besides, ESP students encounter other
difficulties in dealing with terminologies, concepts, tables, charts, graphs etc. in
their specific field. All the above mentioned difficulties interfere with their process
of learning reading ESP and set challenges for ESP teachers whose duty is to find
ways to help their students to overcome them.
2.2.2. Reading skill problem
Reading skills should be employed in reading processes to make the reading
effective. According to Alderson (2000:9-10), there are 8 skills of reading such as:
- recalling word meanings
- drawing inferences about the meaning of a word in context
- finding answers to questions answered explicitly or in paraphrase
- weaving together ideas in the content
- drawing inferences from the content
- recognizing a writer‟s purpose, attitude, tone and mood
- identifying a writer‟s technique
- following the structure of a passage
Second language readers often expose to be problems with the above skills
because when making reading processes, it is clear to identify that they read in a
foreign language slower than in their first language. Moreover, they do not know
how to use the appropriate ways to read. They just look at every single word, read

32
slowly from the beginning to the end and consequently fail to grasp the general
meaning of the passage. Sometimes, they may encounter a lot of new words, a long
text or an unfamiliar topic. Yet they can not concentrate well on the text and when
they get to the last paragraph they may not recall what they have read in the
previous ones. In other words, they find difficult, even impossible in weaving
together ideas in the content.
It is common that there are new words, new structures, and ideas in a reading
text to every language learner. If a learner does not know how to make use of
grammatical, logical and cultural clues and have a guess or predicting ability, he
will read the text with less comprehension than he might expect. And poor reading
comprehension may result in disinterest in reading. He may be trapped in a vicious
circle:
Figure 2.1: The vicious circle of the weak readers (Nuttall, 1982: 167)
doesn‟t understand read slowly

doesn‟t read much doesn‟t enjoy reading

From the above diagram, one of the important factors affecting the
effectiveness of reading processes is learner‟s motivation toward reading. When a
student does not read much, he/she of course does not feel like reading that leads to
the speed of reading is slow. And when he/she does not read much, he/she will not
understand the subject matter as he/she expects which also makes him/her read
slowly.
2.2.3. Cultural background knowledge problem
Several studies on reading skills indicate that apart from language problems
and reading skill problems, cultural knowledge can also affect students‟ reading
ability.

33
 Strang (1972) states that readers will have different levels of comprehension
of the same text because they start off from different positions. They interprete texts
differently because of the differences in the high-level cultural schemata that were
activated.
Many studies including Steffensen et al (1979) and Carrell (1981) have
demonstrated the effect of cultural knowledge on the product of comprehension.
Appealing to the processes of distortion and elaboration to account for the
differences between a recall of text and the original text. Readers facing with
unfamiliar cultural contents may mistranslate or misinterprete the text according to
their own cultural experiences. Reading comprehension is a function of cultural
background knowledge. If readers possess the schemata assumed by the writer, they
understand what is stated and effortlessly make the inferences intended. As Hudson
(1982:9) states: “the reading problems of the L2 readers are not due to an absence of
attempts at fitting and providing specific schemata. Rather, problem lies in
projecting appropriate schemata”
To conclude, in most cases, reading and understanding a text is often a
challenging task for a reader during a reading process if he/she does not have full
background knowledge of the subject matter, his/her low reading speed is low to
keep pace with other better students‟, the topics are unfamiliar, and he has not
enough reading strategies in hand, etc. All of those difficulties prevent him/her from
understanding to the fullest the writer‟s purposes and ideas and lead to decrease in
reading motivation. So it is necessary to create learners‟ interest, enhance their
motivation in teaching reading
2.3. Causes of difficulties in L2 reading
As can be seen from the above discussion about the definition of reading,
factors influencing reading and the readers‟ various strategies, the difficulties stem
from a variety of reasons and in no way are easy to identify and categorize into
groups. From a general view, the problems usually originate from internal factors
and external ones. The internal causes have to do with the leaner himself including

34
low motivation problem, insufficient reading skills, language proficiency problem,
lack of lexical knowledge, cultural background knowledge problem, and lack of
inferencing ability. The external causes are mainly due to reading materials and
teaching method of the teachers.
2.3.1. Low motivation
There have existed many different points of view on the definition of
motivation in second language learning. However, all the scholars share the same
view that motivation combines effort and desire plus favorable attitude and occurs
as a result of a combination of internal and external influences. William and Burden
define motivation as:
“….motivation may be construed as a state of cognitive and emotional
arousal, which leads to a conscious decision to act, and which gives rise to period of
sustained intellectual and/or physical effort in order to attain a previous set goal or
goals”
(William and Burden, 1997:120)
Motivation plays a crucial role not only in second language learning but also
in reading comprehension. Reading behaviors are influenced by motivation across
cultures and languages (Lorch & van den Broek, 1997; Oldfather, 2002; Wigfield,
1997). Indeed, even the most skillful readers can hardly be effective readers if they
lack motivation (Watkins & Coffey, 2004). A variety of motivation constructs are
important correlates of reading performance (Wigfield & Guthrie, 1997; Law,
2009). Wigfield noted that instrinsic reading motivation, consisting of curiosity in
learning about a particular topic of interest, the pleasure gained from being engaged
in reading interesting materials, and the challenge in learning complex or difficult
ideas, is an important component in students becoming profiecient readers.
It is said that readers‟ motivation has an effect not only on the result of
comprehension but also upon the process of understanding. If the readers have no
interest in the text, it means that they do not want to read than the reading activity

35
will become a pressure to themselves and even the reading process may not happen
at all.
In the case readers are motivated to read, they will start reading the texts to
satisfy their desire, to find a number of questions and specific information or ideas
they are interested in. A great deal of conducted studies on the motivation of second
language readers have shown that poor readers usually lack motivation to read and
make efforts to improve their reading competence. This is, of course, the effect of
poor reading as the cause of it.
It is suggested that learners should be encouraged to choose the topics they
wish to read as well as to have enough time getting ready before starting reading.
To put it bluntly, the teachers should arouse leaners‟ interest and curiosity in the
text, encourage their prediction and stimulate them when dealing with reading
activities. In other words, “it is an important part of a reading teacher‟s job to
motivate learners” (Girard, 1997:120).
2.3.2. Insufficient reading skills
There is a close relationship between students‟ reading ability and reading
strategies. It is very important for students to choose a proper reading strategy in
order to improve their reading speed and reading efficiency.
Although a number of studies have attempted to conceptualize the notion of
strategies used by language learners, Oxford (1990) particularly offers a useful and
comprehensive classification scheme of the various strategies used by learners. He
sees the aim of language learning strategies as being oriented towards the
development of communicative competence (Oxford,1990:9) and divides language
learning strategies into two main classes, direct and indirect, which are further
subdivided into 6 groups. In Oxford's system, metacognitive strategies help learners
to regulate their learning. Affective strategies are concerned with the learner's
emotional requirements such as confidence, while social strategies lead to increased
interaction with the target language. Cognitive strategies are the mental strategies
learners use to make sense of their learning, memory strategies are those used for

36
storage of information, and compensation strategies help learners to overcome
knowledge gaps to continue the communication. Oxford's (1990:17) taxonomy of
language learning strategies is shown in the following :
Direct strategies
Memory strategies:
- Creating mental linkages
- Applying images and sounds
- Reviewing well
- Employing action
Cognitive strategies:
- Practising
- Receiving and sending messages strategies
- Analysing and reasoning
Compensation strategies:
- Guessing intelligently
- Overcoming limitations in speaking and writing
Indirect strategies
Metacognitive strategies:
- Centering your learning
- Arranging and planning your learning
- Evaluating your learning
Affective strategies:
- Lowering your anxiety
- Encouraging yourself
- Taking your emotional temperature
Social strategies:
- Asking questions

37
 - Cooperating with others
- Emphasizing with others
Techniques that help the learner to remember and retrieve information are
referred to as memory strategies. These include creating mental images through
grouping and associating, semantic mapping, using keywords, employing word
associations, and placing new words into a context.
Cognitive strategies are used by learners to transform or manipulate the
language. In more specific terms, these might include note taking, formal practice
with the specific aspects of the target language such as sounds and sentence
structure, summarizing, paraphrasing, predicting, analyzing and using context clues.
Compensation strategies include skills such as interferring, guessing while
reading, or using reference materials such as dictionaries.
Metacognitive strategies are behaviors undertaken by the learners to plan,
arrange, and evaluate their own learning. Such strategies include directed attention
and self-evaluation, orga nization, setting goals and objectives, seeking practice
opportunities, and so forth. In the context of reading, selfmonitoring and correction
of errors are further examples of metacognitive strategies.
Learners also use affective strategies, such as self-encouraging behavior, to
lower anxiety and encouraging learning. It might also include the ability to deal
with difficult texts soberly and without any sign of panic.
Lastly, social strategies are those that involve other individuals in the
learning process and refer to cooperation with peers, questioning, asking for
correction, and feedback; for example, while reading a student may ask another
individual for feedback about his/her reading reponses.
It is important to recognize that the above strategies can be used to facilitate
learning, or can be used to facilitate comprehension. For example, a learner can
employ the memory strategy of grouping in order to learn vocabulary words more
quickly and more effectively. Similarly, grouping can also be used to faciliate the
understanding and meaning of words. Furthermore, such strategies will vary

38
depending on the language area or skill to be mastered. In other words, task
requirements help determine strategy choice; leaners would not use the same
strategy for writing an essay as they would for engaging in informal conversation in
a sencond language.
Researchers in the strategy use of second language readers fall into two
groups (Block, 1986). One argues that reading ability in a second language is
largely a function of proficiency in that language. The major figures in this group
are Clarke (1979) and Macnamara (1970). According to this group of researchers,
therefore, language skills develop in a linear progression, moving from lower level
letter-and-word level skills and higher level cognitive ones. The other group asserts
that higher level strategies developed in a “first language” can be transferred to a
second language and operate alongside lower processing strategies. The major
proponents of this view are Benedetto (1984), Coady (1979), Cummins (1980),
Goodman (1973) and Hudson (1982). These researchers believe that as language
proficiency develops linguistic cues can be used more efficiently and that
predictions and other cognitive processes will therefore operate more smoothly. In
his study on Spanish students learning English as a second language, Anderson
(1991:469) found that there is no single set of processing strategies that
significantly contributes to success on the two reading measures he used. Readers
scoring high and those scoring low appear to be using the same kinds of strategies.
This seems to indicate that strategic readings is not only a matter of knowing what
strategy to use, but also the reader must know how to use a strategy successfully
and combines its use with other strategies. In this regard, Anderson states that it is
not sufficient to know about strategies; a reader must also be able to apply them
successfully.
Furthermore, according to Jolly (1978), one‟s first language reading ability
plays a more important role in reading success than his level of the target language
does because foreign language reading requires the transference of old skills, not the
learning of new ones. Therefore, students who fail to read adequately in the foreign
language fail because they either do not possess “old skills”, or because they have

39
failed to transfer them. This view is shared by Coady (1979) who asserts that
foreign language reading is a reading skill problem, not a language problem.
Bernhard and Kamil (1995:17) assumesd that “reading performance in a
second language is largely shared with reading ability in a first language”. In the
late 1980s, Gissi Sarig conducted a qualitative study with ten advanced learners of
English as a foreign language whose first language was Hebrew to investigate the
contribution of L1 reading strategies and L2 language proficiency to L2 reading, as
well as the relationship between L1 and L2 reading strategies. Sarig‟s results
revealed that subjects transferred strategies from L1 reading to L2 reading and that
“the same reading strategies types accounted for success and failure in both
languages to almost the same extent” (Sarig, 1987:118). It can be concluded, then,
that reading processes from the first language appear to transfer to the foreign
language.
2.3.3. Language proficiency problem
Many studies focused on the relationship between proficiency level
(generally referring to grammatical competence) and performance in reading. Some
authors including Macnamara (1970), Clarke (1979), Crizko (1980) and many
others concluded that the reading level is closely linked to the level of proficiency
the students has in the language. Yorio (1971) claims that reading problems are
largely due to imperfect knowledge of language and language inteference in the
reading process. It is suggested that reading involves knowledge of language, ability
to predict and remember the previous cues and ability to make associations between
different cues previously selected. The work of Pardón and Waxman (1988)
analyses the reading strategies used by 82 Hispanic in primary education and the
results revealed that, besides the students‟ level of English, the use of the wrong
cognitive strategies interferes with their level of comprehension. The work which
directly confronts the question of whether reading in a second language depends on
reading skills or on the level of proficiency is that of Carrell (1991) in the United
States.. Carrell (1991) investigated the relationship between L1 and L2 reading

40
comprehension of 45 native Spanish speakers learning English (as L2) and 75
English speakers studying Spanish (as L2). The results showed significant effects
for both L1 reading ability and L2 proficiency on L2 reading performance, without
a clear relationship regarding which is the most important. A similar conclusion was
drawn in a later work by Bernhardt and Kamil (1995) who examined the
relationship between L1 literacy and L2 reading among 186 adult, native English
speakers learning Spanish at beginning, intermediate and advanced proficiency
levels and their results indicated that language ability is a major determinant of
successful reading. When there is a language deficiency, readers are not able to
make use of syntactic, contextual, semantic and discoursal clues (Haynes, 1993;
Devine, 1984). The research carried out by Lee and Schallert (1997), in their study
with 809 ninth and tenth-grade Korean EFL students found that an advanced level
of proficiency in the L2 ( a threshold level) is required to be able to make effective
use of reading strategies employed in the mother tongue.
Ulijin and Salager-Meyer (1998) identifies vocabulary knowledge as critical
component of reading comprehension and claimed that it is an important predictor
of reading ability. Coady (1993) asserts that readers with better vocabulary
knowledge are generally believed to be better “comprehenders”. Most current L1
and L2 reading theories maintain that processing at the word level is central to
successful reading and that lack of skill at recognizing words is almost always a
predictor of difficulties in developing reading comprehension (Stanovich, 1980;
Grabe, 1991). In addition, automatic word identification is now considered as one of
the most striking differences between skilled and less skilled readers.
Closely related to the importance attached to lexical development in L2
reading is the notion of a “lexical threshold” (Yorio, 1971; Devine, 1987). It is
claimed that reading ability and strategy use are dependent upon L2 proficiency and
that below a certain threshold in L2 proficiency, comprehension process used by the
readers in L1 cannot be used as effectively in L2 reading. Well-known scholars in
the field such as Alderson and Urquhart (1984); Silberstein (1987); Devine (1989)

41
and Coady (1993) take the view that second language readers must reach a certain
level in L2 before they can effectively read in the second language.
2.3.4. Lack of background knowledge
Lack of appropriate schema or background knowledge has also been proved
to be an obstacle to L2 readers‟ comprehension of authentic texts. According to
schema-theoretic view (Anderson and Pearson, 1984), reading is a top-down and
bottom-up interactive process and readers‟ background knowledge plays a
significant role in comprehension. Existing knowledge interacts with new
knowledge in comprehending a text. Following Schema Theory, a number of
studies have aimed at demonstrating the importance of background knowledge in
L2 reading. Some studies find that a match between background knowledge
presupposed by the text and that possessed by the readers leads to a better
comprehension than a mismatch. Providing students with background knowledge
facilitates learning and understanding of unfamiliar texts (Johnson, 1981). Chan
(2003) found that both background knowledge and language proficiency affect L2
reading and he further claims that background knowledge is more significantly
beneficial to low proficiency readers than high proficiency readers. He adds that
background knowledge is less important than language proficiency in L2.
2.3.5. Reading materials
The features of the text such as length, linguistic complexity, coherence,
cohesion, text content and discourse pattern also affect the quality of
comprehension as indicated by many researchers.
A source of difficulty or influence on reader‟s ability to acquire information
from second language text is the way the text content is organized and explained -
in other words, how coherent a text is, and also how skilled the reader is in seeing
the organizational patterns in different genres of second language text.
The concept of coherence has been used to describe the kind of textual
organization that facilitates the reader‟s task. Coherence is brought to text by the
readers who rely on their world knowledge when perceiving the inderlying

42
relationships that make up the constituents of a text (Ulijin & Salager-Meyer, 1998).
Van Dijk (1977) identifies two types of coherence: global (macro level) and local
(micro level) coherence. The former has to do with the overall structure and order of
propositions in a text; the later being related to the inter-sentential relations. He also
claims that coherence depends on the readers‟ view of the „textual world‟, which
includes extralinguistic elements like the writer‟s intention, the nature of audience
addressed, the relationship that exists between the reader and the writer.
Language skills may not be the only limiting factor in L2 reading
comrehension as seen in many studies. Recent research has shown that text topics
do interact with gender differences in L2 reading (Brantmeir, 2002). Text content
may increase the L2 reader‟s burden at the intermediate level of instruction.
Brantmeir (2002) found that lack of topic familiarity interfered with L2 reading
comprehension and that low levels of enjoyment and interest factors did not prevent
performance on written recall tasks. She commented that topic familiarity was
important, but enjoyment and interest in the topic mattered very little. She
concluded that non-linguistic factors such as gender, passage content, and topic
familiarity may increase the L2 reader‟s burden
2.3.6. Teaching methods
Reading, one of the most important English teaching activities, concerns the
two-way relation between teaching and learning. The success of an English learner
depends on his/her own efforts and objective conditions. However, without the
teacher‟s guidance, it is unlikely for a student to achieve great success. Teachers not
only teach students language knowledge and reading skills, but also help students to
grasp correct learning methods, stimulate students‟ interest and develop students‟
potential talents orderly and scientifically.
Motivation plays a central role in learning. Longing for success can
strengthen reading activities. When a student gets the experience of success more
frequently, they are likely to be more successful afterwards. As a result, the teacher
should provide more chances to let the students enjoy more experience of being

43
successful. It is also beneficial to students‟ reading mentality. Many students are
afraid of failure and they will lose their confidence in reading. It is of critical
importance to provide readers with an enjoyable experience and help break the
vicious circle. If readers read more and faster, they will get more interested in
reading.
As a result, the teacher should help students to select suitable texts to work
on and design suitable tasks and activities to develop students‟ skills, making sure
everyone in the class works productively and get successful experience to a certain
extent.
2.4. ESP and ESP reading
2.4.1. Definition of ESP
What is ESP? This is a big and complicated question that requires much
effort in seeing how ESP at the present relates to the rest of English Language
Teaching (ELT). If we take a look at the tree of ELT (Hutchinson and Waters,
1987:17), it is clear that ESP is a big multi-levels branch of ELT being nourished by
the learning and communication roots. Hutchinson and Waters regards it as “an
approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are
based on the learners‟ reason for learning” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:17). ESP
must be seen as an approach not as a product and is directed by specific and
apparent reasons for learning ESP. Students' goal of 1earning a second 1anguage
might acquire not only general linguistics competencies but also academic and job-
related skills.
Strevens (1988:1), by contrast, states that “ESP is a particular case of the
general category of special - purpose language teaching”. In his work, he points out
four following absolute characteristics of ESP:
- ESP is designed to meet the learners‟ specified needs.
- ESP has the content relating to particular disciplines, occupations and
activities.

44
 - ESP is centered on language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis,
discourse, semantics, and analysis of the discourse.
- ESP is in contrast with General English
In order to make the above mentioned absolute characteristics of ESP
distinctive, other two variable characteristics are set up. Firstly, ESP may be
restricted to skills to be learnt (for example reading only). Secondly, ESP may not
be taught according to any pre-ordained methodology. All of the characteristics of
ESP make us come to an end that teaching and learning ESP is a challenging task
for both teachers and students.
Widdowson (1983:5) argues that the purpose for ESP and EGP is the same,
but he clearly points out that what distinguishes ESP from EGP is “the way in
which purpose is defined and the manner of its implementation”. He further
distinguishes the two by their differences in relation to education and training. The
design of ESP is based as precisely as possible on what learners need. Courses are
designed to provide learners with the restricted competence they need to cope with
certain clearly specified set of tasks.
From the above mentioned viewpoints, when dealing with ESP, it is
necessary to identify two central areas in ESP which are content and methodology.
In terms of content, it is important to concern about the scope of a particular course
in comparison with the totality of the language to make the ESP course balanced in
content so that it is not either too narrow or broad. In terms of methodology, ESP
courses aim to develop linguistic skills relating to particular spheres of activity, not
only the nature of the linguistic items introduced, but the ways in which they are
introduced and how they are practised. So it is also crucially important for teachers
to apply good methods in ESP classes because good methods decide most of the
success of the classroom.
Generally speaking, due to the characteristics of ESP, when learning on ESP
courses, activities to be carried out during learning process should take place as
authentically as possible. The requirement of authenticity means that learning

45
materials should use actual texts produced by people working in the ESP field under
consideration. And the texts involved in learning materials should be content-based
ones. That means they should focus on specific problems that people are likely to
encounter in their everyday working lives in the ESP field. If the learning materials
of ESP courses cover these two areas, many important linguistic items relevant to
the ESP field may be introduced and practised.
And basing on the above characteristics of ESP, we can come to a conclusion
that reading in EGP somehow differs from ESP reading in terms of the purposes,
the teachers, the students, the texts and their roles.
2.4.2. Differences between ESP and EGP
English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and English for General Purposes (EGP)
differs not in terms of theory, but in terms of practice ( Hutchinson and
Waters,1987). On the face of it, ESP differs from EGP in the sense that the words
and sentences learned, the subject matter discussed, all related to a particular field
or discipline - for example, a lawyer writing a brief, or a diplomat preparing for a
policy paper. ESP courses make use of vocabulary and tasks related to the field such
as negotiation skills and effective techniques for oral presentations. The entire
program is designed to meet the specific professional or academic needs of the
learner. A balance is, therefore, created between educational theory and practical
considerations. ESP, in this sense, also increases students‟ skills and confidence in
using English.
The most important difference lies in the learners and their purposes for
learning English. ESP students are usually adults who already have some
acquaintance with English and are learning the language in order to communicate a
set of professional skills and to perform particular job-related functions. An ESP
program is therefore built on an assessment of purposes and needs and the functions
for which English is required .
ESP concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and
language structures. It covers subjects varying from accounting or computer science

46
to tourism and business management. The ESP focal point is that English is not
taught as a subject separated from the students' real world (or wishes); instead, it is
integrated into a subject matter area important to the learners (Silvia Tropea, 2010).
However, ESL and ESP diverge not only in the nature of the learner, but also
in the aim of instruction. In fact, as a general rule, while in ESL all four language
skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing, are stressed equally, in ESP it is a
needs analysis that determines which language skills are most needed by the
students, and the syllabus is designed accordingly. An ESP program, might, for
example, emphasize the development of reading skills in students who are preparing
for graduate work in business administration; or it might promote the development
of spoken skills in students who are studying English in order to become tourist
guides.
As a matter of fact, ESP combines subject matter and English language
teaching. Such a combination is highly motivating because students are able to
apply what they learn in their English classes to their main field of study, whether it
be accounting, business management, economics, computer science or tourism.
Being able to use the vocabulary and structures that they learn in a meaningful
context reinforces what is taught and increases their motivation.
The students' abilities in their subject-matter fields, in turn, improve their
ability to acquire English. Subject-matter knowledge gives them the context they
need to understand the English of the classroom. In the ESP class, students are
shown how the subject-matter content is expressed in English. The teacher can
make the most of the students' knowledge of the subject matter, thus helping them
learn English faster.
The term "specific" in ESP refers to the specific purpose for learning
English. Students approach the study of English through a field that is already
known and relevant to them. This means that they are able to use what they learn in
the ESP classroom right away in their work and studies. The ESP approach
enhances the relevance of what the students are learning and enables them to use the

47
English they know to learn even more English, since their interest in their field will
motivate them to interact with speakers and texts.
2.4.3. ESP reading skills
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987:17), ESP “is an approach to
language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the
leaner‟s reason for learning”. An ESP course therefore should differ from a EGP
course in its selection of skills and themes, topics, situations and functions. What is
more, all courses have purposes and aims to achieve. All courses should be based
on an analysis of the students‟ needs and meet students‟ needs. ESP reading
normally receives more attention.
According to John and Davies (1983), one of the most important
contributions to the approach to teaching reading ESP is the shift from Text and as a
Linguistic Object (TALO) to text as a Vehicle of Information (TAVI). For ESP
learners extracting information accurately and quickly is more significant than
language details, and understanding the macrostructure comes before language
study, and the application of the information in the text is of extreme importance.
There is another significant contribution to teaching reading on ESP courses:
the recognition that good reading requires language and skills, which has been
shown by many researchers (Hoeffel, 1977; Alderson, 1984). Leaners need to reach
a threshold level of language knowledge before they are able to transfer any L1
skills to their L2 reading tasks. Therefore, the reading component of an ESP course
requires a balance between skills and language development. Dudley-Evans and
St.John (1998: 134) show some of the key skills:
- selecting what is relevant to the current purpose
- using all the features of the text such as headings, layout, typeface
- skimming for content and meaning.
- scanning for specifics
- identifying organizational patterns.

48
 - understanding relations within a sentence and between sentences.
- using cohesive and discourse markers.
- predicting, interfering and guessing.
- identifying main ideas, supporting ideas and examples.
- processing and evaluating the information during reading.
- transferring or using the information while or after reading.
2.4.4. ESP reading materials
Materials play an important role in teaching and learning process, especially
in teaching ESP reading. They are considered as a source of language and a learning
support. They are also used for motivation and stimulation and for reference.
ESP is designed to meet specific needs of the leaners, therefore selecting
reading materials is very important. The reading materials must be used for a given
purpose - preferably some application or transfer of information, be designed to
encourage the use (or teaching) of good skills and have follow up language work
that concentrate on what is transferable. Selecting materials involves making
choices and decisions. To make good choices we need to have good criteria on
which to base the decision. Numerous criteria such as factors about the learners, the
role of the materials, the topics, the language, the presentation have been put
forward for the analysis of materials and each of them has validity. According to
Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 107), a good ESP material must contain interesting
texts, enjoyable activities which make the students think, give opportunities for
them to use their existing knowledge, skills and content that they and their teachers
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.

49
 2.5. Factors causing difficulties for ESP readers
2.5.1. Technical vocabulary
Technical words are specialized words closely related to a specific area or
field of study like engineering, medicine, linguistics, etc. They are commonly used
in specialized textbooks. This group of words is identified by the meaning of a word
strict to the field in which it occurs and its high frequency of occurrence or use in
that field (Tagliacozzo, 1975; Yang, 1986; Nation, 2001) and covers about 5% of
running words in the text (Nation, 2001). Some technical words have low frequency
of occurrence (Liu and Nesi, 1999). Technical vocabulary can be a common word
which provides a specialized meaning different from its vernacular meaning when
used in specific field. Wignell, Martin and Eggins (1993) state that the use of
technical terms can be overlapped with words from other fields.
Similarly, Bowker and Pearson (2002) mention that technical words and
general words can have some degree of overlap. Technical vocabulary occurs in
academic texts with high frequency (Yang, 1986; Liu and Nesi, 1999; and Nation,
2001) as well as low frequency (Liu and Nesi, 1999). Learners need to know the
words since they carry most of the content in the text. This group of words then
needs to be taught. Yang (1986:93) states, “One of the specific features of English
for Science and Technology (EST) is the high concentration of terms. Before a
learner can have practical reading competence, he/she must have acquired a certain
number of scientific/technical terms. Scientific/technical terms should be part of the
teaching of EST, especially at the advanced level.” Yang‟s statements have
provided no direct comment on the difficulties of technical words. However, with a
high proportion of technical words, they can cause difficulties for learners in
significant ways. Carter and McCarthy (1991:13) state, “The difficulty of a word
may result, inter alia, from the relations it can be seen to contract with other
words…, from its polysemy, the associations it creates,…, from the nature of
contexts in which it is encountered.” From these statements, the difficulties of
words come from the context in which they occurs as well as the relationship with

50
other words. This means a word by itself and a group of words can both provide
some difficulties.
Technical words, which carry the content of the discourse, occur with high
frequency in academic texts (Yang, 1986). Technical vocabulary comprises
indexical words, general scientific words, and loan words from common language
(Wignell, Martin and Eggins, 1993). In their study, Liu and Nesi (1999) found that
technical words provide more difficulties to non-native learners of English than do
academic words.
Scientific texts use numerous noun phrases. Those noun phrases might
contain some technical words which make the phrases technical. The technical
words themselves can provide some difficulties to learners. The interpretation of a
noun phrase the meaning can be problematic, especially with compound nouns.
Trimble (1985) asserts that compounding is a natural process and it can provide
problems for most non-native students. Learners might be able to handle a two-
word compound which may have technical meaning. They might have learned how
to analyze compounds and translate them into their native language.
With the difficulties technical terms provide or due to doubts whether they
provide difficulties or not, there have been some studies focusing on identification
of technical terms (Tagliacozzo, 1975; Yang, 1986; Liu and Nesi, 1999; and Chung
and Nation, 2003) as well as tests of knowledge of technical vocabulary (Liu and
Nesi, 1999). All of these studies found that scientific texts are comprised of a high
proportion of technical vocabulary, even higher than that of academic vocabulary.
However, most language teachers put more focus on teaching academic vocabulary,
claiming that learners have fewer problems with technical words (Trimble, 1985)
and giving responsibility to teach technical vocabulary to subject teachers. This
might be because technical words involve subject content which is too difficult for
language teachers to understand and that it has become a convenient excuse for
paying more attention to academic vocabulary. Indeed, there have been very few
studies to prove where the focus should lie, on technical or academic vocabulary.

51
 2.5.2. Students’ competence
ESP is designed to meet the specific needs of learners. Learners are expected
to perform with adequate language skills in target situations at the end of the ESP
courses. However, the performance of ESP learners have been considered
unacceptable or poor in many cases (Bacha & Bahous, 2008; Chia et al, 1999;
Wang, 2004). Students‟ overall English language competence has usually been
considered the indicator of the success or failure of English learning (Shi, Corcos &
Storey, 2001). Some teachers inputed the low achievement of ESP to the students‟
poor English language skills. They argued that the student‟s poor English language
skills were inadequate to cope with the ESP courses and make ESP courses
inefficient.
By contrast, the students often declare themselves to be suffering from
learning difficulties, which make them perform badly in ESP class. Some
researchers also reported that students suffer from learning difficulties relating to
the content of ESP (Gatehouse, 2001), the instruction of ESP (Bacha & Bahous,
2008) and the tasks involved in the ESP courses (Ferris & Tagg, 1996). The
students had difficulties participating in class discussion, asking and responding to
questions. Learners having difficulty coping with the ESP reading because of weak
English skills (Jacson, 2004). The weakest language skills are reported more often
in the previous studies, such as inadequate vocabulary (Tsao, Wei & Fang, 2008)
and grammar (Chang, 2000).
2.5.3. Authenticity of ESP materials
According to Coffey (1984), the main consideration in ESP is that of
authenticity. It includes authentic texts and authentic tasks. The conception os
authenticity is enlarged in two principal ways by skill-based approaches to ESP.
First, authanticity of text was both broadened to include texts other than written
texts and narrowed to differentiate between the different types of texts generated by
each skill. Reading, for example, could be sub-divided into reading reports, reading
technical journals, reading instruction manuals, etc. Secondly, the conception of

52
authenticity was enlarged to embrace authenticity of task. In effect, this meant
designing tasks requiring students to process texts as they would in the real world.
In other words, ESP learners were required to use ESP materials which employed
the same skills and strategies as would be required in the target situation (Morrow,
1980).
The authors who support the use of authentic materials, although express in
different ways, have in common one idea: “exposure”- the benefit students get from
being exposed to the language in authentic materials (Martinez, 2000). Firstly,
students are exposed to real discourse (Martinez, 2002), because authentic materials
provide close contact with the language (Kaprova, 1999). In addition, language
change is reflected in the materials so that students and teachers can keep abreast of
such changes. So, it makes good sense to give our students exposure to authentic
texts in the target language, both written and oral (LeLoup & Ponterio, 2000).
Secondly, authentic materials introduce life into the classroom (arm students with
facts - Kaprova, 1999) as authentic materials keep students informed of what is
happening in the world, so they have an intrinsic educational value. As teachers, we
are educators working within the school system, so education and general
development are part of our responsibilities. (Martinez, 2002 cited Sanderson,
1999). Thirdly, they can produce a sense of achievement (Martinez, 2002), provide
a bridge between the linguistic skills of learners and their professional knowledge
goals (Dumitrescu, 2000), help to substantially recognize the real language use (as a
result, they could increase their vocabulary and language structures) (Nonaka,
2001). Fourthly, authentic materials, in their various formats, can provide a wealth
of linguistic and conceptual content to learners who are focused on specific
application of their linguistic skills (Duquette et al, 1987). Books, articles,
newspapers, and so on also contain a wide variety of text types, language styles not
easily found in conventional teaching materials (Martinez, 2002). Therefore, it is
advisable to use authentic materials because they provide the variety, which is
essential in any language class, but we feel that it is particularly important in an
ESP class as there is sometimes the danger of the ESP class becoming rather a dry

53
affair that fails to motivate learners (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998). What is more,
the same piece of material can be used under different circumstances if the task is
different (Martinez, 2002) and can be used to develop tasks that depart from the
formulaic language learning (Dumitrescu, 2000) and can be used at all levels
(Kaprova, 1999). In addition, they can enliven the classroom and are a powerful
motivating factor (provide motivation through enjoyment) (Kaprova, 1999). They
can encourage reading for pleasure because they are likely to contain topics or kinds
of authentic materials to be used in class (Martinez, 2002). Finally, they can help
increase student cultural background (Kaprova, 1999) and have an effect on cultural
identification (Nonaka, 2001).
Although authentic materials have plenty of advantages as discussed earlier,
there remain some reasons for that people are against the use of authentic materials
due to some of their disadvantages. One common complaint is that authentic
materials are more difficult than non- authentic materials because of some reasons
as follows according to Martinez (2002):
Firstly, they may be too culturally biased, so unnecessarily difficult to
understand outside the language community.
Secondly, the vocabulary might not be relevant to the student‟s immediate
needs.
Thirdly, many structures are mixed so lower levels have a hard time
decoding the texts.
Fourthly, there are many abbreviations, slang, signs and the like that can
require good knowledge of the cultural background to understand.
Besides the claim of being difficult, some teachers are against the use of
authentic materials because the special preparation is necessary which can be time
consuming and the materials can become outdated easily, e.g. news, etc.
Nevertheless, these limitations can be minimized by choosing the materials
selectively and exploiting them appropriately. Many authors have given instructions
on how to select and use authentic materials effectively.

54
 2.5.4. Lack of specialist background knowledge

Learners in the ESP classes are generally aware of the purposes for which
they will need to use English. Having already oriented their education toward a
specific field, they see their English training as complementing this orientation.
Knowledge of the subject area enables the students to identify a real context for the
vocabulary and structures of the ESP classroom. In such way, the learners can take
advantage of what they already know about the subject matter to learn English. The
more meaningful and real context, the more interest and accordingly the more
successful learning.

In the reading process of both native language and foreign language, the
influence of content knowledge on reading comprehension is a never-ending
process. Most people believe that richer content knowledge promotes superior
insightful comprehension of reading text. Good readers use content knowledge
more effectively than poor readers do, especially when reading expository passages
(Holmes, 1983). Poor readers may have trouble in activating related schemata to
facilitate comprehension. Content familiarity is a greater predictor of reading
comprehension than various linguistic factors such as vocabulary knowledge and/or
syntactic complexity. Nunan (1985) explored whether familiarity with content
affected the perception of linguistically marked textual relationships was inpacted
by familiarity with content to L2 readers.

2.7. Summary
In short, this chapter provides a theoretical framework for the study. First, it
provides an overview of reading comprehension in which the definitions of reading,
factors involved in reading comprehension, problems of L2 readers and the causes
of thos problems are discussed. Then, the definitions of ESP, ESP reading skills and
ESP materials are also addressed in this part. What is more, this chapter also
discusses the differences between ESP and EGP. Finally, it provides an insight into
the factors that cause difficulties for ESP reading.

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 CHAPTER III: THE STUDY
This chapter deals with the method that was employed for the achievement
of the aims and objectives of the study. It also provides some information about the
current situation of teaching and learning ESP reading at VKTC. Data were
obtained by means of a survey questionnaire. Besides, the survey data, additional
data were gathered by other instruments such as informal discussion with the
teachers and small talks with the students to provide more in-depth information.
This chapter also presents the findings of the survey based on the results of the
questionnaire and some discussions.
3.1. Research questions
As it has been stated, this study was carried out to gain insights into the areas
of difficulties in ESP reading encountered by the second-year students of Vietnam-
Korea Technical College and the causes of their unsuccessful reading
comprehension. Thus, it was designed in an attempt to seek answers to the
following questions:
1. What are the students‟ difficulties in reading ESP materials at VKTC?
2. What are the causes of those difficulties ?
3. What are the possible pedagogical implications that can help to reduce
those difficulties ?
3.2. The context of the study
3.2.1. The institution
VKTC has been in operation for over 10 years. Initially, it was only a
vocational school which was gradually upgraded and became an industrial
technical college in 1998. Now its duty is to train students to become technicans
with college level, intermediate level and elementary level in five major fields:
Mechanical Engineering, Automobile Technology, Electrical and Electronics
Engineering, Information Technology and Welding Technology.
Like other educational institutions of the same type, the students in this

56
college are provided with a lot of general educational subjects and different
specialisms of which English has been regarded as a compulsory component in the
program. But in fact, the conditions for teaching and learning are not adequate due
to the large class- size (nearly 50 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.
3.2.2.The students
The students of English at VKTC are homegenous in terms of age which
is of approximately 19-24. However, they differ in terms of social backgrounds,
experiences in English language learning, proficiency in English and attitudes to and
motivation for English language learning. Socially, some are from urban areas while
others from rural areas, and some from the disadvantaged rural or mountainous
areas. Regarding their experiences in learning English, some finished the three-year
program while others completed the seven-year program. Few of them studied
French or Russian or even did not learn any foreign languages at all. Consequently,
their proficiency in English was mixed.
In addition, most of students do not have the habit of learning
independently and tend to depend on the textbooks and the teachers for
knowledge. In the classroom, they are passive and only ask the teachers when
they encounter difficult words that they cannot find in the dictionary. Besides,
the class size is quite big (nearly than 50 students) so it is very difficult for the
teachers and students to fulfill their tasks of teaching and learning.
3.2.3. The teachers
There are six teachers of English at the VKTC, aged from 26 to 40. Three of
them have the Master‟s degree in TESOL and three are completing their Master‟s
degree program. 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 specialized knowledge on the subject matter.

57
They are unexpectedly required to teach a subject which is new and unfamiliar with
them. Most of them have a 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 methods 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.
3.2.4. The teaching and learning English at VKTC
Due to the particular tasks of our technical college, English at VKTC 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: a
60-period General English (GE) course and a 60-period English for Specific
Purposes (ESP) one.
As far as materials are concerned, some textbooks for GE such as
“Lifeline”, “Headway” (Elementary) and now “New English File” (Elementary)
have been in used recently. ESP at VKTC includes “Automobile English‟,
“English for Technical Engineering”, “English for Welding Technology”, “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 terms of teaching 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

58
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 VKTC are varied in terms
of English proficiency, some of them have learned some English at high schools
while others (those from 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.
3.3. The participants
The participants of this study were 100 second-year students of Vietnam-
Korea Technical College. They came from the all communes of Nghe An province.
Their age varied from 19 to 24 so they belonged to the same psychological age
group. However, their length of English learning at school (before entering our
college) was different: 5% started learning from grade 3,4 or 5; 77% started at grade
6; 8% started at grade 10; 8 % learned other languages and 2% never learned any
foreign languages.
The reason for choosing second-year students for this study is that students
in our college only start the ESP course in the second-year after finishing two terms
of General English course in the first year. The 100 students were sellected at
random to participate in the research.
3.4. Data collection instrument
The main instrument for data collection in this study was a survey
questionnaire. Questionnaires are certainly the most often employed data collection
devices in statistical work. According to Brown,
“Questionnaires are any written instruments that present respondents with a
series of questions or statements to which they are to react either by writing out
their answers or selecting from among existing answers” (Brown, 2001: 6)
In my study, I used students‟ questionnaire as an instrument to collect the
information for my research for the reason that it is really useful for gathering

59
information from my students to find out answers for my study in a systematic
manner. Indeed, questionnaires are commonly used in educational research in
general and in ELT research in particular (Nunan, 1982; Mc
Donough&McDonough, 1999) and according to McDonough & Mc Donough
(1997: 170-171) the use of questionnaires in research has the following advantages:
- The knowledge needed is controlled by the questions, therefore it is a good
deal of precision and clarity
- Questionnaires can be used on a smale scale, in house and on large scale
- Data can be gathered in several different time slots: all at onces in a class at
convenience when a suitable respondent happens to come along, and different
locations at different times, but in all of these data is comparable.
- Self-completion questionnaires allow access to outside contexts, so
information can be gathered from colleagues in other schools.
In this study, a written questionnaire was administered to the subjects. In
order that the respondents could be free to express their specific thought about the
items raised in the questionnaire. Some questions are open-ended and the
respondents had freedom to give their answer.
The questionnaire conducted in this study included two main parts: Part one
aimed to collect information about the students‟ background which included their
place of domicile, the number of years the have been learning English and their
proficiency levels in English measured by their avarage marks in English in the first
year. Part two aimed to collect information about the students‟ attitudes towards
ESP reading; their difficulties in reading ESP, the causes of those problems and
their expectations of the materials and teachers‟ teaching methodology. This part
consisted of 11 questions. Questions 1-3 elicited information about the studetns‟
attitudes towards ESP reading. Questions 4-8 investigated the areas of difficulties
that the learners faced when reading ESP. Question 9 explored the causes of the
students‟ reading problems. Question 10 investigated the students‟ expecations of
the reading materials and Question 11 investigated their expectations of the

60
teachers‟ methodology. The questionnaire was translated into Vietnamese to ensure
the students‟ accurate understanding of all the questions before answering them.
3.5. Data collection procedure
The questionnaire was administered during the class time. Before the
questionnaire was given to the respondents, the researcher took time to explain the
purpose of the questionnaire, the requirement for the respondents and answer any
questions asked by the respondents. The respondents were also encouraged to ask if
there was anything in the questionnaire they did not understand. Then they were
instructed to take as much time as they needed to complete the questionnaire.
3.6. Data analysis
The questionnaire data were classified into different categories such as
students‟ attitudes towards ESP reading, their difficulties in reading ESP in terms of
vocabulary, grammar, discourse, reading strategies and subject background
knowledge, the causes of their reading problems and their expectations of the
teachers‟ methodology and materials. The data were analyzed quantitatively by
means of descriptive statistics. The information was then displayed in forms of
tables and figures.
3.7. Findings and discussion
3.7.1. Students’ attitudes towards ESP reading
In the questionnaire, the first three questions were designed to
explore the students‟ attitudes to ESP reading. The students were asked to rate on
four-point scale ( 4 is “strongly agree”, 3 is “agree”, 2 is “disagree” and 1 is
“strongly disagree”). The responses were then calculated in terms of the number (N)
and percentage (%) (Table 3.1).

61
 Table 3.1. Students’ attitudes towards ESP reading
Scale rating SA A D SD
Questions N % N % N % N %
1. I need to read technical texts
51 51 47 47 2 2 0 0
well for my future job.
2. I find it difficult to understand
technical texts because my 35 35 60 60 5 5 0 0
technical words are limited
3. I like reading texts about my
28 28 55 55 13 13 4 4
specialized topics

As we can see from the table, on responding question 1 nearly all the
participants (98% including 51%SA and 47%A) considered reading an important
skill in learning ESP. Only 2% did not find reading important. None of them chose
the “strongly disagree” answer. This could result from the fact that the participants
needed to be able to read English materials related to their specific subject area,
namely automobile technology. In other words, reading help them to extend their
knowledge of their specialization. This is presented diagraphically in Figure 3.1
below.
Figure 3.1. Students’ attitudes towards ESP reading

60
60
51 55
50 47

40
35
30 Strongly agree
28
20 Agree

10 13 Disagree
2 5
0 Strongly disagree
Q1
Q2
Q3

62
 When being asked about their opinions of the reading texts, a large number
of students think that they are difficult (95%) while 5% of them disagreed with this
question. None of them chose “strongly disagree”, in other words ESP reading
seems not to be easy to them at all.
The results of question 3 show that the students have different attitudes
towards ESP reading. Generally, the majority of students had positive attitude
towards ESP(83% including 28%SA and 55%A) and 17% did not like ESP reading.
There might have been several reasons to explain the students‟ responses.
Firstly, although most of the students had studied English for 5-9 years, many of
them have not had enough knowledge of General English and their average marks
on GE were not good (some even got mark below 5.0). This might had a bad
infuence on their ESP learning, which explained why they lost interest in learning
ESP. Moreover, through the discussions between the researcher and the students,
the researcher found that some of them thought it was unnecessary for them to use
ESP in their future job, especially when they would work as workers whose job is
repairing common automobile faults in Vietnamese owners‟ small enterprises where
they need not read further materials about automobile. In addition, English was not
considered as a major subject in our college, therefore, some of the students did not
pay much attention to it eventhough they are aware of the importance of ESP
reading in their future job. This negative attitude may cause certain difficulties to
some students.
3.7.2. Students’ perception of ESP reading difficulties
Reading difficulties in ESP perceived by the students are classified in terms
of vocabulary, grammar, discourse, reading skills, and subject background
knowledge. A four-point scale was used with point 4 for “Very difficult”, point 3
for “Difficult”, point 2 for “Easy” and point 1 for “Very easy”. The responses were
then calculated in terms of the percentage.

63
 3.7. 2.1. Difficulties with ESP vocabulary
In question 4, the participants were asked to point out their difficulties with
ESP vocabulary. The results are presented in Table 3.2.
The table indicates that the majority of the students considered understanding
the meaning of technical words the most difficult in reading ESP which account for
86% (including 28% VD and 58%D), only 14% perceived it to be “easy”. No
student considered it “very easy” to understand technical terms (see Table 3.2).
Table 3.2. The difficulties in terms of ESP vocabulary
Scale rating Very Very
Difficult Easy
Questions difficult easy
N % N % N % N %
4a. I find it difficult to pronounce
25 25 36 36 28 28 11 11
technical words
4b. I find it difficult to understand
the meaning of technical terms in 28 28 58 58 14 14 0 0
reading texts
4c. I find it difficult to memorize
technical terms ( such as: ignition, 17 17 57 57 25 25 1 1
lubrication, spark plugs.......)
4d. I have troubles in using
idomatic expressions and phrasal
18 18 48 48 32 32 2 2
verbs (such as: convert into, by
means of...)
4e. When a word has many
meanings, I don‟t know which 22 22 57 57 19 19 2 2
meaning is used in the text.

Item 4a (I find it difficult to pronounce technical words) had the highest

percentage in easy scale (39%), which shows that technical words seemed to be

64
easy to pronounce. The reason for this might be that most of the students had
already acquired the knowledge of English phonetics during their GE course.
Therefore, pronuncition technical words was not really a matter to them.
The results getting from item 4c, 4d and 4e suggested that students also
encountered some difficulties with ESP vocabulary including: memorizing technical
words, using idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs and using polysemantic
words. 74% of the students found memorizing technical terms difficult, 66% had
troubles in using idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs and 79% of the students
had difficulties in choosing suitable meanings for the polysemantic words in the
reading texts.(See Table 3.2)
3.7.2.2. Difficulties with Grammar
Question 5 investigated the difficulties that the students faced in terms of
grammar. The results are shown in Table 3.3.
Table 3.3. The difficulties in terms of grammar

Scale rating Very Very

Difficult Easy
Questions difficult easy
N % N % N % N %
5a. I don‟t remember all
grammatical structures that I have
15 15 28 28 49 49 8 8
learnt and this makes it difficult to
understand the content of the text
5b. If the sentence is a new
grammatical structure in the text I 25 25 47 47 28 28 0 0
do not understand its meaning
5c. Long sentences are difficult for
20 20 44 44 36 36 0 0
me to understand their meanings
Item 5b (If the sentence is a new grammatical structure in the text I do not
understand its meaning) had the most responses on very difficult and difficult scales

65
(72%), which showed that the students found new grammatical structures a big
problem.
Indeed, 21% of the students thought that it was “very difficult” to
comprehend a reading text containing new grammatical structures. 47% considered
it “difficult” and only 32% thought that it was “easy” to understand and use new
grammatical structures. None of them found “very easy”.
The item which had the second highest responses is item 5c (Long sentences
are difficult to me to understand their meanings). 64% of the students found it
difficult to identify elements of complex sentences and understand the relationship
between them. None of them thought it „very easy”. This finding is consistent with
those of Berman (1984:23-32) on the syntactic features of texts that present
difficulties to foreign readers of English. According to her, a kernel sentence with
the basic subject-verb-object (SVO) ordering is much less difficult to understand
than a complex sentence with syntactic re-ordering in its structure. In other words,
FL reader‟s comprehension is liable to be impaired by the shifts in the SVO
ordering.
The remaining item 5a (I don‟t remember all grammatical structures that I
have learnt and this makes it difficult to understand the content of the text)
accounted 57% on easy and very easy scales. This means that the students found
recalling the grammatical structures that they had learned not very difficult.
From Table 3.3 we can see that the percentage of students selecting the
responses on easy scale to the items in terms of grammar were higher than those of
the students selecting other responses “very difficult”, “difficult”. Thus, it could be
safe to conclude that the area of grammar did not seem to cause many difficulties
for the students.
3.7.2.3. Difficulties with the Text Discourse
In question 6, the participants were requested to rate the difficulties in terms
of dicourse. Problems in the discourse area included the difficulties with the text
itself. The results are illustrated in Table 3.4.

66
 Table 3.4. The difficulties in terms of text discourse
Scale rating Very Very
Difficult Easy
Questions difficult easy
N % N % N % N %
6a. I don‟t understand how a reading text is
organized and this makes it difficult to 26 26 44 44 30 30 0 0
understand the content of the text.
6b.I don‟t understand how a paragraph is
organized and this makes it difficult to 19 19 42 42 37 37 2 2
understand the paragraph
6c. I cannot find which is the most important
sentence in each paragraph of the reading 12 12 46 46 41 41 1 1
text.
6d. I have problems understanding how
meaning of different sentences is linked 19 19 49 49 30 30 2 2
together
6e.Understanding graphs and diagrams is
16 16 36 36 35 35 13 13
difficult to me.

From Table 3.4, it can be seen that except for item 6e, all other items had the
fewest responses on easy scale. This means the that students had difficulties in all
aspects except for understanding graphs and diagrams.
To be more specific, item 6a (I don‟t understand how a reading text is
organized and this makes it difficult to understand the content of the text) had the
highest rate on very difficult and difficult scale. 26% rated it “very difficult” and
44% considered it “difficult”. This result is consistent with Carrell‟s finding
(1984b:87-113). He suggests that larger patterns of a text (e.g: compare-contrast,
answer-question, problem-solution structures...) can affect comprehension. He also

67
shows that these structures differ across cultures and these differences can lead to
difficulties in reading.
Item 6b (I don‟t understand how a paragraph is organized and this makes it
difficult to understand the paragraph) also had a very high “difficult” percentage
(61%) with 19% rating it “very difficult” and 42% rating it “difficult”. 37%
considered it “easy” and only 2% thought it “very easy”.
Item 6e ( understanding graphs and diagrams is difficult to me) produced the
largest percentage on easy and very easy scales (48%). Thus, it is clear that a
considerable number of the students did not have difficulties in understanding
graphs and diagrams. This may results from the fact that they, as technical students,
are used to dealing with these things in their daily work and study. They can even
work faster than the teachers in this area and at the same time find this activity
highly motivating.
The other items 6c (I cannot find which is the most important sentence in
each paragraph of the reading text) and 6d (I have problems understanding how
meaning of different sentences is linked together) showed a rather high percentage
of students who considered them “difficult” ( 58% and 68% respectively). From
these numbers, we can decode that many students coped with difficulties with these
items. (See Table 3.4)
In short, discourse seemed to cause problems for our students-technical
students who are not excellent at language.
3.7.2.4. Difficulties related to Lack of Background Knowledge
Question 7 (covering 3 items) investigated the problems in terms of subject
background knowledge that the students encountered. The results are presented in
Table 3.5.

68
 Table 3.5. The difficulties related to lack of background knowledge
Scale rating Very Very
Difficult Easy
Questions difficult easy
N % N % N % N %
7a. I find it difficult to understand the
17 17 58 58 20 20 5 5
content of unfamiliar professional topics
7b. I find I don‟t have enough professional
19 19 57 57 18 18 4 4
knowledge related to the topics
7c. I find it difficult to understand
16 16 56 56 14 14 3 3
authentic materials

As you can see from the table, the responses to question 7 spread all over the
four scales with different percentages.
Item 7b had the highest rate of the three items. 76% of the students agreed
that it was “difficult” in which up to 19% confirmed that it was “very difficult” and
the rest considered it “difficult”. This finding is not surprising because many studies
in second language learning had confirmed that having knowledge plays a
significant role in comprehension (Brantmeir, 2005; Hammadou, 2000; Johnson,
1982; Lee, 1986). Lee (1986:350-354) has studied the effects of background
knowledge in reading, understanding and recalling of text in second language
learners and finds that the learners‟ ability to recall is enhanced when they are
presented with one of the three components of background knowledge, context,
transparency, and familiarity. These results also recommended that in order to
understand thoroughly a matter in their specialization, the students must have
certain background knowledge about their subject and combine this knowledge
when reading a text. Therefore, it would be better to equip students with better
specific background knowledge before dealing with a matter in ESP. It is needed for
the participants to improve their professional knowledge by reading materials
related to their professional knowledge.

69
 Items 7a and 7c had a fairly high rate of difficulty (75% and 72%
respectively). It was found from the discussion and talks with the teachers in our
college that they considered unfamiliar professional topics the most difficult,
therefore through the consultation with the students and other subject teachers, the
topics in the course book are suitably chosen for the students to study.
3.7.2.5. Difficulties due to Lack of Reading Skills
Question 8 explored the difficulties in terms of reading skills/strategies. The
results are shown in Table 3.6.
Table 3.6. The difficulties due to lack of reading skills
Scale rating Very Very
Difficult Easy
Questions difficult easy
N % N % N % N %
8a.I find it difficult to find out the main idea
6 6 47 47 43 43 4 4
of the text
8b.I find it difficult to find out the specific
20 20 44 44 25 25 11 11
ideas of the text.
8c. I don‟t know how to guess meanings of
35 35 40 40 20 20 5 5
new words in a reading text
8d. I find it difficult to recognize what the
32 32 40 40 26 26 0 0
writer wants to imply in a reading text
8e. I find it difficult to summarize the mains
25 25 34 34 28 28 13 13
ideas of a reading text
8f. I don‟t know how to answer
11 11 47 47 35 35 7 7
comprehension questions of a reading text.

As we can see, the responses in this question spread from „very difficult” to
“very easy” scale for all items, except for item 8d with no one choosing the very
easy response.

70
 A majority of students (72%) agreed that recognizing what the writer wants
to imply in a reading text (item 8d), or making inferences, is the most difficult skill.
32% of the students confirmed that it is very difficult and none of then found it very
easy. Making inferences, is described by Zweirs (2005:107), as making a logical
guess or "reading between the lines". Readers make inferences when they are able
to take their own experiences and combine them with information they gather from
what they read, so the result is that they create new meaning or draw a conclusion
that is not explicitly stated in the reading. Those numbers revealed the fact that it is
necessary for the students to be provided with basic professional background
knowledge and inferring techniques which they can base on when dealing with a
reading text.
Following this item was item 8c (I do not know how to guess meanings of
new words in a reading text). For this item, 75% of the students had difficulties in
guessing the meanings of new words in context and predicting the content of the
reading text. This was partly because of their difficulties with syntax (as seen in the
grammar area). Many studies have shown that “the efficient reader uses syntax and
sentence structure to predict oncoming text” (Barnett, 1989:128) or that knowledge
of syntax appears to help readers predict and read more quickly (Macnamara,
1967:107-116).
Item 8f (I don‟t know how to answer comprehension questions of a reading
text) produced the most responses on easy and very easy scales, which suggests that
this item was not really difficult for the students (42% rated it as “easy” and “very
easy”). In fact, what they had to do with the task or answering comprehension
questions is simply to answer display questions whose answers are readily available
in the text.
From the data of the remaining items 8a (I find it difficult to find out the main
idea of the text), 8b (I find it difficult to find out the specific ideas of the text) and 8e
(I find it difficult to summarize the mains ideas of a reading text) showed that these
items caused them a lot of troubles. The percentages of the students considered

71
them difficult are rather high (53%, 64% and 59% respectively). However, many of
the students said that these items did not give them as many problems as other
reading skills (see Table 3.6)
3.7.2.6. Rank order of ESP reading difficulties
In order to rank the area of language the students perceived as the most
difficult the researcher based on the percentages on very and difficult scales of all
the items in each area. The results are shown in the following table:
Table 3.7. Rank order of difficulties in ESP reading

Percentage of difficulty (%)

Areas of difficulties
a b c d e f

Vocabulary (Q4) 61 86 74 66 79

Grammar(Q5) 43 72 64

Discourse (Q6) 65 61 58 70 52

Subject background knowledge (Q7) 75 76 72

Reading skills (Q8) 53 64 75 72 59 58

Table 3.7 showed that the students in their own perceptions found difficulties
in all five areas. They found items 4b, 4c, 4e, 5b, 6d, 7a, 7b, 7c, 8c, 8d the most
difficult ones (which has the percentages over 70%). Three items 4b, 4c and 4e
belonged to vocabulary, three items 7a, 7b and 7c belonged to subject background
knowldege, and other items belonged to grammar, discourse and reading skills.
The item which had the smallest percentage was 5a (43%) which belonged to
grammar area. Items 6c, 6e, 8a and 8f, which had the second smallest percentages
ranging from 52-58%, belonged to discourse and reading skills area.
Therefore, based on the percentages on difficult scale of the items it can be
concluded that vocabulary and subject background knowledge were the most
difficult area for students and the area of grammar seemed to be the least difficult

72
 for the students. Discourse and reading skills appeared to have the same degree of
difficulty.
According to the statistics, when reading ESP materials the students
encountered a lot of difficulties in many areas such as: vocabulary, grammar,
discourse, subject background knowledge and reading skills. Therefore, it is
necessary to have a close look at the causes of those problems so that the possible
solutions can be suggested to help students overcome those obstacles.
3.7.3. Causes of difficulties
Question 9 was set up to investigate the sources of perceived difficulties in
ESP reading by the students. The causes of difficutlies fell into two categories:
external and internal. The external causes are to do with reading materials and the
teachers, and the internal causes are to do with the students themselves. The results
are calculated by percentage and inllustarted in Table 3.8
Table 3.8. Students’ views of sources of difficulties

Response percentage
Questions
YES NO
9a.The texts are very too long and full of technical terms 85 15
9b. The texts are full of new and complex grammar structures 49 51
9c. Some texts are taken from authentic materials, which
61 39
makes us difficult to understand
9d. The teacher doesn‟t teach us sufficient reading strategies 79 21
9e. The teacher doesn‟t give us sufficient practice of grammar
76 24
and vocabulary
9f. The teacher is too strict and demanding 32 68
9g. I lack confidence and motivation 25 85
9h. I lack vocabulary especially ESP vocabulary 92 8
9i. I lack knowledge about the topics I am reading. 86 14

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 3.7.3.1. The reading materials
From Table 3.8, we can see that 85% (85 ouf of 100 participants) found the
main causes of their difficulties to be long texts, which contained a great number of
technical terms. However, 49% believed that the number of grammar structures in a
text was not a problem. Indeed, ESP texts do not contain too many complex
grammatical problems. For example, the grammatical structures in ESP texts such
as mainly simple present tense, simple sentences, complex sentences with common
conjunctions like: when, which, if, because..... , relative clause with which and
passive voice, which had been studied very carefully by the students in the first
year, are dominant in ESP texts.
61% of the participants thought that the texts which are taken from authentic
materials are very difficult to them. These texts are full of technical terms,
abbreviations, signs and are not illustrated in a coherent style. The collected data are
illustrated in Figure 3.2 herebelow.
Figure 3.2. Causes of difficulties from materials

71% 85%
technical terms

grammar structures

authentic materials
49%

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 3.7.3.2. The teachers
As a matter of fact, the success of a reading lesson depends largely on the
way the teacher teaches his/her students. Therefore, when the students encounter
difficulties in their learning process, the teacher may be partly responsible for those
difficulties.
As it displayed in Table 3.8, 79% of the students complained that their
teachers did not teach them suffcient reading strategies and 76% complained for not
being given frequent and sufficient practice of vocabulary and grammar. Through
the discussions and small talks, the students reported that they do not know how to
use appropriate techniques or strategies to deal with different types of texts. They
just look at every single word, sometimes get stuck when encountering new
vocabularies and structures. They even do not know which words are unimportant
to ignore. They wasted time on finding the meaning of every word they met because
they thought that they should understand every detail. These problems clearly
prevent students from improving their reading abilities. It is also reasonable for the
students to claim the need for learning efficient reading strategies, without which
their problems may remain unsolved. In other words, students will fail to read
efficiently if they do not possess some reading strategies required for a particular
text or they do not know how to use these strategies to tackle the text. This view is
logical, as Grellet (1981), Harmer (1985), Kern (1988) and many others have
pointed out that the success in understanding the content of what has been read
depends to a large extent on the reader‟s expertise in skills. Moreover, “...using
strategies leads to independence in reading” (Graves, 1998:229). That is why
students should be encouraged to use reading skills efficiently and the teachers
must take responsibility for instructing their students reading strategies.
In addition, the teacher‟s attitude inluences greatly the atmosphere of the
lesson, which may facilitate or hinder the learning process. For item 9f, 68% did not
think that the teachers were strict and demanding. The small talks with the students
revealed that the teachers even were very sympathetic with them. Only 32% of the

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students complained about their teachers‟ attitudes. The results are
diagrammatically presented in Figure 3.3.
Figure 3.3. Causes of difficulties from teachers
32%

0 Doesn't teach sufficient

reading skills
79%

Doen't give practice of

vocabulary and grammar

76% Strict and demanding

3.7.3.3. The students

The data collected revealed that the lack of knowledge (including linguistic
and subject background knowledge) was a great source of reading problems for the
students (see Table 3.8). For example, 92% of the students admitted that they lacked
ESP vocabulary and 86% reported that they lacked background knowledge related
to the topics they were reading. These findings are consistent with the findings
presented in Table 3.7: the students found the area of vocabulary and subject
background knowledge the most difficult of all. Only 25% of the students
considered that not having sufficient confidence and interest in ESP reading was
one of the causes of reading difficulties. This finding perfectly matches with the
findings in Table 3.1 about students‟ attitudes towards ESP reading. Our students
are future automobile technicians and they are highly aware of their purpose in
learning. They have good sense of responsibility and self adjustment. Thus, most of
them have positive attitude to learning, self confidence and clear motivation in
learning ESP reading.

76
 The other reasons that the students gave in the questionnaire as well as in the
discussions included: teachers did not regularly check previous lessons, which made
them lazier; some teachers were indifferent and irresponsible, and the teachers‟
different pronunciations of English words made them confused.
Figure 3.4. Causes of difficulties from students

86%
25% Lack of confidence and
0
motivation

Lack of ESP vocabualry

92%
Lack of subject background
knowledge

3.7.4. The students’ expectation in terms of materials

Question 10 was designed to investigate what types of reading materials
motivated students and helped them read ESP more easily.
The participants were asked to choose as many responses as possible among
six questionnaire items showing the students‟ needs for ESP reading materials. The
number of responses are calculated by percentage and illustrated in Table 3.9
below:
Table 3.9. The students’ needs for ESP materials

Statements Percentage
10a. Reading texts should be more related to my future job 91
10b. Reading texts should be shorter and more motivating 72
10c. Reading texts should have a limited number of new words 80
10d. Technical terms should be explained more carefully 56
10e. Grammatical exercises should be more various in form 41

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 As we can see in Table 3.9, it is apparent that 91% of the students prefered
subbject-related reading texts (item 10a). Clearly, when the lack of subject
background knowledge and ESP vocabulary hinders the students‟ comprehension,
they would easily feel discouraged. This barier to reading could be lifted only by
choosing the right kinds of reading materials which do not look rather difficult to
the students and which they can manage. Moreover, 80% of the students (item 10c)
believed that the number of new words in a text should be limited so as to make the
reading passage readable for them and especially, technical terms should be taught
and explained carefully (item 10d). However, many students thought that it was
unnecessary to have various forms of grammar exercises which can be reasoned by
the findings from Table 3.3 that the area of grammar in ESP learning was not too
difficult to them. So, only 41% agreed on this idea (10e). Another finding is that
73% of the participants enjoyed shorter and more motivating reading texts (10b).
This kind of text would not make them stressful and discouraged.
Besides, they also suggested that reading texts should provide more graphs
and diagrams, which would help them remember new words more easily , or more
exercises on word formation should be included in the course book.
3.7.5. The students’ expectation in terms of methodology
Question 11 looked into the students‟ expectations about the teachers‟
methodology in teaching ESP reading. The participants were asked to choose as
many responses as possible among eight questionnaire items, apart from these
items, the other one was identified (referred to as “others”) for the participants to
give their own opinion. The results of this question is presented in Table 3.10.

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 Table 3.10. The students’ needs for teachers’ methodology
Statements Percentage
11a. I expect the teacher to give and carefully explain technical words 91
11b. I expect the teacher to explain carefully grammatical structures in the 63
texts
11c. I expect the teacher to provide us more background knowledge 85
related to the topics we are working on
11d. I want the teacher to guide us to choose suitable reading strategies for 75
each reading text
11e. I want the teacher to let us work in pairs and in groups 83
11f. I want the teacher to give us more communicative activities to help 76
remember vocabulary more easily
11g. I want the teacher to check us more often about translation. 39
The collected data showed that 91% of the students expected the teachers to
explain technical terms in the texts before reading. It is necessary for the students to
get a certain amount of vocabulary if they want to understand the text well. This
expectation is consistent with the finding that ESP vocabulary is the most difficult
problem to students, which is summarized in Table 3.7 (Rank order of difficulties in
ESP reading).
From the above table, we can see that only 63% of the informants wanted to
have a careful explanation about grammatical structures in the reading texts (item
11b), this result is considered as a consequence of the fact that grammar structures
did not appear to be a strict problem to the students, which is discoved in Table 3.7
too.
Another finding is that 78% of the students wanted to be provided
background knowledge of the topics they were working on (item 11c) and 75%
wished to be taught suitable reading strategies for each text (item 11d). This finding
perfectly matches with the findings presented in Table 3.8 (9d and 9h) about the
causes of reading difficulties.
What is more, 76% of the students expressed their preference for pair work
and group work (item 11e). It is obvious that problem-solving and communicative

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activities in language teaching require a great deal of co-operation among the
students and are preferable here. Cooperative learning is believed to be an effective
type of learning and students can benefit from working in pairs and in groups as this
creates chances for them to interact, share experiences, exchange ideas and to learn
to cooperate so as to solve an actual learning task.
Finally, only 39% expected the teacher to examine them more often on
vocabulary and translation. Obviously, translation is very difficult, which requires
language competence and cultural knowledge. The finding revealed the fact that
translation seems a bit beyond the students‟ level, therefore there is a little choice of
this item.
3.8. Summary
From the above analysis, the following conclusions about the difficulties in
ESP reading and the causes of them can be arrived at.
Firstly, reading is a very important skill in learning ESP. It has been given
the first priority and paid more attention to than the other language skills in our
college. Based on the results of the questionnaire as well as small talks and
discussions, it can be seen that when reading ESP the students encounter a lot of
difficulties in all five aspects of language. The most common difficulties are in
terms of ESP vocabulary and subject background knowledge. The grammar aspect
appears to be the least difficult of all. The discourse and reading skills are perceived
as equally difficult areas.
Secondly, as perceived by the students, reading difficulties might come from
different sources. Many are caused by the ESP materials, the teachers‟ teaching
methods or by the students themselves: their inadequate linguistic knowledge, their
limited background knowldedge and reading strategies.
Thirdly, the students suggested that in order to improve the teaching and
learning of ESP reading, the reading materials should be modified simpler and more
motivating with a limited number of new words in each text. Besides, the teaching

80
methods should be tailored to suit the level of the students and especially allow
more communicative activities in ESP reading lessons.
The following chapter will suggest some possible techniques which can help
to improve the students‟ ESP reading efficiency.

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 CHAPTER IV: PEDAGOGICAL IMPLICATIONS
The study has shown that the mastery of reading skill was a problem for
many second year students at VKTC. The reading difficulties fell into three
categories: language problem, reading skill problem and subject background
knowledge problem. The major causes include the students‟ limited linguistic and
background knowledge, unsatisfactory materials and unsuitable teaching
methodology. This chapter suggests some possible ways to reduce the students‟
difficulties in reading ESP and improve the quality of teaching and learning ESP.
These suggested solutions include: increasing students‟ interest and motivation;
training students to become efficient readers; improving teachers‟ classroom
techniques and subject background knowledge and developing ESP reading
materials.
4.1. Increasing students’ reading interest and motivation
According to the results of the research, one of the causes of ESP reading
difficulties is that a considerable number of students in our college have negative,
low interest and motivation in ESP reading (see chapter 3). Therefore, to reduce the
difficulties in ESP reading, the teachers should arouse students‟ passion for reading
by making ESP lessons more interesting and useful.
4.1.1. Making ESP interesting
As we have found from the questionnaire and from the small talks with the
students, ESP lessons turned out to be boring and not motivating enough for
students. This is because the lessons contain long texts with too many new words
and about unfamiliar professional topics. Therefore, it is necessary for the teachers
to make the materials interesting enough to draw the students‟ attention.
Firstly, teachers should provide easy reading lessons by simplifying,
adapting the materials to suit the students‟ level of proficiency so that the students
can find themselves at ease and read on. Then, teachers should have a well-prepared
pre-reading stage because this stage plays an important role and affects largely the
effectiveness of the learning process. In this stage, the teachers can utilize different

82
techniques, for example: pictures, real objects, charts and diagrams, flash cards ...to
stimulate the students. After that, teachers can apply other various techniques to
help students deal the reading tasks, for instance: pair work, group work, discussion,
role play, interview....Finally, teachers should create different activities or tasks in
each lesson so that the students can avoid boredom. Teachers can utilize a variety of
techniques to draw students‟ interest, the techniques are discussed herebelow.
4.1.1.1.Using visual aids in teaching reading
Visual aids not only are very helpful in motivating students but also so help
students to understand the meanings of words clearly and memorize them quickly,
especially in the case of ESP vocabulary. Most vocabulary are terminologies which
are highly specialized, therefore it is advisable for teachers to use visual aids in
teaching ESP vocabulary. Visual aids can be: pictures, real objects, flash cards,
charts, maps, diagrams, blackboard… Visual aids are better than any other
explanations when introducing a word because it can give what exactly what
students need to know without translating into their mother tongue. Herebelow are
some pictures that the teachers can use when teaching Automobile English
Figure 4.1: Automobile parts

83
 Figure 4.2: Automobile systems

Figure 4.3: Automobile inside parts

Automobile engine Automobile spark plug

Automobile radiator Automobile battery

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 4.1.1.2. Divertifying reading activities
It is very boring if the teacher only conducts the same reading activities from
this unit to another. ESP reading is naturally boring due to its specifity, therefore
during teaching process the teachers should vary different activities, especially
reading tasks in order to arouse students‟ interest. It is advisable for the teachers to
utilize various activities as: pairwork, groupwork, role play, interview…… or
reading tasks such as: question-answer, matching, true/false, translation, discussion,
summary, charts or diagrams….
For example, in order to teach Unit 6- Automobile Fuel System, firstly,
teacher should give some a picture about the parts of an automobile fuel system to
introduce the lesson. This picture will draw the students‟ attention to the topic of the
lesson and help the students to have a fully view on fuel system in an automobile.
Figure 4.4: Parts of an automobile fuel system

At while-reading stage, the teacher should divide the whole class in to 5

groups and assign their tasks. Group 1 reads about Fuel Injectors, Group 2 reads
about Fuel Filter, group 3 reads about Fuel Pump, Group 4 reads about Fuel
Pressure Regulator and Group 5 reads about Fuel Gauge Sending Unit. After that,
the teacher asks each group to present the information they gained from the text.
Next, the teacher asks them to work in pairs to draw the flow of fuel in the given
diagram using arrow sign.

85
 Figure 4.5: Diagram of the fuel flow

Finally, the teacher can give some other activities such as: answering
questions, true/false, matching, summarizing, or even translating to help the
students have more detailed information about this topic.
As mentioned above, ESP reading is very important and useful for students‟
future job. So it is necessary for the teachers to make the students aware of its
importance. When the students realize this fact, they are surely to have higher
motivation in learning ESP and manage to overcome difficulties.
4.1.2. Raising students’ awareness of the usefulness of English
In order to enhance the students‟ reading interest and better motivate the
students to read, it is important for the teachers to help the students realize how
useful reading is. Firstly, reading is one of the four language skills which are
integrated. So, reading well will help the students pick up vocabulary, structures or
ideas to speak and write. Secondly, once the students become proficient readers,
they can find reading the most effective way to get information and increase their
professional knowledge and the most meaningful way of relaxation. After
graduating from the college, they would not be worried about the piles of ESP
materials, manuals and catalogues about automobile technology that they will have

86
to deal with when working. When the students have high motivation to read ESP
materials, they will be more studious and will manage to overcome difficulties.
4.2. Training students to become efficient readers
4.2.1. Making students aware of the nature of the reading process
As Duffy & Rochler (1986: !57) state that “a student who has an incomplete
or erroneous concept of reading or who perceives reading negatively is unlikely to
gain control of the reading process and use it purposefully”. Thus, it is the teachers
who should help their students realize that reading is an active process which
involves the use of a number of skills and strategies and the drawing on socio-
cultural knowledge, knowledge of the language of the text and strategies for
accessing meaning such as predicting information, sampling, deducing meaning or
other reading techniques like skimming, scanning, inferring. This understanding
enables the students to actively take part in the reading process and overcome their
problems such as vocabulary difficulties, lack of reading strategies and limited
knowledge of the subject, to comprehend the text in the most effective way. It may
also help students to develop a positive attitude towards ESP reading, which is one
of the factors that determines the success of the reading process.
4.2.2. Making students aware of the purposes of reading
When the students have purposes in the mind, they know how to channel
their energy in the right direction. Thus, helping the students to identify the purpose
of a reading text is an useful aid in their reading process. Glancing at titles,
subtitles, headings and subheadings can give students the clues for the reading
purposes. Moreover, the teachers should teach the students to look for purposes in
the light of the situation and the type of materials. Effective reading involves clearly
identifying the purposes of reading with which the students know what they are
looking for and can eleminate potential distracting information.
4.2.3. Teaching students different reading strategies
One of the causes of reading difficulties is that the teachers did not provide
students sufficient reading strategies (Table 3.8). So helping students practise

87
efficient strategies while reading is very useful. According to Wallace (1993:146),
reading strategies are ways of reading, which are employed flexibly and
selectively depending on the text-type, the content and purpose of reading.
Different texts need different strategies, so it is useful to equip students with a
variety of reading strategies including skimming, scanning, predicting, inferring,
word-building and recognizing organizational patterns.
*Skimming: Skimming is a very useful reading skill for students to
locate specific item of information that they need. Grellet (1981: 19) states that
“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. So, in order to teach skimming, teacher should ask the students to
read the first and the last paragraph in full, the first and the last sentences of
each paragraph in between and pick up the main ideas because all information in the
text is often introduced in the first paragraph and summarized in the last paragraph.
And the main idea of a paragraph is often written at the beginning or at the end of
the paragraph. So, if students read the first and the last paragraphs in full and the first
and the last sentences of each paragraph carefully, they can get the main points of
the text as well as the paragraphs easily. Teacher should also create some kinds
of exercises such as finding the misplaced sentences in a paragraph, matching
topic sentences with particular paragraphs, creating a title for a paragraph or a text,
etc… for students to do.
*Scanning: Scanning is another useful skill to locate a specific item of
information that we need. Readers pass over irrelevant information and focus only
the particular point of information they wanted. This kind of reading is widely used
in reading comprehension. So, when reading a text, readers must be clear of the
reading purposes, then look at scanning question if available to get more
concentrated and be aware of the details they are looking for, search for some
specific information in a certain time allowance. For example, if you want to search

88
dates, you should use the key word “When”. If you want to know the time, please
look for “What time”, in order to look for definitions, see the words “define,
definition, mean, refer to...”, ignore other information and finally write down the
specific required information.
* Predicting: Students can learn to make prediction on the basis of the title,
subtitle, linguistic context, or non-luinguistic context such as graphs, tables,
diagrams, maps and their knowledge of the topic. This skill not only activates their
mind but also gives them a strong motivation to proceed to the next step of the
lesson.
*Word-building: If students master this skill, they can work out the
meaning of many unknown words or phrases without dictionary. There are two
ways to work out the meaning of new words or phrases without dictionary:
using structural formation and using context clues.
+ Using structural formation: The meaning of new words can be
worked out by referring to their information such as suffixes or prefixes
+ Using context clues: Meanings of new words or phrases also can be
deduced by using the meanings of other words such as synonyms and antonyms in
the same sentence of paragraph.
In ESP reading there are an ever-increasing number of compound nouns,
which acts as single nouns. It is important to teach students to recognize how
compound nouns are formed in order to understand what they mean.
*Recognizing organizational patterns: Recognizing larger textual patterns
was at the top of difficulty list (Table 3.4). To reduce this difficulty, it is necessary to
teach students how to identify different textual patterns. The best way to do this is to
ask students to read different passages with different organizational patterns and
identify their textual connectors.
*Inferring: Making implications and inferences was perceived by the
students as the most difficult skill (Table 3.6). Thus, it is the teachers‟ responsibility
to teach this skill as comprehension involves understanding both explicitly stated

89
things and implied ones. Readers have to make inferences based on what is stated
and deduce what is implied.
4.2.4. Encouraging students to develop extensive reading habit
As shown in the study, most of the students reported that the most difficult
part in reading English for Automobile Technology is vocabulary. This means that
they lacked necessary vocabulary related to the subject matter and limited
knowledge of the subject. So, teacher should encourage the students to form
the positive and extensive reading habit. Reading extensively outside the
classroom can help them enrich their vocabulary and knowledge of the
subject matter. According to Nuttall ( 1982:168), “the best way to improve
your knowledge of a foreign language is to go and live among its speakers. The
next best way is to read extensively in it”. Teacher should provide students with the
materials related to the topics they are learning, the source of these materials
(from some books, websites...) and the way to read effectively. Besides,
teacher also should provide a variety of reading exercises such as summarizing,
finding new words, answering the questions about the passage, translating,
making outline, etc ...with different levels of difficulty. These exercises may be
given to students after each lesson. The students should be encouraged to do these
exercises individually, in pairs or in groups. Then, teacher should give assessment to
them and ask students to point out the difficulties they may encounter when doing
the tasks. It is very important for the teachers to know the students‟ difficulties
to help them overcome.
4.3. Improving teachers’ classroom techniques and subject background
knowledge
4.3.1. Employing three stages in ESP reading lessons
It is apparent from the findings of the survey that there are a number of things
that should be done to aid students in the three stages of a reading lesson.
*Pre-reading activities: This stage aims at raising students‟ expectations and
activating their background knowledge so that they will become less dependent on

90
the words in the text. The most important things for the teachers to do in this stage
include: giving/ elicting basic information about the text topic, text structures, text
genre; providing necessary background knowledge related to the topic; pre-teaching
vocabulary and explaining unfamiliar difficult grammatical structures. The pre-
teaching activities may include:
- Using visual aids such as illustrations, drawings, pictures, photographs,
diagrams, maps, tables, charts related to the text to draw the students‟ attention,
arouse their motivation, encourage them to predict about the text and elicit key
vocabulary.
- Giving the title and asking students to write down the important things
related to the topic.
- Asking students to complete a chart or a diagram
- Brainstorming: this is a very popular and advantageous activity that activate
students‟ prior knowledge and opinions, and at the same time involves the whole
class. The teacher gives the students a key word or a key concept, a title or a
headline and asks them to call out associated words or concepts.
*While-reading activities: During this stage, the teacher should help
students develop effective reading strategies, improve their control of the language
and decode problematic texts. In other words, reading strategies practice and
linguistic development should form the core of the while-reading stage. While-
reading activities can be: reading for general understanding, reading to extract
specific information, reading for detailed comprehension, predicting continuous
events and then reading to verify these predictions, reading for communicative tasks
such as separating or resembling jumled texts, finding the sequenced events, cloze
reading, jigsaw reading or presenting the text as a diagrammatic display.
Example: In Unit 3: Faults in cars, in while-reading stage, the teacher can
use various activities to help the students develop scanning skill by asking them to
read tha passage and complete the table

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 FAULTS IN CARS SOLUTIONS

1.

2.

...

*Post-reading activities: The purpose of these activities is to consolidate

what students have read and provide a sense of completion to the whole process.
They may include: application and evaluation questions; follow up writing or
listening; role play, discussion; problem-solving tasks with the aid of the information
in the text. The teachers must help their students to see if they have completed tasks
successfully, find out how well they have worked and explain any
misunderstandings. The teacher‟s positive feedback is considered essential to
maintain students‟ motivation and to prevent fossilization.
For example: When teaching Unit 2: Types of automobile , in post-readind
stage, the teacher should divide class into groups and ask them to make a report on
different types of automobile with their structures, characteristics and suitale users.

Types of automobile Structures Characteristics Suitable users

1.

2.

...

4.3.2. Giving homework and checking previous lessons frequently

In order to form a habit of frequent study for students, teacher should give
them a variety of exercises such as summarizing, finding new words, answering
the questions about the passage, making outline, translating, ...with different levels
of difficulty. Then, these exercises must be checked in the next class by requiring

92
students to go to the board to do homework, presenting the topics, translating,
answering the questions about the passages or texts they have read, etc ... If the
teacher doesn‟t check homework frequently, the students will become lazy and then
their reading will go worse.
4.3.3. Improving teachers’ professional knowledge
It is undeniable that teachers play a very important role in the students‟
success. So, they should be trained in terms of automobile background
knowledge and teaching methodology. The poor knowledge of subject mater is a
matter of all ESP teachers. As mentioned above, these teachers are teachers of GE
who have unexpectedly required to teach students with special needs. So they
have to face so many difficulties, of which the gap of knowledge in the subject
matter seems to be their biggest concern. If the teacher does not have basic
knowledge of the fundamental principles of the target discipline, it is very difficult
for them to teach effectively. That is why teachers of automobile should master
the specialized content as much as possible. Moreover, teachers of English for
automobile should be provided with some further in-service training in automobile
technology field by automobile specialists. Besides, attending workshops or lectures
given by the specialists and contacting with subject teachers and specialists are
essential for teachers to improve their professional knowledge about automobile
technology.
4.4. Developing ESP reading materials
As mentioned in chapter 3 the reading materials at VKTC includes 8 units
from the “Automobile English” by the group of authors at Vinh Teaching Technical
University. Some adaptions could be made to these units as follows
4.4.1. Adjusting and improving reading exercises
The exercises in this material were of various types. They included guiding
questions before reading, vocabulary exercises for checking students‟ reading
strategies, comprehension questions, exercises on word usage and follow up writing
and speaking exercises. They were systematic and facilitated reading and language

93
learning. However, some exercises were too difficult for our students‟ proficiency
level. Therefore, the teachers should leave out some difficult tasks and give
alternative exercises. Also, as expressed by the students, teachers should give them
extra reading which may not be confined to the content required in the course but
related to current international and domestic issues to encourage extensive reading.
This will provide more up-to-date information about the rapid achievements in the
development of automobile technology.
4.4.2. Reducing highly specialized texts
Hutchinson & Waters (1987:161) advised teachers not to use highly
specialized texts, which might not be able to operate effectively. The findings of
this study have shown that a great number of technical terms make the readers fail
to comprehend the texts properly. Thus, the teachers should choose appropriate
texts for their students‟ level and leave out difficult texts.
4.5. Summary
This chapter has made some possible suggestions to reduce difficulties that
the learners at the VKTC encountered when reading ESP materials. In order to
reduce these difficulties, it is neccesary to improve the teaching and learning of ESP
reading. Firstly, teachers should arouse their students‟ motivation by making ESP
reading lessons interesting and useful. In addition, teachers should train their
students to become efficient readers by making them be aware of the reading
process, teaching them with a variety of reading stategies and encouraging them to
read extensively. What is more, teachers should improve their teacing techniques by
utilizing various types of activities during the three stages of teaching in order to
provide their students with the clearest explanation of the techinal terms and
gradually improve their students‟ reading skills. Finally, the ESP reading materials
need adjusting and updating. Teachers should choose and adapt materials carefully
so that they suit the students‟ needs and proficiency level.

94
 CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION
5.1. Summary of the findings
This study provides an analysis of some difficulties in ESP reading and the
sources of these difficulties as perceived by the second-year students at VKTC. This
graduation paper is conducted with the purpose of helping the teachers to foresee
the problems and find out ways to solve them.
The findings of the study show that when reading ESP, the students
encountered difficulties in all the five areas of language. The most common
difficulties are in the area of vocabulary and subject background knowledge. The
grammar area appears to be the least difficult of all. The discourse and reading skills
are perceived to have the same difficult level.
The findings of the study also show that despite the awareness of the
importance of reading in ESP learning, some students had negative attitude towards
ESP reading, which made their reading more difficult. Also, the students were not
equipped with necessary skills to become successful readers and lacked linguistic
knowledge as well as subject background understanding. Another cause of
difficulties came from the ESP reading materials which were highly specialized and
contained many difficult terminologies that the students and even the English
teachers could not cope with. Also, many exercises were not appropriate for the
students‟ proficiency levels and there was a lack of reinforcement of language
structures presented in the texts. Finally, inefficient teaching methods and
classroom techniques might be another cause of the students‟ difficulties.
Based on the results of the study, the researcher has presented some
suggestions including the ways to make ESP reading lessons interesting and useful,
the ways to improve teachers‟ classroom techniques, to develop ESP reading
materials and to train students to become efficient readers. It is hoped that what has
been discussed in the study might be beneficial to both automobile teachers and
students as they helps them learn about their strengths and weaknesses, and thus, lay
the foundation for future improvement and development in ESP reading syllabus.

95
Also it is hoped that the study will prove significant to those who want to conduct
research in this area and who are concerned with this problem.
5.2. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study
Despite the useful information the present study provides, it has some
limitations.
Firstly, methodologically, the study used only one instrument, i.e. the
students‟ questionnaire. Information gained from the questionnaire is just on the
surface. Also, the respondents are very likely to be affected by the researcher‟s
research agenda. In other words, the responses to the questionnaire may not reflect
accurately what the respondents really think. Therefore, future studies should use
other methods such as observation and interviews. A case study using multiple
methods could be an appropriate methodlogical choice.
Secondly, within the scope of this study, there was no chance for the
researcher to deal with other important factors affecting the reading process such as
readers‟ general intelligence, language aptitude, attitudes, language exposure and
personality factors… This calls for further research.
Despite all the aforementioned limitations, the author hopes that the study
will make a contribution to the better situation of teaching and learning ESP reading
skill at VKTC.

96
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