Factors Affecting Reading Comprehension Of English For Economics Of The Third – Year Students Of Foreign Language Department At Hai Phong University.doc

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BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO
UBND THÀNH PHỐ HẢI PHÒNG
HỌ VÀ TÊN SINH VIÊN: PHẠM THỊ XUÂN
MÃ SINH VIÊN: 173122201571
KHÓA LUẬN TỐT NGHIỆP
FACTORS AFFECTING READING COMPREHENSION
OF ENGLISH FOR ECONOMICS OF THE THIRD –
YEAR STUDENTS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE
DEPARTMENT AT HAI PHONG UNIVERSITY
CHUYÊN NGÀNH: NGÔN NGỮ ANH
Người hướng dẫn : Thạc sỹ Nguyễn Văn Phi
HẢI PHÒNG - 2021

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i
COMMITMENT
I hereby declare that this is my own research work and is under the scientific
guidance of Mr. Nguyen Van Phi. The research contents and results in this topic are
honest and have not been published in any form before. The data in the tables for
analysis, comments and evaluation are collected by the author herself from different
sources, clearly stated in the reference section. In addition, in the graduation report, a
number of comments, assessments as well as data of other authors, agencies and
organizations are used, all with citations and source annotations. If there is any fraud,
I will take full responsibility for the content of my report.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First of all, I am very grateful to Mr. Nguyen Van Phi, who has always been
ready and willing to help me so that I can complete my studies well. He put in a lot
of effort to correct and make valuable comments. I would not have been able to
complete the thesis without his help and sympathy.
Taking this opportunity, I would like to express my deep thanks to all the
teachers at the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Haiphong University for their
constructive comments on this study and are willing to share related issues with me.
I would also like to send to the students of the Foreign Language Department
of Haiphong University who helped me collect information for my survey
questionnaire.
Finally, I would like to send my deepest thanks to my parents, who have always
loved, cared for, helped, tolerated and encouraged me to finish my graduation paper.

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ABSTRACT
Indeed, reading is considered the most important of the four English
language skills. Compared to writing, speaking and listening, reading will be used
most often in students' future work, especially reading ESP. However, in fact,
teaching and learning English majoring in Economics at Haiphong University has
not yet met the requirements.
The study focuses on factors affecting the ability to read comprehension of
English majoring in Economics of 3rd year students of Haiphong University. Once
the problems have been identified, suggestions for improving the teaching and
learning of Business English will be made.
The thesis consists of 3 parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion.
The introduction provides a theoretical basis for the research and establishes the
goal, method, scope and organization of the study. The development section, which
is considered the main part of the study, consists of four chapters. Chapter 1
provides the theoretical foundation for reading comprehension and reading in ESP
learning. Chapter 2 covers research methodology including research questions,
participants, data collection methods and data collection procedures. Chapter 3
focuses on data analysis, findings and discussions. Chapter 4 gives some possible
recommendations to improve the reality of learning English for E at HPU. Part III -
conclusion summarizes the main issues of the study, points out the limitations and
gives some suggestions for further study.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS...................................................................................................i
COMMITMENT................................................................................................................. ii
ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ..................................................................................................iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS...........................................................................................vi
LIST OF FIGURES...........................................................................................................vii
PART 1. INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................1
1. Rationales for the study..................................................................................................1
2. Research Aims .................................................................................................................2
3. Research Questions .........................................................................................................2
4. Scope of the Study ..........................................................................................................2
PART II: DEVELOPMENT ..............................................................................................3
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND.........................................................3
1.1 . The nature of reading................................................................................................3
1.1.1. Definitions of reading and reading comprehension .............................................3
1.1.2. Classification of reading according to the purpose of reading............................6
1.1.3. Reading in General English and in ESP ................................................................7
1.2. ESP reading ..................................................................................................................7
1.2.1. Definition of ESP......................................................................................................7
1.2.2. Reading skills in ESP...............................................................................................9
1.2.3. Factors in learning ESP reading ........................................................................ 10
1.3. ESP reading difficulties for foreign language learners........................................ 11
1.3.1. Reading skill problems.......................................................................................... 11
1.3.2. Language problems ............................................................................................. 12
1.4. Summary .................................................................................................................. 12
2.1. Participants................................................................................................................. 13
2.2. The data collection instruments .............................................................................. 13
2.3. The data collection procedure ................................................................................. 14
Chapter 3: Results and discussion....................................................... 14
3.1. Results from questionnaire ...................................................................................... 14
3.1.1. The participants’ background............................................................................... 15

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3.1.2. Students’ attitudes towards ESP reading ............................................................ 16
3.1.3. Students’ attitudes towards ESP reading materials ........................................... 18
3.1.4. Students’ difficulties in ESP reading .................................................................. 19
3.1.5. Teachers’ teaching methods ................................................................................. 20
3.1.6. Students’ expectations from the reading materials and teachers ..................... 22
3.1.7. Summary................................................................................................................. 23
3.2. Discussion.................................................................................................................. 24
3.2.1. The HPU 3nd year English Majors’ perception towards comprehension of
English for Economics..................................................................................................... 24
3.2.1.1. Positive opinion about the importance of extensive comprehension in
learning ESP ...................................................................................................................... 24
3.2.1.2. Low frequency in reading additional reading material.................................. 25
3.2.2. The reason for the difficulty in reading Economic English documents for
students .............................................................................................................................. 25
3.2.3. Summary................................................................................................................. 26
CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................... 27
4.1. Improving students' classroom techniques ............................................................ 27
4.2. Training students to read - understand better ........................................................ 27
4.2.1. Training students with different reading strategies ........................................... 27
4.2.2. Encouraging students to have an open habit of reading ................................... 30
4.2.3. Giving homework and checking the previous lessons frequently ................... 31
4.4. Developing reading materials for EE ..................................................................... 31
4.4.1. Adjusting and improving reading exercises....................................................... 31
4.4.2. Selecting the appropriate supplemental reading materials ............................... 32
4.5. Summary .................................................................................................................... 32
PART C: CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 33
1. Conclusion of the study............................................................................................... 33
2. Limitations of research and suggestions for further study...................................... 34
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................. 35
APPENDIX ....................................................................................................................... 38

vi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
HPU Haiphong University
GE General English
ESP English for Specific Purposes
EE Economics English
L1 The first language
L2 The second language

vii
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure number Page
Figure 1 15
Figure 2 15
Figure 3 15
Figure 4 16

viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table
number
Name Table Page
Table 1 Students’ attitudes towards ESP reading 17
Table 2 Students’ preparation lessons before going to class 17
Table 3 Students’ frequency of reading supplementary materials 18
Table 4 Evaluation ofthe students about the reading materials written inthe current EE 18
Table 5 The causes of the students’ difficulties in reading English for E 19
Table 6 Activities the teachers ask the studentsto perform at the stage before reading 20
Table 7 Activities the teachers ask the students to perform at the stage after reading 20
Table 8 Activities performed by teacher to motivate students in reading text 20
Table 9 Expectations of people learned about document EE 21
Table 10 Expectations of people learned about teaching methods 22
Table 11 A short list of prefixes 29
Table 12 A short list of suffixes 30

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PART 1. INTRODUCTION
1. Rationales for the study
In today’s global world, the importance of English cannot be denied and
ignored since English is the greatest common language spoken universally.
Especially, learning English has become a burgeoning need when Vietnam fosters
its international relations.
In learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam, recently, English for
Specific Purposes (ESP) has received a lot of attention. It has been included in
training programs at most universities in Vietnam in recognition of the growing
importance of language as a tool to help students access information and its
technological advancements gender. One of the primary goals of the ESP program
is to develop students' skills in seriously accessing, analyzing, and evaluating
information available for their career purposes. Therefore, the ability to read in a
foreign language, especially English, is often critical to academic studies,
professional success, and personal development. It is clear that reading is
considered the most important thing to the students. That's because reading is not
only an important means of acquiring knowledge, but also a vehicle for further
study. In English, learners can use English professionally in future work as well as
reading their specialized materials. That is absolutely true for the students studying
English majoring in Economics.
At Haiphong University (HPU), in the 3rd year, students of the Foreign
Language Department participate in 30 ESP periods of Economics subject.
Researchers are always aware of the importance of developing reading skills
for students majoring in Economics English. They have many difficulties when
reading English for the Economics major. If they can read well, they will be
capable of handling text-related subjects in English and working with modern
technological equipment. With all the above reasons, the researcher would like to
find out the factors affecting the ability to read and understand English majoring in
Economics of 3rd year students of Haiphong University. It is hoped that the study
will give some suggestions for students to improve the quality of English learning
majoring in Economics at HPU.

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2. Research Aims
The study aims:
- To surveythe factors affectingthe abilityto readEconomicEnglishof HPU 3rd
year students.
- To investigate into learners' needs for reading materials and methodology.
- To give some recommendations to improve the quality of English learning
majoring in Economics at HPU.
It is hoped that the findings from this study will be of some benefits to
students at HPU.
3. Research Questions
As it has been stated, this study was carried out to find out the factors
affecting reading comprehension of English for Economic of Third year students at
HP. Thus, it was designed in an attempt to seek answers to the following questions:
1. What are the factors affecting reading comprehension of English for
Economics of the third year students at HPU?
2. What are the suggestionsto helpthe students improve theirESP readingskills?
4. Scope of the Study
The studymainly focuses on the investigation of factors most affecting reading
comprehension of English for Economics of the third year English major students at
THP, and then suggests some techniques to help them improve their ESP reading.

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PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
1.1 . The nature of reading
1.1.1 . Definitions of reading and reading comprehension
In English, there are four skills that students have to learn. They are
listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Reading is one of the most important skills
in learning a language besides three others. The goal of any reading activity is to get
information or knowledge in a book. Grabe and Stoller (2002:9) define reading as
the ability to draw meaning from the printed page and interpret this information
appropriately.
Reading also has been defined by many other researchers. The term
“Reading” is widely used in educating practice. Among the many definitions of
reading that have arisen in recent decades, three prominent ideas emerge as most
critical for understanding what "learning to read" means:
- Reading is a process undertaken to reduce uncertainty about meanings a
text conveys.
- The processresults from negotiationof meaningbetweenthe text andits reader.
- The knowledge, expectations, and strategies a reader uses to uncover textual
meaning all play decisive roles way the reader negotiates with the text's meaning.
Reading does not draw on one kind of cognitive skill, nor does it have
straightforwardoutcome-mosttextsare understoodindifferentways by different readers.
Many experts have given their definition of what reading really means.
Reading is a very important skill that the students must be mastered because reading
cannot be separated in the process of teaching and learning. There are many
definitions of reading from many perspectives - linguist, psychologist, educator and
second language researcher. Each author defines it differently from his or her own
point of view.
Rumelhart (1977) defines “reading involves the reader, the text, and the
interaction between the reader and the text”. It means the role of learners and
reading texts are placed an important position in reading act.

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Grellet (1981:3) considers “reading comprehension or understanding a written
text means extracting the required information from it as effectively as possible.”
According to Richard and Thomas (1987:9) points out “reading comprehension
is best described as an understanding between the author and the reader.”
Harmer (1989:153) considers reading as a mechanical process that “eyes
receive the message and the brain then has to work out the significance of the
message”. Harmer focuses on not only two actions dominated by the eyes and the
brain but also the speed of the process: “a reading text moves at a speed of the
reader”, which means it is the reader who decides how fast he wants to read the text.
Reading is the most important activity in any class, not only as a source of
information but also as a means of consolidating and extending one’s idea and
knowledge of a language (River:1968:24). According to Nunan (2003:68), reading
is a fluent process of readers combining information from a text and their own
background knowledge to build meaning. Mikulecky (2011:5) states that reading is
a complex conscious and unconscious mental process in which the reader uses a
variety of strategies to reconstruct the meaning that the author is assumed to have
intended, based on data from the text and from the reader’s prior knowledge.
According to Grellet, Reading is an active skill. It constantly 12 involves guessing,
predicting, checking, and asking oneself questions (Khoiriyah:2010:1). Reading is
the construction of meaning from a printed or written message (Richard:1998:12).
Reading begins with the accurate, swift, and automatic visual recognition of
vocabulary, independent of the context in which it occurs.
Reading is when someone looks into a written text and starts to absorb the
information from the written linguistic message. In Longman Dictionary of Applied
Linguistic, reading is said as:
1. “Perceiving a written text in order to understand its contents. This can be
done silently (silent reading). The understanding that result is called reading
comprehension.”
2. “Saying a written text aloud (oral reading). This can be done with or
without an understanding of the content.”
Another definition by Collins English Learner’s Dictionary is that reading is
an act of looking at and understanding point. This is very true because reading

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entails the use of vision to understand several words in a sentence and make them
meaningful. Same goes to each sentence in order to understand the entire text.
Besides all the definitions from the dictionary, there are also definitions
made by several people. According to William (1984), he defines reading as a
process whereby one looks at and understands what has been written. Rohani
Ariffin (1992:1) in her book entitled Anthropology of Poetry for Young People
defines reading as a highly personal activity that is mainly done silently, alone.
There is a clear understanding that reading is something related to the activity of
acquiring information and it is done either silently or aloud.
Reading is an interactive process between the reader and the writer. Brunan
(1989) for instance defines reading as a two-way interaction in which information is
exchanged between the reader and the author”. Smith (1973) also shares the same
attitude. This is proved by his line:
“Reading is an act of communication in which information is transferred
from a transmitter to a receiver” (Smith 1973:2(
Despite all the definitions given, there is also a definition of reading given by
teachers as well as by students. According to Stallfter (1969), teachers define reading
as: “a complicated procedure. Readers read to get information from the printed pages.
They should be able to pronounce and comprehend the printed words, signs, letters,
and symbols by assigning meaning to them”. As for students, they define reading
which cited from Jensen and Petty (1918) as: “where words go into your eyes and out
of your mouth. They said that books are written with many adventures and time and
time again there are spots where they say ‘I know it!’ it is interesting to them as they
open the book, words flow out and float across the mind”.
Indeed, In order for a person to be able to read, there is in need of other skill
to support the reader while reading. Reading is a mental process as mentioned
earlier so it needs other skills to be integrated with such as listening, speaking and
writing. According to Chitravelu etal (1995), reading is not a single skill that we use
all the time in the same way but it is multiple skill that used differently with kind of
test and fulfilling different purpose. This was earlier being stated by Thomas and
Loving (1979) where they alleged reading as communicative skills along with
listening, speaking writing and thinking.

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1.1.2. Classification of reading according to the purpose of reading
According to the purpose of reading, Wood(1985), Williams (1986) andGrellet
(1990) categorize reading into intensive, extensive, skimming, and scanning.
Intensive reading means completely deconstructing a text, with the goal of
absorbing as much meaning from it as possible. This is done by taking a text, and
systematically looking up every word, phrase, or collocation that you do not
understand. Francoise Grellet (1981:41) defined: “Intensive reading means reading
short texts to extract specific information. This is an accuracy activity involving
reading for details”. And according to Nuttal (1982:36), “Intensive reading involves
approaching the text under the guidance of a teacher or a task which forces the
student to pay great attention to the text”. To this kind of reading, readers are
required a profound and detailed understanding of the text. They have to know
every idea, every piece of hidden information in the text. They also have to pay
attention to the area of the words in the passage through which some hints may be
conveyed. In short, intensive reading is reading in detail for a complete
understanding of every part of the text.
Extensive reading means reading widely and in quantity. That means to
simply read as much as possible, without concerning oneself with the minutia of
meaning and the occasional unknown word. This is done by reading for large
swaths of time, and looking up words only when you deem it absolutely necessary
to your understanding of the text. According to Grellet (1981:2), extensive reading
means “reading longer texts usually for one’s own pleasure. This is a fluency
activity, mainly involving general understanding”. Harmer (1989:497) also has the
same view. He states “extensive reading would normally start with reading for the
main idea or for general comprehension and finally, after much practice, for
detailed comprehension”. Most of extensive reading is done silently and out of the
classroom and it gives the students opportunities to use their target language
knowledge for their own purposes.
Skimming means to read something at a comparatively faster rate without
going into an in-depth reading, so as to have an idea of what the work is all about.
Grellet (1981:19) stated: “when skimming, we go through the reading material
quickly in order to get its main points out the intension of the writer, but not to find

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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.
Scanning refers to a selective reading method generally used by the reader
when he/she is in search of some specific information or text, contained in the
passage, without reading the text thoroughly. Williams (1986:100) said: “scanning
occurs when a reader goes through a text very quickly in order to find a particular
point of information”. In contrast with skimming, scanning is far more limited since
it only means retrieving needed information. On the other hand, scanning refers to
the reading technique, in which the reader moves his eyes over the entire text in
order to locate specific keywords which he/she has in his/her mind. This kind of
reading is widely used in reading comprehension
In summary, there are many different ways to read and they cannot be
identified by text that by reason of the reader reading. To understand text
effectively, readers should not use these methods independently. They must learn to
use the appropriate way to achieve their reading goals.
1.1.3. Reading in General English and in ESP
In many countries, some students learn English, students may never have the
opportunity to converse with native speakers, but have access to scientific and
technical materials written in English. Compared to other language skills, reading,
once developed, is a skill that students can easily maintain at the highest level with
the extra help of their teachers. Through reading exercises, he can increase his
knowledge and understanding of the speakers’ culture, their way of thinking and
their contribution to different fields in our everyday life. Reading, therefore, is
always considered an important skill in both GE and ESP contexts.
1.2. ESP reading
1.2.1. Definition of ESP
There are different definitions of ESP by different linguistics. According to
Hutchinson and Waters (1987:16), “ESP – an approach not a product- does not
involve a particular kind of language, teaching materials or methodology”. In their
opinion, ESP is “not a matter of teaching specialized varieties, not different in kind

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from other form of language teaching”. They state ESP “is an approach to language
teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learners’
reason for learning”. So an ESP course should differ from a General English (GE)
course in selection of skills, themes, topics, situations and functions.
An extended definition of ESP in terms of 'absolute' and 'variable'
characteristics (Definition of ESP (Dudley-Evans, 1997):
- Absolute Characteristics
+ ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners
+ ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the
discipline it serves
+ ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms
of grammar, lexis, register, study skills, discourse and genre.
- Variable Characteristics
+ ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines
+ ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology
from that of General English
+ ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level
institution or in a professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners
at secondary school level
+ ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students.
Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems
The definition Dudley-Evans offers is clearly influenced by that of Strevens
(1988), although he has improved it substantially by removing the absolute
characteristic that ESP is "in contrast with 'General English'" (Johns et al., 1991:
298), and has included more variable characteristics. The division of ESP into
absolute and variable characteristics, in particular, is very helpful in resolving
arguments about what is and is not ESP. From the definition, we can see that ESP
can but is not necessarily concerned with a specific discipline, nor does it have to be
aimed at a certain age group or ability range. ESP should be seen simple as an
'approach' to teaching, or what Dudley-Evans describes as an 'attitude of mind'. This
is a similar conclusion to that made by Hutchinson et al. (1987:19) who state, "ESP

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is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method
are based on the learner's reason for learning".
From the definitions above, it is clear that ESP courses are purposeful and
aim at the successful performance of occupational roles by an individual or a group
whose need is considered to be a distinguished feature to those of GE.
1.2.2. Reading skills in ESP
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987:19) ESP “is an approach to
language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the
learners’ reason for learning”. An ESP course therefore should differ from a GE
course in its selection of skills, themes, topics, situations and functions. What is
more, all courses have a purpose and aims to achieve. Therefore, the reading
component of an ESP course requires a balance between skills and language
development. Dudley-Evans and St. Johns (1998:96) show some of the key skills:
- Selecting what is relevant to the current purpose
- Using all the features of the texts such as headings, layout, typeface
- Skimming for content and meaning
- Scanning for specific information
- Identifying organizational patterns
- Understanding relations within a sentences and between sentences
- Predicting, interfering and guessing
- Using cohesive and discourse markers
- Identifying main ideas, supporting ideas and examples
- Processing and evaluating the information during reading
- Transferring or using the information while or after reading

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1.2.3. Factors in learning ESP reading
1.2.3.1. ESP students and their roles
Like teachers, students are one of two main elements of the teaching and
learning process. They simultaneously are not subject but also the object of that
process. Especially, in a reading exercise, students act as reader. They are actively
involved in understanding the correct meaning of the text. Sometimes, they have
difficulty in explaining the text for unfamiliar vocabulary and background
knowledge or due to limited reading speed and their ability to understand not meet
expectations. In this case, students have to work under the direction of teachers.
Moreover, students should have a positive attitude, polite to the teacher.
In addition to all the above activities in the reading classroom, ESP students
must also become familiar with English used in their specialized area. Having
acquired basic English in grammar and accustomed to reading activities, these
students attend ESP reading classes hoping to improve their reading skills in their
specialized areas. Furthermore, in the reading section, students work on texts that
contain a full range of terms that can only be comprehensively understood in
combination with their available specialized knowledge. They can use one of the
most effective reading methods to help them complete the text. Therefore, for career
purposes, ESP students are required more about not only English knowledge but
also specialized knowledge of the field.
1.2.3.2. ESP reading materials and their roles
Materials play an important role in learners' language exposure, especially in
learning ESP. ESP is designed to meet the specific goals of learners. Therefore, the
choice of reading material is very important. To make good choices, we need good
criteria to base our decisions. These criteria such as learner factor, the role of the
document, topic, language, and presentation were given to analyze the document
and each of these factors is valuable. A good ESP document should contain
interesting texts and interesting activities that get students thinking, giving them the
opportunity to use existing knowledge, skills, and content that they and their
teachers have. they can cope; truly reflect what you think and feel about the
learning process; provides a clear and coherent unit structure to guide students
through various activities to maximize learning opportunities; creating a balanced

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outlook that both reflects the complexity of the task and makes it appear
manageable; introduces teachers to new techniques and provides patterns in the
correct and appropriate use of language.
1.3. ESP reading difficulties for foreign language learners
ESP reading difficulties for foreign language learners.
It is undeniable that reading in a foreign language is of great importance to
personal development, professional success and academic studies.
The degree of difficulty a student is likely to experience depends, to a large
extent, on the nature and severity of his/her language problems in reading. Students
who have moderate to severe difficulties in most or all of these language systems in
the not native language are likely to experience the most problems learning a
foreign language, particularly in language classrooms that emphasize an about
reading comprehension.
However, in this section I would like to focus on two main problems that
foreign language learners often face with. They are reading skill problems and
language problems.
1.3.1. Reading skill problems
From the above points of view, we can conclude that reading from the first
language has appeared for foreign languages. It is clear that a student's limited
reading skills create many problems. They usually read slower in a foreign language
than in their first language. Furthermore, they don't know how to read in proper ways.
They only look at each word, read slowly from start to finish and, as a result, do not
grasp the general meaning of the passage. Sometimes, they may come across a lot of
vocabulary, a long paragraph or an unfamiliar topic, but they cannot focus well on the
text and when they reach the end, they may not recall what I read in the first
paragraphs. In addition, their vocabulary is still limited, so when reading the passage,
they will not understand the content or even guess the meaning of the word.
It is common that there are new words, new structures, and ideas in a reading
text to every language learner. If learners do not know how to make use of
grammatical, logical and cultural clues and have a guess or predicting ability, they
will read the texts with less comprehension than he might expect. And poor reading

12
comprehension may result in disinterest in reading. They may be trapped in a
vicious circle:
Doesn’t understand → read slowly
↑ ↓
Doesn’t read much ← doesn’t enjoy reading
1.3.2. Language problems
According to the researchers (Yorio (1971:108)): reading involves four
factors: knowledge of the language, ability to predict or guess in order to make
correct choice, ability to remember the previous cues, and ability to make the
necessary associations between the different cues that have been selected.
Therefore, learners with limited knowledge of the target language might have
considerable difficulty when reading in the target language.
Dealing with a reading text, the reader has to deal with many different
difficulties. The first problem is that readers may have to deal with unfamiliar and
difficult topics. These are called "text problems". The content of text can be quite
strange to students and grammatical structures may be new. So they couldn't
understand it. The reader will find the text very difficult and may lose the
motivation to continue reading or lose interest.
Type the second problem but no less important is the "problem of
vocabulary." As we all know, knowledge of grammar majority in reading ability.
However, vocabulary knowledge is much more important as a factor of reading
comprehension than awareness of grammatical structures (O 'Donnel, 1961: 313-
316). Readers have many difficulties in handling proverbs, idioms, synonyms,
antonyms and sub-techniques. Metaphor, metonymy and other types of transfer
means also creating significant difficulties for the reader.
1.4. Summary
In summary, this chapter provides a theoretical framework for research.
First, it provides an overview of the nature of reading, which discusses the
definitions of reading and reading comprehension and classifies reading by reading
purpose. Furthermore, this chapter also discusses the definition of ESP, reading
skills in ESP, factors in learning to read ESP, and ESP reading difficulties for
language learners.

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
This chapter refers to research methods used to achieve the aims and objectives
of the research. Data was collected using the survey questionnaire. In addition to the
survey data, additional data was collected using other tools such as interviewing and
discussing a number of students to provide additional in-depth information.
2.1. Participants
The participants of the study were 50 third – year students of Foreign
Language Department at HPU who finished GE course last term and have just
finished ESP course this term.
The 50 students among those of Foreign Language Department were selected
at random to participate in the research. It was difficult to select a random sample of
class since students had already been assigned to different classes. In this case,
individuals random sampling was more feasible, which means that instead of
randomly selecting the cluster or group, researcher randomly selected the
individuals for investigation. This approach is more appropriate and convenient for
the researcher to observe the participants who filled in the questionnaire in classes.
2.2. The data collection instruments
To achieve the main purpose of the study, a survey questionnaire was
selected as the main method of data collection for this particular study. A survey
questionnaire with 12 questions designed for EE students to identify their opinions
on the reading, the factors that affect their comprehension ability in an English text
on Economics and figure out their expectations for better reading. To ensure that all
subjects understood the questions correctly, the author asked them to answer
questions honestly and reliably with translation from English to Vietnamese. The
questionnaire was built upon material on the learning factors of ESP reading, and
the author's observations at HPU.
The questionnaire consists of two main parts: Part 1 aims to collect student
background information including where they live, how many years they have
studied English and their English proficiency as measured by a grade point average.
Their English commentary in the first three terms. Part 2 aims to gather information

14
about students' attitudes toward reading ESP, factors influencing their reading of
Economic English, and their expectations for teacher methodology and reading
materials. The questionnaire is written in Vietnamese to ensure students understand
correctly all questions before answering.
2.3. The data collection procedure
To collect data for the study, the researcher creates a survey and sends it to
the students. Before introducing the questionnaire to respondents, the researchers
explained the purpose of the questionnaire, asking for the answer, and answer any
questions that were posed. These respondents were also encouraged to ask if there is
anything they do not understand in the questionnaire. They were then instructed to
complete the questionnaire.
Chapter 3: Results and discussion
3.1. Results from questionnaire

15
3.1.1. The participants’ background
The participants involved in this research are 50 third - year students of
Foreign Language Department, who had fulfilled both of their General English
course and the course of English for Economic.
Below are data records of researcher:
- Time to learn English before entering university
Figure 1
Figure 2

16
Figure 3
As can be seen from the bar charts above, the majority of participants have
learned English before entering this university but their English learning time is
different: of which 44% of them have learned English from over 10 year, 40% start
studying for 6-8 years and 14% study 3-4 years. These different starting points of
the students made it difficult for them to learn specialized English. Furthermore,
60% of students come from rural areas, only 40% come from cities. As a result,
they do not seem to have an equal starting English proficiency. Figures from the bar
graph show that 4% of the students did not pass the final exam of the General
English course. And 96% of them met the requirements of the course, of which 48%
got only 6-7 points, 32% got 7-8 points, 10% got 8-9 points and 6% got excellent
from 9-10 points. The results show that students have different backgrounds and
lengths to learn English. It will be very difficult for students and teachers to start the
English course specializing in Economics.
3.1.2. Students’ attitudes towards ESP reading
Questions 1:
According to the results in the pie chart, we can see that not all students
enjoy learning Economics English. Indeed, 28% of the students like and 2% really
like to study EE, 66% of normal students go to EE and the rest of them dislike in
question 1.

17
Figure 4
Questions 2,3:
Questions
Percentage (%)
Completely
agree
Agree Disagree Completely
disagree
2. Reading is an important skill
in ESP learning. 66 30 2 2
3. ESP reading is very necessary
for your future job. 56 42 2 0
Table 1: Students’ attitudes towards ESP reading
As we can clearly see from the board, the majority of students (96%
consisting of 66% Completely agree and 30% Agree) consider reading an important
skill in learning ESP. However, 2% do not see reading is important and 2% chose
the answer "Completely disagree". This shows that reading comprehension is a very
important skill. Reading efficiency will help students collect necessary information
and thinking overview a problem related to their fields of subjects, namely
Economics English.
The results of question 3 show that most of the students agree that reading ESP
is essential for their future work (98%). Only 2% disagree in this question. There may
be a number of reasons to explain a student's response. Firstly, although many students
have studied English for 6-10 years, their knowledge of general English is poor and
their GPA is not high (even some students score less than 5.0 - according to statistics.
figures are 4%). This may have adversely affected their learning to ESP, which

18
explains why they lost interest in learning ESP. Moreover, they considered the course
English is not important to them, so the more theydo not pay attentionto it, so they are
missing out on good opportunities his job in the future.
Question 4:
Question
Percentage (%)
Very
carefully
Carefully Not
carefully
Without
preparing
4. How do you prepare your
lessons before going to class?
6 74 16 4
Table 2: Students’ preparation lessons before going to class
Preparing lessons for class will really save students time, master the lesson
content, actively build lessons, work in groups or individually. Good preparation
will help students understand the lessons faster and more easily. Furthermore, this
inspired a lot of participation in ESP learning activities. That is the reason why this
question was designed to examine the preparation before going to class. As we see
in Table 2, it is great to have total preparation before class was 80% (including 6%
is very careful, and 74% are careful), while the number of students do not prepare
being careful 16% and even 4% went to class without preparing. Although, based
on the data in Table 2, it shows that the attitude of students preparing the ESP is
relatively positive.
3.1.3. Students’ attitudes towards ESP reading materials
Questions 5:
Question
Percentage (%)
Usually Sometimes Rarely Never
5. How often do you read
supplementary materials?
2 26 34 38
Table 3: Students’ frequency of reading supplementary materials
This question examines how often students read supplementary materials.
Today, there are many types of reading material related to the topic is available in
the library and in bookstores. Students can use many of them to improve their
reading skills. However, 38% of students never read supplementary material, only

19
2% often use them and the number of students who occasionally read it is 26%. A
large number of students (34%) rarely read the supplementary material.
Questions 6:
Question
Percentage (%)
Difficult Enjoyable Suitable Boring
6. What do you think about the
text in the current English for
Economics reading material ?
46 18 28 10
Table 4: Evaluation of the students about the reading materials written
in the current EE
This question is designed to exploit the student's evaluation of the text in the
current document read. After investigating the students, they said that the text in the
ESP textbook, a large number of students thought that they were difficult (46%)
while 28% thought they were suitable, 18% of them enjoy these documents. Only
10% think these are boring. From the data collected above, it can be concluded that
the material of English for Economics causes some difficulties for students.
Therefore, we hope that the content of the reading materials in the future will be
adapted to the students' language proficiency to enhance student motivation and
success in study English for Economics.
3.1.4. Students’ difficulties in ESP reading
Questions 7:
Question 7
Percentage
(%)
…/100%
a. The texts are too long and filled with new terminology. 65
b. The texts are full of new and complex grammatical structures. 26
c. The teacher does not teach you enough reading skills. 2
d. The teacher does not give you complete practice in grammar
and vocabulary.
8
e. Your lack of motivation. 18
f. You lack terminology about Economics. 62

20
g. You lack knowledge about the topic you are reading. 16
Table 5: The causes of the students’ difficulties in reading English for E
From Table 5, we can see that 65% of students find the main cause of their
difficulty is due to too long texts containing many new terminologies, 62% of them
think lack of vocabulary, especially specialized terminology of Economics, and
only 26% of the number of grammatical structures in the text are many and
complex. Thereby, we all realize that the serious difficulty of students is due to
limited vocabulary, grammar structures. Therefore, making them feel bored and not
interested in the Economics English reading, in which the long and many new
words also make up a large part.
3.1.5. Teachers’ teaching methods
Questions 8:
Question 8
Percentage
(%)
…/100%
a. To find new words and terminologies in the text. 76
b. To look at reading topics and contact available knowledge. 26
c. To discuss the topic of the reading. 38
d. To predict the main idea of the text. 32
e. Others activities: 20
Table 6: Activities the teachers ask the students to perform
at the stage before reading
Question 8 was designed to investigate the activities that teachers often ask
students to perform at the stage read before reading. Through the survey is for the
students, we know that the majority of teachers (76%) often require them to find
new words, terminology and grammar structures in the reading, then the teacher
will explain, or use activities to help students understand the lesson better. After
that, 38% usually ask students to discuss the topic and 32% guess the main points of
the text by looking at its title. As can be seen from Table 6, 26% are encouraged to
use their background knowledge to understand more about the topic of text reading.

21
Questions 9 :
Question 9
Percentage
(%)
…/100%
a. To summarize the content of the reading. 54
b. To translate the text into Vietnamese. 40
c. To discuss the content of the text. 36
d. To memorize vocabulary, terminology and new structures. 50
e. Others activities 22
Table 7: Activities the teachers ask the students to perform
at the stage after reading
Table 7 also shows the activities that teachers implemented in stages after
reading. Each teacher has different strategies during this period. It can be seen that,
54% of teachers ask students to summarize the content of the text to help them
understand and remember the text better. 50% of them require students to memorize
new vocabulary and structures in the text. 36% ask students to discuss the text to
share more background knowledge about the subject of the text. While many
teachers (40%) ask students to translate documents into Vietnamese with the aim to
ensure students comprehend text.
Questions 10 :
Question 10
Percentage (%)
…/100%
a. Tell the students the purpose of reading. 48
b. Give students new words and structures 44
c. Introduce and organize some fun activities before asking
students to read.
46
d. Ask students to read the article without doing the pre task. 4
e. Translate the text into Vietnamese 65
f. Others activities 18
Table 8 : Activities performed by teacher to motivate students in reading text

22
As we can see from the above, teachers have tried to encourage students to
read before, during, and after reading using a variety of activities. 48% of students
admit that their teachers often help them understand the purpose of the text. While
only 46% organize some interesting activities for students before asking them to
read and most teachers give them any new words and structures they require (44%)
and 4% ask them to read the text immediately. In a reading exercise, teachers often
explain each word, new structure and even translate a paragraph into Vietnamese
(65% of students choose 10e).
Through this, we realize that teachers often ask students to read the text and
then translate into Vietnamese. Students can ask the teacher any new structures and
words that they do not understand, and then do the vocabulary and grammar
exercises in the textbook with the teacher's guidance. That means that the main
focus has been on translating texts, and not the reading skills themselves, with few
reading strategies practiced in the reading class.
3.1.6. Students’ expectations from the reading materials and teachers
Questions 11 :
Question 11
Percentage
(%)…/100%
a. The readings should be more career related. 76
b. The readings should be shorter and more interesting. 68
c. The readings should have a moderate amount of new words 58
d. The exercises should be more varied in form. 26
e. Others 22
Table 9: Expectations of students from the readings
From Table 8, it is clear that 76% of students expected shorter and more
motivated texts (11b). Furthermore, 68% of students said that reading texts was
more related to their future work (11a). Obviously, when a student lacks the
background knowledge and vocabulary of the topic, this will hinder the student's
understanding. Students will easily feel depressed. In addition, 58% of students
believe that the number of new words in a text should be limited (11c) to make the
paragraphs easy to read for them. However, only 26% of students said that exercises
should be more varied and varied. Therefore, only 22% agree with this idea (11e).

23
In addition, students also said that when reading the text, they should provide
more pictures, diagrams, and diagrams so that they can easily remember the new
words and the content of the text.
Questions 12 :
Question 12
Percentage
(%) …/100%
a. The teacher needs to explain more carefully the grammar
phenomena in the text.
68
b. Teachers need to explain carefully and provide the meaning of
the specialized terminology.
65
c. Instructors help me choose the right reading method for each reading. 51
d. The teacher needs to give more exercises to make it easier to
remember terminologies.
54
e. Teachers need to check more on terminology and translation. 18
f. Others 18
Table 10: Expectations of students about teaching methods
We can also see from Table 12 that 68% of students expect teachers to
further explain unfamiliar grammatical structures in texts. Students need to have
good knowledge of grammar if they want to understand texts well. In addition,
students also want to be carefully explained and provided by teachers with the
meanings of the subject-specific words. Therefore, 65% of the participants had
hoped for this.
Collected data showed that 76% of students wanted to have teachers give and
explain carefully the terms of the EE in the lesson before reading (9a) and 54% would
like to be provided with more exercises to memorize words easier terminology (12d).
We can see that students want to know what a word means and how to use it.
Therefore, they want teachers to teach vocabulary in many different ways, not only
presenting them in lists, encouraging them to interact with words so that students not
only know the meaning of the word but also keep it in memory mine.
Another finding is that 51% of students want to be taught appropriate reading
strategies for each reading (12c). This finding is completely consistent with the
results presented in Table 5 about the causes of reading difficulty. In the end, only
18% expect teachers to check on them more often for new words and translations
(12e). Obviously, translation is difficult, requiring vocabulary and knowledge.
3.1.7. Summary
From the above analysis, we can draw conclusions about the study of reading
comprehension skills for English majoring in Economics and findings on the

24
attitudes, desires and strategies of teachers and students in teach and learn to read
EE materials at HPU.
The study has made two main findings. First, it seems that many students do
not really think seriously about the importance of Business English. They learn it
because it is a compulsory subject and the student's foundation is not very good.
This leads to their negative attitude towards the EE course. Furthermore, students
lack basic reading methods leading to unsuccessful reading. Second, somehow EE
materials have not been adequately designed to meet the needs and desires of
students because the readings are too long, economic English vocabulary and terms
are too much makes students do not want to read documents and to remember
words. Overall, research has been helpful because it helps students learn about their
strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, they will identify goals that need to change
and improve in the future as well as their careers.
3.2. Discussion
After collecting and processing data, a lot of numbers, charts and tables were
presented. Now the researcher will consider the meaning of those statistics in order
to find out valuable findings.
3.2.1. The HPU 3nd year English Majors’ perception towards
comprehension of English for Economics
It is true that to explore the student’s attitude towards extensive comprehension is
one of the most important duties of the researcher in this study. That’s completely
reasonable because an interacted realationship between perception and action always
exists. One’s perception directs and adjusts his actions. If he has positive thinking, he acts
positively, and vice verse. Simultaneously, what he experiences in reality also influences
his opinion. Therefore, before considering problems students meet when doing reading, we
need to know what it means to the participants.
3.2.1.1. Positive opinion about the importance of extensive
comprehension in learning ESP
Firstly, we discuss students’ opinion about the importance of extensive
reading in learning ESP. As I have already reported in the results of the survey
question, the majority of students consider reading an important skill in learning
ESP. Because most of the students agree that reading ESP is essential for their
future work. This shows that reading comprehension is a very important skill.

25
Reading efficiency will help students collect necessary information and thinking
overview a problem related to their fields of subjects, namely Economics English.
3.2.1.2. Low frequency in reading additional reading material
Although reading is one of the most important skills for the 3rd year
students, their frequency of doing it remained quite low. Surprisingly, very few of
them “always” did it and nearly half of students never read supplementary material.
It is the fact that, reading has its great values but there must be any reason that
prevents students from doing it. Although reading material is a voluntary work, it
should be done regularly if students want to improve their knowledge and skills.
Now let consider several reasons why students did not do extensive reading
regularly to clarify the problem.
3.2.2. The reason for the difficulty in reading Economic English
documents for students
a. Difficult reading material and complex terminology
As the researcher, I find that reading EE is not easy to succeed and there is
no surprise when most students also think it. Students everyday have to read various
materials to gain information or broaden knowledge such as college textbook,
specialized documents, or other academic papers. They usually meet many difficult
words or technical terms when reading them.
After investigating, a large number of students thought that the readings were
difficult. Most of the students find the main cause of their difficulty is due to too
long texts containing many new terminologies, and the number of grammatical
structures in the text are many and complex. Therefore, we hope that the content of
the reading materials in the future will be adapted to the students' language
proficiency to enhance student motivation and success in study English for
Economics.
b. Limiting the specialized terminology
Though this is not a common reason when compared with the other ones,
there should still be some disscussions over this reason. It is a fact that we have
been living in an age of information technology with an unlimited access to sources
of information. Therefore, in my opinion, the problem here is the lack of specific

26
vocabulary or terminology that the students need to focus on studying EE.
Therefore, those students are really in need of teachers’ orientation and instruction.
c. Lack of student motivation
As mentioned above, EE is itself very difficult. That is one of the reasons
why students found reading boring and lack serious determination to study.
Students’ vocabulary and terminology is not enough to understand the meaning of
the texts they will not be ready and interested in their work. On the other hand,
students’ interest also comes from the topics of the reading texts. Students just read
when they are asked to read on the topics they like in the class. The students only
care about what they like and only want to do what can make them pleased. That’s
the reason why they have no motivation to overcome difficulties.
3.2.3. Summary
To sum up, after collecting students’ responses, the researcher found out
common difficulties they encountered when reading EE. The problems may be varied,
but most of them are relatedto students’attitude. Moreover, students’self-awareness is
still lowso their self-studywas inefficient. To narrow those gaps, we need to figure out
the ways to motivate students as well as some methods to have better organization of
EE reading. Those are issues we will work on in the next chapter.

27
CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS
From the research results, it can be seen that students have many difficulties in
learning Economics EnglishReading. Therefore, within the researchscope of the topic,
the researcher would like to give some recommendations to improve the quality of
learning Economics English.
4.1. Improving students' classroom techniques
According to the research results, one of the causes of English language
difficulty for economic English learners at HPU is negative attitude, less interest
and inability to read ESP. So, to reduce difficulty, teachers should increase students'
excitement and motivation by making lessons fun and ESP more effective.
As we found from question 7, 65% of students find the text is too long and
contains many terms. As a result, making the lessons boring and with no interest to
the students. So to make the lesson interesting, the teacher helps them by making
the essay easier by simplifying and adapting the materials so that students feel
comfortable and continue to read like provide students with different techniques or
strategies such as guessing the meaning of a word in context or through form, using
games, pictures, real objects, synonyms / antonyms. ... to find out the meaning of
the new word. As you read, teachers create an exciting reading atmosphere by
asking students to do individual work, pair up, make a power point presentation, or
create an art book. Thus, the students' reading comprehension will become easier.
4.2. Training students to read - understand better
4.2.1. Training students with different reading strategies
The purpose of specific reading is the most important factor determining the
appropriate reading strategy to be used for a given text. Reading strategy is a
reading that can be used flexibly and selectively depending on the type of text,
content and reading purpose. Different texts need different strategies, so it is helpful
to equip students with a variety of reading strategies including skimming,
skimming, guessing word meaning, prediction, reasoning, etc.
Skimming means to read something at a comparatively faster rate without
going into an in-depth reading, so as to have an idea of what the work is all about.
Skimming helps readers get an overview of the whole text. It involves quickly
assessing the main points of a text and not paying attention to irrelevant details.

28
Skimming related to knowledge of text structure. Therefore, the reader must know
where to find the main ideas of the different passages and be able to synthesize
them into an organic whole. The best way to teach skimming is to ask students to
read the entire first and last paragraph, between the first and last sentences of each
paragraph and choose the main ideas. Teachers should also create some types of
exercises such as finding incorrect sentences in the paragraph, linking topic
sentences with specific paragraphs, creating titles for the paragraph or essay ... for
students to do.
Scanning to a selective reading method generally used by the reader when he
/ she is in search of some specific information or text, contained in the passage,
without reading the text thoroughly. It is a useful skill for locating a particular item
of information we need. The reader quickly scans through the irrelevant information
and focuses only on the desired information. Therefore, the reader must clearly
define the purpose of the reading. Scanning exercises are familiar to all teachers and
are easy to produce. To extract certain information without reading the entire text,
students should:
+ Look at the scanned questions if available to be more focused and aware of
the details they are looking for;
+ Keep an eye on specific names, locations, dates, definitions, statements,
figures, charts, tables ... until they find the specific information needed;
+ Omitting or omitting other important information;
+ Pay attention to the specific part of the text that contains the details they
are looking for;
+ Memorize or write down the specific terms of the requested information.
Contextual guessing of word meaning is another reading strategy students
need to know when learning to read English. If a student mastered this skill, they
could find out the meaning of many unknown words or phrases without a
dictionary. There are two ways of using structuring and using contextual clues.
- Use the structural formation: The meaning of new words can be found out
by referring to their formation as prefixes and suffixes. For example:
+ Prefixes is a group of letters placed before the root of a word.

29
Prefix Meaning Examples
de- from, down, away, reverse, opposite decode, decrease
dis- not, opposite, reverse, away disagree, disappear
ex- out of, away from, lacking, former exhale, explosion
il- not illegal, illogical
im- not, without impossible, improper
in- not, without inaction, invisible
mis- bad, wrong mislead, misplace
non- not nonfiction, nonsense
pre- before prefix, prehistory
pro- for, forward, before proactive, profess, program
re- again, back react, reappear
un- against, not, opposite undo, unequal, unusual
Table 11: A short list of prefixes
+ Suffixes is a group of letters placed after the root of a word.
Suffix Meaning Examples
-able able to, having the quality of comfortable, portable
-al relating to annual comical
-er comparative bigger, stronger
-est superlative strongest, tiniest
-ful full of beautiful, grateful
-ible forming an adjective reversible, terrible
-ily forming an adverb eerily, happily, lazily
-ing denoting an action, a material, or a gerund acting, showing

30
Suffix Meaning Examples
-less without, not affected by friendless, tireless
-ly forming an adjective clearly, hourly
-ness denoting a state or condition kindness, wilderness
-y full of, denoting a condition, or a diminutive glory, messy, victory
Table 12: A short list of Suffixes
- Use the contextual clues: Students can infer possible meanings of the words
or phrases that are not familiar with how to use the meaning of words such as
synonyms and antonyms in the same sentence or the whole paragraph.
+ Prediction: Students can learn how to make predictions based on the title,
subtitle, language context or nonverbal context such as charts, tables, diagrams,
maps, and their knowledge about theme.
+ Inference: Giving implication and inference are the students considered
the most difficult skills. Because it involves understanding both clearly stated and
implied things. The reader must infer based on what is stated and inferred what was
implied. Therefore, students are required instructors to teach this skill.
4.2.2. Encouraging students to have an open habit of reading
The results of this study have shown that most students lack the necessary
vocabulary related to subject matter and that their limited knowledge of which
topics may interfere with their ability to read comprehension. In addition to reading
and doing the assignments given by the teacher, reading a lot outside the classroom
can help students increase their vocabulary, enrich their language understanding and
knowledge on the subject.
According to Nuttal (1996:168), “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”. Therefore, teachers should let students read materials that
are suitable for their level, resources and effective way of reading in order to create
extensive reading habits for students. This can be a good way to improve reading
speed and comprehension.

31
4.2.3. Giving homework and checking the previous lessons frequently
To form a regular learning habit for students, teachers should let them do
many different reading exercises such as answering questions about the text,
translating the meaning, summarizing, finding new words in the text, ... with
Different difficulty levels after each lesson. At the beginning of a new lesson, the
teacher can create games or plan groups, or ask students to make a power point on
the topic they are learning. Then, the given assignments must be tested as warm-up
activities in the next class. In this way, students become more responsible and
interested in their learning. If the teacher does not assign homework and regularly
checks on previous lessons, or is not interested in the subject, students will become
lazier and their reading will deteriorate.
4.4. Developing reading materials for EE
The EE reading material used at the HPU consists of 8 units selected from
the “Macmilian Guide to Economics Student's book”. The purpose of the
"Macmillan Guide to Economics'' is to help students master their initial knowledge
of economics in English and introduce them to the fundamental questions of
economic theory. More modern authentic materials should be provided to students
to give them the opportunity to improve their reading skills and skills and at the
same time become familiar with the basics of economic theory.
4.4.1. Adjusting and improving reading exercises
- Reducing the length of text in the document
Some students think that Lesson 4 - The planned economy & The mixed
economy and Lesson 6 - Market structure and competition & Monopolies are
difficult and too long because they contain too many terms with complicated
expressions. Therefore, replace them with some more suitable readings for students
to easily understand and master knowledge. One of the ways to reduce the difficulty
can be text shortening.
Before learning each reading article, this resource often contains exercises of
a variety of different types. These include pre-reading instruction questions,
vocabulary exercises, comprehension questions, word usage exercises and follow-
up writing, etc. After learning new lessons, the material has additional exercises
such as comprehension questions and paragraph writing practice. However, some

32
students think that some of the exercises are too difficult for the student's level.
Therefore, the teacher should give up some too difficult tasks and come up with
exercises instead. In addition, teachers should allow them to read more, not only
limited to the basic content required in the course, but regarding current national
and international issues to encourage more reading, helping students to learn more.
Students are more interested in and have a firm grasp of English for Economics.
4.4.2. Selecting the appropriate supplemental reading materials
The survey shows that we should make full use of the exploitation of
additional reading material. In fact, teachers can choose supplementary reading
materials from real life or authentic texts such as those from the Internet, but these
documents must contain information that is useful, concise, close to students, offers
a variety of exercises and helps students develop their reading skills. Usually,
supplementary essays are closely related to the topics students are learning in class.
However, teachers should pay attention when choosing additional reading
materials to teach. They should consider what their own level is like to come up
with materials that match the student's abilities. One more thing, the source of
information teachers provide also needs to be considered accurate, too.
4.5. Summary
In summary, this chapter has mentioned suggestions to improve the quality
of learning English for E reading in the Department of Foreign Languages at
Haiphong University. Some recommendations such as improving student' classroom
techniques, training students to become effective readers and EE reading materials
development were discussed.

33
PART C: CONCLUSION
1. Conclusion of the study
Indeed, reading English for economics for students is extremely important.
Obviously, students often have difficulty learning English majoring in
Economics. The aim of this study is to provide an analysis of the factors that
influence third-year students of English reading and understanding ability of
Foreign Language Department at HPU and to present some useful suggestions to
improve the quality of learning English for Economics.
To find problems in learning English for Economics, a survey was conducted
involving 50 3rd year students from the Faculty of Foreign Languages at HPU to
examine their attitudes toward reading English for Economics in a reading and
learners' needs for materials and reading methods.
From research results, it can be seen that learning English for Economics is
still unsatisfactory. Although the majority of students are aware of the importance
of reading English in Economics, many of them have a negative attitude when
reading it, which makes it difficult to read their ESP. In addition, students are not
equipped with the necessary reading skills and strategies to become successful
readers. Furthermore, the current course book is said to contain many difficult and
uninteresting terminologies.
Researcher has given some suggestions for both learning English for
Economics through the research results. Among them are some ways to make
reading English more interesting and useful, to train students to become effective
readers, increase students' reading interest and motivation, and encourage students
to form habits of reading extensively, develop reading materials.
The researcher hopes that the research will contribute significantly to
improving the learning of English for Economics for the students of English at
Haiphong University today. In addition, it is hoped that the research will be worth
reading for those interested in this matter. The research cannot avoid certain errors,
and the researcher will appreciate all readers' comments and tolerate the
shortcomings of the study.

34
2. Limitations of research and suggestions for further study
In fact, this study still has many limitations, hopefully readers will contribute
as well as give ideas for the thesis to be more complete.
First, the researcher's practical experience in English reading for Economics
and knowledge of this topic is limited, so the suggestions in chapter 4 may be
unsatisfactory, flawed and leave the issue for debate.
Next, in terms of methodology, the research is limited that the data may not
fully reflect all aspects of the learning of ESP students at HPU.
Finally, due to the writer's limited knowledge and understanding, the study
was unable to address other factors that influence the reading process such as
linguistic aptitude, intelligence, and personality of readers, etc. These factors need
to be studied more in the future.

35
REFERENCES
Allen, W.P. (1977). Selecting reading material for foreign language students.
Rockville, Mt: English Language Survice.
1. Rumelhart, (1977). A study on the techniques for improving reading skills to
non-major students of english at haiphong foreign language center.
2. Nunan, D. (1991). Language teaching methodology. Toronto: Ontario Institute for
Studies in Education.
3. Grellet, F. (1981). Developing reading skills. Cambridge: Cambridge. University Press.
4. Nuttal, C. (1982). Teaching Reading Skills in a Foreign Language. London:
Heinemann Educational Books.
5. Williams, E. (1986). Reading in the language classroom. Oxford: Macmillian
Publisher.
6. Wood, J. (1990), Reading on Reading, Sydney
7. Smith, F. (1971). Understand Reading: A Psycholinguistics Analysis of
Reading and Learning to Read. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
8. Smith, F. (1985). Reading. Cambridge: CUP.
9. Hutchinson, T., & Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purposes: A
Learner-Centered Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
10. Hutchinson, T. & Waters, A (1986), English for Specific Purposes. Cambridge:
Cambridge. University Press.
11. Barnette, M.A. (1980). More than meet the eyes: Foreign Language Reading
Theory and Practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: CAL& Prentice Hall
12. Duffy, GG & Rochier, L.R (1986). Improving Classroom Reading Instruction:
A decision Making Approach. New York: Raandom House.
13. Douglas, D (2000), Assessing Language for Specific Purpose. Cambridge.
University Press. Cambridge. Cambridge University Express.
14. Dudley- Evans, T. & St John, M.J (1997) Development in English for Specific
Purpose. Cambridge : CUP
15. Evans, T.D..& St John, M.J (1997). Development in English for Specific
Purpose: A multi- disciplinary Approach.

36
16. Developments in English for specific purposes: a multi-disciplinary approach;
Tony Dudley-Evans and Maggie-Jo St John. Cambridge, Cambridge University
Press, 1998, 301
17. Fries, C. (1945). Teaching and learning English as a Foreign Language. Ann
Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
18. Greenwood, J. (1985). The teaching of English as an International language.
Collins Glassgow and London.
19. Grellet, F. (1981). Developing reading skills. Cambridge: Cambridge.
University Press.
20. Hayes, B.L. (1991). The effective teaching of reading. In B.L. Hayes (Eds),
Effective strategies for teaching reading, 3-12. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
21. Harmer, J. (1989). The Practice of English language teaching. Harlow: Longman.
22. Harper, D. (1986), ESP for the University. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
23. Yorio, C.A. (1971). Some sources of reading problems for foreign language
learners, Language learning, 21, (107-115)
24. Smith, F. (1985). Reading. Cambridge: CUP.
25. Principles of Macroeconomics: Chapter 12 - N. Gregory Mankiw
26. . Simon, Gr & Michael, S (1993). Effective Reading. Cambridge: Cambridge.
University Press.
*Wed pages
1. https://www.studymode.com/essays/Factors-Affecting-Poor-Reading-
Comprehension-Of-1845885.html
2. https://www.termpaperwarehouse.com/essay-on/Factors-Affecting-Reading-
Comprehension/98028
3. https://studylib.net/doc/6918216/factors-affecting-the-reading-comprehension-of
4. https://text.123doc.net/document/4198147-english-for-economic-topic-
globalization-and-sustainable-development.htm
5. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/edri/2015/209154/
6. https://123doc.net/document/6978192-a-study-on-the-effectiveness-of-using-
task-based-approach-in-teaching-vocabulary-in-esp-to-the-second-year-students-
at-construction-school-n04.htm

37
7. https://xemtailieu.com/tai-lieu/an-evaluation-of-the-esp-course-for-third-year-
students-at-industrial-economics-and-technology-college-2154586.html
8. https://epdf.pub/english-for-business-studies-students-book-a-course-for-
business-studies-and-eco.html
9. https://123docz.net/document/564077-using-while-reading-techniques-to-
improve-reading-comprehension-for-the-11th-form-students-at-phan-dang-luu-
high-school.htm
10. tai-lieu/a-study-of-difficulties-in-teaching-and-learning-reading-
comprehension-in-the-course-book-new-headway-pre-intermediate-to-the-first-
year-students-at-college-of-broadcasting-1-phu-ly-city-ha-nam-2378306.html
11. tai-lieu/a-study-on-difficulties-and-solutions-to-improve-reading-skill-for-first-
year-english-majors-students-at-hmtu-2406639.html
12. https://www.ukessays.com/essays/languages/definition-of-reading.php
13. http://luanvan.net.vn/luan-van/how-teachers-use-the-current-esp-materials-at-
public-relation-faculty-academy-of-journalism-and-communication-68944/

38
APPENDIX
TRANSLATED VERSION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
This questionnaire is designed for my research into factors affecting reading
comprehension of English for Economics of the third year students at Haiphong
University. Your assistance in completing the questionnaire is highly appreciated. All
the information provided by you is very important for research purpose.
Thank you very much for your cooperation!
Before answering the questionnaire, please fill in some information:
* Where do you live? Rural …….. Urban ……..
* Gender Male ……... Female ……..
* How long have you been learning English? (0 year, 3-4 years, 6-8 years,
over 10 years)
* How much is your average mark of GE?……………….
Please tick the appropriate answers or give more ideas.
1. You like learning English for Economics very much.
a. Like b. Like so much c. Normal d. Dislike
2. Reading is an important skill in learning ESP.
a. Completely agree b. Agree c. Disagree d. Completelydisagree
3. Reading ESP is very necessary for your future job.
a. Completely agree b. Agree c. Disagree d.Completely disagree
4. How do you prepare your lessons before going to class?
a. Very carefully b. Carefully c. Not carefully d. Without preparing
5. How often do you read supplementary materials?
a. usually b. sometimes c. rarely d. Never
6. What do you think about the text in the current English for Economics
reading material?
a. difficult b. enjoyable c. suitable d. boring
7. According to you, what are the causes of difficulties in reading English for
Economics?
(You can choose more than one response)
a. The texts are too long and filled with new words.

39
b. The texts are full of new and complex grammatical structures.
c. The teacher does not teach you enough reading skills.
d. The teacher doesnot give youcomplete practice in grammar and vocabulary.
e. Your lack of motivation.
f. You lack vocabulary about ESP.
g. You lack knowledge about the topic you are reading.
h. Others ……………………………………………………………………
8. What does your teacher often ask you to do before reading the text?
a. To find new words and terminologies in the text.
b. To look at reading topics and contact available knowledge.
c. To discuss the topic of the reading.
d. To predict the main idea of the text.
e. Others activities: ………………………………………………………
9. What does your teacher often ask you to do after finishing reading the text?
a. To summarize the content of the reading.
b. To translate the text into Vietnamese.
c. To discuss the content of the text.
d. To memorize vocabulary, terminology and new structures.
e. Others activities: …………………………………………………………
10. What does your teacher often do to motivate you in every reading lesson?
a. Help you understand the purpose of reading.
b. Give you new words and structures that you require.
c. Introduce and organize some fun activities before asking you to read.
d. Please read the article immediately.
e. Translate the text into Vietnamese.
f. Others activities: ……………………………………………………….
11. To help you read ESP more easily, what in your opinion do you expect
from the reading materials? (You can choose more than one response)
a. The readings should be more career related.

40
b. The readings should be shorter and more interesting.
c. The readings should have a moderate amount of new words
d. The exercises should be more varied in form.
f. Others ………………………………………..
12. To help you read ESP better, what in your opinion do you expect from
the teachers?
a. Teachers need to explain more carefully the grammar phenomena in the text.
b. Teachers need to explain carefully and provide the meaning of the
specialized words.
c. Instructors help me choose the right reading method for each reading.
d. Teachers need to give more exercises to make it easier to remember
vocabulary.
e. Teachers need to check more on vocabulary and translation.
f. Others ………………………………………..

41
APPENDIX 1
PHIẾU ĐIỀU TRA NGHIÊN CỨU
(DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN )
Bảng câu hỏi này được viết ra nhằm mục đích cho nghiên cứu của tôi về các
yếu tố ảnh hưởng đến khả năng đọc hiểu tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Kinh tế của sinh
viên năm 3 trường Đại học Hải Phòng. Câu trả lời của các bạn sẽ được đánh giá cao
trong việc hoàn thành bảng câu hỏi. Tất cả thông tin do các bạn cung cấp đều rất
quan trọng cho nghiên cứu của tôi.
Trước khi trả lời bảng câu hỏi, vui lòng điền vào một số thông tin:
* Gia đình bạn sống ở đâu? Nông thôn ….. Thành thị .……
* Giới tính Nam …… Nữ ………
* Bạn học tiếng Anh bao lâu rồi? (0 năm, 3-4 năm, 6-8 năm, trên 10 năm)
* Điểm trung bình môn Tiếng Anh cơ bản của bạn là bao nhiêu? ………………
Vui lòng đánh dấu √ vào các câu trả lời thích hợp hoặc cho thêm ý kiến
1. Bạn rất thích học tiếng Anh chuyên ngành Kinh tế.
a. Thích
b. Rất thích
c. Bình thường
d. Không thích
2. Đọc là một kỹ năng quan trọng trong việc học Tiếng anh chuyên ngành.
a. Hoàn toàn đồng ý
b. Đồng ý
c. Không đồng ý
d. Hoàn toàn không đồng ý
3. Đọc Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành là rất cần thiết cho công việc sau này của bạn.
a. Hoàn toàn đồng ý
b. Đồng ý
c. Không đồng ý
d. Hoàn toàn không đồng ý
4. Bạn chuẩn bị bài như thế nào trước khi đến lớp?

42
a. Rất cẩn thận
b. Cẩn thận
c. Không cẩn thận
d. Không chuẩn bị
5. Bạn có thường xuyên đọc các tài liệu bổ sung không?
a. Thường xuyên
b. Thỉnh thoảng
c. Hiếm khi
d. Không bao giờ
6. Bạn nghĩ sao về các bài đọc trong giáo trình TACN mà bạn đang học?
a. Khó
b. Thú vị
c. Phù hợp
d. Dễ và nhàm chán
7. Bạn hãy cho biết các nguyên nhân gây khó khăn trong việc đọc hiểu Tiếng Anh
chuyên ngành Kinh tế của bạn.
(Bạn có thể chọn nhiều hơn một câu trả lời)
a. Các văn bản quá dài và chứa đầy từ mới.
b. Các văn bản có nhiều các cấu trúc ngữ pháp mới và phức tạp.
c. Giáo viên không dạy bạn kỹ năng đọc.
d. Giáo viên không cho luyện tập đầy đủ về từ vựng và ngữ pháp.
e. Sự thiếu động lực, không đủ tự tin của bạn.
f. Bạn thiếu vốn từ vựng chuyên ngành.
g. Bạn thiếu kiến thức chuyên môn về chủ đề bạn đang đọc.
h. Khác ………………………………………………………………
8. Giáo viên của bạn thường yêu cầu bạn làm gì trước khi đọc bài?
a. Tìm các từ vựng và thuật ngữ mới trong bài đọc.
b. Nhìn vào chủ đề bài đọc và liên hệ với kiến thức sẵn có.
c. Thảo luận về chủ đề bài đọc.
d. Dự đoán ý chính của văn bản.
e. Các ý kiến khác: ………………………………………………………

43
9. Giáo viên của bạn thường yêu cầu bạn làm gì sau khi đọc xong bài?
a. Tóm tắt lại nội dung bài đọc.
b. Dịch bài đọc sang tiếng Việt.
c. Thảo luận về nội dung bài đọc.
d. Để ghi nhớ từ vựng, thuật ngữ và cấu trúc mới.
e. Các ý kiến khác: …………………………………………………………
10. Giáo viên của bạn thường làm gì để tạo hứng thú cho bạn trong mỗi giờ học ?
a. Giúp bạn hiểu mục đích của việc đọc.
b. Cung cấp cho bạn những từ mới và cấu trúc mà bạn yêu cầu.
c. Giới thiệu và tổ chức một số hoạt động vui chơi trước khi yêu cầu bạn đọc.
d. Yêu cầu bạn đọc bài ngay.
e. Dịch văn bản sang tiếng Việt.
f. Các ý kiến khác: ……………………………………………………….
11. Để giúp bạn đọc Tiếng anh chuyên ngành dễ dàng hơn, theo bạn, bạn mong
đợi điều gì ở tài liệu đọc? (Bạn có thể chọn nhiều hơn một câu trả lời)
a. Các bài đọc nên liên quan nhiều hơn đến nghề nghiệp.
b. Các bài đọc nên ngắn gọn hơn và thú vị hơn.
c. Các bài đọc nên có một lượng từ mới vừa phải
d. Các bài tập nên phong phú đa dạng hơn .
f. Khác ………………………………………..
12. Để giúp bạn đọc Tiếng anh chuyên ngành tốt hơn, bạn mong đợi điều gì từ
các giáo viên?
a. Giáo viên cần giải thích kỹ hơn các hiện tượng ngữ pháp trong văn bản.
b. Giáo viên cần giải thích kỹ và cung cấp nghĩa của các từ chuyên ngành.
c. Giáo viên hướng dẫn lựa chọn phương pháp đọc phù hợp cho mỗi bài đọc.
d. Giáo viên cần đưa ra nhiều bài tập hơn để dễ nhớ từ vựng hơn.
e. Giáo viên cần kiểm tra nhiều hơn về từ vựng và dịch thuật.
f. Khác ………………………………………..

44

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