INTRODUCTION I. Rationale In many second or foreign language teaching situations, reading receives a special focus. There are a number of reasons for this. First, many foreign language students often have reading as one of their most important goals. They want to be able to read for information and pleasure, for their career, and for study purposes. In fact, in most EFL situations, the ability to read in a foreign language is all that students ever want to acquire. Second, written texts serve various pedagogical purposes. Extensive exposure to linguistically comprehensible written texts can enhance the process of language acquisition. Good reading texts also provide good models for writing and provide opportunities to introduce new topics, to stimulate discussion and to study language. Reading, then, is a skill which is highly valued by students and teachers alike. In process of teaching and learning English as a foreign language in Vietnam in general, and at the Military Science Academy (MSA) in particular, reading has always been offered a great deal of attention both from the teachers and the students. Like many others universities in Vietnam, English at the MSA is learnt and taught in non-native environment, therefore, reading is not only considered as a means to gain knowledge but also a means by which further study takes place. In other words, learners “read to learn” (Burns, 1988:11). According to Carrel (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 especially true to the students at the MSA, where learners are mostly future interpreters, translators, or teachers of English in others Military Colleges whose desires are to be able to handle subjects related to written materials in English and to work with their English-speaking colleagues and partners. It is essential for them to acquire the ability to read English effectively and efficiently. However, despite the teachers’ and students’ effort, students still often claim to have a lot of difficulties in reading English textbooks or English materials, and therefore, they sometimes read them inefficiently. For the second-year students of English, although they have been learning English for at least several years, it is still often difficult for them to understand a text or a passage in English, since they still lack vocabulary, grammar, reading skills and poor background knowledge. Besides, the teachers sometimes have to face with difficulties in dealing with the students’ learning demand and newly introduced sources of materials. In addition, teaching methods and teaching techniques in general, are still below the international standard of education. To find out the areas of students’ difficulty at the MSA and the causes of their unsuccessful reading comprehension is necessary. Therefore, these reasons have inspired the writing of A Study on some possible effective pre-reading activities to improve reading skills for the 2nd -year English Majors at the Military Science Academy. It is hoped that the study will make some contributions to improve the learning of English in general, and the learning of reading in particular among the 2nd-year English majors at the MSA. The author also hopes that it will be possible to make suggestions for the teachers to improve the situation of teaching and learning reading at the MSA. II. Aims of the study The main purposes of the study are to investigate pre-reading techniques employed by the teachers of English at the MSA, and to give a suggestion of some possible pre- reading activities that can be applied to teach the text book More Reading Power to the second-year students of English at the MSA. To achieve these purposes, the study will focus on the following aims: * To understand better and more fully the notions of reading and reading comprehension, etc. * To investigate the teachers’ and students’ attitude towards the pre- reading techniques. * To examine the students’ preference for pre-reading techniques. * To suggest some possible pre-reading activities which are thought to be effective for teaching reading to the 2nd-year students at the MSA. III. Scope of the study To improve reading skill for students of English at the MSA, the teachers can make use of various techniques and number of things should be done. However, in this study, the author only intends to overview a brief of current situation of teaching and learning reading of the 2nd-year students of English at the MSA, and to suggest some possible activities that can be applied in the Pre-reading stage in order to motivate students in reading lesson as well as help them to become good and effective readers. IV. Methods of the study The study was carried out on the basis of qualitative research method including questionnaires and class observation. Questionnaires are designed as a mean to make the researcher’s evaluation more objective. The questionnaires are given to the second-year students and the teachers of English at the MSA with the hope to find out their attitudes towards pre-reading techniques and their comments and suggestions for these activities. Data were collected through the survey questionnaires and class observation. Analyzing statistics from the survey questionnaire on reading activities conducted with the cooperation of the both teachers and students at the MSA. All comments, remarks, recommendation assumptions, and conclusion provided in the study based on the data analysis. Besides, more information needed for the study is gathered through other methods such as class observations, informal interviews, and discussions with the teachers and students at the MSA. V. Significance of the study The study highlights the importance of motivation to the reading skills in general and to the pre-reading stage in particular. Moreover, the findings of the study are thought to be useful for teachers of English to be aware of the essential role of the pre-reading activities to the students’ motivation in reading lessons. VI. Design of the study The study is composed of three parts: Part A-Introduction provides rationale, the aims, scope, methods, and design of the study. Part B-Development consists of three chapters: Chapter 1-Literature review, conceptualizes the study’s theoretical background, presents the concepts relevant to the topic of the thesis: reading and reading comprehension, classification of reading, role of reading in foreign language learning, motivation and factors in teaching and learning reading. Chapter one will be closed with the importance of the Pre-reading activities in a reading lesson. Chapter 2-The study, presents the methodology used in the study. It also shows the detailed results of the survey and covers a comprehensive analysis on the data collected form questionnaires and class observations. Chapter 3-offers some major findings and suggestions of some possible Pre-reading activities which are thought to be helpful for teaching reading to the 2nd-year students of English at the MSA. Part C- Conclusion is a review of the study, future directions for further research and limitations of the study as well.
