TITLE: FACTORS AFFECTING READING COMPREHENSION SKILLS

OF THE SECOND- YEAR STUDENTS AT THE FACULTY OF ENGLISH,

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

1. Aim and objectives

The study aims to improve the reading comprehension skills of the
second- year students at the Faculty of English, Hanoi Open
University.
The research objectives of the study are to assess factor that affect
the reading skills of the second -year students at the Faculty of
English, Hanoi Open University. These are the research objectives
of the study:
+ To identify the factors that cause difficulties in studying reading
comprehension skills of the second-year students at the Faculty of
English, Hanoi Open University.
+ To propose some solutions to improve the reading comprehension
skills of the second-year students at the Faculty Of English, Hanoi
Open University.
2. Research questions: the study address these following question
1. What are the factors that cause difficulties in studying reading
comprehension skills of the second -year students at the Faculty Of
English, Hanoi Open University?
2. What are some solutions to improve the reading comprehension
skills of the second-year students at the Faculty Of English, Hanoi
Open University?
2. Literature review
The study consists of two parts. The first section reviews the
previous studies on reading comprehension skills. The second one
reviews the definition of reading comprehension skills and factors
affecting reading comprehension skills.
2.1. An overview of previous studies
In Ahmed (2016), reading comprehension is an essential skill to
handle the demands of the 21st century and it is the most important
skill of the four skills in English as a foreign language.
According to Koda (2007), there are some factors that impact
learners‟ reading comprehension. Some of these are vocabulary
knowledge, prior knowledge. This non-visual information, or what
the brain imposes upon the eye, has generally been known as
background knowledge, plays a major role. Similarly, Anderson and
Freebody (1981) „background knowledge is crucial for reading
comprehension.‟ According to Nergis (2013) stated that deepness of
vocabulary knowledge, syntactic consciousness, are some of the
important factors that can affect reading comprehension skills.
Hamra and Syatriana (2010) contend that poor reading
comprehension learners occurs due to students‟ lack of vocabulary.
Cahyono and Widiati (2006) conclude that poor prior knowledge
also contributes to the low level of reading comprehension.
According to Ismail and Basuki (2017), if students lack prior
knowledge in reading a text, they cannot understand it because they
do not know what the text is about. In addition, cultural differences
affect reading comprehension. An unfamiliar cultural context and
content knowledge of culture and knowledge of vocabulary cause
problems in reading, because the students do not clearly understand
the other culture. The next problem is limited vocabulary. Students
will have great difficulty in understanding the text as a whole
because of lacking of vocabulary. The final problem is complex and
very long sentences. According to Chawwang (2008) complex
sentences are sentences that contain many clauses or reduced
clauses and abstract concepts. So, longer sentences will be more
difficult to understand than shorter sentences.
However, Trehearne and Doctorow (2005) expressed that there are
other factors that affect learners‟ reading comprehension skills.
These factors are learners‟ reading attitudes. students‟ attitudes
towards reading are the leading factor that directly affects their
reading.
In the light of this, it should be said that reading competence is a
complex skill that needs to be developed by practice. Teachers
should provide their learners with opportunities to reflect on their
reading processes and practices. The role of the teacher is very
important, as the teacher not only guides the students through the
process of reading comprehension, but also motivates them and puts
them in control of their learning.
2.2. Theoretical framework
2.2.1. Definition of Reading Comprehension
Pressley (2000) and Birsch (2011) defined reading comprehension
as the ability to get meaning from what is read. Reading
comprehension needs different reading skills such as word
recognition, fluency, lexical knowledge, and pre- existing
knowledge to be undertaken quickly so that the reader gets
knowledge from text. Similarly, Grabe & Stoller (2002) defines
reading comprehension as reading comprehension problems in text.
On the other hand, Tompkins (2011) defined reading comprehension
as the level of comprehending a text. This comprehension arises
from the interplay between the written words and how they elicit
knowledge outside the message. On the other hand, Kintsch (1998)
defined reading comprehension as the process of creating meaning
from text. The purpose is to get an understanding of the text rather
than to acquire meaning from individual words or sentences. In
addition, Understanding of reading is an ability to understand
meaning, and integrate with what the reader already knows.
Duke (2003) stated that comprehension is a process in which readers
make meaning by interacting with text through the combination of
prior knowledge and previous experience, information in the text,
and the views of readers related to the text. Therefore, reading
comprehension is the ability to understand information in a text and
interpret it appropriately.
2.2.2. Factors affecting Reading Comprehension skills
According to Dennis (2008), reading comprehension is a complex
process between identifying printed symbols and interpreting the
meaning behind the symbols. Some factors affect reading
comprehension skills. They are complexity of the reading the text,
lack of vocabulary, environmental influences, anxiety during
reading comprehension, interest and motivation,
decoding or word recognition speed, and medical problems. In the
following section, these factors are elaborated in detail.
a) The complexity of the texts
One of the factors that impacts learners‟ reading comprehension is
the complexity of the texts. This factor is influenced by the readers‟
strength and fluency in language and their comprehension of its
applications and different meanings. Oral abilities have a significant
part in identifying how skilled a reader can be because learners hear
words and obtain a lot of vocabulary. A lot of vocabulary assist
learners in explaining the unknown words through applying the
opinions of context ( Dennis, 2008).
b) Lack of vocabulary
A lack of vocabulary can be an explanation for a failure in
developing effective reading capabilities. The problem involves
difficulties with words. These difficulties include problems with
technical vocabulary, super ordinates, synonyms, antonyms, and
words with several meanings. Students will have great difficulty in
understanding the text as a whole because they lack vocabulary. To
be successful, they have to recognize a high proportion of the
vocabulary.
c) The environmental condition
The third factor related to the environmental condition that impact
the learners who try to read a passage. Readers may have a lot of
problems to understand a text an unorganized environment than
those who read in a calm and controlled place. If learners are in an
unsafe place, they find it difficult to focus on their reading. When
they are in safe environments, their reading comprehension ability
will better. Readers will lose their concentration in understanding a
text when there are noises like televisions or radios ( Dennis, 2008)
d) The anxiety during reading comprehension
This factor is pertinent to the anxiety during reading comprehension.
Examinations, class work, or homework situations can put more
pressure on readers‟ reading than reading for enjoyment. Some
learners react positively to examinations while others are
overwhelmed by the pressure to carry out a reading activity .
Learners who experience this anxiety may not completely
understand the instructions and this may lead to confusion and poor
comprehension of the reading task.
e) Interest and motivation
According to Dennis(2008), learners‟ interest and motivation are
very important in developing reading comprehension skills. If
readers find the reading material monotonous, they will have a lot of
problems in concentrating on their comprehension. This can lead to
a lowering of reading comprehension among readers. If the reading
material is interesting for learners they can easily understand it and
can remember it clearly. EFL teachers should motivate their learners
through providing interesting reading materials during their class
time.
f) Decoding or word recognition speed
Readers who have problems in decoding and recognizing words
read slowly and find it more difficult to understand the meaning of
passages than those without decoding problems. She expressed that
vocabulary influences the reading comprehension skills because
readers apply decoding skills to understand the pronunciation and
meaning of words they have not seen before. Persons who have
enough vocabulary can clarify the meaning or reading passages
faster than those who should guess the meaning of unfamiliar words
according to the clues of context ( Dennis, 2008).
g) The medical problems
According to Hollowell (2013), poor reading comprehension skills
may related to the medical difficulty that does not get addressed
until the child is older. This involves undiagnosed ADD (attention
deficit disorder), speech problems, and hearing impairments. She
emphasized that learners with speech and hearing difficulties are
less likely to take part in oral reading and class discussions. These
are two activities that help learners improve their reading
comprehension skills.
Based on previous studies, the researcher finds that there are
problems which most students face, especially the case of the
second-year students at FOE, HOU. Therefore, the researcher
conducts research with the title “Factors affecting reading
comprehension skills of the second – year students at FOE, HOU”
to suggest some effective solutions which help students to overcome
problems when learning reading comprehension skills.
References (tài liệu tham khảo hiện đang thiếu các đường links)
Ahmed, Z. A. A. (2016). The Effect of Motivation on Developing
EFL Learners. Reading Comprehension Skills.International Journal
of English Language Teaching, 4(10), 1-9.

Anderson, R. C., & Freebody, P. (1981). Vocabulary knowledge. In

1. T. Guthrie (Ed.), Comprehension and teaching: Research reviews
(pp. 77-117). Newark. DE: International Reading Association.

Birsh, J. R. (2005). Multisensory teaching of basic language skills.

Brookes Publishing Company. PO Box 10624, Baltimore, MD
21285.
Cahyono, B. Y., & Widiati, U. (2006). The teaching of EFL reading
in the Indonesian context: The state of the art. Teflin Journal, 17(1),
36-58.
Chawwang, N. (2008). An investigation of English reading
problems of Thai 12th Grade Students in Nakhonratchasima
Educational Regions 1, 2, 3 and 7. Unpublished master’s thesis,
Graduate School, Srinakharinwirot University.
Dennis, D. V. (2008). Are assessment data really driving middle
school reading instruction? What we can learn from one student's
experience. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 51(7), 578 -
587.
Duke, N. (2003). Comprehension instruction for informational text.
In Presentation at the annual meeting of the Michigan Reading
Association, MI.