Some strategies for dealing with unfamiliar words in reading comprehension for students of English faculty, Hanoi open university

, Hanoi open university (Graduation Paper submitted in Partial Fulfillment for B.A Degree in English) I certify that no part of the above report has been copied and reproduced by me from any other person’s work without acknowledgement and that the report is originally written by me under strict guidance of my supervisor. Date submitted: May 15th, 2010 Student: Supervisor: Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy Lê Phương Thảo Acknowledgements I am so glad to have a good opportunity of doing this graduation paper. It helps me much in collecting and classifying my knowledge which I have studied. To finish paper, I have worked under extremely high responsibility. I received many supports from teachers and friends. I cannot accomplish this task without their help. First of all, I would like to express my appreciation to all the teachers of English faculty, Hanoi Open University for teaching me to be a well-educated student. I have learnt so many things from what they taught me. They have made favourable conditions for me to study at school during my precious four years here. Secondly, I would like to give special thanks to Ms. Le Phuong Thao, my supervisor, for both her positive response to my ideas for this paper and her advice that helped me to complete it. I would not complete my graduation paper without her enthusiastic instructions and correction. Besides, I also would like to thank my friends and all the students who helped me implement my study. Finally yet important, I am very thankful to my family and my boyfriend for their spiritual and financial supports to help me finish my course in Hanoi Open University. Hanoi, May 2009 Nguyễn Thị Thu Thủy Chapter I: Introduction 1.1 Rationale: Reading is an important tool for people of many societies allowing them to access information or knowledge. Everyone needs reading skills for various purposes as survival, broadened knowledge and pleasure. Reading is a basic skill not only every school requires but every job expects. It is the fact that skills of reading and analyzing documents or a variety of data sources are major factors which affect a person’s work results and his salary as well. Therefore, improving reading skill is very important for undergraduate students of English in general and English faculty at Hanoi Open University in particular. Reading is not just pronouncing words but requires understanding. However, the first thing students learning English as a foreign language meet when they are reading is the vocabulary. Many students probably consider that their main problem in reading is not having a big enough vocabulary. Most students who meet an unfamiliar word they cannot interpret are first likely to ask what it means. If they do not find out the word’s meaning, they cannot go on reading and comprehending the text. College material contains unfamiliar words and specialized or technical vocabulary that students must learn. Also, college textbooks in general are written at a higher level than other materials, so some effective strategies for dealing with unfamiliar words in reading comprehension are necessary. In studying process, the author of this paper and other students of English faculty at Hanoi Open University have met many difficulties made by unfamiliar words in reading comprehension. Therefore, the author would like to present some reading compehension and unfamiliar word knowledge and propose some effective strategies for dealing with unfamiliar words in reading comprehension for students of English faculty at Hanoi Open University. 1.2 Aims of the study: It is obvious that reading plays an important role in our life. No worker can work well without reading documents and no student can study without reading books. Yet, we always have trouble with unfamiliar words in reading. The objective of the study is to bring out some strategies which are helpful in dealing with unfamiliar words in reading comprehension for students of English faculty, Hanoi Open University. In this study, the author would like to focus on finding what difficulties students usually meet when encountering unfamiliar words in reading and from that point, the author would like to bring out some effective strategies to help students learning English as a foreign language in general and the students of English faculty at HOU in particular to overcome their difficulties. To help students deal with unfamiliar words in reading comprehension, this study focused on the following main points: Overview of basic knowledge on reading comprehension and unfamiliar words in reading Difficulties made by unfamiliar words in reading comprehension for students A survey to get what exactly students find hard in encountering unfamiliar words in reading comprehension and their habit of dealing with this Proposed effective strategies of dealing with unfamiliar words in reading comprehension based on the result drawn from the survey. Hopefully, this research will be a good source for students in general, especially the students of English faculty at HOU in particular. 1.3 Scope of the study: English reading comprehension is a wide field for research. In the scope of this study, due to the limited time and knowledge, the author mainly focuses on difficulties made by unfamiliar words in reading comprehension and some effective strategies for dealing with it. The research aimed at English learners, especially students at Faculty of English, Hanoi Open University. 1.4 Method of the study: In order to accomplish this thesis systematically and adequately, the author has acquired all the literature resources from many sources of data such as the internet, newspapers and linguistic books in the Library of Faculty of English and Modern Languages, HOU and the Vietnam National Library. The author implemented a survey with subjects who are students of English faculty, Hanoi Open University. Personal observation consulted and discussed by the supervisor in the process of researching also contributed much to the completion of this thesis. 1.5 Design of the study: The study is divided into five chapters: Chapter I: Introduction Chapter II: Literature Review Chapter III: The study Chapter IV: The finding and discussion Chapter V: Conclusion Chapter II: Literature review 2.1 Reading Comprehension: 2.1.1 Definition of Reading: Joe Cortina and Janet Elder (2000) defined reading as a form of thinking in Opening Doors – Understanding college reading: “It is your brain that does the reading, not your eyes. Your eyes merely transmit images to the brain for it to interpret” (12,75). To understand this, we consider a blind person reading Braille, a system of printing for the blind, in this case, the finger – tips transmit input to the brain. Thus, Joe and Janet highly preciate the importance of brain or thinking in reading. It also means that meaning resides in the reader’s mind, not in symbols printed on a page. It is the readers who construct meaning by associating their knowledge and experience with what is on the printed page. Different readers, therefore, with their own knowledge and experience have different understanding about the written text. In Deanne’s view (2000), reading term is defined as follows: “Reading is a complex cognitive process of decoding symbols for the intention of deriving meaning (reading comprehension) and/or constructing meaning” (6,65). According to Deanne, reading is a process of getting a message from a written text. The writer encodes his thought or ideas as language and the reader decodes the language to understand author’s message. This can be understood that reading refers to receiving the writer’s knowledge and thought. It is an activity that connects the reader and the written material or the writer. When reading, obviously, readers interact with the writer in some ways and this will be influent on the reading effectiveness of readers. Another noticeable definition on reading given by John, L. (2002) is that: “Reading is the motivated and fluent coordination of word recognition and comprehension” (14,89). In his study, he shows that “Reading is a multifaceted process involving word recognition, comprehension, fluency and motivation”. Reading is making meaning from print. It requires: identifying the words in print (word recognition), constructing an understanding from it (comprehension), coordinating identifying words and making meaning so that reading is automatic and accurate (fluency). Reading in its fullest sense involves weaving together word recognition and comprehension in a fluent manner. These three processes are complex, and each is important. Leipzig, also, gives a considerable idea on reading: if reading is not pleasurable or fulfilling, readers will not choose to read, and they will not get the practice they need to become fluent or efficient readers. Therefore, reading also means developing and maintaining the motivation to read. In general, reading, like other terms, is defined in many different ways depend on each person’ view and his/her study purpose. Hence, it is not easy to give a completely exact definition on this term. However, a definition can be summarized basing on above definitions is that: Reading is a complex process in which written or printed material is decoded by readers in order to get writer’s message. 2.1.2 Definition of Reading Comprehension: The term “comprehension” is offered in Webster’s College Dictionary (2008) is “the capcity of the mind to perceive and understand” or “power to grasp ideas” from the written text. In other words, reading comprehension is a highly interactive process that takes place between a reader and a text. Individual readers will bring variable levels of skills and experiences to these interactions. These include language skills, cognitive resources and world knowledge. Any act of reading occurs within a particular sociocultural and emotional context. This consists of elements such as the readers’ home culture, their previous experiences of reading and being read to, their expectations that reading should carry meaning, their motivation, their view of themselves as a reader, the purpose for reading the text, the cultural value placed on reading and the reading environments the reader experiences. According to Hulstijn (1993), the word comprehension has its roots in Latin:  comprehendere means to seize.  In the Latin derived language of French, from which many English words come, the verb comprendre means to understand.  Thus, reading comprehension denotes the ability to read words and grasp (seize) the meaning of these individual words as well as to understand the meaning of the groups of these words.While many students can read aloud, calling out the individual words with the correct pronunciations, some of them do not comprehend what they read.  That is, they can say all the words, but they do not understand what the combined words all mean.  On the other hand, those who can read aloud or silently and understand what they have read, have  reading comprehension.  Reading comprehension, therefore, can be defined as “the level of understanding of a writing”.  Reading comprehension can be known as the result of effective reading as well as the ability to understand and interact with the written materials in a meaningful way. For students, comprehension refers to understanding college textbook by reading for ideas. Reading comprehension is the crucial link to effective reading, a strong factor in our educational and professional lives. Reading comprehension can be known as the heart and goal of reading, since the purpose of all reading is to gather meaning from the printed page. 2.1.3 The importance of Reading Comprehension: One of the main benefits of reading is that it helps to build our vocabulary. When reading books, magazines, websites, etc. we sometimes encounter new words. Even if we do not completely understand the word, we will be able to figure it out through association or the use of a dictionary. This not only allows our vocabulary to grow but deepens our level of understanding. We see and remember new words and are given examples of how they are used, this means that vocabulary is expanded through reading process. Reading keeps our brain working and keeps us up to date with language and modern vocabulary and slang. It is well – known fact that too many people today don’t read regularly and they also suffer difficulties from their limited vocabulary in communication. Each person’ vocabulary is the foundation of his ability to think and his ability to share his thought with other people. The more we read the more effectively we use language in daily life. Another great benefit of reading is that it provides us a wonderful time to relax and de-stress for both children and adults. Reading can transport people to different countries and cultures, or it can take us on a great adventure. Reading should be viewed as a pleasurable activity – as a source of entertaining tales and useful and interesting factual information. If we need a few moments to relax after a hard day, reading is a wonderful way to do so. Through books, besides, children can also learn about people and places from other parts of the world, improve their understanding of and concern for all of humanity. Reading can provide children with endless hours of fun and entertainment. Stories can free up imaginations and open up exciting new words of fantasty or reality. They allow children to dream and may give them a good start on the road to viewing reading as a lifelong source of pleasure. It is also found that another reading benefit that shows the importance of reading is that reading can actually help to enhance our brain power. Not only is reading a required skill to complete school and then university it is also a needed skill in adult hood. The ability to read and learn new things through out our life keeps our brain young and health. As we read, we stimulate the brain, and there are some studies that even show that people who read on a regular basis are less likely to end up dealing with problems like Alzheimer’s Disease. It is also observed that children and teengagers who love reading have comparatively higher IQs. The ability to learn about new subjects and find helpful information on anything from health problems to more academic research into science or the arts depends on the ability to read. Recent researches has shown that good readers stand out from the rest because of their improved cognitive abilities. They can think creatively. It improves their grasping power. It makes them analyse and solve problems better. Reading helps a person be successful in life. Reading on a regular basis can also have the added benefit of improving our spelling as well. The more we read, the more we see the proper spelling and it will help us to make sure that we are spelling things correctly as well, which is definitely very important. People who start reading from an early age are observed to have good language skills, and they grasp the variances in phonics much better. Especially, for children, reading out loud exposes them to proper grammar and phrasing. It enhances the development of their spoken language skills, their ability to express themselves verbally, clearly and concisely. After all, there are many great benefits of reading and they all show the importance of reading today. There are so many ways in which reading continues to be both a vital skill for students to master, and an important source of knowledge and pleasure. Reading is like providing the mind with nourishment. Knowledge is the food for the mind and soul. Apart from giving us the basic information about the world around us, it also encourages us to think. Therefore, the key to improving weak reading comprehension is to promote our reading habbit and skills through understanding main benefits of reading completely. 2.1.4 Types of reading and Reading rates: Scanning type of reading: This type is used to look for some printed materials quickly or find a particular piece of information such as a name, date, or phone number.Take an example, we read a telephone book, we know exactly what we are searching for (key words and names). We “see” every item on the page, but we don’t necessarily read the pages. We ignore anything we are not looking for. Thus, when we discover the key words being searched for, we will be unable to recall the exact content of the page. Approximate rate of scanning type of reading is 1,500 wpm (words per minute) or more. Skimming type of reading: Skimming is a reading skill used to get an overview of the highlights of the material. We read the material quickly to gain a general impression and it is not necessary to search for a specific item and key words. Skimming method is useful to look at chapter/section headings, summaries and opening paragraphs. The two purposes of skimming are: checking relevance of text and settting the scene for the more concentrated effort that is to follow, if the text is useful. A person who uses skimming type of reading has the reading speed at between 800 to 1,000 wpm. Light type of reading: Reading for leisure tends to be light reading. This refers to reading at a pace which feels comfortable, reading with understanding, and skimming the boring, irrelevant passages. An average light reading speed is 100 – 200 words per minute. This form of reading does not generally require detailed concentration. Word by word type of reading: This type of reading is time consuming and demands a high level of concentration. Some material is not readily understood and so it requires a slow, careful and analytical reading. People use this type of reading for unfamiliar words and concepts, scientific formulate. It can take up to an hour just to read a few lines of text. Reading to study type of reading: The aim of the method of reading for study is to understand the material some depth. The method involves five simple steps: Survey, Question, Read, Recall and Review. The first, readers skim through to gain an overview and not key points. Then, they devise questions we hope the text will answer and read slowly and carefully. The forth step is recalling from memory, writing down the main points made by the chapter. Final one is reviewing readers’ questions, comparing these to their recall and establishing how well the text has answered the questions, and filling in any gaps by further reading and note-taking. Obviously, people read for many different purposes. There are different styles of reading for different situations. The technique reader chooses will depend on the purpose for reading. For example, he might be reading for enjoyment, information, or to complete a task. If he is exploring or reviewing, he might skim a document. If he is searching for information, he might scan for a particular word. To get detailed information, he might use a technique such as SQ4R. Readers, moreover, need to adjust their reading speed and technique depending on their purposes. Our reading speed should fit our purposes for reading. We read for many different purposes, and our reasons for reading any particular material affects our reading speed. For example, we approach to reading a newspaper article or a letter from a friend will be different from our approach to reading and studying a college textbook. Reading rates and their uses are shown in this following table (12, 79) : Table 2.1: Flexible reading Reading rates Approximate rate (wpm) Uses Rapid reading 300 – 500 For relatively easy material, when readers want only important facts or ideas or for leisure reading. Average reading 200 – 300 For textbooks, complex magazines and journals and literature. Studying reading 50 – 200 For new vocabulary, complex concepts, technical material, and retaining details (such as legal documents, material to be memorized and material of great interest or importance). 2.1. 5 Reading comprehension strategies: The term “strategy” refers to “a particular plan for achievement of a goal” (18, 257). A lot of reading strategies are adopted by the speed reader to accomplish reader’s goal of fast reading. Reading is not only just pronouncing words but requires understanding. Most experienced readers use a variety of strategies to understand text. Five main strategies suggested to ensure good reading comprehension are: prediction, questioning, clarifying, imagining and summarisation. Prediction: Predicting means anticipating or making educated guesses about what is coming next as reader reads. Predicting is a natural part of reading and the first step to successful comprehension, but we may not always do it when we are reading college textbooks. It could be believed that the ability to predict what a text entails is the first step to successful comprehension. A reader obtains the first clues to what a text is about via its title. Together with the opening sentences this can help the reader decide if the text is appropriate to their purpose (in the case of non-fiction) or to activate a story schema (in the case of fiction). The good reader then actively looks for cues to enrich their mental model of the text as reading proceeds. In turn, the developing representation of the text can be used to set up expectancies at the word, sentence and text levels. This will facilitate reading fluency and deepen understanding. Questioning and clarifying: An actively engaged reader can use self-questioning to monitor their reading comprehension and to help clarify points that they fail to understand. Closely related to this is the use of the look back strategy to find information that is needed to resolve ambiguities. A successful comprehender knows how to generate pertinent questions, and can fall back on their mental model of the text to know where to locate relevant information. Imagining: Imagining refers to the use of mental imagery to enhance text comprehension by enriching the mental model of a text. Many successful comprehenders translate the story they are reading into a series of images, almost like a film that can be replayed during story recall. Children who do not do this spontaneously can be taught to use the strategy to incorporate the details of what they read around a central theme. Summarisation: The process of summarisation is perhaps most closely allied to the development of the situation model. Summarisation involves the extraction of the gist and main themes of what is read (while putting aside the irrelevant details), and integrating the details into a coherent whole. Additional processes may include the evaluation of style and mood and making generalisations. Summarisation depends on basic language skills, inferential abilities and knowledge and engagement with texts. 2.1.6 Effective reading and proficient readers: Effective reading is active and interactive process. Effective reading requires that readers interact with the material they are reading. Reading actively also means being aware of how the material is organized. Finally, active reading means that readers monitor their comprehension as they read and that they take steps to correct the situation when they are not comprehending. Most of people think of reading as a simple, passive process. But reading is actually a very complex process that requires a great deal of active participation on the part of the reader. Here are some ideas which experts in the field have said about the reading process: “What do we read? The message is not something given in advance – or given at all – but something created by interaction between writers and readers as participants in a particular communicative situation”. (Roy Harris in Rethinking Writing, 2000) “Reading is asking questions of printed text. And reading with comprehension becomes a matter of getting your questions answered”. (Frank Smith in Reading without nonsense, 1997) “Reading is a psycholinguistic guessing game. It involves an interaction between thought and language. Efficient reading does not result from precise perception an identification of all elements, but from skill in selecting the fewest, most productive cues necessary to produce guesses which are right the first time. The ability to anticipate that which has not been seen, of course, is vital in reading, just as the ability to anticipate what has not yet been heard is vital in listening”. (Kenneth Goodman in Journal of the Reading Specialist, 1967) “Literacy practices are almost always fully integrated with, interwoven into, constituted as part of, the very texture of wider practices that involve talk, interaction, values, and beliefs”. (James Gee in Social Linguistics and Literacies, 1996) According to above ideas, reading is a process requires many complex skills and a proficient reader is a reader who knows how to use them logically. For example, proficient readers recognize the purpose for reading, approach the reading with that purpose in mind, use strategies that have proven successful to them in the past when reading similar texts for similar purposes, monitor their comprehension of the text in light of the purpose for reading, and if needed adjust their strategy use. Proficient readers know when unknown words will interfere with achieving their purpose for reading, and when they won't. When unknown words arise and their meaning is needed for comprehension, proficient readers have a number of word attack strategies available to them that will allow them to point out the meaning of the words to the extent that they are needed to achieve the purpose for reading. Reading is also a complex process in that proficient readers give to the text as much as they take. They make meaning from the text by using their own prior knowledge and experiences. Proficient readers are constantly making predictions while reading. They are continuously anticipating what will come next. Their prior knowledge and experiences with texts as well as with the world around them allow them to do this. It is this continuous interaction with the text that allows readers to make sense of what they are reading. Hussain (2005, p.110) writes that a proficient reader who comprehends English language has the following capabilities: He can read at normal speed. He is able to understand the lexical and the structural meanings of the words, phrases and sentences. He can take in complete phrases or groups of words at once and when reading aloud, use appropriate sounds, juncture, stress and intonation pattern. He can guess the meaning of unfamiliar words while reading a text. If he is unable to guess the meaning of an unfamiliar word, he can find out it in a dictionary. He can skip unnecessary information while skimming. He is able to read silently without moving his lips. He is able to differentiate between opinion and facts. He can locate the topic sentence in a paragraph. He can make a summary of important points. He can distinguish between various moods of the writer. He can recognize the meanings of various graphic signals such as punctuation marks, etc. This is shown clearly through the following figure: Figure 2.1: Reading activities performed by skilled readers Proficient reading depends on the ability to recognize words quickly and effortlessly. A proficient reader is a person who “does not have to interrupt his reading and open the dictionary all” (Deanne Milan). 2.2 Unfamiliar words: 2.2.1 Definition of word: In Webster’s College Dictionary, a word is known as: “a unit of language, consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation, that functions as a principal carrier of meaning, is typically seen as the smallest such unit capable of independent use, is separated from other such units by spaces in writing and is often distinguished phonologically, as by accent or pause”. (18, 412) A word is the smallest free form or an item that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content in a language, in contrast to a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning. A word may consist of only one morpheme (e.g. car), but a single morpheme may not able to exist as a free form (e.g. the English plural morpheme –s). Typically, a word will consist of a root or stem, and zero or more affixes. Words can be combined to create other units of language, such as phrases, clauses, and sentences. A word consisting of two or more stems joined together form a compound. A word combined with an already existing word or part of a word form a portmanteau. (Internet source No.) Another remarkable definition on word which Leonard Bloomfield introduced the concept of “Minimal Free Forms” in 1962 is that “Words are thought of as the smallest meaningful unit of speech that can stand by themselves. This involes phonemes – units of sound and lexemes – units of meaning”. However, he also approves that some written words are not minimal free forms, as they make no sense by themselves (e.g. the and of) . A word in English is a basic central unit in the language. It may consist of one or more morphemes as a morpheme is the smallest unit that has meaning, either lexical or grammatical. Lexical words are called Open class items which convey content words include Nouns, Adjectives, Adverbs and Verbs. The number of this class is unlimited because its members can go together to create a new word with new meaning (e.g. new is an adjective combines with born – a verb to create a new adjective new – born) . By adding affixes to a member, a new member can be formed. For instance, act (Verb) ž active (Adjective) ž actively (Adverb) ž actor (Noun) ž action (Noun). In contrast, grammatical words is known as Closed system items which consist of function words such as Articles, Demonstratives, Pronouns, Prepositions and Conjunctions. This type of word has some ._.features different from Open class items. The number of grammatical words is limited because its members can not go together, in the other hand, the members of this class exclude each other. For example, a car is accepted but a my car is not available. As the result, it can never create new members. Basic knowledge of word is shown clearly in the following diagram: Morphemes Words Parts of speech Closed – system Pronoun, Article, Preposition, Conjunction, Demonstrative, Interjection Open class Noun, Verb, Adjective, Adverb Diagram 2.1 : Word structure. 2.2.2 Definition of unfamiliar words: Reading in its fullest sense involves weaving together word recognition and comprehension in a fluent manner. However, the fact shows that word comprehension is not always easy. The first thing students meet when they are reading is the vocabulary. Many students probably consider that their main problem in reading is not having a big enough vocabulary. Most students who meet an unfamiliar word cannot interpret are first likely to ask what it means. If they do not find out the word’s meaning, they can not go on reading and comprehending the text. So, what is an unfamiliar word in reading? A word which is an “unaccustomed” or “unusual” word to readers is called an unfamiliar word (18, 190). It is unlikely that a student will know every word in a text and even if he thinks he has seen every word before, it is unlikely that he will has seen a particular word in its present context. It is therefore necessary to work out the meaning of unfamiliar words in context and, perphaps, familiar words in new contexts. Reading in college refers to reading academic materials with many difficult words. Students cannot read college textbooks, however, without also facing with unfamiliar words. An unfamiliar word can be a new word or a familiar word in new contexts. For example: “Nutrient levels have risen sharply in many parts of the bay, causing algal blooms and oxygen depletion. Levels of heavy metals and toxic organic chemicals have increased in the water and in the bottom sediment, and some of this toxic contaminants have been biologically amplified in food webs.” In above example, “algal blooms”, abundant seaweed-type plant, is considered a new word for many students because it is a technical term. Students hardly meet it in other contexts so they cannot figure out its meaning. The next word “amplified” is probably a familiar word means “to enlarge by addition or discussion”. But in this context, its meaning is “increased, made greater”. It therefore is also considered an unfamiliar word which students cannot identify the exact meaning of word. For these reasons, unfamiliar words can cause frequent interruptions in students’ reading concentration. If there are too many unfamiliar words in the text, this can be a substantial stumbling block for further progress in reading any text. Furthermore, students who do not have a means of dealing with these difficult words, their sustained reading will be much more disrupted, less words will be encountered. 2.2.3 Difficulties made by unfamiliar words in reading comprehension: In college or university, studying requires certain reading comprehension skills so that college students may be able to ready fluently textbooks, specialist documents or other academic papers. Even reading comprehension is also one of the most important skills required in tests and examinations. Yet, the fact that reading comprehension is not easy and comfortable for students due to unfamiliar words in the page. Whenever students encounter the unfamiliar words, their reading is certainly interrupted. Most of them feel confused and worried because of these words. Generally, their reading habit is reading word-by-word. They can comprehend the sentence only when every word of the context is familiar with them. Understanding individual words is vital for them to understand the whole sentence. Students who is not available to understand such sentences definitely struggle with the whole text’s meaning. Moreover, the first reaction of encountering an unfamiliar word in reading comprehension is that students immediately stop to ask other people (friends, teachers or nearby people) for helping or look it up in the dictionary. This, of course, makes their reading speed slow. This means students do not save their time when reading or not gain their reading goal. Slow reading speed also affect on finishing students’ scores at school. Another difficulty made by unfamiliar words is lack of interest to reading comprehension. Reading is not only just pronouncing words but requires understanding so understanding what is being read is very important for students in studying or researching. Reading process interrupted by unfamiliar words means that reading is not pleasurable or fulfilling. Students will not choose to read, and they will not get the practice they need to become fluent or efficient readers. Therefore, developing and maintaining the motivation to read is also affected by unfamiliar words in reading comprehension. 2.3 Some strategies for dealing with unfamiliar words in reading comprehension: 2.3.1 Ignoring the unfamiliar words: When students first meet unfamiliar words in reading, they should ignore them by using skimming and scanning skills if the unfamiliar words don’t affect their reading. These two skills are useful for students to understand the general of a sentence or a passage as a whole without knowing what every word means. 2.3.1.1 Skimming skill: Skimming is used to gain a quick overview in order to identify the main idea or general information of a text, students just past over the text lightly and hastily. When students are skimming, their eyes begin to slide down a column of words, names, figures, or phrases they do not actually read each entry. A word, name, figure or phrase students should look for can: Appear as a title, subtitle, heading or subheading Appear in bold print, italics or color Be repeated throughout the paragraph Appear once at the beginning and is then referred to throughout the paragraph by pronouns or by other words. It is clear that a paragraph does not have all of these clues, but all paragraphs have at least one of them. The following example illustrates looking for a word, name, or phrase in the paragraph that appears in special print: “The explosive growth of the World Wide Web is due largely to the development of graphical browsers, software that allows you to move easily among the millions of Web sites. By far the most popular browsers is Netscape, which is employed at most colleges and universities, through it is facing a stiff challenge from Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Commercial on-line services such as CompuServe, Prodigy, and America Online offer their own browsers.” (14,93) The word in italics indicates the topic: browsers. The entire paragraph discusses browsers, a way to move easily among millions of web sites. One or more of the four clues described above will always help students determine the topic of paragraph. Determining the topic is the starting point in comprehending as students read. It is also a key to reading comprehension without understanding every word appears in context. Furthermore, they should consider reading the first or last sentence of each paragraph is useful when they are seeking the general idea rather than understanding individual words (19, 34) because the first sentence or last one of each paragraph is often where the introduction or the summary is located. The following excerpt is from a health textbook: “Bulimia, a disorder characterized by eating followed by vomiting, may occur with anorexia nervosa or as a separate illness with different psychological roots. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the symptoms of bulimia are found in 40 to 50 percent of people with anorexia nervosa. As with anorexia, the majority of bulimia victims are women, typically in their early twenties, college-educated, single, and white. Unlike those with anorexia, the victims of bulimia tend to be of nearly normal weight and have healthy, outgoing personalities. The greatest difference is that a person with anorexia turns away from food while a person with bulimia is obsessively drawn to it. It is obvious that there are important similarities and differences between the eating disorders bulimia and anorexia.” (14,129) The topic of paragraph which is bulimia and anorexia is located at the last sentence. As students read the paragraph, they must ask themselves, “What is the most important point the authors want me to understand about bulimia and anorexia?”. In spite of lots of unfamiliar technical words, students can find out the answer to this question, the last sentence, is the stated main idea sentence. This sentence contains the topic and it is a general statement that tells about the author’s most important point – bulimia and anorexia. 2.3.1.2 Scanning skill: While skimming skill is used to know general information, scanning is the special technique students should use to find detailed information without understanding every word’s meaning. Skimming refers to the process of quickly searching reading material in order to locate specific bits of information. Scanning involves moving reader’s eyes quickly down the page seeking specific words and phrases. Reader does not actually read but move the eyes across the page and by using vertical section of the recognition span is able to cover three or four lines of print at a movement. When reader reaches the information he needs, he reads it thoroughly. Reader probably scan when he searches for a phone number in a telephone book, goes through the TV guide looking for a program to watch or looks up an unknown word in the dictionary. If reader searches for a date, he should move his eyes down the page looking for numbers. If reader looks for a person’s name, he should use the inevitable capital letter as an aid. In other situations, using quotation marks, hyphens, or italics is also helpful. To sum up, when first meeting unfamiliar wors in reading, students should be keep calm and decide whether they need to understand the exact meaning of the unfamiliar words in order to understand the general sense of the sentence or passage. If not, they had better use skimming and scanning skills to identify the neccessary information. It is clear that, when students use these two skills, they would not only accelerates your reading speed and flexibility, but also be more confident in reading activity. 2.3.2 Recalling the word’s meaning by pronunciation: When readers encounter an unfamiliar word or a familiar word without remembering its meaning in reading, they should first sound it out or decode the word. Reading decoding skills are critical component in the ability to read. In Reading in a foreign language (Alderson, J.C., 1984), reading decoding skills is defined as “the ability to make sense of printed words. This involves recalling and recognizing the spoken word that is represented by the printed word.” In other words, reading decoding skills is the ability to understand that a printed word represents the spoken word, and that this printed word is made of a sequence of phonemes. Barnett, M. (1988) give the definition: “Decoding skill is the ability to apply readers’ knowledge of letter-sound relationships, including knowledge of letter patterns, to correctly pronounce written words”. Understanding these relationships gives students the ability to recognize familiar words quickly and to figure out words they haven't seen before. In English, there is a good deal of regularity between the letters and the sounds (phonemes), but there are also quite a few exceptions. There are very few letters in English that always correspond to a single sound, and there is no one sound that always corresponds to a single letter. English, it is said, has a “deep orthography”, which basically just means that there are a lot of words that are not spelled the way they sound (e.g. “colonel” or “choir”). This is illustrated by the following table that shows the one-to-many relationship that exists between letters and sounds (phonemes): Table 2.2: Letter-sound relationships Letters Words that represent different sounds each letter can make A APPLE, AUTHOR, AUTHORITY, ANY, SAID, SAY, ALGAE B BOX, LAMB C CITY, COUNTRY, CHAIR D DOOR, LACKED E BED, BEAD, STEAK, EUREKA, THE, SEW F FOOD, OF G GIANT, GRUNT, RING, REIGN, SIGN, ENOUGH H HOLE, PHONE, SHINE, CHORE, CHOIR, HOUR, EXHIBIT I FINE, LID, CEILING, WEIRD, GOITER J JAM, JALEPENO K KING, KNIFE L LOVE, TORTILLA M MOON, MNEMONIC N NOON, KING O BOY, BOOT, FOOT, BLOOD, COYOTE, OUNCE, ONCE, PEOPLE, AMOEBA P PAT, PHONE, PSYCH, PNEUMATIC Q QUEEN, MOSQUITO R ROOT, PERRIER S SAND, SUGAR, EASY, AISLE T TAN, THAN, THIN, LATCH, OFTEN U UNDER, POUND, UNIQUE, TULIP, POUR, AUTHOR, AUTHORITY, CHURCH, BUSY, DIALOGUE V VINE, VOILA W WON, WREN, COW, LOW, AWFUL, FEW, WHICH, WHOLE, TWO X RELAX, LUXURY, EXECUTIVE, XENON Y YES, PSYCH, THEY, SAYS, VERY, PYGMY Z ZOO, WALTZ, RENDEZVOUS Letter Clusters AU AUTHOR, AUTHORITY, LAUGH, BUREAU, RESTAURANT, DINOSAUR, BEAUTY, GAUGE EA EAT, CREATE, GREAT, IDEA, DEAF, HEAR, HEARD, HEART, BEAR, BUREAU, BEAUTY OU OUT, YOU, YOUR, COULD, YOUNG, JOURNEY, ENOUGH CH CHORE, SCHOOL TH MOTH, MOTHER, FATHEAD IE PIECE, PIE, QUIET, FRIEND, SOLDIER OO FOOD, FOOT, BLOOD, FLOOR OA TOAD, BOARD, BROAD AI TRAIN, SAID, AISLE, AGAIN, AIR OUGH COUGH, THOUGH, THROUGH, THOROUGH, THOUGHT, ENOUGH Good readers do not depend primarily on context to identify new words. When good readers encounter an unknown word, they decode the word, name it, and then attach meaning. Here is 3-step method for recalling the word’s meaning by decoding the word: Start with the first letter, and say each letter-sound out loud. Apply knowledge of letter – sound relationships, devide the word into syllables and try to say the word. Try to use simple phonics to say the word in a couple of ways. If the word does not “sound right”, or it is hard or awkward to say, change the accent or the pronunciation (or both) slightly until it does sound right to speaker’s ears. After this 3-step method, readers might recognize and recall the meaning of the word when they hear it. 2.3.3 Guessing the word’s meaning: Guessing the word’s meaning is also an useful advice for students when facing with the unfamiliar word. Most of students lack vocabulary, which makes them find reading difficult. As a result, they often fail in giving a correct word’s meaning (Huckins et al., 1993, p.101). One way to overcome this problem is to guess. There are two most popular ways to guess the word’s meaning, they are: analyzing structural information and making use of clue context. 2.3.3.1 Analyzing structural formation: The ability to use structural formation to assign meaning to a word is one of the most useful word attack skills. Two kinds of formation are relevant: the grammatical function of the word: its place in the sentence and the morphology of the word: its internal structure. The grammar function of the word: By looking at the position of a word in a sentence, students can establish at least its grammatical category (whether it is a noun, verb, adjective, etc). This tells us the kind of meaning to look for and is thus a first step on the road to understanding. It is useful for students to be able to label the gramatical categories. In any case, it ensures that inappropriate meanings can be dismissed and, when an appropriate meaning is established, it can be slotted straight into its place. Different words, depending on where they are in the sentence, or what endings we attach to them, perform different functions in a sentence. Simplified for the purpose of the grammar, these functions are: Subjects: The subject is the “doer” or “actor” (eg. My mother cooks dinner.) Verbs: The verb is the action being done. (eg. I finished my homework.) Direct Objects: The direct object is the receiver of the action. (eg. She bought a new bike) Indirect Objects: The indirect object is the secondary receiver of the action. (eg. He gives me a book or He gives a book to me) Modifiers: Modifiers describe subjects, verbs and objects. Adjectives describe subjects and objects; adverbs describe verbs. (eg. With his old sword, Peter quickly killed the king. In this sentence, “old” is an adjective that modifies “sword” describe the condition of the sword, and “quickly” is an adverb that modifiers “killed” explains how the killing was done.) An adjectives describe subjects and objects; adverbs describe verbs and adfectives. The morphology of the word (Roots, Prefixes and Suffixes) Although grammar function of the word should be reader’s effective strategy in determining the meaning of unknown words, examining the structure of words can also be extremely helpful. The morphology or internal structure of a word may also offer valuable clues to its meaning (1,33). In English, this involves the study of affixation and bases i.e. roots. Students need to know which affixes and suffixes can combine with the bases, which affixes can co-occur, what changes in spelling or pronunciation occur when affixes or suffixes are added, and so on. “An analytical approach to morphology pays big dividends in enabling students to work out the meaning of new words” (15,99). Many English words are made up of component parts that have meanings of their own. A knowledge of these word parts and their meanings will enable students to define many English words. Word parts, or combining forms, are generally divided into three categories: prefixes, suffixes and roots. To use word – structure clues, students must examine an unfamiliar word to see if it has any of the following word parts: Root: base word that has a meaning of its own Prefix: a word part attached to the beginning of a root that adds its meaning to the meaning of the root Suffix: a word part attached to the end of a root word and also carries its own meaning. Prefixes and suffixes are also called “affixes” since they are “fixed” (attached or joined) to a root or base word. Words may consist of: Root only (such as graph) Prefix and root ( such as telegraph) Root and suffix (such as graphic) Prefix, root and suffix (such as telegraphic) Roots are powerful vocabulary – building tools because whole “families” of words in English come from the same root. For example, if students know that the root aud means to hear, then they will understand the connection between audience (people who come to hear something or someone), auditorium (a place where people come to hear something), audit (enrolling in course just to hear about a subject, rather than taking it for credit), auditory (pertaining to hearing, as in auditory learner), and audiologist (a person trained to evaluate hearing). Knowing the meaning of a word’s root also makes it easier to remember the meaning of the word. Prefixes change meaning of a root by adding their meaning to the meaning of the root. For example, adding the prefix “tele” (distant or far) to the root word “scope” (to see) creates the word “telescope” a device that lets you see things that are far away. However, that although a word may begin with the same letters as a prefix, it does not necessarily contain that prefix. The words: malt, mall, male, and mallard (a type of duck), for example, have no connection with prefix “mal” (wrong/ bad) as in words such as: malnourished or maladjusted. Suffixes are word parts that are attached to the end of a root word. Suffixes, on the other hand, modify the meaning of a word and frequently determine its function within a sentence. Other suffixes change a words’s part of speech or inflection. For example, consider these forms of the word predict: prediction, predictability, predictor (nouns); predictable (adjective); predictably (adverb). Suffixes are not as helpful as roots or prefixes in determining the meaning of unfamiliar words because many suffixes have similar or even the same meanings. Also, some roots change their spelling before a suffix is added. For instance, when suffixes are added to happy, the y becomes an i: happier, happiness, happily. Some common roots, prefixes and suffixes are introduced sufficiently in Appendix 4, 5 of this paper. Obviously, understanding the meaning of various word parts can help readers determine the meaning of many unfamiliar words, especially in context. Students can figure out meaning of an un familiar word more quickly and logically by learning its roots. One root can be the foundation of many words, so studying a root means studying a lot of words at the same time. 2.3.3.2 Making use of context clues: Writers want you to understand what they have written. When they use words that they think might be unfamiliar to their readers, they often help the readers by offering various clues in the rest of the sentence so that the reader can deduce (reason out) the meaning of the word. Such clues are called context clues. The word context refers to the sentence and the paragraph in which the word appears. In this case, it refers to the rest of the sentence and the paragraph in which the unknown word appears. Using context clues means that reader reason out the meaning of an unfamiliar word from clues provided by the surrounding words and sentences. Kinds of context clue: The most common types of context clues are summarized in the table below. The table not only explains what to look for when readers encounter each type of context clue but also presents example sentences that illustrate it. Table 2.3 : Kinds of context clues Example Type of clue What to look for The psychological term interiority is defined as a tendency toward looking within during middle age. Definition Clue Phrases that introduce a definition, such as: is defined as, is called, is, is known as, that is, refers to, means, the term ; a term that is in bold print, italic, or color ; or certain punctuation marks that set off a definition or a term. The garden was redolent, or fragant, with the scent of roses. Synonym Clue Phrases that introduce synonyms, such as: in other words, or, that is to say, also known as, by this we mean, that is. I did the physical therapy excercises incorrectly and, instead of helping my back, they were actually deleterious. Contrast Clue Words and phrases that indicate opposites: instead of, but, in contrast, on the other hand, however, unlike, although, even though. The campers were warned that hiking up that steep mountain trail would enervate even the fittest members of their group. Experience Clue A sentence that includes a familiar experience (or information readers already know) can help them figure out the meaning of the new word. He enjoys aquatic sports such as swimming, scuba diving, and water skiing. Example Clue Words that introduce examples of the meaning of the unfamiliar word: for example, such as, to illustrate, like. When studying for his final exams, the student was told to eschew television. “Just give TV up!” was his roommate’s advice. Clue from another sentence Additional information in another sentence that may help explain the unfamiliar word. Ways of making use of context clues: Using the context clues is one of effective strategies students should know how to apply when they encounter an unknown word. “Students need to stir up their language knowledge and analyze the context because the context controls word meaning” (4,77). If an unfamiliar word appear in the context, students must read the sentence carefully, pay attention to the words and the other sentences surrounding the unfamiliar word and ask themselves “What would this word have to mean in order for it to make sense in this sentence?” (13,38). For example, “My four-year-old nephew loves cookies, cakes, candy, gorp, and anything else that is sweet.”. In this sentence, gorp is not probably a well-known word. Yet, students can deduce its meaning from the context: it is a type of dessert-like food. The context clues are the examples of “cookies, cakes, candy” and the words “anything else that is sweet”. To make sense of the sentence, gorp would have to refer to a type of sweet, sugary food. Also, important or key words often occur in the text several times. When they read the passage from the beginning, the meaning of a word may be clear in another sentence in the passage or the words surrounding a word will explain that word. Considering the sentences and surrounding ones, students can know the meaning of the same words presented. In any cases, a word’s context is important in terms of understanding its meaning and its function or usage. Obviously, in combination with regular reading, the use of context clues is an excellent way to improve students’ reading rate. Unfamiliar words, encountered often enough in context, eventually become part of one’s natural working vocabulary. If students develop their habits of reading regularly and using context clues to guess the meaning of unknown words, they will turn many unfamiliar words into familiar ones. 2.3.4 Looking the unfamiliar words up in the dictionary: When the unknown word is needed for text comprehension but its meaning can not be guessed, looking unfamiliar words up in the dictionary is used as a last resort . This means that students must learn how to choose a good dictionary and use it effectively with carefulness in order to make their consultation the most quickly and effectively (11,147) 2.3.4.1 Way to choose a good dictionary: Most students have to use the dictionary when they cannot readily identify a word out its meaning from the context. Hence, it is imperative that students have a good, up-to-date dictionary. There are two kinds of dictionary: an unabridged and an abridged version. An abridged dictionary, which is usually published in an inexpensive paperback format, is shorter than a complete dictionary and does not contain as many words as an unabridged version. A standard college edition of an unabridged (or relatively complete) dictionary generally contains around 175,000 entries. In contrast, an abridged one has only around 70,000 entries. Each has own advantages. The light weight of the paperback dictionary makes it more portable. Unabridged version, besides containing more words, also contain more complete definitions, etymologies, notes on appropriate usage, and explanations of symnonyms. But such a dictionary is heavy to lug around and therefore it is difficult to carry it when students study. An English – only dictionary is considered to be better for intermediate students. According to Hulstijn (1993) “Always try to find an explanation in English before looking for a translation” (p.26). It is to use a monolingual dictionary that has been designed for foreign learners. This type of dictionary gives more information about grammar, use and pronounciation than the dictionary for native speakers. Moreover, dictionaries are often updated to reflect changes which occur in language. Students should use an up-to-date dictionary which has been published recently because of such language changes. 2.3.4.2 Way to use the dictionary quickly and effectively: The important thing towards using a dictionary as a tool instead of a crutch is to decide which words to look up and accept what they should be as few as possible (13,192). If students decide to look up a new word, they had better do it quickly and to make the best use of the information in the dictionary. No matter which dictionary students choose, all contain the same features such as guide words, entry, pronunciation symbols, stress marks, parts of speech and etymology. Some students take much time to find a word in the dictionary, this is particularly likely if their mother language does not use the same alphabet as the foreign language. According to Alderson (1984), exercises on alphabetical order, and on using the guidewords at the head of each page, will help students (p.67). Even practice in opening the dictionary as nearly as possible at the right page is useful. In short, the final step shows us using dictionary is one of the useful ways to deal with unfamiliar words. But students should learn how to use dictionary quickly and effectively and how to choose the best dictionary as well. They should remember to use a dictionary as a tool instead of a crutch all the time. 2.4 Summary: In Chapter II, overviews of reading and reading comprehension have been introduced basing on some typical definitions by some authors. In addition, the author of this paper also provides knowledge on the importance of reading comprehension, types of reading comprehension, reading comprehension strategies and effective reading and proficient readers. In short, reading comprehension is a complex process of interaction between the reader and the text. The goal of reading comprehension is to comprehend the author’s message. There are many skills, strategies or techniques that readers can practise to increase the efficiency of the process such as: prediction, questioning, clarifying, imagining and summarisation. Effective reading is active and interactive process and a proficient reader is a person who know how to use reading strategies in a fluent and flexible manner to gain his own goal. Moreover, the most important thing in this study introduced is some knowledge on word and unfamiliar words. Unfamiliar word is a word which readers find it unaccustomed or accustomed but in a new context. The reasons why students are always got trouble with unfamiliar words in reading comprehension are: slowing reading speed, interrupting reading process, and lack of interest in reading. When students encounter strange._.