A Study on Difficulties and Solutions to Improve English Reading Skills for First-year English Majors at Phenikaa University

Abstract

The main purpose of the research is to find out the difficulties in learning English Reading skills of first-year English majors at Phenikaa University. The tool used for collection data in the research is a questionnaire. The questionnaire was designed for first-year English majors and specifically, 120 students at the Phenikaa University participated in the survey. The results show that learners encounter many difficulties in learning Reading skills, divided into 5 main categories: unknown words, text coverage, background knowledge, organization structure, grammar, others (motivation, timing, strategies, materials). In addition, the study has suggested some strategies to help students overcome the difficulties and improve their Reading skills.