The study sought to answer the question of whether there are significant relationship between the teachers’ professional qualities, English background knowledge and students’ reading abilities in terms of comprehension, extensive, intensive reading. The respondents of the study were 100 non-English major students of the College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University in the second semester of the academic year 2012-2013. | Phan Thị Hòa và Đtg Tạp chí KHOA HỌC & CÔNG NGHỆ 121(07): 55 - 60 DIFFICULTIES IN TEACHING AND DEVELOPING READING ABILITIES OF SECOND YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS OF THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCES Phan Thi Hoa*, Hoang Thi Nhung College of Sciences – TNU SUMMARY Reading is a great way leading people to the world of knowledge. Teaching and developing reading abilities, however, are facing many abtacles. This descriptive correlational study attempts to analyse some difficulties and establish relationship between teachers’ factors and the profile of students to their reading abilities. The study sought to answer the question of whether there are significant relationship between the teachers’ professional qualities, English background knowledge and students’ reading abilities in terms of comprehension, extensive, intensive reading. The respondents of the study were 100 non-English major students of the College of Sciences, Thai Nguyen University in the second semester of the academic year 2012-2013. The findings revealed significant correlation exists between reading competence and the ability of the teacher to set and explain course objectives and expectations, focus on meaning of words in the different contexts as well as the capacity of the teacher to adjust teaching strategies according to students’ level of understanding. Key words: difficulties, reading abilities, significantly related, non-English major students, Thai Nguyen University of Sciences. INTRODUCTION* English is a dominant international language in communication, science, business, aviation, entertainment, radio and diplomacy. It is the language of the global marketplace, global village [2]. In Vietnam, following a rather unstable past, Vietnam has stablilized and seen an influx of foreign diplomacy policy over the past several years. Due to this boost in international involvement, the demand for English has taken off. And the study of English has always partaken of a .
