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Common Difficulties of Reading Comprehension Experienced by Vietnamese Students

The following paper explores the most challenging reading comprehension problems confronted by freshmen in EFL reading classes. Also, some possible solutions were suggested based on such challenges by the researcher. Fifty freshmen in a private university in Ho Chi Minh City who were undertaking the English Preparation Course with the reading skills were delivered the questionnaires. The questionnaires consisted of five open-ended and closed-ended questions to investigate students' perceptions of their reading comprehension difficulties. Simultaneously, interviews with three lecturers who have experienced teaching reading skills were also conducted to indicate their opinions regarding their students' problems encountering reading comprehension, which would be later used to compare and contrast the students' answers. The study's findings showed that vocabulary and lack of background knowledge were the two most common challenges on reading comprehension faced by students. The results of this study might benefit both lecturers and students in developing their learning and teaching methods in general and in reading skills particularly.