English is one of the most important of Vietnam’s foreign languages. It is used not only by Vietnamese to communicate with native speakers of English but also as an important international language in communicating with people from non-native English countries. Although English functions as a foreign language, Vietnamese who are likely to be in contact with foreigners in various areas, for example, education, politics, tourism, industry, business and in general social contexts, need considerable proficiency in English. In fact, many people nowadays realize that a command of English has become essential for their future occupations, since it is a pre-requisite for success in both the public and private sectors.

Of the four macro skills in language (listening, speaking, reading and writing), there has been growing and justified concern about reading in Vietnam. This concern is due to the increasing amount of printed English material in the society. Various sources of modern knowledge and technology needed in developing the country at large are usually reported in English. Proficient readers in English are high demand.

This thesis is divided into five chapters below.

Chapter I, the Introduction, states the research problem, the aims and the outline of the thesis.

Chapter II, Literature Review, presents briefly some general theories related to reading and reading strategies, terminological definitions, classification systems and major characteristics of learning strategies. This is followed by a discussion of factors affecting the reading strategy choice of the learners at the MPA.

Chapter III discusses the methodology and the procedures by which the study had been carried out such as selections of samples, instruments for data gathering, and methods of data analysis.

In Chapter IV analyses the results obtained from the investigation. The data collected are quantitatively and qualitatively analysed. The differences in the use of reading strategies in students’ learning reading comprehension between the two learner groups and the factors influencing their reading strategy choice are compared and analyzed.

In Chapter V, the conclusion mentions some applications of the study for strategy training to students at the MPA, the limitation of the work, and makes suggestions for further studies, and conclusion.