Developing Reading Comprehension for Vietnamese Ethnic Minority Primary Students: A Foundational Knowledge Approach

Reading is one of the four fundamental skills that reflect language competence and play an essential role in both learning and communication for every primary school student. Teaching reading comprehension to ethnic minority primary school students holds particular significance in their learning process and overall development. Reading competence not only enables students to acquire knowledge from textbooks and learning materials but also broadens their understanding of the surrounding world, enriches their vocabulary, and enhances their ability to express ideas coherently. For ethnic minority students, mastering reading skills in Vietnamese helps them overcome language barriers, build confidence in communication, and integrate with peers. This paper proposes an approach that emphasizes exploiting background knowledge to support reading comprehension instruction for grade 5 ethnic minority students. This approach aims to help develop their competencies in alignment with the new curriculum and textbooks.