This thesis begins with the premise that learning strategies have been widely
accepted as the keys that lead to success in learning a language. A lot of research has been
carried out in various contexts to investigate the use of language learning strategies by
different learners and the effects of such factors as gender, motivation, age, and so forth on
the use of language learning strategies. Reading comprehension strategies have been
identified by various researchers in both second and foreign language contexts. However,
little empirical research has been conducted to uncover the reading comprehension
strategies used by Vietnamese students, especially by students at Tay bac Unuversity
(TBU). To address this gap, the present study investigates reading comprehension
strategies used by third-year English majors of Thai and Muong ethnic minorities at TBU.
The present study investigated the use of reading learning strategies of 12 third year
English major students of Thai and Muong minoritiesat TBU and the possible influence on
their choice of strategies by their ethnicity. The use of strategies by Muong and Thai
ethnic students at TTBU were assessed and measured by think-aloud reports. The gathered
data was analyzed with the help of t-test. The mostfrequently used strategies were reported
were metacognitive, followed by cognitive and social/affective. Besides, Thai and Muong
ethnic showed that they were significantly different in the choice and frequency of strategy
use. Muong students had more preference for the use of metacognitive and cognitive
strategies, whereas Thai used social/ affective strategies more frequently than their Muong
ethnic counterparts. These results of the study indicated that ethnicity is a factor that had
influence on the use of strategies as the findings of the previous research. Based on the
findings some discussion and implications were madealong with suggestions for further
research.