Academic reading instruction in tertiary English preparatory classes: A qualitative case study of an experienced instructor (original) (raw)
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University instructors’ views about and approaches to reading instruction and reading strategies
This article is designed to identify what strategies good readers employ in pre-, during- and post reading stages in classroom language learning. This study is a replica of the study conducted by Sarıçoban (2002) in which the setting was EFL upper-intermediate preparatory school of English at Hacettepe University. The underlying reason of this study is to see if there would be any difference in strategy use by both good and poor ELT readers at advanced level through the Three Phase Approach in reading. The preparatory ELT students at Atatürk University were administered an inventory of strategy use. The data were analyzed through a percentage study. It was found in the study that good readers differed in some strategies (S1, S3, S4 in pre-reading stage, S7, S10, S13, S21, S22, S23 in during-reading stage and S35, S38 and S39 in post-reading stage) whereas the EFL good learners did not differ in pre-reading stage, but differed in both while-reading stage (S11, S17, S21, S31 and S32) and post-reading stage (S36 and S38). As can be seen, there are surprising results in both groups. Therefore, it can be said that the two groups, namely the ELT and EFL learners, may have different reading strategies depending upon their needs and interests. This study will, therefore, improve the view and focus of language teachers on the use of reading strategies of good readers through the Three Phase Approach.
English Language Lecturers' Beliefs about Teaching English Language Reading
Modern Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2019
Although the influence of teachers' beliefs on their practices in the classroom has been well documented , not much is known about teachers' beliefs about EFL reading instructional techniques . Furthermore, no comprehensive studies have been carried out in the context of Libyan universities, where lecturers in English are non-native speakers of the language. The present study aims to fill this gap in the literature through an analysis of the beliefs that Libyan EFL lecturers hold. The results of a quantitative questionnaire completed by 273 lecturers revealed that the lecturers, who conceded that their approaches to teaching reading had not changed over the years, believed a bottom-up approach was the optimal way to teach this skill. The lecturers also stated that they depended on their own experience of learning reading and engaged in certain social activities as well to prepare themselves for teaching reading. Additionally, underlining the importance of teaching this skill to students at all university levels, they believed that a significant part of TEFL training courses should focus on how to teach reading. The findings of the study could be of benefit to both current and future EFL lecturers of reading and should also provide directions for further research in this field.
The secondary school English Language reading curriculum: a teacher's perceptions.
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In Malaysia, the issue of weak and non-proficient graduates is a pressing matter. This implies that they are not well-equipped to cope with academic literacy, which is closely related to their language proficiency, as the main medium of instruction at most higher institutions is the English language. At this level, reading is the essence of academic achievement where they are required to read, explain and critically assess lengthy, often complicated academic texts, and process the obtained information either in written or spoken forms . The problem of reading that arises may be tracked down to the secondary school level, which may due to the inconsistencies and misalignment between the approaches and design with the implementation stage in the classroom. Thus, this study seeks to explore the perceptions of an English Language teacher with regard to the English Language Reading Curriculum in improving students' comprehension ability. Findings will serve as an efficient and operational guide to designing reading curriculum and instruction, as well as a tool that can be used to evaluate a set of curriculum and instruction, specifically in second language teaching and learning, and across subjects in general. It can also be utilised for reviewing or counter-checking of curriculum documents after a certain period of time.
Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2020
Literature on second language reading suggests that the effectiveness of teaching reading depends largely on theoretically-guided and contextually-informed classroom methodology. In this study, we investigated the classroom methodology adopted by the students of Master of Education (M. Ed.) specializing in English from Mahendra Ratna Campus, Tahachal, who were teaching Bachelor of Education (B. Ed.) reading courses during their practice teachinghence defined as 'student teachers' (STs). Foregrounding the role of reading in the overall language development and academic achievement of English as a foreign language (EFL) students, the present B. Ed. English curriculum under Tribhuvan University has adopted a content-based approach to teaching reading. In order to understand how those reading courses were taught, we purposively selected ten M.Ed. STs and observed two classes of each, employing a semi-structured classroom observation scheme. In order to cross-compare STs' classroom performance with their theoretical knowledge about reading pedagogy and overall objectives of the reading courses, we also analyzed the English language teaching course the STs had studied in the M.Ed. program as well as B. Ed. reading courses and coursebooks they were teaching. The collected data were coded and analyzed thematically. The findings show that the teaching methodology adopted by the STs goes counter to the principles of ESL/EFL reading and expectations articulated in the reading courses. These findings illustrate the urgent need to reassess the methodology of teaching reading at the tertiary level and minimize the gap between the M. Ed. English students' pedagogical knowledge and their classroom performance.
Pedagogy for Meeting the Challenges of Tackling Reading amongst University Students
Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2013
Being effective readers provide university students the onset to follow through their academic pursuit successfully. Nonetheless, reading academic materials pose challenges to many tertiary level students, particularly to the second-language speaker of English. Unfamiliarity with the text content and lack of vocabulary to tackle a variety of text types may impede students' understanding of materials read. Thus, the role of the instructor is to arrange and design suitable pedagogical instruction to facilitate the students to become effective readers. This paper explores a pedagogical approach which comprises both the cognitive and human science approach in facilitating students to become effective readers. The approach focuses on understanding students' comprehension of texts by listening to their voices as well as activating their cognitive ability in tackling the nuances of academic reading materials. Data was gathered qualitatively. Discussion will centre on the hows and whys of the approach, as well as the feedback component in terms of instructor's as well as students' responses. Implications for policy, curriculum development and practice will be drawn.
“It’s Like a Script”: Long-Term English Learners’ Experiences with and Ideas about Academic Reading
This article presents a multifaceted representation of the in-school reading experiences and ideas about academic reading shared by five adolescent Latina long-term English learners (LTELs). It uses data collected during ethnographic observations of the five focal students’ biology and English language arts classrooms and in-depth qualitative interviews with these students and selected teachers to contextualize their standardized reading test scores. The findings of this yearlong multiple case study illustrate that the focal students’ everyday experience of in-school reading focused on constructing meaning with texts orally in a group. During these classroom reading activities, the teacher played a primary role in facilitating comprehension. On the other hand, the standardized tests that were used to determine their English proficiency required reading to be a silent and independent activity. Moreover, the ideas about academic reading that these students shared reflected their daily experiences with oral reading. By calling attention to the distinction between academic reading on tests and in the classroom, this research documents that what constitutes academic reading is not static across all contexts. These findings contribute to existing work that moves away from seeing academic literacy as a set of decontextualized language skills; this research highlights the socially situated nature of reading. Additionally, these findings problematize the exclusive attribution, without further investigation, of standardized reading test scores to LTELs’ English proficiency. This work speaks to the importance of a more holistic understanding of the literacy development of students who are considered to be LTELs.
Reading Teaching Strategies Applied by English Teachers in Senior High School
Jurnal Pendidikan LLDIKTI Wilayah 1 (JUDIK)
Reading is an activity of observing written language which aims to gain knowledge or messages conveyed by the author. Many students have difficulty in reading and understanding the reading text. By knowing the factors that cause students' difficulties in reading. This proves that not all students can read well. This is due to the tendency of some teachers not to use teaching strategies appropriately. For this reason, this paper was created to explain what strategies in teaching reading are suitable for teachers to apply to students. The data was obtained by giving a questionnaire in the form of a Google form to 10 respondents who were English teachers who taught in senior high school. The data collection technique of this research is a questionnaire containing 10 questions. The results of the data analysis show that there are several techniques used by teachers in teaching reading strategies, namely Scanning, Skimming, Active Reading, Speed Reading, Structure-Proposition-Evaluat...
Greener Journal of Educational Research, 2013
Reading can be defined as ‘’Understand, interpret meaning sense, decode, decipher identify or articulate speak or pronounce...” reading is partly about identifying and pronouncing words properly. Reading can be undertaken for various reasons. It can be for authentic reasons, or for entertainment. Foreign Language (FL) is supposed to be read because it is basically the language for business and for academic purposes. English is the lingual Franco for trade. Getting a massage from a text is the kind of reading that suits the university learners. University students are supposed to read and discern meaning from an array of sources raging from hard copies, soft copies, e-journals and others sources. Students are supposed to be able to evaluate information that they need to use for their identified gaps. Information might be needed for assignment writing, presentations or thesis writing. This paper is centred on the concept of reading and how best students can utilise reading in order to...
Reading Strategies in Foreign Language Academic Reading: A Qualitative Investigation
Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2014
The purpose of this study was to investigate how EFL undergraduate students do to improve their reading comprehension, solve the problems encountered while reading, and overcome comprehension failures. This paper presents a qualitative investigation designed to provide a clear picture of the strategies used by those students in their academic reading. A semi-structured interview served as the main source of data. Thirty-nine students from four different government universities participated in the study. The transcribed interview data was analyzed with 'open and axial coding' techniques. The data analyses revealed two main emergent categories of reading strategies: 1) strategies for comprehending reading texts (SCT); and 2) strategies for enhancing textual comprehension (SETC) with altogether 39 individual reading strategies. The implications of the findings for language teaching and learning are discussed.