scholarly journals Forming Critical Reading Skills in a Low-Intermediate Class of English

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 74
Author(s):  
Nataliia Hromova ◽  
Maryna Kryvych ◽  
Nataliia Chernihivska ◽  
Tetiana Vinnytska ◽  
Ihor Bloshchynskyi
Keyword(s):  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Reading Abilities ◽  
New Ideas ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Given

Critical reading skills constitute an important part of an independent critical reader and are often formed in advanced-level students. It is argued that low-level learners of English also need to get acquainted with the basics of critical reading in the first years of their tertiary education. The aim of this study is to define a range of critical reading elements the low intermediate EFL students can demonstrate within a three-month period of critical reading instruction. The experiment on establishing the students’ attitude to critical reading and defining their critical reading abilities while commenting on texts was conducted. The findings of the questionnaire showed the participants’ attitude to critical reading as the way to question and disagree with the author’s opinion rather than to analyze information. The participants considered themselves quite competent in critical reading but did not see the practical use of applying these skills. A three-month critical reading intervention was introduced and followed by writing final commentaries upon the given text. The survey after the intervention found that the students of the experimental group showed the ability to justify their judgments by supporting claims while commenting upon the given texts. They could also express disagreement with the opinion in the text more often than before the intervention. In the control group, the prevailing agreements with the author’s viewpoint in the commentaries rarely followed by justifications showed the students’ unwillingness to create new ideas and proved their passive roles in dealing with information. Thus, according to the experiment results, the range of critical reading strategies the low intermediate class demonstrated included expressing judgments and supporting claims, finding different points of view on the problem in the text, and expressing disagreement with the given opinion. The amount of irrelevant information the participants mentioned in their commentaries proved the necessity for further interventions in order to engender their critical literacy.

scholarly journals Do Multiple Intelligences Improve EFL Students’ Critical Reading Skills?

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Alaeddin Khaled Alqatanani
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Intelligences ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Potential Effect ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Experimental Group

This study examines the potential effect of a program based on multiple intelligences on improving the Jordanian tenth grade English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ critical reading skills in English. The researcher claims that multiple intelligences strategies have the potential to provide a suitable resource to empower the quality of TEFL in Jordan. The study follows a quasi- experimental design in which an experimental group and a control group were purposefully chosen from AzZarqa First Directorate of Education (Jordan). In the experimental group, 30 students were taught by multiple intelligences strategies and 29 students of control group were taught by the conventional teaching method as outlined in the teacher’s book. A pre-post achievement test was utilized. The findings reveal statistically significant differences at (α ≤ 0.05) between the two mean scores of experimental and control groups in the post- test in favor of experimental group. The study recommends to examine the effect of using multiple intelligences on EFL students’ achievement in other language skills and sub skills. A number of implications are put forth to enhance the students’ critical reading ability.

scholarly journals INTEGRATING MULTIPLE INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIUMS TO TEACH CRITICAL LITERACY WITH ADULT LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE LEARNERS

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Kaemanje Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Developmental Reading ◽  
Linguistically Diverse ◽  
The United States ◽  
First Year ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Diverse Learner

Critical reading is the apex of tertiary education and the chief focus in higher education courses as they prepare adults for the workforce. Without significant improvements in academic preparation and support, many linguistically diverse [LD] students will have higher drop out rates in their first year of college. Developmental reading instruction practices are designed to emphasize moving the first-year LD students from sub-par reading levels towards the application and development of critical reading skills, as demanded by their college courses. Many community colleges across the United States prepare assessments tests in reading and mathematics for most, if not all, newly admitted students. These tests are used as placement guides, especially when the newly admitted applicant�s high school transcript or SAT scores do not demonstrate that the student possesses the critical reading or mathematical ability needed to pass the 70 percentage threshold, an indication of being college ready. This paper argues that teaching critical reading requires embracing students� cultural capital and implementing scaffolds that will support the Adult Linguistic Diverse learner/students (ALDl/s). Results from this study indicated that both intrinsic values and instructor�s disposition influence the ALD learner attitudes related to developed critical reading performance. These findings indicate that using multiple instructional mediums [MiMs] had a positive impact on students� critical reading skills and contributed to the ALD learners� comprehension, motivation, and critical reading skills.Keywords: critical literacy; community college; developmental reading; language minority students; adult linguistic diverse learner; culturally relevant teaching; cultural capital.

scholarly journals Applying Sight Translation as a Means to Enhance Reading Ability of Iranian EFL Students

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
Moslem Fatollahi
Keyword(s):  
Reading Comprehension ◽  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Reading Ability ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Comprehension Ability ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Iranian Context ◽  
Reading Comprehension Ability

<p>Sight translation is the oral translation of a written text and is a mixture of translation and interpreting. Sight translation is a widely-used activity in translation training programs. Yet, this mode of translation has rarely been applied as a reading instruction technique in Iranian EFL instruction context in spite of the growing interest in using sight translation in language teaching and learning. This study aims at investigating the effect of sight translation on the reading comprehension ability of Iranian undergraduate EFL students. This is a quasi-experimental study involving treatment. To this end, four reading comprehension classes involving 70 learners were divided into two groups, with the experimental one receiving reading instruction with sight translation exercises and the control group receiving reading instruction without sight translation exercises. The posttest results revealed that the experimental group performing sight translation exercises in classroom outperformed the control group who had not engaged in sight translation. This study has implications for ELT instructors and learners in an Iranian context as they can use sight translation exercises as an effective technique for improving the reading comprehension ability of their learners.</p>

scholarly journals The Effect of the Critical Literacy Approach on Pre-service Language Teachers’ Critical Reading Skills

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (71) ◽  
pp. 159-174
Author(s):  
SULTAN . ◽  
Ahmad ROFIUDDIN ◽  
NURHADI . ◽  
Endah Tri PRIYATNI
Keyword(s):  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Critical Reading

scholarly journals The Impact of Divergent and Convergent Tasks on Iraqi EFL Students Reading Comprehension Success

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-39
Author(s):  
Sabeeha Hamza Dehham ◽  
Nadia Majeed Hussein
Keyword(s):  
Reading Skills ◽  
Experimental Approach ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Preparatory Stage ◽  
The Mean ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Experimental Group

This research attempted to explore the effects of divergent and convergent tasks on the successful reading of EFL students at the preparatory stage. To verify the analysis, the null hypothesis was established that states "There are no differences of statistical significance at the level of (0,05) among the mean of scores of the experimental group who study according to divergent and convergent task technique and the mean of the scores of the control group who study according to the regular method".  The experimental approach is used by designing two equivalent experimental groups of 32 students studying the technique proposed, and an 8-week (2019-2020) control group of 32 students, three classes each week using the Google Classroom Platform and Telegram. The present study utilized the platform Google Classroom (GC) and Telegram as an educational platform to assist students during their course learning process. The writing skills test was administered after checking with the experts. The results show that there are statistical differences at level (0,05) between the average of the experimental and control groups' reading skills and those of the experimental group. This difference is because the experimental group uses divergent and convergent tasks.

scholarly journals THE EFL STUDENTS’ CRITICAL READING SKILLS ACROSS COGNITIVE STYLES

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonardus Par
Keyword(s):  
Reading Skills ◽  
Cognitive Styles ◽  
Main Idea ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Multiple Choice Questions ◽  
Test Items ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Reading Texts

This study aims to explore the difference between the field independent (FI) and field dependent (FD) learners in the area of EFL critical reading skills. To this end, 60 undergraduate EFL students who had taken and passed the Critical Reading course involved as the subjects. The Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) was administered to classify the students’ cognitive styles into FI and FD groups. Furthermore, to measure the students’ critical reading skills, the critical reading comprehension test (CRCT) in the form of multiple choice questions was developed and administered. The test items were focused on assessing students’ analytical and inferential skills of reading texts, specifically on determining the main idea, the purpose, the tone, making an inference and taking conclusion. The findings indicate that there is a statistically significant difference in the critical reading skills between FI and FD students. More specifically, the differences are in determining the main idea, determining the purpose, making an inference, and taking the conclusion of the texts in the CRCT. Pedagogically, selecting appropriate reading texts to be used in Critical Reading course practice for developing the students’ critical reading skills will be beneficial for both of FI and FD students.

scholarly journals Why Do Saudi EFL Readers Exhibit Poor Reading Abilities?

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Abdulaziz Ali AL-Qahtani
Keyword(s):  
Middle School ◽  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Reading Habits ◽  
School Students ◽  
Poor Reading ◽  
Reading Abilities

<p>The aim of the current study was to investigate the reasons behind Saudi learners’ poor reading skills. To this end, the objectives were to identify the reading habits of Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) middle school learners, to understand the extent to which Saudi EFL middle school learners use reading comprehension skills and to explore the perceptions of learners, teachers and supervisors regarding Saudi EFL learners’ reading abilities. The study sample consisted of 90 Saudi EFL middle school students, eight EFL teachers and six supervisors. The students were surveyed and interviewed about their reading habits and use of reading skills, while the teachers and supervisors were interviewed to explore their perceptions about reading instruction in the Saudi context. The results revealed that most Saudi EFL students lack the necessary reading habits in L1 and L2. In addition, they rarely make use of important reading skills when they read English texts. This study identified “lack of exposure to target language”, “poor teaching skills and teacher training programs”, “little attention to comprehension and more attention to reading aloud”, “students’ lack of motivation”, “little emphasis on reading skills in textbooks”, “unfamiliar and unsuitable reading topics”, “lack of reading skills training for students”, “students’ limited vocabulary” and “lack of parental involvement” as the most important factors behind Saudi students’ poor reading abilities. The study concluded with important recommendations and suggestions for future research.</p>

scholarly journals Effects of Training of Eye Fixation Skills on the Reading Fluency of Children with Oculomotor Dysfunction

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanzila Nabeel
Keyword(s):  
Reading Fluency ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Control Group Design ◽  
Poor Reading ◽  
Reading Abilities ◽  
Average Accuracy ◽  
Before And After ◽  
And Control

The study was carried out to determine the effect of training of eyefixation skills on the reading fluency of Children with OculomotorDysfunction. Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design was used in thisexperimental study. All the school going children having OculomotorDysfunction and poor reading skills between the ages5-14 years atprimary level were population of this study. King Devick Pro Readingtest was run on the children with poor reading abilities to diagnose theChildren with Oculomotor Dysfunction. Children having percentile rankbelow 15 or below average accuracy on King Devick Pro Reading testwere diagnosed as Children with Oculomotor Dysfunction. 20 Childrenwith Oculomotor Dysfunction were selected from a pool of 50 Childrenwith Oculomotor Dysfunction using random sampling technique. Twocohorts (experimental and control) having 10 Children with OculomotorDysfunction each, were used in the study. The level of Visual FixationSkills of the children of both of the groups was analyzed sing NovaSoutheastern University College of Optometry Oculomotor Test. Thesubjects of experimental group underwent training of manual andcomputer animated visual fixation skills 50 minutes per day for 7 days aweek for 6 weeks. Words Correct Per Minute Method was used todetermine the reading fluency of both of the groups before and after theintervention from selected paragraphs of Punjab Textbook Boar

scholarly journals EFL STUDENTS’ ATTITUDE TO CRITICAL READING

2021 ◽  
pp. 93-96
Author(s):  
Nataliia Hromova
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Reading Instruction ◽  
Reading Skills ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Habits Of Mind ◽  
Critical Reading ◽  
Intermediate Students ◽  
English Classes ◽  
General Importance

. Critical thinking skills are one of the key requirements for a modern specialist in the professional world nowadays. Applying critical thinking while reading texts must become the essential approach to dealing with information. This study focuses on an exploratory investigation of the students’ attitude to critical reading tasks at the English classes. The present survey aims at exploring low-intermediate students’ attitude to critical reading assignments used at the English classes. The main tasks are the following: 1) to carry out a survey on students’ attitude towards critical reading and critical reading instruction at university; 2) to test the students’ critical reading skills; 3) to interview the students on their assessment of the reading tasks to identify the habits of mind available to develop their critical reading skills. The data were collected from the students’ questionnaire, the critical reading test and the students’ interviews. The findings support the results of the foreign researchers’ surveys about the lack of curiosity, relevant habits of mind and the majority of textbooks containing factual tasks which hinder the development of the readers’ critical attitude to information. Although the students admitted the general importance of critical reading, they did not seem to understand the essence of these skills and showed indifference to critical reading tasks during the second and third stages of the experiment. Thus, the prospects of the further research aim at designing and implementation of a reading English texts program for university low-intermediate students which could involve more critical reading assignments to promote critical habits of mind.

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